QCWA Chapter 70 Dinner meeting MINUTES

February 19, 2008

At 7:05pm Dave Parks - VE3AV, welcomed all to the dinner and introduced the head table. There were three first-time licensed members and guests. A total of 38 had signed in for the dinner.

Head Table: Doug Leach - VE3XK; Bryan Rawlings - VE3QN; Richard Ferch - VE3KI; Robert MacKenzie - VA3RKM; David Parks - VE3AV, Bill Barrie - VE3AAS; David Conn - VE3KL.

Approval of Last Meeting’s Minutes

Moved to be accepted by Tom Bartello - VE3ELM and seconded by Jim Dean - VE3IQ. Carried.

Secretary’s Report by Bob MacKenzie - VA3RKM, acting secretary in the absence of Ken Pulfer - VE3PU, had nothing to report. He offered the free 60th anniversary 60/60 QCWA award logsheets and K7QO Code Course CDs to members.

Treasurer’s Report by Bryan Rawlings - VE3QN

Balance as of January 1, 2008 was $1,115.74, and as of February 18, 2008 was $1,396.41, with $420 of that in renewals. Of the total, $240 is prepaid renewals for 2009 and $75 is prepaid renewals for 2010. There were no significant expenses to date.

QCWA Report by George Roach - VE3BN0

George reminded members of the upcoming QCWA Directors elections. Chapter 70 did very well in the fall QSO party, with eight members on the air. The next QSO Party is April 5-6. The QCWA Convention is in October in Virginia Beach, VA. There may be convention cruise next year.

Illness Report by Richard Ferch -VE3KI. Long-time Chapter 70 member Bob Knapp – VE3CDG is doing poorly and is in hospital. A card was circulated and mailed to him.

Internet and Web Report by Doug Leach - VE3XK. The net meets Mondays at 7:30pm on the 147.030(-) repeater. It needs more check-ins. There are often items of interest to report. The website is updated frequently. A straw vote was held on a proposal to allow a “Friends of Chapter 70" adherent category, for those who don’t have the full 25 years licensed. No objections were noted at that this time.

Presentation by Bill Barrie - VE3AAS.

Bill made a Power Point presentation entitled “Project 572 and VE8GY” - a fascinating personal account of the establishment of the first early warning radar stations in the Far North. Bill, who will be 90 in June, started his electronics career at the RAF radar schools during the war and served near Karachi with the RAF 212 Catalina flying boat squadron who were flying anti-submarine patrols. After graduation from the University of Western Ontario in 1946 and marrying a war-time WREN Betty, he began work at Northern Electric in Belleville. In 1952, his boss, well-known former Chapter 70 member 'Bud' Punchard VE3UD (SK), recruited him for the task of helping to evaluate a prototype radar system in Alaska and the Yukon. Up to that time, Russian long-range bombers had over-flown the North, often without being detected. Following months of psychological evaluation and of training in diesel power plant operation, firefighting, advanced first aid training and arctic survival, Bill was posted to one of the three Project 572 stations (Komakuk, YK), a B station prototype for the future DEW line. The other Project 572 stations were located in Barrow and Barter Island, AK.

At Komakuk, the team lived in Wannigan modular buildings, enduring “10 months of winter and 2 months of mosquitoes.” Communication was difficult. Tropospheric scatter to Anchorage was poor and sometimes 10 kW of CW barely made it through to the south. Field experience revealed that the UHF Doppler radar system was unreliable, with vibrations or passing vehicles and animals often triggering false readings. The AN/TPS-1D (Tipsy One Dog) L- band radar, employing 500 kW on 120-1350 MHz worked well, but required a large supply of selected 5J25 magnetrons to be kept operational. It was later updated to the AN/FPS-19 for use on the “production” DEW Line.

Pastimes of the staff included hunting, model railroading, building Heathkits, movies, a photo darkroom and ham station VE8GY. The station featured a Collins KW-1 and Hammarlund SP600 running into dipoles and a south-oriented V-beam fed with open-wire line. Holes for masts were made in the permafrost with steam. Once the masts were embedded, the ground refroze as hard as concrete.

At the conclusion of his talk, Bill was thanked by David Conn - VE3KL, for his presentation and also for being a part of the pioneering history of communication.

Doug Leach - VE3XK, conducted the 50/50 door prize draw.

Adjournment was at 9:30 p.m