The annual meeting of the WestCumb ARC will take place Tuesday September 8th at the Upper Nappan Service Center beginning at 7pm.
The meeting will be to elect new Executive and Directors for the 2026-27 year. There will also be an increase to club dues to non RAC members to reflect the changes of the club insurance from RAC.   DO NOT  pay dues till after the club meeting.
Following the annual meeting will be the first regular meeting of the year. 

Here is the link for the meeting. Meeting link: https://meet.google.com/zpb-etto-xtp 

 Founding member Jerry Hannah VE1KW has donated his HF station to the club and will be on display.   CLICK HERE

During the evening members will be able to mark down a bid on the station and it will be presented to the winning bid at the end of the meeting. The funds will go directly to the club.  

August 18th, 2026

Members of the club participated in the annual International Lighthouse Lightship Weekend this past weekend at Cape Jourimain Nature Centre.
Jim VE1JBL & Steve VE1OR were located at the lighthouse while Mike VE1MY manned the trailer which was parked in front of the  Interpretation Centre.

Over the weekend over 100 contacts were made between Lighthouses, Lightships and Parks on the Air.  One of our most interesting QSOs Lighthouse to Lighthouse - V55LH - the DIAZ POINT lighthouse on the west coast of Namibia. 20M was open and 5-9 + in both directions. 

The centre did a wonderful job of promoting the ILLW and we talked to many visitors who visited the comms trailer  and came out to see the lighthouse, take pictures of our ham station  and ask us questions about the event.

Already booked for next year.

July 12th, 2026

The WestCumb ARC participated in the annual Bordertown Biker Bash this past weekend with the ACS trailer parked directly in front of the Amherst Stadium.
Over the three days the club put in 32 hours of communications for the staff of the event. The big day was Saturday as the BBB had two poker runs throughout the county and the club supplied communications along the routes.
We had many people drop by to say hi including some hams: Ron VE1BIC, Bruce VE1VH, Frank VE1FSM and a very special and suprising visit from Willard VE1WJH and his wife Donna who now live in new Brunswick. Both were very interested in seeing the workings of the trailer.
As in Pugwash, we handed out brochures and QSL cards to all who visited.
Thanks to the following club members who volunteer time with this event. LtoR: Peter VE1QEH, Steve VE1OR, Borden VA1CBC, Mike VE1MY and Jim VE1JBL. Missing from the photo is Mike VE1MWJ who invited up to the BBB.
NOTE: During Saturday evening as things slowed down we had an opportunity to make some contacts on 20 meters. From 7pm to closing at 9pm myself and Mike VE1MY recorded 28 contacts from Europe, Africa and the Middle East including Oman, Guinea-Bissau and Cyprus all using the FT-891 and the ATAS vertical. 

July 1st, 2026

On a beautiful sunny Canada Day in Pugwash NS the WestCumb ARC participated in The Gathering of the Clans.
The club's ACS trailer was set up next to the home of Terry and Sue Duncan and across the street from the  village hall at 6:30am to provide communications for the event.
Radio chatter started early as Mike VE1MY was NCO for the morning wake-up net at 7:30am and recorded 55 check-ins.
During the next 12 hours many people stopped by to ask questions  about the trailer and the hobby including four hams; Steve K4NU from Florida, James VE3TPZ from Ontario,  Jeff VE1KEO from Avonport NS and a special guest, Geoff Langille VE1BWI of Pugwash, a founding member of the club.
During the day the club took part in the annual RAC Canada Day contest using the club call sign VE1WRC.
Thanks to the following club members who came down to Pugwash to help out during the day. Jim VE1JBL,  Mike VE1MY,  Steve VE1OR, Garrett VA1OR, Robert VE1CA, Chad VA1 CS and special thanks to Terry VE1AS and Sue VA1SIS who helped us set up and provided treats and water throughout the day.

June 28th, 2026

What started out as a overcast Saturday morning turned into a beautiful afternoon and evening as the WestCumb ARC participated in the annual ARRL / RAC Field Day Weekend June 27-28th 2026.
Set up started at noon hour and by 3pm we were ready to go. Our two stations in the ACS trailer started making contacts on both SSB and FT8.
We also had other stations set up working 6m FT8 (Rob VE1CA)  and Satellite contacts (John VE1CWJ).
Ron VE1BIC dropped by in the afternoon and did an media interview with Jim VE1JBL and later played it on CFTA 107.9 Community Radio.
By 6pm everyone was ready for a barbecue with hamburgers, hotdogs and Sue VA1SIS  made us a nice plate of egg sandwiches.
As the evening went on the bands really opened up and many contacts were made.
Sunday morning the club started again shortly after 9am. It was a very sunny day.
We took a  break at 12 noon and finished up the hamburgers that were left over from the night before and went back to work and shut down at 3pm.
First of all, thanks to Borden Chapman VA1CBC who invited us to his home in Northport to hold the event. A beautiful location overlooking the Northumberland Strait. Unfortunately Borden could not take part as he found out he had  to be in St. John’s NL from June 25th- July 4th to mobilize the CCGS Louis St. Laurent for their Arctic mission from August 3rd- September 19th.
Thanks to all the members who participated over the weekend including Steve VE1OR, Garrett VA1OR, Rob VE1CA, John VE1CWJ, Mike VE1MWJ, Kevin VE1KEV, Frank VE1FSM, Mike VE1MY, Charlie VA3ZRZ, Terry VE1AS, Sue VA1SIS and myself Jim VE1JBL.

