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

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1 THE AIRWAVES April 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 OFFICERS Treasurer Julie Stephens KI6YRA KI6YRA@webstephens.com SARC OWNED AND MAINTAINED REPEATERS Randsburg Ridgecrest Ridgecrest WA6YBN MHz (-), PL Hz, Wide Area, Emergency Power WA6YBN MHz (-), Translator, No Squelch Tail, Emergency Power 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 Night IWV Emergency Net Visitors Welcomed! 1930 (730pm) WA6YBN Translator ( MHz - ) 13 April SARC Board Meeting 7:00pm Heritage Inn 13 April SARC General Meeting 7:30pm Heritage Inn "ARRL Field Organization and what it means to SARC and its members" Every Even Month, Second Saturday 09 April Volunteer License Exam Session Location: Guns 4 Us, basement classroom 417 East Ridgecrest Blvd, Ridgecrest CA No handicapped access Pre-reg by 4 April. Limited to 8 applicants All must register at 9 AM Contact Elvy Hopkins NØLV <lvrh7589@iwvisp.com> 16/17 Apr Walk For Life - Death Valley Need volunteers! Mike, WA6ARA is POC 17 Apr Rookie Roundup - SSB 14 May Transmitter Hunt 25/26 Jun Field Day 1

2 President's Shack As we move into spring (or spring-like weather, anyway) I ve been thinking about things we can do before the weather heats up. We have some public service events in the queue, as always, and I hope to see some new faces joining the regulars, who seem to volunteer for everything. As always, you can check out the "The Airwaves" for details and points of contact. The flash field days seem to be gaining momentum, and we have some folks in the Technician Class class who appear to be to be motivated let s treat them right and help get them on the air! I ve seen a few things on the internet about liquid antennae, built using flexible tubing or rigid pipe filled with saline or more exotic materials. This is not exactly a new idea, but it s the kind of thing that gets my creative juices flowing (pun intended), so I hope to play around with it a little and report back in a few months. If you re experimenting with something new, or new-to-you, let us know! See you at the April 13 th meeting! 73, Harry KI6PSZ@webstephens.com Treasurer s Report As of March 31, 2011, reported by SARC Treasurer, Julie Stephens, KI6YRA Beg Balance $4,718 Income $658 Expense ($720) End Balance $4,656 Income and expense are primarily from the technician class. SARC Field Day 2011 It's that time of the year when we dust off our radios and get ready for Field Day. We are looking for participants for this years event, held locally. Location: Upjohn Park Operating Times: 11:00 AM (Saturday the 25th) to 2:00 PM (Sunday the 26th) 2

3 We need operators and equipment for a few HF stations, and a 6m station. We also need tarps for this event. Bring a friend, and invite a neighbor to this years Field Day. INTERNATIONAL DX CONVENTION The 62nd Annual International DX Convention sponsored by the Northern California DX Club will be held at The Holiday Inn Hotel & Conference Center in Visalia, California from April 15-17, If you're serious about your DX'ing, don't miss out on the fun and information at Visalia. Bring the family and have a blast. Get additional information at the IDXC website ( Flash Field Day The March Flash Field Day went off with a bang! Actually more like a big blow! The wind blew and blew, and it was a bit cold as well. The site was at the top of the ridge behind the college. Wild flowers were in full bloom all around and we pretty much had the place to ourselves. 10 SARC members and two perspective hams from the Technician class showed up. The wind really cut down the amount of antenna experimenting we had expected to do. Most all just wanted to get an antenna up in the and find someplace to keep out of the wind. One unique spot as a hole in the ground. air Overall it was a great time. Ryan, KJ6HBY, worked the most, making 4 contacted, two of which were DX. Ryan went home, fired up his FT301 and worked another 40 stations, including 10 DX. He is already 1/10 his way to DXCC! 3

