SCCARC – Santa Cruz County Amateur Radio Club

Field Day Update

The grass has been cut at the Par3

We’re trying to locate a tractor to level the center area.

Jim has talked to the Fire Martial about getting permits for a fire pit.

Our team Captains are John AC6SL CW, Craig N6SBN Phone Station, Tom and Tom Digital Station. Jerry GOTA, FM station…. Safety officer….

Jim is working on a club sign up web page. This page will give us a better designed schedule for our assistant operators.

https://sccarc.org

Our Field Day leadership team needs to have club members helping set up (Friday afternoon) and taking down (Sunday around noon) There will be several station being set up. CW, Phone, FM and Digi stations. Most of the team captains need the help. Previously, our assistant station builders moved between the different stations helping erect antennas, setting shelters, power and radio systems. Setting up has been important, but breaking down those stations on Sunday is equally important. People are pretty tired at that point.

Assistant Station builders need to wear hard hats, clothing suitable for working in the sun and a willingness to move around the site, finding stations that need the help. I’m going to set a simple station, I may need less help. The more complex stations will need more help. In many cases, the large tents need several people to set.

Skilled hams are needed when antennas, computers and power systems fail in the field. We need to come together to get the malfunction station back on the air. I had a logging computer go down hours before the event. I was overwhelmed. Our club experts came together and put the computer back together. This was great…

Last year, we had volunteer station operators ten deep at 10am, and, the station sitting unused late in the afternoon. So, we need to do a better job assigning time slots. Our Night shift operators are a premium. Our CW operators are a premium.

There is some room at the PAR 3 for a few RVs. These are comfortable for the club members operating late, or spending the night.

I look forward to having our newer operators helping out with this Field Day. It’s a great learning experience. If you can’t come one day, you might come the other. Assistant operators usually run for 2 hours, then move on to another station. There’s room for all day assistants and shorter 2 hour operating.

Craig Capitola Village N6SBN

May Swap at Repeater Site

Greetings, All,

Saturday’s Radio Swap Meet was a great event, bringing a good crowd of folks from around the area. We enjoyed a cool and foggy morning, but the sun came out in time for the BBQ.

Not many brought equipment to sell or give away, but many enjoyed the good informal discussions on a wide range of topics, meeting each other in person for the first time, and just enjoying the day. with a great view of the Bay.

Ron Baldwin (K6EXT) brought some photos of the repeater station work in 1988. I will scan and post them in a separate message, and hope that maybe you can identify who it is in the photos.

The next Swap Meet will be on the third Saturday of June (right before Field Day!), so start cleaning your ham shacks and bring up equipment to trade, sell or give away. Hopefully, we will have a fox hunt, and something new and interesting on the BBQ menu.

73,

Becky

KI6TKB

POTA Twin Lakes May 2

This Saturday is time for another (Club) Pota activation. With the changeable weather, I’m suggesting that we go to Twin Lakes. This location is behind the Simpkins Swim center on 7th ave. This spot will protect the group from the winds that come up along the coast. The first two rows of parking along the field are within the park boundaries. The antennas will need to be smaller to fit in the medians between parking areas. I recommend the very capable ground plane, whip antennas. The sun has been very active the last few weeks. The CMEs have caused several radio black outs. Check the solar weather before you go. https://prop.kc2g.com

Let’s Start Planning Field Day 26

Club members are starting to ask about our Summer Field Day plans. The SLV/SCARC leadership core is assembling a plan, that will be very similar to last years (successful) event (at the PAR 3 property). The purpose of this document is to offer a starting point. Locations and operations are still fluid at this point.

There was some feedback suggesting that we find a different FD site. The traffic noise at the PAR3 is a bit much. Our leadership team is looking at other sites. We reached out to the Monterey Bay Academy. We’ll know in a week or so whether this site is available. If you know of a large field that we can operate Field Day, please let us know. Field Day sites are hard to come by.

The leadership group is starting to assemble 1) Team Captains for the CW, Phone, Digi, FM and Satelite modes. These are important people who manage the setup, operation and safety of the mentioned stations. One of the challenges is identifying “Station” assistant builders/Operators. Last year we did well setting up and breaking down. During the event, the volunteer operators were 10 deep during certain times. And the station was unattended the other times. We hope to spread out the operators. Night shift operators are a rare commodity. Sign up lists are being generated. I suggested contacting the Station Captains directly as well.

Personally, I’ve been doing the Digi station for 25 years. I would enjoy being captain of the Phone station this year.

The club will need a Safety officer, who will walk the grounds ensuring that good station building, antenna raising practices are being followed. Hard hats need to be worn and fire extinguishers distributed. Stations should all have first aid kits. Nothing can ruin a “good time” faster than have an injury during our event.

In the past, we used gasoline generators and massive aluminum antennas. People are now using lithium batteries to power their stations and lighter antennas. Be sure to know what your batteries can handle.

The public will be invited on Saturday. The other times will be limited to the listed Captains and assistant builders/operators.

