At our June monthly meeting, we discussed SPARC’s upcoming joint deployment with the Pasadena Radio Club for Field Day. This will be our clubs’ first in-person Field Day since 2019. SPARC has volunteered to set up a VHF/UHF station and organize its operators. The details are:
Start: Saturday, June 22 at 11:00 a.m. End: Sunday, June 23 at 10:59 a.m. Location: Art Center College of Design parking lot Enter at 1700 Lida St., Pasadena, CA 91103 What3Words location: help.rock.vouch
If you were unable to attend the meeting and would like to operate with us, please reach out to us through our contact form.
Click this link or the image below to download a copy ( 1.9 MB PDF) of this year’s Field Day presentation.
If you can’t be with us in person for Field Day, we hope to hear you on the air!
At our May 2024 meeting, SPARC member Carol Bruegge, KE6SRN gave an overview of proper Morse code usage and shared tips for how to become proficient. (Apologies for the blurry photo above.) Fun fact: What we refer to as “Morse code” is more accurately called “Gerke code” because it was standardized by a German telegraph pioneer named Fredriche Gerke. Carol covered several topics including efficient communication and free learning tools. Below are links to the tools that Carol recommended.
After Carol’s presentation, we had a show and tell session with paddles, straight keys, and “bugs” from SPARC members’ collections.
To the left of the paddles were laptops loaded with RufzXP, Morse Runner, and Iambic Master. Attendees could compare the programs and see which ones might be worth trying at home.
At 9:13 p.m. the ham radio satellite SO-50 passed overhead, and Rick Besocke, KI6ZKM led the group in a contact demonstration. This was an opportunity to see a satellite contact in action, inspired by our February meeting on the topic.
Rick, KI6ZKM contacts SO-50
Next month, it’s time to talk Field Day! Join us on June 5 at 7:30 p.m. in the Eddie Park House.
Diana opened by discussing what is new with the ARRL both nationally and locally. Topics included:
How to know when the digital editions of ARRL magazines are available.
The fight to protect radio spectrum from high-speed trading systems.
ARRL membership numbers in LA County.
A program that helps members locate sources of RFI (hint: check your dimmer switches first).
Patterns of volunteering.
The second part of her presentation was titled “Surprises in Amateur Radio.” It covered the aspects that make our hobby unique, including the constant improvement of its equipment and development of new modes such as the M17 standard.
As a gesture of our thanks, we presented Diana with a bag of Li’l Sparky’s Blend whole beans (actually the Lost Parrot Blend from Jones Coffee Roasters).
For the purposes of the event, a Rookie is defined has having been first licensed in the current calendar year or the previous three calendar years, regardless of license class. You can also be a Rookie if you haven’t made any contest contacts on the contest mode (in this case, SSB).
May Meeting, 5/1
We’ll be discussing CW and Morse code. Do you have an interesting Morse key, bug, or paddle? Bring it in for a show and tell.
SPARC was proud to provide communication assistance to South Pas Active Streets during a community cycling event on Saturday, March 16. Jason KM6WJQ and David KK6DA, two active members of ARES LAX NE who recently worked the Firecracker 10k in a similar capacity, lent their considerable expertise. Together with John KK6ZVQ, they monitored the progress of a bike caravan along Mission Street and informed ride marshals whenever the group became split up by red lights or delays.
South Pas Active Streets organized over eighty bicyclists to ride from Garfield Park to the South Pasadena Nature Park and back. Over half of the riders were children, many of whom had never visited the Nature Park or Arroyo bike path before. Several community groups participated in activities at both parks, including South Pasadena Beautiful, Friends of the South Pas Nature Park, the D.U.D.E.S., a local Lionsheart chapter, and The Hive which provided a craft station. Mayor Evelyn Zneimer and Councilperson Janet Braun joined the group and spoke about the importance of community involvement with our civic planning.
Below are two embedded Instagram posts showing a selection of photos from the event.
At our March 2024 meeting, SPARC welcomed Joe and Sandra Fekete to discuss vintage and antique radio restoration. Joe Fekete is an active member of SCARS, the Southern California Antique Radio Society. He was a ham in 1970s and has served as an FCC liaison. He currently lives in Monrovia with his wife Sandra who is a self-described “conehead,” which in the restoration hobby means someone who specializes in repairing speakers.
Sandra and Joe Fekete
Joe and Sandra demonstrated their techniques for restoring old radios to appear “right off the assembly line.” For example, when stuffing capacitors they recreate vintage labels to preserve technical information and capture the look of the original components.
Vintage capacitor labels ready to be scanned and reprinted
The meticulous couple spent three years restoring the radio of a 1957 Corvette on behalf of Cerritos collector Kent Browning.
Sandra holds the metal frame of a classic Corvette speaker.
Here are a few resources the Feketes mentioned for anyone interested in attempting a restoration:
Several SPARC members have extensive experience with vintage ham equipment. Bob WB6YJJ brought in two beautiful vintage radios and an oscilloscope, seen below.
A nonworking 1930s commercial radio from the Feketes (top left) and three working pieces of equipment from Bob WB6YJJ
The gleaming transmitter on the right is a working Johnson “Viking Valiant” from the late 1950s. Rick KI6ZKM brought a Hallicrafters rig that he plans to repair.
Interior view of a Hallicrafters rig owned by Rick KI6ZKM
Tony K6TTP shared several tips for anyone embarking on a restoration:
Document everything with photos.
Locate a trustworthy schematic for your rig and compare it to the physical equipment.
Replace all the capacitors. If a vintage capacitor hasn’t failed, it will.
Tony recommends Old Radio Parts for obtaining replacement components and the website HiFiAudio.com for its many kits and guides. Tony is restoring a Hallicrafters SX-140 with help from HiFiAudio’s guide.
Mark WB6CIA suggested building a collection of vintage tube substitution books. He also consults SAMS Photofact manuals which can be ordered online or found in vintage bookstores.
SPARC thanks the Feketes for a fascinating presentation, and thanks all the members who shared their equipment and wisdom.
Our February 2024 meeting was held via Zoom and featured Clint Bradford, K6LCS presenting “How to Work Amateur Satellites with Your HT.” Clint has been a ham since 1994. His niche in the hobby is working amateur satellites with minimal equipment and spreading the word on how to do it. He has served as a liaison between NASA, the ARISS team, and schools coordinating amateur radio contacts between the International Space Station and students. Clint has created a support Web site at work-sat.com that’s a one-stop source for all the citations, equipment recommendations, and software suggestions made in his presentation. He also maintains a Groups.io list at work-sat.groups.io. He resides in Jurupa Valley, California, with his wife Karen, who expertly handled Zoom duties during the meeting.
Some notable Clint quotes:
Why work satellites? It’s just another cool thing we can do in this wonderful hobby of amateur radio.
Tips to improve your HT’s battery life: Cut your output power in half, improve your antenna, use an earpiece.
It’s rocket science… but it ain’t rocket science.
Photo from Clint’s QSL card. He’s seen here at the LA County Fair, where he worked three countries using only 2W of power.
Some slides from the presentation:
There have been over 125 OSCARs (orbital satellites carrying amateur radio)Cliff’s portable station in an Igloo cooler.At a Santa Barbara hamfest.Clint’s HT of choice for working the birdsFacilitating an ISS contact for high school students in Rancho Cucamonga
Our simplex net returns next week on 2/14. Chris KM6OUK is compiling signal reports from the simplex nets so we can map propagation behavior in our area.
The Battleship Iowa Amateur Radio Association (BIARA) will hold a special event station on February 22 from 1600 to 2400 UTC. Try contacting this unique radio station to our south in San Pedro.
UPCOMING MEETINGS
March 6 at 7:30 p.m. — We’re back at the Eddie Park House where we will be joined by Joe Fakete, an active member of the Southern California Antique Radio Society. Joe will speak on vintage and antique radio restoration. Bring an old ham rig or vintage consumer radio, and Joe will walk you through the steps to put it back in working order. Email us if you would like to bring some equipment but need help transporting it. Related: Jim Fisher, the president of SCARS, invites everyone to learn more about the group, become a member, and participate in SCARS’s annual auction. It takes place on 2/17 in Tustin.
April 3 at 7:30 p.m. — Also back at Eddie Park House, our guest will be Diana Feinberg, AI6DF. Diana is section manager for the ARRL LAX section. Her visits to SPARC to update us on League business and the state of amateur radio are an annual tradition.
At our January member meeting we introduced the new club officers for 2024 and thanked outgoing president Stan Tahara KR6CV and outgoing treasurer Bob Vanderwall WB6YJJ for all their hard work.
Our featured topic was simplex operation and tips for participating in a simplex net. Jeff Liter, W2JCL gave a presentation which you can view embedded below. Download a PDF copy (1.1 MB) of it by clicking here.
In conjunction with the discussion of simplex, we announced the addition of a new simplex net to our monthly schedule (click here for full details).
SAVE THE DATES January 20: ARRL January VHF Contest. A good opportunity to get on the air and test your equipment. We encourage you to participate from home or the field.
January 27: Winter Field Day. Join SPARC in Eddie Park for this annual emcomm practice event.
JOIN OUR GROUPS.IO SPARC is migrating its mailing list to groups.io so members and friends can have more control over how they receive news and updates from the club. Whether you are a long-time member or simply interested in hearing about our activities, we hope you will subscribe and stay in touch.
IT’S DUES TIME And speaking of membership, now is the time to join or renew. Dues are only $20 per year, per household. Cover all hams at the same address with one payment!
Starting on January 10, SPARC will experiment with adding a simplex net to its monthly schedule. We will adjust the net based on need and experience if necessary. Here is the current monthly schedule.
1st Wednesday of the month, 7:30 p.m. Monthly member meeting — NO NET
2nd Wednesday of the month, 7:30 p.m. Simplex net on 145.600 MHz, no PL tone
3rd and subsequent Wednesdays, 7:30 p.m. Check-in Net on the TELCO Repeater 145.180 MHz PL 156.7 Negative offset
Our goals for the simplex net are to practice emergency communications skills and to develop a propagation map of the city so that club members know “who can hear me” without a repeater.
Our November 2023 membership meeting was cancelled due to a guest speaker falling through, but spirits were high at our annual December social at the Canoe House restaurant. Over a dozen members gathered to catch up and discuss their various radio-related projects.
A week later, during our December 13 on-air net, participants described their favorite ham radio gifts, either received or purchased for themselves. The fond memories included:
