2025 Meeting Schedule

Date	Speaker	Topic
January 8	Jim DeLoach, WU0I	How to Build a Satellite ‘Roving’ Station for Your Next Road Trip or POTA activation. See post for more details.
February 12	Jeff Kabel, AA6XA	FT8 and FEC error Correction. See post for more details.
March 12	Jim Peterson, K6EI	POTA and FIeld Day Antennas. See post for more details.
April 9	John Miller, K6MM.	DXpeditions Redefined: Working the R.I.B. Remotely
May 14	Jim Peterson, K6EI	All things Field Day
June 11	Clay Couger, N5YJZ	Common Mode Supprerssion
June 27-29		FIELD DAY AT MORA HILL
July/August		No evening Meetings in July or August
August 9		Annual BBQ at Baylands Park
September 10	Dave Brown, WR6Z	All Things 900 Mhz
October 8	Jim Peterson, K6EI	DYI DXspedition
November 12	Vince Bafetti, KB6NTW	Loop on Ground Receiving Antennas
December 7		WVARA Holiday Party

2024 Meeting Schedule

Date	Speaker	Topic
January 10	Clay Couger (N5YJZ) Scott Nacey (KK6IK)	Parks-On-The-Air (POTA) See post for more details.
February 7 ATTENTION: One week earlier just for this month!	Dr Richard G Ranson, G3ZTB	The care and feeding of your nanoVNA. See post for more details.
March 13		We will discuss what worked in 2023 and a few changes that are in-store for 2024
April 10	Ralph Simpson	Secret radio communications during WW2 and the cracking of Enigma
May 8	Mark Aaker, K6UFO	How to be more effective at FT8 contesting
June 12	Ed Fong, WB6IQN	uSDX+ ultra compact transceiver & Finalize Field Day plans
June 21-23		FIELD DAY AT MORA HILL
July/August		No evening Meetings in July or August
August 10		Annual BBQ at Badlands Park, Owl Burrow Picnic Area, 11:00am – 2:00pm
September 11	Jeff Kabel, AA6XE	Digital Signal Processing (DSP)
October 9	Scott Nacey, KK6IK Tim Stehle, KN6FGH	Reducing RF noise in your shack Group discussion on plans for WVARA’s upcoming POTA / beach party, scheduled for November 9
November 9		WVARA’s POTA / Beach party All the Details Here.
November 13	Bert Henderson, W6MSD	DIY Wire Antennas
December 8	Tim, KN6FGH	Holiday Party noon to 3:00 pm at Red Cross

2023 Meeting schedule

Date	Speaker	Topic
February 8	Steve Sergeant, KC6ZKT	Winter Field Day Highlights & The Model-T of Computers
March 8	Paul Wesling, KM6LH	Silicon Valley’s Ham Radio Roots.   View the edited video of the talk (48:50, plus Q&A with Steve Wozniak WA6BND): View Video
March 18		FIELD DAY BRAINSTORM LUNCH
April 12	Kristen McIntyre, K6WX	A Wire in the Air: What Matters Most
April 23		Field Day Antenna Clean-up & Prep at Svend’s QTH
May 10	Jim Peterson, K6EI	All Things Field Day!
May 27		Field Day Antenna Party in Sunnyvale
June 14	Jim Moss, N9JIM	ARDEN Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network
June 23-25		FIELD DAY AT MORA HILL
September 13	Dean Wood, N6DE	Update on plans for the California QSO Party
October 11	Jim Peterson, K6EI	Reducing your RF exposure risk
November 8	Ed Fong, WB6IQN	Ed will explain how PLL’s work in a non mathematical presentation.

2022 Meeting schedule

Date	Speaker	Topic
January 12	Tim Duffy, K3LR	Grounding/Bonding for RFI Mitigation
February 9	Bryan Klofas, KF6ZEO	“12 grams Around the World: Picoballoons and Radiosondes”
March 9	Michelle Paquette AA6MP	The theory behind compact loop antennas
April 13	Jim Peterson, K6EI	Top Band — the 160 meters band
May 11	Jim Peterson, K6EI	All Things Field Day
June 8	Stan Dye, KC7ZXE	Fun with Nano VNAs
July 13		No Meeting
August 10		No Meeting
August 13		Annual BBQ – 11am at Sunnyvale’s Baylands Park
September 14	Dean Wood, N6DE	Updates on plans for the California QSO Party
October 12	Jim Peterson, K6EI,	Update on how to detect, identify, locate, and reduce Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) around your station.
November 10	Steve Sergeamt, KC6ZKT	Winter Field Day Plans
December 17		HOLIDAY PARTY / BBQ, 11am – 1pm, Saturday, Silicon Valley Red Cross Building Patio on the east-facing side of the facility.  We can shift indoors to Room 3 if it rains. The Red Cross building is at 2731 N. First Street at Plumeria Drive (southwest corner) in San Jose.   If you haven’t been to the Red Cross in a while, “talk-in” is usually available on the Association’s repeaters. Best choice would be 2m/220.

