SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY SECTION Report for the month of February 2017

SM Dan Pruitt, AE6SX- ASMs K6YK and N2NS, ACC W6DPD, SEC KF6FIR, aSEC
WL7COO, OOC N1VM, STM K6RAU, PIC KJ6OUI, TC W6TE.

Welcome Spring;

I hope you moved your clocks forward! Just one of those necessities we
go through. Thanks for UTC, that always works, hi hi.

Time to fix up the antenna that has given you trouble all winter and
those that did not weather the storms at all. Fun but time consuming
and physical! For the more senior like me, it also means rounding up a
support group to assist at elevation.

Nice to have water again, some places too much. We’ve survived what
flooding there was. Now the grasses will be the next threat. Lush
growth means a lot of fuel for Fire Season. Let your DECs know of your
training and resources like mobile comm trailers and local Incident
Action Plans in place. These should be exchanged with counties next
door to you. Again, confide and inform your DECs.

On a personal note, I have been to Bakersfield and I will be traveling
to different areas in the section. Look for me on APRS for my location
and text message beginning April 1, 2017 (no fooling).

Looks like I’ll be here for a couple more years. I am also
encouraged as I’m receiving more news letters to post. The content
is varied from special events to dongles and everything in between.

Pay attention to the legislation and put your 2 cents in. ARRL also
has a survey for a new starting license. Your opinion matters!

AB1785 Petition to repeal or amend:
www.change.org/p/california-state-house-qualify-or-repeal-ab-1785-re-immersive-v-passive-devices?recruiter=1701
8523&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=share_email_responsive

Remember to support “The Amateur Radio Parity Act”. Go to the link
on the ARRL website http://www.arrl.org/amateur-radio-parity-act. We
have to continue the support for this legislation.

73;

Dan Pruitt, AE6SX

NEWS: From ARRL newsletters. Read complete articles from February to
now.
02/07/2017 | QCWA Invites ARRL Members, Family, and Friends to 70th
Anniversary Charity Cruise
02/07/2017 | Radio Australia Shortwave Station VL8A Signs Off in CW
02/08/2017 | Slow-Scan TV Transmissions from International Space
Station Planned
02/10/2017 | Visalia International DX Convention Top Band Dinner Set
02/14/2017 | Alaska’s HAARP Facility Once Again Open for Business
02/16/2017 | Field Day 2017 Packet is Now Available
02/16/2017 | FCC Invites Comments on ARRL Petition to Allocate New 5
MHz Band
02/22/2017 | MARS Refocuses Its Mission, Encrypts Data Nets
02/23/2017 | Youthful BY70-1 CubeSat Builders: We’ll be Back!
02/23/2017 | HAARP Goes Classical During New Experimental Campaign
02/24/2017 | Two Amateur Radio CubeSats Carrying Transponders Set for
Future NASA Launches
02/28/2017 | Nayif-1 Amateur Radio Satellite Transmits Message from
Dubai’s Ruler
03/01/2017 | RSGB Says Regulator Ofcom is Not Resolving Interference
Complaints
03/04/2017 | More Countries Authorize 5 MHz Bands; Comments Due on ARRL
5 MHz Petition by March 2
03/08/2017 | Combined National, IARU Region 2 ARDF Championships Set
for this Summer in Ohio
03/09/2017 | Radio Shack Again Files for Bankruptcy

North American QSO Party, RTTY – February Op: N2NS Class: Single Op
LP Operating Time (hrs): 5Total: 258 96 Total Score = 24,76 Comments:
Part time effort.
ARRL DX Contest, CW Operator: N2NS Class: SO Operating Time (hrs): 14
Total Score = 542,976 Comments: Missed most of both Fri and Sat
evenings. Fine 40m LP openings to EU both mornings around W6 s/r.
ARRL DX Contest, CW Operator: K6AAB SO Op time 12 hours
Total 12,229 Comments: TS-850s and MFJ 2289 antenna, N1MM logger.
CQ WW RTTY WPX Contest Operator: N2NS Class: SOAB Operating Time (hrs):
11
Total: 555 Prefixes = 341 Total Score = 419,430
Comments: Missed Friday night, obligation, Sat night, Sunday due to
flu. 10m seemed MIA whenever I checked. 15/20/40m in OK shape, though
less than spectacular.

