Monthly Archives: September 2025

News

WVARA’s 2025 Beach Party POTA

WVARA’s 2025 Beach Party POTA will be Saturday, September 20, from 9:30 am to about 3:30 pm.

Manresa Main State Beach, day use picnic area

POTA: US-3469

1445 San Andreas Rd, Watsonville 95076 (Admission fee of $10 or CA state park pass needed)

The West Valley Amateur Radio Association (WVARA) is having a Beach Party POTA!  It is a chance to get outside, have fun and play radio with old and new friends. We always welcome and enjoy seeing members and non-members, meeting new hams, and showing off and explaining our hobby with interested non-hams.

If you’re recently licensed, stop by and make some new friends. Perhaps you can get a little help with a cantankerous HT, some antenna advice, or check out different gear and operating modes.

If you don’t have a license and are interested in what amateur radio is about, come by and ask questions, see some of what we do and try getting on the air.

If you are a ham and interested in POTA (Parks on the Air), but not sure about what to do or not yet registered, we can help you with that. It is easy, fun and free!

Bring any gear you’d like to operate. We’ll likely all be QRP, but higher power is fine if you want: just bring your own power and antenna. We’ll work out interference if needed.

We’ll have QRP-sufficient 12 volt power, and power distribution strips with PowerPoles. Bring your own PowerPole-equipped power cables. 

If you have antennas you want to try, bring them. We’ll have two or three push-up fiberglass masts to use. If your antennas need support beyond a push-up, you’ll need to bring that too.

To add some excitement, we’ll have a drawing for some nice door prizes! Just pick up a drawing ticket from Tim or Clay when you arrive.

Day of the event we’ll monitor 146.52 (2M call) and 446.00 (440 call).

Any questions?  Contact Tim KN6FGH (tim.stehle@gmail.com) or Clay N5YJZ (claycoug@gmail.com).

Meeting

WVARA Meeting: Wednesday, September 10

Our next WVARA meeting will be this Wednesday, September 10, 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.   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.   

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

At this month’s meeting, Dave Brown (WR6Z) will give a presentation on How to Get On 900 MHz. 

The 902-928MHz amateur band poses some interesting obstacles to get on the air and operate as there are no amateur specific radios commonly available.  This makes the band ideal for the ham radio DIY experimenter to get on the air and is not expensive to do so.  This presentation will cover the origins of the 900MHz ham band, how to obtain and modify equipment to get on the air and where to operate.

A Bay Area native, Dave Brown was first licensed in 1977 as WD6EBC and later upgraded to the extra class, changing call signs to WR6Z.  Being active in the hobby since he was first licensed, he enjoys working on radio equipment, operating portable on HF, VHF and UHF as well as owning and maintaining a 900MHz repeater located on Loma Prieta that is open for all amateurs to use. A graduate from Cal Poly, SLO in Electronic Engineering, he has worked in the field for over 35 years specializing in RF, mixed signal and power management systems.  He is an active WVARA member and is currently working in R&D application engineering focused on semiconductor products for mobile platforms at Kinetic Technologies, Inc.

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.  

• We will be in Meeting Room 3 — about 100 feet from any entrance.  As a result, late comers who knock on an outside door won’t be heard from our meeting room.  If you need help getting in the door, you can call my cellphone (408-636-6172) or Tim’s (408-929-9311).
See you there!

Jim, K6EI
WVARA Vice President

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