Friends,
Time is passing so quickly that it seems I am always getting a newsletter ready for distribution. Thanks to those who volunteered for stuffing envelopes as some of us who have been doing this for ten years would like a change. We are also looking for another member to sit on our executive as we have to double up on some of our duties and don’t have time to do them properly.
Jim Sawtell
Tour:
On October 14, Friends and friends met at St. Hubert on St. Laurent boulevard. Lunch was followed by a very interesting tour of the "Canada in Space" exhibit at the Museum of Science & Technology nearby. Doris Jelly, curator of the exhibit, conducted the tour, explaining the goals of the museum and of the space exhibit, which takes an historical approach. There are many hands-on areas, for example, an 'intercom' using satellite communication, and a split screen illustrating the time delay over a satellite link. There are several videos, one an introduction to Canadian involvement in space, another in a pavilion highlighting John Chapman's contributions. Among others, there are displays of the Black Brant, Alouette, Anik and Hermes vehicles. There is also a mockup of the space shuttle cockpit/control room and payload bay. One area is devoted to a description of the Canadian astronaut program and photos of the astronauts. It is all very well done and interesting to many age groups and levels of knowledge.
Don Ross
Projects:
Broad Band Wireless Communications
Regarding the dormant "Broad Band Wireless Communications" Project in which we had hoped that suitably located members of the Friends of CRC could participate, Nisar Ahmed gave a discouraging report at the last meeting of our Executive. Due to the impending tightening of Public Service sector expenditures, the delayed availability of hardware from the suppliers, and our inability to find 'members' whose houses were suitably located, he recommended that this proposal should cease for now and be restarted when the conditions are more salubrious.
Nisar Ahmed
SMARTscope: We will have an update next month.
Future Events:
CRC Friends Programme for October, 2004-April, 2005.
October 28: The Scotiabank Fraud Awareness Program: "The ABC’s of Fraud" including Identity Theft, Door-to-Door Canvassing, Telemarketing, Mail and Banking Fraud. Become a tough target for fraud - get the facts and Protect Yourself! Two speakers, members of the Rotary Club of West Ottawa, will address us on this increasingly prevalent problem. They may be accompanied by a police officer from the Ottawa Fraud Squad.
November 25: "Just What Is Happening In Afganistan" - Major David Ross is just back from a year’s tour of duty in Afganistan. Major Ross was assigned to duties with the United Nations which involved extensive travel within Afganistan. His illustrated talk will give a great insight into what is seldom, if ever, shown in the media.
2005
January 27: "Futuristic Military Requirements and Elements of the New Defence Policy" -
Col. Howard Marsh, Ret’d., a longtime expert in this area, and a Senior Analyst with the Conference of Defence Associations, has kindly agreed to address us on this interesting and topical subject. Col. Marsh is quoted in Saturday’s Citizen, (Oct. 18, ‘04), under the headline, "Two Solitudes" - The Struggle To Save Canada’s Military.
February 24: "Fibre-Optic Communications in Ottawa" - Gordon Henderson of Telecom Ottawa will Speak to us on the topic. His address will include a description of the fibre-optic links between the CRC Badlab, Telesat, and schools, and collaborative internet work amongst schools worldwide.
March 31: DFL visit to view Radarsat ll (or April 28). Pre-registration is required.
April 28: TBD
With the exception of the DFL visit, all meetings take place in the CRC Auditorium commencing at 1:00 p.m.. Besides the Friends of CRC and their guests, all CRC, DRDC and CSA employees at the Shirley’s Bay site are cordially invited and most welcome. Coffee and cookies are available afterwards in the CRC Foyer. Please tell your friends and colleagues. Friends and guests meet beforehand for lunch in the CRC cafeteria at 12 noon. All are most welcome to join us.
Deaths:
Millie McDonald, January, 2004.
John Mar, September 9, 2004 in Victoria B.C.
