OCARC Documentation

Welcome to the Orchard City Amateur Radio Club's documentation system. Here you will find details about various projects that the club is working on, as well as an archive of documentation for club-owned equipment.

Sites Cedar Creek (Club Station) Ellison (Club Station) Kuipers Peak Landmark 2 Little White Mtn Dilworth Black Knight Mtn Blue Grouse Mtn Turtle Mtn Okanagan Mtn	Projects IGate using a Raspberry Pi BC Interior HamWAN Kuipers Peak New Kelowna Repeater Project Okanagan Mountain Repeater Project Broadcastify Streaming Live audio of local repeaters OCARC Website	Club Resources Meeting Minutes Standard Operating Procedures OCARC Bylaws OCARC Constitution Directors List Club Email System Google Workspace

Installations

Repeaters

VE7ROC Little White Mountain VHF repeater
VA7DIG Landmark 2 D-Star repeater
VE7HOL Dilworth Mountain VHF repeater
VE7ROK Orchard VHF repeater
VE7RBG Big White VHF repeater
VA7YLW Big White IRLP node
VA7OKV Peachland UHF hub
VA7KEL Blue Grouse
VE7KEL Kelowna UHF repeater 447.775
VE7HWY Kuipers Peak
VE7ROW Okanagan Mountain
VE7RBJ Okanagan Mountain

IRLP

Orchard Repeater Location - off air- requires repair.

APRS

BGWHTE Big White Mountain digipeater
RODDHU Roderick Dhu Mountain digipeater (removed)
VA7DIG-1 Kelowna Landmark iGate
VA7OGO-1 Revelstoke West digipeater
VA7OGO-2 Revelstoke East digipeater (not yet installed)
VA7OGO-3 Golden North digipeater (not yet installed)
VA7OGO-4 Golden Kicking Horse Mountain iGate
VA7OGO-5 Field Kicking Horse Pass (not yet installed)
VA7OGO-13 Golden City iGate
VA7OGO-14 Blue Grouse iGate
VA7OGO-15 Revelstoke iGate (not yet installed)
VA7YLW-1 Black Knight Mountain digipeater
VE7OGO-1 Kelowna Cedar Creek iGate
VE7ROC Little White Mountain digipeater

Packet Radio (1200 baud AX.25)

VE7ROW Kelowna Cedar Creek 144.930

 A BPQ NET/ROM Compatible Node provides a number of services under different SSIDs
   VE7ROW-0  Packet BBS Messaging (alias KELBBS)
   VE7ROW-6  passthrough to AE5E DX Cluster (alias KELDXC)
   VE7ROW-7  Multiport Network Node (alias KELWNA)
               Port 1: Kelowna Local Users on 144.930
               Port 2: Internet Gateway (tunnel to other Nodes in Vancouver, Castlegar, Ontario, Minnesota)
               Port 3: Link to Vernon TPARC Node VE7TPO-8 on 144.450 (see also http://www.tparc.org) (path sometimes degraded due to multipath)
   VE7RBJ-10 Winlink Remote Mail Server (alias KELRMS)
   VE7ROW-11 passthrough to AE5E Chat Server (alias KELCHT)

VE7RBJ Little White Mountain 144.930 (path to VE7ROW node sometimes degraded due to multipath)

 Kantronics Digipeater and Node
   VE7RBJ-2  Digipeater
   VE7RBJ-7  KA Node

TCP/IP

Club Network

Club Repeaters

This list is no longer up to date. It is kept here to archive information on former and current repeaters. For current repeater information see the main webpage.

