Don's Amateur Radio Passion

Ever consider becoming a ham? I thought about it for years when I was a boy. Being color blind, I thought it would be impossible, but these days things have changed.

Examinations are very straight forward, and with digital instruments, even those dealing with being color blind can pass without difficulty.

In 1993 I was working in Product/Program Management developing wireless packet data infrastructure (Motorola's DataTAC system). At the time, I was responsible for base stations and base station controllers. Learning about amateur radio seemed like the best alternative to learn more about technology I was using every day, and so that I could work better with my peers.

Through the help of a local amateur radio club (Burnaby Amateur Radio Club) I was able to enroll on a 3 month course of study. This culminated in successful completion of Basic and Advanced written exams, as well as Morse Code so that I received an Advanced accreditation.

I am involved with a variety of radio methods which include:

APRS - Amateur Packet Radio Service, an emergency location-based message service. My only use these days is for a tracker for our Dodge truck.

Packet Radio - slow speed over the air messaging. This slow speed service at 1200 bps is still used, but not as extensively as it has in the past. It's primary use for me these days is for Winlink email over ham radio. I use the Direwolf software TNC, and a SureCom KT7900D 25w mobile. .

VHF/UHF - a variety of point-to-point transmissions, usually short distance using Very High and Ultra High frequencies. 

DMR - a few locations including at my home QTH have DMR digital repeaters. While many are DMR-MARC, my club hosts a Brandmeister repeater. I obtained an Anytone 878 and MMDVM hot spot so that I can take advantage of communications in multiple locales. It is a great learning area with lots of new approaches and considerations.

HF - High Frequency (alias Short Wave). This is the method that hams are known for using to talk around the world. I've joined the family of HF users with an ICOM IC-7300 (a great little SDR - software defined radio) with a HexBeam on a 35' tower (with rotor). Of course there are always wire antennas for the low frequencies like 80m and 40m.

I am a member of the Delta Amateur Radio Society (DARS) who club sign is VE7SUN. We are located in Delta BC Canada, which is known for being a very sunny area of Vancouver.

The Delta Amateur Radio Society web page is at Delta Amateur Radio Society (DARS).

Pictures showing our 2003 Field Day (24-hour Emergency Preparation Exercise and Contest) are at 2003 Field Day Exercise, when I was just a bit younger.

I couldn't let you away without seeing me operating in a the upper flower garden of Diefenbaker Park in Delta, BC, Canada in 1998 (the running joke is that this is really my driveway.... but my driveway isn't this nice!).

The station I am using is a Yaesu FT7B (transmitting 50 watts) using battery power and a magnetic mount mobile antenna on 20 meters (14.200 MHz SSB) on top of the "van". The remainder of the club is spread around the Park operating other bands. You can see their pictures on the club site.

Since then, I've used many other transceivers and this one has in the meantime found a new home.

DARS has many talented members who are contributing to amateur radio in a variety of way. The membership is involved in a number of activities, including:

• Construction project: packet data modems (Poor Man's Packet)
• APRS setup and operation - most of the initial users of APRS in BC were from DARS
• Field Day exercises (VE7SUN placed well for QRP operation in 2000-2002)
• Co-operation with the Delta Municipality in setting up and operating a UHF repeater
• Repeater operates on 444.425 MHz at Delta's earthquake proof site, so its great for emergencies
• DMR repeater operations on VE7SUN on 440.725 simplex

The tower is 300' high, with our antennas at about 250' giving excellent coverage across Vancouver. Most other repeaters are on northern mountains, having signal shadows. This site covers those areas with poor coverage.

Members are joining the Provincial Emergency Preparedness team (on-call for emergency communication). This area has grown and is very collaborative with our local Fire Department. I am a regular participant as a Deputy responsible for my town, and numerous exercises and training occur where I can pitch in too.

Teaching aspiring hams is something that I have particularly enjoyed. Over nearly 20 years of course development and teaching, we've helped hundreds of students get their Basic amateur radio certifications, as well as 2 classes of hams getting their Advanced certification. At this point, I have turned over leadership of training to others in the club, but continue to help out on various sections, as well as being an approved Volunteer Examiner for Canada and the USA.

Being involved is great for making friends, being there for your community, and in general provides a better chance to learn new things!