4 The Next Flash Field Day We are not quite sure when or where the next flash field day will occur. There are several possibilities, including one late April for the graduating hams from the Tech class, Memorial Day weekend for the Strange Antenna Event and the VHF / UHF contest in June. Let us know what you would be interested in....mike WA6ARA March T-Hunt The March transmitter hunt went off great. The fox for the session was Ryan, KJ6HBY. Ryan has been one of our more active and aggressive hunters recently, finding it ahead of the old hunters. So this time it was up to him to give us a run for our money, and that he did. The hunt started with all the hunters getting a great signal reading to the south - east of the starting. It took a while, with the signal peaking and dipping unexpectedly but we all ended up on county line road near the dog pound. Here the fun started. The hunters chased around and around, finally being directed to the dog pound it's self. Noticing Ryan's legs hanging out of the pickup truck's bed certainly helped to narrow down the spot. Paula, N6VGW found the transmitter first, with Ed, KI6PSP and Mike WA6ARA to follow. The next transmitter hunt will be on or about May 14. Look in the May issue of the Airwaves for more details. Walk For Life 16 / 17 April 2011 The annual Walk for Life is coming up soon. We supported this event last year and I hope we can do so again this year. Contact Mike, WA6ARA, ( ) or wa6ara@gmail.com to volunteer. FACEBOOK The Sierra Amateur Radio Club can now be found on Facebook. This is a great opportunity to interface with the modern public, and show them what we are up to. Snippets can be found on the main club web page. Please stop by and "Like" our Facebook Page. KI6PSP (Ed) 4

5 Ask Elmer The Question... I see that the club's repeater now has the auto-patch again. Just what is the proper procedures to use it. And Elmer answers... Auto patches are a great thing. They allow hams to access the phone system from ham rig, in our case, a 2 meter rig. But, there are some important considerations to remember. These were derived from the ARRL web page 1) Use of the auto-patch involving the pecuniary interest of the originator, or on behalf of the originator's employer, must not be conducted at any time. The content of any patch should be such that it is clear to any listener that such communications [pecuniary - financial] are not involved. Particular caution must be observed in calling any business telephone. Calls to place an order for a commercial product may be made such as the proverbial call to the pizza restaurant to order food, but not calls to one's office to receive or to leave business messages since communications on behalf of ones employer are not permitted. Calls made in the interests of highway safety, however, such as for the removal of injured persons from the scene of an accident or for the removal of a disabled vehicle from a hazardous location, are permitted. 2) The auto-patches should never be made solely to avoid telephone toll charges. Auto-patches should never be made when normal telephone service could just as easily be used. 3) Third parties should not be retransmitted until the responsible control operator has explained the nature of Amateur Radio to them. Control of the station must never be relinquished to an unlicensed person. Permitting a person you don't know very well to conduct a patch in a language you don't understand amounts to relinquishing control. 4) Make sure the third parties know they are participating in radio communications, and that such communications are not private, and may be heard by people other than the parties involved. 5) Any auto-patch communication must be terminated immediately in the event of any illegality or impropriety. 6) Station identification must be strictly observed. 7) Auto-patch use should be kept as brief as possible, as a courtesy to other amateurs; the amateur bands are intended to be used primarily for communication among radio amateurs. 8) If you have any doubt as to the legality or advisability of a patch, don't make it. The first question prior to activating the auto-patch is "is this necessary and can it be done using conventional phone methods instead" If it is necessary and cannot be done with a locally available phone, then go ahead. But, if a phone is readily available, then the phone should be used. For the considerate amateur using the auto patch, start by listening to the repeater. Is it in use? If so, wait until the users are finished, or break in and ask that you might use it for the purposes of making an auto-patch. 5

