There won’t be an evening WVARA meeting in July or August. Instead, we are having our annual WVARA BBQ on Saturday, August 10 from 11am to 2pm.
Our location (Owl Burrow Picnic Area, next to our traditional Pickleweed site) is inside Sunnyvale’s Baylands Park and includes multiple tables, grill, an AC outlet, and a covered awning for shade. There is an entry fee per car at Baylands Park, so you may prefer to carpool. We’ll have hot charcoal and condiments; feel free to bring some protein to grill.
Field Day: what an event it was! This year we operated QRP in the 12A Battery category from Mora Hill in Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve, overlooking the Silicon Valley from an elevation of 500 feet. We had a Get-On-The-Air (GOTA) station, three HF CW stations, three HF SSB stations, three HF digital stations, and five VHF/UHF stations including one with satellite link capabilities.
Our Field Day score in 2022 and 2023 had placed us at #2 out of roughly 4,000 entries nationwide — second only to W3AO on the East Coast. This year, we were in a good position to beat our previous QSO totals. But NOAA observed a M9-class solar flare (peaking at 1301z Sunday morning) which triggered a R2-moderate radio black-out. The sudden drop-off in signals caused some of our site’s operators to wonder if their rigs/antennas were still working properly. Needless to say, we came in a bit below last year’s QSO totals, but still with impressive results: 2,426 contacts and a preliminary total score of 23,690
Antennas on Mora Hill this year included a 4-band (10/15/20/40) yagi, a 2-element wire yagi on 40, and 2-element quads on 10, 15 and 20. In order to minimize interference between the CW and digital stations, Bobby located the digital tent’s triband yagi and dipoles about 200 feet from the rest of the site. The digital team was able to avoid long runs of coax by installing the digital RF hardware for both of their stations in the van and then running 200 feet of Cat5 Ethernet cable to the main site where the digital tent and terminals were located.
The mighty 2024 WVARA Field Day CrewGOTA StationThe CW TentTwilight on Mora HillVHF-UHF Tent and antennasDigital Station VAN, Antennas and Solar Panel Trailer CW Quad AntennasSSB Tower and 10m, 15m, 20m, 40mYagi, and 80m dipole
Our next WVARA meeting will be held in-person on Wednesday, June 12, 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 meeting will be a double-header.
Ed Fong, WB6IQN, will tell us about the latest original idea in ham radio — the ultra compact, all-mode portable HF transceiver: the uSDX+ .
After Ed’s presentation, we’ll finalize our WVARA’s plans for Field Day on Mora Hill, which in case you haven’t heard is June 21-23. If you haven’t done so already, feel free to fill out our on-line participant survey so that we can include you in our Field Day plans. Here’s the URL: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NB28TGZ
>>>>>>>>>
Here are some details about Ed’s presentation:
The uSDX+ is a software-defined transceiver based on the Silabs synthesizer chip and the Atmel ATMEGA 328P FPGA. The entire radio including the 4000mAh Lion battery is only 1 lb 2 oz. The radio can operate all weekend with a single charge.
General coverage receiver – 3.5MHz- 30 MHz
Transmits on 80-10 meters including all WARC bands
Built-in CW decoder, keyer, all DSP filter from 4KHz to 50 Hz, DSP noise reduction
Output – 5 watts for CW – for SSB slightly under 10 watts.
This rig uses a Class S is a switching amplifier, so although efficient, it cannot be directly used as a SSB output stage which historically requires a less efficient linear amplifier. So how do they achieve linear SSB amplification from a switching amplifier and achieve 80%+ efficiency? The key is in the 800 kHz sigma delta modulator. Ed’s presentation will focus on this clever approach to generating SSB.
Ed Fong was first licensed in 1968 as WN6IQN. He later upgraded to Extra Class (when 20 WPM was required ) with his present call of WB6IQN. He obtained the BSEE and MSEE degrees from the Univ. of California at Berkeley and his Ph.D. from the Univ. of San Francisco. A Life Senior Member of the IEEE, he has 12 patents and over 40 published papers and books in the area of communications and integrated circuit design. Presently, he is employed by the University of California, Santa Cruz (previously with Berkeley from 1997-2010) as an instructor teaching graduate classes in Antenna Design, RF design and high speed interface. In his 35 year career, he has done work for Stanford University, National Semiconductor, Advanced Micro Devices, numerous startup companies in the Silicon Valley.
