News last updated:September 26, 2017
Welcome to the San Joaquin Valley Section.
Section Manager (SM) Dan Pruitt AE6SX
Assistant Section Managers (ASM) John Lee K6YK and Bob Hervatine N2NS
Affiliated Club Coordinator (ACC) Charles McConnell W6DPD
Section Emergency Coordinator (SEC) Edward Hanna KF6FIR
assistant Section Emergency Coordinator (aSEC) Daniel Sohn WL7COO
Official Observer Coordinator (OOC) Victor Magana N1VM,
Section Traffic Manager (STM) Fred Silveira K6RAU,
Public Information Coordinator (PIC) Greg Waters KJ6OUI
Technical Coordinator (TC) Dave Smith W6TE.
The San Joaquin Valley Section includes 12 counties in the central
valley of California, Kern, Tulare, Kings, Fresno, Madera, Mariposa,
Merced, Stanislaus, Tuolumne, Calaveras, San Joaquin, and Mono.
Thanks for visiting this page.
When your affiliated club elects officers for the next year, be sure to
update your club’s information on the affiliated club area of the ARRL
web page. If your club fails to update the information for 2 years, your
club will be placed in the inactive file. ARRL HQ and the Director use
this information on these reports to send information to your club. If
the information is not up to date, your club will miss out. Please
notify your Section Manager of your club’s election results,
ae6sx@arrl.org and the Affiliated Club Coordinator, w6dpd@arrl.org.
As space allows I will enjoy relaying any events or occurrences which
illustrate Amateur Radio as a hobby and public asset. It need not be a
newsletter, if you think it important, it probably should be here.
You should also send your newsletter to the Affiliated Club Coordinator
(w6dpd@arrl.org) and the Director (w6rgg@arrl.org) vice director
(k6jat@arrl.org) and to ARRL HQ (clubs@arrl.org).
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, WAS, 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 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.
Mark your Calendars:
10/07/2017 | San Diego Hamfest 2017
Location: Lakeside, CA
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Sponsor: Lakeside Amateur Radio Club
Website: http://www.lakesidearc.org/sdhamfest/sdhamfest.php
10/20/2017 | Pacific Division Convention (PACIFICON 2017)
Location: San Ramon, CA
Type: ARRL Convention
Sponsor: Mount Diablo Amateur Radio Club
Website: http://www.pacificon.org
10/26/2017 Microwave Update 2017
October 26-29, 2017
Biltmore Hotel, Santa Clara CA
http://www.microwabeupdate.org
10/27/2017 AMSAT Annual Meeting and Space Symposium
October 27-29. 2017, Location is Reno NV.
Check http://www.amsat.org for information
10/26/2017 Microwave Update
Location: Santa Clara CA
Type: ARRL Specialty Convention
Website: http.www.microwaveupdate.org
11/04/2017 San Joaquin Valley “Rally in the Valley”
Location: Salvation Army of Tulare
314 East San Joaquin Avenue
Tulare, CA 93274
Sponsor: Tulare County ARC & Porterville ARC
Talk-In: 146.880 minus (PL 103.2)
Public Contact: Hal Clover, AD9HC
Phone: 559-333-4528
Email: AD9HC@arrl.net
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY SECTION Report for the month of August 2017: SM
Dan Pruitt, AE6SX- ASMs K6YK and N2NS, ACC W6DPD, SEC KF6FIR, ASEC
WL7COO, OOC N1VM, STM K6RAU, PIC KJ6OUI, TC W6TE.
Hello San Joaquin Valley;
I find myself behind the 8-ball having to choose between my doctors and
the Ham Radio I love. Well you know I was forced to be at the doctors’
beck and call. Please forgive me for my tardy report.
Something’s to report. Emergency communications were utilized all
across the country. Out here we were hit with some big fires. Over the
last couple years we have had a lot of practice. Although it may not
have been purely ARES or RACES, Amateur Radio operators with other hats
were involved with VIP (Cal-Fire), RED Cross Volunteers and State
Cal-OES. ARES was on call for the most part in our area. We need to
train to support these organizations. There were other events. Flash
Floods were experienced here and into Texas and Mountain states. Then
just when we catch a breath, we are hit with Harvey through Marie and
the record devastation. First time ARRL asked for comm volunteers since
Katrina. Add the Mexican Earthquake and you see the International scope.
Look around you and think of the worst-case scenarios. Protect yourself
and family, and then train in the public service events in your local.
Your regional weather station will be training SKYWARN Spotters too.
