December 2022 Meeting: See You at the Canoe House

The Canoe House

Dear SPARC members and friends,

The South Pasadena Amateur Radio Club will meet in person for a holiday social gathering on Wednesday, December 7, 2022 at 7:30 PM at the Canoe House restaurant located at 805 Fair Oaks Avenue, South Pasadena, CA 91030. The return of this event is cause for celebration so please spread the word and join us for an evening of good cheer in the company of our amateur radio family.

Thank you,
Rick Besocke, KI6ZKM
SPARC President

Free Tower Needs a New Home

Dear SPARC members and friends,

Please see the forwarded message from Jim Marr AA6QI below.

Thank you,

Rick Besocke
SPARC President

From: Jim Marr AA6QI

Tri-Ex MW-35 tower – free

From the estate of SK ham N6TG, there is a Tri-Ex MW-35 (S/N 57204) crank up tower that is available for FREE to the first taker, with the proviso that you pick it up and move it to where ever it needs to go.  I would be happy to help with the moving and I’m sure that we can scare up even more help when the time comes.

Here are two pictures:

It looks like it’s about 25’ long and has one internal telescoping section.

The tower is lying on the ground in Pasadena on Madre St below California Blvd.

If you’d like to look at it, let me know and I can arrange with the family for a visit.

73 — Jim AA6QI

September 2021 Meeting Canceled

Dear SPARC members and friends,

The South Pasadena Amateur Radio Club is taking a short summer break and will NOT meet on Wednesday, September 1, 2021. The weekly check-in nets will continue and the monthly meetings will resume on Wednesday, October 6, 2021.

Thank you,
Rick Besocke, KI6ZKM
SPARC President

Take Part in SOTA This Weekend

Dear SPARC members and friends,

Members of the South Pasadena Amateur Radio Club will be activating a few local Summits on the Air (SOTA) peaks on Sunday, July 18, 2021. SOTA is a great opportunity to combine hiking and portable operating (see the Summits on the Air website for more information). Peaks and times will be posted as “alerts” and “spots” on SOTAwatch during the day on Sunday. Bands and modes will vary but the operators will use the “North American Adventure Frequency” 146.580 MHz FM simplex for local contacts at some point during their activations. Please feel free to make contact with those operators, they will certainly appreciate adding you to their logs.

If you are interested in activating a peak, consult the map at SOTLAS and the Bobcat Fire closure map to find peaks in open areas of the Angeles National Forest. As with any voluntary wilderness activity, choose a peak well within your physical ability, consult weather and trail conditions, take appropriate water/food/clothing/equipment, and tell someone where you are going and when you expect to return.

You can use the Contact Us page of our site to let me know if you plan to participate (activator or chaser), and I’ll make sure we listen for your call sign and maybe even arrange some summit-to-summit contacts.

Be safe and have fun,
Richard Besocke, KI6ZKM
SPARC President

To inspire your own SOTA adventures, below is a report from SPARC member Jose Gonzalez KM6PFM about activating Mt. Langley in the Sierras last weekend. Langley is a 14,000’+ peak neat Mt. Whitney and is quite an accomplishment.

A lot busier area than I had envisioned. For some reason I thought people would be elsewhere. Boy was I wrong. Arrived at sundown. Horseshoe Meadow is in the thin air — 10,000ish feet. [The area] has to offer, yes, horses. I overheard a little boy say, “Boy, these horses are loud!” lol… Camp full, luckily scored a parking spot. My hiking group wanted to get all 22ish miles done in a day and rest back at Horseshoe Meadow. So at 4am the next morning with views of the Milky Way overhead, we headed out. Cottonwood Lakes were awesome with the sunrise. Old Army Pass was a bear in the searing sun (take more water than you think if you come out). Up on the pass at 12,000 feet, found some bighorn sheep roaming. Followed the Jenga-style cairns on the way to the summit. Some clouds rolled in, and it started snowing a bit. The rocks get larger, and the ground gets sandier. Made it to the summit, and after a few pics, it started raining under partially-cloudy skies. Lots of blue sky still and thankfully no thunder or lightning.

