Club Meetings

The Orca DXCC holds regular meetings in the Lower Mainland (Vancouver, B.C. area).

NEXT MEETINGS:

June 18, 2013. Note: 3rd Tuesday of June

All regular club meetings are held at 7 p.m. at the RiverHouse Restaurant, 5825 - 60th Ave. in Delta, BC. MAP
Catch up on previous meetings with The Orca Report -- prepared by Rebecca VA7BEC:

Orca Report 26 May 12, 2013 Orca Report 25 Apr. 9, 2013 Orca Report 24 Mar. 12, 2013 Orca Report 23 Feb. 12, 2013 Orca Report 22 Jan. 8, 2013 Orca Report 21 Dec. 11, 2012 Orca Report 20 Nov. 13, 2012 Orca Report 19 Oct. 9, 2012 Orca Report 18 Sep. 11, 2012 Orca Report 17 June 12, 2012 Orca Report 16 May 15, 2012 Orca Report 15 Apr. 10, 2012 Orca Report 14 Mar. 13, 2012 Orca Report 13 Feb. 15, 2012 Orca Report 12 Jan. 11, 2012 Orca Report 11 Dec. 13, 2011 Orca Report 10 Nov. 8, 2011 Orca Report 9 Sep. 13, 2011 Orca Report 8 June 14, 2011 Orca Report 7 May 10, 2011 Orca Report 6 Apr. 12, 2011 Orca Report 5 Mar. 8, 2011 Orca Report 4 Feb. 8, 2011 Orca Report 3 Jan. 12, 2011 (first annual general meeting) Orca Report 2 Dec. 14, 2010 (Christmas meeting) Orca Report 1 Nov. 9, 2010
The first-ever club meeting was held Oct. 15, 2010.

The Orca Report (No. 26) May 14, 2013

May 16, 2013—Sorry for the delay. Sometimes there just aren’t enough hours in the day—the week?— to do all that accumulates on my desk(top).

We were a group of 26 on Tuesday. We had a few announcements, including the results of BCQP 2013 and PNW-related items, and then Bill VE7XS—with added commentary from Neil VA7DX—highlighted his adventures on a DXpedition to Lesotho in 2012.

Announcements Let me leave the BCQP-related announcements for last, as there are quite a few.

PNW DX Convention
Starting then with PNW-related topics, the DX Convention, as everyone must now be aware, is in Spokane August 2-4, and as that event nears, preparations are beginning for the 2014 event which Orca DXCC will organize. One of the first tasks was to select a suitable venue, since the location of previous years will apparently be in the middle of a construction zone.

The convention committee has decided on The Inn at the Quay, in New Westminster. Newly renovated, this boutique hotel is on the Fraser River boardwalk. It’s next to the revamped River Market, close to a SkyTrain station and Pier Park, and offers great facilities for conventions. There is a lovely outdoor patio that could be used for the Friday night welcome, weather permitting. It’s a great location.

Dave VE7VR will be making a presentation at the convention in Spokane to entice attendees to put the 2014 event on their calendars.

Details on accommodations, schedule and activities will be announced as details are finalized.

PNW Cup Scores
Jim VE7FO provided an update on club standings in the travelling PNW Cup. Orca DXCC is currently in the lead, with 66,240,088 points, but only about three million points ahead of Western Washington, which hasn’t forwarded scores to Jim since ARRL CW.

The spreadsheet of scores is accessible on the Orca website's PNW Club Challenge page, and Jim has uploaded to the Orca Yahoo! Group, as well.

There are only two contests left—CQ WPX CW, at the end of May, and IARU, in July—and WPX is probably more likely to produce high scores, so if you are proficient in CW and can allocate some time in the last weekend of May, please help boost the club’s score.

***If you participated in a PNW Cup–eligible contest and don’t see a score by your callsign, please contact Jim so that he can apply your score to the Orca DXCC total.

Orca Lunch
The alternate meeting opportunity is organized by Brian VE7JKZ. Only club members in the Lower Mainland are on the e-mailing list. But FYI, the lunch takes place on the fourth Wednesday of the month, midway between the regular, second-Tuesday of the month evening meetings. If you reside outside the Lower Mainland but plan to be in the area on the fourth Wednesday of any given month when a lunch is held, you would surely be welcome to join the lunch crowd. Contact Brian—or me, and I’ll forward the note to Brian—so that you will get details on place and time. Also, if you are in the Lower Mainland and have not received any lunch notifications, but wish to be kept in the lunch loop, contact Brian directly or through me.

Amsterdam Island 2014—FT5ZM
Not only is Steve VE7CT on this major DXpedition, so is Neil VA7DX, recently recruited when a vacancy on the team appeared. This DXpedition will take place in January 2014 but the website is already up so you can follow plans and progress. Check here. The timing and the fact that two Orca DXCC members are on the FT5ZM team might help put a presentation on this DXpedition on the PNW DX Convention agenda for 2014.

BCQP 2013 BCQP Report
A very thorough report on BCQP 2013 is available for viewing and downloading in PDF format.

The report features a behind-the-scenes perspective, soapbox comments, a detailed analysis of data gleaned from submitted logs—which provides an interesting perspective on how this event is evolving—as well as a column by long-time BCQP participants Bill VE7XS and Jeff VE7JR, a selection of questions that get asked a lot and their answers, and of course ... the results!! Plaque winners are revealed on page 3.

Everyone who sent in a log will get an email with a link to the special BCQP report, but if any Orca Report readers know people who participated but didn’t send in a log—or even people who thought of participating but for whatever reason did not—please let them know that the report is up. The number crunching and Q&A sections might be of interest, and the report as a whole might encourage more people to participate in the future.

Results
No point repeating what’s covered in depth in the report. If you are only interested in scores and analysis, look on pages 5-6 for number crunching and pages 11-15 for results. The results section is broken down into BC and outside BC. Scores are listed by category in descending order. Top scores appear first within each category, and it is these top scores that will be recognized with certificates.

A detailed breakdown of scores is also available if you are curious about how totals were arrived at.

Certificates and plaques will go out by mail as soon as they are ready to send.

Noteworthy Developments in 2013
Almost 100 logs received (97, up 31 from 2012) Increase in BC callsigns that appear in submitted logs (140, up 17) First-time logs received from Alaska, Saskatchewan and Germany Increase in activated districts (30, up from 27) Of the 31 BC logs, 19 had more than 50Qs, and 12 had more than 100Qs More YL participation, and three YLs took top scores in their respective categories of entry
Gift Card Draw
The support of Orca DXCC members was awesome, and the many hours spent calling CQ certainly fueled on-air activity, which encouraged more people to get on the air, which kept the activity level high, which... the snowball effect. Thank you.

Again this year, we had an internal draw for three $25 gift cards. To be eligible for the draw, a member in good standing had to submit a log with at least 25 Qs. Fifteen names went into a shiny gold box and Dave VE7VR pulled out three: Elizabeth VE7YL (White Spot), Koji VA7KO (BC Liquor Store) and Pete VE7CV (Tim Hortons). Congratulations!

Lesotho 2012
The Lesotho DXpedition took place in late November–early December 2012. The team comprised members from Canada (Bill VE7XS, Keith VE7MID, Neil (VA7DX), Germany (Jo DJ3CQ, Emil DL8JJ, Chris DL2MDU) and South Africa (Donovan ZS2DL, Mitch ZS2DK, Roger ZS6RJ), plus Frosty, the Texan, K5LBU, whom you might remember was involved in the vacation-style DXpedition to Botswana that Don VE7DS and Keith VE7MID went on back in March 2012. Keith was also on the Lesotho team, along with Neil VA7DX.

Bill divided his presentation into an operations segment, which focused on the team, the setup, the pileups and the teardown, and a travel segment, highlighting the country. Pictures really do tell a 1,000 words. You can see the whole presentation here.

The DXpedition used the callsign 7P8D for the CQWW DX CW—5,408 Qs for 6,727,212 points, according to CQ-announced results—but team members had their own callsigns, as well.

In the end, the 12-day DXpedition made 32,323 Qs.

An interesting VIP to the operation was Gerry EI8CC/7P8CC, the Irish ambassador to Lesotho. As always, DXpeditions create lots of memories and stories to shares.

And this brings the May Orca Report to a close. The next meeting will be June 18—the third Tuesday of June. This will be the last meeting before our summer break.

QRT de VA7BEC

The Orca Report (No. 25) April 9, 2013

April 11, 2013 -- We were a smaller group than usual -- just 25 -- as some of the regulars were unable to attend. Ken VE7BC made a brief appearance to hand out bureau cards. There were a few announcements, and then John VA7JW talked about lightning protection.

PNW Cup Update
No update, really. Technical glitch has prevented Jim VE7FO from updating the spreadsheet. But he reminded us all to get on the air May 25-26 for WPX CW. Very easy to accumulate points since this is one of the anyone-anywhere contests. For those of you who belong to the Yahoo! Group, Jim posted a message on April 10 with more of an exhortation to get on the air. Check the Group if you don’t get automatic updates.

BCQP Update
The log submission deadline has passed, and the final checking of submitted logs is basically done. I will prepare a special Orca Report for BCQP 2013, with scores and analysis, and disclose certificate and plaque winners at that time. Numbers still have to be recrunched, but for now, here are some highlights. 140 BC operators were on the air, either on their own or in teams. 30 of 36 districts were activated. 96 logs were received, with 31 from BC and 65 from outside BC. The year-on-year increase was 31, with three more logs from BC and 28 more from outside BC, including the first logs ever received from operators in Saskatchewan, Germany and Alaska.
Orca Lunch
Some months ago, Dave VE7VR suggested a lunch option for members who are unable to get to the Tuesday night meeting or who simply want another opportunity to meet and chat. His suggestion garnered a positive response, but he doesn’t have the time to organize two monthly meetings. If you are interested in coordinating an Orca lunch -- say, the third Thursday of the month -- please contact Dave for a list of email addresses so that you can send out details to club members.

PNW DX Convention
The next PNW DX convention will be held in Spokane August 2-4. Go to the Spokane DX Association's PNW Convention page to register online, get info on weekend activities and raffle/door prizes, and watch a mini slide show of past events. You’ll spot some familiar faces.

Amsterdam Island 2014 -- FT5ZM
A major DXpedition to Amsterdam Island in the southern Indian Ocean has been announced. This island is one of the more remote places in the world, and as a DX entity is ranked in the top 10 most wanted. Some very experienced DXpeditioners are on the team, including our own Steve VE7CT. The DXpedition is scheduled for January 2014, and the website is up so you can already follow preparations and progress.

Feature Presentation: Lightning Protection
John VA7JW experienced a near-hit a couple of years ago that essentially blew up a tree about 500 feet from his house. It was the proverbial wakeup call for John to protect not just his radio equipment but also his home and the people inside. Direct strikes would, of course, be catastrophic, but nearby strikes should not be discounted. They can create voltage and current significant enough to cause equipment failure and injury as well.

Consider, the average stroke of lightning lasts about 50 microseconds, travels at 20,000mph, extends 3km in length, carries 300 million joules of energy and 10 terawatts of power, and it's hot -- 30,000°C.

Lightning has various forms: within a cloud (discharge in a cloud), cloud-to-cloud (discharge between clouds), heat lightning (intracloud, far away; thunder not audible), sheet lightning (intracloud, diffuse), cloud-to-air (bolt from the blue) and -- of most concern to us -- cloud-to-ground (cloud discharge to earth).

Luckily, our area doesn't get a lot of thunderstorms, but HF operators tend to seek out locations -- high, like hills and mountaintops, and close to tall trees for dipoles -- that attract lightning strikes. It only takes one strike to cause serious damage, and preparation is only helpful BEFORE an event. The first goal, then, is to keep destructive lightning current out of your shack. The second goal is to make it easy for that current to exit should it does get in.

Primary protection requires tower grounding, installed at the base of a tower, to direct lightning current to earth as directly as possible and shunt the current and voltage away from the house/shack. Secondary protection, which limits dangerous voltages to nondestructive values, must be placed at cable entrance to the house. Coax, rotor cables and wires of any kind that connect to outdoor antennas are key points for destructive energy to get into the house/shack since the antenna at the top of the tower is generally the highest point of an installation and will therefore attract lightning.

It is essential to establish a good ground system -- a network of interconnected grounds that tie all components together. Multiple unconnected grounds are not good because lightning currents flow differently in each ground system, and dangerous voltages will develop between equipment because of varying ground system impedances. Connecting all grounds together creates an equipotential environment, which helps lower resistance-to-ground and thereby lowers ground rise overall.

What is ground rise? It’s side flashing. Voltage developed in the earth will rise from the ground point. The voltage gradient in the immediate vicinity is highly dangerous. It is therefore important to minimize the difference between ground rise and radios. Should a difference exist and you happen to be holding the microphone or the key during a strike event, you become the path of least impedance to ground.

In an equipotential environment, ground rise will be the same everywhere and differential voltages will be minimal. Note that all grounds and equipment must be electrically connected.

John went through the various arresters that can be used to protect coax. There are spark gap devices, gas tubes and metal oxide varistors (MOV). The latter looks very much like a disc ceramic capacitor but is not. In the final analysis, the A28 spark gap type is OK as a first line of defense, the coaxial gas tube offers superior performance and nanosecond clamp-time, and MOVs are effective for higher voltages but slow and may allow high peak voltage to result relative to the rated clamp voltage.

Another noteworthy point: Voltage is a function of inductance value and current over time. That is, more inductance means more voltage. So make the ground wire -- use #6 -- as straight as possible.

John's presentation file is now on the Orca website as reference material.

View the presentation (3MB PDF)

As well, I came across some helpful supplementary sources while confirming my notes from John’s presentation that might be of interest.
A three-part series by Ron Block KB2UYT that appeared in the June, July and August 2002 issues of QST. PolyPhaser Engineering Notes, last reviewed on January 9, 2003, and probably written by Ron Block or his brother, Roger, who founded PolyPhaser Corporation.
And that’s it for this issue of the Orca Report. QRT de VA7BEC

The Orca Report (No. 24) March 12, 2013

March 13, 2013 -- Despite the rain, 32 people gathered at the RiverHouse last night. There were a few announcements, and then Don VE7DS provided us with a personal perspective on the DXpedition to Campbell Island (ZL9HR) in December 2012.

PNW Cup
Based on scores as of CQ WPX RTTY 2013, Orca is neck and neck with Willamette Valley, and both clubs are about nine million behind Western Washington. This update does not include ARRL DX CW or ARRL DX SSB because the log submission deadlines have not been reached and PNW Cup standings are not updated until after such deadlines.

The next qualifying contest is CQ WPX SSB at the end of March.

Membership
The current roster shows 96 paid-up members.

BCQP Update
The log tally currently sits at 86, with a great deal more logs from outside BC than from within BC. As contest coordinator, I am not pushing anyone to submit a log. Getting stations on the air is the primary objective, and more than 100 VE7/VA7s did just this. Awesome. Moreover, there is no rule requiring participants to submit a log.

However, if you or someone you know has a log and intended to submit it but just hasn’t gotten around to it, the log submission deadline is March 31, 2013, so “later” shouldn’t be left until “too late”. Electronic format is preferred -- email to bcqp@orcadxcc.org -- but paper is fine. No Q count is too small. And if you prefer that your score not be disclosed, send your log as a checklog and it will be used only by the logcheckers to confirm QSOs in other logs.

ZL9HR -- One Operator’s Perspective
In 2010, Lee ZL2AL, a member of the ZL9CI DXpedition to Campbell Island in 1999, recommended that Don VE7DS view a video about that adventure. Lo and behold, a year later, Don found himself part of the 10-man team to ZL9HR activation of Campbell Island.

