Category Archives: News

September 13 Meeting

Don’t forget about our meeting this month. The Field Day high has worn off, and it’s time to get back to our rigs. This month, we have two speakers. We’ll also meet at Dish-n-Dash at 6pm on 1st and Trimble.

George Williams will talk to us about the NCDXC Elmer project (http://www.ncdxc.org/pages/elmer.html), what it is, and how it could help (or be helped) by each of you. With the new faces that have joined in recently, we should be reminded to take the time to give back to the hobby some of what we have gotten out of it.

Victor Bubbett will talk to us about how Coe State Park uses amateur radio for some of their activities. You may recall Steve Stearns’ talk on VHF propagation and the use of Radio Mobile for link planning. The example he was using was his planning for a Coe State Park event. Victor is a uniformed volunteer for the park, and pretty much drives all the amateur radio events, including the Backpackers Weekend, Hunting Hollow Run Run, and others. He enlists the aid of people like Steve to make these events successful, organizes them, and makes sure the event has good communications in areas that don’t normally have it.

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”.

Reminder – Saturday August 19th is our Picnic

When:  11am – 2pm, Saturday, Aug 19
Where:  Sunnyvale’s Baylands Park, Pickleweed Place
(When you get to Baylands Park, turn right after going through the main gate.)
 
For more information please see the Activities page at wvara.org.  If you haven’t seen our updated website, check it out!  Larry KG6ENF and others have done an awesome job remodeling it!
 
BBQ information will also be included in the Heterodyne newsletter, to be posted soon.
73, Phil W6PK

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®

MUD 2017 October 26-29

Microwave Update 2017 will be held on October 26-29, 2017 in sunny Santa Clara, California. The MUD conference is dedicated to microwave equipment design, construction, and operation. It is focused on, but not limited to, amateur radio on the microwave bands. The 50 MHz and Up Group of Northern California is pleased to host this year’s event.

For more information, please check out the MUD 2017 webpage at www.microwaveupdate.org .

Please forward this announcement to any other mail lists and clubs that you may belong to.

WVARA Annual BBQ

When:  11am – 2pm, Saturday, Aug 19

Where:  Sunnyvale’s Baylands Park, Pickleweed Place
 (When you get to Baylands Park, turn right after going through the main gate.)

Sunnyvale Baylands Park Map
Sunnyvale Baylands Park Map
There won’t be an evening WVARA meeting in July or August. Instead, we are having our annual WVARA BBQ.  Our location (see map below, the reservation is under “WVARA”) 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 — please bring your own meat to grill.

Our BBQ coincides with the SSB portion of the North American QSO Party (NAQP) which means this is an ideal opportunity for a really fun portable radio operation.    (NAQP Contest rules are at: http://www.ncjweb.com/NAQP-Rules.pdf).
– Jim, K6EI

Great job, team!

It’s interesting comparing WVARA’s band results from 2014 through 2017.   The sunspots may have clearly taken their toll, but we’ve made impressive improvements over the years on 40 and 80 meters — and 2 meters also.

QSO Totals

2014

2015

2016

2017

80

120

206

262

307

40

545

529

636

700

20

755

862

790

629

15

610

597

175

198

10

2

24

3

2

6

27

29

33

26

2

23

37

65

66

Oh Great WVARA FD Team,

While in the middle of FD, I know there was much talk about “dead bands” and such, but it seems that was all talk. I will be submitting our score shortly, and the ARRL may have some QSO matching to do, but according to N1MM+ and a pile of XLS time, our final score was 19,250. This would be a second place score in the 2016 event, and time will tell if we achieved our goal of a 13A record. In any case, here are the highlights:

80m SSB / CW / Digi: 120 / 174 / 13 QSOs
40m SSB / CW / Dig: 173 / 444 / 83
20m SSB / CW / Dig: 119 / 420 / 90
15m SSB / CW / Dig: 70 / 126 / 2
10m SSB / CW / Dig: 2 / 0 / 0
VHF SSB+FM / CW / Digi: 134 / 4 / 0

…for a total QSO count of 1971 (after several dups were removed). I then tallied up 1 pt  per SSB/FM contact and 2 pts/QSO for CW and Digi to get a base QSO score of 16,650 (which includes the GOTA QSOs). Adding in 2600 bonus points (emergency power, public location, satellite, etc) got us up to our 19,250 grand total score. I will crunch up some charts showing QSO rates and qtys by hour, but this is what they will all add up to.

I must thank each and every one of you for the dedication and effort you each put forth through this event. It never ceases to amaze me how much A Game each of you brings. Tower trailers, networks, radios, tents, antennas galore, intense operating skills, and all the glue in between. Quite a lot happens to make this one day event successful. Little things like falling masts, dead batteries, and no sleep just don’t slow any of you down.

Thank you,
B-