ARRL Sacramento Valley Section News, November 2013
Kelley, KS6Z, our Section Emergency Coordinator, relays new improvements to the Winlink System:
"With the release of RMS Relay version 3.0.0.0 on November 4, 2013, the Amateur Radio Safety Foundation introduced the Winlink Hybrid Radio Email Network. This new network design marks a major milestone in Winlink's evolution with higher reliability, performance and utility for emergency communications. The new generation Winlink system now conforms to US Department of Defense Instruction (DODI 4650.02) for radio-only message transfer without the use of the internet. The Winlink Development Team urges HF sysops to upgrade their RMS station software (see below) to become fully functional in the new system."
http://www.winlink.org/HybridNetwork Information provided by Kelley Shelley, KS6Z, who also has this comment: “I want to thank all of you for your patience and invite you to support Frank Reshke, N6SNO, as the new Sacramento Valley SEC. He has much more experience than I and I know he will do a great job. I appreciate your support of me in my attempts to serve as your SEC. My thanks to Ron W6KJ for giving me this opportunity. I have learned a lot and hope to continue to learn about the Amateur Radio Emergency Service. It is continuing to evolve to meet the needs of a more demanding role in disaster relief communications. We need to keep up our training efforts to meet this need to serve in our communities. Thank you, Kelley KS6Z. And..
Many in the Sacramento Valley Section participated in this year's Simulated Emergency Test, the Hack Attack, conducted this year as a multi-state exercise: Kelley forwarded his results to Oregon SET coordinator, John Core, KX6YT, and shares that report with us:
<kelleyshelley@yahoo.com> wrote:
John,
Thank you for inviting our Sacramento Valley Section to participate with your SET. Personally, it was a good experience and I learned a lot.
My after action report, would include how much I thought the participation was great. I didn't try to keep track of all who checked in but from SV we had thirteen operators, KI6OMU, KA6NSN, KA7AJQ, KF6OBI, WO6P, KE6VUS, KF7QVB, KG6FFK, K6TAZ, KN6JS, K6WLS, N6WIQ and myself, KS6Z. The counties represented were Shasta, Plumas, Alpine, Lassen, Glenn, Butte, Placer, Yuba, Sutter, and Yolo of our twenty counties.
I received 33 Winlink messages and found I could not reply to all because of the blanket spam dispersion in which they were sent. I did respond to those that were addressed to me and not just CC'd.
I could not copy the ICS213 that was read because of the speed it was read, so that traffic was not passed. I did receive a copy via Winlink which proved the value of Winlink when passing traffic and how hard it is to copy voice when given to the total operators listening and then being unable to request corrections.
I was not able to operate as a single operator station and handle voice and Winlink at the same time with such a large net. That was my lesson learned.
I did operate on emergency power, with a solar/battery power supply, for the full six hours, so that was a good confirmation for me. I did not use my amp. and was able to communicate with those on the net with a hundred watts. Good to know with such a large area.
That's about it, so thanks again for including us.
Kelley Shelley KS6Z
ARRL Sacramento Valley
Section Emergency Coordinator
KS6Z@ARRL.NET
On Saturday, November 2, 2013 3:40 PM, John Core <KX7YT@comcast.net> wrote:
Folks: This is a big thanks to all that played in the Hack Attack SET today! We had unprecedented participation from about 30 Oregon counties as well as Washington, Idaho, California and even Nevada. From my perspective, it was quite a success. This SET has required many hours of planning by all involved, a lot of dedicated volunteer ARES/RACES/Auxiliary Communications groups, great Net Control Stations and plenty of skilled operators. There is a lot to be learned from Hack Attack so please start thinking about and preparing your After Action Reports.
Congratulations to All!
John Core, KX7YT
Oregon ARES/RACES SET Coordinator
On 1 December 2013, Kelley Shelley, KS6Z, became Assistant Section Manager, and Frank Reshke, N6SNO, former District Three Emergency Cooridinator, became Section Emergency Coordinator. Thank you both. I look forward to our continued work together.
The US House Communications and Technology Subcommittee has
announced plans for a multi-year effort to examine and update the
Communications Act of 1934, the overarching law under which the FCC
functions. The subcommittee, part of the US House Energy and
Commerce Committee, is chaired by Oregon Republican Greg Walden,
W7EQI. Walden and Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Fred Upton of
Michigan made the announcement December 3. Please read ARLB033 for more information, and keep up to date on this effort. It will be the basis for Amateur Radio legislation for the future.
