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British Columbia Frequency Modulation Communications Association

WELCOME!

Welcome to the British Columbia Frequency Modulation Communications Association (BCFMCA). We are an Amateur Radio organization specializing in VHF, UHF, and microwave communications. We operate equipment in a variety of modes, including FM, IRLP (node 1694), and D-STAR. Please select one of the menu buttons on the left to find out more about us.

You are also welcome to join us on our monthly net held on 146.940MHz (-600kHz) at 20:00 hours on the last Wednesday of the month. For a schedule of all nets held on the system, please check here.

Please see Events and News or Current Issues for more information.

BCFMCA Member and Former Director Sikent Key

It is with heavy hearts that we announce that on March 16, BCFMCA member and former Director Lloyd Hargrove, VEJLH, went silent key.

Lloyd collapsed while attending the Langley Amateur Radio Luncheon. He was rushed to the Langley hospital but died shortly thereafter. He will be sadly missed by his wife Beverley, the extended family, business associates, and the amateur radio community.

In keeping with his family's wishes, the BCFMCA will be making a donation to Engineers Without Borders in his honour.

UPDATE Alternate APRS Digipeater/I-Gate Online

The BCFMCA is pleased to announce that a wide-area APRS digipeater has been put in service for testing on 144.990MHz.

This digi uses the tactical call of "MSPK99" and is located at the repeater site on Mount Seymour. It is strictly a digi, the associated I-Gate to gate the packets to APRS-IS (internet) is at VE7FET's QTH. That I-Gate/Digi uses the tactical call of SRRY99.

The primary use of this digi is for LOW POWER TRACKERS ONLY. These are trackers that use radios with 5W or less. Please DO NOT use this alternate frequency if you are running a high power tracker, you will get through just fine on the standard 144.390 frequency.

An additional digi has now been put into service at the VE7TEL repeater site in Burnaby. It is on the air as BNBY99. More digi's are planned for the coming weeks.

For more information, please email VE7FET (see the contact page).

BCFMCA 2009 Annual General Meeting

The 2009 Annual General Meeting was held on January 14, 2009. Your 2009 Board of Directors elected are:

• President - Sol Lancashire, VA7SOL
• Vice-President - Ian Procyk, VE7HHS
• Secretary - Matthew Asham, VE7UDP
• Treasurer - Duncan Meakins, VE7NEO
• Director - Will Hrudey, VA7MDI
• Director - Geoff Armstrong, VA7CWD
• Director - Lee Woldanski, VE7FET

Many thanks to the outgoing members for service on the Board of Directors, and congratulations and welcome to the new members!

Meeting minutes are available here, and the Technical Report is available here.

Winter is SO Much Fun

So far the Winter of 2009 is shaping up to be a challenge. Already this winter, VE7FET and VE7HHS have been up at least three times to shovel snow off the roof of the building...

And, over Christmas/New Years, due to high winds, our internet backhaul antenna blew off orientation, which knocked out our internet based services (D-STAR GW, Autopatch, IRLP).

VE7HHS and VE7FET got to go re-orient that in the snow in ice, with FET getting the pleasure of climbing the icy tower...

And its only January!

WE DID IT!

Back in August 2008, the BCFMCA applied for a grant from the Provincial Government's Gaming Branch, for Public Safety related projects.

We are pleased to announce that our application has been approved, and the BCFMCA will be receiving $25,000 in funding to apply towards specified projects.

Part of the application submitted can be viewed here. This shows the distribution of the funding we applied for.

2009 Memberships

Its that time of year again! Time to renew your BCFM membership.

NOTE: Our mailing address has changed!

Membership renewals are due on January 1, 2009. Have you renewed yet?

We are now accepting on-line renewals, and accept VISA and MASTERCARD for on-line payment through PayPal. Save a stamp! Renew right now!

Never been a member before? We'd love you have you show your support for amateur radio and volunteer emergency communications in the Lower Mainland! You can join right now! Click to start a membership application.

It is YOUR support that helps to maintain eight repeaters at one of the most sought after locations in the Lower Mainland!

D-STAR G2 Gateway

Its official. The Version 2 D-STAR Gateway is on the air and connected to the interent!