Campbell Island was discovered in 1810 by Frederick Hassleborough, captain of the sealing brig Perseverance, which was owned by Robert Campbell, after whom the island is named. The island was a base for seal hunting and whaling in the early 1800s, and then became pastoral, with sheep and cattle, until the island was abandoned in 1931. A coast-watching station was established here during World War II, after which the facilities became part of a meteorological outpost, initially manned, and now remotely operated.

In 1954, the island was officially designated a nature reserve. This meant that non-native species had to be eradicated, starting with the descendents of the sheep and cattle left behind when the people left. Brown rats, which made the island their home from around the time of its discovery by Europeans, were eradicated in 2001 after a multi-year, multi-million dollar program to rid the island of this predator. Since then, native plants as well as bird and animal populations have been recovering. The area is one of five sub-Antarctic island groups designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

Because of Campbell Island’s tightly controlled nature reserve status, visitors -- whether they are tourists or scientists or DXpeditioners -- require a rather expensive landing permit and must abide by numerous conditions, including no overnight stays ashore. For the ZL9HR team, the process involved a thorough inspection of all equipment and personal gear to ensure that no seeds, plant matter, insects or rodents were inadvertently carried to the island. Individual containers, boxes, radio cases and tubs were opened for inspection by New Zealand’s Department of Conservation staff, given a thorough vacuuming or a blast from a high-pressure air hose, then repackaged into plastic tubs or sealed in large plastic bags, and put into quarantine until sailing. In addition, a member of the DoC accompanied the team to the island and did another check of everything that was brought ashore.

The DoC-approved boat was the Evohe, and the highly experienced skipper was well-acquainted with the route to the island as well as any necessary detours. Indeed, just after leaving Bluff, New Zealand, the skipper learned of a major storm in the Southern Ocean and headed Port Adventure, on Stewart Island, to safe-anchor during the wild weather and then, after a three-day wait, continue on to Campbell Island. Though the storm was running itself out, the voyage was not at all smooth sailing, and the team was knocked about quite violently. There were injuries but not bad enough to cancel the DXpedition.

On the island, the operators were under the careful watch of not only the DoC officer but also the Hooker sea lions. These guardians of the island made it quite clear whose turf the humans were invading, and while the sea lions did not attack, they were extremely aggressive.

As far as setup is concerned, the Spiderbeams were cumbersome to assemble in the tall grass. The first one rather quickly succumbed to high winds, but a second, heavy-duty model lasted longer. The SteppIR failed towards the end of the expedition, leaving a 40m vertical that performed perfectly and a low-mounted 80m dipole that served well towards North America but not as well toward Europe and Asia. Homebrew monoband 10m and 15m Moxon antennas performed excellently, as did the 12m-17m Optibeam. For 160m, the team used an inverted L on an 18m fiberglass push-up mast. The radios included four Kenwood TS590s with SPE 1K amplifiers and two Elecraft K3s with Elecraft KPA500 amplifiers. There were three generators, plus two spares, and 1,100 liters of gas.

The Evohe crew was great: ensuring safe passage to and from Campbell Island, cooking up good meals, and providing extra hands to move equipment ashore and get the antennas assembled and standing.

Initially, the terms of the permit required the team to return to the Evohe at night, but the DoC officer eased that restriction after the first night to allow half the team to overnight on the island. This enabled ZL9HR to stay on the air around the clock, which was terrific because conditions on the high bands were great well into the night, and on 20m, all night. The special consideration is unlikely to set a precedent, which was a concern when the previous activation, ZL9CI, petitioned unsuccessfully for overnight operations, because ZL9HR may have been the last DXpedition to the island.

The old meteorological building and other structures contain asbestos and are deteriorating, so they may be torn down, and the sea lion presence would make a tent operation impossible. Moreover, DXpeditions are not at the top of the DoC’s list of permit-worthy visits. In fact, six DXpeditions were denied permits in 2012. The ZL9HR DXpedition was lucky to get the green light to put this top-20 most-wanted entity on the air.

The shifts were brutal. There were two teams: On Day 1, beginning at 6am Team A worked 12 hours, took a five-hour break while Team B worked, and then returned for seven more hours. The next day, Team B worked the grueling first 12 hours so that Team A could rest, took a five-hour break while Team A manned the radios, and then came back for another seven hours. This schedule was repeated for the duration.

The DXpedition was active for six full days and two half-days between December 1 to December 9 and ended with nearly 43,000 Qs in the log: 61.5% on CW, 35.6% on SSB and 2.9% on RTTY.

Photos and other information about ZL9HR can be found at the DXpedition website.

The earlier ZL9CI recap is still available online if anyone wants to compare notes.

As Don says, this was the experience of a lifetime. Indeed, the bruises from the voyage may fade, but the memories of this adventure will not.

And that’s it for the March Orca Report. QRT de Rebecca VA7BEC

The Orca Report (No. 23) February 12, 2013

February 13, 2013 -- There was a lot on the agenda last night, but we covered announcements and updates relatively quickly and moved on to our special presentation, an insider’s perspective on CC Cluster packet software by the writer himself, Lee VE7CC.

We were a group of 30.

Announcements and Updates

Dues
If you haven’t paid your dues for 2013, you have various ways to do so. You can pay in cash at a meeting. But if you missed that opportunity last night, you have other options: credit card through PayPal, Interac transfer if you use online banking in Canada, or cheque/check payable to Orca DX and Contest Club and forwarded to Dave VA7AM, club treasurer. Go to the Orca DXCC website for details on payment methods.

If you are not sure of your membership status, check the roster. Sometimes, time flies so fast that it seems as if you just paid your dues, and lo and behold a whole year has passed. I speak from experience. LOL.

If there is a red asterisk beside your callsign, it means you should pay up. Just $24.

Financial Report
As this meeting was our Annual General Meeting, we had a quick word from Treasurer Dave VA7AM on finances. We are most certainly in the black since we have incurred no major expenses since establishment. It is good to have this monetary cushion ahead of the 2014 DX Convention, which Orca DXCC will host.

The 2013 event, by the way, will take place in Spokane. View details.

PNW Cup
In January, Jim VE7FO -- the minder of the PNW Cup spreadsheet of scores -- announced that Orca was leading, well-ahead of Willamette Valley, the usual leader. But Western Washington had not posted scores, and went it did... yes, that club zoomed right past us, as of the ARRL RTTY Round Up. See the spreadsheet. Perhaps we will have reversed positions with the recent CQ WPX RTTY?

Don’t forget about the ARRL CW and SSB contests and the WPX SSB and CW contest that are coming up over the next few months.

And please remember that you either have to post your score to 3830 or email Jim with the raw total, so that he can apply your scores to our totals. The organizers of the respective contests do not send that data to Jim.

Changes to the Bylaws
Orca members were sent an email back in mid-January pursuant to bylaw changes and asked to vote on three items. Here are the results:

Item #1
Change to B1.7 to allow open-ended terms for the position of Directors and Officers based on members who have, or are prepared to serve, so long as their service is at the pleasure of the membership.
Yes: 92%
No: 8%
Passed

Item #2
B1.8 will be deleted if Item #1 is passed, as the term of office clause is no longer relevant.
Yes: 82%
No: 8%
Passed

Item #3
B10.5 required voting by two-thirds of the membership. Deemed impractical, this item was reworded so that a passing vote requires two-thirds of the votes cast by voting members.
Yes: 100%
No: 0%
Passed

The bylaws will be revised accordingly and the amended version will be posted to the Orca website.

And so, your Board of Directors remains Dave VE7VR as President, Steve VE7CT as Vice President, Rebecca VA7BEC as Secretary (with assistance, as necessary, from former-Secretary John VA7JW), and Dave VA7AM as Treasurer. Regional Directors also remain: Ralph VE7XF for Greater Vancouver–Fraser Valley, Paul VE7BZ for South Island, Ron VE7NS for North Island, Dwight VE7BV for the Interior, and Dick N7RO for the U.S.

Did you know?
Solar flux data for predicting HF propagation comes from the Penticton Solar Flux Receiver. Orca member John VA7JW teamed up with Ken Tapping, an astronomer and Head of the Solar Radio Monitoring Programme at the Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics at Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory, to pen an article featured in the February 2013 issue of QST. That photo on the cover of the magazine... that’s how we listen to the sun. Very nice article John.

HK0NA Malpelo won the DX World – DXpedition of the Year 2012 poll. The results of the survey were announced January 16, 2013. Congratulations to that team, which included, as you all know, Steve VE7CT and Neil VA7DX, and to all the DXpeditions in the running. A job well done, indeed.

BCQP 2013
Read the following as from the BCQP contest coordinator, not your Orca reporter.

First, a big thank-you to everyone who got on the air February 2 and/or who helped others do so; to Ralph VE7XF and Phil VE7YBH, who both ran with the club call VA7ODX on CW, and to Dave VA7AM, who put VA7ODX out on RTTY frequencies; to Bud VA7ST, for keeping the BCQP page updated; and to many others who spread the word and kept the BCQP profile high.

As of Feb 12, we have received 83 logs. The deadline is March 31. Oodles of time to get a log in if you or someone you know hasn’t done so yet. Electronic logs are preferred, especially if the Q count is in the hundreds. Send here.

Already, it is clear that BCQP 2013 attracted more participation, not only from within BC, with more federal electoral districts activated, but also from outside BC, substantiated by our first logs from Saskatchewan, Alaska and Germany. We also have more logs from stations in areas from which logs have come before, such as Japan and other provinces in Canada.

An in-depth analysis of BCQP 2013 results will be made after the log deadline passes, but from the comments I have received with the logs submitted so far, PH was a blast and the other modes were... hmm... less fun.

There are always challenges, whether they stem from poor propagation, a lack of stations to contact on certain bands or certain modes, or issues associated with same-day contests. Admittedly, the latter could be resolved by switching the date, but inevitably, there will be other same-day events that either take away from the pool of potential participants on certain bands and modes or make CQing difficult. I think some of the challenges faced each year can be minimized with a bit of strategic planning.

Since the BCQP's history is relatively short, the event is really still a work in progress. It has grown by leaps and bounds in the last couple of years under the Orca DXCC banner and will continue to develop and improve with the support of all of you.

The BCQP has generated incredible interest in Orca DXCC, too. Site stats indicate no more than 300 visits per day on average. On Feb 1, the day before BCQP 2013, our site was visited 770 times, and on Feb 2, an amazing 1,549 times. The day before BCQP 2013, our QRZ count was 909. After BCQP 2013 ended, I checked again: 1,703.

Orca is an awesome group of DXers and contesters, with excellent skills and considerable experience in so many things amateur radio. Your support of BCQP has polished our reputation to an even brighter shine. As contest coordinator, I thank you.

CC Cluster
CC Cluster is the largest in the world with about 1,000 connections. Nearly all of us in attendance last night use CC Cluster, the next generation in DX cluster software, so it was great to have Lee VE7CC reveal some of the hidden gems that make this program so useful. Dave VE7VR had the program running and did all the clicking on-screen so that Lee could focus on explaining what happened -- or didn’t happen -- because of the settings.

Normally, I would try to summarize all the little treasures of insider information we learned last night. But there are just so many great features, from sorting by DX or frequency to filtering by band or mode. You set the parameters to what interests you.

You can include skimmer calls -- they show up in the list with a pound sign (#) -- or see which operators use eQSL and LoTW -- a “+” by the callsign indicates a LoTW user, a “-” for an eQSL user, and a “=” for both. You can get alerts if you are looking/waiting for needed countries or states. You can see the spotter’s node, spotter’s country, DX country’s regular prefix and name, spotter and DX stations’ CQ/ITU zones, grid squares, states/provinces. You can go to QRZ by clicking on the DX or spotter callsign. You can send email. You can click on hypertext. For DX spots, each band has its own color. Bad DX spots (blank or duplicate) are removed.

And on and on and on. Take a look for yourself. CC Cluster does everything you want except maybe help with the dinner menu. !!

Steve VE7CT, on behalf of Orca, presented Lee with a cheque for $250 to offset some of the cost burden that Lee shoulders to operate CC Cluster.

And that wraps up the February issue of The Orca Report. QRT de Rebecca VA7BEC

The Orca Report (No. 22) January 8, 2013

January 9, 2013 -- Happy New Year! Rebecca VA7BEC, with a recap of the January meeting.

A group of 27 braved the inclement weather that marked the first meeting of 2013. There were a few announcements, including an update on BCQP preparations, and then a presentation on the Botswana DXpedition from Don VE7DS and Keith VE7MID.

Membership
Membership stands at 105. It is time to renew membership for those of you who have not paid yet. A mere $24. There are several ways to pay: credit card through PayPal, Interac transfer if you use online banking in Canada, or cheque/check payable to Orca DX and Contest Club and forwarded to Dave VA7AM, club treasurer. You can also pay in cash at a meeting. Go to the Orca DXCC website for paper-trail methods.

Annual General Meeting
The AGM will take place at the next meeting on February 12. Members will be receiving an email in advance of this meeting pursuant to a change in the wording of the bylaw on the election of officers.

PNW Cup Update
Jim VE7FO provided an update on scores, current as of the CQ WW CW contest. Western Washington has not posted scores. Of the other PNW clubs, Orca is leading, with about 42 million points, well ahead of Willamette Valley, at about 33 million points. The standings will be posted to the PNW page of the Orca website soon.

Mid-Month Lunch
Members will soon receive an email about a mid-month lunch, an added opportunity to meet on a different day and time as well as venue so that members in the Lower Mainland who are unable to attend the regular monthly meeting at the RiverHouse on Tuesday nights can still gather to chat. Watch your inboxes for more information.

Technical Presentations
We tend to focus on DXpeditions at our monthly meetings, but some technical presentations will be planned for the future, interspersed between travel+radio adventures. In fact, Lee VE7CC will be the speaker at our February meeting. He will talk about CC Cluster, which most -- if not all of us -- use.

Club Finances
Treasurer Dave VA7AM reports that the club is comfortably in the black. (For the record, he did give a number but I’m not putting in The Orca Report since readership extends beyond club members.) It will be nice to have this cushion going into the planning year for the PNW Convention in our neck of the woods in 2014.

DXpedition of the Year 2012
Vote for the DXpedition that you feel was the best of 2012. Go to the DX World site and click on “DXpedition of the Year 2012” on the left side. Voting continues until January 15, 2013. The problem that caused a crimp in the registration process seems to have been solved.

Botswana 2012
Orca members Don VE7DS and Keith VE7MID were part of a vacation-style DXpedition to Botswana in March 2012. The team also included Joel N5JR and Frosty K5LBU. This was a determined effort, culminating in 11,000+ Qs in the log, but also had some excursions, like a visit to Victoria Falls on the border between southwestern Zambia and northwestern Zimbabwe.

As an aside, the falls, named after Queen Victoria by David Livingstone, is almost exactly half-way along the Zambezi River’s 2,700km journey from its source to the sea. The river plunges into a 100m vertical chasm stretching across the width of the river -- about 1.5km -- to create the biggest curtain of falling water in the world. It is, in fact, one of the seven natural wonders of the world.

Back to Botswana.

This is an extremely safe, very peaceful African nation, where the proceeds of industry, particularly diamonds, have gone into infrastructure and education. From a radio perspective, it doesn’t break the top-100 most wanted, but it will attract sufficient attention for good-sized pileups.

Frosty was the logistics guy, having lived and traveled in Africa. He had gear stashed locally for DXpedition use. He found a game lodge -- very nice accommodations with game parks all around. Aside from the anticipated sightings of giraffes and elephants, Don’s XYL Sue had a wildlife encounter of the python type. The snake decided on squirrel for lunch and dropped out of a nearby tree with its take-out for leisurely consumption at ground level before slithering off.

Each of the team members had a callsign -- A25DS for Don, A25KW for Keith, A25JR for Joel and A25CF for Frosty. If you had a QSO with any of these four operators and you want a QSL card, send your request to the operator you worked. Look at the QRZ.com info for specific QSLing instructions. The team was active during CQ WPX SSB with the callsign A25HQ. Frosty K5LBU is QSL manager for that callsign.

The team’s antenna collection featured a Tennadyne T6 Log Periodic at about 30 feet, a Cushcraft R-7 Vertical, a Butternut HF2V Vertical and a low inverted L for 160m. The rigs were an Icom 746 Pro, Yaesu FT-450 and two Elecraft K3s. Unfortunately, conditions were not ideal, mainly due to magnetic storms. Keith says, “160m was a total bust, 80m was a no show, 40m was good for the night owls, 20-10m was very dependent on band conditions, and 6m was a disappointment.”

Regardless of band conditions, the pileups were large and the team had a great time. Keith and Don both recommend this QTH for a get-a-way DXpedition.

BCQP 2013
This is an Orca DXCC-sponsored event. BCQP 2012 was well attended and post-QP comments as well as replies to my BCQP 2013 invitation emails have been very positive so we can assume that the 2013 event will be an active 12 hours as well.

First, event details. And then, an update on promotion. Helpful hints for operators who don’t regularly dabble in contests have been posted as a separate document within the BCQP section of the Orca website.

Date/Time	1600z Feb 2 - 0400z Feb 3
Objective:	For VE7/VA7s: federal electoral district For non-VE7/VA7s: Province/State/DX (Note: In this party, Hawaii (KH) and Alaska (KL) are NOT DX but states, so use HI and AK, respectively.)
Multipliers:	See the list.
Rules:	Here.
Bands:	160m to 10m. No WARC.
Modes:	PH, CW and Digital (PSK, RTTY, etc)
Awards:	BC symbol- or lovely scenery-based certificate for all top scores in all modes and all power classes. A nice Orca trinket accompanies each certificate. NEW in 2013!! Plaques for Top BC, Top Canada outside BC, Top YL, Top US and Most Federal Electoral Districts Worked

From a promotion perspective, timing is key. Contacting clubs, organizations, associations and past and potential participants too early, and people forget by game day. Wait too long, and the opportunity to get the info to the people who make announcements at once-a-month meetings is lost. Emailing and forum posts have therefore been staggered to achieve the most effective coverage.

Who’s been contacted so far?
Radio-related clubs, associations and blog editors in BC and other provinces, operators of contest calendars in Canada, the U.S., Japan and Germany, same-day QSO party organizers, our PNW friends, and past participants have been contacted.

Many clubs and blog editors have posted the invitation email to their respective websites, forwarded the email to members, included information about the BCQP in member newsletters, or have done all three. And they continue to keep the profile of the BCQP high.

Same-day QSO party organizers were contacted so that they can encourage in-state participants to take advantage of Q-trading opportunities.

As an aside... Like BC stations, in-state participants in the Minnesota (MN), Delaware (DE) and Vermont (VT) QSO parties will be looking for anyone anywhere. If you are CQing and you get an MN station -- clue is that you get MN in the exchange or the op gives you way too much information than you need -- offer to give the op the info s/he needs for his/her MNQP log. If you hear an MN station CQing for the MNQP, drop by, give the guy/gal a point and ask if s/he’d be willing to reciprocate. Note: This technique will not work, however, if you get a VE3 who is participating in one of the other QSO parties. Out-of-state operators do not get a point for contacting stations outside the host state.

Contest calendars... All calendar-keepers except WA7BNM have updated their sites. (Jeff VE7JR emailed WA7BNM to ask why BCQP doesn’t appear in the Feb 2013 list and was told that other updates are more of a priority. !!)

Luckily, not everyone relies on WA7BNM’s calendar, and some calendars are QSO party-specific, so any clubs that have a permanent link to such calendars are aware of the BCQP.

Check out ARRL’s Contest Corral for February 2013. It’s very thorough and includes info on the required exchange for each event. I made an at-a-glance summary of same-weekend events for myself for easy reference on game day. I will upload this to the Orca Yahoo Group. If you don’t belong to the Yahoo Group and want a copy of this summary, email me. I’ll send it to you directly.

My post to the RAC Bulletin was picked up by Southgate ARC News in the U.K., which is in turn picked up by other clubs and organizations, news feeds, blogs and daily mailouts near and far. It’s amazing where “BCQP” shows up... from clubs in Canada and the U.S. to organizations in the Netherlands and South Africa. It’s like getting spotted on the cluster during a contest. It’s absolutely delightful!

What’s next?
I will be posting to forums next week, and reminder emails will go out to everyone everywhere at the end of the month.

New in 2013
A new development for BCQP 2013 that could draw more participation is the plaque program. We now have five sponsored plaques: Top BC (sponsored by Fleetwood Digital Products), Top Canada outside BC (Cowichan Valley ARS), Top YL (Burnaby ARC), Top US (Orca DXCC) and Most Federal Electoral Districts Contacted (Surrey ARC and SEPAR).

WA Connection
Close proximity to Washington State could make Qs difficult. But it’s not impossible. Nevertheless, the hours spent by a WA operator are only fun and worthwhile if there are a good number of VE7/VA7s on the air to contact. So Orca members -- spread the word so that there are lots of BC stations calling CQ in BCQP. The party doesn’t happen without us.

VA7ODX operators
I will take SSB. Anyone interested in CW or RTTY shifts? A couple of hours...? What say?

Please contact me, VA7BEC, if you can run with the sponsor callsign for a bit. I’ll set up a schedule.

Incentive
For Orca members, we will again have an in-house draw. Make 25 Qs and submit your log, and your name will go into a draw for a prize. Something nice but not extravagant. The number of names drawn will depend on the number of logs submitted by Orca members.

Please...
Talk about the BCQP with radio pals. The more BC stations we get on the air, the more Q potential there is for BC and non-BC stations, which draws more participants and fuels the Q count, which makes CQing productive, which attracts more participants, which expands the potential for more Qs... and on it goes. We got some of that snowball effect in 2012. Let’s keep it rolling.

Orca members outside the Lower Mainland, your federal electoral district will be a most-wanted in the BCQP. If you can’t devote hours in front of the radio, consider listening every so often and drop by if you hear a VE7/VA7.

If you have questions about the BCQP, email me. I will try my best to answer or find someone who can if I can’t.

33, 73 and/or 88, as the case may be. QRT de Rebecca VA7BEC

The Orca Report (No. 21) Christmas meeting -- December 11, 2012

December 12, 2012 -- Rebecca VA7BEC, with the last Orca Report for 2012. The meeting was a Christmas-themed gathering of Orca DXCC members and significant others. We were a group of 35.

Ken VE7BC was there -- momentarily, it seemed -- like a QSL Santa to hand out bureau cards.

We had a few announcements and a few seen-and-heard items, at least to my eyes and ears.

Email from VE7DS
Don VE7DS should be winging his way back home now. The Campbell Island DXpedition (ZL9HR) wrapped up with 45,000+ Qs in the log. As of December 11, 2012, OQRS is active and LoTW is pending. We can expect to hear about this adventure from Don in the new year.

PNW Cup Jim VE7FO announced that after the first eligible contests of the PNW Challenge, Orca DXCC is leading by about four million points, but one club has yet to submit data. Could this be a strategy to lull the rest of the clubs into believing they are in a better position than they really are?

Membership Dues
If you haven’t paid up for 2013, please do. Just $24 for the year. You can pay by credit card through PayPal, Interac transfer if you use online banking in Canada, or cheque/check payable to Orca DX and Contest Club and forwarded to Dave VA7AM, club treasurer. Go to the Orca website for details.

CQ Serenade
After I mentioned “The Contest” by The Ham Band in the November issue of the Orca Report, Brian VE7JKZ brought to my attention “CQ Serenade”, a jazzy big-band tune. I did a bit of research and found that CQ Serenade was composed by Maurice Durieux VE2QS who was an orchestra conductor employed by Radio Canada. CQ Serenade was first recorded in French and later in English. The Zerobeat source puts the date somewhere between 1965 and 1970, but I believe this is incorrect since the English-version 45 RPM recorded by VE2QS and his orchestra was a souvenir at Dayton Hamvention in 1960! I hate inconsistencies, so I researched some more. I think the more accurate dates are 1950 for the French version and 1951 for the English version.

Many people have used CQ Serenade a background music for YouTube productions, so you can do a search on YouTube with ease. But if you’re just interested in the audio, go to Zerobeat and you’ll find three renditions in MP3 format: the English version sung by Joyce Hahn, the French version sung by Raymond Girerd, and an instrumental version.

BCQP 2013
The promotion wagon is still rolling, moving along even as I sleep. Well, it sometimes seems that way when I get emails from people I didn’t contact and contest calendars get updated without me contacting the people who do the updating.

Just FYI, for those of you who go to the mecca of online calendars -- WA7BNM -- and wonder why BCQP isn’t listed in the February 2013 list, you’ll have to ask Bruce Horn. I have emailed him several times and provided corrections to the info he has in the historical section, but as yet I see no changes to the 2013 calendar.

As more emails go out, Orca members may be inundated with BCQP promotional materials (invitations, updates, etc.). Some Orca members also belong to community radio clubs, inter/national forums, online groups and other associations, and my aggressive emailing may mean some of you get the info twice or more from various sources. I apologize in advance.

Some clubs have put the BCQP invitation and/or information about the event in their newsletters and on their websites. This is just fabulous. Keeps the profile high for BCQP and also draws attention to respective club websites every time someone googles “BCQP”. Win-win situation.

But we can do even more.

If any of you meet up with ham friends who do not belong to amateur radio organizations and might not know about the BCQP, please mention it. If you belong to other groups that may not have received the official invitation, or if the email was received but the content didn’t reach everyone in that group, please point them in the direction of the Orca website. The BCQP section can be accessed from the Orca home page or directly. You’ll find the rules, multiplier lists, background info and a list of plaque sponsors and available categories for sponsorship, should a club or group of individuals or a radio-related business wish to sponsor a plaque.

Yes, we have a plaque program now. Two categories have been locked up -- Top Score BC and Top YL Score -- and as of December 11, a third is reserved, pending payment. This is a great PR opportunity for sponsors AND helps recognize outstanding results by BCQP participants.

BCQP 2012 was the first under Orca sponsorship and was, by all accounts, a tremendous success. The most encouraging indicator of progress, to me, was the huge increase in VE7/VA7s on the air -- tripling year-on year, to more than 120 -- as well as more electoral districts activated, 26 of 36. With more BC operators on the air and a deeper reservoir of multipliers to tap, the time really flew by. It was a great day in front of the radio. :)

If the 120+ operators who took to the mic, key and/or keyboard in 2012 can encourage even just one radio pal to get involved in BCQP 2013, imagine what an incredible party it will be. This will make it a lot easier for out-of-BC participants to find BC stations -- remember, non-BC stations can only work BC stations, while BC stations can work anyone anywhere -- and the party is a whole lot more enjoyable when there are contacts to be made.

There will be other QSO parties on that weekend -- MNQP, VTQP, DEQP -- as well as 10-10 International Phone and Mexico RTTY and CW Sprint. Lots of activity that we, in BC, can maximize. I realize it is a tougher task for WA stations because the stateside QSO parties are not of help to you in the BCQP. But if you are on the radio, perhaps doing one or more of the stateside QSO parties, listen for BC, too. I know BC stations will be happy to hear you answer their CQs. Plus, you could do well enough to capture top spot outside BC in your category of entry.

It’s December now. No doubt, you are all hanging new calendars on the wall. Orca members, please pencil in BCQP on February 2.

BCQP 2013 will run for 12 hours, from 1600z Feb. 2 to 0400z Feb. 3 (Feb. 2 local time 8am to 8pm).

And now it’s time for a toast. Enjoy all the wonderful moments that this time of year brings. Be well. Be happy. All the best for 2013.

Cheers!

QRT de VA7BEC

The Orca Report (No. 20) November 13, 2012

November 14, 2012 -- Rebecca VA7BEC, your Orca Reporter, with a recap of the last night’s meeting.

We were a good-sized group -- 34 -- and had the place to ourselves. We had a very nice presentation from Brian VE7JKZ about his Pic-a-STAR SDR project, preceded by a few announcements and a short video.

Announcements

CQ WW Contests
CQ WW SSB took place at the end of October. Generally, conditions were good and 3830 shows some boastable scores, even from our neck of the woods. The CW section takes place at the end of this month. If you didn’t see the Yahoo Group post and ignored the various did-you-know? emails because SSB isn’t your thing, please note that logs for CQ WW contests must be submitted within five (5) days after the contest ends. That means November 30, 2012, for the CQ section.

QSL Bureau
Ken VE7BC, who handles bureau-routed QSL cards for BC/Yukon, was unable to get to the meeting last night but has received a shipment of cards. If you are expecting cards, give him a shout. And by the way, Ken does an excellent job with the very time-consuming task of sorting cards and getting them to the right people often through some very helpful individuals. TU to all involved.

On the Admin Front
Membership. It’s time to pay up for 2013. Annual membership is just $24. You can pay by credit card through PayPal, Interac transfer if you use online banking in Canada, or cheque/check payable to Orca DX and Contest Club and forwarded to Dave VA7AM, club treasurer. Go to the Orca DXCC website for details.

Greetings from Afar
Neil VA7DX sends greetings from Africa. !!

Bon Voyage
Don VE7DS will soon be on his way to Campbell Island, in the South Pacific, 600km south of New Zealand. He is part of a DXpedition organized by the Hellenic Amateur Radio of Association of Australia. Listen for ZL9HR, Nov. 28 to Dec. 9.

Lunch Meetings
Dave VE7VR broached the idea of lunch meetings that would take place between RiverHouse meetings. This would provide members with an extra opportunity to chat in a different setting and also offer those who cannot make a Tuesday evening meeting with a non-Tuesday daytime alternative. If you like the idea, drop Dave an email so he can ascertain interest in the idea.

BCQP 2013
The BCQP promotion wagon has rolled out, with BC amateur radio clubs and same-day QSO party sponsors as its first stop. Several clubs have already added a link to our BCQP page, and there has been some interest from within BC about sponsoring plaques for particularly awesome results.

Managers of contest calendars have been contacted. Most have updated their online sites. Will give the last one another week or so before I send a polite reminder.

I will be emailing clubs and organizations outside BC within the next couple of weeks, followed by invitations to past participants. I apologize in advance to anyone who becomes inundated with BCQP promotional materials (invitations, emails, updates, etc.). Some Orca members also belong to community radio clubs, inter/national forums, groups and associations, and my aggressive emailing may mean some people get the info twice or more. SRI.

BCQP Sprint
An after-party event. For 30 minutes after BCQP ends -- 8pm local time -- Orca members would go to, let’s say, 80m, and try to pick up as many Orca friends as possible over a specified frequency range. I would defer to experts in sprint procedure, but I believe no one holds a CQ frequency but rather turns the CQ frequency over after a completed QSO and moves up a kilohertz, if that frequency is clear, or makes a Q on the up-1 frequency, inherits it for one Q, and then moves on, continuously.

Would someone like to organize the BCQP Sprint? Let me know and I’ll fill you in on what’s involved.

Short Video: DIY Magic of Amateur Radio
ARRL released a video back in December 2011 that highlights some of the imaginative and fun ways that radio amateurs use radio technology. The eight-minute presentation is geared toward the do-it-yourself movement, which ARRL says is “inspiring a new generation of creators, hackers and innovators.” Click through the official ARRL site here or just view it on YouTube.

Aside from the video, you can enjoy the catchy “Join Us on the Airwaves” by The Ham Band. If you have some time to spare, watch the YouTube videos of the group’s songs. Quite good, really, especially “The Contest.”

Pic-A-STAR: 100% homebrew HF SSB/CW transceiver
Brian VE7JKZ gave us an overview of his 100% homebrew HF SSB/CW transceiver. The Pic-A-STAR (Programable Intelligent Computer Software Transmitter And Receiver) is a software-defined radio designed by Peter Rhodes G3XJP.