Shasta/Tehama ARES and ARCA activities for November, 2013.
"Overall, the month of November was fairly quiet in Shasta and Tehama Counties. On the 21st, Shasta County Health and the ARES group participated in the Shasta Medical and Health Foodborne Illness Functional Exercise which was part of the 2013 Statewide Medical and Health Exercise. Participating agencies included: Health Alliance of Northern California, Hill Country Health and Wellness Center, Mayers Memorial Hospital District, Mercy Medical Center, Redding, Mountain Valley Health Centers, Patients Hospital, Pit River Health Service, SHASCOM 911, Shasta Community Health Center, Shasta County Health and Human Services Agency, Shasta Regional Health Center, Sierra-Sacramento Valley EMS Agency, Vibra Hospital of Northern California and Shingletown Medical Center. The exercise lasted approximately 4 hours, during this time the ARES group flexed their available assets to the fullest. We passed over 20 ICS213 type messages as well as several Packet and Winlink messages. All logs used were ICS214. Operators were: John Rodman, WB6YZH, Gary Sanda, KI6OMU, Chuck Evans, WD6BXN, Jim Samuels, K6TUG, Tom Henthorn, KI6WAN, Ray Tooker, W6TYB, Richard Cloyd, WO6P, Carl Seguin, KJ6C, Jim Perkins, KJ6NVB, Chuck Braudway, KK6GUG, Steve Lynch, KQ6CS, Bill Hoogstad, KB6KY, Phil Graham, W6SEH and Rick Booth, KK6GUJ. The Shasta County Health director declared the exercise to be a success and was appreciative and thankful for ARES support."
ARCA, Amateur Radio Club of Anderson
"Additionally the month for the Amateur Radio Club of Anderson the month was relatively quiet. Plans were made to have the Christmas party for the group to be held in Palo Cedro at the Cedar Tree restaurant. The group moved to this new location due to there being much more room to hold the event. Three different choices of meat/fish are being offered. There will be a gift auction to follow the meal. During the month of November, our very own Section Manager for Sacramento Valley Section, Ron Murdock, W6KJ, paid a visit to the group with his annual update from ARRL. His presentation was enjoyed by all." Respectfully submitted, Richard V. Cloyd, WO6P, Assistant Section Manager.
Richard, K6TM, our Nevada County EC, reports:
On November 16th, we conducted a mini-drill to test our alert system for ARES personnel as well as some NCARC (Nevada County Amateur Radio Club) personnel who elected to participate. The CAARES (California ARES) system as well as a simple group text messaging system and email was used. The hope was that one of these methods would be faster and more efficient than the standard phone tree method. As expected for the drill and in real life, not all members of each group were able to participate for various reasons.
The three methods used to alert everyone are listed below. Each check-in to the net following the alert was asked what method first alerted them to go to the net. Their responses are as follows:
1) CAARES (7 members signed up) - Email only; 0/7 received this email at all; 0%. System down?
2) N1OES (8 members) - Text Messaging to ARES members who gave me their cell phone #s. 5/8 received the text first - 63%
3) NCARC (8 members) - Email to Club members who wanted to be notified in the event of an emergency. 2/8 responded - 25%
Note:
1. The CAARES members are a subset of the N1OES members;
2. No ARES members were part of the NCARC group.
3. The numbers above do not include myself.
4. The N1OES members’ mailing list was not used. We already know that it works but did not know how well the CAARES system would work.
Based on the above results, I would say that future alert notifications would best be sent by the following method in the order listed until all members are reached:
1. Text Message
2. N1OES Mailing List
3. Telephone
4. Radio (147.285)
Note: Although Text Messaging appears to be the most efficient method, there are some bugs that need to be worked out before this method can be used again. In addition, it should be noted that a text message alert should not responded to. When you do, every other member in the group receives your response. This can quickly become a text message nightmare. The preceding news courtesy of Richard, K6TM.
Sad News: Marcia Rast, 91, K6DLL, passed away November 5. Marcia was active for many years running phone patches for military personnel at remote locations to their families here in the states. She was an active member of the Sacramento Old Timers and Quarter Century Wireless Association. She was always happy to share stories and information about her time in the Army and Air Force as the wife of Ted, W6SMU. She will be missed by her large family and many friends.
