September An ARRL Special Service Club RACES ARES. P O Box 1442 Ridgecrest California

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1 THE AIRWAVES September 2011 SIERRA AMATEUR RADIO CLUB An ARRL Special Service Club RACES ARES P O Box 1442 Ridgecrest California BOARD President Harry Stephens KI6PSZ KI6PSZ@webstephens.com First VP Fred Moses KG6STR kg6str@verizon.net OF Second VP Gene Brewer W5DQ w5dq@radioroom.org Secretary Lorilyn Andrus KG6LEW pzslollipop@verizon.net OFFICERS Treasurer Julie Stephens KI6YRA KI6YRA@webstephens.com SARC OWNED AND MAINTAINED REPEATERS Randsburg WA6YBN MHz (-), PL Hz, Wide Area, Emergency Power Ridgecrest WA6YBN MHz (-), Translator, No Squelch Tail, Emergency Power Ridgecrest WA6YBN MHz (+), PL Hz, Local, Emergency Power SARC Committees Technical Assistance: Mike, WA6ARA Public Relations: Fred, KG6STR Program: Gene, W5DQ Airwaves Editor: Mike, WA6ARA RF Interference: Bill, WA6QYR Emergency and Public Service: Mike, W6PM Every Monday IWV Emergency Net 1930 (730pm) Night WA6YBN Translator ( MHz - ) Visitors Welcomed! 14 Sep SARC Board Meeting 7:00pm Heritage Inn 14 Sep SARC General Meeting 7:30pm Heritage Inn Program Hal, N6HAL, demonstrating his GO BOX 17 Sep T- Hunt THE AIRWAVES CALENDAR Every Even Month, Second Saturday 08 Oct Volunteer License Exam Session Location: Guns 4 Us, basement classroom 417 East Ridgecrest Blvd, Ridgecrest CA No handicapped access Pre-reg by 3 Oct. Limited to 8 applicants All must register at 9 AM Contact Elvy Hopkins NØLV <lvrh7589@iwvisp.com> 1, 2 Oct California QSO Party (CQP)

2 President's Shack Hello Everyone! I hope you ve all been beating the summer heat and having fun with your rigs. Speaking of rigs, I joined Mike WA6ARA, Hal N6HAL (nee KM6JM) and Jim KI6PTA in building Retro 75 AM transceivers previously covered in the Airwaves. It was a relatively easy build but I was glad to have a couple of Elmers handy. My rig is putting out a very nice carrier wave, according to Mike s o-scope, and the LED blinks when I talk into it, so I m pretty sure it s doing something right. Unfortunately I haven t gotten my antenna up yet; fortunately I got 126 of wire up around my garage s eaves today next I ll have to feed it. Small steps I guess. As I may have mentioned previously I ve been dabbling with the G4FON software so I can learn to copy CW. It s been pretty frustrating, but I think the 30WPM setting might have been excessive. I plan to try it at 20WPM and see if I have better luck. As happens every year around this time there are lots of events coming up. The Scouts Jamboree On the Air is coming in October. Right now, Bill WA6QYR, Dave AD7GU, and I are communicating with a couple of scout contacts. It probably won t be a huge event (this year) but if things go well we can think about making it available to more scouts next year. I haven t heard from the Kiwanis Club yet, but expect that we ll be asked to work their walk-a-thon again this year. Other events are no doubt covered elsewhere in this Airwaves. Another thing to consider is volunteering for the nominating committee and/or a club office yes it s that time of year again. We really need someone to lead the Safety Committee. If you don t feel inclined to volunteer for anything else at least think about becoming a Volunteer Examiner. I put in my paperwork a couple of weeks ago maybe they ll approve. Last and least from my shack is my new call. I was happy with the old one, but Mike and Hal talked me into getting a 2x2 to finally catch up to my Extra-class ticket. Actually, I thought it would be a good idea to get a call that didn t sound just like Ed KI6PSP s. So now I m AG6FZ (guess I ll have to go the vanity route if I want a call that doesn t end with Zulu). Hope to see you all at the September 14 th meeting! 73, Harry KI6PSZ@webstephens.com Treasurer s Report As of August 28, 2011 Beg Balance $6,044 Income $321 Expense ($497) End Balance $5,868 Income is more sales from W6DWF s estate. Expense is for field day and insurance Julie Stephens SARC Treasurer KI6YRA

