Category Archives: Activity

Activity, Field Day

2023 Field Day Planning

In preparation for Field Day, we want to get an idea of who is likely to be around to assist with set-up, tear-down, and operating. If you are planning to participate at Mora Hill, please complete the following on-line survey.  We want to ensure that everyone who has a desire to operate gets an opportunity:   https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/7HWZMDB

This year’s Field Day operation (June 23-25) will once again be at the top of Mora Hill located in the San Antonio Open Space Reserve. We will likely be running HF/SSB, HF/CW, HF/Digital, as well as VHF/UHF stations at 5 watts output in the Battery category.   There will also be a Get On The Air (GOTA) station for rusty hams.  

We will operate for the entire 24-hour period (11am Saturday to 11am Sunday). This means we will need operators throughout the event. Your involvement is welcome during set-up, tear-down, and throughout the 24-hour on-the-air period! You can see a description of one of our previous Field Day operations at: http://www.arrl.org/soapbox/view/9899

Jim Peterson, K6EI

WVARA Field Day Coordinator

Activity, Meeting, News

January 11 WVARA Meeting

This month’s WVARA meeting will be held in-person at 7pm on Wednesday, January 11, 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.  

Two things to remember:

 1) The Red Cross locks the exterior doors at 7pm sharp, so please come a few minutes early in order to get access to the building.  

 2) We will be in Meeting Room 3 — about 100 feet from the side door.  As a result, late comers who knock on the side door won’t be heard from our meeting room.  If you are late and need access, you can call my cellphone (408 636-6172) and someone will come let you in.  But please try to arrive before 7pm to avoid this hassle.

To start the new year, we will have a presentation by Kaitlyn Handelman (KN6MAN) on Cybersecurity and Radios In Space.  Radio transmitters surround us on the ground, in the air, and increasingly in space. Space is the place for amateur radio, telecommunications, and scientific transmissions. Space is awesome, but what could happen if a bad actor decided to attack satellite systems? More importantly, what fun can good actors have exploring satellite transmissions?

Kaitlyn Handelman (KN6MAN) is an offensive security engineer at Amazon where she secures ground, air, and space-based hardware. Kaitlyn has previous experience securing air and space systems at NASA.

BTW, several of us meet for dinner prior to the meeting at 5:45pm nearby at Disn-N-Dash (2551 N. 1st St. San Jose):  https://dishdash.com  Some WVARA members also dine at Panera Bread a few miles further to the south at 503 Coleman Avenue at Autumn Parkway at the San Jose Market Center.  Feel free to drop by either location for dinner.

Although we will be meeting in person, Kaitlyn’s presentation will also be streamed via Zoom.  For Zoom log-on details contact Jim at k6ei at earthlink.net

.Jim, K6EI
WVARA Vice President

Activity, News

Radio Swap Meet This Sunday, June 19 in Santa Cruz

Greetings, All,
Please plan to join us this Sunday, June 19, for the monthly Swap Meet at the Santa Cruz County Club Repeater Station parking lot, 8am-2pm. 
Vendors bring own tables, tarps, shade canopy. No need to RSVP.

Tentative FOX HUNT at 10am.

Free admission. Free hot dogs and drinks. 
Take Morrissey Blvd. exit from Highway One, and follow signs to the DeLaveaga Golf Course and Shakespeare Santa Cruz.

Good clean fun! Please share this information with others you feel would be interested.

73,
Becky
KI6TKB

Activity, Field Day

WVARA is returning to Mora Hill for Field Day 2022

This year’s Field Day operation (June 24-26) will be at the top of Mora Hill located in the San Antonio Open Space Reserve. We will likely be running HF/SSB, HF/CW, HF/Digital, as well as VHF/UHF stations at 5 watts output in the Battery category.   There will also be a Get On The Air (GOTA) station for rusty hams.  As a COVID precaution, we will not be providing a GOTA coach this year, and will be encouraging social distancing at all our stations.

We will operate for the entire 24-hour period (11am Saturday to 11am Sunday). This means we will need operators throughout the event. Your involvement is welcome during set-up, tear-down, and throughout the 24-hour on-the-air period! You can see a description of our previous 2019 Mora Hill Field Day operation at: http://www.arrl.org/soapbox/view/9899

In preparation for Field Day, we want to get an idea of who is likely to be around to assist with set-up, tear-down, and operating. If you are planning to participate at Mora Hill, please complete the following on-line survey.  We want to ensure that everyone who has a desire to operate gets an opportunity:   https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/7HWZMDB

Jim Peterson, K6EI

WVARA Field Day Coordinator

Activity, Meeting, Meeting Speaker

April Membership Meeting

Our April 14 speaker will be Brian Tanner, AG6GX, who will talk about “The Art of Voice Communications: Techniques for Technician & HF-class licensees”.  Brian will cover voice operating practices, including how best to format and communicate information for accuracy and precision via phone nets.  While this presentation will be especially useful for newer hams, even old timers may learn something new.

Bio:  Brian started by getting his Tech license in 1995.  After several years of activity on the VHF and UHF bands, Brian upgraded and became radioactive on the HF bands in 2013.  He participates in the Cupertino ARES group (CARES) as well as the city ARES net Cupertino_Net.  Brian also enjoys tinkering with hardware and recently built a 100W HF solid state power amplifier. 

Activity, Meeting Speaker, Virtual Meeting

September Virtual Meeting

Meeting Topic:  WVARA and the California QSO Party (CQP) • WVARA’s history in CQP
• Five ways that WVARA members can have fun in CQP 2020
• Suggested WVARA game plan for CQP 2020 — which occurs the first weekend of October.  
Dean Wood (N6DE) works as a hardware design engineer for networking companies in Silicon Valley.  Dean’s involvement with WVARA spans two decades, with responsibilities including past WVARA President, Vice President, Secretary, Board Member, Field Day Coordinator, Flea Market helper, meeting presenter, and other things I’ve forgotten.  Dean’s involvement with CQP includes:

Participated in his first CQP in 1995 as a college student

Current member of CQP organizing team and CQP County Coordinator

Current holder of 15 CQP records: 12 county records and 3 overall CA records (Top CA S/O Expedition, Top CA S/O-Assisted Low Power, Top CA School)

Been on 14 county expeditions to 10 different counties

Long time active helper behind the scenes in CQP, including log checker, publicity coordinator and several other things

Time: Sept 9, 2020 19:00 PDT 

Join Zoom Meetinghttps://us02web.zoom.us/j/83252301029?pwd=cG0vNDZGS1J2NzJ1ZXZ2VUY2S1l4Zz09

Meeting ID: 832 5230 1029
Password: w6piy       

One tap mobile
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Or you can dial by your location
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Meeting ID: 832 5230 1029 (Dial-in audio password: 028366)

Activity, News

Annual bBQ Cancelled

I have been notified by Sunnyvale’s management that all city park reservations for the month of August have been cancelled due to Covid-19.  As a result, we will not be holding our annual BBQ in Sunnyvale’s Bayland Park on August 15. 

Jim Peterson

Activity, Meeting, News

May 13 Virtual Meeting

This month’s WVARA meeting will be held via Zoom at 7pm on Wednesday, May 13.  George Zafiropoulos (KJ6VU) will give a 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.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86292324465?pwd=Q3RxWGdaZnJ0S3hyM2hzcXJ6ZVN5Zz09
Meeting ID: 862 9232 4465
Password: 505589