http://www.ocarc.ca/frequencies/region

Call Sign	Description	Band	Frequency	Offset	Tone In/Out	Mode	Status	Elevation	Mobile Coverage	Sponsor or Info Source	Notes	Last Update	On WebPage
VE7RBJ	Okanagan Mtn	6m	53.250	-1.700	88.5/88.5	FM	Online	1570m		OCARC	Parrot Mode (audio stored for delayed retransmit). Not currently using tone access. Suffers from desense due to high power transmitters in vicinity.	20200801
VA7KEL	Blue Grouse Mtn	2m	145.090	+0.600	88.5.88.5	FM/C4FM	Online	1280m	Vernon to Peachland	OCARC	(WIRES-X node down?)	20200801	Y
VE7HWY	Kuipers Peak	2m	145.250	-0.600	88.5/88.5	FM/C4FM	Online	660m	Kelowna Area	OCARC		20200801	Y
VE7RBJ	Okanagan Mtn	2m	145.490	-0.600	88.5/88.5	FM/C4FM	Online	1570m	Armstrong to OK Falls	OCARC	WIRES-X node 52373	20200801	Y
VE7ROK	Orchard	2m	146.620	-0.600	88.5/88.5	FM	Online	360m	Kelowna Area	OCARC	Linked to Penticton 147.120. IRLP 1491 (Down). Autopatch (Down)	20200801	Y
VE7HOL	Dilworth Mtn	2m	146.680	-0.600	88.5/88.5	FM	Online	640m	Kelowna Area	OCARC	Main club repeater for OCARC	20200801	Y
VE7ROC	Little White Mtn	2m	146.820	-0.600	none/88.5	FM	Online	2170m	Oyama to Peachland, Hwy 33 north of Beaverdell	OCARC	Solar Powered, Tone 88.5 on output only	20200801	Y
VE7RBG	Big White Mtn	2m	146.860	-0.600	88.5/88.5	FM	Online	2220m	Hwy 33 Kelowna to Beaverdell, West Kelowna, parts of Christian Valley	OCARC	Solar Powered. Possible receive failure when under extended use	20200801	Y
VE7ROW	Okanagan Mtn	2m	147.000	+0.600	none	FM	Online	1570m	Armstrong to OK Falls. Accessed with no tone 20200810.	OCARC		20200801	Y
VE7KEL	Black Knight Mtn	70cm	444.400	+5.000	88.5/88.5	FM/C4FM	Online	1280m	Oyama to Peachland	OCARC	(WIRES-X node down?)	20200801	Y
VE7HWY	Kuipers Peak	70cm	444.500	+5.000	88.5/88.5	FM/C4FM	Online	660m	Kelowna Area	OCARC	WIRES-X node 52375 (analog link, not connected)	20200801	Y
VA7KEL	Blue Grouse Mtn	70cm	444.825	+5.000	88.5/88.5	FM	Online	1280m	Vernon to Peachland	OCARC		20200801	Y
VA7OKV	Peachland UHF Link	70cm	447.225	-5.000	88.5/88.5	FM	Online	490m		OCARC	Peachland Link for 146.620 Kelowna/147.120 Penticton	20200801	Y
VE7ROW	Okanagan Mtn	70cm	449.125	+5.000	88.5/88.5	FM	Pending Planned	1570m		OCARC	Hub Repeater. Not yet active.	20200801
VA7DIG-C	Landmark 2 D-Star Repeater	2m	145.030	+0.600		D-STAR	Online	400m	Kelowna Area	OCARC		20200801	Y
VA7DIG-B	Landmark 2 D-Star Repeater	70cm	440.950	+5.000		D-STAR	Online	400m	Kelowna Area	OCARC		20200801	Y
VA7DIG-A	Landmark 2 D-Star Repeater	23cm	1247.000	+12.000		D-STAR	Online	400m	Kelowna City	OCARC			Y
VA7DIG-DD	Landmark 2 D-Star Repeater	23cm	1293.150	SIMPLEX		D-STAR Data	Online	400m	Kelowna City	OCARC			Y

‎Club member operated Repeater information

This list is no longer up to date. It is kept here to archive information on former and current repeaters. For current repeater information see the main webpage.

