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Monthly Summary for January 2010
News last updated: Tue, February 9, 2010 at 1:07 PM ET
Thanks to all the contributors this month.
Here is a link to a good yarn and great publicity for Amateur Radio. http://www.kearneyhub.com/news/local/article_f9d92408-1334-11df-a1a8-001cc4c03286.html?mode=image&photo=0>[cid:CC20A80FA827494CA56B4B74C558DA27@D5PGLN11
EMCOMMWEST 2010 will occur the last weekend of April (April 30 through May 2) at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, NV. Started in 1999, this event has grown to a full ARRL convention, with speakers and forums, a one day review of all the Technician Pool questions and a Technician VE exam. A hall of vendors will have all the latest Ham Radio goodies, and there will be a swap meet. More details will follow.
Bill, K6KN, has two Northern California Boy Scout events of interest. ‘I am planning to operate W6BSA at both and invite you to be on that staff. These are urban camping events but day participation is fine. Both have large arena shows in the evening. Pleasanton expects 15,000. Beale expects 8,000. Bay Area Jamboree, Pleasanton Fair Grounds, April 16-18. Operate Friday afternoon, Saturday and 1/2 Sunday. Scout Expo 2010 at Beale Air Force Base, Marysville, April 30 to May 2. Operate Saturday only. The goal is to have two people on duty at all times with two or three more on site, enjoying the event. We will have an HF and VHF capability. At Beale we can also have another setup for the Radio Merit Badge as before. Please confirm if you'd like to participate and which days. Also let me know if you should be dropped from future emails.’ Contact Bill Ragsdale, K6KN, at 530-867-6241.
We hear from Rick, W6SR, and the Mother Lode DX/Contest Club,‘Our next meeting is Saturday, February 13th at 12:00 noon at Mountain Mike's Pizza in Martel, CA, located in the shopping center with Save-Mart on Highway 88, just west of Highway 49. The meeting room is reserved from 11AM-3PM. See the club’s website at http://www.mldxcc.org/ and click on “meetings” for a map and more information. The program will be a round table discussion on contesting hints and techniques led by our President and noted contester Rich NC6H.’
Perhaps some do not know that Alpine County is covered for emergency communications by Douglas County, Nevada. Here is a note from Emergency Coordinator, Sheila, KA7AJQ. Douglas County Amateur Radio Team, (DCART) members, KA7UIS, and KF7EGB, built a 2 meter 70 centimeter portable antenna with a tripod base and extended pole for DCART and area (Alpine County included) activities. (For plans and picture, please e-mail KA7AJQ at ka7ajq@aol.com.) Other DCART activities, which serve for Alpine County as well, included packet radio station training at our Douglas County 911 Dispatch Center and participation in our weekly nets as well as area ARES nets. We are waiting to hear news of area hospitals receipt of ham radio grant equipment and installation plans. Thanks, KA7AJQ, Douglas County, Alpine, Carson City ARES Emergency Coordinator.
ARLB003 is the bulletin discussing the comment period now available for the FCC Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in WT Docket 09-209 which has to do with vanity call sign rules. In order to really find out what you can comment on with this NPRM, please use the link: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-1262.pdf
This item was passed along for your interest. Remember the W6AM super station in Southern California? Here is a link with a wealth of information and pictures. http://www.qsl.net/ne6i/w6am/index.html Thanks, Joe - WA6RKN, Reno, NV
The third annual seminar for Emergency Communications Leadership in the Sacramento Valley Section will take place Saturday, April 24, 9 A.M. to 2 P.M., at the U.C. Davis Sierra Foothills Research and Extension Center, 8279 Scott Forbes Rd., in Browns Valley. The seminar is hosted once again by Art, K6ALC, Yuba and Sutter County Emergency Coordinator. The seminar is organized and presented by Larry, WD6FXR, Section Emergency Coordinator. All Section EMCOMM Leadership is invited as well as anyone who intends to step up to a leadership position. All EMCOMM organizations, not just those whose title includes the ARES label, are urged to attend. Attendees need to bring a bag lunch. There is no food service available in the area. Also bring your go kit if you want to share your ideas, and any items you would like to discuss. Coffee, tea, and bottled water will be provided. Directions: take I-5 to Hwy. 99, then Hwy. 70 Marysville. Take Hwy. 20 east 14 miles to Peoria Road. Turn left, and follow signs 5.6 miles.
The Yolo ARES group will be sponsoring a technician class for the Davis CERT and other interested non-Davis CERT members on February 6th. We do welcome anyone interested, space permitting. People should contact Wes Hardaker at wes@ws6z.com if they're interested in attending (location and timing details will be sent out directly to participants). Thanks, Wes, WS6Z.
The Western Placer Amateur Radio Club sponsors the Million Mile certificate for amateur radio operators using the PSK-31 mode. Some software used for this mode will give you the mileage between your station and the station you have contacted. Add these up. When you have a million miles, send a copy of your log and $5 to WPARC, PO Box 1173, Lincoln, CA 95648-9325. For details see www.wparc.org/miles.shtml. Thanks, Steve, KT6Z.
North Hills Radio Club - Kim KE6RKX, has been running a monthly simplex test for the North Hills Radio Club for several years. This activity has been very popular among Hams in the area, not just NHRC members. During the first Tuesday session of the weekly informal 'NHRC Amateur Net' on the K6IS repeater (145.19- 162.2 pl) at 2000, Kim asks participants to QSY to 146.52 only long enough to see how everyone is getting out, including anyone already on frequency. The group QSYs back to the repeater to discuss what they heard. Since the first Tuesday is the meeting night for two Ham clubs in the area, it was recently decided that Kim would also conduct this exercise on the first Thursday session of the ‘NHRC Member Net’, same time and repeater. Both nets are open to all Hams. Kim has a rural location near where Sutter, Placer, and Sacramento Counties meet, and has an excellent simplex footprint, as well as a keen interest. The North Hills Radio Club web page is at www.k6is.org . Thanks to ASM, Les, W6TEE.
Les, W6TEE, also of Mt. Vaca Radio Club sends the following: The Mt. Vaca Radio Club meets quarterly in Sacramento in January, April, July, and October. The club has had UHF and VHF repeaters on Mt. Vaca for over 40 years. The K6MVR 147.00- 136.5 tone repeater is used by other Hams and clubs because of its coverage and IRLP access. Interference to Pave PAWS radar caused the 440 repeater to be taken off the air almost two years ago, but it was immediately reprogrammed to GMRS because members had curiosity, and unused GMRS licenses. It is still ‘a solution looking for a problem’. See www.mvrc.org ‘Activities’ for meeting dates, GMRS, and other public service and social activities.
Friday, January 1st, 2010, a few members of Mount Shasta Amateur Radio Club gathered in the backyard of Bill, KG6AFA, and Pam, K6AFT, to make contact with hams in remote locations using satellite communications. Two satellites passed overhead about half an hour apart that transmitted communications between hams. The Mt. Shasta group was led by Brian, KG6WHO, who had put together two handheld radios and a dual-band directional antenna to access the satellites. As each satellite approached, the team could clearly hear static noise and the chatter of other DXers as they made contact with other hams through the busy bands. When the second satellite approached, it seemed to ‘turn itself on and off’ by using a tone as a trigger. All together the Mt. Shasta participants made ten contacts in such places Mexico and Lower California. See photos below. Thanks, Atara, K6UCS.
Atara also had news of a mid-month MSARC activity: On Friday, Jan. 15, 2010, students at Wyeka Vista Community Day School enjoyed a full day of amateur radio-related instruction and activities, presented by Atara, K6UCS, with the support of the Mt. Shasta club members. Patc, KG6TTA, daughter of silent key Ed Davis, K6BOD, is the aid in the classroom and interested the kids in amateur radio, making the presentation possible. Susan Waller, the teacher, is also interested in amateur radio and used the topic to reinforce her lessons on civil responsibility and community service. The students viewed a slideshow about ham radio, practiced decoding words using the International Phonetic Alphabet, and tried sending a 'Secret Word' by Morse on a key and oscillator from the club house. At the end of the day, the six students spoke to George, AB6UE, using simplex on Atara’s handheld radio.