You can now use the widest coverage D-STAR repeaters in the region to talk to other D-STAR users all over the world.

See the D-STAR page for more information.

IRLP

More ways to talk to the world!

On January 20, the BCFMCA's VE7RPT became one of the latest nodes on the IRLP network. An IRLP interface has been installed and interconnected to our RLC-3 controller.

We are node number 1694 on the IRLP network, and normally IRLP will be linked to VE7RPT-VHF and VE7RPT-UHF. Don't be surprised if you hear someone connect with a callsign from another part of the world!

Transmissions from the IRLP port can be identified by the CW "I" courtesy tone at the end of the calling party's transmission.

In order to "dial out" and connect VE7RPT to another IRLP node, you will need to be a BCFMCA member. More details on IRLP and our system can be found here.

NOTICE TO ALL MALICIOUS OPERATORS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 5, 2007

From: Greater Vancouver Amateur Radio Council (GVARC) Interference Committee

Months of hard work tracking various sources of malicious interference directed at the VE7RPT repeater, owned and operated by the BCFMCA and located on Mt Seymour, have finally begun to pay off.

On September 25th the FCC issued a Notice of Apparent Liability, including fines totaling $7,000, to James Grinton, K7VNI, located in Bellingham Washington. A copy of this notice is attached for your information.

Grinton repeatedly and maliciously interfered with the operation of VE7RPT on a frequent basis. During the last 2 years Grinton directed his malicious interference and harassment at the President of the BCFMCA, jammed phone patches and periodically flooded the repeater with music and other forms of intentional interference.

In early 2006 a team of Canadian Hams began tracking the interfering signals and quickly determined they originated south of the Canada/US border. A group of Hams in the US were approached to provide assistance and the source of the interference was identified shortly thereafter. A number of independent confirmations were made to verify the location, the address of which was determined to be that of James Grinton, K7VNI.

A complaint was formally made to the FCC regarding this interference and the information collected by the combined Canadian and US tracking team was provided to the Seattle office of the FCC. An agent from the FCC Enforcement Bureau’s Seattle Office independently verified the location and source of the interference during late 2006 and a Warning of Interference to Communications Letter was sent to James Grinton, K7VNI, on January 19, 2007.

Grinton continued to interfere with the operation of VE7RPT after receipt of the warning letter. In fact, the Seattle agent recorded over 160 violations during the period January 19, 2007 to June 23, 2007.

A Notice of Apparent Liability, including fines totaling $7,000, was issued to James Grinton, K7VNI, on September 25, 2007 (see notice).

This is the second of a series of interference complaints affecting repeaters in the Greater Vancouver area to be brought to a conclusion. Additional interference investigations are on-going.

Many thanks to all the people who devoted countless hours tracking and identifying the source of this interference. This is an excellent example of the tremendous spirit of cooperation that exists between Amateur Radio operators in both Canada and the US. In addition, many thanks to the Seattle office of the FCC for their support and subsequent enforcement action.

Are You A Member?!

Membership is open to all licensed amateur radio operators.

If you are not a member, why wait? Join NOW! See here for details.

QRM Problems?

QRM is a problem, we all know that. We will try and locate possible sources of interference on the repeaters, but we need YOUR help.

Please submit a QRM report so that we can try and locate the source. It is important to fill out the report EVEN IF YOU DON'T HEAR the interference from your location when it occurs. Remember to listen to the INPUT of the repeater when listening for interference.

Don't think that your report has an effect? Well, see the press release above. James Grinton was busted by the co-ordinated efforts of a number of volunteers. All information reports are useful.

Are YOU causing QRM on our repeaters? Again, be warned, you never know who is lurking around your neighbourhood gathering evidence for prosecution. We've been at this at lot longer than you, and we're not going to let you destroy our resource... and we've got the law on OUR side.

Autopatch Features

Now you can make calls to anywhere you can work the repeater from! See the autopatch page for details.

Coverage Maps

Curious as to the coverage of some of our repeaters? Please see the Equipment page for more information.

Thank you for visiting our website and 73.

This page was last updated 23 March 2009.

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