http://www.ocarc.ca/frequencies/region

Call Sign	Description	Band	Frequency	Offset	Tone Access	Mode	Status	Elevation	Mobile Coverage	Sponsor or Info Source	Notes	Last Update	On WebPage
VE7SFX	Rutland	2m	146.780	-0.600	88.5	FM/C4FM	Online On	410m	Kelowna Area	Chris Walter VE7EQN		20200801	Y
VE7KTV	Blue Grouse Mtn.	2m	147.300	+0.600	88.5	FM	Online On	1280m	Kelowna	Fred Schrod VA7UN	Hub Repeater/ATV	20200801	Y
VE7EQN	Rutland	70cm	444.175	+5.000	88.5	Multi-Mode DVM	Online On	410m	Kelowna Area	Chris Walter VE7EQN	DMR/C4FM-Fusion(YSF)/P25/D-Star/NXDN. Analog possible in the future.	20200801	Y
VA7NBC	Kuipers Peak	70cm	444.800	+0.600	88.5	Multi-Mode DVM	Online On	660m	Kelowna	Fred Schrod VA7UN	DMR/C4FM-Fusion(YSF)/P25/D-Star/NXDN. Analog possible in the future.	20201108
VA7VTV	Turtle Mtn	70cm	449.600	-0.600	88.5	Multi-Mode DVM	Online On	810m	Vernon	Fred Schrod VA7UN	DMR/C4FM-Fusion(YSF)/P25/D-Star/NXDN. Analog possible in the future.	20201108
VA7CNN	Black Mtn	2m	146.840	-0.600	88.5	FM	Down Off	1280m	Kelowna	Fred Schrod VA7UN	Allstar Win-System Affiliate Repeater	20200801	Y
VA7JPL	Okanagan Mtn DMR	2m	146.700	-0.600	88.5	FM	Down Off		Kelowna	Fred Schrod VA7UN	DMR. MMDVM in future. Currently testing at temporary low elevation location.	20200801	Y
VE7EJP	Kault Hill	2m	146.720	-0.600	88.5	FM	Pending Planned		Salmon Arm	Fred Schrod VA7UN	Linked to VE7KTV via Enderby
VE7OJP	Mt Kobau	2m	147.180	+0.600	88.5	FM	Pending Planned		Osoyoos	Fred Schrod VA7UN	Linked to VE7KTV
VA7NBC	Kuipers Peak	2m	147.100	+0.600	88.5	FM	Pending Planned		Kelowna	Fred Schrod VA7UN	MMDVM Multi-Mode U/V Digital Rpt
VE7RJP	Mt Begbie	2m	147.200	+0.600	88.5	FM	Pending Planned		Revelstoke	Fred Schrod VA7UN	Linked to VE7KTV
VA7UN	Allstar Link Rptr	2m	147.260	+0.600	88.5	FM	Pending Planned		Kelowna	Fred Schrod VA7UN
VE7VTV	Turtle Mtn	2M	147.300	+0.600	88.5	FM	Pending Planned		Vernon	Fred Schrod VA7UN	Linked to VE7KTV
VA7JPL	Enderby Cliff	70cm	449.900	+5.000	88.5	FM	Pending Planned		Enderby	Fred Schrod VA7UN	UHF Hub/Relay

Neighbouring Repeater information

This list is primarily a work in progress to track repeaters which have not yet been confirmed as still active, or repeaters with uncertain information on location or tone.

Most repeaters previously on this list have been moved to the main repeater list on the OCARC website. http://ocarc.ca/frequencies/region/

Non-verified Repeaters (Okanagan Valley)

These repeaters either have coverage in parts of the Okanagan Valley, or coverage in areas no more than an hours drive away.

Many repeaters previously on this list have been moved to the main repeater list on the OCARC website. Only repeaters with uncertain information or status are shown here.

