THE AIRWAVES October 2017

Transcription

1 THE AIRWAVES October 2017 SIERRA AMATEUR RADIO CLUB An ARES ARRL Special Service Club P O Box 1442 President First VP Second VP Secretary Treasurer Randsburg Dennis Kidder Steve Hendricks Mike Herr Bill Burns Paula Herr California BOARD OF OFFICERS W6DQ (562) KK6JTB (760) WA6ARA (760) WA6QYR (760) N6VGW (760) w6dq@arrl.net kk6jtb@icloud.com wa6ara@gmail.com bburns@mediacombb.net n6vgw1@gmail.com SARC OWNED AND MAINTAINED REPEATERS WA6YBN MHz (-), PL Hz, Wide Area, Emergency Power WA6YBN MHz (+), PL Hz, Local, Emergency Power SARC Committees Technical Assistance: Mike, WA6ARA Public Relations: Steve, KK6JTB Program: Mike, WA6ARA Airwaves Editor: Mike, WA6ARA RF Interference: Bill, WA6QYR Emergency: THE AIRWAVES CALENDAR Every Monday Night IWV Emergency Net 730pm WA6YBN Repeater MHz +600KHz offset, tone Visitors Welcomed! IWV 10 Meter Rag Chew Net MHz. Right after the IWV Emergency net 8pm Every Night Chat on MHz 09 Oct Board Meeting 6:30pm 09 Oct General Meeting 7:00pm Program: The Great Eclipse! see details inside 08 Oct Man vs Horse Ultra TBD 21 Oct Bill Thornburg TBD Oct Pacific on San Ramon, CA pacification 14 October Amateur Radio License Exam Every Even Month, Second Saturday Location: Veterans Memorial Building, located behind the Historical USO Building 230 West Blvd, CA Pr-reg by 09 October. All must register at 9 AM Contact Mike Herr, WA6ARA WA6ARA@GMAIL.COM

2 President's Shack Lots of things happening in October and some new additions to the Airwaves! First, we have a host of public service events coming up -- be sure to check the upcoming public service events in this issue. Second, we are adding a new feature -- a brief write up with regards to emergency communications and ARES. We kickoff this month with an intro to ARES and why it is important to get involved. We mentioned last month that elections are coming up in December. Several members have indicated that they are willing to run for and fill several offices and at Bill has stated that he will stay on as secretary. I am asking each of you to consider taking on a board position for the club. It is not a hard job at all and there is always plenty of help from other board and club members. I do think it would be great to have more than one candidate running for each position! On a final note, Mike, WA6ARA, has members to get on the repeater and keep it active through a nightly 8 PM roundtable. Lisa and I have checked it out and I am pleased to report that there is interest. I urge you to pick up a mic and join the fun. Think you haven't anything to contribute to the discussion? I am certain that each and every one of you has something to add. It's up to you. Summer is over, it's cooling off. Time to think about winterizing the old homestead -make sure the heater is working and there is plenty of propane in the tank! See you at the upcoming meeting! 73 DE W6DQ SARC 11 September Board Minutes President Dennis W6DQ talked about the Bishop ARC finances and how SARCs donation of $500 helped out. VE testing at the Historic USO building Veterans house worked well and there was one who passed the Tech license. Elections are coming up and we need a Nominations Committee. ARES is starting up again and need members to join. California QSO Party is 7/8 October and hope the club will participate. SARC 11 September Meeting Minutes President Dennis W6DQ opened the meeting at 7pm. He thanked Dave W6TLA for bringing the snacks. Thanks went to Julie KI6YRA for hosting the Ice Cream Social at the museum. Thanks to the Ogren s for hosting the July BBQ. Bob K6ECM and Mike WA6ARA talked about the repeater power supply dying and the need for a monitor that will tell us when there is a problem. ARES is restarting after the summer break. Bob