Mike, AG6IP, has a very interesting, well written article on the ARRL.org website. Mike tells about operating from Cyprus. Check it out: http://www.arrl.org/zc4-the-other-cyprus Mike, when he is 'stateside' is an active member of the Yuba Sutter ARC, and helps out as a Volunteer Examiner. He is also active in YSARC's many operating events. Nicely done, Mike!
Les Cobb, W6TEE, our Assistant Section Manager for things like this, keeps a very complete list of nets in our Section. We mention this, not only to introduce the link, but so clubs and groups with ongoing nets can check the accuracy of the information, and add new information when they have it. Contact information is at: http://www.qsl.net/w6tee/nets.html
48th Annual Clarksburg Country Run, reported by Paul Grose, N6DRY The weather was beautiful and comfortable, and we had no medical or emergency issues to deal with this year. That is always a good thing. Had there been one, we were there and ready to handle it! I was told that there were over 1700 runners this year, up a little from last year. I am always moved by the spirit of the members of our hobby when it comes to public service. We had 25 hams working the event this year, and not one of them was from the Clarksburg Community. We had folks from Rodeo, Cameron Park, Antelope, Orangevale, Citrus Heights, Carmichael, Sacramento, Wilton and Elk Grove come out to support this community event. Several of the Hams brought their spouses to assist you in identifying numbers and enjoy the event. I think this speaks volumes for our hobby and "Thank You" doesn't quite get it, but that's all I have. Most of the hams are members of either the River City ARCS or the Elk Grove/Florin Club. I hope this is just the first of many such cooperative events for these two clubs. We also had four folks who are not affiliated with any club. I know it’s risky to single out individuals when passing out praise and gratitude, but I'm going to take that risk. First, I want to give extra thanks to Bill (KG6KPZ) and Jan (KF6CXQ) for setting up and staffing the Net Control. Secondly, to Steve (KG6KPY), for his willingness to act as a motorcycle sweep was most helpful and appreciated. We were able to dispatch him about the course to keep track of the last runners on the course. And thirdly, to Kevin (KJ6HHX) who patrolled the last quadrant of the course watching for runners who may need help. For about the last mile and half Kevin stayed with a runner who looked a little tired, but wouldn’t give up. Kevin saw her cross the finish line. The other hams participating were: Andrea KI6VGK, Pam KJ6NMN, Dan KJ6NEI, Vince KI6NHP, Dave WB6FC, Alan KI6PRT, Dwane KG6KPW, Andy W6AWS, Bob K6VSS, Fred W7KOZ, Eric KG6BZT, Steve W6WBO, Arnold KQ6DI, Brandon KJ6NEF, Chris KG6JFO, William KJ6NEG, Kevin KI6KIU, Greg K6GES, Dave WB6YLK, Ken KE6RMN. (Thanks to Paul, N6DRY, for this news item.)
If you are watching Last Man Standing... (ABC) you just heard
character "Max Baxter's" (Tim Allen) information about Ham Radio as he was
being recorded by his young Son with a camcorder. While talking about
the FCC and his hobby, he said that his Ham Radio was a great hobby.
Nice set-up of gear on the set and it was all "ON". "WE" Hams need
all the PR we can get :)
If you missed it, you can see it on abc.com This news item courtesy of Carl, WF6J.
Sierra Foothills ARC offers an Elmer Net - Every other Wednesday at 7:30pm on our repeater (see Nets for more info, homepage or Events for dates) at http://w6ek.org/elmerhelp.html What's an Elmer? An Elmer is a mentor, a guide, a guru that offers help or assistance to Hams and will be hams to help them along in this fine, fun hobby. Maybe explaining something, assisting with a new radio, passing along experiences, or helping with antennas. On the alternate Wednesdays at 7:30pm, the SFARC's net is for Preppers—those trying to get their emergency communications equipment and other capabilities up to speed.
Reminder Saturday December 7 is Skywarn Recognition Day.
SKYWARNTM Recognition Day Operating Instructions
1. Object For all amateur stations to exchange QSO information with as many
National Weather Service Stations as possible on 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6, and
2 meter bands plus the 70 centimeter band. Contacts via repeaters are
permitted. SKYWARNTM Recognition Day serves to celebrate the contributions
to public safety made by amateur radio operators during threatening weather.
2. Date NWS stations will operate December 7, 2013, from 0000 - 2400 UTC.
3. Exchange: Call sign, signal report, QTH, and a one or two word
description of the weather occurring at your site ("sunny", "partly cloudy",
"windy", etc.).