Correspondence:
We do not include e-mail nor postal addresses as it is against our policy to include these in the CRC Newsletter, unless we have permission or the letter is a request for information. If an individual wishes to contact a person on our list we will give an e-mail address or telephone number at our discretion or with permission from the person being contacted.
E-mails Received:
Date received: October 4, 2004.
Jim,
First, a special thanks to you and the executive for all of the work that you were doing to keep the "Friends" going so well. I closely follow the information that you send out and I hope to be able to participate more in the near future when I re-enter retirement.
In the 2003 Annual Report, there was a note that you and Graham Booth were updating the Alouette Pioneers List. I first saw this list during a visit to the Museum last year. I believe that it is a real honour for those whose names are listed. I do not know the criteria that were used to compile this list but it seems to represent those on the technical side of the project and also many names of those who worked on processing and using the topside ionospheric data.
I was deeply involved in the data side of the Alouette/ISIS project. I was working for Leroy Nelms and I set up the data analysis centre which involved equipping the centre with data analysis machines, and hiring, training and supervising six analysts. The task was to scale key data points from the thousands of topside ionograms that were on film and transfer the results to a digital form on IBM cards which were then transferred to magnetic tapes. These results were the main source of material used by the research scientists who were doing the topside ionospheric research. This data centre was established soon after the launch of Alouette I, I was in that supervisory position for about five years.
Additionally, a minor point, I was responsible for registering Alouette II and, I think ISIS I and II, with the ITU in Geneva. I believe that Leroy Nelms or Glen Lockwood registered Alouette I. Also, in 1965, I co-authored a paper with Larry Maynard which was published in the Canadian Journal of Physics. This paper used Alouette data and PARL data to determine the electron/ion temperature ratio at 1000km.
If these activities fit the criteria for the list of Alouette Pioneers, I would be honoured to have my name added.
There is another person that I think should be considered for the list. Throughout the five-year period when I operated the data analysis centre, there were often topside ionograms which were difficult to interpret. Especially when these ionograms were taken in the polar regions, I went to Doris Jelly for assistance with the interpretation. Also, Doris was a major user of the scaled data. So, I think that Doris should qualify to be added to the list. I will cc this email to Doris so that she will know what I have said about her participation.
Sorry that this is so lengthy but I thank you and Graham for considering it. I am looking forward to seeing you at a "Friends" meeting in the near future.
Regards.
Ed DuCharme.
Date received: October 2, 2004.
Hi Jim, Can you please help me publicize, through the friends of CRC, the Japanese drumming (taiko) concert on Sat. Oct. 23, in which I will be performing. I have been a member of Oto-Wa Taiko since its beginning in 1989. Taiko is a performing art, best popularized by the world famous touring group, Kodo. Our local group, Oto-Wa Taiko, has a fairly extensive following; I think that the concert would be of great interest to you and your newsletter readership. Thanks,
Aki Watanabe
Date received: September 26, 2004.