Contests:

March 2017
+ RSGB 80m Club Championship, CW 2000Z-2130Z, Mar 15
+ BARTG HF RTTY Contest 0200Z, Mar 18 to 0200Z, Mar 20
+ Russian DX Contest 1200Z, Mar 18 to 1200Z, Mar 19
+ Virginia QSO Party 1400Z, Mar 18 to 0200Z, Mar 19 and
1200Z-2400Z, Mar 19
+ Louisiana QSO Party 1400Z, Mar 18 to 0200Z, Mar 19
+ AGCW VHF/UHF Contest 1400Z-1700Z, Mar 18 (144) and
1700Z-1800Z, Mar 18 (432)
+ UBA Spring Contest, SSB 0700Z-1100Z, Mar 19
+ Run for the Bacon QRP Contest 0200Z-0400Z, Mar 20
+ Bucharest Contest 1800Z-2059Z, Mar 20
+ CLARA Chatter Party 1700Z, Mar 21 to 1700Z, Mar 22 and
00Z, Mar 25 to 1700Z, Mar 26
+ Phone Fray 0230Z-0300Z, Mar 22
300Z-0400Z, Mar 23
+ RSGB 80m Club Championship, SSB 2000Z-2130Z, Mar 23
+ FOC QSO Party 0000Z-2359Z, Mar 25
+ CQ WW WPX Contest, SSB 0000Z, Mar 25 to 2359Z, Mar 26
+ UBA Spring Contest, 6m 0600Z-1000Z, Mar 26
+ QRP Fox Hunt 0100Z-0230Z, Mar 29
+ Phone Fray 0230Z-0300Z, Mar 29
+ UKEICC 80m Contest 2000Z-2100Z, Mar 29

April 2017
+ 15-Meter SSTV Dash Contest 0000Z, Apr 1 to 2359Z, Apr 2
+ LZ Open 40m Sprint Contest 0400Z-0800Z, Apr 1
+ Missouri QSO Party 1400Z, Apr 1 to 0400Z, Apr 2 and
1400Z-2000Z, Apr 2
+ Mississippi QSO Party 1400Z, Apr 1 to 0200Z, Apr 2
+ SP DX Contest 1500Z, Apr 1 to 1500Z, Apr 2
+ EA RTTY Contest 1600Z, Apr 1 to 1600Z, Apr 2
+ North American SSB Sprint Contest 0000Z-0400Z, Apr 2
+ RSGB RoLo SSB 1900Z-2030Z, Apr 2
+ RSGB 80m Club Championship, CW 1900Z-2030Z, Apr 3
+ ARS Spartan Sprint 0100Z-0300Z, Apr 4
+ UKEICC 80m Contest 2000Z-2100Z, Apr 5
+ SARL 80m QSO Party 1700Z-2000Z, Apr 6
+ NRAU 10m Activity Contest 1700Z-1800Z, Apr 6 (CW) and
1800Z-1900Z, Apr 6 (SSB) and
1900Z-2000Z, Apr 6 (FM) and
2000Z-2100Z, Apr 6 (Dig)
+ NCCC RTTY Sprint 0145Z-0215Z, Apr 7
+ NCCC Sprint 0230Z-0300Z, Apr 7
+ JIDX CW Contest 0700Z, Apr 8 to 1300Z, Apr 9
+ PODXS 070 Club PSK 31 Flavors Contest 1000Z, Apr 8 to 0400Z, Apr 9
+ OK/OM DX Contest, SSB 1200Z, Apr 8 to 1200Z, Apr 9
+ QRP ARCI Spring QSO Party 1200Z, Apr 9 to 2359Z, Apr 10
+ SKCC Weekend Sprintathon 1200Z, Apr 8 to 2400Z, Apr 9
+ Texas State Parks on the Air 1400Z, Apr 8 to 0200Z, Apr 9 and
1400Z-2000Z, Apr 9
+ New Mexico QSO Party 1400Z, Apr 8 to 0200Z, Apr 9
+ Georgia QSO Party 1800Z, Apr 8 to 0359Z, Apr 9 and
1400Z-2359Z, Apr 9
+ Yuri Gagarin International DX Contest 2100Z, Apr 8 to 2100Z, Apr 9
+ International Vintage Contest HF 1300Z-1900Z, Apr 9
+ Hungarian Straight Key Contest 1500Z-1700Z, Apr 9
+ 4 States QRP Group Second Sunday Sprint 0000Z-0200Z, Apr 10
The following Amateur became Silent Key since the last report:
Glen AF6CY, Marcell, K6YTK and Shirley AA6K.
.
They will be missed.

Traffic for February 2016:
ORS: WS6P 1860, K6RAU 15 Total 1875
PSHR: WS6P 140, K6RAU 72

Mark your Calendars:
03/18/2017 | Hamfest 2017
Location: Loomis, CA
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Sponsor: Sierra Foothills Amateur Radio Club
Website: http://w6ek.org

03/31/2017 | Nevada State Convention (NVCON)
Location: Las Vegas, NV
Type: ARRL Convention
Sponsor: Las Vegas Radio Amateur Club
Website: http://www.nvcon.org

