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{
    "url": "https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/api/list/[email protected]/email/A3FQYGZYXS7OCUF54RSCHP7B3XM5ELTC/?format=api",
    "mailinglist": "https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/api/list/[email protected]/?format=api",
    "message_id": "[email protected]",
    "message_id_hash": "A3FQYGZYXS7OCUF54RSCHP7B3XM5ELTC",
    "thread": "https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/api/list/[email protected]/thread/A3FQYGZYXS7OCUF54RSCHP7B3XM5ELTC/?format=api",
    "sender": {
        "address": "john (a) papays.com",
        "mailman_id": "40c82fe75f644d01882ed3a91ae267dd",
        "emails": "https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/api/sender/40c82fe75f644d01882ed3a91ae267dd/emails/?format=api"
    },
    "sender_name": "John Papay",
    "subject": "[amsat-bb] UT1FG/MM Welland Canal",
    "date": "2012-04-10T16:07:05Z",
    "parent": null,
    "children": [
        "https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/api/list/[email protected]/email/CUW7CBUZ2A6XTY55PG3U7T5VIFR5X4Z3/?format=api",
        "https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/api/list/[email protected]/email/XZ42WIFUMLZUL3DHI66RKU4PTN26CSK4/?format=api"
    ],
    "votes": {
        "likes": 0,
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        "status": "neutral"
    },
    "content": "Yuri, UT1FG/MM, left Thunder Bay Ontario on Lake Superior\na few days ago with a cargo of Oats and Wheat destined for\nSan Juan Puerto Rico.  He had gone through the Welland Canal\nwhich connects Lake Ontario to Lake Erie on the way to\nThunder Bay and would come back through on his way out.  The\nWelland Canal is very long, has 8 locks and takes the boat from\na water elevation of 572' in Lake Erie to 246' in Lake Ontario.\nOn the way in it took him about 8 hours to go through.\n\nMy thought was to drive up there and watch him go through and hope\nwe could get within shouting distance of one another.  But where you\ndo go to get close and how do you find your way around in unfamiliar\nterritory?  You may have heard VE3RCN on the birds, sometimes from\ndifferent grids and sometimes on the warship Haida.  Kevin is in the\nRoyal Canadian Navy (hence the callsign) and makes his home in Welland!\nAfter some email exchanges and some research on Kevin's part he offered\nto host my time in the area.  That took all of the stress out of the\nsituation.  He knew everything about the canal.\n\nYuri sailed out of the Detroit River on Saturday night and into Lake\nErie.  I was able to contact him on 144.200 sideband where we chatted\nfor almost an hour, much different than the quick grid square exchange\non the birds.  He estimated being at Lock 8 in the Welland Canal around\n8am.  After 4 hours of sleep and a quick shower I was on the road at 3:15am.\nAfter a few questions by Canadian Customs (they know what to ask to determine\nif you are telling the truth), I was in Canada.  About 15 minutes out of\nPort Colborne, the entrance to the canal, Yuri called on 146.52 to say he\nwas about 15 miles out.  Fifteen miles later I was at Tim Horton's (the\nCanadian Starbucks equivalent) where I was to meet Kevin, VE3RCN/VA3OR.\nHe arrived their shortly after me and we were off to the Lake Erie shore\nto catch a glimpse of the MV Barnacle. And there she was off in the distance.\nIt was all coming together.  The Lake was calm, the sun was shining, it was\nabout 32 degrees but there was no wind.  The fish were jumping.\n\nAfter the ship started moving closer to the channel we got into position\nto watch it come in.  As it rounded the bend and we could see the bridge,\nYuri spotted us immediately and was waving.  He seemed as excited as we\nwere.  As he got closer we were able to shout back and forth.  At Lock\n8, the first lock, we were able to talk back and forth; we were very close.\nThere are places on the canal where you can stand on the bank and put your\nhand on the ship going by.  The clearance may only be six inches.\n\nAfter that we went to get some breakfast; then we lost track of where Yuri\nwas.  Kevin made a quick call to his xyl Donna, VE3WIZ, and she was able\nto relay his position so we could catch up with him again.  We waited for\nhim to pass over the highway at Thorold.  The road actually goes under the\ncanal!  Next stop, Lock 7.\n\nWe were waiting for Yuri at Lock 7 where the Canal Pilot changes.  We were\nstanding at the fence when things started to come together.  The invitation\nto come on board was given and before I knew it I was ushered over the lock\nto the other side of the ship and boarded as the ship lowered to the dock\nlevel.  