SB RAC @ CANADA < VA3RAC $RAC_9405.09 RAC SPECIAL NEWS BULLETIN INTERNET EDITION - 9 MAY 1994 Issued at RAC Administrative Office P.O. Box 356 Kingston, ON, K7L 4W2 Editor: Cam Inglis Internet Editor/Transmission: Steve Cutway VE3GRS CANATEX 2 Industry Canada's Telecommunications Controller, Joe MacPherson, has requested that RAC put out the following as a Special News Bulletin. The cooperation of all Canadian Amateurs is appreciated. Packet BBS SysOps are asked to pay particular attention. As many amateurs will already know, a major NATIONAL LEVEL exercise called CANATEX 2 is under way. The exercise began on May 2nd and will end on May 13th, 1994. The exercise is based upon a catastrophic earthquake scenario in the area of the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. Involved in the exercise are many municipal governments in BC, the governments of British Columbia and Alberta and the Federal government. In addition, several other non-government agencies, such as the Canadian Red Cross, are involved. As part of the tests of telecommunications, which are organized and controlled by Industry Canada (Telecommunications), amateur radio operators are being asked to transmit realistic messages to and from various locations across Canada. While these messages may seem to be COMMERCIAL in nature, they are, in fact, part of the exercise. Section 51. of the General Radio Regulations, Part II reads as follows: "In a real or simulated emergency, the operator of an amateur station may communicate any message that relates to the real or simulated emergency on behalf of any person, government or relief organization". An unfortunate incident occurred recently whereby an amateur radio operator refused to relay one of these messages on the basis that the content was COMMERCIAL in nature. It would seem that the operator in question was not familiar with the General Radio Regulations. Since every effort is being made during CANATEX 2 to demonstrate the value of AMATEUR RADIO in disaster situations, it would be appreciated if the operators who are involved in the relay of these messages are given the support and cooperation of the rest of the amateur population. 73 de VA3RAC Steve VE3GRS at the keyboard Steve Cutway VE3GRS Information Access Specialist (Non-Visual Technologies) Computing and Communications Services Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7L 3N6 PHONE: (613) 545-6354 EMAIL: