Welcome to the RAC Regulatory/Advocacy Team
Dave Goodwin, VE3KG
RAC Regulatory Affairs Officer
As RAC’s Regulatory Affairs Officer I am pleased to introduce you to RAC’s Regulatory Team: Dave Goodwin, VE3KG, Paul Coverdale, VE3ICV, Bryan Rawlings, VE3QN, Glenn MacDonell, VE3XRA, Richard Ferch, VE3KI and Serge Bertuzzo, VA3SB.
I have been an Amateur since 1975 and I am an active HF Contester and DXer and my DXpedition to Point Amour Lighthouse was featured on the front cover of the November-December 2020 issue of The Canadian Amateur.
I have also volunteered at the national level and have served as the RAC President, the RAC Director for the Atlantic Region, RAC Member Services Officer and currently as the Regulatory Affairs Officer.
I have taught Basic and Advanced certification courses with the Fredericton (NB) Amateur Radio Club before moving to Ontario and continue to teach the RAC Advanced course for Maple Leaf Operators (present and future) since the pandemic began in 2020.
As RAC Member Services Officer, I launched the new Canadian Portable Operations Challenge Award for RAC members which began on Canada Day, July 1, 2021. The “RAC Challenge” recognizes all portable operations in which RAC members participate and has similar features as a contest.
In the “Regulatory Roundup” column in each issue of The Canadian Amateur magazine, I will provide an overview of our regulatory priorities and also discuss some topics of interest.
Note: the Regulatory Roundup column is available here.
In September 2021, the RAC Regulatory Team, held a presentation called “RAC and our Regulator – Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada”, by Richard Ferch, VE3KI, Paul Coverdale, VE3ICV and Bryan Rawlings, VE3QN.
You can view it on the RAC YouTube Channel.
Paul Coverdale, VE3ICV
Paul was first licensed in 1965 as G3TZJ in England. Emigrating to Canada in 1974, he became VE3ICV. His Amateur interests are primarily HF DXing and CW contesting, with outdoor QRP operation in the summer. He also enjoys antenna experimentation. Paul has been a member of the Ottawa Amateur Radio Club for many years, serving twice as President, and is a member of RAC.
Professionally, Paul spent 30 years with Nortel Networks, where he held a number of Engineering and management positions related to the specification, design, verification and standardization of wireline and wireless products, He took early retirement in 2005 and then for 15 years was a consultant in the area of Quality of Service/ Quality of Experience of telecommunications networks. Paul has been active for many years in international Standards Forums, and has participated in many meetings of the International Telecommunication Union’s ITU-T where he has worked with delegates from all over the world to develop and approve numerous new standards for telecommunications. He is a member of the IET, IEEE, and is a registered Professional Engineer.
Going forward, Paul’s main activity in participating in ITU-R meetings as a RAC Special Advisor will be to monitor proposals, and lobby to protect Canadian (and worldwide) Amateur Radio interests, in the run-up to WRC-23, the next World Radiocommunication Conference. It is the job of WRC to review, and, if necessary, revise the Radio Regulations, the international treaty governing the use of the radio-frequency spectrum and the geostationary-satellite and non-geostationary-satellite orbits.
Glenn MacDonell, VE3XRA
Richard Ferch, VE3KI
Richard obtained his first Amateur Radio licence as VE4AEO in Manitoba in 1978. Upon moving to Ottawa in 1980, he changed call signs to VE3IAY. After his retirement in 2006, he acquired his current VE3KI call sign, and is now also licensed in the US as AC1FE. His operating interests are focused mainly on HF CW and RTTY contesting and DXing. His home station is a fairly typical HF tribander plus wire antennas installation in a small town near Ottawa. In addition to operating from home, he has also operated in contests under various call signs from a variety of locations either while physically present there or as a remote operator, often as a member of a multi-operator contest team.
He began his professional career as a Computational Physicist, but spent the majority of his career working for the Canadian nuclear regulator in a variety of staff and management roles. This work history has given him familiarity with regulatory processes and government operations.