4. Modes: NWS stations will work various modes including SSB, FM, AM, RTTY,
CW, and PSK31. While working digital modes, special event stations will
append "NWS" to their call sign (e.g., N0A/NWS).
5.Station Control Operator: It is suggested that during SRD operations a
non-NWS volunteer should serve as a control operator for your station.
6. Event and QSL Information: The National Weather Service will provide
event information via the internet. Event certificates will likely be
electronic and printable this year. Stay Tuned!
Our Sacramento Valley Section Technical Coordinator, and VHF Award Manager/HF Award Manager, (means he is qualified to count and verify your QSL cards for ARRL WAS, VUCC awards) Bob Wortman, WB6VYH, reminds us that he can count those cards for you. To arrange a card counting session with Bob, contact him at: wortman4@comcast.net
Joe DeAngelo, AG6QO, has recently fired up a new packet BBS in Winters, CA on 144.37. It can be
accessed directly by connecting to AG6QO-1, or farther out by connecting to the BERR37 node on Mt.
Berryessa, and then to AG6QO-1.
Thanks to the support of the Berryessa Amateur Radio Klub (http://www.barkradio.org/ ), which
operates the voice repeater KE6YUV on 146.970, BERR37 has an excellent location, and provides access throughout the northern and western Sacramento Valley region and beyond. Also on Mt. Berryessa is a forwarding node on 1.25 meters, which is currently the RF-forwarding relay for not only the AG6QO BBS, but other BBS's in the network.
After a hiatus from Amateur Radio of more than a decade, Joe was disappointed to find that the robust
network he remembered, of all-radio message store-and-forward BBS stations had dwindled, and most
remaining BBS stations rely heavily on internet forwarding.
Joining the other sysops in the “Packet Sysops of Northern California” group, (http://ncpa.n0ary.org/
bbsindex.html ), Joe’s hope is to reinvigorate and encourage all-radio packet message forwarding
throughout California, especially for Emergency Communications and NTS services. The hope is that Yolo County ARES and surrounding groups will find the system valuable. Both the BBS and the supporting nodes have emergency power.
The BBS is somewhat unique in that it uses a Raspberry Pi as its computing core, and a stack of two TNCpi’s to drive the radios. The system runs Debian Linux (Raspbian), and F6BVP’s distribution of the FBB BBS. This configuration has proven to be a reliable, low-cost BBS platform. Joe plans to add additional ports for forwarding on other bands, as well as additional user ports.
The system also provides other services, including a ROSE node (C AG6QO).
To find out more about the Raspberry Pi / TNCpi implementation, and the status of the BBS, you can
visit: http://ag6qo.com/PiPBBS.html .
You can contact the Sysop via packet: AG6QO@AG6QO.#NCA.CA.USA.NOAM or email: jod@online-tek.com
The Amador County ARC recently held a very successful Tech class. “We chose to do it over 4 weekends and try to cover things the students wanted/needed to know. On the 5th Saturday the test was given. The approach must have worked as all 5 passed their tests and we welcomed each to the club and the hobby. It sure takes a lot of work for those teaching the class but the smiles on the students faces when they pass make it worth it. Our annual Christmas lunch will be on the first Saturday of December at J&B's Steak House in Sutter Creek. We will also elect new officers during the meeting and also attempt to pass new ByLaws. By the way, if you have not checked your ByLaws recently, it may be a very interesting exercise. Funny how practice slips away from policy over the years. Our Sheriff finalized a procedure to allow us to become an auxiliary radio service under the Disaster Worker program and RACES in the event of an emergency. This came about due to the hard work of our Em Comm Coordinator Craig Hanson, who put together a program out of the ashes of one a few years ago. We wish all a very enjoyable holiday season in both November and December.” This news item courtesy of John Stettler, KI6DWP, our Public Information Coordinator, and PIO in the ARCARC.
Michael Buck, K6BUK, has this to say for Western Placer ARC: “We had a great presentation at our November meeting with KI6HHA discussing emergency preparedness and K6OU demonstrating a “go bag.” One thing that Dennis brought up was the club decision to purchase safety vests for our members to use at our various events. By making a large purchase we are able to get a significant discount. Many club members expressed an interest in buying a vest for their personal use. We are extending the opportunity to purchase a vest at the club discount to all club members. The cost is $15.50 and if you are interested you need to email Dennis at ki6hha@aol.com. He will be sending in the order Monday December 2nd so you must email him by December 1st. Payment will be due at the December club meeting and checks are payable to WPARC. The meeting is on December 17th.
