Club Meetings
The Orca DXCC holds regular meetings in the Lower Mainland (Vancouver, B.C. area).
All regular club meetings are held at 7 p.m. on the second Tuesday of the month, at the RiverHouse Restaurant, 5825 - 60th Ave. in Delta, BC.
Catch up on previous meetings with The Orca Report -- prepared by Rebecca VA7BEC:
Orca Report 97 May 2024
Orca Report 96 Mar. 2024
Orca Report 95 Jan. 2024
Orca Report 94 Sep. 2023
Older Orca Reports...
The first-ever club meeting was held Oct. 15, 2010.
The Orca Report (No. 99) May 2025
May 8, 2025 -- Our lunch at The RiverHouse on May 8, 2025, was nice. Not the biggest turnout, but cozy, and the service was markedly better than pre-renovation.
A few updates and some interesting links.
BCQP 2025
BCQP 2025 was several months ago, and usually results would have been announced and the post-party number-crunching would have been written up and posted. Unfortunately, there is a delay in typing up the details.
A fantastic detail I can share now is number of logs received - 421, an all-time high.
When results are ready, I will send out the BC and outside-BC line score links to log-submitting participants and to forums and other online sources of info. The post-party report will come later.
New ticketholders
The boys that Guy VA7GI and Mark VA7MM were tutoring passed their exams. Guy has a nice article on pp15-17 in the May-June 2025 issue of SARC's The Communicator. Both Soarin and Christopher-Elliot passed along with their mom, Elsa, and have the callsigns VA7SVO, VA7CII and VA7EHV, respectively. It would be great if all three new ticketholders have lots of opportunities to get on the air, especially HF and contests!
Sorry for the short report. Hopefully, my typing ability will improve over the next couple of months.
QRT de VA7BEC
The Orca Report (No. 98) December 2024
December 6, 2024 -- Our lunch at The RiverHouse on Dec 5 was attended by 19 people. Great turnout.
Orca DXCC Membership Renewal
Please put Orca DXCC membership renewal on your 2025 calendar now so you don't forget.
There are several options: PayPal, cheque/check payable to Orca DX and Contest Club, or Interac email money transfer for anyone in Canada who uses online banking. Go to the membership page of the Orca website for further details.
Just $24. The money goes toward club activities/events, including BCQP, donations to DXpeditions that satisfy specific criteria, communication costs and club initiatives as approved by the executive board and, when necessary, membership.
Best options given the Canada Post strike would be PayPal and e-Transfer.
BCQP 2025 - Feb 1 and 2
Please mark your calendars - first weekend in February. Orca members are regular attendees at this party, and participants near and far always appreciate the great operating skills and solid presence of you all.
Three heads-up points I want to emphasize at this time.
Which would you choose?
I came across an interesting video "Ham Radio vs Porsche."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZV_qsy18Gds
That's it for now. Enjoy all the holiday-inspired activities that make December special. Be well. Be warm. All the best for 2025.
QRT de VA7BEC
The Orca Report (No. 97) May 2024
May 28, 2024 -- Eight of us gathered at The RiverHouse for lunch. Very interesting conversations, particularly about AI. While there was no presentation, the lunch provides an opportunity for me to update members on club activities and interesting bits of news.
Club News
Membership
Have you let your membership lapse? Maybe you have a clear image of sending funds by PayPal or eTransfer or are sure you wrote a cheque. But when was that? It may feel like you just sent $24 when, in fact, that was a year or more ago. If you aren't sure if you are paid-up, contact me - I needed an up-to-date list of members for our BCQP-related in-club draw so I got one from Treasurer Dave VA7AM - or contact Treasurer Dave directly.
Go to the membership renewal page of the Orca website for further details.
By way of a gentle reminder... if you pay using PayPal and you are prompted to create a question and answer, please make sure Treasurer Dave VA7AM, knows the answer! Either give the question an answer that he would be able to figure out right away or advise him of the answer in a separate email.
Just $24. The money goes toward club activities/events, including BCQP, the PNW Convention when we are host, donations to DXpeditions that satisfy specific criteria, communication costs and club initiatives as approved by the executive board and, when necessary, membership.
Your financial participation is integral to the club's activities.
Adam VA7OJ (SK)
VA7OJ VA7OJ VA7OJ DE VA7ODX (pause)
Nothing heard
VA7OJ SK
73 and godspeed
Sadly, Orca member Adam became a silent key earlier this year. There is a nice article about him - and his vast background in engineering - in the May-June issue of the Communicator (p78). (Link below in "Good Reads")
Member Activities
CW Students
Guy VA7GI was joined by Mark VA7MM in raising a new generation of CW operators. The two young students are making great progress, mostly copying at 15 WPM now.