Since his retirement he has served as a volunteer for Radio Amateurs of Canada in a number of capacities. He managed the regulatory portfolio from 2006 to 2011 and again from 2015 to 2021. He is the licensee or sponsor for RAC’s club call signs and is a member of the TCA Editorial Review Committee. Richard is also a member of several other Amateur organizations, including CWops, FOC and QCWA. He has managed the weekly CWops CWT mini-tests since 2015, and was also Manager of the QCWA QSO Party for several years. He is the Secretary of Contest Club Ontario, and a member of the development team for the N1MM Logger contest logging software. He is a Past-President of the QCWA Ottawa Chapter 70 and a member of the West Carleton Amateur Radio Club.
Bryan Rawlings, VE3QN
Bryan was first licensed as VE2AME in Montreal in 1959. Despite long absences from Amateur Radio while living overseas (Saudi Arabia 1978-88 and 1995-2001 and Russia 1992-1993), Bryan has again been an active Amateur since 2002 – now signing VE3QN from Ottawa.
Bryan’s interests are DXing and the digital modes. He has over 260 entities in his DX totals using mostly vertical and wire antennas from a location where terrain makes a beam impractical. When he operates in Quebec, Bryan may use his Quebec call – VE2QNN. Bryan is a member of RAC, ARRL, RSGB, QCWA, the Ottawa Amateur Radio Club, Ottawa Valley Mobile Radio Club and the International Amateur Radio Club (4U1ITU).
Bryan holds a B.Sc. in mathematics from Loyola College (Université de Montréal) and worked in telecommunications for nearly 40 years with Bell Canada, Telecom Canada and with several other employers in Canada, Saudi Arabia and Russia.
From 2008 until 2020, Bryan was RAC’s representative with our regulator – currently Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED). This has involved countless meetings with ISED’s Spectrum Management staff in Ottawa as well as attendance as a delegation member for the 2012, 2015 and 2019 World Radiocommunication Conferences.
Bryan continues this work as a consultant with RAC as well as a Technical Advisor for the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU).
Note: In September 2021, the RAC Regulatory Team, held a presentation called “RAC and our Regulator – Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada”, by Richard Ferch, VE3KI, Paul Coverdale, VE3ICV and Bryan Rawlings, VE3QN. You can view it on the RAC YouTube Channel.Serge Bertuzzo VA3SB – International Affairs Officer
Serge Bertuzzo, VA3SB, has been RAC’s International Affairs Officer since 2019. Along with the other members of RAC’s Regulatory team, Serge’s key focus has been on acting as a liaison between RAC and the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) as well as monitoring and contributing to international activities related to the World Radio Conference (WRC) and domestic preparatory process for issues affecting the amateur radio service.
Serge presently works for Bell Canada in Regulatory Affairs. He works closely with Innovation Science and Economic Development Canada and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) on a variety of spectrum, technology and regulatory related matters. Serge has been involved in ITU activities for the past 25 years and actively participates as a Canadian delegate to various ITU-R/T meetings. His regular visits to Geneva, Switzerland also enable him to operate the ITU Amateur Radio station 4U1ITU on a regular basis.
Serge was initially licensed in October of 1971 as VE3CHZ. In 1981, he obtained his present call sign VA3SB. He has been primarily interested in CW, RTTY and SSTV operation. He actively participates in most major CW and RTTY contests. He is also an active member of the CW Ops (Membership # 1488), is the Canada East Ambassador for the group and participates in the weekly CWT mini contests.
Serge’s Amateur Radio interests are quite varied and include QRP homebrewing, antenna experimentation, digital modes FT-8, PSK31, JT-65, SSTV and CW / digital contesting / DXing and remote operation. Over the past four years, Serge has been focusing on assembling a remote contesting station located at his summer cottage. The station consists of two stations: an Elecraft K3s as well as a Kenwood TS-480 along with an Elecraft KPA500 amplifier controlled by Remote Rig boxes. The antennas are a K4KIO 6-band Hexbeam at 55 feet as well as a variety of inverted V’s for 40-80 and 160 metres.