Drone footage thanks to Steve VE1OR.

June 21st, 2026

Happy Summer!

Members of the WARC participated in POTA on Saturday at the Tidnish Docks Provincial Park.
FT8 dominated the outing as it was installed and logged 20 contacts for POTA.
Taking part during the afternoon was Jim VE1JBL, Steve VE1OR, Borden VA1CBC and Mike VE1MWJ who also brought treats for everyone. Thanks Mike.
This was the last test for the trailer before Field Day Weekend this coming Saturday & Sunday June 27th and 28th at Bordens home in Northport.

If you plan on attending Field Day, let me know ASAP as we are ordering food this week.

June 19th, 2026

I received this from Winlink Wednesday today. 

Jim (VE1JBL) earned their Winlink Wednesday Century Club (WWCC) certificates this week, signifying 100 weeks of participation. He will be issued WWCC certificate #664. Congratulations to Jim on this milestone achievement!

I now join three other Maritimers who have accomplished this: John VE1CWJ - 204, Brett VE1NEL - 117 & Scott VE1CHL 116.
We now have Winlink set up in the comms trailer and have started sending reports to Winlink Wednesday.
Another great tool along with P2P and VarAC to send emails without access to the internet at your location.

The original Winlink Wednesday is a weekly amateur radio digital net where check-ins are accomplished by using the Winlink (global email via amateur radio) system.

https://winlinkwednesday.net/

June 13th, 2026

We had a wonderful day at Fort Beausejour. Great weather, overcast, light winds and no mosquitos. Took about an hour for the 20 m band to open but once open it was very active.

Four things happened today that the trailer to designed to accomplish:

1. Promote the hobby
2. Use as a learning tool.
3. Being mobile we can set up in a public location
4. Tested communications to be prepared in case needed in a simulated or real emergency situation.

In three hours we recorded 34 contacts including 5 Park to Parks. We also had two gentlemen very interested in the trailer and ham radio in general.

Next week we have two invites from the Town of Amherst (Monday) and the Municipality of Cumberland (Wednesday) to showcase the trailer for the county and town councils.

Taking part today were Steve VE1OR, Borden VA1CBC and Jim VE1JBL. 

Thanks to Steve for the photos.

June 7th, 2026

It was a very interesting day with the comms trailer. We did get the trailer set up by 11am before the rains began but during the afternoon the winds were incredible at the Fort Lawrence National Historic Site. It was a good test with the rains and the wind but the trailer held up very well.
We ended up with 46 contacts between the Atlantic QSO Party and POTA.
We made a very rare contact with Cormac Coyne EJ8JCB from Inis Oirr from the Aran Islands Ireland. Check out his QRZ page for some beautiful pictures of the island.
We shut down the station and packed up the equipment at 4pm.

Thanks to the following club members who attended the event.
Jim VE1JBL, Steve VE1OR, JP VE9ADV, Borden VA1CBC, Mike VE1MY and special thanks to Mike VE1MWJ who supplied the coffee and Tim Hortons treats for the day. 

June 4th, 2026

The new WARC comms trailer had its second deployment Wednesday as we met with the 154 Air RCACS in Amherst. There were 15 cadets and after an introduction to amateur radio inside their building we brought them out in two seperate sessions and ran them through the operation of the trailer. There were many questions on amateur radio and how it can be used in emergency communications.

June 3rd, 2026

The final club meeting for 2025-26 was well attended with over 25 members taking part.
Before the meeting was the year end barbecue and no one went away hungry.
The meeting started will a minute of silence for one of our founding members Al Christie VE1ZS who recently passed away.
Under Sick & Visiting we mentioned long time club member Jack McGee VE1CZD who recently fell and was in the hospital.
The club is looking for volunteers to help promote the new comms trailer with several events coming up for the summer. This Saturday is the Atlantic QSO party and a great time for members to operate the radios and make come contacts for the day long event. All the events are on the club website under CALENDAR.
Contact me for more details and to volunteer.  themaritimeamateur@gmail.com 

Jim Hannon VE1AFH gave a recap of the history of the club's bursary. Over the years the club has given out 42 bursaries to local students for a total of $8400.00.
The club voted to present the NSARA a donation towards a analyzer for testing repeaters around the province.
Nova Scotia Guard training will take place Monday June 8th at the Dr.Carson marion Murray Community Center starting at 6:30pm
A reminder is any local amateur is interested in being a executive or director of the club let us know by the annual meeting in September. You must be able to be at all the in-person meetings for one of the positions.