“We also introduced our new portable PA system at the meeting. With the large room we are in now we need a volume boost. It seemed to work well and I didn't hear any complaints about not being able to hear. However, if you do use the PA system you need to remember to hold the mic close to your mouth. We also had our new club banners on display. They are quite good looking and eye-catching.
“Harvey KD6LND representing the Lincoln Rotary Club and Al W6TLJ representing the Rocklin Rotary Club thanked us for the $250 donation we gave to each club. The Rotary Club does good works around the world and the donations will be well used. It was good to see Harvey looking well again!
“Speaking of the club meeting, boy have we grown! We were hoping to reach 40 members this year and as of the November roster we are at 59! This is a 50% increase in the size of the club. Will we hit 60 in December? We added two new members in November - Ron KG6RLG and Daniel KK6BEP. Welcome to the new members!
We did have one sad announcement at the November meeting. Club President Kent KJ6APX announced that he is moving to Salt Lake City before the end of the year. Kent has been a strong supporter of the club and is a reliable volunteer for many of our events. The club presented Kent with a plaque honoring him for his service to the club as President and as a member. We will all be sad to see Kent leave the club but we do have radios to keep in touch.
“The presentation for the December meeting will be a demonstration of a miniVNA (vector network analyzer) by none other than me. I have been using a miniVNA for a while and I have to say that it is stunning in its capabilities. It is a software defined antenna analyzer and graphically shows you all the parameters of your antenna on a computer monitor. It shows resonance, SWR, bandwidth, impedance, resistance, phase, and other values. It also measures cable losses, cable length, quality of filters, transmission, and more. It is also used to tune repeater filter canisters. It also plots Smith Charts. And it does it all quickly – just click a button on screen.
We have more going on in December. We will be electing officers for 2014 and planning our annual Kick-Off Party which will be on Saturday January 11th 2014. In addition, we will have the drawing for our last $100 and $50 gift certificates. Bob KV6BYH won the $100 and Scott KK6CGQ won the $50 gift certificates at the November meeting. Congratulations to them! Remember that all the tickets for the year go in the big barrel for the drawing at the Kick-Off Party. Drawing Master Frank is giving up the position and Bill KJ6YCO will be taking over. If you have suggestions of what you would like to see in the drawing contact any board member. Many thanks to Frank for the great job he has been doing for the past couple of years.
In addition, we will be assisting the Lions Club in their annual food distribution. The date for that is Saturday December 21st and you will need to be there early. We handle traffic control and 600 cars are expected. The participants are preselected and will have an authorizing letter in the car. Frank KB6KYK will be the organizer and you can email him at papabeardothunt@yahoo.com to volunteer.
“If you have a suggestion of a topic you would like to hear about at a club meeting or if you would like to present on a topic please contact any board member. I think one of the things that is helping to increase membership is the quality of the presentations we have at meetings although that might change at the December meeting :-)
“We have another exciting event in the planning stage - a HamCram for General class on Saturday January 25, 2014. A HamCram is a one day class to review the study guide with the upgrade exam at the end of the day. Participants are expected to study for the class in advance with the review covering the important aspects of the class material and the test. This is not a class for "one day wonders." You must study on your own before the class and be prepared to cover lots of material on the day of the class. We generally hold the HamCram on a Saturday from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM with the test immediately following the session. We expect to use the upstairs dining room at Kim's Country Kitchen in Lincoln for the class room. We need a minimum of 5 participants to hold the class and they need to commit to attending the class. The test fee may be requested in advance to confirm attendance. If you are interested in attending the class email Dennis KI6HHA at ki6hha@aol.com. He will send you more information including the recommended study materials. This is our first General class HamCram and our VE Team is putting a lot of effort into developing a class that will make attendees successful. You can benefit from the teams' work and earn a class upgrade if you are serious about becoming a General class licensee. Maybe some day we will see an Extra HamCram!
“Now that we are heading into winter club activity is slowing down. We need to make some activity – something like an antenna building seminar or some other interesting project. If you have an idea for a project, please email any board member. Time to start thinking about a Fox (transmitter) Hunt again, too. A seminar on building tape measure yagi direction finding antennas might be another interesting project as it is an antenna that can usually be built for less than $5.00 and is a useful tool for fox hunts. We could also have a workshop for new hams on how to properly install PL-259 connectors and how to solder. Think about what you would like to see. It is your club!” All of this news item provided by Michael, K6BUK, and the Western Placer ARC Newsletter.