It is not an easy project. Several sources I visited to confirm the technical details that Brian touched upon -- because I got lost after the acronym ;) -- noted the designer’s own words: “This is a detailed construction project aimed at those of modest experience who would like to enhance both their craft and technology skills. At the outset -- like me -- it may well be that you don’t have the skills or knowledge to build this project. By the end, you will have. That is, as I see it, the whole idea.” A very thorough article by Peter G3XJP can be found here. It is very comprehensive and includes many of the diagrams that Brian used in his presentation as well.

As Brian knows first hand, this project requires the builder to do everything: make circuit boards, source components, solder parts, run tests and do requisite troubleshooting. Quite a lot of effort. So why go through all the bother? Because you can improve your technical know-how and develop new skills, it’s challenging and there’s satisfaction in a job well done, and you can customize the radio to your needs. Most importantly, however, if you build it, you can fix it.

December meeting
The next meeting will be our Christmas-themed dinner on December 11.

And that’s it for this installment of The Orca Report.
73 QRT de VA7BEC

The Orca Report (No. 19) October 9, 2012

October 10, 2012 -- Another meeting, another report. But no major announcements.

We were a group of 26.

Malpelo Official Video
Our main presentation was the official video for the Malpelo DXpedition (HK0NA) that took place back in late January/early February 2012. Steve VE7CT did a slide show and commentary in March and spoke at the DX Convention in Portland in August, but the video provides still another glimpse into this amazing DXpedition. The views from the top of the island -- at Op A -- are breath-taking, in more ways than one. What a climb! But also, what an accomplishment.

The video includes a very informative interview with Reggie, an amicable representative from the island’s Booby population.

For those of you who missed the video, the Malpelo website has lots of pictures from various stages of the DXpedition -- On the Way, Camp Setup, Operating, Breaking Down and Heading Home -- that will give you a good idea of the challenges the team faced. If you like collecting DXpedition videos, go here for details on how to add the NK0NA DVD to your collection.

Coming Soon
For you contesters -- avid and casual -- don’t forget about CQ WW SSB the last full weekend of October. This is the second of the 10 eligible contests in the PNW Cup. If you do get on the air, upload your score to 3830 or send the raw result to Jim VE7FO so that he can add your contribution to the Orca tally.

And that’s it for the October meeting recap. 73 QRT de VA7BEC

The Orca Report (No. 18) September 11, 2012

September 12, 2012 -- Hard to believe it’s September. The summer break went by far too quickly. This time of year always reminds me of new beginnings rather than an end -- as in the end of summer and the approaching end of the year -- maybe because of the back-to-school atmosphere.

September also marks Orca’s birthday, and I see great things in store for the club as we start of our third year. Our membership -- now at 103 -- is active in so many different aspects of our hobby and boasts considerable depth in radio-related expertise and experience.

Last night, 27 of us gathered at the RiverHouse Restaurant for a eating, drinking and catching up.

What did you do over the summer?

Dave VE7VR had good feedback to his question “What did you do this summer?”. Contributors were Don VE7DS, John VA7XB, Jim VE7FO, Hew VA7HU, Bill VE7XS, Dick K6KR, Eric VA7DZ, Don VE7DJ, Paul VE7BZ, Dave VE7VR/M and Rick VE7WF. Most pictures highlighted antenna or tower projects.

View the presentation (PDF 1.9MB).

Show and Tell

Show and tell featured two new items from Elecraft: a KX3 transceiver and a soon-to-ship antenna tuner, courtesy of Orca member and Elecraft representative Dick K6KR.

PNW DX Convention 2012

The convention was held near Portland, OR, August 3-5. It was apparently well-attended, and the programs were interesting. The traveling PNW Challenge Cup stayed with the Willamette Valley DX Club, with Orca again securing a respectable No. 2 position. Spokane DX Association will play host in 2013, and then the venue shifts north to our neck of the woods in 2014.

Feature Presentation

Our presentation for the evening was from Heinz VA7AQ who talked us through a slideshow on his August 17-19 adventure to activate Pleasant Island, Alaska (NA-161) with Doc KL7XK and Frank VE7DP. As with all radio-purposed forays into the wilderness, the men endured the requisite multiple modes of transportation to get to their intended QTH and some inclement weather. The weekend effort put about 2,000 Qs -- CW and SSB -- on 30/20/17/15 meters into the log.

Alaska in midsummer is mosquito-central. However, that particular predator was not particularly interested in radio or radio operators. The bears stayed away as well.

The scenery is gorgeous up there. The island lies about an hour’s boat ride from Gustavus, on the mainland, which is itself just a short flight from Juneau. My question is always “Would you go again?”, and Heinz’s answer is a “yes” but for longer than the weekend to make it worth the cost.

VE7CC Cluster

Speaking of costs, Steve VE7CT proposed that Orca, as a club, might consider a contribution to Lee VE7CC to offset the cost of the VE7CC DX Cluster as nearly all of us utilize the program. Members in attendance wholehearted agreed to this proposal and have allowed the executive to determine an appropriate amount.

And that wraps things up for this issue of The Orca Report. 73 QRT de VA7BEC

The Orca Report (No. 17) June 12, 2012

June 14, 2012 -- Rebecca VA7BEC here with your Orca Repor. Sorry for the delay. Was trying to confirm some of the overheard comments from the meeting. Will have to go with what I’ve got, and I’ll add something to the Yahoo! Group later if/when I get details.

So here’s a quick summary of the June 12 meeting.

We were a group of 30. There was no special feature presentation -- just a casual evening of conversation and a few announcements.

Pacific Northwest DX Convention

Hosted this year by the Willamette Valley DX Club, the 2012 Pacific Northwest DX Convention will be held near Portland, OR, August 3-5. Register before June 15 and you will receive two free grand prize tickets.

Did you know that Steve VE7CT will be the keynote speaker at the Saturday dinner banquet? He has many worthwhile topics to present but will highlight his most recent adventure -- Malpelo.

FYI, Spokane DX Association will play host in 2013, and then the venue shifts north to our neck of the woods in 2014.

IOTA Contest

Don VE7DS will be active from Pender Island (NA-075) in the RSGB-sponsored Islands on the Air (IOTA) Contest 2012 taking place 1200Z Saturday July 28 to 1200Z Sunday July 29. He’ll be portable LP CW only near the top of Mount Menzies.

If this a contest you have been in before, please note that there are some changes for 2012. View the rules.

Overheard

Don VE7DS is on the ZL9HR team that heads to Campbell Island for operation November 17-30, 2012. ZL9 is No. 15 on the current DXCC most wanted list. The team will be active during the CW segment of CQ WW DX 2012 (November 24-25, 2012).

The BCQP continues to generate positive feedback, most recently for the special Orca Report, the classy certificates and cool orca trinkets. Canadian scores have been sent to the score-minder at The Canadian Amateur for inclusion in the Sports Pages in an upcoming issue. Dayton was, as always, a lot of fun.

A bit of sad news. Orca member Jerry VE7NX became a silent key on May 21, 2012. As of this writing, I have not been able to confirm any details, including where to send a condolence card. Stay tuned.

And that’s it for this installment of the Orca Report. Remember that we will be taking a break for July and August. The next meeting and follow-up report will be in September. Have a great summer. Lots of on-air activities to keep you busy, including IARU HF World Championship, 1200Z, July 14 to 1200Z, July 15 -- the last qualifying contest of the PNW Challenge.

73 QRT de VA7BEC

The Orca Report (No. 16) May 15, 2012

May 16, 2012 -- Rebecca VA7BEC, here with your Orca Report for the May meeting.

We were a good-sized group -- 25 -- and had the place more or less to ourselves.

Membership stands at 98 active members, that is, people who have paid their $24 for the year.

The two main events at the meeting last night were 1) the presentation of certificates to BCQP 2012 category winners in attendance and the prize draw for Orca DXCC members who submitted logs with at least 25 QSOs, and 2) a look back at the FP/VE7SV DXpedition to Saint Pierre & Miquelon in October 2004.

BCQP 2012

Results and Certificates
Top scores in all classes, BC and outside BC, receive certificates and a little something -- a really cool Orca pen. Dave VE7VR, Dick N7RO and Jeff VE7JR picked up their certificates and pens at the meeting. All remaining certificates and pens will be sent out by Canada Post as soon as the envelopes are stuffed and addressed.

If you participated in the event and are curious about where you placed -- or, you just want to compare our event to other QSO parties from a results’ perspective -- please go to the results page. Entries are listed by category and by score, with the winning stations listed first in each category.

Alternatively, you can view the special Orca Report, which includes results as well as in-depth, post-QP discussion and analysis.

Prize Draw
The idea behind the prize draw was to encourage Orca DXCC members to get on the air, which many would have done anyway to support a club activity, as well as to boost the log count, which is a tangible indicator of event success (and it helps to have more logs on hand to facilitate the log-checking process).

Fourteen eligible callsigns went into a box, and Bill VE7XS drew out three: VE7CV, VE7SNC and VE7JR. Pete VE7CV and Brent VE7SNC will receive gift cards for London Drugs and The Liquor Store, respectively. Jeff VE7JR got the Home Depot gift card, which I’m sure will be put toward something for use at “the project”.

FP/VE7SV

Some very familiar callsigns were involved in a DXpedition October 23 to November 2, 2004, to Miquelon -- an island in the archipelago of Saint-Pierre & Miquelon just a stone’s throw from Newfoundland’s southern end. These islands represent the last foothold of France in North America.

The FP/VE7SV operating team comprised Dale VE7SV (team leader), Paul VA7NT, Andy VE7AHA, Lee VE7CC, Allan VE7SZ, Dave VE7VR, Dick N7RO and Ramon XE1KK. Last night, Dave and Dick provided some insider commentary to go along with photos and a video from the DXpedition.

I won’t go into great detail since information about this adventure is still available online, including a very thorough article written by Paul VE7BZ, and photos and the usual DXpedition data can be accessed from here.

The presentation last night, though, really brought home the fact that DXpeditions don’t always have to be far from home to be adventures or create interest from around the world. Regardless of location, DXpeditions require planning and packing, setting up and taking down -- sometimes, Mother Nature helps with that latter! -- and of course, operation, and the inevitable QSLing, plus behind-the-scenes support. A DXpedition will attract attention simply because it is a DXpedition, and if run right, it will be in constant pileup mode.

In the end, the team logged just shy of 60,000 Qs, and Dick, as QSL manager, was kept busy sending out QSL cards -- more than 50,000!

And this wraps up the May 2012 issue of the Orca Report. Until next time, QRT de VA7BEC

The Orca Report (No. 15) April 10, 2012

April 11, 2012 -- Rebecca VA7BEC here with a recap of last night’s meeting.

We were a group of 22 plus a couple tables of accidental DX/contesters who stuck around until the South Sudan presentation.

Other items on the agenda were updates on the PNW Cup standings and BCQP results, a reminder about members-only QSL cards, an introduction to Gmail Tap and a few other announcements.

PNW Cup

Spreadsheet-minder Jim VE7FO says the newest batch of scores -- up to and including ARRL DX SSB 2012 -- will be posted to the Orca website very soon (UPDATE: now online) even though a couple of the participating clubs are falling way behind in providing data. Orca DXCC is nicely up to date and shows a solid score of nearly 77 million points. Members need only post to 3830 or send a raw score to Jim directly for applicable data to be included in the spreadsheet.

A couple of things to remember though: If you post to 3830 and want your score to go toward the Orca DXCC total, you have to select “Orca DX and Contest Club” from the list of clubs so that Jim knows which club the score is supposed to benefit. Also, Jim waits until the log submission deadline for each applicable contest before updating the spreadsheet.

BCQP 2012 Results

The log submission deadline has passed, and final results for BC and non-BC stations have been posted on the BCQP results page. A special Orca Report will be uploaded within a few weeks, I hope, with some discussion and analysis of the numbers.

Suffice to say, this was THE BEST BCQP EVER!!! From the number of logs received to the number of Qs in those logs. From pre-QP interest to actual game day participation to extremely positive post-QP comments. This was a great event for amateur radio in BC and a wonderful opportunity to put Orca DXCC in the spotlight. FB everyone. VY FB.

Certificates for category winners are at the design stage.

The internal prize draw for Orca DXCC members who submitted logs with at least 25 QSOs will be made at the May meeting.

QSL Cards

As announced at the March meeting, members of Orca DXCC may order QSL cards showcasing our namesake. The first orders are already arriving. For a variety of reasons -- see the March issue of The Orca Report -- printing is being done by LZ1JZ and Dick N7RO is handling orders on behalf of club members.

There are two front styles and four back styles. Bud VA7ST has created an order form that you can download from the Orca DXCC website. Just print out the form, fill in the required details, and send it to Dick with the appropriate funds. Easy.

Morse code texting?!

Have you heard about Gmail Tap? Very impressive. Google certainly goes to great lengths to be on the cutting edge of technology trends. And the fact that this marvelous approach to texting -- one that has the power to attract a whole new generation to CW -- debuted on April 1... just a odd timing, right? ;) Too bad... I wouldn’t mind an app like that.

Other Announcements

Look for an email to be posted to the Orca Group via Dave VE7VR from Dave VA7AM regarding the potential of an alliance with G6PZ.

Membership status. If you go to the current roster on the Orca DXCC website, you’ll see red asterisks beside a few callsigns. This is not the equivalent of a gold star but rather an indicator that dues for 2012 have not been paid. Three payment options are available: cheque/check, Interac email money transfer and PayPal. Go to Join the club! on the Orca DXCC website.

Feature Presentation: South Sudan, ST0R

The South Sudan 2011 DXpedition, July 22 to Aug 10, 2011, was a joint effort between the Intrepid-DX Group and DX Friends. Orca DXCC provided some support and received a copy of the ST0R video as a thank you. The production is a far cry from the extremely professional videos made by James Brooks, 9V1YC but it still tells a good story, particularly the rather amusing difference between CW pileups and RTTY pileups that you really to have to see to appreciate.

The ST0R team put 121,286 QSOs in the log and worked 175 DXCC and 40 CQ zones. The statistics page on the DXpedition website is quite interesting. It appears that CW was the top mode, but the team set a new world record for RTTY contacts during a new country activation. If you like following DXpedition adventures and feel you might have missed out by not seeing the video, check out the very detailed article by Paul Ewing, N6PSE.

And this wraps up the April 2012 Orca Report. Bye for now. QRT de VA7BEC

The Orca Report (No. 14) March 13, 2012

March 14, 2012 -- Rebecca VA7BEC, here with your Orca Report for last night’s meeting. We were back to the old Tuesday schedule, and 31 people came out to eat, drink, chat about radio and (drum roll, please) be the first to see the new Orca DXCC QSL card. We also had a great presentation from Steve VE7CT about the Malpelo DXpedition (HK0NA).

QSL Cards

The need for a club QSL card took on some urgency because of BCQP 2012. Inevitably, a few cards will trickle in from operators who worked VA7ODX in the party and they deserve replies. But from an organizing perspective, a general sendout to all stations that worked VA7ODX would provide a tangible thank you for supporting the Orca DXCC-sponsored event and keep the profile of the party and the club high. Fred VE7IO quickly designed a simple but practical card and off to the printer’s it went.

Meanwhile, Dave VE7VR was working on a design that would have impact... something showcasing our namesake in a way that would evoke the quasi-aggressive nature of contesting and DXing and maybe also the image of a smooth operator, in a radio sense of course, sweeping through pileups like an orca glides through the water. So instead of a cartoonish drawing or a passive picture of a killer whale, the front of the card features a breaching orca. Dynamic. Impressive. Pile-up crashing.

As you might expect, the chosen photograph is copyrighted. After some back-and-forth emails with the photographer and his agent, Dave secured a very reasonable deal for the club.

To cut costs and, since this card is for members'-use only, to control access and keep track of usage to comply with the royalty agreement, printing will be done by LZ1JZ, one of the world’s biggest QSL card companies.

