Everyone, it is that time of year:

WVARA’s December meeting is replaced by a holiday party, which this year is Sunday Dec. 8th, noon to 3 pm at the Red Cross. The party includes door prizes, a WVARA tradition.

Every attending member in good standing gets one ticket for the door prizes drawing ( you must be present to win ). The prizes are provided by donations from our membership along with a few top prizes which are purchased by the club.

On to the asks:

1) If you have an item in new or like-new condition you would like to *donate* as a prize, please send me ( Tim ) a description of the item, or a link to a web page describing it, so we know what is coming.

2) We are particularly seeking suggestions for items you would hope to get as one of our grand prizes. So please send a link to a local or online merchant’s catalog listing for that item ( or otherwise let us know the price and where to find it ). 

Our maximum budget for about six prizes is about $600. 

We especially like suggestions for unusual items like novel tools or gadgets that might be broadly useful, as well as a few mainstream items ( HTs and nice tools are always popular; consumables can work [who can’t use more counterpoise wire, heat shrink or waterproofing tape?]; gift subscriptions to CQ are problematic). 

Broadly, try to think of things that if you won it, toward the end of next year you’d be thinking “I’d never have gotten this for myself, but darn I love it!”

Please send me your suggestions by the end of the day Friday, sooner if you can. I will compile the list, circulate it to the BOD for comments and ranking, and run it by Max for a budget sanity check.

Thanks in advance – if history is any guide, we will have some great prizes.

— 
Tim – KN6FGH

Many thanks to Bert Henderson, W6MSD, for Wednesday’s excellent presentation on DIY off-center and end-fed wire antennas.

Here is a link to his excellent presentation in pdf format.

…Are available on our Photos Page

Our next WVARA meeting will be held in-person on Wednesday, November 13, in Meeting Room 3 at the Silicon Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross, 2731 N. First Street at Plumeria Drive (southwest corner) in San Jose.  Social time begins around 6:45pm, with the meeting commencing at 7pm.  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.  

This month’s presenter will be WVARA member Bert Henderson, W6MSD.   There are plenty of commercially-made HF antennas that you can buy.  But why not save some dollars and build your own?  Bert will talk about DIY wire antennas that you can make yourself with an emphasis on end-fed and off-center fed antennas.  He will present on the transformers and antennas he’s designed and made, some basics on how they work, a summary of other available info.  He will also bring some of his home-built hardware to show, as well as his nanoVNA to demonstrate a measurement or two.

Bert retired last year after a career developing microwave components and subsystems.  He’s an innovator with six patents and a leader in frequency conversion, signal generation, and control technologies.  His ham radio interests include antenna design, CW, and (of course) Field Day.

BTW, several of us meet nearby for dinner prior to the meeting at 5:30pm at Disn-N-Dash (2551 N. 1st St. San Jose):  https://dishdash.com. Feel free to join us.

Three things to remember:
• Since the west side entrance to the Red Cross Building is always locked, we recommend entering the Red Cross Building through the main entrance situated on the north side of the building.
• The Red Cross locks the main entrance at 7pm sharp, so please come early in order to get access to the building.  
• Since Meeting Room 3 is about 100 feet from any entrance, any late comers who knock on an outside door won’t be heard from our meeting room.  So please try to arrive early!  If you need help getting in the door, you can call Tim’s cellphone:  408-929-9311 or mine: 408-636-6172.

Jim, K6EI
WVARA Vice President