NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL NEWS

1. Register now for the RAC Advanced Course: Winter/Spring 2021

RAC's next online Advanced Certificate course for Winter/Spring 2021 is filling up quickly.
Since May 2020, 400 Radio Amateurs across Canada have used this course to prepare for the
Advanced exam.
This instructor-led, 10-session course will begin in early February and end in early May.
You can choose to attend either of the 2 hour sessions on Sunday afternoon or Monday evening.

The course instructor is Dave Goodwin, VE9CB. Dave has been an Amateur since 1975, is an active HF
Contester and DXer. Dave has also been a long-time volunteer at the national level and has served
as the RAC President and as the RAC Director for the Atlantic Region. Since 2015, he has also has been
teaching Basic and Advanced certification courses with the Fredericton (NB) Amateur Radio Club.

Amateur Radio Basic and Advanced Qualification courses are also now being provided both online
and in person by Canadian Amateur Radio Clubs and organizations.
Please visit the Amateur Radio Courses webpage for more information at the link provided below.
https://www.rac.ca/amateur-radio-courses/

-- Glenn MacDonell, VE3XRA, RAC President and Chair

2. New Transatlantic Record on 8.271 kHz

Very low frequency (VLF) enthusiast Joe Craig, VO1NA, reports that Stefan Schaefer, DK7FC, copied
his 50-character message transmitted from Newfoundland on 8.271 kHz, with a radiated power of 10 mW.

“This is a new record for Amateur transatlantic VLF,” Craig told the ARRL. “The mode used was EbNaut
by Paul Nicholson. EbNaut is a synchronous coherent BPSK mode for use at VLF and low LF.

VO1NA’s tower supports a VLF RL (rotated L) 10-metre (33 feet) average height and 100 metres (328 feet) long.
VLF is the ITU designation for radio spectrum in the range of 3 – 30 kHz, corresponding to wavelengths
from 100 to 10 kilometres, respectively.

For the original news item visit: http://www.arrl.org/news/new-amateur-vlf-transatlantic-record-set

-- ARRL News

ITEMS OF INTEREST

3. GOT A MINUTE? ER, 59 SECONDS?

Things might just get a little challenging for UTC - Coordinated Universal Time, that is - the
time-keeping system so familiar to us hams who pursue precision in our DX contacts or use some of
the newer digital modes. Scientists are now suggesting that the world's atomic clocks, which
control UTC, shorten the minute so that UTC can better keep pace with the irregular rate of the
Earth's rotation, which most people measure using the less precise method known as "solar time."

When the Earth's rotation was seen to be slowing, scientists added something called a "leap second"
to the end of a particular year. They've done this 27 times since 1972 to keep atomic clocks and
UTC sympatico with solar time. Scientists believe Earth's 24-hour rotation has grown swifter now,
making the days ever-so-slightly shorter. They also believe 2021 could well be the shortest year
we've had in many decades. They say this will ultimately have an impact on navigation systems and
satellite communications and anything else that requires precision in cosmic timekeeping.

This very subject is up for discussion at the World Radiocommunication Conference in 2023 which
is at least two years - and many, many, many, many seconds away.

-- Amateur Radio Newsline

4. Winter Field Day is the Last Full Weekend in January.

from 1900 UTC (2pm EST) Saturday to 1900 UTC (2pm EST) Sunday Jan 30 and 31st, 2021.
160 thru 10m, any mode except FT4 and FT8 (they can't handle the exchange).
Also 6m, VHF and UHF providing not on call channels.
Three entry categories, Indoor, Outdoor and Home.
Get on the air and practice your emcomm skills.

See their website for full rules. https://www.winterfieldday.com

This concludes this week's bulletin.

Posted by: Paul Caccamo <va3pc @ rac.ca>

RAC Ontario Sections Bulletin for January 23rd, 2021

ONTARIO SECTION NEWS