Fun Stuff: Pacificon and JOTA are October 20 to the 22. It is time for
swapmeets and Rally in the Valley is November 4. The California QSO
party is October 7-8 and is always fun for us. Contests and DX, Ham
Radio is a great Hobby!
Remember to support “The Amateur Radio Parity Act”. Now in the
Senate
https://arrl.rallycongress.net/ctas/urge-us-senate-to-support-amateur-radio-parity-act
73;
Dan Pruitt, AE6SX
NEWS: From ARRL newsletters. Read complete articles from August to now.
08/08/2017 | First Bulgarian Amateur Radio CubeSat to Launch in 2018
08/09/2017 | Radio Amateurs in Atlantic Canada Go on Standby During
Telephone Outage
08/14/2017 | Youth DX Adventure Wraps Up
08/15/2017 | Radio Eritrea and Radio Ethiopia Still Battling on 40
Meters
08/17/2017 | Pirates on the Air!
08/17/2017 | Plane Crash Drill Turns to Major Fire Response
08/17/2017 | Revised NCVEC Form 605 Must Be Used at Starting on August
21
08/18/2017 | Cosmonauts Manually Deploy Three Nanosatellites with
Amateur Radio Payloads
08/19/2017 | Canada Proposes Implementing a 60-Meter Band While
Retaining Discrete Channels
08/19/2017 | Caribbean Emergency and Weather Net was Activated for
Tropical Storm Harvey
08/23/2017 | Get with the SET: ARRL Simulated Emergency Test (SET) Fall
Classic Just Ahead
08/24/2017 | Harvey Regains Strength, Hurricane Watch Net Plans to
Activate
08/24/2017 | Harvey Gains Hurricane Strength, Hurricane Watch and VoIP
WX Nets Activate
08/24/2017 | Southern Territory SATERN Net to Activate on Saturday,
August 26, for Hurricane Harvey
08/28/2017 | Top-Level Domain Name “.radio” Now Available
08/28/2017 | Texas Flood Zone ARES Volunteers Advised to Stay Home,
Family Safety Comes First
08/30/2017 | The 2018 ARRL Calendar is Now Shipping!
08/31/2017 | FCC Technological Advisory Council Investigating Technical
Regulations
08/31/2017 | Maritime Mobile Operation on LF May be a First for Amateur
Radio
09/01/2017 | Estonia, Kenya Join 60-Meter Club
09/04/2017 | Hurricane Watch Net to Activate for Hurricane Irma
09/05/2017 | FEMA Announces Regions that Could Activate on 60-Meters for
Hurricane Irma
09/06/2017 | New “Pre-Release” Version of WSJT-X Includes FT8
Changes
09/06/2017 | Hurricane Watch Net Now Watching Three Atlantic Basin
Hurricanes
09/08/2017 | Operating Procedures During Hurricane Irma
09/08/2017 | Hurricane Irma Amateur Radio Emergency and Priority Traffic
is Moving; Health & Welfare Traffic Queued For Later Delivery
09/12/2017 | Caribbean Emergency and Weather Net Requests Clear
Frequencies
09/12/2017 | Hurricane Irma Extensively Damages International Broadcast
Station in Florida
09/13/2017 | Help the Ham Aid Response Effort in Florida and the US
Virgin Islands
09/14/2017 | A Reminder for ARRL Volunteers
09/14/2017 | Not All “Intruders” on Ham Bands are Illegal — But a
Lot of Them Are
Contests:
October 2017
+ German Telegraphy Contest
0700Z-0959Z, Oct 3
+ SARL 80m QSO Party
1700Z-2000Z, Oct 5
+ SKCC Weekend Sprintathon
1200Z, Oct 7 to 2359Z, Oct 8
+ California QSO Party
1600Z, Oct 7 to 2159Z, Oct 8
+ 10-10 Int. 10-10 Day Sprint
0001Z-2359Z, Oct 10
+ Makrothen RTTY Contest
0000Z, Oct 14 to 1559Z, Oct 15
+ Oceania DX Contest, CW
0800Z, Oct 14 to 0800Z, Oct 15
+ Scandinavian Activity Contest, SSB
1200Z, Oct 14 to 1200Z, Oct 15
+ Arizona QSO Party
1600Z, Oct 14 to 2359Z, Oct 15
+ Pennsylvania QSO Party
1600Z, Oct 14 to 2200Z, Oct 15
+ FISTS Fall Unlimited Sprint
1700Z-2100Z, Oct 14
+ Asia-Pacific Fall Sprint, CW
0000Z-0200Z, Oct 15
+ 10-10 Int. Fall Contest, CW
0001Z, Oct 21 to 2359Z, Oct 22
+ New York QSO Party
1400Z, Oct 21 to 0200Z, Oct 22
+ Worked All Germany Contest
1500Z, Oct 21 to 1459Z, Oct 22
+ Illinois QSO Party
1700Z, Oct 22 to 0100Z, Oct 23
+ CQ Worldwide DX Contest, SSB
0000Z, Oct 28 to 2400Z, Oct 29
CLUBS
CLOVIS ARP ++ K6MTS QRP Portable SOTA Mt. Tom. Tour de Fresno bicycle