There are two front styles and four back styles. Go to the clubcard page on the Orca DXCC website for a look.

Note that the examples were created for VA7ODX. For individuals, that is, member stations, the front will show your callsign not "VA7ODX" and “Member Station” not "Club Station" and the back will show your information details not those of Orca DXCC. What will remain, of course, is the affiliation to Orca DXCC.

Dick N7RO will handle ordering on behalf of club members to facilitate the process and also to ensure exclusivity to club members.

Bud VA7ST has created an order form that you can download from our website. Just print out the form, fill in the required details, and send it to Dick with the appropriate funds. Easy.

BCQP 2012

A few more logs have come in since the last update. The deadline is March 31, 2012. I’ll have final results to disclose at the April meeting.

Malpelo DXpedition

As most of you know, Steve VE7CT and Neil VA7DX were part of the DXpedition to Malpelo, a sheer and barren rock rising out of the ocean on Colombia’s Pacific side. It is uninhabited, except for a small military post manned by the Colombian army to assert the country’s sovereignty over the island. Of course, there are the usual island companions that keep DXpeditions entertained when not on shift: birds, crabs and sharks. Did you know that Malpelo is home to a unique shark population? Hammerheads. That’s why the marine predator gets star treatment in the DXpedition logo.

HK0NA was QRV Jan. 21 through Feb 5. From the pictures Steve showed us, it is very clear that this was an extremely physically demanding DXpedition. Sort of an ironman competition for amateur radio operators. Those who made the climb up to Op A... wow. But because of Op A, near the summit of the island, areas of the world that had been blocked from contact in previous DXpedition were covered this time.

A lot of preparation was involved before the full complement of operators arrived, and the efforts of the advance crew -- the Fabulous Four (Jaime HK1N, Sal HK1T, Bolmar HK1MW and Faber HK6F) -- in building the infrastructure and setting up the antennas for HK0NA meant the team could get on the air almost immediately upon arrival at the rock.

In the end, HK0NA logged more than 190,000 QSOs, breaking by a considerable margin the previous “tent and generator” record for DXpeditions to locations where the terrain prevents arrival by plane and where the team is essentially roughing it the whole time.

This was a brutally tiring adventure for the 20-man on-island team, but it probably would have been a whole lot more exhausting and more dangerous and therefore perhaps not as successful if it weren’t for the Colombian navy and the crew of the Seawolf who did a lot of the heavy lifting.

The DXpedition site is full of background, commentary and pictures about the island and the operation. It’s worth a look.

And that’s it for this issue of The Orca Report. QRT de VA7BEC

The Orca Report (No. 13) February 16, 2012

February 16, 2012 -- The regular second-Tuesday-of-the-month meeting was bumped because of Valentine's Day. Maybe Wednesday worked better for more people. Maybe the credentials' of the guest speaker piqued interest. Maybe the opportunity to meet a recently arrived contester from Russia was the draw. Whatever the reason, this irregularly scheduled Wednesday meeting had incredibly good attendance: 36.

A lot transpired.

Welcome Home!
Steve VE7CT and Neil VA7DX have returned from Malpelo HK0NA. I'm sure they will recount their DXpedition stories in a presentation for us soon.

BCQP 2012 Update
A Henry 4K-amplified TU to everyone who got on the air on February 4 for BCQP 2012. Initial indications are that BCQP 2012 was indeed a whale of a good time -- a bit more of a challenge on CW and DIGI than on PH -- but the best run ever.

As of February 15, 2012, a total of 58 logs have been received -- 32 non-BC and 26 BC -- and I know there are still a few more to come in. The deadline is March 31, 2012.

Compared with the well-established QSO parties, the log tally so far may seem rather small but it is in no way insignificant. In no way whatsoever.

Consider: The number of BC logs is already twice that of last year and includes a couple from JA -- a first. There are more Qs in BC operators' logs and more logs with Qs in excess of 100. There are more Qs in the logs of non-BC stations, as well, substantiating the fact that there were more BC stations on the air for the non-BC stations to contact. And there have been numerous comments in the soapbox section of logs and in separate emails of "That was fun".

Excellent progress!!

What makes me over-the-moon happy, though, is the number of VE7/VA7s on the air. Perusing the submitted logs, I count about 120 BC callsigns -- operators who participated on their own and appear more than once in submitted logs as well as operators on teams. This is a three-fold jump over the 2011 event.

Since the goal of the BCQP is to get BC operators on the air, I think it's fair to say that BCQP 2012 was a success.

In addition, it seems that BCQP 2012 was used as an opportunity to show new operators the fun of HF and contesting, albeit casual contesting, and to gain familiarity with radios, antennas and logging software. Not everything went smoothly at every station, but that's radio. We have to learn how to deal with glitches and broken equipment and software that doesn't do what we want no matter how much we curse it. ; )

Now the challenge -- if the 120 operators can encourage even just one radio pal to join us in BCQP 2013, what an incredible party it will be.

If you have a log and haven't submitted it yet, please do. Don't let a small score stop you. Or paper.

You have several log-submission options. The preferred way is a Cabrillo log to bcqp@orcadxcc.org (or bcqp@va7st.ca), especially if you made hundreds of Qs, because it's easier to check and easier to store. But I'll take paper logs, if that's what you've got. If you have just a few QSOs, you can enter them into the Web-to-Cabrillo form online and the file will be sent to the log submission address automatically. If you have too many Qs to enter into the online form, you can send the paper log to the official Orca DXCC address at 105A-8988 Fraserton Court, Burnaby, BC V5J 5H8, or you can give it to me at the next meeting.

AGM
Not a lot to discuss. The constitution is set -- thank you John VA7JW -- and was accepted, as written, by everyone present. The by-laws and organization therein provide the necessary structure to direct the club's growth into the future.

The executive is more or less the same as it was last year, as the positions taken last year are two-year terms. The only change is that John VA7JW has stepped down as secretary and I have assumed this position. Dave VE7VR is president. Steve VE7CT is vice-president. Dave VA7AM is treasurer. Directors and chairs for specific tasks are listed on the Current executive page under Club Info.

President's Random Thoughts
Why just sit and do nothing when lists can be made? Some random thoughts from the president on activities and topics to pursue at a future date:

A meeting in Bellingham some Saturday? We could take in a tour of the radio museum. Other regional meetings? Awards program? "Contester of the year" or maybe "Most new entities confirmed". To be given out at the next AGM. A raffle? RAC insurance? Show-and-tell or contester/DXer hints? Just 10 minutes of meeting time to start a conversation. Meeting frequency? The question was put forth and it seems everyone is happy with the once-a-month meeting schedule. Technical presentations? Orca Convention? Perhaps it could take place every two years but not in a year when the PNWDX Convention takes place. VA7ODX* expedition: IOTA location? VA7ODX* Field Day? VA7ODX QSL cards? A generic card with the VA7ODX logo and respective member's callsign. Orca Yahoo! Group: Please participate. Use this communication conduit. Membership has topped 100!
*If/when the Orca DXCC callsign is to be used in an event, the Contest Coordinator -- that's me -- has to be told before the event because, well, the callsign shouldn't be in use by more than one group at any given time.

Dave VE7VR's list has a lot of great ideas. But please do not assume he will be the one to implement them all. For instance, if a group of Orca DXCC members wants to use VA7ODX for Field Day, no problem. But Dave is not going to be the one to organize the event. If you'd like to handle an activity, please put your name forward.

PNW Cup
Willamette Valley is not very forthcoming with scores. Given that this club has won the PNW Cup several times in a row, the lack of numerical data leaves the other clubs guessing as to the real leader. Suffice it to say, Orca DXCC is doing well in the rankings but it would be nice to know where WVDXC stands.

Welcome
Mike RW0CN, who just got the callsign VE7ACN, may be new to Vancouver but he's most certainly not new to contesting and has already had some local on-air time as a member of VE7JR's team in the BCQP and then trying out some RTTY with the VB7R team in last weekend's WPX RTTY.

Feature Presentation: VE7YL's Life in Ham Radio
Many adjectives can be used to describe Elizabeth VE7YL. Petite. Soft-spoken. Unassuming. But they do not speak to her indomitable spirit of adventure and determination. What a life she has led! And radio has played an integral part.

Perhaps you already know her background. Perhaps not. Regardless, I think it's worth telling (again).

She graduated from Sprott Shaw Radio School in Vancouver in 1944 with a second class radio license. Although keen to be a radio operator aboard a Norwegian ship plying the waters of the Atlantic or Pacific, her parents were not as keen, so Elizabeth took a job with the Canadian government, first at the Point Grey wireless station, as an interceptor operator and then, after VE Day, a position just outside Victoria.

But when the chance came again to go to sea, Elizabeth was not about to pass it up. Her roommate was also interested in the job, but with a lucky cut of the cards, Elizabeth soon found herself aboard the Norwegian sailing ship MV Vito. It was 1947.

In 1949, she joined the MV Skauvann.

If there was ever a problem with the radio equipment, she fixed it. Resourceful. Capable.

When Elizabeth signed off on Skauvann in early 1951, she embarked on a new journey -- married life -- but continued her travels. Husband Reg was a chemical engineer working for Shell Oil, which sent him around the world.

Radio moved out of the spotlight. But when Elizabeth and Reg moved to Calgary, they visited a friend who was a radio amateur, and Elizabeth had the opportunity to try her CW again. And she was hooked -- this time on amateur radio. She got the call VE6ALE in 1971. Then Reg was sent to Abadan, Iran, and she got the call EP2EA, in 1972. Then the Netherlands-PA9ELA and VE7BIP/PA, in 1977, and Jakarta, Indonesia-YB0ADT, in 1978.

Can't forget to mention the two-week operation as PJ2CC in Curacao in 1980.

And YL DXpeditions... to the British Virgin Islands-VP2V/VE7YL and Grenada-J37EA/J37YL, in 1990, and St. Pierre and Miquelon-FP/VE7YL in 1992. In 2000, there was Norfolk Island-AX9YL. Lord Howe and South Cook Islands-VK9YL and ZK1XYL, in 2002. Christmas Island-VK9XYL and Cocos (Keeling)-VK9CYL in 2003. Vanuatu and Tonga-YJ0YL and A35YL, in 2005.

More locally, she was involved in the Canadian Islands Program and helped activate Fraser River islands in the Vancouver area. She put 33 islands on the air.

VY FB Accomplishments:

IOTA Honor Roll, 1,023 as of January 2012 (second YL in the world to get more than 1,000 islands) ARRL Honor Roll, all entities listed Mixed ARRL A-1 Operators Club, as of March 22, 2004 WAS, WAZ and "enough paper to cover most of the house," she said matter-of-factly. The best? First prize at the CLARA Gala in Toronto in 1997 for copying CW at 50 wpm.
Inspiration (to YLs, certainly; and OMs, too, I'd imagine).

Whether radio was for work or play, it seems to have always provided adventure, friendship and good memories. And undoubtedly continues to do so.

Last night, Elizabeth could only summarize the highlights of her life in radio -- as an interceptor, as a ship operator and in amateur radio, and throw in a few details. There are surely fascinating side-stories to be told from her time on board the ships and from the various DXpeditions as well as from her time in all the countries she's lived in. I hope we'll have the opportunity to hear them some other evening.

The best word to describe Elizabeth? Amazing.

Next Meeting
In March, we'll be back to the Tuesday schedule. Hope to see you there. Or catch up later with the Orca Report. QRT de VA7BEC

The Orca Report (No. 12) January 11, 2012

January 12, 2012 -- Happy New Year! Rebecca VA7BEC, with what will be a very long Orca Report. So grab a beverage, maybe a snack, too, and get comfy.

We were bumped from our regular Tuesday spot because the RiverHouse couldn't accommodate us. This will be the case next month, too, since the second Tuesday of February is Valentine's Day. Not only is the restaurant booked already, but those of you who make the trek to the RiverHouse may be as well, whether you know it now or not. : )

We were a group of 24 for the first meeting of 2012.

Membership
Membership is creeping ever closer to the 100 mark. But this includes members in limbo -- people who haven't paid dues for 2012 yet. Only a few lagging behind the rest of the pod. Please renew if you haven't yet. A mere $24. This includes hot-of-the-press home page access to the delightfully informative Orca Report. ; )

There are several ways to pay: credit card through PayPal, Interac transfer if you use online banking in Canada, or cheque/check payable to Orca DX and Contest Club and forwarded to Dave VA7AM, club treasurer. I suppose you can also pay in cash at a meeting, but there would be no paper trail if you are the type who likes that sort of confirmation of payment. Go to the Orca DXCC website for paper-trail methods.

PNW Cup Challenge Update
Still being updated, I'm afraid. Not all the participating clubs have forwarded scores to Jim VE7FO, master of the PNW Cup Challenge spreadsheet. Stay tuned.

PJ2T
The Curacao station is looking for ops to play in ARRL and WPX contests. Please contact Dave VA7AM if you are interested.

Malpelo Update
Not only will our own Steve VE7CT be heading to Malpelo later this week, so will Neil VA7DX. Bon voyage my dear OMs. Safe travels and come back with lots of good stories to tell us.

The DXpedition is officially QRV Jan 21 to Feb 8. See HK0NA for lots of DXpedition details. But an advance team -- the "Fabulous Four" -- is already there, building the infrastructure and making some QSOs in their spare time.

Annual General Meeting
The AGM will be held at the February meeting. It is really just a formality because executive positions are two-year terms and the current executive still has one more year to go, if the individuals so wish.

Feature Presentation: BS7H
Another excellent production by James Brooks 9V1YC, this time showcasing the Scarborough Reef DXpedition in 2007. The team faced enormous operating challenges -- environmental and logistical -- along with more political wrangling than most DXpeditions encounter and considerable controversy surrounding the location's acceptance for DXCC. What really boggles the mind is the vehemence of some people who emailed downright nasty, nasty comments without any thought to what the team had to deal with. Had some of those I-want-a-QSO-now! operators known what was going on behind-the-scenes, maybe they wouldn't have been so, well, nasty. This DXpedition puts a new slant on the saying “No man is an island”.

BCQP 2012
As contest coordinator of this event, I gave an update on what has been going on behind the scenes with preparations for this year's British Columbia QSO Party. Also known as the BC QSO Party, and the BCQP.

Whichever name you know it by, this local on-air event spotlighting amateur radio in BC will take place 1600z Feb 4 to 0400z Feb 5. That's 8am to 8pm local time, Saturday, February 4, 2010.

Specifics:
Exchange: For VE7/VA7s: federal electoral district
For non-VE7/VA7s: Province/State/DX (Note: In this party, Hawaii (KH) and Alaska (KL) are NOT DX but states, so use HI and AK, respectively.)
Multipliers: See the list.
Rules: Here.
Bands: 160m to 10m. No WARC.
Modes: PH, CW and Digital (PSK, RTTY, etc)
Awards: Lovely scenery-based certificate for top scores in all modes and power classes.
Some Background:
I'm sure by now, Orca members know that the BCQP has come under the Orca banner. I posted a rather long message to the Orca Yahoo! Group back in November, but for those of you who are not able to -- or simply do not want to join the Yahoo! Group -- let me recap the most salient points of that message so that everyone is on the same page.

The BCQP started off with the Delta Amateur Radio Society. But DARS is not a particularly contest-oriented group -- members' interest lie elsewhere in this vast hobby -- and in 2011 the event actually garnered more participation from DARS members with an Orca connection than from DARS members in general. I was involved behind the scenes with DARS and I knew the BCQP was stalling. I asked the Orca executive if the event was something the club could take on, since a contest is in line with our objectives as a DX and contest club. AND if the Western Washington DX Club can sponsor the Salmon Run, why can't we sponsor the BCQP?

I fully expected my suggestion to be shot down. But it wasn't. And wings have been flapping madly. At least behind the scenes. Mine. I'm doing everything I can to promote the contest -- and I'm getting some great feedback -- but the contest will not fly without the participation of operators in BC.

Raising Awareness:
I have posted to various groups and reflectors. I have sent out invitations to radio-related associations, clubs and societies in BC and outside BC, including the Ontario and Maritime contesting clubs, which have parties of their own and appreciate reciprocal support, and sponsors of US QSO parties that will take place the same weekend as BCQP because a heads-up for them means less exchange overload for us on game day.

I have also contacted the managers of various printed and online calendars, including the most well-known -- WA7BNM. (Unfortunately, Bruce Horn hasn't gotten around to updating his February calendar yet. I have this straight from the man himself. As of early January 2012. He has my emails. He just hasn't updated his site.) I have confirmation from contest calendar managers in Japan and Germany. So you might want to listen for some DX, too, especially since high band CONDX is pretty good these days. In previous years, I've caught the attention of Japan, Brazil, Antarctica and Mexico.

Some of my emails have been picked up and posted on websites and in newsletters. The BCQP is definitely gaining a higher profile. I had an email just yesterday from an OM in Sweden who seemed keen to listen for VE7/VA7s and support the BCQP.

About the US state QSO party sponsors. I didn't contact them to get ops to participate in the BCQP. They'll all be busy in their own parties. But a large percentage of Qs in logs submitted in previous years has come by trading Qs with ops in other parties due to the shortage of BC ops on the air. Experienced contesters know what to do but not everyone in a party is experienced. If the ops in other parties know that the BCQP coincides with their specific party, then they won't be so confused by the three-letter federal electoral district exchange they get from a BC station.

It also helps if we know the various party exchanges so that we can be prepared to trade a Q or coach someone through the process. And here, for those of you who weren't at the meeting last night, I must relate my experience from a couple of years ago, when I hadn't done the required homework and encountered a number of ops who ended their Qs with “Well, thanks Dre. Enjoy the contest.” I had been CQing and I gave the exchange for my contest: 59 DRE as in Delta-Richmond East, my federal electoral district. Obviously, I eventually realized, the other guy assumed I was in his contest, which required RS(T) + name.

Coinciding On-Air Activity:
So check out ARRL's Contest Corral for February 2012. This calendar shows dates, start/end times, bands, modes, exchanges and sponsor websites for each contest. (You will see that the BCQP is listed.) For most of the contests, you can probably wing it. But the FYBO (Freeze Your B___ Off) Winter QRP Field Day asks for a lot of info, including temperature in Fahrenheit. It's just good to know what you might be asked for. Contest Corral, at least at the moment, is more up-to-date than the usually go-to source of WA7BNM.

Timeframe:
The BCQP will totally overlap with the Vermont QSO Party and the Ten-Ten Winter Phone QSO Party, which run the whole weekend, from 0000z Feb 4 to 2400z Feb 5. Actually, 10-10 (only 10m, PH) starts one minute later and ends one minute earlier, it looks like, but that start/end is irrelevant to our contest timeframe anyway.

We overlap partially with FYBO and the Minnesota QSO Party, which run from 1400z Feb 4 to 2400z Feb 4, with Straight Key (only on 80m, CW) 1600z Feb 4 to 1900z Feb 4, Delaware QSO Party 1700z Feb 4 to 2359z Feb 5, Mexico RTTY 1800z Feb 4 to 1959 Feb 5, and NA Sprint CW 0000z Feb 5 to 0400z Feb 5.




If you can't spend the whole 12 hours of the contest on the air, try to get on for a few hours when Q potential is highest, with VTQP, 10-10, FYOB and MNQP all in progress: 1600z to 2400z Feb 4.

WA Connection:
Close proximity to Washington State could make Qs difficult. I know. But it's not impossible. As an experiment and to show support for a fellow PNW club, Koji VA7KO and I gave the Salmon Run a try last fall and it would seem that our efforts were good enough to earn some smoked salmon in our entry class.

The Salmon Run has good WA participation, which boosts the chances of Qs with WA and non-WA stations.

I know WA members of Orca would be happy to answer BC ops' CQs, so let's give them lots of opportunities. It is essential that there are a good number of VE7/VA7s on the air during the BCQP for WA stations to contact. I'll say it again and again: The party doesn't happen without us.

Logging Software:
N1MM supports the BCQP. But any software that creates a Cabrillo file is fine. See the rules for an example of how your log should look.

Tools:
A casual op in BC may want to give you a point but doesn't know his/her federal electoral district. It may take an extra minute to complete the Q but either you or the other op can go to Elections Canada online and find the district by typing in the op's postal code.

VA7ODX Operators:
I am doing PH. Ralph VE7XF has graciously agreed to do CW, since the radio room I share with Koji is not equipped with a YL filter and I tend to cause too much in-house QRM when we're running pileups at the same time. Sorry dear.

Is anyone interested in doing digital and raise the profile of VA7ODX a bit higher? Please let me know.

Incentives:
For Orca members, I would like to institute a little in-house competition. Make 25 Qs and submit your log, and your name will go into a draw for a prize. Something nice but not extravagant. The number of names drawn will depend on the number of logs submitted by Orca members.

Following the log submission deadline, everyone who submitted a log -- Orca member or not -- will receive a BCQP bingo card featuring some of the most commonly logged multipliers instead of numbers. More details will be available when logs start coming in.

Final Word:
Talk about the BCQP with your radio pals. The more BC stations we get on the air, the more Q potential there is for BC and non-BC stations, which draws more participants and fuels the Q count, which makes CQing productive, which attracts more participants, which expands the potential for more Qs... and on it goes. We need that snowball effect.

If you have questions about the BCQP, email me. I will try my best to answer or find someone who can if I can't.

33, 73 and/or 88, as the case may be. QRT de Rebecca VA7BEC

The Orca Report (No. 11) December 13, 2011

December 14, 2011 -- Rebecca, VA7BEC with the last Orca Report for 2011. Last night's meeting was not so much a meeting as a convivial gathering of radio-minded friends and significant others who didn't mind hearing about radio. There were no announcements or presentations. Just friendly conversation.

We were a group of 32 and thank goodness we were NOT relegated to the narrow room with the sliding glass doors that we had last year. We essentially took over the big dining area, which made it possible to move around the room and mingle if so inclined.

The RiverHouse menu has changed, by the way, with a wider selection of burgers and sandwiches -- more of the pub menu on the fine-dining menu, I think.

One of the most common topics of conversation was the ARRL 10m Contest just this past weekend. The WOW factor that characterized CQWW SSB and CQWW CW in October and November, respectively, was downgraded to wow (lower case), because the EU component in most logs was slimmer. The overall consensus was that the contest had been challenging in various aspects -- such as short openings to EU at strange times and more or less limited to the west coast -- as well as odd -- lots of skewed path contacts and an unusually high number of dupes -- but fun nonetheless. I think anyone who tried had some great run rates. At times, I felt like I was in a wild NA QSO party -- indeed, I've never had so many MN, MO, IL, FL and TX contacts -- but in the unbelievably huge number of posts to 3830, there is significant representation from outside NA as well. At VA7BEC, we worked a good number of SA and AS stations but not many EU stations. Never heard ‘em, or they didn't hear us. Oh well, that's the magic of radio, especially 10m. The pileups were immensely fun and good practice for RAC Winter this coming weekend, so I won't complain too much. ;-)

I digressed. The previous paragraph would probably be better posted to the Orca Yahoo! Group. Do sign up if you haven't. It's very easy and you won't be bombarded with emails.

At the end of the evening, Santa Dave (VE7VR) and his darling elf, Marcia, handed out goodies to all.

Let me close with good wishes to you and yours. Be well. Be happy.

(Where's my glass?) Cheers!

73 MC HNY
QRT de VA7BEC

The Orca Report (No. 10) November 8, 2011

November 9, 2011 -- Rebecca VA7BEC, your Orca Reporter, is back. Anyone miss me?

Here's a quick recap of last night's meeting.

We were a group of 20. The conversation inevitably dwelled on the recent WOW factor of CQWW SSB 2011. Great high-band conditions, particularly 10 meters. Will they continue for CQWW CW?

Membership Renewal
It's time to pay up for 2012. Annual membership is just $24. You can pay by credit card through PayPal, Interac transfer if you use online banking in Canada, or cheque/check payable to Orca DX and Contest Club and forwarded to Dave VA7AM, club treasurer. Go to the Orca DXCC membership renewal page for details.

Yahoo! Group
The OrcaDXCC Yahoo! Group now has 42 members. All club members are encouraged to join. It really does facilitate communication, whether the topic is an interesting contest- or DX-related article, questions that don't need immediate answers, an upcoming event or boastable results in the last contest. Any time-sensitive announcements are sent out by regular email, but the Yahoo! Group is great for general information.

It's easy to register -- you just need to set up a Yahoo! address -- and you can choose how to receive posted messages -- as they are posted or as a daily digest -- so you won't necessarily be bombarded with emails that clutter your inbox. If you want to reply to a post, it's just a click away, and you can choose whether the comment is seen by the whole Group or just the person who made the original post.

Banner and Eyeball QSLs
Fred VE7IO has a banner and eyeball QSLs that can be used for promotional activities.

Malpelo DXpedition Update
Great website with news, photos and more. Lots of big DXpedition names on the team, including our own Steve, VE7CT. This DXpedition will undoubtedly require immeasurable amounts of strength and stamina, not just to sweep the inevitable pileups but to get off the boat, climb to the camp and then climb some more to the operating sites. What an adventure awaits!

Next Meeting
Christmas gathering. More details will be provided closer to the date, December 13th.

And that wraps up this installment of The Orca Report.

73 QRT de VA7BEC

The Orca Report (No. 9) September 13, 2011

September 14, 2011 -- How time flies! Summer is coming to an end -- at least by the calendar; temperature-wise, the past few months haven't felt all that summery except for a few days here and there -- and... Orca DXCC has just celebrated its first anniversary! Currently, membership stands at 89.

The meeting on September 12 drew a group of 21. Here's what was seen and heard.

PNW-related

The PNW DX Convention was held in Everett, Washington, in August and the Traveling Trophy -- otherwise known as the PNW Cup -- didn't actually travel very far. It was awarded to Willamette Valley DXC again.

Orca DXCC achieved a very commendable result considering the club was at a two-contest disadvantage. Remember, the Challenge wasn't open to Orca DXCC until CQWW CW 2010, so some very solid scores in CQWW RTTY and CQWW SSB were excluded from our tally.

Orca DXCC could certainly be a force to reckon with, especially if more members were to get involved to boost the overall score. To encourage greater activity in eligible contests, Ralph VE7XF suggested a club-oriented incentive -- a friendly competition, if you will. Make at least, let's say, 50 Qs, and your name will go into a draw for a prize -- no, not an ACOM 1000; something smaller and probably exchangeable for food or drink -- after every eligible contest. Details still have to be worked out but -- and I hesitate to say this because I might get volunteered -- the idea has merit. Stay tuned for more details.

Also on the PNW Cup front -- possible rule changes are being considered by the participating clubs. Our point of contact for PNW Cup information is Jim VE7FO, and he will provide further details down the road.

Yahoo! Groups

Dave VE7VR often receives emails from Orca DXCC members and maybe elsewhere, too, asking that the content of the respective emails be passed along to the general membership. To facilitate communication, Dave presented the idea of a Yahoo! Group for Orca DXCC where pertinent emails could be posted for members to view as they wish. No one would be bombarded with messages; each user sets up how often messages are to be received and the message format that they are to be delivered in. Is this a format you would be interested in? Or would you prefer to check the forum page on the Orca DXCC website? If you feel strongly one way or the other, let me know (va7bec@rac.ca) and I'll compile whatever responses I get for Dave.

WRTC 2014

The World Radiosport Team Championship is sort of like the Olympics for amateur radio operators. Coinciding with the 24-hour Worldwide IARU HF Championship, it is a contest within a contest that takes place every four years. It brings together the very best in the global contesting community, pitting two-person teams against each other on a level playing field -- same antennas and same geographic region to neutralize potential QTH advantages, such as time zone and weather. The key to winning this game is operator experience and expertise.

The next event will take place in July 2014, and hosting rights have been awarded to the New England WRTC2014 Organizing Committee. Check out the promo for some background.

Hosting this kind of event requires considerable financial support. The Spokane DX Association has asked other PNW clubs, including Orca DXCC, about a possible joint effort to share the cost of a sponsored tent ($1,000). Split among four or all five clubs, this would not be too much of a strain on individual club finances. A final decision will depend on what the other PNW clubs decide.

Feature Presentation: A52A

Back in 2000, Bhutan implemented a new telecommunications act that authorized amateur radio and facilitated a very much-anticipated DXpedition to a country that was #2 on the most wanted list for decades. While many DXpeditions have months and sometimes years to prepare, or perhaps that should be hurry up and wait for months or years, the A52A team, led by Glenn Johnson, W0GJ, had only a couple of weeks to get their paperwork in order and then their equipment and themselves in place and ready to go.

This operation was the first officially recognized DXpedition to Bhutan. It was QRV from May 3-12, 2000, and while limited to 100 watts, managed to log more than 82,000 QSOs.

The video, edited by James Brooks 9V1YC, is very professional: part travelogue, part DX operation and interesting for anyone and everyone, DX enthusiast or not. It provides wonderful shots of the operators in pileups and setting up equipment, interspersed with facts about Bhutanese history, religion and geography.

The DXpedition took place more than a decade ago but its impact continues to be felt, not only by those who participated and those who got that sought-after entity but for amateur radio in Bhutan as well.

Other News

Neil VA7DX is on an extended contract in Mongolia and has acquired the callsign JT1RF.

CQWW RTTY is coming up at the end of September. It's the first of the 10 contests in the PNW Cup. Good luck to everyone who participates. Maybe our little incentive program will be in place by then.

And don't forget the Washington State Salmon Run, Sept 17-18, 2011 -- that's this weekend! See the website for all the details.

Next Time

Rumor has it that Dick N7RO will talk about his radio/travel journeys in Greece and Bulgaria early in the year.

73 QRT de VA7BEC

The Orca Report (No. 8) June 14, 2011

June 15, 2011 -- Rebecca VA7BEC with the latest Orca news.

We were back to being a good-sized group -- 27 club members and eight accidental DX/contesters at the back of the room. As always, it was an enjoyable evening.

Membership
Orca DXCC now has 87 members: 13 from the Interior, 14 from the Island, 12 from the U.S., 46 from the Vancouver/Lower Mainland area, and two from Alberta. With an active push to attract more members, the number could easily hit 100 by year-end.

PNW DX Convention
The 56th Annual Pacific Northwest DX Convention takes place August 12-14, 2011, at the Holiday Inn in Everett, Washington. Go to the Western Washington DX Club website to register.

PNW Cup Challenge
Jim VE7FO provided an update on scores. Up to and including WPX SSB 2011, Willamette Valley is in the lead with about 60 million points. Orca is next, with about 55 million, despite being at a two-contest disadvantage. BCDX is close behind, with about 53 million points. Western Washington sits in fourth place, with 49 million points. Spokane doesn't seem to have as many active contesters as the other clubs and lags quite a bit behind, with about two million points.

If you participated in Challenge-applicable contests, please check to make sure your contributions are properly reflected. But please note that Jim always waits until a log deadline has passed before adding claimed scores for that contest to the spreadsheet. WPX CW 2011 is over but the log deadline hasn't passed yet, so if you are keeping track of your point contributions, check again until after the deadline.

The last applicable contest is the IARU HF World Championship, July 9 1200Z to July 10 1200Z. The rules are online.

Morse Code vs. Text Messaging
Remember that Jay Leno show back in May 2005 when the host put old-fashioned Morse code up against modern text-messaging. Representing CW, two veteran CW contest ops Chip Margelli K7JA and Ken Miller K6CTW. On the text-messaging side, world text-messaging champ at the time Ben Cook and his friend Jason Miller. We all know which side won. If you want to relive the moment, search in YouTube. One non-YouTube site I found with a download link -- and there are many. Click on Leno CW Test.

