Ginger Eldridge, KC5MTI contacted us to promote an operating event, the third annual Harvey Houses on the Air. The event will take place from 8:00am to 4:00pm PDT on Saturday, September 14. Hams will operate from the sites of historic hotels and “eating houses” founded by entrepreneur Fred Harvey beginning in the late nineteenth century. Locally, Union Station in downtown Los Angeles once had a Harvey House. Just under a year ago, the Harvey House space was reopened as the Imperial Western Beer Company and Streamliner Bar.
Ginger writes, “We hope you set up your mobile unit and practice your field day skills and have some fun. … Let us know you’re participating so we can try to chat with you on the air.”
Note that this event takes place during the ARRL VHF Contest.
On Sunday, August 11, SPARC members Rick Besocke, KI6ZKM and Jeff Liter, W2JCL hiked San Gabriel peak and performed a SOTA (Summits on the Air) activation. Together they logged seventeen QSOs on 146.52 MHz and 446.00 MHz. Jeff also conducted a mesh chat with Oliver, K6OLI over the AREDN mesh.
Rick KI6ZKM operates a “tape measure” beam on FM. A mesh go-kit operated by Jeff W2JCL is in the foreground.Rick makes a contact on his beam. Antennas of Mt. Wilson are visible in the background.
If you’d like to know more about SOTA, check out this talk by Scott, WA9STI from our November 2018 meeting. Then use the following links to join in on the fun.
The inspiration for the page came from a discussion started by Bob Vanderwall WB6YJJ during our weekly on-air nets in 2017. Net participants discussed the state of their own preparedness, shared advice and recommended various tools. In the aftermath of the July earthquakes near Ridgecrest, there was renewed interest in emergency prep and new urgency to share our ongoing club discussion.
If you have suggestions on how to improve the page or corrections to any of the contact information listed there, don’t hesitate to contact us. Thank you!
ARES LAX Northeast, our local branch of the Amateur Radio Emergency Service, will hold a new session of “Ham Basics 101.”
Saturday, July 27 9:00 am – 12:00 pm, followed by informal mentoring Huntington Memorial Hospital conference room adjacent to the cafeteria
Ham Basics 101 is a two-hour workshop for amateur radio beginners and those getting back into the hobby or seeking to improve their skills. Topics covered include:
• basic operations and radio options
• how to use simplex and repeater frequencies
• how to program your radios manually and using software
Members of SPARC were proud to march in South Pasadena’s 2019 Festival of Balloons Parade with friends and neighbors involved in CERT and Neighborhood Watch. Mike KM6KAQ wore a fully-functioning mobile rig in a backpack, complete with a portable antenna mast. Tran K6NHI, who works for the Southern California Earthquake Center, had a busy morning thanks to the magnitude 6.4 Ridgecrest earthquake which occurred shortly before the parade. We thank the festival committee and our police and fire departments for organizing another fun day out for the whole community.
Preparing to march in the Festival of Balloons on July 4, 2019
Mike KM6KAQ and Tran K6NHI
The two SPARCs collide! Our friends in the South Pasadena Arts Council pose with their banner next to ours.
It is with deep sadness that we acknowledge the passing of our friend and club member, Tim Cox, WA0PTC. He passed away due to cardiac and respiratory issues at Huntington Memorial Hospital on May 20.
Tim ’s career in the medical field began at the School of Medicine at the University of Minnesota. For the past twelve years he worked with Dr. Tony Ngoc T. Nguyen as an echocardiographer performing cardiac stress tests and echocardiograms. He also worked part-time as a Consulting Physiologist at Harbor-UCLA. Tim is remembered not only for his knowledge, experience and clinical and technical expertise, but his extraordinary ability to help patients feel comfortable and at ease.
Tim was accomplished in many fields including music, math, physics, astronomy, and amateur radio. He enjoyed fishing and being with his little dog Gypsy. In 2015, Tim was instrumental in helping Bob Vanderwall, WB6YJJ revive the South Pasadena Amateur Radio Club, which had been dormant for some time. Many current SPARC members recall that Tim was the first person to greet them at a meeting and make them feel welcome. He was eager to share his vast knowledge of radio with new hams and encouraged others to learn and use Morse code. At club meetings, he urged everyone to “just get on the air and operate!” He will be greatly missed.
In lieu of flowers donations may be made in memory of Tim to any of the following:
• Huntington Memorial Hospital / Critical Care Giving In the “Designation” field, chose “Other” then enter “Critical Care.” Write “Tim Cox” in the “Tribute Information” section below.
It’s time to prepare for Field Day, “amateur radio’s open house.” Once again SPARC will join forces with the Pasadena, JPL and Caltech radio clubs and operate from the Art Center College of Design campus.
Field Day 2019 begins Saturday, June 22 at 11am and ends on Sunday, June 23 at 11am. The address is 1700 Lida Street, Pasadena, 91103. Above is a flyer for the event put together by the PRC.
Come to our monthly meeting on May 1 at the SP Fire Department EOC and learn about getting the most out of Field Day.
SPARC is proud to help distribute Crown City HF, a collection of columns written by Dr. Tom Berne, W6TAG (SK), for the Pasadena Radio Club’s monthly bulletin.
