A bonus year added to most IRG membership dates
As decided at the October 2023 meeting of the IRG, every member who was paid-up and current as of October 2023 has been allocated an additional bonus one-year free membership in the IRG. This bonus year is in recognition of reduced expenses due to fewer meetings of the IRG during the COVID pandemic, and to thank members for their patience during our hardware and linking upgrades.
Eligible members can see their new expiry date at the "Current Members" listing, no log-in is required. Details of payment history, contact information and other account information can be seen and updated by individual members when logged-in on the site. If you have forgotten your log-in or password information or need help logging in, get in touch via the contact form.
No log-in is required to join or renew your membership on-line via debit card, credit card or PayPal, or via Canada Post, just visit our Join or Renew page.
CTCSS update
As of this date, all repeaters except VE1XI (Doaktown) have been set to fully tone-enabled, as work towards reconfiguration of the network moves onward. The cases of interference from other signals on the repeaters has been reduced drastically. Remember, you must set your radio to transmit a subaudible CTCSS ("PL tone") in order to operate your local repeater - 151.4 Hz for VHF repeaters, and 141.3 Hz for UHF.
All repeaters are also transmitting a tone, so if you are plagued by interference on your local repeater frequency, your radio may also allow you to set the tone on your receive so the squelch only opens for the repeater signal - eliminating all other signals. Users may notice that the cases of interference from other signals on the repeaters has been reduced drastically.
For more information about changes made so far and upcoming to the IRG system, and a complete list of current repeaters and status, check out the "Revamp" tab on the web site https://ve9irg.net/revamp . Thanks go out to VE9GM Gino and VE9MP Nick and others of NBDTI Radio Communications Branch for their work on this project.
Some new (and used) repeaters to check out
- The repeater at Mount Carleton Park (VE9MCP 147.120+ CT 151.4) is now linked with North-West Zone
- Grand Lake at Hardwood Ridge site (VE9GLA 145.190- CT 151.4) is now linked to Stanley Zone
- Three new UHF repeaters have been added to supplement the EMO Zone emergency comms:
- Saint John (442.500+ CT 141.3) - stand alone operation at this time.
- Pleasant Ridge (443.400+ CT 141.3) - stand alone operation at this time.
- Fredericton (442.025+ CT 141.3) - stand alone operation, but linked when EMO Zone is linked.
One week left for your chance to win a LaCrosse weather station
To celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the WeatherNet, Scott VE1CSA and Rick VE9MTB want to thank everyone who’s checked in over the years allowing the reporting of over 600,000 pieces of data to the Atlantic Storm Prediction Center. So we are going to run a contest and give away a brand new LaCrosse Professional Weather Station to one lucky person.
Each person who checks into the WeatherNet with observations up to and including the February 25th edition of the WeatherNet will have their name entered into the draw. One entry per person, everyone is welcome to check in. WeatherNet Controllers names will not be entered.
The IRG Weather Net operates every morning at 7:30 AT (autumn to spring), and you can find out how to report your observations here. You don't need a weather station to participate on the net, and you don't need to provide all items, nor participate every day - all observations are welcome.
The lucky ticket will be drawn on February 26th and the winner will be announced on the morning of February 27th.
This contest is not affiliated with the IRG, its officers or members. Good luck to all!