Time and technology have marched on since that Tonight Show episode, and entering letters, numbers and punctuation on today's Blackberrys with full keyboards is quite different from the old process used on flip phones. So two journalism students at Indiana University did an experiment, a duel of paddle and text-message device. In this case, the latter won. But it is important to note that the conditions were not the same as on the Tonight Show. The biggest differences were that Paul, on CW, was not very proficient in CW -- he admitted this himself -- and his objective in sending CW when he happens to be at the radio was, and probably still is, not necessarily speed. Meanwhile, Michael, on the Blackberry, was very proficient -- let's say, “practiced” -- at text-messaging because he sent texts several times a day and the goal with text-messaging is to be as quick as possible. Also, as was noted in the video, the times were for sending only, not for receiving and reading. If these factors were also considered, perhaps CW would still have been faster than text-messaging.

The video does give a nice overview of Morse code for the uninitiated. Paul has a very nice documentary-type voice, but after a while, his pronunciation of Morse -- as “Morris” -- really got on my nerves.

Island-Hopping in the Caribbean
Back in October 2010, Orca members Steve VE7CT and Ralph VE7XF were part of a team that activated the new entity of Saba as PJ6A. We had a couple presentations on this rather civilized DXpedition -- by that I mean the team had modern conveniences and didn't have to make do like Survivorman.

Steve had such a great time, he went back in February for ARRL CW 2011, joined by Saba 2010 teammates Bob K4UEE and Gregg W6IZT. The trio did very well, posting a claimed score of 5,699,328 on 5,792 Qs and 328 mults and placing (unofficially, for now) No. 3 in the world in the non-US/VE M/S HP category.

After the contest, Steve and Bob decided to island hop in pursuit of DXFC. No, that is not a typo. The “F” is for “feet”: countries in which a DXer has actually set foot. Essentially, it's a fun version of DXCC for licensed radio amateurs who like to travel. It works the same as DXCC in that there are entities and a century club. The only rules are that you must physically set foot in the DXCC entity (current at the time of visit), even if that is only onto a tarmac or a jetty. Bob was already a member of the DXFC Century Club but wanted a few more, and Steve was easily persuaded to join him in this pursuit. They went to St. Barthelemy, Martinique, Guadeloupe and St. Lucia.

Setting foot in a DXCC entity is worth one DXFC point. Extra points can be earned by being active in that location. A single Q is sufficient. On St. Barts, the radio was powered through the cigarette lighter socket and the antenna was just a wire. Good for a couple Qs. On Martinique, Bob's friend Michel FM5CD provided a full-fledged shack with a top-of-the-mountain view from which to make a couple of Qs.

Steve's presentation was interesting, as usual -- part travelogue, part DXpedition -- and held everyone's attention. even the accidental DXers.

Next Meeting
Not until September.

On that note, let me wish everyone a great summer. Play radio all you can because I saw an article today that predicted things may get very dull on the sun. Cycle 24 certainly isn't turning out to be all that great and Cycle 25 may not happen at all. Sigh...

So when you get a break from indoor and/or outdoor chores, consider some on-air activity. Lots of contests, big and small, including Field Day, RAC Canada Day and IARU, plus a few DX to watch for. If you have reached this issue of The Orca Report through the Orca website, then you probably saw the DX watchlist prepared by Bud VA7ST on our home page. Excellent at-a-glance resource.

73 QRT de VA7BEC

The Orca Report (No. 7) May 10, 2011

May 11, 2011 -- Rebecca VA7BEC with your recap of the May 10 meeting.

This was a rather quiet meeting. The turnout (22) was good, considering quite a few regulars were out of town, but the smaller group meant a lot less QRM in the room.

There weren't many announcements, either. So we ate and drank and talked until it was time for the feature film.

The main event on the agenda last night was a rerun of the DXpedition to Peter I Island (3Y0X) back in February 2006. Anyone who was at the Pacific Northwest DX Convention in Vancouver that year would have heard all about this incredible adventure from team leader, Bob Allphin K4UEE. I was there -- at the dinner and presentation, not Antarctica ;) -- and I seem to recall a slide show and commentary, as opposed to a video, so the DVD content we saw last night was familiar but different at the same time. Regardless, the story was just as riveting and really gives the uninitiated a good idea about all the planning that goes into executing a DXpedition as logistically challenging and time-, energy- and capital-intensive as 3Y0X was.

The 3Y0X DXpedition website is still up, with photos and videos and news (last updated May 20, 2008), if you haven't seen the DVD or had the good fortune to hear a team member in person.

By the way, Steve VE7CT will recount his island-hopping radio adventures in the Caribbean at the June meeting.

A few reminders...

WPX CW is coming up at the end of the month. This is one of the contests in the PNW Challenge, so I heartily encourage CW-inclined contesters to take part and contribute a few million points ;) to the Orca DXCC tally.

Our next meeting is June 14. Then we'll take a break in July and August and resume the meeting schedule in September.

And that's it for No. 7.



73 CUL QRT de VA7BEC

The Orca Report (No. 6) Apr. 12, 2011

April 12, 2011 -- Rebecca VA7BEC here with a recap of last night's meeting.

This meeting seemed different somehow. Maybe it was that we could look outside and enjoy the scenery instead of our own reflections in the windows since darkness didn't set in until after 8pm. Or maybe it was that we had the place all to ourselves, with no accidental DX/contesters in the room. Then again, it might have been the absence of several regulars, some of whom are on radio-related adventures that we will undoubtedly hear about at later meetings.

On that note, has anyone worked Dick N7RO or Paul W7IV in the Greek Islands? The callsign is SV8/N7RO/P.

PNW Challenge Update
Jim VE7FO gave us an update on the new spreadsheet and scoring status for participating clubs in the Pacific Northwest Club Challenge. The major changes in presentation format deal with M/O scores. Essentially, the callsign used in a contest gets an “M/O” instead of a score in the table, and the operators at that station get an “@(station)” instead of a score. A detailed breakdown of M/O scores and allocation by operator is provided separately and added into the final tally for each club.

A full description of how the new spreadsheet works is available on the Orca website. Go to the PNW Cup page.

As for scores, if you were in one of the applicable contests, you can check to see if your score has been reflected properly on the respective club page in the PDF file. Remember that scores are not added to the spreadsheet until after the log-submission deadline of each applicable contest.

Naturally, you can also track the status of the club, or clubs, to which you have contributed your score(s). Note that Orca is at a two-contest disadvantage, since we weren't officially included in the Challenge until CQ WW CW in November 2010.

Recent IOTApeditions by Yuri N3QQ
DXpeditions to activate rare islands -- let's call them IOTApeditions -- require resilience, persistence and a certain degree of flexibility because nothing ever seems to go as planned. It would seem that Yuri N3QQ runs hot and cold when it comes to IOTApeditions. It's not that sometimes he likes them and sometimes he doesn't -- because it's quite clear from his multiple adventures that IOTA-activation bug has bitten him bad -- but that he goes from cold locations to hot ones.

As a member of the Russian Robinson Club, he's been involved in a number of IOTApeditions near and far to put rare islands on the air. Most recently, he was on Chirikof (KL7RCC, NA-235) up north in July 2010, and then several stops in the Marshall Islands -- Majuro (OC-029), Enewetak Atoll (OC-087) and Ujelang Atoll (OC-278) -- down south in October and then again in late-November/early-December 2010. The calls used in the Marshall Islands were V73RRC, V73QQ and V73TM.

Navigate your way through the website for Chirikof Island (www.na-234.com) and Marshall Islands (www.oc-278.ucoz.com) for pictures and info on team members.

Yuri also showed us an excellent short movie about another RRC IOTApedition in late-September/early-October 2009 to activate three Vietnamese islands: Hon Ngu, Cu Lao Cham and Hon Tam.

In the realm of DXpeditions, getting to a destination and getting on the air is so dependent on weather, and the Vietnam IOTApedition was no exception. A wild typhoon prevented the team from landing at Hon Ngu (AS-185) and activating as XV6RRC as planned, but Cu Lao Cham (XV7RRC, AS-162) and Hon Tam (XV3RRC, AS-157) did go QRV with good results. The expedition website (http://xv6rrc.com) has island info and lots of photos.

I never got a chance to ask Yuri if he prefers hot or cold climates for his IOTApeditions, but it's clear that wherever he goes, it will be an adventure with lots of stories to tell.

By the way, if you're curious about the “Robinson” in RRC, it refers to the famous literary castaway Robinson Crusoe.

Other News
Membership is now at 85. Meetings tend to attract only 30% or so of the membership, so I will hazard a guess that many members do not live within an easy drive to the RiverHouse or have other commitments on Tuesday evenings. I hope you are able to keep up with what is going on through the Orca Report.

Next Meeting
May 10. Usual time. Usual place.

73 CUL QRT de VA7BEC

The Orca Report (No. 5) Mar. 8, 2011

March 9, 2011 -- Rebecca VA7BEC with the latest Orca Report.

We were a good-sized group last night, perhaps the biggest so far -- 34, or 36 if you count the accidental DX/contesters in the booth at the back. Our presentations coincided with the couple's dessert, and I got the impression that BERU 2011 and the two-part “Belize from a Ham Radio Perspective” and “Building a Contest Station” weren't topics that added that je ne sais quoi to their dining experience. The rest of us, on the other hand, found the presentations quite interesting.

BERU 2011
Brian VE7JKZ gave us some background on the RSGB Commonwealth Contest, quite possibly the oldest DX contest around. The first event took place in 1931 as a way to bring amateur radio operators within the Commonwealth together on the air. The contest is commonly referred to as the BERU, after the British Empire Radio Union, which was formed by RSGB (Radio Society of Great Britain) to address the fact that its membership was scattered throughout the British Empire and its dominions.

This year's event is coming up fast -- this weekend! It runs from 1000z Mar 12 to 1000z Mar 13. It is CW only and participation is restricted to licensed radio amateurs within the Commonwealth. It is a wonderful opportunity to work some DX that you might not hear during the major contests or be able to catch through the eastern and southeastern walls.

History on the Commonwealth Contest | Rules

Belize 2008
Back in 2008, Bill VE7XS was desperately in need of a break from an exhausting management consulting project. He decided a trip to Belize for some RRR -- that's “radio rest and relaxation,” although “roger roger roger” is equally appropriate in this case. He found the V31MD Ham Shack at the Palmetto Place Guesthouse online.

Bill's goals, aside from a well-deserved rest, would be to have fun on a one-man DXpedition, working as many stations as possible during an eight-day stay and working them well. His CQ emphasis would be on the “little pistols,” as he called them, not the big guns, and he planned to prioritize QRP, portable and mobile stations. He wasn't going for a big contest and figured he'd make a couple hundred Qs. Things turned out a little differently than expected.

Pointing the beam north, he called CQ. And the whole world answered. The biggest day was 756 Qs, and the eight-day Qfest ended with 4,200 Qs in the log. Considerably higher than the target. Outstanding!

At Belize, with no noise floor, even whispering JAs were heard, at least when the pileup complied with Bill's request to shush for a moment.

The Belize DXpedition produced many memorable moments, including an aeronautical mobile at 39,000 feet, 300 miles west of Casablanca, as well as lessons to be learned, especially the importance of making a plan for working pileups and bringing along a buddy/assistant, at least for making meal runs if not taking a turn at the radio.

Bill commented on the rude behaviour of some operators, and emphasized that he would not let those individuals spoil the fun. It's a policy that I would advocate as well, especially after last weekend's ARRL DX SSB. The lesson: if you are CQing, you are in control. If you want to work that whisper at 301 degrees and some lid keeps calling no matter how many times you say “only (partial call),” stick to your guns. Make the pile wait until you get that whisper.

Sure, in a contest, run rate is important. But so is listening before calling and showing courtesy and respect to other participants. Radio etiquette seems to be going the way of common sense. Increasingly rare.

More info on Bill's Belize DXpedition

The Project
The Project began upon Bill's return from Belize. The DX/contest bug really bit him hard. He wanted a tall tower. But that wasn't going to happen where he lived. He had to find another location, and that turned out to be a farm.

The station is made out of two shipping containers, welded together. It's toasty warm inside even when it's cold outside, has a permanent station, a guest station and two temporary stations, makes its own power, and is gradually getting all the comforts of home.

Here, like in Belize, there are no noise issues. It's a great multi-multi contest station that has allowed Bill and regular guest operator Jeff VE7JR to introduce many people to the fun of DXing and contesting.

Photos and more details about the Project

Membership
Orca DXCC membership now stands as 83.

Several clubs in the Lower Mainland, most recently North Shore Amateur Radio Club, have run basic radio courses with a very fine success rate. Maybe there are some potential DX/contesters among the newly licensed? Orca members to be?

PNW Challenge
You may have noticed that scores have not been posted to the website, even though applicable contests are over and score-submission deadlines long passed. The existing score report layout didn't provide any way for operators at multi-op stations to see which club their points went to. The layout has been revised accordingly, and Jim VE7FO, who collects and manages score data, was waiting for the OK from all participating clubs -- BC DX Club, Western Washington DX Club, Willamette Valley DX Club, Spokane DX Association and Orca DXCC. Once points have been appropriately allocated, the data will be posted. Stay tuned.

CQ WPX SSB at W7IV
Paul W7IV is looking for people to work the world with him from his QTH just south of the border in CQ WPX SSB, taking place Mar. 26-27 (starts 0000z Mar. 26). Contact him directly (w7iv@arrl.org) if you can take a shift.

Next Meeting
April 12. Usual time. Usual place.

73 CUL QRT de VA7BEC

The Orca Report (No. 4) Feb. 8, 2011 Annual General Meeting

February 9, 2011 -- Amazing how a month seems to fly by when weekends are spent in contests and/or trying to catch the attention of DXpeditions. Another Orca meeting has come and gone, and here I sit here preparing The Orca Report. Rebecca, VA7BEC with a recap of last night's meeting.

As usual, everyone who was going to be at the RiverHouse was there well before 7 p.m. I arrived at 6:45 p.m., sure of securing a prime location. Not to be. Food and beverages were already on many tables, and people were deep in conversation. This meeting drew 29 people.

Announcements and presentations commenced around 8 p.m.

YLRADIO Website
Elizabeth VE7TLK/VA7TK created a PowerPoint PDF presentation -- YL Amateur Radio Operators "Their Struggles and Achievements!" -- which can be viewed on the YL Radio website. Click on the slideshow link and then on the top item in the YL Stories Archive Directory that pops up.

VE7IO in the QSL Card Business
Fred VE7IO has started a QSL card business. Orca itself may soon utilize this service since Ralph VE7XF took the club call -- VA7ODX -- for a spin in the British Columbia QSO Party this past weekend.

BCQP
For those who read last month's Orca Report, you'll remember that I gave the BCQP a lot of space.

The objective of this QP has always been to get BC stations on the air, and it can only be successful if operators in BC get firmly behind it. Simply put, there have to be enough VE7s CQing for other VE7s to do S&P. Since VE7s can contact anyone anywhere, we can capitalize on QPs going on in the US, but any US operators who want to play in our QP are going to get fed up pretty fast if VE7s are too few and far between. I know the BCQP is gaining a higher profile. I believe there is interest, but sadly, it seems to be more passive than active. Or maybe it is latent and the question is, How can more VE7s be encouraged to participate?

I can imagine all sort of reasons why the BCQP doesn't attract more participants, including the possibility that high run rate contesters feel QPs are too slow, with exchanges agonizingly prolonged by unnecessary chitchat; that HF doesn't seem to interest a lot of newcomers to the hobby and they'd rather ragchew on 2m; and that there aren't enough BC stations CQing to make S&P any fun, and those who are CQing aren't getting a good run rate, so they quit. I've been there. I know.

So from my very involved standpoint -- as a member of the Delta Amateur Radio Society, which sponsors the BCQP; a wearing-too-many-hats member of the BCQP organizing committee; and a member of Orca DXCC, which is a special interest club not only for DX but also HF contesting -- I have to say a big, big thank you to everyone who got on the air, whether it was a full-time effort or just an hour or so to listen for VE7s and boost the Q counts and spirits of lonely ops calling CQ, CQ, CQ...

If you have a log, don't forget to submit it. Cabrillo, please, with CALLSIGN.LOG as the file name. Send to bcqsoparty@deltaamateurradio.com and make sure you put your callsign in the Subject field.

Personally, I had a great time with the VE7SUN sponsor station call on PH. My better half, Koji VA7KO, handled CW and RTTY, which became rather tough when NA Sprint CW and XE-RTTY started up. No place to CQ! And our radio room isn't equipped with a YL filter so I caused my dear OM some in-house QRM. But how could I be ruthless and tell an operator good-bye when he's trying to be friendly and there's no pile to sweep :) Overall, activity was steady and our log shows 400 Qs. Not bad for a QP. To everyone we worked, thanks for dropping by.

Membership
Orca DXCC membership currently stands at 81.

BCDX Repeater
Not a whole lot of interest, it seems. We'll revisit the topic at another time.

Orcawear
It only takes an hour for the embroidering to be done.

Visalia and Dayton
A few people have these events on their calendars.

T32C Support
This month-long DXpedition to Christmas Island -- taking place in autumn 2011 -- will be a mammoth undertaking by the Five Star DXers Association. Check out the very detailed website at www.t32c.com. According to a press bulletin issued in October 2010, this DXpedition will have 40 operators, 30 of whom will be on site at any one time. To help defray significant logistics costs, FSDXA is seeking contributions from sponsors. All donations will be acknowledged, with the logos of all DX clubs that have provided financial support -- of a certain minimum amount -- shown on the QSL card.

The question at our meeting last night was, Should Orca DXCC support this DXpedition? And if so, we should have a set of criteria in place to facilitate decisions on similar contributions in the future. An executive-level meeting will be held to determine said criteria.

Publications of Interest
Do you know about the National Contest Journal? The NCJ is a bimonthly publication featuring articles by top contesters, in addition to letters, hints, statistics and scores. It's a valuable source of information for anyone keen on radiosport. You can subscribe online at www.arrl.org/ncj.

How about the Weekly DX? And for those who must have more timely news, there's the Daily DX. These bulletins are delivered as PDF files. It appears you can try these services free for two weeks.

Presentations
We had two presentations. They were interesting for their content as well as for the way in which they were delivered.

First, ICOM Radio News Number 5. The topic for this 2007 video is the K3LR superstation. Serious antenna farm. The video is available on YouTube in two parts (Part 1 | Part 2).

And then a webinar hosted by the Potomac Valley Radio Club. We saw the August 22, 2010 presentation “Contesting in Africa,” which highlighted the DX adventures of the VooDoo Contest Group. Co-leaders Mike KC7V and Roger G3SXW describe the challenges and excitement of operating the CQWW DX Contest from various West Africa countries. It is very interesting but quite long, so if you decide to watch, grab a beverage and some snacks.

PVRC has hosted a lot of webinars since the club launched the format in June 2009. The most recent was “Contest University 2011” by K3LR on February 7, 2011. I won't go into the details of webinar technology/usage. Suffice it to say, a live webinar allows people anywhere in the world to view a presentation. A moderator does the introductions, asks questions, relays online questions to the guest speakers, and guides the presentation to its conclusion. It appears that the live events can be viewed at no charge, but registration is required. Go to www.pvrc.org and click on the PVRC Webinars link and then the specific webinar. Otherwise, the recorded versions are available whenever you are.

And that's it for this month's Orca Report. 73 CUL QRT de VA7BEC

The Orca Report (No. 3) Jan. 12, 2011 Annual General Meeting

January 13, 2010 -- Happy New Year! Rebecca, VA7BEC here with the third installment of The Orca Report.

The first meeting of 2011 -- originally planned for January 11 -- was postponed a day due to a snowfall warning in the Metro Vancouver area. Yes, yes, I hear the chuckling -- maybe, snickers -- from people who regularly shovel their way through the winter months and wonder why we in Lotus Land can't deal with a bit of snow on the roads. Well, seeing as we don't get much snow that actually sticks and an awful lot of people on the roads don't know how to drive in the white, often-slushy stuff, it's better to be safe than sorry.

Despite the sudden change in date, the meeting still drew 22 people.

This was also the club's first annual general meeting, so there was some official business to address, then some thoughts for the future and a couple of announcements.

The Constitution

Written by John VA7JW with input from several founding members, this document is now set in stone and will guide Orca DXCC for the next year at least. The constitution will soon be available on the Orca website.

Election of Officers

Kind of a done deal. Dave VE7VR, interim president, suggested that the people who got Orca DXCC up and running back in September 2010 should continue in their respective positions, with the addition of one other -- me. The proposal passed without further discussion.

Let me officially introduce your Orca DXCC Board of Directors.

President Dave VE7VR Vice President Steve VE7CT Secretary John VA7JW Treasurer Dave VA7AM Directors South Vancouver Island Paul VE7BZ North Vancouver Island Ron VE7NS USA Dick N7RO Interior of BC Dwight VE7BV Lower Mainland Rebecca VA7BEC Lower Mainland Fred VE7IO Lower Mainland Ralph VE7XF Webmaster Bud VA7ST
The Board will meet remotely, by conference call, as necessary, and regional meetings organized by the assigned director and area members may take place in the summer months (July and August) when Orca DXCC does not maintain a regular meeting schedule. But you don't have to wait for a special meeting. You are always welcome to contact the director(s) for your region with comments and suggestions to be passed along to the rest of the Board.

Meetings

In regard to meetings, the day -- normally, a Tuesday -- and the location are likely to stay the same. It really comes down to the fact that the RiverHouse Restaurant is fairly central for the majority of members in the Lower Mainland who have attended meetings, and the restaurant can accommodate a large group on a weekday evening more so than a Friday. The meeting format -- that is, the casual style -- appears to be well-liked. No plans to change to rows of chairs and tables under unflattering fluorescent lighting.

By the way, the next meeting is February 8.

Presentations

Orca DXCC is a special interest club for DX and HF contesting, and with 77 members, this group has a wealth of DX and contesting expertise on which to draw for some excellent presentations.

We had a great one last night on the Saba DXpedition (PJ6A). We watched the official video by team leader Bob Allphin K4UEE and then Ralph VE7XF took us through his photos. Steve VE7CT added some commentary as well. There is also a 15-minute video on YouTube for anyone who is interested.

Some topics that may be covered at future meetings include DX packet cluster software by Lee VE7CC, crimp coax connectors by VE7BZ, the 2004 DXpedition to St. Pierre/Miquelon (FP/VE7SV), remote operating demonstration and discussion, and Botswana from the perspective of a teenaged radio enthusiast -- all by Dave VE7VR -- as well as member bios. Maybe even a How to RTTY presentation and an Ask the Experts session. Orca DXCC is a wonderful resource for the avid DX/contester and I, for one, can hardly wait to mine its riches.

Have you got any other ideas? Let me -- or someone else on the Board -- know.

On to other announcements.

2m Repeater

The BCDX Club has a 2m repeater that Orca DXCC may be able to use as well. Watch for more details to be posted on this subject.

Club Call

Did you know Orca DXCC has a callsign? VA7ODX. Possible uses? A club-associated DXpedition or for Field Day.

BCQP

The last item for this installment of The Orca Report is about the BC QSO Party, sponsored by the Delta Amateur Radio Society (DARS). And I'm going to give this a major plug because, well, as your Orca Reporter, I can. But seriously, it's a contest -- an opportunity for pileups!

The 2011 event will take place 1600z Saturday, February 5 to 0800z Sunday, Feb. 6. Essentially, that's all day Saturday, Feb. 5, local time, from 8am to midnight. The bands are 160m to 10m, no WARC, and the modes are phone, CW and digital.

This isn't a high-stakes, cut-throat, gotta-beat-the-world kind of contest. It's small scale, at least for now, and less intense. It presents different challenges and requires a different approach to the big contests. It also presents opportunities.

If your CW is rusty, this is a great way to practice.

Want to try out a new mode, like RTTY or PSK, without the stress associated with a major international contest? Perfect chance.

Or maybe you know some people new to the hobby. Wouldn't this be a great time to polish your elmering skills?

There are several QPs taking place in the United States on the same weekend, so Q potential is high. What I mean is, anyone on the air is fair game. But there's a format to follow.

Experienced contesters know the etiquette, like how to listen before calling and who's in charge of a QSO, but newbies may not. So let me digress slightly because the BCQP is a contest for everyone and The Orca Report is not exclusive to Orca DXCC members.

The guys and gals in the FYBO (Freeze Your B___ Off) Winter QRP Sprint -- in Arizona -- may not be in the BCQP but you can still trade Qs. Same goes for stations in the Vermont and Minnesota QPs. Give the op the exchange required in his/her contest and ask for a reciprocal Q. He/she should return the favor.

The BCQP is supported by N1MM. Any software that generates a Cabrillo file is fine, but thanks in large part to Jim VE7FO, N1MM has been fine-tuned to BCQP rules. Select contest log type -- QSO Party -- and then BCQP from the list and you're ready to go.

DARS gives awards for top scores in all modes and power classes, and the certificate is always a nice scenic shot typical of the Delta landscape. It's something different to hang on your shack wall.

The exchange is signal report and federal electoral district/province/state, depending on your QTH. The multiplier list as well as all other pertinent information, including the rules, is available on the DARS website (www.deltaamateurradio.com).

The object is for BC stations to work anyone anywhere and for non-BC stations to work us. So... the more BC stations on the air, the more fun this will be for everyone. It's a contest, after all.

I will be running, probably with the sponsor callsign VE7SUN. Drop by if you hear me CQing. GL.

73 QRT de VA7BEC

The Orca Report (No. 2) Dec. 14, 2010 Christmas meeting

December 15, 2010 -- Rebecca, VA7BEC here again with The Orca Report.

This will be a short and sweet recap of last night's meeting as it was the Christmas get-together at the RiverHouse Restaurant with significant others invited. It was an opportunity for friendly banter. No presentations. No major announcements.

Anticipating that this meeting, like the other two, would draw early-birds, I got to the RiverHouse Restaurant well before the supposed 7 p.m. start to get a good spot. First one there, for sure, I thought. Not so. Nearly every chair was occupied.

We were in a smallish room, just off to the side of the main area which we had had more or less to ourselves the past two times. This room has sliding glass doors, probably meant to give large groups a sense of privacy and coziness. Then again, the doors might be to keep the noise from a boisterous crowd muffled so as not to disturb other customers.

Doors notwithstanding, we were such a big group -- at least 28 -- that we extended beyond the closable confines of the room. We were packed in like sardines. Yes, it was warm and cozy, but not necessarily conducive to chatting with anyone further than two or three chairs down the table and a bit hard to maneuver out of position to get up and talk with another section of the table. My chair, unfortunately, had armrests, so once ensconced, I was essentially stuck for the evening. But I would surmise that conversation revolved around contest results, new entities worked/confirmed and radio-related wish lists.

Santa Dave, VE7VR and his darling elf, Marcia, handed out presents to all. No radios, unless someone with a scratch-n-win actually won an amount big enough for such a purchase.

So that's the short. Here's the sweet.

All the very best to you and yours at this special time of year. Health and happiness in 2011. Good DX. And may every contest bring personal-bests, new stories to tell and most of all be fun. (Where's my glass?) Cheers!

73 HNY QRT de VA7BEC

The Orca Report (No. 1) Nov. 9, 2010 meeting

November 10, 2010 -- Rebecca, VA7BEC here, with the first Orca Report. Too bad I'm not live or else you'd be getting a podcast. (Group of whales... a pod... J)

Let me take you through last night's meeting.

Good turnout -- 28 -- at the RiverHouse Restaurant for the club's second meeting. I got there about 6:50 p.m. and there weren't many seats left open. It looked as though the crowd had been sitting around for a while already. Same thing at the first meeting. Either everyone is eager to chat about DX and contesting with a captive group, or we all give ourselves extra travel time and traffic isn't as bad as we expect. Maybe both.

This time, we had the room to ourselves, and the tables were in regular restaurant-style formation not grouped into one enormous "L" with a few satellite tables. Dave, VE7VR had set up a big screen, which was already showing slides from his recent cabin DXpedition to Kensington Point on Lake Huron, an enviable QTH from which to CQ with a steady response from Europe and Africa.

Before dinner, a few updates, including membership. As of the Nov. 9 meeting, Orca has 72 members. And that's just through word of mouth over about 10 weeks. Obviously, the timing was very right for this club to make its debut -- a whale of an idea, indeed.

Dave, VE7VR went through some of the comments from the questionnaire handed out at the Oct. 15 meeting.

To summarize...

Presentations on DXpeditions? Definitely.

In fact, after dinner, Steve, VE7CT talked a bit about the Saba activation -- PJ6A -- that he and Ralph, VE7XF were part of. The activation marked changes to the DXCC list, following dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles, wherein the two existing Netherlands Antilles DXCC entities (Curacao and Bonaire; and Sint Maarten, Saba and St. Eustatius) were deleted and four new entities added: Curacao, Sint Maarten, Saba and St. Eustatius, and Bonaire.

The activation was undertaken in relative comfort -- no crabs attacking coax, no gale-force winds knocking down wires or ripping holes in tents, no freezing to the toilet seat. But it was exciting in its own way: The island's airport is No. 9 on the world's top 10 most dangerous aircraft landings list.

Check out www.saba2010.com for all the Saba activation details.

Back to questionnaire results.

What to do before and after a contest? Aside from the obvious, like making sure the hardware and software work before 00:00z and sending in your log before the deadline, there are other useful before-and-after tips.

One "after" brought up as an example was 3830, where you can brag about your score or simply say thanks to all the ops who gave you a shout when you were CQing or pulled your call out of the mud. It's also a great place to find out how other ops deal with difficulties, like sudden equipment failures and weather-related antenna problems, and how CONDX affected stations and scores.

HF antennas? We've got lots of expertise in our midst for a presentation or two.

A summer picnic? Perhaps.

Field Day? Another perhaps, but maybe as a few individuals forming their own group rather than as a club.

Propagation presentation? That'll be one that disappears and reappears on the agenda like magic, right? While waiting, take a look at the propagation link on our website.

Online recaps of club meetings for those who can't attend? I recall writing something to that effect. Guess that's how I got this job. :)

A Christmas party? Well, that would be the next meeting, Dec. 14. At the RiverHouse. Bring your significant other. Details on menu and cost to be announced later.

Orcawear? Yes. You can put the club logo on clothing. Just in Stitches on Granville Island in Vancouver will do embroidering. Details are on our website, home page. Scroll to the bottom of the page. A group order of, say, golf shirts, may take place if there's enough interest.

The website. FB for sure. An excellent go-to source for anything and everything a DX/contester needs. Bud, VA7ST, Thank you!!!

And that's about it for questionnaire results.

Another topic brought up was Pacific Northwest Club Challenge. Jim Smith, VE7FO, who did an overview for us last month, says the existing clubs are amenable to Orca's participation in the Challenge. But should the Orca scores be added to the BCDX scores for a combined BC tally? Yes, says BCDX. No, say the other clubs, who probably see an unfair advantage from a two-club total above the 49th parallel.

On a related note, bringing Orca into the Challenge might present an opportunity to introduce more prize categories into the Challenge. Consider that some VE7 contest stations turn in great scores but simply cannot top the results of contest stations to the east, not in North America and not even in Canada. Maybe the Challenge could recognize the commendable efforts of stations here in the Pacific Northwest?

Well, this wraps up the first installment of The Orca Report. I'll try to have summaries ready to upload within a few days of every meeting, workload permitting. VA7BEC QRT