All posts by wvara

Activity, Meeting

To CQ or not to CQ…that is the question.

This particular question will be answered by our very own Bill Fehring, who will take us through space weather and how it affects terrestrial propagation. In the end, the question we all consider when turning on a rig is “How will the bands be today?” Bill will take us through some online resources that work to predict band performance based not on beacon networks, but on the solar activity of our little corner of the universe. He will help us understand how to interpret the data they present in order to answer that question, what metrics are used, and hopefully allow us some better experiences during this low period of sunspot activity.
As well, this Wednesday evening will be your chance to participate in some home grown democracy while you vote for next year’s WVARA officers.
73,
K0XI
Activity, News, QSO

Mission 29, October 21, 2017

QST QST QST

Mission 29 is scheduled to take place October 21, 2017 in Conjunction with PACIFICON, ARRL’s Pacific Division Convention.  Make a contact with a skydiver and receive a one of a kind QSL card.
The mission will take place at Bay Area Skydiving in Byron, CA.  http://bayareaskydiving.com/.  Come on by and visit us.
If you are attending PACIFICON come by our table and say hi.
We hope to have our first jump soon after 10:00 A.M.
FM QSO: 146.430 MHz
HF QSO: 14.250 MHz
D-Star: TBD
APRS: Track the individual skydivers by call sign; AF6IM, KC6TYD, W7BIG
Streaming video: Several point of views will be available including air-to-ground. Log into: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/mfwright
Parachute Mobile will be acting as Net Control atop Mt Diablo. ETJs (estimated time of jump) will be announced periodically as will as other mission specific information. Updates will also be made on the W6CX repeater at 147.060 +100. Not in repeater range? No problem. Updates will be made here on the website and on our Facebook page.
We make every effort to record your QSO. To ensure that you receive your QSL card please email KC6TYD@gmail.com indicating which jumper, the jump number, and the time you made your contact.
For updates go to parachutemobile.org.
As always, we do not have control over Drop Zone, aircraft, and the weather, so this event is subject to delay or cancellation.
Bill Frantz

News

Club Elections at November 8th Meeting

Elections for West Valley Amateur Radio Association officers and directors are coming up at the November meeting. We are soliciting nominations for:

President
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
Board members (3 to be elected)

Please let any officer of board member know if you are interested in running for a position, or have a nomination for someone else. Please make sure that anyone you nominate is willing to serve.

Activity, News

Electronics Flea Market @ De Anza College

Our next Electronics Flea Market is scheduled for September 9, 2017. This event is on rain or shine.

Note to buyers that the daily parking permit fee is $3. The seller/vendor fee is $30. Please bring correct change to speed your entry into the market.

ASVARO and the Electronics Flea Market are now on Facebook. Check it out our FB Page and give us a “like”.

Contests, QSO

California QSO Party 2017: New Club Competition Rules

From: John Miller
Date: Fri, Aug 18, 2017 at 1:27 PM
Subject: California QSO Party 2017: New Club Competition Rules
To: support@cqp.org

Dear Contest Club Official:

Club Competition in the California QSO Party has been supported for many years, but traditionally only a handful of larger clubs in California tend to compete each year.   To encourage more small-medium club participation for 2017, we’ve created three new competition categories:

  1. “Small” = the 10 highest scores from a club whose members who submitted their log in the Small category will count for this competition category.
  2. “Medium” = the 35 highest scores from a club whose members who submitted their log in the Medium category will count for this competition category.
  3. “Large” = clubs may combine the scores of any number of their members

All CA clubs are eligible to compete in CQP, except for NCCC, which sponsors the contest.

Plaques will be awarded for each of the 3 categories for both California and Non-California clubs:  a total of 6 awards.

Further details can be found on the CQP website:

http://www.cqp.org/Clubcomp.html

Date-Time Reminder:  1600 UTC October 7, 2017 to 2200 UTC October 8, 2017

We hope to see many members of your club on the air this October in the 52nd running of the California QSO Party!

73, John, K6MM CQP Chair

News

A message from ARRL President Rick Roderick K5UR

August 8, 2017

Dear ARRL Member:

Based on feedback I’ve received, it seems to me that some members still don’t fully understand certain features of the Amateur Radio Parity Act (ARPA) and what it is meant to do. To make things clearer, we have developed an FAQ in the format of questions and answers. Please take a few minutes and read the FAQ to learn more about the ARPA.

Here is the direct link:
http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Regulatory/The%20Amateur%20Radio%20Parity%20Act%20FAQ.pdf

Here is another link with additional information:
http://www.arrl.org/amateur-radio-parity-act

Thanks to those of you who have written your Senators in support of the ARPA. If you have not done so, please do so by clicking on the link below. It only takes a minute.

https://arrl.rallycongress.net/ctas/urge-us-senate-to-support-amateur-radio-parity-act

Thanks. Let’s keep the effort moving!

73, Rick – K5UR
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Rick Roderick, K5UR
President
ARRL – The national association for Amateur Radio®

Field Day, Photos

Field Day 2017 Photos

IMGP9351 Turkeys visit
IMGP9338 N6FFC waiting in GOTA
IMGP9331 AD6RY
IMGP9328 GOTA w-N6FFC
IMGP9323 Bobby chases a satallite
IMGP9310 Fading sunset
IMGP9302 Sunset over camp
IMGP9296 N6GD
IMGP9293 Sunset over the peninsula
IMGP9285 Sunset sky
IMGP9282 Tower at sunset
IMGP9280 VHF & CW tents in setting sunlight
IMGP9272 Digital station
IMGP9271 BBQ Dinner
IMGP9266 KJ6WH & N6FFC
IMGP9263 W6PI
IMGP9260 CW Operator
IMGP9259 Nick KZ2V
IMGP9257 W1UE
IMGP9255 GOTA tent crowd Rebecca, Chuck (AD6CL), Elizabeth, Rachel, and Peter (K6UCK) Kamas
IMGP9254 CW, Digital & GOTA tents
IMGP9257 W1UE
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For a larger view visit our Photo Page.

Meeting, SVECS

SVECS Quarterly Breakfast – July 22nd

This coming Saturday (22) is the SVECS’s Quarterly Breakfast at the Santa Clara Senior Center at 9 a.m.

Besides the best $5 breakfast in town and a raffle prize of a $125 gift certificate from Ham Radio Outlet, the presentation will be on radio direction finding (RDF) with displays and demonstrations.

http://www.svecs.net/

Check their web page and scroll down to the quarterly breakfast for all of the details.