Lambton County Radio Club

Special Event Station VA3OIL

2008 marks the 150th anniversary of the first commercial oil well in North America. The location, as many of you know, is at the Oil Museum of Canada in Oil Springs, Ontario. Oil Springs is located just south of our 2008 Oil City, Ontario, Field Day site on Oil Heritage Road (Lambton County Road 21).

On Saturday, August 9, 2008 there will be "Main Street" events in Oil Springs featuring bands, entertainment, historical vehicles, period costumes and dignitaries in a "must-see" procession that will congregate at the Oil Museum for anniversary declarations.

AND WE WILL BE THERE AS WELL! The Lambton County Radio Club will be running a special event station using our new club callsign VA3OIL. We'll be operating on (or near) 3.840, 7.240 and 14.240 MHz from 9.00 am to 6.00 pm EDT. QST, CQ, TCA and HFRADIO.net have all been advised of the event and our participation in it. Tentatively we have decided to operate in the Oil and Gas building on the west side of the property using a large simulated (wooden) oil derrick to support our antenna(s). Canadians who contact our station can QSL with an SASE to VA3KSF. U.S. stations can QSL with an SASE to KB1SF, 3560 Pine Grove #488, Port Huron, MI 48060.

If you would like to participate please advise Keith (VA3KSF / KB1SF) or Bill (VE3DPG).

More information (including maps and directions) will be posted on www.ve3sar.org as it becomes available. In the meantime, visit www.2008celebrate.com for more details about the events and the history of oil in Canada.

2008 Field Day

LCRC's 2008 Field Day activities (June 28-29, 2008) were hosted by Gary (VA3PGW) and his charming wife Marg, in Gorman City Park immediately adjacent to their spacious home in Oil City, Ontario.

LCRC ran a single station in the 1A Category (emergency power) using the Club's call sign (VE3SAR) and TS-450S transceiver. As in previous years, our operation in the contest was for "fun" and not necessarily for "points" although a log of contacts was once again kept for eventual submittal. Over 500 contacts were made from our station during the 24 hour event using both phone and CW for a preliminary score of close to 600. Several of our members "burned the midnight oil" by staying up all night, and that effort certainly helped to rack up our score this year

LCRC's resident culinary artists Doug (VE3JGR) and Tom (VE3UKU) provided us with Saturday night supper and Sunday morning breakfast. Their tasty offerings were supplemented by a wide array of salads and desserts by the wonderfully talented ladies in our group. Needless to say, everyone departed the premises carrying a few extra pounds around their middles!

Over 45 members, guests, spouses and other family members stopped by and visited our station throughout the weekend. We also had visits from Lambton County and Township elected officials who were most interested in how Amateur Radio could assist them in emergencies.

Once again this year, a fun time was had by all.

(Click on the 2008 Field Day photos shown below for a larger sized picture)

Once again, our sincere thanks to Gary and Marg for their gracious hospitality!

If anyone has photos to share of our 2008 Field Day event, please forward them to our Webmaster at:

2007 Field Day

LCRC's 2007 Field Day activities (June 23-24, 2007) were once again hosted by Bill Vandenhoven (VE3WIG) in the spacious back yard of his home in Marthaville, Ontario.

LCRC ran a single station in the 1A Category (emergency power) using the Club's call sign (VE3SAR) and TS-450S transceiver. Operation in the contest was for "fun" and not necessarily for "points" although a log of contacts was kept for eventual submittal. Nearly 300 contacts were made from our station during the event using both phone and CW for a preliminary score of close to 400.

Once again, Bill and his lovely lady Marg provided a big pot of chili for supper on Saturday evening while our other wonderful ladies treated us to a wide array of salads and desserts. Needless to say, if you went away hungry, it was your own fault!

Also, once again, for Sunday morning "breakfast", Doug (VE3JGR) and Bill (VE3WIG) demonstrated their outstanding culinary prowess by cooking bacon and eggs for those present for Sunday morning's operation while Marg made up a huge bowl of home fries for all.

Over 30 members, guests, spouses and other family members stopped by and visited our station throughout the weekend. Needless to say, a fun time was had by all.

(Click on the 2007 Field Day photos shown below for a larger sized picture)

Once again, our sincere thanks to Bill and Marg for their gracious hospitality!

(And to Keith, Marg and Tom for the photos!)

Basic Ham Radio Course

A team of volunteer Amateur (Ham) Radio Operators from the Lambton County Radio Club recently conducted a Basic Amateur Radio Certification course. The course began on Saturday, March 3, 2007 and ran for four weekends on alternating Saturdays thereafter.

The course covered basic electronic and radio theory as well as the basic rules and regulations relating to the Amateur Radio Service in Canada. Students who successfully completed the course were better prepared to pass their examinations for the Basic Amateur Radio Qualification.

A closed book, written examination session for the Basic Qualification by an official Industry Canada accredited examiner was also conducted as a part of the course during the final class session on Saturday, April 28, 2007. The seven candidates who successfully passed this examination were issued a Basic Certificate of Proficiency in Amateur Radio from Industry Canada along with a Canadian Amateur Radio call sign. There was no additional charge for either the test session or the Basic Certificate once it was earned.

