Results of the Special Event IYA Call Sign, January-February, 2009

I have received reports from the following radio amateurs who indicated they were going to be active during the IYA Ham Radio Prefix Period. They had requested the Special IYA Ham Radio card that they could used to send to the contacts they made.

Bill Haskin, VA3AY; Robert Mazur, VA3ROM; Karl Hamilton, VE3RRP; Gary Hammond, VE3XN; Steven Leblanc, VE9SY; and Tony Fonseca, VE7ACF.

One of the most active for the IYA initiative was Paul Leger, VE9NC.

Paul Leger, normally VE9NC in Hampton, New Brunswick, logged a staggering 1,518 contacts. He is primarily a digital operator, which means he uses a digital modem in conjunction with his Ham Radio. In North America he made 279 contacts, 1199 in the European Union, 6 in South America, 2 in Hawaii, 16 in Africa, and 12 in Asia. Of all his contacts, 24 of them were by voice.

Grant Hollands using CF7GO (normally VA7GO), logged 200 voice contacts in Canada, USA, and 8 other countries around the world.

I was using CG7DAO (normally VE7DAO), and made only 3 contacts on HF.

At this point I cannot say for certain how many Amateur Radio enthusiasts in Canada participated in the Special Prefix, but I am sure the Amateur Frequency bands were busy with many discussions on the topic of Astronomy during the time period.

I have written articles for "The Canadian Amateur" a ham radio-related periodical for radio enthusiasts who belong to the Radio Amateurs of Canada organization. In the article, I covered what IYA was all about and how the Amateur Radio community around the world could get the word out about it.

It has been very exciting for me to bring this concept from an idea to a reality over the last year and to see how the Amateur Astronomical and Radio communities have embraced and participated in it.

The next exciting part comes in June, when VE7IYOA, a Special Station call sign will be on-the-air in Victoria to coincide with Amateur Radio "Field Day." June will be a very exciting time for all as I'm going to have an IYA event with both hobbies going on at the same site for the public to see and participate in.

I'm looking for similarly oriented individuals with interests in Amateur Radio at other RASC Centres who might like to apply to Industry Canada for a similar Special Event Station like VE7IYOA in other provinces.

Information on the project can be found here.