The annual club meeting will take place on September 8th, 2026 at the Upper Nappan Service Center.

May 27th, 2026

On Wednesday evening the new club ACS trailer was set up at the Port Elgin NB Regional School for its first display with a local group.
Members of the RCACC 2335 Port Elgin Army Cadets and commanding officer Brett Crossman invited up to come and learn about amateur radio and the operation of the trailer. (see below)
Twelve members including eight cadets attended and for over an hour ask questions about the hobby. At the end of the eveniong we gave them several links to local websites to find out more about amateur radio. 

The next event for the trailer will be June 3rd 7pm when we will be at 26 LaPlanche St in Amherst to showcase the trailer with Sean Lockhart and cadets from the 154 Air RCACS.  All club members are invited to attend.

May 23rd, 2026

On Saturday several members of the WestCumb ARC participated in the learning session of the new WARC Comms Trailer.  When the manual is complete it will be sent out to members interested in operating the trailer.
Taking part Left to Right in the photo includes Mike Johnson VE1MWJ, Bruce Sears VE1VH, Peter Whalen VE1WIN,  Kevin Burke VE1KEV, Frank Marks VE1FSM, Robert Mannette VE1CA,  Brian MacDonald VE1BSD and presenteing the class Steve Orr VE1OR. 

May 2nd, 2026

Another sell out at this year's SMART26 and a wonderful day to show off the club's new comms trailer.
Throughout the day Nova Scotia Public Safety Field Communications, Nova Scotia Guard, local goverement officals and many amateurs dropped by to see the trailer and ask questions about its mission.

April 26th, 2026

On Saturday April 25th, Ron VE1BIC was joined on Tantramar Community Radio CFTA 107.9 by WARC members Steve VE1OR, Jim VE1JBL and Rob VE1CA to talk about S.M.A.R.T. and take listeners on a tour of the new Communications Trailer out in the station parking lot.

Here is the link to the program:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/xmrhwd83etfi1cvk8xv4r/WARC-AT-CFTA-APRIL-25-2026.mp3?rlkey=r3qmtze9l0sw3le8q5qi83icn&dl=0

March 8th, 2026

I have added a Google calendar to the WestCumb ARC club website. It can be found here - Calendar 

This will be used to capture club events.
For example, calendar events will include regular meetings, club brunches, committee meetings and outings that the new communications trailer will participate in. These trailer outings could be sessions at local schools and community events such as Canada Day, Jamboree on the Air and Field Day.

It could also be deployed by members for on air contests throughout the year to keep it in good service and have members practice at setting it up and operating.

This calendar will also help members plan to volunteer some time to participate in club events.

If anyone has anything you think should be added to the calendar or any events we have missed, please let us know.

All events are subject to change.

February 6th, 2026

There was a good turnout for the club meeting this month with twenty-three members taking part including new member Dan VE1DVB from Westville NS. The club now has sixty-one members.

• There was not much new on the comms trailer as we are deciding on storage for the unit and waiting on Carters for the logos on the trailer. We will be heading our soon to talk to the local schools to see if there is interest in bringing the trailer to them.

• The SMART committee will meet on February 10th to go over the latest on the event, update the website and send out the registration form.

• Kevin VE1KEV & Rob VE1CA went over the clubs new merchandise form and it is now LIVE for members to order items from the store. A reminder if paying by e-transfer use the club address  ve1wrcetransfer@gmail.com 

• Ron VE1BIC would like to have a couple of club members meet at CFTA Community Radio 107.9  on Saturday February 28th 10am to do another on air program talking about the club. If interested in taking part in this, contact Ron at  ron.bickle@gmail.com If you scroll down to the bottom of this page you will be able to listen to the first CFTA interview back in March of 2025.

• The next club brunch will be held Saturday February 21st 10:30am at Patterson's in Sackville NB.

• Next club meeting will be March 3rd online only beginning at 7pm.

Below is a snapshot of the online meeting.

January 8th, 2026

We had a great club meeting this past week with 25 members taking part and three guests including Jason Tremblay VE3JXT from Radio Amateurs of Canada, Al Cyples VE1CYP and Scott Hawkes VE1SLH both from Nova Scotia Public Safety Field Communications.

• After regular club business, Jason gave a presentation on the new Auxiliary Communications Service which has taken over from the Amateur Radio Emergency Service. The session last for an hour and half with a lot of information shared.
  Once I received the video from Robert, I will share it will all members.

• The monthly brunch will take place January 17th 10:30am  at Brittney's in Amherst.

• Next club meeting will be February 3rd, 2026.