Reinventing Spark Gap Radio, by Guy VA7GI
Guy VA7GI has also written an article inspired by a visit to Signal Hill in St. Johns, Newfoundland. The article will appear in an upcoming issue of The Canadian Amateur. But you can check out bit of a preview on the Orca site.
VE7RCAF
VE7RCAF commemorated the Royal Canadian Air Force centennial. Surrey Amateur Radio Communications was the sponsor for VE7RCAF, and made the callsign available to BC ISED-certified operators for use in April 2024.
Orca members Mark VA7MM and Toby VE7CNF put VE7RCAF on the air using WWII vintage aircraft Command Set 50W transmitters. Great article and photos of the operation in the May-June issue of The Communicator, pp10-11. (Link below in "Good Reads")
Good Reads
The Communicator
The May-June 2024 edition of Surrey Amateur Radio Communications (SARC) newsletter is a fully featured amatear radio magazine. It's definitely a good read!
Check out The Communicator.
BCQP 2024: Final Results
The after-party report is available online now<. It features a behind-the-scenes perspective on this year's event as well as detailed number-crunching and analysis of QSO data from submitted logs.
Note that the results section is abridged - just the top scores in each category of entry by BC district for BC stations and by state, province and DX entity for outside-BC stations - to keep the report to a manageable length. Also, please note that award eligibility requires at least 10 valid QSOs in the submitted log.
For a complete list of line scores, see:
BC Results | Outside BC Results
Fast Facts
Quick facts from an Orca perspective (based on membership roster as of Feb 2024)
It goes without saying -- but I'll say it anyway -- Orca members are truly the life of this party. You kept the profile high, and your fine operating skills drew a considerable number of compliments from participants near and far. Well done everyone!
And that's it for now. Have an enjoyable summer. QRT de VA7BEC
The Orca Report (No. 96) March 2024
March 5, 2024 -- Fourteen of us gathered at The RiverHouse for lunch. Bright sunshine. Blue sky. Lovely day for a drive to meet up with friends.
While there was no presentation, the lunch provides an opportunity for me to update members on club activities.
BCQP 2024: Preliminary results
I'm still going through submitted logs, checking content and collecting data for my number-crunching analysis. But I can give you some preliminary figures.
I mentioned in an article I submitted for the March-April 2024 edition of The Communicator (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1g1fVo_wmmvpfrTliLsyJa49mrMHMR1NQ/view) -- p26-27 -- on preliminary post-party thoughts that the huge discrepancy in the number of logs received from BC stations and from US stations is probably due to mindset. I often count more than 100 BC stations on the air in BCQP-- that is, the callsigns appear in submitted logs enough that they aren't uniques -- but the activity doesn't necessarily translate into a submitted log. Why? Maybe the operators only got on the air to give a buddy some points. Or a logging glitch messed up entries. Or the number of Qs or the score just didn't merit submission. Meanwhile, it seems US stations are more likely to submit a log regardless of Q count or score because reciprocal content facilitates confirmation of Qs, mults and claimed scores.
It seems that the list of announced operations and the detailed map of district helped participants near and far in their search for BC stations. And the rally on 80m and 160m in the last hour of the Saturday segment also helped participants inside and outside the province find some lovely multipliers while adding more Qs to their logs. I think we'll do this again in 2025.
I hope to have logs checked and results ready to announce in April. Then I'll work on the post-party write-up with number-crunching analysis. Emails with links to results and the report will be sent out when each has been uploaded to BCQP section of the Orca website. Stay tuned.
Membership Renewal
While there are are 100+ people on the Orca mailout list, not everyone has paid dues for 2024. Please renew your membership if you haven't done so already. There are several options: PayPal, cheque/check payable to Orca DX and Contest Club, or Interac email money transfer for anyone in Canada who uses online banking. Go to the membership page of the Orca website for further details.
BTW, if you pay using PayPal and you are prompted to create a question and answer, please make sure the Orca treasurer, Dave VA7AM, knows the answer! Either give the question an answer that he would be able to figure out right away or advise him of the answer in a separate email.
Just $24. The money goes toward club activities/events, including BCQP, the PNW Convention when we are host, donations to DXpeditions that satisfy specific criteria, communication costs and club initiatives as approved by the executive board and, when necessary, membership.
Did you know?