ride event. September 16. Bass Lake Double Century Oct 14. Club Gavel
Competition for the ARRL September VHF contest. CARP Board of Directors
Nominations 2017 Open during September. The October 6, 2017 CARP meeting
will be the annual SKYWARN Spotter Training Class. AB 1222 Heads to the
Governor’s Desk. Jeff Austin, 9Y4J, Emergency Coordinator Advisory
Group, IARU Region 2, Area E, reports that the Caribbean Emergency
Weather Net (CEWN), activated at 1030 UTC on 3.815 MHz. The net will use
3.815 and/or 7.188 MHz as propagation dictates. www.k6arp.org/
FRESNO ARC++ Pres Stu, WB6VRJ recognized the new faces and reminds
everyone of simple CW skills are fun. . Upcoming Transmitter Hunt Date
is Nov 11, during the swapmeet. DX report from W6DPD. The ARES/RACES
EMCOMM report from Glen N6HEW. Memorabilia of the Code Talkers and
Pictures of the Fresno ARC Picnic. www.w6to.com
LODI ARC ++ The Worked All Cities Contest is going well. Ron reminded
members of how to work a “pile up”. Dennis, NJ6G spoke about CQP.
The rules for clubs size are changing for this year’s CQP and will
affect this years ranking a lot. Rodger, W6PKB, on solar panels. His
panels ran about $900 each. Programs: September Queen Mary Special Event
operation, by Emilia KI6YYT, October The History of the Atomic Bomb, by
Roger Gearhart, K6PKB and November USS Hornet Special Event operation,
by Emilia KI6YYT lodiamateurradioclub.org/
LOS BANOS ARC ++ August was Pizza night. September program is about an
Emergency communications class that Will K6WJR, attended. Skywarn Class
is to be given in Los Banos on 5 October. ARRL SET is 7,8 October. .
www.aa6lb.org
SIERRA ARC ++ .Pres. Dennis W6DQ says, “turn off the heat!”, The
SARC club program at the September meeting will be about SSTV. Thank you
Julie Stephens, KI6YRA, for a very enjoyable August Ice Cream Social
held at the Maturango Museum. Ok hunters, summer is just about over and
time for the next T-Hunt on 23 September. Read about using relay
discipline when the ARES repeater went down. Good job SARC.
www.qsl.net/wa6ybn/
SEQUOIA ARG ++ Lessons learned on Field Day about setting up ham
emergency stations on quick notice in strange conditions, says Skip,
N6SR. One club in South Carolina had a gem of an idea for Field Day.
Visitors were encouraged to learn a little Code first and then spell
their names out with beads representing dots, dashes and spaces between.
From there, they made bracelets. www.n6krv.org
STOCKTON DELTA ARC ++ John NZ6Q did training on radio-sport and
contesting. We are a Hobby, a National Resource and Life Savers. I had
the privilege recently of helping out with an Emergency Preparedness
Fair sponsored by The Mormons. We set up a go box, demonstrated a few
portable radios, and continuously played several public service videos
in the background, John NZ6Q.
September 16th – Elmer University – 0830 – Ham Cram will be held
at Fire Station #2. October 7th – 8th, 2017 – California QSO Party
1600Z – 2200Z. www.w6sf.org
TURLOCK ARC ++ .On September 30 TARC will be holding a DMR programming
course. We will get started at 8:30 AM and be done at about noon. The
2017 Fall auction will be held on October 14 at Crossroads Church in
Turlock. It appears that it will be a large auction with a wide variety
of items. More information as well as pictures of items to be sold can
be found on our auction page. www.w6bxn.org.
The following Amateur became Silent Key since the last report:
Gary (AA6R, Michael WB6EGP, Barry, WB6BW, and Dale N6PUF.
They will be missed.
Traffic for July 2017:
ORS: WS6P 1272, K6RAU 13 Total 1285
PSHR: WS6P 140, K6RAU 71
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ARRL San Joaquin Valley Section
Section Manager: Dan Pruitt, AE6SX
ae6sx@arrl.org
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