Shuswap Amateur Radio Club Minutes
Minutes of the Monthly Meeting: May 14, 2026
Location: Uptown SASCU – 1120 – 25th St. NE
Present: Dave Hadley, Al Marr, Peter Jugovic, Robin Hickman, Celia Harris, Phil Baker, Peter Rizzi, Bruce Harding, Jim Hilland, Jack Valgardson
- Call to Order: 1900 hours, Phil in the Chair
- Introductions – round table
- Adoption of the Agenda: M: Celia S: Peter J. CARRIED
- Adoption of the April 9th Minutes: M: Dave S: Al CARRIED
- Financial Report: Treasurer
Regular Account: $3696.36 Gaming Account: $9.72
Income: $0.31 Int Income: Nil
Expenses: $315.00 Logo design Expenses: Nil
M: Robin S: Celia ,that the report be ADOPTED
- Web Site: nothing to report
- Repeater Reports: all repeaters working fine
7.1 VE7RNH – 146.760- : leaking roof issues. Peter Rizzi to arrange to transport a contractor experienced in rugged and remote sites to RNH to get an estimate on replacing the roof
7.2 VE7AHR – 147.140+:
7.3 VE7QMR – 145.470-: link is marginal at times, possibly due to solar flares
7.4 VE7RSA – 147.020+: RNH controller to be tested at RSA prior to moving it up to RNH
- Club Correspondence:
8.1 Dave emailed the Poldu.org/Marconi Centre requesting permission to use material from their site for our Marconi Day display at Piccadilly Mall. Permission granted
- New and Unfinished Business:
9.1 Sicamous Safety Fair – June 13th. Celia in charge of organizing. Gary has volunteered to help. Another two or three volunteers to be at our booth would be welcome
9.2 Field Day – June 27th. Peter Rizzi has offered his QTH again. Celia is chairing the Field Day Committee and is looking for volunteers
9.3 Digitization of Club logo to create a .dst file for embroidery
M: Dave S: Celia , that we spend $70 to have Hartty Clothing create this file CARRIED
9.4 Embroidery setup fee – Hartty Clothing for $30 plus taxes.
This item was tabled to a later meeting to get specific information on actual costs per item being embroidered.
9.5 Summer Meetings: Proposed that there be no meetings for July and August
M: Celia S: Peter R. that there be summer meetings DEFEATED
9.6 Linking: to Vernon/NORAC and points south
M: Peter R. S: Celia , that we approach NORAC to establish a UHF link CARRIED
- Information Only Items:
10.1 Robin: has produced a document on our repeater coverage map updating process.
10.2 Phil: re: Al Neufeld/VE7AN – Al is currently in hospital and will likely need to go into long term care.
Al has indicated that he wishes to donate all of his radio equipment to SARC. Phil and Jack will pick up the equipment and move it to our storage trailer for inventorying
10.3 Phil is in the early talks with Kamloops about re-establishing a link with them.
- Adjournment: 20:05, Jim
Next Meeting:June 11, 2026
SARC Repeater Coverage Map Updating Process
As the updating and expansion process will be done ad-hoc, we will post a PDF
version of the procedures and a Sample Log Sheet in the Downloads section of
the Website so people can access it easily. We will also make a posting on the
Blog inviting members and non-members to do the exercise when they're
planning an excursion beyond the current known coverage area.
We will also send emails to clubs in the area inviting them to view our current
Repeater Coverage Map and asking their members to participate in updating
and expanding the map’s information.
To do a coverage update, they would:
1) Download, print and review the procedures and Log Sheet.
2) Contact another ham or hams with repeater access (perhaps from a list of
Volunteers) prior to their excursion and set up a sked to go through the
coverage testing process.
3) Travel to the coverage testing point(s), record their location(s) with good
descriptions or GPS coordinates.
4) Go through the Coverage Exercise Procedures, recording the reception at
both ends of the QSO.
5) Submit the site information and coverage results using an online form
available on our website.
6) The mapping Person would update the map with the new information.
Repeater Coverage Updating Procedures
It is very important that all participants become familiar with the criteria for the SINPO rating system in
order to have signal reports as consistent as possible. The “Overall” rating is arrived at by considering
the other categories of Signal, Interference, Noise and Propagation. A chart of the criteria for the
SINPO signal rating system is on the following page as a reference. A detailed outline of the SINPO
system is provided on a separate PDF document.
Below is an example of a contact by one of the Rover Teams from one checkpoint:
(Calling on the VE7RNH Repeater): VE7RZZ, VE7RZZ, this is VA7HDY, how to you copy?
(In Response): VA7HDY, VE7RZZ – I copy you, but please give me a little more talk so I can
assess your signal.
(Reply): Sure Peter. We’re at the Silver Creek Store – it’s pretty hot out here today, so Simon is
in getting us some ice cream bars. Back to you.
(Signal Report): VA7HDY, VE7RZZ – I copy your signal at a 4, I repeat, at a 4 – get an ice cream
for me too.
(Reply): Thanks Peter, I confirm that you rate my signal at a 4; I copy you at a 3 and will record
that. The ice cream will melt before we’re back and we’ll have to eat it, so we’ll get you a pop.
I’m switching to QMR now.
Calling on the VE7QMR Repeater): VE7RME, VE7RME, this is VA7HDY, how to you copy?
This pattern continues for the repeaters VA7HDY can reach from this location, after which he
drives to the next checkpoint on his spreadsheet and repeats the process. If one or more of the
repeaters cannot be accessed from a given location, it should be recorded as an X on the
spreadsheet.
Note that the Base Station operator doesn’t need to record anything, but may want to make
note of who has called him.
Each Rover Team will also record information on the mobile equipment they’re using for the exercise:
Mobile Radio make, model, power output and type of antenna they’re using.
The most important goals of this exercise are to test our skills and equipment, to enjoy the
camaraderie of Field Day and to have Fun!