Packet Radio Legacy

Southern Ontario Node Archive: VE3 / VA3 Packet Network as of the Late 2010s

A reference snapshot of the VE3 and VA3 packet nodes coordinated through SOPRA across the Greater Toronto Area, with callsigns, frequencies, locations, and operating status.

FILED UNDER LEGACY // GTA // NODE LIST

A topographic map of the Greater Toronto Area with marked node sites from Acton west to Oshawa east, hand-annotated with frequencies.

This is the working snapshot of the VE3 and VA3 packet nodes coordinated through the Southern Ontario Packet Radio Association in the Greater Toronto Area, as the network stood in the late 2010s. It is reconstructed from the surviving copy of www.packetradio.ca and from the network news that was posted on the site through that period. Some entries have changed since. Some nodes have come back, some have gone permanently quiet. The status column reflects the last reliable record we have, not the current state of any individual station.

For the higher-level history and operating context — backbone links, BBS forwarding, ARES coordination — see the SOPRA history. For the protocol explanations behind the entries below, see APRS, BBS, AXIP, NET/ROM.

Node table

Callsign Location Frequency Status Notes
VA3OSH GTA East — Off the air Eastern GTA coverage; not operational at last record.
VA3BAL Ballantrae 145.63 MHz Active User port at Ballantrae; successful test link to VE3INF via the user port, with a backbone link proposed.
VE3CON Toronto / Weston 145.03 MHz Active Major BBS site. Added AXIP and NET/ROM links to VE3INF, VE3LHZ, WA7V, AA6HF, VE3CGR, KA0MOS/VE1, VE7TSI, and VE3MCH.
VE3INF Acton 145.05 MHz Active Returned to air running JNOS from new Acton QTH; antenna shared with VE3YAP via re-tuned duplexer. BBS joined ARRL Skipnet at 300 bps gateway.
VE3MIS Mississauga 144.97 MHz Active Mississauga user node.
VE3PKG Georgetown 145.61 MHz Active Halton Hills coverage; was a node on the original 220 MHz backbone path.
VE3PRC Brampton 145.01 MHz Active Peel ARC site. Proposed VE3PRC↔VE3TDS 220 MHz backbone link in cooperation with GTA West ARES Packet Working Group.
VE3TDS GTA West 220 MHz link (formerly 145.010) Off the air Backbone node. Original user channel 145.010 retired; 220 MHz backbone link off the air at last record.
VE3YAP Acton 144.39 MHz APRS (then 144.930) Active APRS digipeater relocated to new Acton QTH; antenna shared with VE3INF.
VE3ZDA Lisgar 145.77 MHz Active Lisgar user node serving western Mississauga.

Backbone notes

The 220 MHz backbone path that for years carried inter-node forwarding traffic ran VE3INF ↔ VE3TDS ↔ VE3PKG ↔ VE3CON. By the late period of active site maintenance that path had been down for years. The replacement that was being worked on, in cooperation with the GTA West ARES Packet Working Group and Peel Amateur Radio Club, was a VE3PRC↔VE3TDS link on 220 MHz. Whether the backbone in its old form ever returned in the same shape is a separate question.

The other live backbone proposal in the same period was the VE3INF↔VA3BAL link, which had been demonstrated successfully via the Ballantrae user port and was proposed for promotion to a real backbone link.

Forwarding peers from VE3CON

The VE3CON BBS, on 145.03 MHz, had AXIP and NET/ROM links to a notably wide list of peers. Local and regional: VE3INF (Acton), VE3LHZ (Oshawa), VE3CGR (York Region), VE3MCH (Hamilton). Long-haul over AXIP: WA7V (Washington), AA6HF (California), KA0MOS/VE1 (Nova Scotia), VE7TSI (BC). The list is worth noting because it shows the practical shape of post-RF-backbone forwarding — long links became IP, short links stayed RF where the RF still worked.

A note on accuracy

This is an editorial archive, not a live coordination page. If you operate one of these stations, or if you have current information about the operating status of any of them, the contact page is the right place to send corrections. We will revise entries against documented evidence — operator confirmation, recent on-the-air observation, or published club bulletins — but we will not remove the historical record of what the network looked like, because that record is what makes the archive useful.

For the regulatory side of amateur licensing in Canada, including how to look up a callsign in the current operator database, the authoritative source is Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. For continuing amateur infrastructure work in the modern era, see From Packet to Digital Networks.