A minute later I was on the bridge with Captain Yuri UT1FG.  Finally\nI was able to meet a guy that I've been working on the satellites in\nhundreds of water grids since April 2009!  At that point Kevin went back\nhome to get Donna and they then followed us down the canal, waving and\nwatching us at every highway crossing and vantage point.\n\nAn experienced Canal Pilot takes command of the ship through the locks.  He\nstands on the port or starboard side of the bridge so he can see the ship's\nhull with respect to the edge of the canal.  There may be only inches to\nspare so it is a tedious effort.  The Pilot calls out the commands (Starboard\n20, Port 10, Slow Ahead etc) and the first officer carries out the orders.\nYuri is usually with the Pilot and helps relay the commands etc.  There is\nvery little time for anything else except when you are actually stopped in\nthe lock.  It's one thing to see the ship going through the locks from\nland but quite another to experience the change of level from inside the\nlock itself.  It truly was an experience of a lifetime.\n\nYuri took me to his cabin one level below the bridge.  His quarters are\nquite nice and private.  This is where he operates with his IC706, manually\ntuning the radio and doing a great job at that!  The power supply from HP1CQ\nsat on the table in the corner and a computer running Orbitron is on the other\nside.  Yuri now has an ELK antenna installed (thanks to the efforts of\nRick, WA4NVM).  It is mounted on a manually rotatable mast that goes up\nfrom the bridge, starboard side, directly above his cabin.  The ELK is\ntilted up at 15 degrees and was just installed on the way back from\nThunder Bay.  The CJU antenna is mounted on the crossboom next to the ELK.\nA vertical for 2 meters is on a separate mast above those antennas.  Until\nthis season Yuri only used the 2 meter vertical for transmit and receive.\nIt is amazing that he was able to make any contacts with just that antenna.\nThe CJU improved things greatly and the ELK takes it to a new level.  He\nworked PV8DX right at his horizon on FO-29 with it.  Yuri has SatPC32 but\nhas not installed it yet due to time constraints.  When he is out in the\nOcean again, he will install it and get his radio interfaced.  This will\nmake it much easier for him to stay on frequency and focus on operating.\nYuri also has a 6 meter rotatable dipole and a end fed long wire that goes\nfrom the bridge to the top of the first two cranes.\n\nThe MV Barnacle is a sister ship to the Mottler, the ship that he captained\nlast season.  It was also built in 2009 and is owned by a Canadian company\nbased in Montreal.  The engine room boasts a 10,000 horsepower plant and\nis controlled by state of the art electronics.  I was able to experience an\nexcellent meal on the ship in addition to touring the ship with the Chief\nEngineer.\n\nTime passes quickly and soon we were at Lock 2 where it was decided I\nshould depart.  Kevin and Donna were waiting there for me; we were 30\nmiles away from where my car was parked.  We stopped at McDonald's to\ndemonstrate my remote control setup but the wifi failed so we couldn't\ndo that.  After a nice drive and some good conversation we were back at\nTim Horton's in Port Colborne.  At the US border crossing the agent\nquestioned me as to why I would drive all that way on Easter Sunday just\nto see a ship go through the canal.  After I explained that the captain\nwas a ham radio operator that I had talked with around the world but\nnever met he handed back my passport and said \"GO!\"\n\nI want to thank Kevin VA3OR/VE3RCN and his wife Donna, VE3WIZ, for spending\ntheir Easter Sunday hosting my visit to the Canal.  I'm sure they had\nbetter things to do but they decided to take me all around and make my\nvisit a memorable one.  I hope they enjoyed the day as much as I did.\n\nAnd a big thanks to Master Yuri Bodrov and his crew for their hospitality.\nAnd also to the Canal Pilot who guided this massive ship through the locks\nwith great precision.  It was an experience that very few will ever have.\n\nYuri is headed down the seaway and should be traveling through new water\ngrids on the way to San Juan PR.  He is due there on 4/20.  He will stay\non until at least the end of May.  He does not know where he will go after\nSan Juan.  He has truly made operating the birds exciting.  QSL to his manager\nUX0FY (on qrz.com).  He has ordered 5000 more qsl cards which should\narrive shortly.\n\n73,\nJohn K8YSE\n\n\n",
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