The Yuba Sutter Volunteer Examiner team conducted an exam November 2 at the 715 King Ave. in Yuba City. Five people took the exam and five people have now qualified for Technician licenses. Three of these took the General exam without additional study but did not pass the General. The next exam session is January 4, 2014, 9 AM at 715 King Ave., Yuba City. News item courtesy of W6KJ.
On November 11, about a dozen Yuba Sutter ARES and Yuba Sutter ARC operators marhalled the Marysville Veterans Day parade, for the eighth year in a row. All participants made it safely through the parade route and there were no incidents to report.
2014 Officers and Board members for the Yuba Sutter Amateur Radio Club (Yuba Sutter Amateur Radio Club, PO Box 1169, Yuba City, CA 95992-1169).
PRESIDENT: Mike Eby, KM6EBY; VICE PRESIDEN:Steve Albrecht, KJ6VCF; SECRETARY: Larry Witcher, KE6LAW; TREASURER, Clara Ansley, N6VRH; BOARD OF Directors, Shari Goforth-Eby, K6AVW; June McJunkin, N6JEY; Ted Herman, KN6TED; Curtis Sylvester-Jose, KF6VFP; Donald A. Elder Jr, KC6PPX.
Some DCART (Douglas County, NV, Amateur Radio
Team) members monitored the Oregon SET and Sacramento Valley's participation in that SET. KA7AJQ checked in for Alpine County.
DCART members are working with our 911 Manager, Ron Sagen, to plan ham coverage for the New Year's Eve celebration at Tahoe. We plan coverage for Unit 900, the mobile Dispatch command center that will be stationed at the Lake. Also we plan to staff our ham station at Dispatch.
DCART will not meet in December though we will continue our weekly nets on Monday evenings.
Sheila Clement, KA7AJQ
Alpine County ARES Emergency Coordinator
CCC On-The-Air Weekend by Dirk Esterline - KG8JK
The Civilian Conservation Corps came into being in the spring of 1933. It's goal was twofold: to provide needed economic relief to families suffering from the effects of the Great Depression and to protect and develop the natural resources of the United States. We want to honor the contribution that "The Boys" of the corps made to our country and to our natural environment by holding the first annual CCC On-The-Air Weekend. The event will take place the second full weekend in August, 2014. As radio played a big part in how the camps communicated with each other, we would encourage you to activate the actual location of one of the camps. However, if it is no longer accessible or you cannot get permission to set up on the site, you may operate from one of the project sites the camp worked on. Many state local parks have buildings that were constructed by the "CCC Boys" and would make a suitable place to not only honor them but also promote amateur radio at the same time. Our goal is to make contacts between as many of the camps as possible and to contact as many amateur radio operators as possible. Please spread the word and contact kg8jk at ccc@... if your are interested in participating. We would also love to hear your stories of the CCC. Check out our website at www.qsl.net/ccc for more information.
From the River City ARCS President:
At our November 5 meeting elections we welcomed board members-elect Ed Siegner WA6QYO and Ryan Toomey K6ELV, and Bob Woodward N6PGQ as Secretary. Thanks to Jason Lager KF6QXX as he completes his term on the board.
Also at our November meeting, Bob Woodward N6PGQ showed his photo journal from the ARRL Pacificon Convention and Ryan Toomey K6ELV kicked off our Digital Mode mini-series with his DIY soundboard interface in a live contact using the PSK31 mode.
As a last minute program addition, Andy Stephens W6AWS and Chris Huber N6ICW gave an informative slideshow and discussion on the installation of our new N6NA repeater upgrade. Kudos to the repeater team N6ICW, KF6QXX, KI6NHP, W6AWS and W6FT and to all our donors for helping improve and maintain our communication coverage and dependability with this state of the art repeater system!
As 2013 draws to a close we should recap some accomplishments in our 37th year as a club. Our collaboration with volunteer examiner teams has brought new members. Our technical program series included meteor scatter, a DIY Spam can TV antenna, software defined radios, Tesla coils, the KSPX-TV broadcast facility, analog meters, Field Day antennas, antenna and filter measurement with the miniVNA Vector Network Analyzer, a DIY 6 meter halo antenna, a video on DIY Altoids can project construction, and a new series on digital modes. We revived the annual Spring picnic with an N6NA QRP field operation, conducted our Field Day event and White Elephant sale, collaborated with members of the Elk Grove Florin ARC in support of the Clarksburg Country Run and significantly upgraded our 2 meter repeater.