04/21/2017 | International DX Convention 2017
Location: Visalia, CA
Type: ARRL Convention pending Executive Committee approval
Sponsor: Northern California DX Club, Central AZ DXA, Utah DXA
Website: http://www.dxconvention.com/
04/29/2017 | Valley of the Moon ARC Annual Hamfest
Location: Sonoma, CA
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Sponsor: Valley of the Moon ARC
Website: http://VOMARC.ORG

05/12/2017 | Reno/Tahoe Hamfest
Location: Reno, NV
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Sponsor: Sierra Nevada Amateur Radio Society
Website: http://renotahoehamfest.com

06/02/2017 | Northwestern Division Convention (SEA-PAC)
Location: Seaside, OR
Type: ARRL Convention
Sponsor: Oregon Tualatin Valley ARC
Website: http://www.seapac.org

09/16/2017 | WPARC’s 11th Annual Hamfest
Location: Lincoln, CA
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Sponsor: Western Placer Amateur Radio Club
Website: http://www.wparc.us

10/27-28/2017 Microwave Update (fondly abbreviated as MUD) is the
premier microwave amateur radio conference. This year it is being
hosted by the 50 MHz and Up Group of Northern California
(www.50mhzandup.org <http://www.50mhzandup.org> ).

MUD 2017 will be the last weekend of October (10/26 gathering day,
10/27-28 presentations/dinner/etc, 10/29 morning flea market and
farewells) at the Santa Clara Biltmore (Santa Clara, CA, near US 101 &
Montague Expy), the same place as MUD 2012.

It’s not too think about writing up your winter microwave projects …
we will be issuing a call for paper and presentations.

We haven’t set up the www.microwaveupdate.org site for 2107 yet …
coming soon.

10/27-29/2017 AMSAT-NA Space Symposium and annual member meeting will
be October 27-29, 2017, in Reno NV. More information will be posted on
the AMSAT-NA web page as it becomes available.

Need to take an Amateur exam? Are you having an exam? Check the ARRL
web page, www.arrl.org/arrlvec/examsearch.phtml for exam information.
You can also search for Amateur Radio Classes in your area and register
your exam. Instructors can also register classes there.
Card Checking in the Section: You can get cards checked for awards
within the section. W6XK, K6ZZ, and W6DPD can check your cards for DXCC
in accordance with the rules for field checking. DXCC card checkers may
now check cards dated from Nov 15, 1945, including Deleted DXCC
Entities. K6ZZ can now check 160 Meter Cards. DXCC card checkers may,
at their discretion, check cards for WAS, WAC, and VUCC. W6DPD and K6ZZ
can check cards for the CQ Awards, WAZ, DX, Field, and Prefixes. The
card checkers may also check applications for the IARU Region 2 Award.
ARRL Special Service Clubs may appoint a HF awards manager for WAS and
a VHF Awards Manager for VUCC.

The Webinar by Hank Garretson, W6SX, has been posted to the WWROF
webpage (www.wwrof.org) under the Webinars link.
Hanks presentation will be of particular interest to “Little Pistols”
and those who are space limited. It’s worth checking out!

Hank added a link to the elevation plot which can be viewed at
http://www.heywhatsthat.com/
Also the Ladder Snaps in the presentation can be found at
http://www.73cnc.com/product_p/ls100.htm You can e-mail Hank at
w6sx@arrl.net for additional details.
The K6RAU (our Traffic Manager) Morse Code Instruction Course is
available at www.pdarrl.org/K6RAU or www.pdarrl.org/k6rau.
No need to know a “dit” from a “dah”, simply with paper and pencil, and
following the instructions.

San Joaquin Valley Nets:
The Noontime net meets on 7.268.5 MHz. This net handles a lot of
messages.
Daytime Region 6 Traffic Net meets daily at 3:30 pacific time on or
near 7.275 MHZ. This one is probable not in operation at this time.
The California Traffic Net meets daily on 3.906 MHZ and 6:00 PM local
time.
The Golden Bear Amateur Radio Net meets nightly at 7:00 PM local time
on 3.975 MHZ.
Northern California Net (NCN), the Section Traffic Net, meets nightly
on 3.533 MHZ at 7 PM Pacific Time.
San Joaquin Net meets Monday-Saturday on 3918khz, at 6 PM Pacific
Time.
Western Public Service System (WPSS) meets nightly on 3952khz, roll –
at 7:30 PM local Pacific Time.
The Mission Trail Net meets nightly on 3.856 MHZ at 8:00 PM local
time.
Northern California Net 2 (NCN2) The slow speed training session of
NCN, meets nightly on 3.533 MHZ at 9 PM Pacific Time. Handling traffic
on CW is a good way to improve your CW skills.

CWops Tests are held weekly – Every Wednesday at 1300Z, 1900Z, and
0300Z (Thursday). Info and rules at http://www.cwops.org/cwt.html .

——————————————————————–
ARRL San Joaquin Valley Section
Section Manager: Dan Pruitt, AE6SX
ae6sx@arrl.org
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