What's New Updated: Feb/06/2010

The 2010 training and testing schedule has been posted.  See the Calendar tab for details.  In 2009 we began preliminary training for new hams wishing to apply for the  Technician class license.  This training was intended to supplement the class given by Mark, KE6O.  The class Mark teaches is intended to help the license candidates pass the test.  While some knowledge of Ham Radio will certainly rub off, there is not much time available to teach the subject.  That's where the supplemental training comes in.  This course is designed to teach the basics of Ham Radio to the new Ham.  The course will be four consecutive Tuesday evenings, from 6:30 to 9 PM. one week before Mark's class.  If this appeals to you please sign up early as the seating is limited.  There will be a small charge for materials.  Contact KE6O to sign up or N6XN for more information.

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By popular demand. (You both know who you are) we have published some details of Gary's low-buck back-pack HF vertical.  This can be a good project for you tinkerers.  Easy to build with simple hand tools and either an antenna analyzer or SWR bridge. http://n6xn.org/PVCantenna.htm

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Pacificon 2010 - the West Coast Ham Radio Convention is Coming Back!

After a one year hiatus, PACIFICON 2010, the great west coast ham radio convention, returns to the San Francisco Bay Area and will again be sponsored by the Mount Diablo Amateur Radio Club. Pacificon 2010 will take place Friday, October 15th through Sunday, October 17th, at the San Ramon Marriott Hotel at 2600 Bishop Drive in San Ramon, California. Events and schedules listed here are in the planning stages. Links will become active as planning progresses. Please check back for updates.

http://www.pacificon.org/

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While you are marking your calendars:

Two upcoming events announced at last night's SARS meeting:

Napa Valley Marathon

American Diabetes Association, Tour De Cure

Radio Operators needed.  Please contact SARS President David Whalen AE6W

See the Calendar Tab for details; dates, links etc..

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Dstar update.  Some information on programming Icom Dstar transceivers has been added to the tutorial page.  If you are climbing the learning curve on DR Mode, this may be of some help.  See the links page, click on Dstar Tutorial.

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From the ARRL East Bay Section Newsletter.

