It’s not to late to add your name to the list of folks getting the new WVARA mug to be produced locally by WVARA club member Brian Goldberg, KG6BKI. We’ll be charging $12 per mug and will be giving Brian the final order list immediately after next month’s Holiday Party. So be sure to let me know if you would like a mug. (You can pay Peri, our club treasurer, when you pick up your mug at January’s meeting.)
Field Day results are here!
ARRL released the latest QST at their web site today. Among other things, it contains the results for Field Day 2017.
To say the least, “we did good”. Our score of 19350 in 13AB was the 4th highest score, just 410 points behind 3rd-place W4EZ (9AB).
W4IY (12A) scored 20930, still pretty close. First place was once again held by W3AO down to just 16A, at 39430, about twice our score!
(How do they do that every year???).
Interesting that W4EZ and ourselves were the only AB stations in the top 10. I guess the other guys need power to do the job.
Congrats to all, it not only was a fine effort under trying propagation conditions, but a very fun one as well. Especially thanks to Bobbie and Bill for their organization efforts! May this years Field Day be even more fun, and please someone arrange for some sunspots for that weekend.
73,
Jack, W6FB
To CQ or not to CQ…that is the question.
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
October 11 Meeting
CQ CQ! It’s time for another meeting. This Wednesday evening, in addition to the regular agenda of interesting items, we’ll have a brief discussion over our outings schedule, as well as the pros and cons of:
- CQP
- Oceania on the coast
- ARDF
- ARRL VHF
- 7QP
- and whatever else comes to mind
In an attempt to continue bringing ideas out from within the club, our “guest speaker” Bobby Barnett (K0XI) will talk about Amateur Radio Direction Finding (ARDF), who does it, why, and how contests are organized. The evening will end with an assembly project where everyone will get to make an ARDF yagi for 2m (http://theleggios.net/wb2hol/projects/rdf/tape_bm.htm). There will be enough parts for about 10 antennas, so work in teams. It should take about 30 minutes, and the only homework I’ll give is to solder the feedpoint and hairpin on at your leisure. See you there!
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.
Great to see our art on CNN’s front page!
Ham radio operators are saving Puerto Rico one transmission at a time: http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/27/us/puerto-rico-maria-ham-radio-operators-trnd/index.html
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”.
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:
- “Small” = the 10 highest scores from a club whose members who submitted their log in the Small category will count for this competition category.
- “Medium” = the 35 highest scores from a club whose members who submitted their log in the Medium category will count for this competition category.
- “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