Call Sign	Description	Band	Frequency	Offset	Tone Access	Mode	Status	Elevation	Mobile Coverage	Sponsor or Info Source	Notes	Last Update
VE7OSY	Osoyoos	2m	145.270	-0.600	107.2	FM	Pending Unconfirmed	???m	Osoyoos		Not heard while in area on 20200823. Still has BCARCC coord.
VE7AZG	Revelstoke City	2m	146.720	-0.600	88.5	FM	Online On	490m	Revelstoke	VA7AZG	Only intermittently on. Has noise problem.	20201008
VE7STA	Osoyoos	2m	146.940	-0.600		FM	Pending Unconfirmed	???m	Osoyoos		Not heard while in area on 20200823. Still has BCARCC coord.
VE7KEG	Kamloops	2m	147.180	+0.600		FM	Down Decommissioned	745m	Kamloops	KARC	2m Repeater Decommissioned. C4FM UHF now on site

Non-verified Repeaters (Outside the Okanagan Valley)

Many repeaters previously on this list have been moved to the main repeater list on the OCARC website. Only repeaters with uncertain information or status are shown here.

Call Sign	Description	Band	Frequency	Offset	Tone Access	Mode	Status	Elevation	Mobile Coverage	Sponsor or Info Source	Notes	Last Update
VE7???	Barriere	2m	147.380	+0.600		FM	Online On	???m	(North and South of Barriere)	WGARC	Testing in Clearwater at VE7EIN	20200801
VE7KNP	N. Kootenay Nat. Park	2m	146.700	-0.600	131.8	FM	Online On	???m	North Kootenay Nat. Park		Not heard 2020-06-06 in park. Heard this ID in Cranbrook area 2021-07-06, so no longer in the park. New location unknown.
VE7WHR	Whistler	2m	147.060	+0.600	100.0	FM/C4FM	Pending Unconfirmed	???m	Whistler

IRLP Simplex Nodes

This is a limited list of simplex IRLP nodes. For a complete list of active IRLP nodes in Canada, see: http://status.irlp.net/?PSTART=5&country=1

Call Sign	Description	Band	Frequency	Tone Access	Mode	Status	Elevation	Mobile Coverage	Sponsor or Info Source	Notes
VE7RBH	Smithers IRLP	2m	147.330	100.0	FM	Pending Unconfirmed	500m	Smithers/Telkwa	BVARS	IRLP 1126 (prefix IRLP code with 0)
VE7FFU	Terrace IRLP	2m	147.330	100.0	FM	Pending Unconfirmed	???m	Terrace	BVARS	IRLP 1560
VE7SNO	Kitimat IRLP	2m	146.580		FM	Pending Unconfirmed	90m	Kitimat	VA7TF	IRLP 1303
VE7JER	Genelle IRLP	2m	147.440		FM	Pending Unconfirmed	475m	Castlegar/Trail	VE7JER	IRLP 1144
VE7KNL	Salmo IRLP	2m	147.550	100.0	FM	Pending Unconfirmed	685m	Salmo	VE7KNL	IRLP 1634
VE7AT	Princeton IRLP	70cm	446.875	100.0	FM	Pending Unconfirmed	640m	Princeton	VE7AT	IRLP 1864
VE7WYO	Creston IRLP	2m	147.570		FM	Pending Unconfirmed	760m	Creston	VE7WYO	IRLP 1418
VE7PGK	Prince George IRLP	2m	145.600		FM	Pending Unconfirmed	760m	Prince George	VE7PGK	IRLP 1488

All of these IRLP nodes showed as active on status.irlp.net on Oct 14, 2021.

Simplex Frequencies of interest

This list may be deleted in the future. A more up to date list is on the main webpage.

