Get Your Kicks on Route 66 on the Air 2020

The Citrus Belt Amateur Radio Club, W6JBT, will host its annual Route 66 on the Air special event from Saturday, September 12 through Sunday, September 20. For the duration of the event, radio clubs using special 1×1 call signs will operate from locations along “the Mother Road.” The western-most station will be W6A in Santa Monica, run by the Westside Amateur Radio Club. The eastern-most station will be W6U in Wilmington, Illinois run by the Wilmington Area ARC.

South Pasadena is proud of its connection to Route 66, so this event is an exciting combination of radio and local history.

Route 66 stencil event on Fair Oaks Avenue in March, 2017. Photo credit: South Pasadena Review

According to the CBARC website, participating stations are likely to be found in the vicinity of the following frequencies:

Hz

80M

40M

30M

20M

17M

15M

12M

10M

6M

CW

3.533

7.033

10.110

14.033

18.080

21.033

24.900

28.033

50.033

SSB

3.866

7.266

N/A

14.266

18.164

21.366

24.966

28.466

50.166

DIGI.

3.573

7.074

10.136

14.074

18.100

21.074

24.915

28.074

N/A

ALL frequencies shown above can be +/-  due to QRM and other in use conditions

CBARC states that this is the twenty-first year of the event.

Originally started by the Northern Arizona DX Association, it was a way to allow amateur radio operators a fun way to “Relive the Ride.” They also can relive their own memories of Route 66, and get to celebrate the highway’s rich history in making the U.S. what it is today.

Full information is available from CBARC on their site. And for some added inspiration to get on the air, take a look at the Westside ARC’s archive of Route 66 QSL cards.

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

Learn about Map Your Neighborhood on October 23 at Caltech

The Pasadena fire department is offering a class on “Map Your Neighborhood” at Caltech on October 23. MYN provides a step-by-step process to organize neighborhoods to be better prepared after a disaster. In the event of a disaster, your best bet for assistance will come from neighbors rather than first responders. This class will offer instruction on how to identify needs and skills that would be available when needed. 

SPARC Demonstrates New EOC Station to the Public

EOC Banner

On Saturday, September 14, SPARC demonstrated a new amateur radio station that has been added to the city’s Emergency Operations Center. Our fire department has invested in a dedicated antenna on the roof of city hall and a dual-band VHF/UHF radio. This equipment will help keep communications open even if traditional phone and Internet systems stop working.

In honor of September being National Preparedness Month, SPARC invited city officials, CERT members and Neighborhood Watch captains to see the station in action. The demonstration coincided with the annual ARRL September VHF contest to ensure there was sufficient on-air activity to test the station’s capabilities. SPARC members operated four additional radios to compare against the EOC station. The new station performed well, picking out signals that the others were unable to hear. The station is a valuable addition to the city’s preparedness resources.

SPARC thanks the city fire and police departments for allowing us to use the EOC for this open house and test. We appreciate the hard work that the city and other civic groups do to keep our city resilient and ready. 

Public Demonstration at September VHF 2019
Testing the EOC’s new amateur radio station.
EOC Kenwood
The EOC’s radio is enclosed in a protective case.
Antennas in Courtyard
A new permanent VHF/UHF antenna has been installed on the roof of city hall. For our test, temporary antennas were set up in the courtyard and on the roof.
Logging contacts on the big screen
The new EOC station was tested against radios and antennas brought in by SPARC members. Contacts were logged using N3FJP+ and displayed on the main monitor to the right.
Tribander and Homebrew 6m Dipole
Left, the Ed Fong TBJ-1 triband antenna. Right, a homebrew 6m dipole constructed by Rick, KI6ZKM. A SPARC member stands between them for scale.

Field Day Results Are In

Dear all,

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer while we still have some left. Below are excerpts from the PRC bulletin with this year’s Field Day results. As you know, we ran the Get On The Air (GOTA) station, and we did a good job grabbing contacts. Nonetheless, it was decided not to include our results with W6KA. Instead, our results were submitted separately as a 1A class station. The reason for not including the GOTA station was a concern that our procedure did not fully comply with ARRL rules. So, to be on the safe side, our results were not included with W6KA. I have to admit the ARRL rules are somewhat ambiguous with regards to operators and coaches. 

GOTA score for 2019

I don’t see this as a negative. We all had a good time, and our efforts were productive. If anything, this will be the first time SPARC has participated independently in Field Day. We’ll have to wait for QST to report our overall ranking later this year.