3 AD6HF spoke to 40 meters being open at times and a number of contacts that he had made. The reminder was made that the Monday night nets are on the air and needs to be used by the members at 7 pm for the emergency net and at 8 pm for the 10 meter net. The upcoming activities are noted in the newsletter and October will be having the Man vs Horse on October 8 and the Bill Thornburg horse ride on 21 October. Bishop ARC received the $500 donation to the repeater fund from SARC. President Dennis talked about repeater 30 year land use permit for $100/year that BARC paid from club treasury for which it went broke. There was a private loan to the club treasury. SARC donation helped get them back in the black. BARC has good relations with the Forest Service. So far the Forest Service hadn t asked for the $200,000 remiteration money that Los Angeles clubs have been asked to pay to cover the restoring of the repeater site to original conditions. A Nomination Committee is needed before the December SARC elections. If you wish to be on the committee call Dennis W6DQ or Steve KK6JTB. The California QSO Party is coming up on October 7-8. Mike WA6ARA made a great program on Slow Scan TV. It takes only an audio bandwidth. It can be either black and white or color and has various resolutions depending upon the time you want to transmit. It is 100% duty cycle audio tones with pulsed tones to send the picture. There is free software on the internet for various smart phones and computers. Your radio only needs a simple interface cable to hook to the computer/ phone or you can just hold the radio up to the phone to make the connection. There are a number of HF and two meter frequencies to use. Even the space platform and satellites have SSTV down to earth. Mike had a demonstration where he sent out a picture on FM and several members had their phones and handhelds to pick up and print the picture. Mike wants to try using the repeater to send a picture over some time in the future. Mike WA6ARA won the door prize of a Home Depot $25 gift card. Dave W6TLA won the 50/50 drawing of $6. The meeting closed at 8:15 pm. Submitted by Bill WA6QYR SARC Secretary. Treasure's Report End Bal at September 2017 Income Expense End Bal at 1 October 2017 Reserve Cash Available $11,329 $0 $(757) $10,572 $(1,000) $9,572 Expenses were BARC donation, P.O. Box rent and repeater expenses Paula Herr SARC Treasurer N6VGW

4 October Club Meeting Program The Great Eclipse Keith, W3IEZ, will be presenting his work on photgraphing the Great Eclipse of This will not be an amateur radio specific presentation but more of photography and astronomical. Keith will talk of what he did and how using a Raspberry Pi camera and telescope. Should be of great interest to all. Upcoming Public Service Events The public service event season is upon us. While we do not have any specific event that we have been notified of, there are several that we have supported before and expect to be supporting again this year. Here are the ones I know about. If you have additional information on these or others that we may get asked for, please let the editor know. Event Man vs Horse Ultra Bill Thornburgh Git-R-Done Desert Classic OTHTC Ultra Fire Mountain 20 Mule Team Date 08 October October November November December January February 2018 Type (horse and runner) (horse) (horse) (mountain bicycle) (runner) (horse) (horse) SARC contact No request Tammy, KG6VYA Mike WA6ARA

5 Silent Key Tammy Fraiser, KG6YZW With sadness we report that we lost SARC member, Tammy Fraiser, KG6YZW. Tammy was a long time resident of and wife of Ralph Fraiser, KQ6UU. She passed away unexpectedly on August 30th. No other information is known at this time. Introducing: IWV Emcomm Moment This marks the launch of a new addition to the Airwaves, a quick spot regarding emergency communications and Indian Wells Valley. Each month we'll discuss various aspects of emergency communications. This month: a history of ARES and why it is important to consider being a member. ARES or Amateur Radio Emergency Service has not always been with us. It is a volunteer organization that was created by the American Radio Relay League (ARRL). An important note, while it is sponsored by the ARRL, one need not be a member of ARRL. ARES began life as the Amateur Radio Emergency Corps (AREC), with amateurs responding to disasters as far back as the 1930's. ARES should not be confused with RACES. RACES has some strict rules regarding activations and can only be affiliated with a government agency, be it local, regional, state or federal. RACES groups can only be activated by their served government agency. There was even a time when RACES members were issued a RACES callsign! Today, that callsign requirement is gone, and many RACES organizations have been reformed into the more contemporary ACS or Auxiliary Communications Service and tend to serve law enforcement and fire departments. Here in California, they tend to be affiliated with the state's Office of Emergency Services. ARES, on the other hand, need not be affiliated with a government agency. Of course, they still can, but they are free to serve private concerns as well. As such, we find ARES groups affiliated with organizations such as The American Red Cross, hospitals and medical systems, and private industry. This is a win-win situation for private organizations and government alike. It allows hams to serve, but ARES groups "self activate." This means that you don't have to wait for the government to call. When the ground starts shaking, ARES activates! Why is it important to belong to such an organization? Consider recent events -- three devastating hurricanes and a major earthquake. These events have decimated both civil and public communications systems. Amateur radio, in many cases, becomes a key ingredient for communications in and out of disaster areas such as have followed these events. But it is important to note that just because you have a ham license, it doesn't mean you are an emergency communicator. As someone pointed out, just because you have a driver's license doesn't mean you can drive a a car. You have to learn how to drive first. ARES membership and training allows us to learn how to be communicators,

6 following established protocols and learning relevant domain knowledge of the served agency. That's it for this month. We'll discuss more at the upcoming regular meeting, but consider joining the local ARES team and help bolster the emergency communications capabilities here in Indian Wells Valley. ---EOM September T-Hunt Our intrepid hunters went out Saturday morning, on the 23 of September to find the hidden transmitter. Paula, N6VGW was first on the scene but Richard, KJ6VRX found the transmitter. Can you see it in the photo below? The red flag pointing to it wasn't there during the hunt! The next T-Hunt will be in November, the exact date to be determined due to conflicting schedules.. Starting will be as always at Crest Donuts at Our T-Hunt frequency is MHz. Come on out and enjoy the fun. Richard, KJ6VRX, will be the fox for the event.