2021 Meeting Schedule

Date	Speaker	Topic
January 13	Dr. Seth Shostak, N6UDK	The Quest for the Ultimate DX — Are We Alone in the Universe?
February 10	Gary Johnson, NA6O	“How to Reduce RF noise Before It Gets into Your Transceiver” Download PDF Presentation
March 10	Jim Aspinwall, NO1PC	“Elmering in the Age of Devices”
April 14	Brian Tanner, AG6GX	“Art of Voice Communications: Techniques for Technician & HF-class licensees” Download PDF Presentation
May 12	Kristen McIntyre, K6WX	“SWR? Who Cares!”  (SWR myths and misconceptions)
June 9	Clint Bradford, K6LCS	How to Work Amateur Satellites with your HT
July 14		No Meeting
August 21		It’s official.  Sunnyvale has opened their picnic facilities for summer reservations, and we’ve been approved for Baylands Park Pickleweed Picnic Area.  So mark your calendar for WVARA’s Annual BBQ on August 21 starting at 11am.  This coincides with the North America QSO Party / SSB, so we’ll be making contacts during our BBQ via a portable station.
September 8	Dean Wood, N6DE	California QSO Party. Our speaker will be Dean Wood, N6DE, who will update us on the latest changes to the California QSO Party. This very fun event occurs the first weekend in October. Dean will likewise cover the various ways that WVARA members can have fun participating in this great contest.
October 13	Rex Vokey, KE6MT	Our Oct 13 presentation will be Summits On The Air with Rex Vokey, KE6MT. Rex is will cover the basics of SOTA as well as some tips and tricks for those operating either at home or in the field. He’ll also give a short report on his recent first-activation of a backcountry summit called Parker Peak.Rex is the California (W6) Association Manager for Summits on the Air and has been a ham since 2015. He gets out to do summits big and small whenever he can, operating both QRP and portable QRO (100 watts) from mountaintops.
November 10	Steve Sergeamt, KC6ZKT	Winter Field Day Plans, Elections. Here is a link to Steve’s Presentation PDF
December 18		Holiday Party 11:00am – 1:00pm Sunnyvale’s Baylands Park, near Pickleweed Place. You can see all the information Here.

2020 Meeting Schedule

Date	Speaker	Topic
January 8	Steve Sergeant, KC6ZKT	Winter Field Day Plans
February 12	Ron Quan, KI6AZB	Troubleshooting Electronic Circuits
March 11	Bill Fehring, W9KKN	Bill’s Excellent Adventure at Contest Station ZF1A
April 8	Ed Fong, WB6IQN	DMR (Digital Mobile Radio) Due to the coronavirus, the April WVARA meeting will NOT be held at the Red Cross Building. Instead, we will hold a virtual meeting via Zoom at 7pm on Wednesday, April 8.    At this month’s meeting Edison Fong, WB6IQN, will bring us up to speed on DMR (Digital Mobile Radio).  This mode is getting really popular.  The radios cost about $100-$150 depending on the quality you want.  All of them  also have conventional FM.  DMR is a full digital format that is interfaced via the internet where one can 24/7 talk all over the world.  The dream of working DX sitting on your couch is here.  Since it is an open system originally set up  by Motorola there are over 15 manufacturers of DMR radios – both hand held and mobiles.  Learn how to get register as a DMR user, where to purchase a radio, how to program the radio and talk to the world without depending on propagation conditions.   Ed is a design consultant and has worked at Loral Space System, Microsoft and National Semiconductor. He has 25 years of experience in analog design for communications, data conversion and RF systems. Fong has 12 issued patents and has published more than 40 papers. He is a senior member of the IEEE. He also is on the faculty of UC Santa Cruz Silicon Valley, where he teaches RF Wireless Communications and I/O Design Fundamentals.
May 13	George Zafiropoulos (KJ6VU)	Virtual presentation on PackTennas — lightweight, compact, portable HF antenna systems ideal for a simple, solo Field Day.  George will tell us the story of these antennas, explain their design, and give tips on how to get the most from them.
June 10	Jim DeLoach, WU0I	Tales of an Alaskan Field Day Adventure.
July	No Meeting
August 15	Annual WVARA BBQ	Cancelled due to COVID-19
September 9	Dean Wood, N6DE	California QSO Party. See all the information in this Post
October 14	David Brown, WR6Z	Fun on 900 MHz, Here is a link to the presentation PDF.
November 11	Keith Snyder, KI6BDR	At this month’s meeting, Keith Snyder (KI6BDR) will give a virtual presentation on the Russian Woodpecker Over the Horizon Radar – A Real Blast from the Past.   I’m really looking forward to this one since many of us older hams remember encountering this signal on-the-air.   In addition, Steve KC6ZKT will give us an update on plans for Winter Field Day and how you can get involved.   (Winter Field Day will be January 30/31).   Keith’s Presentation Part 1 PDF. Part 2 PDF
December 9	Steve Sergeant, KC6ZKT	WVARA will not be holding a holiday party this year.  Instead, we will hold a standard monthly Zoom meeting on Wednesday, December 9.  Steve Sergeant, KC6ZKT, will tell us about: “Repeaters To Go… Wild”.   Zoom details will be released via the WVARA email reflector.  If you aren’t yet a WVARA member and would like to attend this meeting, feel free to contact Jim Peterson, K6EI, via k6ei@wvara.org. You can get all the information on our main page