Bob Heil, K9EID, became a silent key on February 28, 2024. You can find many tributes to him on YouTube and social media channels. Too many to list. A nice article on his life and career in rock 'n roll and amateur radio sound can be found here (https://www.arrl.org/news/bob-heil-k9eid-silent-key) on the ARRL website. Was he more famous in the music world as the inventor of the Heil Talk Box or in the ham radio world for Heil Sound transmit and receive audio equipment exclusively for amateur radio. Regardless, he will be missed.
And that's it for now. QRT de VA7BEC
The Orca Report (No. 94) September 2023
September 12, 2023 -- This is going to an everything-bagel report. (You'll understand the catch-all reference if you've read BCQP Report 2023.) Lots of topics to cover.
Did you know? RAC email aliases changed.
Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) made changes to the RAC Email Alias / Forwarding System, effective May 15, 2023, whereby the old callsign@rac.ca format was replaced by callsign@myrac.ca. The change was made to address certain security issues. RAC officials and volunteers continue to use their position@rac.ca addresses, but everyone else is on the new system. It was an automatic change, and RAC members didn't have to do anything to continue to receive emails RAC-forwarded emails.
However, any RAC member using the alias as a safe(r?) option on websites and subscriptions, would have had to update contact details on those sites. So, if you are a RAC member and used your rac.ca alias for QRZ, ClubLog, contesting forums, online groups, club communications, contest log submissions, your QSL cards -- yeah, all those places you sort of forget about because you don't access/look at them very often -- check your contact details on those sites and update accordingly.
If you are interested in why RAC made the change, visit the Q&A at https://www.rac.ca/cybersecurity/
Orca Membership Renewal
It's a little early to be thinking of 2024, but please put Orca DXCC membership renewal on your calendar now so you don't forget.
Hosting the PNW DX Convention this year was expensive, even with contributions from attendees, and we need to replenish the coffers.
There are several options: PayPal, cheque/check payable to Orca DX and Contest Club, or Interac email money transfer for anyone in Canada who uses online banking. Go to the membership page of the Orca website for further details.
Just $24. The money goes toward club activities/events, including BCQP, donations to DXpeditions that satisfy specific criteria, communication costs and club initiatives as approved by the executive board and, when necessary, membership.
Contest season is starting!
As you all know, contests come in big and small and, depending your involvement, medium, as well. ;)
With regard to the traveling PNW Challenge Cup, eligible contests are big -- as in weekend marathons -- and the first one is CQ WW RTTY, coming up September 23-24. The other CQ WW events follow in October -- SSB, October 28--29 -- and November -- CW, November 25--26. Applicable ARRL contests -- RTTY Roundup, CW and SSB -- take place in January, February and March, respectively, and the WPX outings are in February, March and May, respectively. IARU in July rounds out the PNW Challenge contests.
The Challenge Cup this year went to the Willamette Valley DX Club -- the run-away winner with a commanding total score of 132,400,629 points -- congratulations! The Western Washington DX Club was second with 66,019,459 points, and Orca DX and Contest Club was just behind them with 65,479,797 points. The Spokane DX Association finished the year-long competition with 16,773,915 points.
Contest participation is strong among all four participating clubs -- more than 280 million points were claimed by hundreds of operators in CW, SSB and RTTY events.
Webmaster Bud VA7ST lists a lot of upcoming contest activity, even some smaller and |medium| events, in Contest Corner on the Orca homepage.
Bud is also minder of the spreadsheet of scores by Orca members in the PNW Challenge contests. The best way to have your score count in Orca's total is to post to 3830ContestScores.com.
If you prefer not to post your information to 3830, send Bud an email (bud [at] va7st [dot] ca) with your final claimed score, preferably within a few days after the contest.
When you post to 3830, you can specify your club. That makes Bud's search much easier.
If you are a member of another PNW club as well as Orca, please let Bud know where to allocate your score and in what proportion. This is particularly important if you are part of a multi-op effort. Why? Because PNW Challenge rules state that points can be allocated to any of the PNW clubs that an operator belongs to and in any proportion that person chooses. If you don't let Bud know, he will assume the points go to Orca's tally.
Remember that every point is important. Whether you get on for a few contacts or a full-time, all-weekend effort, please consider submitting your scores so they can be counted in the Orca total. As Bud says, "We may be out there working as single operators, but we're a big team and your participation makes a difference."
PNW DX Convention 2023 in New Westminster, BC -- To boldly go...
The 2023 Pacific Northwest DX Convention, held over the Aug 11--13 weekend, welcomed more than 110 DXers to the Inn at the Quay in New Westminster, BC. Attendees came from near and far, and it was great to see so many people we haven't seen in ages.