Dear Prof Kaploun: I am writing in response to an item in "Friends of CRC Newsletter" dated 14 Sep/04 concerning Norman Moody. I was employed at CRC (then DRTE) from 1952 until 1966. In the 1960's I was working in Moody's group at what was then DRTE/EL. I have no direct knowledge of the memo you are seeking, but would offer the following: 1) Norman Moody was Professor Emeritus at University of Victoria (BC) when I last heard of him. He may be still resident in Victoria. 2) Prof Mike Williams, while at U of Calgary, interviewed Moody concerning the DRTE computer (which used Moody's circuits, and was in fact justified as a project on the grounds of creating a test bed for the flipflop invented by Moody and Florida). I understand Williams may now be in California, involved with the IEEE or some other computer museum. If you are unable to locate him, a mutual acquaintance here can get me his current whereabouts. 3) I wonder if you are aware of the distinction between the circuit, referred to as the PNPN structure, and an actual transistor. The PNPN structure consisted of 2 transistors, one PNP and one NPN connected directly together to forma flipflop useful in digital systems. The advantage of the PNPN structure was that in one of its two states it consumed virtually no power. This was in distinction to conventional flipflops which consumed roughly equal amounts of power in either state. The PNPN structure was invented by Moody and Florida and they were granted a patent, I believe around 1960. 4) Moody believed this circuit might, as technology evolved, be able to be realized as a single semiconductor device. For that reason it was felt that a single symbol to represent the structure would be desirable. 5) In the 1960's DRTE consisted of 3 main laboratories - DRTE/Radio Physics Laboratory concerned with radio physics, DRTE/Communications Laboratory concerned with radio communication, and radar, and DRTE/Electronics Laboratory concerned with electronics devices such as transistors and electronic components and circuits. There was, as well, an Administration group responsible for the usual stuff like personnel, but also including common functions such as library, mechanical shops, test equipment, etc. DRTE was managed by a Chief Superintendent and each of the 3 laboratories was managed by a Superintendent. I don't recollect much about the structure above the Chief Superintendent at present, but if you are unable to find the information elsewhere I may be able to find it in papers I have in storage, or possibly government archives involving the Defence Research Board may be available publicly. I hope the above may be of assistance. I would be interested to see any publication that results from your work on reliability. Moody and Florida were both very interested and concerned with this, arising from their experience with military electronics in WW II, and it was always a prominent concern in the groups they managed at DRTE.
Sincerely,
George Lake
Date received: September 26, 2004
Hi Jim,
Enjoy your friendsofcrc mailings!
A while ago I thought I sent an email to say send stuff to me via email. I realize that the latest mailing couldn't be sent that way but I haven't received any emails from you either, so I repeat my email address.
After a seven or eight month effort, I just managed to get a lot line adjustment made. Our house now fronts on a different street and so the snail mail address is changed.
It surely is sad to see the 'Deceased' notices. Some like Jack Matsushita I had worked with nearly all my time in government. Others, like Dr. Paghis, were people that I literally stood in awe of. Even after retirement I never could bring myself to call him 'Irv'
Thanks and take care,
Bob Gruno
Also, Andy Molozzi wrote:
Mr. Kaploun,
I recently received the September 2004 Newsletter from the Friends of CRC in which you ask for information on the DRTE/Electronics lab and Norman Moody.
Norman Moody lives a few blocks from me here in Victoria BC. His address is:
NF Moody
1675 Prospect Place
Victoria BC
Tel: 250-598-7044.
From time to time I see Norman and his wife out walking and, although he is elderly, he seems to have his mental faculties quite in order.
The DRTE/Electronics Laboratory in which Moody worked, was located in the NRC Montreal Campus, Bldg M-38 I believe. A few years ago, all of M-38 was part of the Institute of Microstructure Sciences. At the time Moody was there, the front half of the building was occupied by a R&D arm of DND per se concerned with military communications while the back half was DRTE's Electronics Laboratory. It wasn't until about 1961 that this Lab moved to the Shirley Bay location. By that time, Moody had left to start a medical electronics activity at the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon. Moody later left Saskatoon to start a similar activity at Uof Toronto.
Colin Franklin, who still lives in Ottawa, came from England in 1957 to join DRTE. He moved directly to work in the Electronics Lab at Montreal Road. Colin would be an excellent source of information as he knew Moody at that time. I didn't move out to the Montreal Road location until sometime 1958 - after the launch of the Russian satellite Sputnik but had little to do with Moody even after my move to M-38.
Hope this helps.
andrew molozzi
On 10 Aug 2004, at 11:36, mkaploun@uoguelph.ca wrote:
To whom it may concern How can I get the names of technicians who worked at the Radio Physics Laboratory, the Electronics Laboratory, and the Communications Laboratory in the 1950s and 1960s. Is there a chance that you could provide me with a contact or some information that would help me get a list of names?
Please get back to me as soon as you can. Thank you for your time
Maxim Kaploun
That’s all for this month, keep your e-mails and letters coming as they make the newsletter more interesting.
Jim Sawtell