In store for 2014 meetings: more digital modes, how to use an antenna analyzer, a DIY Arduino SWR sweeper for under $50, DIY bandpass filters for Field Day, a "clinic" to complete and tune our DIY Magnetic Loop antennas, and more!
Remember annual dues for 2014 are now payable through our web site, by mail or at our meeting by cash, check or major credit or debit card. Also please consider a donation to our repeater fund and update your membership information for our records through the web page or at our meeting.
We thank all for making this a very successful year. Our December 3 meeting will be our Annual Holiday Dinner from 6-9 pm at Sam's Hof Brau, corner of El Camino & Watt Avenues. All are welcome for a chance to win prizes and enjoy the good food and great company at this year-end social event for members and our families. Please call Linda Cardoza, KI6OLC (916)606-3178 to help decorate the party room (bring scissors and tape). See you there! 73, Carol Milazzo, KP4MD, President, River City ARCS.
Sierra Foothills ARC president, Bob, K6UDA, has these observations for the coming year: “As far as outreach, we’ve done an incredible job. Carl, WF6J has put in long hard hours both on the website and in spreading the word to outside organizations and groups about ham radio and our club. Ron, KK6DHJ has personally brought in several new members through his firearms instruction. (who would have seen the correlation). We took part in the Rocklin Patriots Day this year and were a huge hit with the people. I still see an opportunity in hosting a hamfest /preparedness fair.
“I talked last month about the possibility of having a club contest. I’ll pursue this further with the new board. How about prizes or awards for contacts on different bands, different modes, based on license class. Could be 24 hours of fun. Something like this is sure to attract others to want to play and maybe join the club.
“This years election has been a major evolution from years past. Four members vied for two seats on the
board. One vote decided it. I sincerely hope this grows next year, and all the seats for officers & board are
contested. Keep it up. Fresh blood is what will keep our club vibrant and relevant to new hams and OM alike.
“Placer County ARES is now becoming THE standard for emergency communication coordination thanks to
Chuck KG6FFK and Fred KF7QVB. These guys are putting together real world training exercises to keep the
ARES members at top operating performance. Thank you guys and I hope to see ARES grow in 2014 and beyond.
“In our future, I see an unlimited opportunity for learning programs, mini seminars, workshops etc. that we have barely scratched the surface of. We have the facility, we have the expertise, and we have a whole new generation of hams eager to learn.
“I’d like to thank the current slate of officers and directors for an incredible amount of work and dedication they put in to operating SFARC. Dave NO6NO is simply a powerhouse of get-r-done. He has taken on so much, so often and returns such stellar results it boggles my mind. Richard WA6RWS has managed the clubs money well & our bank account shows it. He also does an impeccable job managing the club repeater. Dennis WU6X has taken the art of secretary to an art form. Mark W8BIT was always the voice of reason at board meeting and I’m glad he is staying on next year. Without these guys, the club would not have functioned period.” The preceding article is courtesy of SFARC's Newsletter, Sierra Signals.
Oroville Amateur Radio Society, (OARS) and Jim, W7XZ, have the following for us this month.
The OARS (http://w6af.org) November meeting had on the order of eighteen in attendance. The program consisted of a PowerPoint presentation (with thanks to the ARRL website) on the National Traffic System (NTS). The Veterans Day Parade took place the following Monday in downtown Oroville with a substantial OARS presence that included KC6PYF (Parade Chairman), KI6AKZ , W6AIL, WA6CAL, W6LAT, K6RCO, KD7UHF, WA7RNR, W7XZ (Communications support) and KC6FLB (aboard the VFW float in the parade).
The December OARS meeting is scheduled to take place on the 13th, with NVIS antennas as the subject of the program. Agenda items will likely include the upcoming election of 2014 officers and study sessions for Technician and General class licenses, to be held after the beginning of the new year. On the preceding Friday, the 6th, the club will be holding a pre-holiday dinner for members and family at Cassidy's in Oroville with starting time at 6:30 pm.
Despite a Saturday that followed Thanksgiving Day, the OARS monthly breakfast at Cassidy's saw sixteen in attendance for good food and good company.