In the past, volunteers have made breakfast for the members Saturday and Sunday mornings. We have cooked hot dogs at lunch time for the public Saturday. Tacos may be an option. Saturday evening is a busy time. The club usually caters in a meal for the principal Captains/assistant operators.

We offered a training tent where classes were held. Senior club members from ARES and the club gave short presentations. These were well received. We should be able to offer a few classes. If you are excited about a ham related subject, let us know, you can be a teacher.

When the plan is sound, at the attending builders are operating safely, all five stations go up quickly and professionally. The club manager will be walking the field “Ironing out” problems, ensuring that the build is going safely. The manager may direct resources to problem areas. In the past, the great minds in this club have brought their expertise to bear on Computer, Software and Power supply issues. These are all devices that work perfectly in testing at home, and decide to go buggy once in the field.

We have been doing Field Day for many years and with good organization and management, we will continue to do Field Day for many years. It is a fun event.

Craig Capitola Village N6SBN

Monthly Club Meeting Speaker – Martin KN6GWQ on Meshcore

The Guest speaker for this coming SCCARC Monthly Club Meeting will be Martin KN6GWQ. The topic will be about Meshcore.

Jim KN6NCG will also give a short speech on the upcoming Sea Otter Classic ARES Event.

Here is a link for more information about the club meetings and how to attend them: https://k6bj.org/wordpress/club-meeting-membership

April POTA

The weather has cleared and it’s time for our SCCARC/SLV club Pota, this Saturday the 4th.. Randal McCune and Paul Karz will be opening the Castro Adobe SP for our club. Both are aspiring ham operators. Potas are a nice way to get out of the house and practice radio in the field.

As with any club outing, we may have multiple stations running. We should exercise good communications with each other to achieve band sharing . This will avoid interference. Fortunately, 10, 15, 17 and 20 have been working recently. If you have a problem, talk with your fellow operators. You will usually find a band that is not being used. Change up your antenna, check your frequency, spot yourself and jump on that unused band. Operators who both want to run on 20 meters, may operate and the top and bottom of the bands, then pray their radios will be selective. Bottom line “TALK TO ONE ANOTHER”.
Club Pota’s are training events to share ideas on equipment, operating, band sharing and logging. Newer ops will have assistance of senior operators. The goal is to iron out problem areas and become better operators. This training has helped us build stronger Field operators. I’m sure Summer Field Day will benefit.

I’ve packed my field kitchen and will make an effort to make tacos at lunch.

Previously, the newer ops have struggled with their antennas, logging and the pota exchange. Study your antenna analyzer, your logging program, coax, antennas etc prior to the event. With each Pota, our club members are getting better.

Pota is not a contest, though, having 5 stations trying to reach you at the same time makes if feel like a contest. Activators need to voice a quick, smooth exchange, a pleasant “Thanks for hunting”, then moving on to the next 4 operators.

Monthly Club Meeting – KO6BTX on building an MMDVM Hotspot

Tom listened to shortwave radio as a child but didn’t get licensed as a Ham until October 2023, upgrading to General Class in September 2024 to participate in the solar max on HF. He retired from a 41 year career in computer hardware and software engineering in 2022, and now teaches python programming in an online coding school. Tom is currently president of the Loma Prieta Amateur Radio Club (LPARC). Favorite activities in ham radio include participating in emergency communication exercises, event support, POTA and DX.

March POTA at Seacliff SP

Last Saturday the SCCARC met at Seacliff State Beach for the monthly POTA event.

There was a large turnout and at least five HF phone stations were deployed. It was reported Keenan K6MML had 72 contacts of both phone and CW. Jim, KN6NCG and Craig, N6SBN and Tom, KO6BTX were among the group of operators who set stations up. Craig cooked up some excellent hot dogs.

Also there was a contingent of Meshcore enthusiasts including Ned N6ZOZ, John N5HPB and even Dave WB6DWP, who had a node in his pocket. Ron K6EXT brought his handmade yagi antenna and it worked beautifully. He had many successful pings aiming it at area Meshcore repeaters. Mike, W6MLB assisted with an extendable mast from his truck.

It was a perfect sunny day, not too much wind and a very comfortable temperature. Fun was had by all who attended.

Andrew, N6AAG

Welcome to the club

Welcome to the club. Thank you for keeping our club thriving for 110 years since our
founding!

Read on to (re)acquaint yourself with the club.

How to get evolved

The most common ways members communicate with each other is on K6BJ (146.790-,
94.8 PL) and online, using our email reflector at https://k6bj.groups.io/, but those are
just two of many ways club members connect. Here are more ways to get involved:

On the air

In our Monterey Bay VHF/UHF region there are many nets. They often occur on our
club’s VHF repeater, K6BJ at 146.790 MHz output, 146.190 MHz input, with a
PL/CTCSS tone of 94.8 Hz, or channel 6 on the XCZCOMM frequency list
at https://xczcomm.com/index.php/frequency-list/

To read the full Welcome Letter that includes activities and frequency listed in the Monterey Bay Area. Click on this link.Welcome to SCCARC & K6BJ