Jose KM6PFM at the summit of Mt. Langley

Quickly assembled my Yagi in the rain and got to it. Tried to self spot with SOTA Goat, but I guess the signal bars on my phone were just there for decoration because it wouldn’t establish the link, lol. Made a few local contacts in Bishop area then aimed the Yagi south. Very happy to reach ~280km away to W6/CT-013 Keller Peak where W6MHS, KJ6IJT, KM6WCO [thanks for spotting me!], and KE6PLA had set up to try and catch me. Some raw video is linked below. I don’t normally get to hear myself on the other side of the QSO, so that was cool. I was only active about 10-15min then had to pack it up due to increasing rain/snow and friends clamoring for me to hurry up ?. Made it back down and enjoyed a nice evening at camp. Grateful for no nausea or altitude sickness Could have benefitted from another day at camp — blood oxygen levels ranged from a low of 82% on arrival day to 85-93% on summit day. All in all, another memorable activation!

Help Keep the TELCO Repeater on the Air

Dear SPARC members and friends,
The South Pasadena Amateur Radio Club is holding a fundraiser from now until September 15 for maintenance and repair of the TELCO repeater. The TELCO repeater is a valuable amateur radio resource that serves the greater San Gabriel Valley and beyond. We are regular users of the repeater and benefit from its continued availability. The SPARC board has pledged to match the first $100 donated by club members. Please consider a small donation as an investment in our radio community. Please use this PayPal link or click the button below to make a contribution before September 15.

Support the TELCO Repeater

Thank you,

Rick Besocke, KI6ZKM
President, South Pasadena Amateur Radio Club

Photo of Bill Westphal WB6YPF with the TELCO Repeater antenna courtesy of Pasadena Radio Club

Spring Sprint 2020 Results

Dear SPARC Members and Friends,
 
The SPARC VHF/UHF Spring Sprint had operators making contacts on the 144, 220, and 440 MHz bands using both FM and SSB. Seven logs were submitted before the deadline, and the top three results are as follows:

  1. Paul, N6LL 15 total contacts (7 unique, 3 bands)
  2. John, AC6VV 14 total contacts (7 unique, 2 bands, 2 modes)
  3. Jeff, W2JCL 12 total contacts (9 unique, 2 bands)


Congratulations to our top finishers and thank you to all who participated. We will certainly do this again soon.

Rick, KI6ZKM

Participate in SPARC’s VHF and Up Sprint Contest on May 6

In lieu of our May monthly meeting, SPARC will hold its first-ever contest, a VHF and Up Sprint.

When: Wednesday, May 6, 2020 from 1930 to 2000 PDT. 

The goal of this informal contest is for participants to make as many VHF/UHF simplex contacts as possible in thirty minutes. All modes and VHF/UHF bands are allowed, but please be sure to follow band plans, use established simplex frequencies, and listen before transmitting. A few recognized southern California FM simplex frequencies are: 145.600, 146.520, 146.550, 223.500, and 446.000. Spotting and coordinating with others is permitted and encouraged. No prizes will be awarded, but the top scores will be recognized and posted to SouthPasRadio.org . 

Rules:

  1. The contest will be held on Wednesday, May 6, 2020 from 1930 to 2000 PDT. 
  2. The contest is open to any licensed amateur radio operator.
  3. Only amateur frequencies from 144 MHz and up are allowed.
  4. All modes are allowed, but contacts using repeaters or satellites are not permitted.
  5. The exchange is call sign and signal report (RST).
  6. Participants will keep a log of contacts.
  7. Participants will email only the number of contacts made to contest@southpasradio.org by no later than 2030 PDT. Operators with top scores may be asked to submit logs for confirmation. 
  8. Scores will be announced by 2100 PDT via email.      

Hope to hear you on the air on May 6.

Rick Besocke, KI6ZKM
President, South Pasadena Amateur Radio Club