Persons who would like more information on future class dates can contact the course administrator at 519-481-0153 or via e-mail at:

Additional information about Amateur Radio licensing in Canada is also available on our Licensing Web page.

2006 Field Day

LCRC's 2006 Field Day activities (June 24-25, 2006) were hosted by Bill Vandenhoven (VE3WIG) in the spacious back yard of his home in Marthaville, Ontario.

LCRC ran a single station in the 1A Category (emergency power) using the Club's call sign (VE3SAR) and TS-450S transceiver. Operation in the contest was for "fun" and not necessarily for "points" although a log of contacts was kept for eventual submittal. Over 300 contacts were made from our station during the event. From time to time throughout the weekend, several members and visitors also set up and operated their own stations (using their own call signs) from areas adjacent to our Field Day site.

Bill and Margaret provided a big pot of chili for supper on Saturday evening, Chuck's (VE3LRJ) wife Marg brought delicious potato salad, Barbaree (VA3BEC) provided us with yummy pecan tarts, and Keith's (VA3KSF) wife Kate brought the rolls. And while coffee and donuts were provided by the Club for Sunday morning "breakfast", Doug (VE3JGR) demonstrated his outstanding culinary prowess by cooking bacon and eggs for all those present during Sunday morning's operation while Margaret made up a huge plate of home fries for all.

Over 30 members, guests, spouses and other family members stopped by and visited our station throughout the weekend. Needless to say, a fun time was had by all.

(Click on the 2006 Field Day photos shown below for a larger sized picture)

Our thanks to Bill and Margaret for their gracious hospitality!

Here are some links to other member's photos of our 2006 Field Day Event:

VE3WXO's Photos

2005 Field Day

For Field Day 2005, the Lambton County Radio Club (LCRC) joined with the Chatham Kent Amateur Radio Club (CKARC) at the farm of Jon Knaval, VE3JEK just outside of Ridgetown, Ontario for a joint Field Day event.

The CKARC group worked from their well-equipped emergency communications trailer on one side of the barn while LCRC set up in a shelter on the back side of the barn. The AC generator was located in the middle. The weather was hot and sunny with only a threat of rain and some thunder off in the distance on Saturday afternoon. It cooled off for a nice comfortable night on Saturday.

Using the CKARC club call VE3CRC the team was set up as 3A in the contest. Bill, VE3BXI and Bob, VA3RD worked 40M (both CW and SSB) using an approximately 200 foot-long wire antenna strung from the top of the barn and over a tree for one station. The CKARC group worked the rest of the bands with the other two stations using a G5RV dipole supported by the telescoping mast on their trailer along with a screwdriver vertical.

The team took a "laid back" approach to the contest and concentrated on enjoying themselves rather than maximizing contacts. However, even so, VE3BXI and VA3RD made 158 contacts on 40M, almost evenly split between CW and SSB.

Frank, VE3FBH came for a visit and took the photos for the event.

There was a barbeque on Saturday for lunch and supper with plenty of food for all.

(Click on the 2005 Field Day photos shown below for a larger sized picture)

Many thanks to Jon VE3JEK, Don VA3SNW, Janet VE3FUN, Bill VE3LFD, Don VE3DBA and the rest of the CKARC group for their hospitality.

2004 Field Day

The LCRC Field Day Site for 2004 was at the farm of Kathy Owens, 1573 Burman Line in Wilkesport, Ontario.

Setup began on Saturday, June 26th around noon. Field Day operations then began at 2 PM and continued until Sunday, June 27th at 2 PM.

Our Club operated one High Frequency (HF) station running about 100 watts from emergency power at the site (Category 1A). The station used an extremely long (over 300 feet!) end-fed wire and a tuner. Excellent signal reports were received from both coasts and as far away as the US Virgin Islands.

Several people stopped by to cheer the Club on and/or to take a turn operating the station. LCRC members and others who participated in this year's Field Day activities included:

              Bob, VE3RSI
              Bob, VA3BXF
              Al, VA3MAC
              Keith, VA3KSF
              Tom, VE3UKU
              Frank, VE3FBH
              Bob, VA3RD
              Bill, VE3BXI

(Click on the 2004 Field Day photos shown below for a larger sized picture)

Kudos go to Bill Bush, VE3BXI, and Bob Thompson, VA3RD, for their help in both organizing the event and then taking charge of the "on-air" activities during Field Day.

2m and 440 MHz Repeaters

The Lambton County Radio Club maintains two repeater systems for use by all licensed Radio Amateurs.

The main 2m (145.37 (-) MHz ) repeater site is located on top of the St. Joseph's Health Centre in Sarnia. While no tone is currently being used on the repeater input, a sub-audible tone of 123.0 Hz is sent on the output. This repeater also has an auto-patch capability.

The main 440 MHz (444.55 (+) MHz) repeater site is located in the Enbridge Tank Farm off Indian Road southeast of Sarnia. It also operates with a 123.0 Hz tone on the repeater input.