The presentations were excellent, with content taking us from technical to touristy. We traveled vicariously from Bouvet to Botswana to Vanuatu and more island destinations, and even into the near (and far) future of artificial intelligence. To boldly go? Indeed, we boldly went. And it was great fun.
A wrap-up of the presentations is not at all like being there in person, where you hear and see and participate -- in so far as an audience can participate -- to content, be that a chuckle or a post-presentation question. So yes, while you can probably watch official videos of the DXpeditions highlighted at this year's PNW DX Convention that will give you an idea of the geographical challenges DXpeditioners faced getting to the QTH, setting up, operating, taking down all that went up, and then getting home again, there's more to a DXpedition than pictures alone reveal. An in-person presentation is an opportunity for behind-the-scenes insights, and I'm sure everyone gained a new perspective on many aspects of DXpeditioning, from antennas to packing.
I just don't have sufficient space to list all those pearls of wisdom here. Suffice to say, DXpeditioners do boldly go, often to places that no one else dares. They are intrepid, determined, brave, knowledgeable, organized and able to improvise when the situation calls for flexibility and some MacGyvering. Think extreme cold and blistering heat, pesky critters, sudden downpours, winds that bend verticals to a 90-degree angle or worse, sheer cliffs and rough seas that hinder transfer of people, provisions and equipment to base camp. Even if the DXpedition is to a relatively civilized QTH, there are issues. Think canceled flights or ferries and missed connections, lost luggage, equipment that some official eyes suspiciously and won't release.
Neil VA7DX provided highlights on some of his many DXpeditions. Keith VE7KW offered his expertise on antennas for DXpeditions. Dave VE7VR showcased his safari-style DXpedition to Botswana. Bill KO7SS recounted the truly intrepid DXpedition to Bouvet Island. Al K7AR and Bob W7YAQ took us to Vanuatu.
Ward N0AX presented a past, present and future look at the YASME Foundation. Adrian VE7NZ helped us understand how QTH factors into DXing. And Guy VA7GI ushered us into the world of artificial intelligence.
As with most events, a tremendous amount of work goes on behind the scenes to plan, prepare and execute a PNW DX Convention. So a big thank you to the planning committee, especially Dave VE7VR, and to everyone who made the weekend a wonderful success.
Photo gallery: pacificnwdxconvention.com
DX activations increasing again
DXpeditioning is back in style. Of course, there was Bouvet 3Y0J and Vanuatu VJ0A, which were showcased at the recent PNW DX Convention, but there were other locations earlier this year, and there will be more coming up. For IOTA hunters, listen for Swains Island W8S and the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM).
FSM will be activated by Cezar VE3LYC, who often goes to remote locations. Check out the IOTA expedition website here: v6iota.weebly.com. Cezar's aim is to re-activate the rather rare OC-155 (Pulap Atoll), and put OC-299 (Satawal Atoll) on the air for the first time. Listen for V62P and V62S from Oct 25 -- Nov 12.
BCQP 2023 Wrap-up
After months of log-checking, spreadsheet-making, report-writing, certificate-creating and lots of emailing, I can close the books on BCQP 2023. Just in time to begin promoting BCQP 2024. LOL
Everyone who submitted a log should have received an email from me with links to the post-party report and line scores. If you didn't get the email -- maybe you were on a team and the log-submitter didn't forward the email to the whole team -- you can access the info using the links below.
After-party report with number-crunching analysis: orcadxcc.org/content/pdf/bcqp/2023_BCQP_report.pdf
Full results:
BC: orcadxcc.org/content/pdf/bcqp/2023_BCQP_BC_scores.pdf
Outside BC: orcadxcc.org/content/pdf/bcqp/2023_BCQP_outside_BC_scores.pdf
Note that the outside-BC results section in the report is abridged. With more than 300 outside-BC line scores, the report would turn into an epic saga instead of the short novel that it is, so only the data of certificate and plaque winners is listed in the report. See the full results link for all line scores.
Fast Facts
Quick facts from an Orca perspective
It goes without saying -- but I'll say it anyway -- Orca members are truly the life of this party. You kept the profile high, and your fine operating skills drew a considerable number of compliments from participants near and far. Well done everyone!
There was a lunch at The RiverHouse back in... well, it was before the PNW DX Convention. We'll probably have another lunch soon. Stay tuned.
And that's it for now. Stay well. QRT de VA7BEC
va7bec [at] gmail [dot] com