Category Archives: News

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

News

WVARA Holiday BBQ

Ginger Bread Cookies

When:  11am – 1pm, Saturday, Dec 17

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.   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.  

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 a Holiday Raffle is good to go.   Santa Claus is making arrangements for some great door prizes — including a donated (used) Hex Beam for 6/10/12/15/17/20.   So be there or be square! 

 
– Jim, K6EI

Meeting, News

November Nov 9 Meeting: Elections & Winter Field Day

This month’s WVARA meeting will be held in-person at 7pm on Wednesday, November 9, 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.  We will be holding elections for next year’s club officers.  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.  

WVARA’s Winter Field Day Team: January 2022

In addition to holding elections, we will have a presentation by Steve Sergeant, KC6ZKT, regarding WVARA plans for Winter Field Day 2023.   Winter Field Day, to be held on January 28-29, is an emergency communications exercise focused on providing communications services in some of our area’s most challenging conditions.  You can learn more about WFD at [ https://www.winterfieldday.com/ ].

Steve Sergeant is a third-generation ham. Originally licensed Novice class in 1972, his licensed expired and later in 1991 he was granted KC6ZKT as a Technician, and has since upgraded to Extra. Steve has a long career in audio engineering for professional and later consumer audio system integration. He currently works at Dolby Laboratories as an Applications Engineer. Steve is on the boards of the WVARA and the Nature Sounds Society. He is also a volunteer backpacking instructor for the Sierra Club, and a Uniformed Volunteer for California State Parks.

Three 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 — not our traditional meeting room.  Room 3 is 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.
  • 3) The Red Cross policy is that everyone must wear a mask when entering the building, but that masks are optional once you are in a meeting room.  Please be considerate to others regarding COVID.

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, Steve’s presentation will also be streamed via Zoom.   Zoom instructions have been sent via WVARA reflector and can likewise be obtained by contacting K6EI — his email is available via QRZ.

Jim, K6EI
WVARA Vice President

Meeting, Meeting Speaker, News

September 14, WVARA Meeting

This month’s WVARA meeting will be held in-person at 7pm on Wednesday, Sept 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.   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 cover the California QSO Party.  This terrific event occurs each year during the first weekend in October when hams across the country (and the globe) try to contact all 58 California counties. 

Our primary speaker will be Dean Wood, N6DE, who will update us on plans for the California QSO Party.  Among other things, Dean will cover the various ways that WVARA members can have fun participating in this great contest.  

In addition to Dean’s presentation, we’ll also hear a few lessons-learned from WVARA members who in recent years have activated three rare counties during CQP.  Bobby (K0XI) ran an expedition to Lassen County in 2020.   Mark (W6IA) co-ran a M/M expedition to Glenn County in 2021.  And Jim (K6EI) and Tom (W6ESL) helped activate W6BO’s M/M station in Sutter County in 2021. 

By the way . . . although we will be meeting in person, Dean will be giving his presentation via Zoom.  So if you can’t make it to the Red Cross Building on Sept 14, feel free to join us via Zoom.  Zoom instructions have been sent via WVARA reflector and can likewise be obtained by contacting K6EI — his email is available via QRZ.

Several of us meet nearbyfor dinner prior to the meeting at 5:45pm at Dish-N-Dash (2551 N. 1st St. San Jose):  https://dishdash.com  Some WVARA members likewise 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.

When not contesting, Dean 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.

News

WVARA Annual BBQ Saturday August 13

When: 11am–12:30pm, Saturday, Aug 13

 Where: Sunnyvale’s Baylands Park, Pickleweed Place #1

There won’t be an evening WVARA meeting in August. Instead, we are having our annual WVARA BBQ. Our location (Pickleweed Place #1 inside Sunnyvale’s Baylands park”) includes multiple tables, grill, an AC outlet, and a covered awning for shade.  When you get to Baylands Park, turn right after going through the main gate.  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 and maybe a side dish to share.

This year, our BBQ doesn’t coincide with the SSB portion of the North American QSO Party (NAQP) which means that the serious contesters in our club don’t have to choose between attending our BBQ and racking up a big score in the contest.  But feel free to bring a rig and make some contacts if you’d like.  

– Jim, K6EI

News

Field Day 2022

 https://wvara.org/wordpress/field-day-2022/

In case you haven’t heard, this upcoming weekend is WVARA’s big event of the year — Field Day on Mora Hill. 

Field Day is a great opportunity to get outdoors, gain experience assembling equipment in the rough, and operate a station under challenging conditions.  This year we will operate QRP (5 watts max) in the 9A Battery category with phone, CW, and digital HF stations as well as satellite ground station, a Get-On-the-Air station for rusty hams, and a VHF/UHF station.  

Feel free to drop by and join the fun.   We’ll set up on Friday, and operations run from 11am Saturday until 11am Sunday.  For more details, refer to our webpage at  https://wvara.org/wordpress/field-day-2022/

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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