6 Once you have determined no one else is using the repeater, announce your intentions to use the auto-patch, basically by saying something to the effect " This is (your call) accessing the autopatch". Release the transmit and listen again. There maybe someone waiting to use it as well. Assuming all is clear, access the auto-patch by entering *6 and dial the number. Calls are restricted to 760 area code and it is implied, no need to enter it into the phone number. Once the other party answers, let them know immediately that you are on an amateur radio auto-patch, that it is open for all to hear, and that they need to say over when they are done speaking. If the conversation drifts into a questionable area or language, TERMINATE THE PATCH IMMEDIATELY (*0). Otherwise, keep the time on the patch as short as possible. Remember you still must identify every 10 minutes, even while in phone patch. Actually any one phone patch should be a minute or less. Once done, shut down the auto-patch by entering *0 and announce "This is (your call) clear of the auto-patch". Verify that the auto patch is indeed shut down. If you have another call to make, repeat the whole process, as someone else may have a pressing need of the auto patch or the repeater. Remember, you always have total control, and responsibility of the auto patch, you are the control operator! You can always terminate a call, at anytime, regardless of who is speaking by entering *0. This is a SARC, and Amateur Radio, resource. Please use it wisely and responsibly. Got a question for Elmer? just sent it to the editor and he will pass it along to Elmer in the secret underground laboratory and donut shop For Sale ARROW Satellite Antenna. Model 146/437-10WBP Split boom with 10W Duplexer in handle. Breaks down for travel, backpacking, etc. Allows you to work Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites with a HT. Can also be used for fox hunting events. Like new, used a couple of time to try out but lost interest. Read about it at the Arrow Antenna website ( Sells new $140 asking $95. Gene W5DQ (see cover of newsletter for phone) or w5dq@radioroom.org And... Heathkit Cantenna HN-31 $5; Heathkit AM-2 VSWR meter $5; Radio Shack Patrolman PRO- 77A VHF HI/LO crystal scanner $10; classic secretary desk with fold down main door. Has places to put radios, power supply, tuner--the whole station. When the door is closed, the station is out of sight. Door open you have working space and access to the station. 18" deep, 52" tall, 34"wide. Dark reddish color wood. Near new condition $50. Can be delivered in Ridgecrest. Bill WA6QYR bburns@ridgenet.net or Check out the SARC Web Page 6

7 Local Repeaters SARC OWNED AND MAINTAINED REPEATERS Updated: October 6 th 2010 Click the Freqs for Coverage Map of Repeater Status Location Call Freq in MHz Tone Notes Distance (Ridgecrest) Up Ridgecrest WA6YBN (-) - Translator, No Squelch Tail, Emergency Power S 2.5 Mi Up Ridgecrest WA6YBN (+) CT NOT currently linked to W 2.5 Mi Up Randsburg WA6YBN (-) CT 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 Distance (Ridgecrest) Standby Ridgecrest W6DWF WinLink 1200 Baud (Available ) NW 2.7 Mi Up Ridgecrest KM6JM WinLink 1200 Baud (Backup) SW 2.1 Mi Down El Paso Pk WI6RE Packet Digi S 10 Mi Up El Paso Pk WI6RE APRS W1 Digi, iwvaprs.net KI6PSP@gmail.com S 10 Mi Up Trona K6YYJ (-) PL RF Linked to TX Audio is low E 15.9 Mi Up Little Lake W6TD (+) - RF Linked to Mazourka Peak NW 24.9 Mi Up Bird Springs KF6FM (+) PL Wide coverage of Indian Wells Valley - swrrc.org WSW 27 Mi Up Mazourka Peak W6TD (-) PL RF Linked to Little Lake N 96.5 Mi Up Hauser Peak K6OX (-) PL Near Palmdale, Wide coverage of Antelope Valley SSW 80 Mi Up Keller Peak KE6RYZ (+) CT Near Big Bear, Wide SoCal Coverage SSE 104 Mi Up Ridgecrest W5HMV (-) CT RF Linked to Input is about -4 KHz off. SE 2.6 Mi Up Ridgecrest WI6RE CT IRLP-3741, contact tiplerek@iwvisp.com for codes W 2.8 Mi Up El Paso Pk WI6RE (-) CT IRLP-3877 S 10 Mi Up Ridgecrest NC9RS (-) PL 88.5 NC9RS Input: Linked to Bishop and others SW 2.0 Mi 7