District 3 Emergency Coordinator, Frank, N6SNO, reports: On January 13, 2010, 12 members of the Sacramento City Fire CERT Team and County ARES were used to deploy the 80-person Urban Search and Rescue Team from Sacramento to Travis A.F.B. From there they are bound for Haiti. Members were responsible for checking-out the gear that the Task Force 7 members are taking with them. This includes their personal uniforms, food and water, radios, GPS receivers, and lights. They were also given medical exams. The CERT and ARES members make a normally 10-hour process down to around 7 hours. Members answering the call were Frank Reshke, N6SNO, ARRL Dist 3 EC, Don Kunkel, KE6GMJ, AD3EC, Pat Burritt, K1PAT, CERT MGR., Gianni White Elk, K4GFM, Rob Ross, K1RLR, Richard Grey Eagle, KJ6CQN, Gary Bertsch, KI6ZXB , Cheri Bertsch, KI6ZXC , Marty Machado, W6TOC, and Herman Low, KI6SPC. The team returned on Monday, January 18, 2010 and again the Hams were assembled to check-in Task Force CA-7. What normally takes 9-10 hours to deploy was down to around 7 hours, and the return was down to around 6 instead of 8. The Sacramento Fire Department thanked us for 'a job well done'.
Steve, KT6Z, reports: ‘Members of the Western Placer Amateur Radio Club have elected the following officers for 2010: President: Jerry Haar, N6JKH; Vice Pres: Frank Loomis, KB6KYK; Secretary: Harvey Ulijohn, KD6LND; Treasurer: Al Savery, W6TLJ; Board: Steve O'Toole, N6HTV; Michael Buck, K6BUK; Steve Harding, KT6Z; Alt. Board: Kent Thygerson, KJ6APX. These folks will take office at the club meeting on January 20.’
Ken, K6WLS, checks in with the following: ‘Just a quick note to let you know that BARK and Yolo County ARES are co-sponsoring a series of FCC examinations this year. The first is scheduled for the 13th of February at the Red Cross building here in Woodland. The session will begin at 0730 hours. Registration would be appreciated but we will accept walkins. As a reminder the fee for the tests this year is $15.00.I am the contact person for the session and my number is 530 305-4088. This session is now on the ARRL website. I will be submitting the paperwork for the remaining sessions at a later date. This is an opportunity for friends and family to obtain their Tech license and it is also a chance for those with current licenses to upgrade to General or Amateur Extra. We are announcing this information on our nets here in Yolo County and thought your area might be interested as well.’ gramps55@gmail.com is Ken’s e-mail address.
Amateur Radio Bill Passes Senate, Moves to the House (Dec 15, 2009) -- On Monday, December 14, S 1755 -- The Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Enhancement Act of 2009 -- passed the Senate by unanimous consent; the bill now goes to the House of Representatives for consideration. Sponsored by Senator Joe Lieberman (ID-CT), and Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), S 1755, if passed, would direct the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to undertake a study on emergency communications. S 1755 points out that "There is a strong Federal interest in the effective performance of Amateur Radio Service stations, and that performance must be given -- (A) support at all levels of government; and (B) protection against unreasonable regulation and impediments to the provision of the valuable communications provided by such stations."
John, N8GNV, announces, 'I will be hosting General Class Ham classes starting Jan 07, 2010. It will be in Willows at the Veterans Memorial Building (Glenn Co.) on W. Sycamore St across from the courthouse. Classes will begin at 7pm and last until 8:30pm. Classes will be TEN (10) weeks long with testing provided on the tenth week. I will have books available upon request. Any questions or information, contact John Hursey N8GNV@sbcglobal.net or 530-329-6713. Leave message if not available. I answer ALL calls within 12 hours.'
Our section net this month is on Wednesday, February 10, 2010, and we will resume the net on 146.085 MHz (plus offset, 127.3 Hz tone) at 1900L, and later at 1930L, we will meet on or about 3987 kHz. We can talk over the latest news.
AN UPDATED LIST OF SV NETS IS HERE: http://www.k6is.org/nets.html Thanks to Assistant Section Manager, Les, W6TEE.
73, Ron Murdock, W6KJ ARRL SACRAMENTO VALLEY SECTION MANAGER
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