FRIENDS OF CRC NEWSLETTER
April 16, 2005
Friends:
During the past month or so some executive duties have been changed as I was not able to keep up with the modifications for the membership and badges due to expanding personal activities. Charles Archard is now responsible for badges and Don Ross is looking after the membership.
I will still be doing the newsletter and will help Don look for names and addresses of persons we think would like to be members. A while back my e-mail server stopped allowing large group mailings so I had to break the group list into six separate groups, and in doing this, some names were left off. Don has been correcting this but if you were receiving the newsletter by e-mail but no longer do, would you please send an e-mail to Don at donross@magma.ca with your present e-mail address. Sorry for any inconvenience.
On April 28th there will be a short "Annual General Meeting" at 1:00 p.m. Please attend as we are looking for ideas for next year and want your input so we can plan a program which will be informative, interesting and entertaining for you the members. See the enclosure for information on the talk after the AGM.
Jim
Web Site:
Recently new pages have been added to the section dealing with the DRTE computer which was designed and built at DRTE. Look at this on our web site to see what was accomplished in the early days before we even had electronic calculators.
CRC now has a Newsletter called "Eye-on-tech" which is to be published three times a year and the first one is now available at www.crc.ca/eye-on-tech . Take a look at it.
Future Events:
April 28: 1:00 p.m. in the CRC Auditorium, a brief "Annual General Meeting" followed by a talk by John Gilbert, entitled "The Joint Arctic Weather Stations and the IGY: A Retrospective".
Special Event:
May 26: 1:00 p.m. in the CRC Auditorium a Talk by George Lake entitled "The DRTE Com-puter - An Historical Retrospect". This is a special meeting to coincide with a visit to Ottawa of George and his wife Phyllis (an ex-scientist at the then DRCL) from their home in Calgary. George and Phyllis will be joining us for lunch at 12:00 noon in the CRC cafeteria where they hope to be able to meet with past friends and colleagues.
E-mails Received:
From Kevin Shackell on March 29, 2005:
Hi Jim,
Further to our brief meeting in the Friends office last week, below are the details of Jack Clapp's employment at Shirleys Bay.
Jack Clapp passed away at the age of 95 on Wednesday March 16, 2005. Jack
was an electrician at DRB, DRTE and later CRC in the glory days of the
satellite communications progams. He started at DRB on May 2, 1957 and
followed the transition to CRC, retiring on November 17th, 1975 one day
short of his 65th birthday.
He is survived by his wife Mattie, son Alan and daughters Peggie and Carol
and four grandchildren.
May 2 1957 to March 31st 1967
Defence Research Board (DRB)
April 1st 1967 to Nov. 17th 1975 (the day before his 65th birthday)
Dept. of Communications.
Received from Jack Tennuci on March 25, 2005:
Hi Jim,
I received the recent CRC mail yesterday & very happy to read that George Lake will be in Ottawa in May & giving a talk on the DRTE Computer. 2 issues of the newsletters back I noticed that George Lake had commented on the Moody Bistable circuit using a PNP & NPN transistor. It was George that put effort into that circuit in another application & I was his technician, so you can expect I will be attending that talk on May 26th.
I send apologies for not being able to attend the activities in April, because we will be in Florida for that month. I haven't attended many of the previous events for personal & family reasons.
Best Wishes for Easter to you both.
Regards Jack & Ellie T.
Deaths:
March 16, 2005 Jack Clapp
So long until next month,
Jim Sawtell sawtell@igs.net Phone: (613) 836-5795
Friends of CRC are invited to attend the Annual General Meeting in the auditorium of CRC.
AGENDA
FRIENDS OF CRC ASSOCIATION
ELEVENTH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
APRIL 28, 2005
1. CALL TO ORDER
2. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES of the tenth AGM (29 April 2004)
3. REVIEW OF 2004/2005 ACTIVITIES
Reports
4. FUTURE ACTIVITIES
5. ELECTION OF THE EXECUTIVE BOARD
6. ADJOURNMENT
7. PRESENTATION by JOHN GILBERT
The Joint Arctic weather stations and IGY: A Retrospective
8. COFFEE
"The Joint Arctic Weather Stations and the IGY"
A Retrospective
by
John Gilbert
Thursday, April 28, 2005
1:00 p.m. in the CRC Auditorium
following a short AGM
Sponsored by the Friends of the Communications Research Centre
John’s talk will cover some of the scientific activities carried out at the Joint Arctic Weather Stations (JAWS) with an emphasis upon the 1957 International Geophysical Year (IGY). He will describe the working conditions that were experienced at the stations, the scientific equipment and the routine of data collection, all illustrated by pictures from his own collection and those of others who served on the stations.
John would be particularly interested in hearing about the recollections of Friends of the CRC who were associated with the JAWS program. He notes that 2007-2008 will be the 50th anniversary of the IGY and that this has been declared the International Polar Year (IPY). He hopes that his talk will generate an added interest in the IPY among the Friends of CRC. See: http://www.ipy-api.ca/english/index.html .
John began his career with the Department of Transport which included service at Resolute Bay and Eureka in the period 1956 to 1958. He was associated with CRC in 1972-75 as a member of the CTS Communications Experiments team. From this and his time in the Arctic may have stemmed his long association with international efforts to bring communications services to underserved areas around the world.
All Friends of CRC, their spouses and friends and employees at the Shirley’s Bay site are cordially invited.