2019 Meeting Schedule

Date	Speaker	Topic
January 9
February 13	Dave Casler, via Zoom	Digital HF Modes!
March 13	Erik Swartz	From Elecraft Will Be updating us on “Everything Elecraft”
April 10	Kristen, our Vice-Director	From the ARRL will be telling us about what’s happening with the League in 2019
May 8	Jim Peterson	Getting us ready for our upcoming Field Day!
June 12	Jack	Jack is going to be giving us some “Tips” on “Contesting” just in time for Field Day!
July 10	No Meeting
August 17	Annual WVARA BBQ	When: 11am – 2pm, Saturday, Aug 17. Sunnyvale’s Baylands Park, Pickleweed Place #1 (When you get to Baylands Park, turn right after going through the main gate.) All information on our Activities Page.
September 11	Mark Kemp	Piezoelectric Antennas
October 9	Clay Couger, N5YJZ	Join us to hear about Clay’s suitcase DX expedition and communications support for International Health Services (IHS) work in Honduras.
November 13	Eric  Guthrie	Presentation by Eric  Guthrie on some of the DXPeditions & people he has interviewed over the past Several Years! Officer Elections
December 11	WVARA Holiday Party	Holiday Christmas Party (set-up at 6pm, dining at 7pm)

2015 Meeting schedule

Date	Speaker	Topic
January 14	Ed Fong, WB6IQN	History of Handie-Talkie Radios
February 11	Ron Quan, KI6AZB	Electronics from the ground up
March 11	Kevin Reid, AG6YO	A Visual Introduction to Digital Signal Processing for SDR
April 8	George Williams, N6NKT	The In’s and Out’s of Our Local Red Cross
May 13	Jim Peterson, K6EI	All Things Field Day
June 10	Bill AE6JV, Jim K6EI, Bobby KA4VBF, George N6NKT	Get Radioactive with WVARA
July	No Regular Meeting
August 15	BBQ 11am-2pm Baylands Park	BBQ & NAQP-SSB Operation
September 9	Steve Stearns, K6OIK	The Joy of (Antenna) Matching
October 14	Bobby Barnett, KA4VBF	Highlights of WVARA’s VHF and CQP Expeditions
November 11	Kristen McIntyre, K6WX	The Mighty Transistor – What’s so great about transistors?
December 9	Potluck Holiday Party at the meeting room	Setup at 6:30pm, Dinner at 7pm

2014 Meeting schedule

Date	Speaker	Topic
January 8	Jim Peterson, K6EI	All Things Field Day *
February 12	Bill Ruck, W6VSY	Radio On The High Seas
March 12	Wayne Burdick, N6KR	Elecraft Night at WVARA
April 9	Jim Peterson, K6EI	Low Band DX Antennas: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
May 14	Jim Peterson, K6EI	All Things Field Day
June 11	Bill Frantz, AE6JV	Hands-On Construction: Battery Status Indicator Kit
July	No Regular Meeting
August 13	No Regular Meeting
August 16	BBQ 11am-2pm Baylands Park, Pickleweed Site	BBQ & NAQP-SSB Operation
September 10	Jim Peterson, K6EI	Field Day Highlights & California QSO Party: Plans and Ideas
October 8	Jim Peterson, K6EI	Fun on 160M!
November 12
December 10	Pot Luck Holiday Party at the meeting location Setup at 6:30pm, Dinner at 7pm

* See meeting page for pre-meeting location.

2013 Meeting schedule

Date	Speaker	Topic
January 9	George Williams, N6NKT	3D2C DXpedition With A Newbie Twist
February 13	Mike Lavelle, K6ML	Introduction to Microwave Amateur Radio http://www.50mhzandup.org/index.html
March 13	Ron Quan, KI6AZB	Build Your Own Transistor Radios
April 10	Jim Deloach, WU0I	Ham Radio in Ethiopia
May 8	Jim Peterson, K6EI	All Things Field Day
June 12
July	No Meeting
August 17	Picnic at Baylands	Picnic Flyer
September 11	Kristen McIntyre, K6WX	TBD
October 9	Dave Flack, W6DLF and Dave Crocker, W6VYC	QRPeditions
November 13	Russ Bentson, K6KLY	Meteor Scatter Using FSK441
December 11	Pot Luck Holiday Party at the meeting location	Setup 6:30, Dinner 7:00`