For a more detailed list, see the RAC bandplan: https://www.rac.ca/proposed-two-metre-2m-band-plan/

or the BCARCC bandplan: https://bcarcc.org/2m%20Plan%20A%202014.pdf

Description	Band	Frequency	Mode	Notes
FM Simplex	10m	29.600	FM
USB calling	6m	50.125	USB	Users should move up if the band is open beyond normal line of sight
Q65-120E (QRP)	6m	50.235	Digital	Tropo/Rain/Back scatter
MSK144	6m	50.260	Digital	Meteor scatter
Q65-30A	6m	50.275	Digital	Tropo/Rain/Back scatter
FT8	6m	50.313	Digital	(within North America)
FT4	6m	50.318	Digital	(within North America)
FT8	6m	50.323	Digital	(DX outside North America)
FM Simplex calling	6m	52.525	FM
CW calling	2m	144.100	CW
Moonbounce (various modes)	2m	144.120-144.140	Digital	EME
MSK144	2m	144.150	Digital	Meteor scatter
FT8	2m	144.174	Digital
USB calling	2m	144.200	USB	Some net use. Users should move up if the band is open beyond normal line of sight
Amateur TV audio	2m	144.340	FM	talkback and coordination
APRS	2m	144.390	FM	North America wide APRS
Satellite (ISS)	2m	144.490	FM	Voice uplink for open International Space Station contacts
Packet	2m	144.910-144.970	FM	1200 baud AX.25 packet (20 kHz spacing)
APRS low power	2m	144.990	FM	Alternate APRS for local operations
Satellite	2m	145.800-146.000	FM, SSB, CW, Digital	Multiple modes for satellite work
Satellite (ISS)	2m	145.800	FM	Downlink for International Space Station (SSTV and occasional voice)
Satellite (ISS)	2m	145.825	FM	1200 baud AX.25 Digipeater on the International Space Station
FM Simplex	2m	146.415-146.580	FM	(15 kHz spacing)
Hang Gliding	2m	146.415	FM	Hams in the air (unfortunately a few unlicensed pirates heard) Most active in the Lumby area
4X4	2m	146.460	FM	Hams in the backcountry (unfortunately a few unlicensed pirates heard) Much activity in the Okanagan area
FM Simplex calling	2m	146.520	FM	Used when travelling out of range of repeaters or anywhere where only short range communications required
FM Simplex (Internet Links)	2m	147.420-147.585	FM	(15 kHz spacing) EchoLink,IRLP,Hotspots,etc
FM Simplex	1.25m	223.490-223.590	FM
FM Simplex calling	1.25m	223.500	FM
USB calling	70cm	432.200	FM
FM Simplex calling	70cm	446.000	FM
FM Simplex	70cm	446.025-448.975	FM	(25 kHz spacing)

International Space Station Info: https://www.ariss.org/contact-the-iss.html

Selected Nets (receivable in the Okanagan Valley)

This list may be deleted in the future. A more up to date list is on the main webpage.

This is a selected list of nets of interest to those living in the Okanagan Valley area. Only nets which regularly take check-ins from the Okanagan Valley are listed.

All local days and times are for the Pacific Time Zone. Access information for repeaters (tones, links, etc) can be found on the main website (ocarc.ca) or club wiki (wiki.ocarc.ca).

This is a rough worksheet. Information marked with a "?" has not been fully validated.

Description	Band	Frequency	Local Time	Local Day	UTC Sort	Seasonal Time Shift?	Last Update
Grand Forks Net	VHF	147.280- Bald Knob (Phoenix) Grand Forks	PM 07:00	Monday	Tu 0200	keeps local time	20210607
Trans Canada IRLP Net	VHF	TBD (IRLP Reflector 9013)	AM 08:00	Wednesday	We 1500	keeps local time	?
International DStar Net	VHF-D	(DStar Reflector REF091C)	PM 05:00	Sunday	Mo 0000		20211024
Oliver Net	VHF	147.160+ Mt Baldy Oliver (roll call, lasts about 10 min )	PM 07:30	Tuesday	We 0230	keeps local time	20211026
British Columbia DMR Net	UHF	(BC1, on BC-TRBO TG3027 and Brandmeister TG30271)	PM 08:00	Friday	Sa 0300	keeps local time	20211026

Site and System Block Diagrams

VE7KTV Repeater System Block Diagram

Blue Grouse Mountain Block Diagram

Black Mountain Block Diagram

AllStar Link Node Numbers

Club member operated APRS

VE7RJP-1 Revelstoke digipeater Sponsor VE7EQN
VE7OJP-1 Osoyoos digipeater Sponsor VE7EQN