3 CALIFORNIA QSO PARTY 1, 2 Oct California QSO Party (CQP) Many states have QSO parties and the CA QSO Party, also known as the CQP, is one of the premier QSO parties held the first weekend of October every year. Now what is a QSO party you may be asking? Basically a QSO party is an on-the-air operating event (a contest) where a targeted group or event is contacted by everyone else for points. In this case, California hams are the target for everyone else in the world. Local members of the SARC have unique position that we happen to be in one of the 'rarer' counties. I know it's hard to believe but if you look at the map, there are only a handful of metropolitan areas in Kern County with Bakersfield being number one and Ridgecrest close behind in population sizes. If you're interested in trying your hand at the CQP, below is the link to the CQP website. Here you will find out all about the CQP and what is required to participate. Here is a perfect opportunity to get your feet wet in contesting and have fun doing it. I've registered to work the entire 24 hour contest as a single operator but a multi-operator team is always possible if anyone from SARC would like to take a turn at my station. Give me a call or "<mycall> at mchsi.com". Here is a tasty tidbit to entice you should you'd like to try it alone... the perfect goal for a first time CQP contestant!... The New California Contester s Award. This category is open to any operator that submits a log with at least 100 QSOs, made using either TriBander, Wire or Vertical antennas AND who have never submitted a log in any contest with more than 100 QSOs. Hope to see you in the 'test! Gene W5DQ SARC T- Hunt 17 September 2011 The next T-Hunt will be held on 17 September. The time will start at the normal 0900 at Crest Donut. Hope to see you all there. The Next Flash Field Day 1 Oct The next flash field day will be held at the LeRoy Jackson Park on 1 October. We will start at 0800, set up some simple antennas and operate for a couple hours. Operation will be casual....mike WA6ARA 75 Meter AM Round Table With the completion of several Retro 75 kits, we have begun a 75 meter AM round table. We are meeting on Wednesday nights, about 8pm, on or about 3880Kc. AM only Any rig is ok, as long as it is AM. Of course, we won't be meeting on club meeting nights.

4 SARC BBQ

5 K6GOH, Micah, awarded the coveted Firebottle Award for High Score at Field Day Retro 75 Build

6 SARC RTTY / PSK31 Tech Day Mike's Quickies I have had a recurring problem, the power sockets in my cars suddenly go dead. In trouble shooting one in my 2007 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup I found that the problem was with the power port it's self. The center conductor is riveted to the the connector on the other side and this connection, after a few years, can become erratic, leading to failure. I attempted to solder them. Unfortunately the plastic components holding the bases together would not take the temperatures necessary. I have been using the Anderson Power Pole connectors fro just about everything, both ham radio related as well as not. So I decided to convert the power socket to the Anderson Power Pole. This turned out easier than I had thought. I assembled a power pole connector with a pigtail of wire. Next, I removed the remaining plastic parts which held the backside of the power socket together, leaving just a can structure. The power pole slide nicely into the power socket can and a feed through strain relief was added to protect the wire. Then the pig tail wire was spliced back into the car power socket wiring. The result is a nice looking power plug with dust cap that still works. My accessories that use power poles work well directly. For those that have the original power socket I carry along a power socket with a power plug pig tail that I can just plug into. Brought to you by PETE, People for the Ethical Treatment of Electrons. (no electrons were harmed in making this quickie) Check out the SARC Web Page SARC on FACEBOOK

7 Local Repeaters SARC OWNED AND MAINTAINED REPEATERS Updated: April Click the Freqs for Coverage Map of Repeater Status Location Call Freq in MHz Tone Notes Up Ridgecrest WA6YBN (-) none Translator, No Squelch Tail, Emergency PowerEmergency Net 7:30 PM Up Ridgecrest WA6YBN (+) Allstar #27178, Echolink #518309, Info *510 ARRL Audio News on 7 PM Distance (Ridgecrest) S 2.5 Mi W 2.5 Mi Up Randsburg WA6YBN (-) Wide Area, Emergency Power S 18.6 Mi Open Area Repeaters Click the Freqs for Coverage Map of Repeater Contact KI6PSP@GMAIL.COM if any data is invalid, or missing Status Location Call Freq in MHz Tone Notes Up Ridgecrest KM6JM none WinLink 1200 Baud 1200 Baud (Available ) Distance (Ridgecrest) SW 2.1 Mi Up Ridgecrest KM6JM none 1200 Baud Packet Node SW 2.1 Mi Down El Paso Pk WI6RE none Packet Digi S 10 Mi Up El Paso Pk WI6RE none APRS W1 Digi, iwvaprs.net KI6PSP@gmail.com S 10 Mi Up Trona K6YYJ (-) RF Linked to m Remote Base on FM call freq MHz - Controls: Rx 61, Tx 62, Off 63 E 15.9 Mi Up Little Lake W6TD (+) none RF Linked to Mazourka Peak NW 24.9 Mi Up Bird Springs KF6FM (+) Wide coverage of Indian Wells Valley - swrrc.org WSW 27 Mi Up Mazourka Peak W6TD (-) RF Linked to Little Lake N 96.5 Mi Up Hauser Peak K6OX (-) Near Palmdale, Wide coverage of Antelope Valley SSW 80 Mi Up Keller Peak KE6RYZ (+) Near Big Bear, Wide SoCal Coverage SSE 104 Mi Up Ridgecrest W5HMV (-) RF Linked to Input is about -4 KHz off. SE 2.6 Mi Up Ridgecrest WI6RE simplex IRLP-3741, contact tiplerek@iwvisp.com for codes W 2.8 Mi Up El Paso Pk WI6RE (-) IRLP-3877 Winsystem.org S 10 Mi Up Ridgecrest NC9RS (-) 88.5 NC9RS Input: Linked to Bishop and others SW 2.0 Mi