>>>>>>
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 7pmsharp, 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 my cellphone: 408-636-6172.
Our next WVARA meeting will be held in-person on Wednesday, May 8, 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 meeting will be a double-header. Mark Aaker, K6UFO, will bring us up to speed on how to be more effective at FT8 contesting. FT8 is the most popular mode for daily operation and DX chasing, and this popularity is now spilling into contesting. While entering a fast-paced SSB or CW contest can be intimidating, FT8 cycles reduce the frantic pace and are great for the contest newcomer. And learning to contest in FT8 can gain you DX, improve your daily FT8 skills, and develop skips that will help you in other contests. After Mark’s presentation, I will review the status of WVARA’s plans for Field Day, which is June 21-23. We’ll be on Mora Hill and having a blast as usual.
BTW, several of us meet nearbyfor 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 my cellphone: 408-636-6172.
In preparation for Field Day, we are going to have our annual antenna party on Saturday, May 11, at 9:30am in the parking lot of Pinecone Lumber — 895 E Evelyn Ave in Sunnyvale — https://goo.gl/maps/zmXCCxp7tRNsTp1b7
This is our opportunity to assemble and test our HF yagi on its tower, Hope to see you there!
May thanks to all of you who took time this weekend to help make WVARA’s Electronics Flea Market a major success. We couldn’t have done it without you!
Because of Valentine’s Day, WVARA’s February meeting will be held a week early on Wednesday, February 7. As usual we will be 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 beginning 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.
At this month’s meeting Dr Richard G Ranson, G3ZTB, will speak on the care and feeding of your nanoVNA. The advent of devices like the NanoVNA brings new measurement capabilities within the budget of amateur radio enthusiasts. This talk focuses on a non-mathematical understanding of calibration and the practical aspects of making measurements, tips on how to improve them and getting the most out of your device. The nanoVNA is much more than an antenna analyser and a valuable addition to any shack.
Dr Ranson has been a licensed radio amateur since being a schoolboy. It led him to a BSc and Phd in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Leeds, and over 40 years in the RF and microwave electronics industry in the UK and USA. He has specialised in various types of receiver system, but never lost interest in the technical challenges of HF radio. His current interests are on high dynamic range SDR radios and the Raspberry Pi computing platform. He is a life fellow of the IEEE and a retired fellow of the IET in the UK.
Please note: • 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 my cellphone: 408-636-6172. • The meeting will be in-person only and not streamed via Zoom.
By the way, several of us meet nearby for dinner prior to the meeting at 5:30pm at Dish-N-Dash (2551 N. 1st St. San Jose): https://dishdash.com . Feel free to join us.
Parks-On-The-Air (POTA) is a great opportunity for hams who enjoy the outdoors to activate portable operations from local, state, and national parks. POTA also promotes the role of amateur radio in emergency awareness and is a great excuse to get on the air from scenic locations. At this month’s meeting, Clay Couger (N5YJZ) will bring us up to speed on how to get involved with Parks-On-The-Air. And Scott Nacey (KK6IK) will pass along some lessons learned from his recent POTA activations.
This month’s WVARA meeting will be held in-person on Wednesday, January 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. Social time begins around 6:45pm with the meeting beginning 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.
Please note: • 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 my cellphone: 408-636-6172. • The meeting will be in-person only and not streamed via Zoom.
By the way, several of us meet nearby for dinner prior to the meeting at 5:30pm at Dish-N-Dash (2551 N. 1st St. San Jose): https://dishdash.com . Feel free to join us.
There won’t be an evening WVARA meeting in December. Instead, we are having a Holiday BBQ. We’ll have hot charcoal and condiments — please bring your own meat to grill, and maybe a desert or side dish to share.
And of course, the WVARA tradition of drawings for Holiday Door Prizes is good to go. Santa Claus is making arrangements for some great prizes. So be there or be square!
– Jim, K6EI
When: 11am – 1pm, Saturday, Dec 16
Where: Silicon Valley Red Cross Building Patio on the east-facing side of the facility. We can shift indoors to Room 3 if it rains. The Red Cross building is at 2731 N. First Street at Plumeria Drive (southwest corner) in San Jose.
