Thanks to all the SPARC members, friends, and guests who came to Eddie Park for Winter Field Day 2024. We made 46 contacts and worked five bands.
(And introducing our new mascot Li’l Sparky, illustrated by Dyna Moe.)
Winter Field Day 2024
January 2024 Meeting: Simplex Operations
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.
Links from the presentation:
Radio Mobile Online propagation prediction tool
“Having Fun with VHF” presentation by Bob Witte K0NR
Ed’s Radio, site listing Southern California nets
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!
📻 Returning members renew by clicking here.
🙌 New members join by clicking here.
If you have more than one ham in your household, please submit a membership form for each person so we can add everyone to our member database.
73!
New Net Schedule for 2024
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.
Please join our Groups.io announcement mailing list for news about meetings, events, and changes to the net schedule. We hope to hear you on the air soon!
Wrapping Up 2023 and Looking Ahead to 2024
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:
- A first HT, the Yaesu VX-5
- A LEGO version of the Perseverance Rover, signed by members of the JPL team which managed the real thing
- A six-transistor AM radio in 1963
- A Boy Scout morse code paddle
- Another first HT, the Yaesu FT–60
- A first radio, a Baofeng handheld
- An antenna from SOTAbeams
- A pair of walkie-talkies from Sears
To inspire future hams, Mark WB6CIA suggested donating a pair of walkie-talkies to a Toys For Tots drive.
On behalf of everyone at SPARC, we hope you have a happy, healthy, and radio-active 2024!
October 2023 Meeting: Preparedness, Maui Fires, and a Radio SOP
At our October 4, 2023 membership meeting, SPARC President Stan Tahara, KR6CV, led a discussion about emergency preparedness at home and in our community. Using a slide presentation highlighting the resources posted on SPARC’s online preparedness page, Stan solicited ideas and feedback from those in attendance. The presentation is embedded in this post below.
Next, Rick Besocke, KI6ZKM, gave a talk about a family member’s experience escaping the fire which devastated Lahaina, Hawaii in August. The tragic events in Lahaina demonstrate all the complexities of an evacuation. Everyone will have unique considerations in an emergency, and Rick’s narrative was a stark reminder that there is no “one size fits all” plan.
Finally, Jeff Liter, W2JCL, presented his draft of a standard operating procedure (SOP) for SPARC’s communications response to an emergency. We discussed how it could be revised, implemented, and practiced in the future.
We hope you find the below presentation useful, and we encourage you to participate in the Great Shakeout later this week (read this post for full details).
Participate in the Great Shakeout with Winlink on October 19, 2023
September is National Preparedness Month, so now is a great opportunity to get ready for the Great Shakeout, the world’s largest earthquake preparedness exercise. SPARC member, and ARES LAX Northeast District Emergency Coordinator, Oliver Dully, K6OLI has written a guide to using Winlink’s built-in “Did You Feel It?” form during the Shakeout.
Send Winlink DYFI (“Did-you-feel-it?”) Exercise reports with your group. We encourage you to send reports with Modified Mercalli Intensity V (5) or greater.
Step-by-Step Winlink USGS DYFI Instructions
=> Winlink USGS DYFI Exercise Youtube Video
=> Winlink USGS DYFI Exercise Instructions (Downloadable)
=> Winlink USGS DYFI Example Report with point-by-point answers indicating an earthquake with Modified Mercalli Intensity V. If you have never experienced an earthquake you may use the example answers (or make up your own).
Read Oliver’s full article here. Preparedness will be the topic of our next monthly membership meeting on October 4.
Pictures from the September VHF Contest 2023
It was another fun day of SPARC in the park as our club gathered to participate in the 2023 September VHF Contest. We made around twenty contacts before closing out the log. Join our email list to hear about the next club contesting opportunity!
September 2023 Meeting: Checking in with Winlink
At our September 2023 member meeting, we learned about the latest features of Winlink from Jeff, W2JCL. In his role as Assistant District Emergency Coordinator for ARES LAX Northeast, Jeff uses Winlink extensively and stays apprised of its development.
Winlink is an email client and a network infrastructure for sending email over amateur radio frequencies. It is especially useful in emergency communications because its robust error correction ensures critical information is sent exactly as intended.
Anyone interested in learning about Winlink should visit the official site at Winlink.org. More resources are linked on our Winlink project page, and you can read an earlier presentation from Jeff here (274 KB PDF).
August 2023 Meeting: T-Hunting Practice with Bill Hacker, WB6MGT
SPARC welcomed Bill Hacker, WB6MGT to our August meeting for a presentation on his experiences as a transmitter hunter. Bill began t-hunting in 1970 in Simi Valley using a Yagi antenna made out of coat hangers and tied to the mirror of a 1958 VW van. He’s upgraded his equipment since then as you can see in the above picture of Bill and his current professional-grade Yagi. For much of Bill’s t-hunting career, he has partnered with his college roommate Doug, WA6RJN. Bill’s longest hunt required locating a transmitter in Barstow, California; one near Las Vegas; one along the 15 freeway in Arizona; and the main transmitter in Saint George, Utah. Bill has worked in IT at USC for over twenty years and serves as net control for USC’s Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Team. He last spoke to SPARC at our March, 2022 meeting.
After his presentation, Bill led a practice t-hunt in Eddie Park. SPARC members got a chance to use their tape measure Yagis and signal attenuators to locate a transmitter stashed out of sight. Below are some pictures of the hunt in progress.
SPARC thanks Bill for a fun and informative evening!
Resources to explore t-hunting:
Southern California Transmitter Hunters (greater LA)
Southern California Transmitter Hunters (San Diego area)
Homing In, a site maintained by Joe Moell, K0OV
Festival of Balloons 2023
SPARC was proud to march in South Pasadena’s annual July 4th parade and reconnect with friends from across the community. Our thanks go out to the Festival planning committee for hosting another fantastic celebration.