(ATV) Amateur Television Repeater System information

VE7KTV Kelowna ATV 439.25 MHz TX / 2.410 GHz RX & 1.289 GHz (VE7VTV-Vernon) RX Sponsor VA7UN

VE7VTV Vernon ATV 1.289 GHz FM ATV TX / 1.246 GHz RX & 439.25 MHz (VE7KTV-Kelowna) RX Sponsor VA7VW

Packet Radio and Winlink information

Useful configuration documentation for the BPQ32 BBS

Problems sending email to a winlink address? How to Send Email to a Winlink Address

Digital Traffic Network (DTN) Pages

Winlink Live System Information and Maps

BPQ Live Network Map

BPQ32 Documentations and Software by G8BPQ

Winlink Documentation and Software

Packet-Radio.net Resource Page

Amateur Satellite and Space Communications

Es’hail-2 Qatar/AMSAT-DL Geostationary Satellite

AMSAT India

Canadian Amateur Satellite CanX-1 CanX-2

UVIC ECOsat

ECOsat Canadian Amateur Satellite

Gunter's Space Page

DD1US Satellite Page

KA7FVV Satelite Page

Real time Satelite Tracking

ISS Fan Club

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station

Explanation of ARISS

Ham Radio on the ISS

Ham Radio contact with ISS

Live Streaming VA7UN Satellite Gateway Ground Station

VE3VRW Demo of Satellite Gateway on Toronto Repeater Network

C4FM/DMR/P-25/D-Star MMDVM/Digital Voice - information

Brandmeister MMDVM Wiki

Multi Mode Digital MMDVM Demo

TYT MD-2017 Dual Band DMR HT

DMR QSO

Fusion C4FM QSO

System Fusion C4FM info

P25 vs FM 900 MHz

FM vs C4FM

FM vs C4FM marginal path

Radiodiddy GD-77 Dual Band DMR Radio

How DMR works

Android DMR Smart Phone Outphone Rangerphone S15

RangeFinder M1

Sure DMR Smart Phone S8

SDR and WEB-SDR

(UVIC) University of Victoria Web-SDR

University of Twente - The Netherlands

Live Map of SDR Receivers

HF Radio Propagation

SolarHam - Radio propagation forecasts and solar activity reports

Misc technical information

BC Frequency Coordination Council

Saskatchewan Amateur Radio League (Repeaters and Nets)

Maritimes (MARCAN) Frequency Coordination

Western New York Southern Ontario Repeater Council (covers SW Ontario)

Saint Lawrence Valley Repeater Council (covers East and North Ontario)

Western Washington Amateur Relay Association

Inland Amateur Coordination Council (Eastern Washington)

Interesting Amateur Radio Links:

International Space Station

How you can Talk to a Astronaut from Home - All about Ham Radio

People you may have heard of

Famous Ham's

More Famous Ham's

Sam from Space

The Story of Sergei Krikalev U5MIR

Sergio And Sergei - a 2017 fictional movie based on actual events (IMDB summary)

In 1991, the USSR is falling apart and Cuba enters its hardest economic crisis. Sergio, a professor of Marxism who can't provide for his family, and Sergei, a Soviet cosmonaut stranded in the Mir space station, share a common passion: amateur radio. Through this hobby, both men will be able to help each other in facing the dramatic changes of their countries.

Although the movie is fictional, it is based on a real story, where the real Sergei Krikalev depended upon Margaret Iaquinto, in Ballat, Victoria, Australia for over a year to get timely updates from home during the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Margaret Iaquinto VK3CFI, Musa Manarov U2MIR and Sergei Krikalev U5MIR - the real story (Verbatim on ABC Radio Australia)

Another interview with VK3CFI on the same topic (Cosmic Frequency on Paper Radio)

Margaret Iaquinto VK3CFI Biography

Sergei Krikalev U5MIR Birography