Let me know if you have any questions or concerns. We can discuss this at our next meeting on August 3. 
73,
Stan KR6CV
President SPARC

In the Pasadena Radio Club (W6KA) bulletin, Paul Gordon N6LL writes:

W6KA Field Day 2019 score

Our groups made 2150 QSOs. That’s 250 more than last year even though we had one less transmitter on the air.

Our Platinum QSO-Master Award goes to David Hodge N6AN with about 500 QSOs; the Gold to Stan Sander N6MP with 400 Qs; Silver to Mark Seigel W6MES with 300 Qs. The Bronze is shared by David Ockun N2JNR and Eric Farrow W9EO who each made nearly 200 QSOs.

At the GOTA station, over 60% of the people who sat down in front of our radios chose to operate. Most of them made fewer than ten contacts each, but likely the first HF QSOs of their lives. Contemplate the impact! For this Stan Tahara KR6CV and the SPARC GOTA crew win our Grammy award, The Elmer.

A score of non-contest operators Got On The Air. There was often standing room only at the GOTA station, W6SPR, as folk were lined up to make a QSO. Operators who had scheduled time in advance were yielding their time slots to kids who were hot to qualify for the Radio merit badge. Stalwart Michele KC6FSP kept the station running through the wee hours, becoming one of three GOTA operators to make twenty or more contacts. The other two high scorers aren’t even hams… yet. They all kept the GOTA coaches busy serving as control operators. Those coaches, led by Stan KR6CV of SPARC, mentored operations for the full 24 hours.

When the dust settled, 175 contacts were in the GOTA log and 20 participant operators had had a fine introduction to HF, having worked 24 states under the watchful eye of a mentor coach. N6LL declared it was the finest GOTA scrimmage he had ever seen. But then a yellow flag was found on the playing field. Illegal motion in the backfield, they said. We can’t count their score, they said. Woe unto us who have not read the rules. Rules? Rules. Thirteen pages of Rules! And another 15 pages of explanatory Q&A. Upon re-read- ing the rules… again… on the morning after, so to speak, Eagle Eyes discovered that GOTA Coaches are not allowed to do the logging for GOTA participants. Woe is us. It seemed innocuous at the time. And so we do not have a GOTA score. Instead, W6SPR will have its own entry in the listings.

We remain proud of our fine GOTA crew and of the camaraderie and public outreach they provided. You just wait ‘till next year. We can hardly wait !

Jim Mar AA6QI, Field Day chairperson, writes:

Thanks to our SPARC team members, our GOTA station remained on the air operating on HF for the full 24 hours, making 175 contacts. Unfortunately, none of those contacts count towards our score because our GOTA station didn’t strictly adhere to the exacting (and very complex!) GOTA station operating requirements in the ARRL FD Rules. This is clearly my fault as Field Day Chair for not fully understanding these rules myself so that I could ensure that the GOTA team also fully understood what those rules were. Specifically, each GOTA Operator must transmit, receive, log and ad- just the equipment themselves, no one else can do any of that for them. Coaches can only advise the GOTA operators and are not allowed to do any part of what the GOTA Operator must do. Additionally, the GOTA station records must clearly show which contacts go with which GOTA operators and who the Coach was for all times that the GOTA station was in use. While a log was kept, it did not contain enough information to match all of the contacts logged into the computer log with the operators who made them. Thus, we were left with the tough decision of disallowing all of the GOTA contacts. Still, with all of the youth and new operators who made con- tacts on the GOTA station, this was a really OUTSTANDING public outreach activity by the SPARC team that will earn us dividends in the future. We’ll do better with our rule compliance next year!

Thanks to everyone who helped make this year’s Field Day such a fun and productive event!

Ham 101 Returns – Reserve Your Spot

‭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

For more details and to sign up please visit this link:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/laect-ham-basics-101-tickets-64313738122

This workshop is open to all licensed amateurs.

Pictures from the 2019 Festival of Balloons Parade

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.

Our Next Meeting Is the July 4th Parade

Dear all,

The monthly meeting scheduled for July 3rd will not be held. Instead, we will meet on July 4th to participate in the South Pasadena Festival of Balloons Parade. See the attached flyer, which features SPARC members in last year’s parade.

We will meet on El Centro St. in front of the library. Be sure to wear your SPARC t-shirts, and look for the rest of us in the parade marshaling area. 
A pre-parade welcome ceremony begins at 10:30 am, so plan on being there by 10:15 am. The parade itself starts at 11:00 am, and the route ends at Garfield Park (less than one mile).

Hope to see you there.
73,
Stan KR6CV
President, SPARC