National Capital Chapter 70 - Ottawa, Canada
VE3XK Biography 
Douglas (Doug) Leach - SK - QCWA# 27168 (Silent Key)
Background
Born in Windsor, Ontario but grew up in the village of Brussels, Ontario.
Education / Employment History
- 1955-1958 Ryerson Institute of Technology (Toronto) - graduated as Electronic Engineering Technologist
- 1956 - First summer job on transmitter maintenance with Radio Station CFRB 1010 KHz 50 KW(10KW Standby) and CFRX 6070 KHz (1KW)
- 1957 - Second summer job with Photographic Survey Corporation on an aerial mapping survey of northern Baffin Island (now Nunavut)
- 1958 - Defence Research Board - Electronics Laboratory (test equipment repair and calibration)
- 1959 - Defence Research Board – Communications Laboratory (test equipment repair and calibration)
- 1959-1963 - Instronics Limited (Sales & Engineering Representative) Ottawa, and then Pointe Claire, Quebec (covering all of Eastern Canada)
- 1963 - 1968 - Instronics Limited (Marketing Support Manager – Inside Sales, Marketing, Advertising, Trade-show Exhibits)
- 1969 - 1974 - Instronics Techno-Products Ltd – (Vice President and General Manager)
- 1974 - 1995 - Wiltron Instruments Canada Limited (President). After Wiltron merged with Anritsu, Anritsu Wiltron (Canada) Ltd. (President).
- 1992 - After two years of intensive part-time study and attendance at bi-weekly lectures in Toronto, graduated with degree “Executive Master of Business Administration”
- 1995 - Retired from full-time employment to go cruising on 44 ft Marine Trader trawler yacht in Florida and the Bahamas Islands. Returned to Canada in 2001.
- 1998 - Consulting contract to rewrite the Amateur Radio Basic and Advanced examinations.
Amateur Radio History
- 1954 - First licensed as VE3DWG in Brussels (and at Clyde River, Baffin Island as VE3DWG/VE8).
- 1959 - Assigned VE2ATJ when transferred to Pointe Claire, Quebec.
- 1962 - Assigned VE3DWK on return to Ottawa (as VE3DWG had now been re-assigned).
- 1998 - Applied for two-letter call sign. Assigned VE3XK
- 1998 - Radio Amateurs of Canada Appointed First Vice President (Volunteer). During this term, initiated the RAC Affiliated Club Program, RAC Foundation, RAC Audio-Visual Program, RAC Liability insurance, and the RAC E-Mail Forwarding (callsign @ rac.ca) Program.
- 1998 - Worked three years on the Amateur Delegation Project producing multiple spreadsheets for single and dual office scenarios, writing Accredited Volunteer Examiner manual for ARAS/SARA examiners and working with a contractor to produce computerized examinations using random questions drawn from the published question banks developed previously.
- 1999 – When President resigned, served as Acting President for several months, including chairing the 1999 Annual RAC Board and General Meetings.
- 2001-2004 – Served as elected RAC Director – Ontario North & East (Volunteer).
- 1998-2004 Author/Editor of these RAC publications: RAC Operating Manual (First and Second Editions), RAC Section Manager’s Survival Guide, RAC Emergency Coordinator’s Manual, RAC Official Observer’s Guide, RAC Administration Manual, RAC Manual for Directors, and several business plans. Also served as RAC Webmaster for those years, and significantly expanded the scope of the web site.
Additional Information
Have operated 160M-23CM and 10 GHz on SSB, CW, FM, APRS, SSTV, RTTY and PSK-31. Have DXCC (Phone, CW and Digital), DXCC (10,12,15,17,20, 30 and 40M), WAS-(Phone and CW), WAZ-(Mixed and CW), CQ DX Field with 6M endorsement, VUCC(6M), WPX, IOTA 100, 31 on 31, WAA and WARAC.
Member of RAC, ARRL, OARC and WCARC. VP of WCARC 2008-10, 2014 - 2016. Built the WCARC 6M, 2m, 1.25M and 70 CM weak signal propagation beacons.
Joined QCWA as a Life Member in 1996 and have served as a Chapter 70 Director from 1997 – 2010, Chapter 70 Web Master since 2007 and Chapter 70 Historian Archivist since 2010.
Received QCWA "Meritorious Award" in November 2007.
Received Chapter 70 Life Membership at the Chapter 70 November 2010 dinner meeting and "60 Year Licensed" Golden Certificate and lapel pin at the May 2015 dinner meeting.
2007 - Took over Chapter 70 Web Master and Archivist/Historian functions and converted Chapter 70 history and event photos to electronic form within the web site. Also greatly expanded Chapter 70 Web Site to include all Chapter 70 activities.
Doug passed away Jan 20, 2020 at age 81 years and was inducted posthumously into the Canadian Amateur Radio Hall of Fame.