It is with regrets that I announce the retirement of Joe Lee W6DOB as East Bay Section Traffic manager. Joe has been a tremendous asset to the section for many years. To quote Joe "am 82  going on 83 years old and can't function like in the past. Was involved in the Loma Prieta earthquake Oakland hill fire and other ARES activities including Volunteer Examineer. ... am Following Jetti Hill's foot step retiring to the pasture and enjoying life." Please join me in thanking Joe for a job well done and wishing him the best in his retirement.
PAVE PAWS UPDATE -- Kristen McIntyre, East Bay TC, had an opportunity to represent the east bay section at a tour of the Pave Paws facility at Beale AFB and to meet with representatives of the Command at Beale She summarized her visit as: "It was a once in a lifetime experience. I gained an
understanding of their mission (very important) and also of why they use the band for this purpose. We have a real opportunity there to work with them and keep problems from escalating. I don't think we will ever be able to use 70cm as we did before, given the improvements that have been made to make the RADAR more sensitive, but we can at least avoid losing all access to the band. The Air Force and their contractors were quite open and accommodating (within the limits of classified information) about what problems they are seeing. In addition, the PAVE PAWS folks are willing to do talks at clubs and to give tours of the facility. That is a real bonus.  The interference they are dealing with is significant and comes from all directions.  We were shown a real-time azimuthal display of interfering signals. I would like to be involved in any future discussions of identification and mitigation of interfering signals. This visit paved the way for that to happen, IMO." She will be writing up a more detailed report which will be posted on the EB Section web site and shared via a section email.
SILENT KEYS -- John Billones WD6GCC (Golden Gate Charlie). John was 91 years young and a member of CCC and EBARC.
Don Milberger K6GXU, Don was one of the Elmers in the Richmond Radio Club. Later he pioneered a lot of the Engineering at the U. C. Berkeley Rad Lab and the evatron. He had retired to run a Bicycle Shop.
CONGRATULATIONS TO:  Newly elected MDARC officers and directors President - John Ronan K3ZJJ, Vice President - Dale McIntyre, Secretary -- Richard Fletcher, Treasurers - Doug Hinkley KI6VVV and Rebecca Hinkley KI6VVT, Emergency Coordinator Marty Heyman W6MDH, Director & Technical Committee Chair Trevor Hall, Director At Large Dave Gordon N6SWE, Director At Large Ron Luttringer K6XC, Director At Large Jim Siemons AF6PU; MDARC award winners Douglas Hinckley KI6VVV HAM OF THE YEAR, Paula Costa KI6MPD KILROY KEY AWARD,
and Jay Caldis KT6Y SPECIAL AWARD OF APPRECIATION; Umesh Ghodke K6VUG on receiving his certificate for "First Place in the 2009 Colorado QSO Party under the category of Out of State + Digital Mode + Low Power + Single Operator + Single Transmitter" as well as WAS certificates for Basic WAS, 20M WAS, RTTY WAS, and 20M RTTY WAS; Joe Pistritto N3CKF on his appointed as Emergency Coordinator (EC) for the city of Fremont; Jim Duarte N6SSB on his appointed as Emergency Coordinator (EC) for the Oakland and Piedmont area; NALCO on 25 years as an ARRL Affiliated Club; ROVARC on 10 years as an ARRL Affiliated Club; Scott Joseph KI6YYZ and Kim Ware KI6JNX on being elected President and Vice President of VVRC; New NBARA Officers: President Chris Breller KJ6ZH, Vice President Lee Simerson KA6IFA, Secretary Gary Gross KE6QR , Treasure Rose Llewellyn KI6UFZ , Directors Dave Beard WA6PEP and George McClain KF6JZW, Trustee Dave Woodard KO6B; SBARA member Matthew KD5QHK on
earning his Masters in Systems Engineering from Naval Postgraduate School Monterey; new CCCC board members Ralph Hall W6EFD and Victoria Thompson KE6FSU.
Thirteen Amateur Radio operators from the Amateur Radio Club of Alameda (ARCA) and ARES® participated in a disaster-response shelter exercise in the City of Alameda on Saturday January 9, 2010, at the request of the American Red Cross Bay Area. The exercise tested the ability of the City of Alameda's CERT volunteers to open and operate shelters and an Emergency Volunteer Center for
the city under Red Cross guidelines. It was assumed that telephone and Internet communications were unusable, so participants were able to use only Amateur Radio volunteer services for communications. For the Amateur Radio volunteers, the exercise began as they checked in on a Resource Net on the ARCA K6QLF 70cm repeater. Ham resources were directed to the exercise site
where they received assignments as net control operators or embedded communications resources. The operators set up and managed two tactical nets on simplex frequencies. Those nets successfully carried simulated message traffic among the exercise units. The exercise underscored the importance of Amateur Radio in times of disaster, and it confirmed needs for continued training and for future joint exercises involving disaster preparedness groups serving the City of Alameda. ARES and ARCA participants included Ron Bigelow KF6LSY, Fred Blas KI6BES, Garret Conklin KJ6GEC, Anthony Disalvo KI6TZG, Bruce Gillis KI6CYT, Shari Goforth-Eby K6AVW, Rose Kennedy K6LEZ, Sanford Lavine KO6JF, Chris Machini KI6TYY, Mike Piper KI6NHE, Flavia Rogers KJ6BIQ, Marianne Schenone KI6MYU, and Michael John Torrey KF6YRG.
Amateurs conducted a Simulated Emergency Test (SET) in Oakland on November 7, responding to three served agencies: the cities of Oakland and Piedmont and the American Red Cross. Responses were coordinated on a single ARES resource net on the 2m repeater of the Oakland Radio Communication Association (ORCA). Eight mobile teams, three of which were tracked with APRS(r), first responded to simulated Red Cross shelters and exchanged messages on a tactical net with
hams at the Red Cross Disaster Operations Center in Oakland. Messages also traveled between the City of Piedmont and the Red Cross. The mobile hams then used two tactical nets for the City of Oakland as they inspected and tested amateur radio equipment installed at city fire stations. Responding to the Oakland SET were the following 30 amateurs: John Artim KI6EWY, Paul
Bailey-Gates KA6GEM, Coleen Bell KI6HWJ, Madeleine Biskintaoui AF6NL, Elizabeth Brashers KI6JJR, Per Brashers AF6SW, Mike Calvillo KB9EWP, Cass Carrigan KI6TUQ, George Chong W6BUR, Michael Curry KI6TYV, Jimmy Duarte N6SSB, Bob Firehock KE6IUE, Bruce Gillis KI6CYT, Jonathan Goodwin KI6QNT, David Haycock KI6AWR, Elizabeth Haycock K0EAH, Alan Horn KF6GYW, Randy Jenkins KA6BQF, "Rose" Kennedy K6LEZ, Jesse McPhail KB6LPB, Huib Nanlohy KI6QCE, David Otey WB6NER, John Rabold KS6M, Selma Rockett KG6SXJ, John Sebastian KG6EZX, Peter Straus KO6R, Art Sullivan KI6LED, Tom Tazelaar KG6MAC, Michael-John Torrey KF6YRG, and Mark Violet N6RCG.
CONGRATULATION TO THESE NEW HAMS: Nina A Webb, KJ6DZG, Alameda; Harold B Webb, KJ6DZF, Alameda; Teri K Novak, KJ6EFN, Alameda; Chris G Farajian, KJ6EEV, Pleasant Hill; Douglas Westby, KJ6ELM, Fremont; Francisco A Carcellar, KJ6EET, Livermore; Scott D Sorenson, KJ6EHT, Orinda; Thomas L Moore, KJ6EHU, Rio Vista; Teresa A Bryan, KJ6EFL, Union City; Howard P Hoyt, KJ6ELO, Berkeley; Peter A Liddell, KJ6DYX, Kensington; Richard E Packard, KJ6DZC, Berkeley; Mathison Ott, KJ6DZB, Berkeley; Israel R Capuyan, KJ6DYQ, Richmond; Brian D Andrews, KJ6EHY, Vacaville.
CONGRATULATION TO THESE NEW UPGRADES: Loredana Jeremiason, KJ6BIF, Alameda;
Thomas S Jeremiason, KJ6BIG, Alameda; Jeffrey S Jensen, KJ6EHS, Pinole; Gary A Winblad, WB6OGD, Dublin; Takatoshi Aoyama, KF7ENJ, San Leandro; Michael A Curry, KI6TYV, Berkeley.