Gary, K7VY, sends along this link to old Radio Shack commercials. Was it really that long ago?
"An Archive of RadioShack Catalogs and more!"
Check out the interesting old archival videos of Radio Shack.
See: http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/videos.html
http://radioshackcatalogs.com/
"At the time RadioShack was a prime place to find electronic parts for ham radio projects."
"This site is not affiliated with RadioShack Corporation in any way."
Seen at: Reno Amateur Radio Information Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Reno-Amateur-Radio-Information/424537927570783
The Redding ARRL VE Team added an additional exam session in November for some candidates who cannot test on Saturdays. We had our largest session to date with 9 candidates testing on Friday November 15th. We had an additional 7 candidates test at our Saturday session, the very next day. As a result of these exams, we saw 11 new Technician class licenses earned, 3 upgrades to General and 1 upgrade to Amateur Extra. Go to http://www.reddingve.com/index_files/examdates.htm for future exam date info.
Our VE Team is also hosting our first Help For New Hams session at 10:00 AM Saturday December 7th. This session will be held at BloodSource in Redding. This session is open to all newly-licensed hams. If you are planning to attend, please e-mail Steve K6KS at sjmosconi@gmail.com to reserve a spot as seating is limited.
Duane, WA0MJD, has a few words to share regarding his outreach activity: “Morse communication is loads of fun, a safe, historic, non-violent, wholesome, self esteem elevating, stress diverting mode of communication. My outreach involves exposure to amateur radio which includes the morse code method of making new friends worldwide. It is especially useful for those shy, introverted, low self esteem suffering young adults who need to find a safe, wholesome, self esteem elevating way to make these new friends. This hobby is unseen and unknown to most young adults-thus more exciting for them. These shy, introverted youth may not be good in sports and morse communication is a way to learn something that will make them new worldwide friends and is a "secret language" that the peers of these low self esteem young adults will not know. Plus, the fun involved with this activity is addicting to some users. Many morse users have to have their "morse fix" for the day.
“Amateur radio, which morse communication is a part of, is regulated by the federal government. There are no anonymous users and licensees have to identify themselves every ten minutes on the air.
“You can view photos, script and videos of morse communication on my project website at : duanewyatt.wordpress.com . You may want to look at the "ComCage" and "Kid's Club" pages and view the "Home Station" video on the website.
"KID'S CLUB" units can be loaned to at risk youth, with parental involvement. After use, the parents can return the unit to the psychologist, psychiatrist, or school counselor for a return of the cash deposit. Perhaps after exposure and return of the units, the parents can help the at risk, bullied youth obtain their own amateur radios and provide the contact information for the local amateur radio club presidents in their areas. "Act like a library" is this motto.
I hope that I will hear from you regarding my outreach.” duanewyatt@hotmail.com (This item provided by Duane Wyatt, WA0MJD.)
Below are the instructions for updating club information: Norm Fusaro, W3IZ, our HQ Clubs representative.
In order to remain listed as an active ARRL affiliated club the club record must be updated at least once per year.
If an update is not made in two years the club will be moved to the inactive roster.
Updating your club record is easy and is done on line.
Please visit www.arrl.org/clubs and view the tutorial “Update Your Club Record.” Site call out is on the left side of the page.
Remember that you must be logged in as an ARRL member in order to have access to the edit feature in a club listing.
Updates are normally processed by the next business day however they may take up to 72 hours to appear on the web.
If you have to update your Special Service Club information (every two years) then go to http://www.arrl.org/ssc-application
Let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you for supporting ARRL and Amateur Radio.
73,
Norm Fusaro, W3IZ
Each time your Section Manager sends you an e-mail via ARRL, he gets a note from HQ indicating how many of our nearly 2000 ARRL members were sent that e-mail. Right now it is 54% of active members. If you know of an ARRL member who is not now getting this e-mail, please encourage him or her to register on the ARRL.org website to get their own copy of the e-mailed message. It is easy. Members just go to the ARRL.org website, sign in, choose edit profile, then edit subscriptions. One of the options is a check list of those e-mails you would like to receive. I just did this, so I know it works.
Sincere thanks as always to our contributors, who make this column a joy to read, and informative as well. If we missed getting your club's, groups, or station news in this month, that news can be added at any time just by sending me the information at: rbomb52@gmail.com Send it in and I will do the rest.
