Happy New Year!  Our next WVARA meeting will be Wednesday, January 14, 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 starts around 6:40pm, with the meeting officially 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.   

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, WVARA member Jim DeLoach (WU0I) will share stories about his amazing Field Day operation last June from the side of a volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island.  He and his wife, Maggie, deployed a wire rhombic antenna supported by four 40′ telescoping fiberglass masts in a field about 2,000 feet above sea level that sloped gently towards the Pacific.  Wow!!!  No surprise: that rhombic totally rocked it.  In addition, they had about 30 guests show up — mostly CERT folks and their families.   

You won’t want to miss Jim’s talk.  I’m looking forward to hearing all the details.  

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!

Okay, this photo isn’t from Hawaii.  But here are Jim and Maggie feeding the WVARA Team during Winter Field Day 2024