NATIONAL TRAFFIC SYSTEM (NTS)
Call Sign      Originated      Sent    Received        Delivered      Total
WB6UZX              0            60        67              6            133
W6DOB                0            38        60              0              98
KE6QR                 1            1        13              10              25

PUBLIC SERVICE HONOR ROLL (PSHR)
Call Sign      Categories         1      2      3      4      5      6      Total
WB6UZX                           38      40      10                              88
W6DOB                             40      40      30                              110
(Requires at least 70 points)
 

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There is a very interesting website where you can listen to "QSO Radio"  This program is normally heard on shortwave on 30 and 40 meters.  From Miami Florida beaming the Caribbean and South America on 9955 kHz, callsign WRMI and from the state of Maine, WBCQ on 7415 kHz.  Conditions being what they are lately you probably won't be able to hear either of these stations but you can listen the program material on the internet at http://www.tedrandall.com  Click on Podcasts for a listing of the past programs.  Ted has some extremely interesting interviews with hams such as Jonathon Taylor, K1RFD; Wayne Greene, W2NSD; Walter Cronkite, KB2GSD (a tribute program); Dan Henderson N1ND of the ARRL; Bob Heil K9EID (a forum on sound); Ronnie Milsap WB4KCG and many many more.  These programs are in mp3 format and are intended to be podcasts but they can be downloaded and listened to on nearly any media player.  The programs are 2 hours long so the files are very large, in the neighborhood of 55 mb so a broadband connection is highly recommended.

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