7 We are getting two new bands! Finally, the FCC is moving forward on granting us two new bands. They are to Khz and 472 to 479 Khz. Yes, that is Khz, we are talking low frequency. Also low power, limited antennas and it is a shared band with a unique requirement. Prior to starting operation on either of these bands radio amateurs must notify UTC (Utilities Technology Council) that they intend operate by submitting their call signs, intended band(s) of operation, and the coordinates of their antenna s fixed location. The new rules do not permit any mobile operation (like that would be possible). Amateur stations will be permitted to commence operations after a 30-day period, unless UTC notifies the station that its fixed location is located within 1 kilometer of Power Line Carrier (PLC) systems operating on the same or overlapping frequencies, the FCC said. PLC systems are unlicensed. This notification process will ensure that amateur stations seeking to operate [on 630 or 2200 meters] are located beyond a minimum separation distance from PLC transmission lines, which will help ensure the compatibility and coexistence of amateur and PLC operations, and promote shared use of the bands. Antennas will be a challenge on these bands. The FCC limit of 60 meters above ground level for the transmitting antenna is not likely a problem but just getting any type of efficient antenna will be. Power is also limited, on 472 to 479 Khz it is 5 watts EIRP, and for to Khz it is 1 Watt EIRP. The exact date when we can use the bands, after the 30 day period of notification, is somewhat vague, but should be definitely announced later. Upcoming Ham Conventions The big west coast ham convention is Pacificon. This is the ARRL Pacific Division Convention. Some consider this one the premier convention / hamfest on the west coast. It is occurring on 20 thru 22 October. Several local hams are going to be attending. Check it out at So, what happens at a hamfest / convention / 'con'? There are vendor booths with all the latest and greatest stuff in ham radio, talks on technical, social, exciting subject in ham radio, as well as ongoing demos and the ever present swap meet. IWV 10 Meter Rag Chew Net The 10 meter Rag chew net is starting up again in earnest. We meet on Monday night, after the IWV ARES net, on MHz, USB. Hope to see you on HF.

8 And sometimes it takes a while... Stanly, WA6PI, FINALLY got his WA6PI California plates! 9 months in the making! For Sale/ Free Uniden BC100xl handheld 16 channel scanner needs AA batteries free Henry Electronics 2meter FM RF amplifier 1-4w input 30 w output 12v FREE Roof mount antenna mount tripod free Astron RS-12M power supply 12VDC 12Amp $20 Steel TV push-up masts free Power pole 14.5 ft tall by 1 ft diameter free Many feet Romex #14, #12 copper wire. FREE Heat sinks, many sizes free Bill WA6QYR 247 Rebel Road bburns@mediacombb.net Got a ham radio related story, news flash, or just something that happen of interest, please let the editor know for a future Airwaves Newsletter! Visit WA6YBN.COM

9 Open Area Repeaters Status Location Randsburg Down Call WA6YBN WA6YBN Freq in MHz (-) (-) Tone Notes Wide Area, Emergency Power Translator, No Squelch Tail, Emergency Power Distance S 18.6 Mi S 2.5 Mi WA6YBN (+) W 2.5 Mi Standby WA6YBN WI6RE-2 WI6RE (+) Allstar #27178, Echolink #518309, Info *510 Net 7:30 PM IWV ClubEmergency Portable Repeater, used only for events El Paso Pk El Paso Pk Packet Node (ELPASO) APRS W1 Digi, iwvaprs.net KI6PSP@gmail.com SW 1 Mi S 10 Mi S 10 Mi S 10 Mi El Paso Pk Trona Bird Springs WI6RE K5GFM KF6FM (-) (-) (+) Allstar Node usually on WINSYSTEM Trona low level repeater Wide coverage of Indian Wells Valley - swrrc.org Mazourka Pk W6TD (-) RF Linked to Silver Peak in Bishop N 96.5 Mi Hauser Pk Keller Pk E 15.9 Mi WSW 27 Mi K6OX (-) Near Palmdale, Wide coverage of Antelope Valley SSW 80 Mi KE6RYZ (+) kpra.net - Near Big Bear, Wide SoCal Coverage SSE 104 Mi Lake Isabella N6SR (-) Lake Isabella area W 60Mi WI6RE IRLP-3741, contact tiplerek@iwvisp.com for codes W 2.8 Mi El Paso Pk WI6RE (-) IRLP WinSystem.org S 10 Mi NC9RS (-) 88.5 SW 2.0 Mi Input: Linked to others - NC9RS to wa6ybn@gmail.com to report invalid data. Last Update: March 05, 2017