Are You Prepared? ~ John Dyer, KM6DXY

Transcription

1 February / March 2018 In This Issue Are You Prepared? Gotta Run? Grab Your Go-Box Yuma Hamfest Intro FLV Ham Radio Waves Membership and Dues ARRL Calendar of Events TARA Calendar of Events Important Information - Local Repeaters - Club Websites - TARA Officers & Committee s - TARA Meeting & Club Information - Membership Application Contact Us Visit us on Facebook! TARAtehachapiamateurradio Visit our Website! tehachapiareahams.yolasite.com The Official Newsletter of the Tehachapi Amateur Radio Association Volume 2, Number 2 Are You Prepared? This is a term that conjures up a whole lot of images for people. Are we talking about Preppers, Survivalists, Disaster Preparedness or Emergency Preparedness? I hope to present information that may apply to any of the above. My focus here will be more along the lines of Emergency and Disaster Preparedness. We re not preparing for the Zombie Apocalypse here. I m simply talking about be prepared for events that we might experience here at home or while travelling to visit friends and family. We live in an area that exposes us to a variety of potential issues. What would you do in the event that a wild fire threatens your home? Are you ready should an earthquake hit Tehachapi? What would you do if a flood, flash flood or mudslide impacted you, your home or ability to travel? It s not like any of these events have not already hit home, so to speak. Even a sequence of events can culminate in one or all of these in a continuing series of disasters. We survive one only to be hit with another shortly after. Does the Erskine Fire (Lake Isabella area) or the Thomas Fire (Ventura County) ring a bell? All I m suggesting is that if you haven t taken these disasters into account and prepared yourself and your family for such events here than now is the time. As amateur radio operators our call may even be more significant. We may be called to help our community in a much larger scope. For those that wish to provide such aide, are you prepared? Have you taken the training provided online or through local organizations such as C.E.R.T., A.R.E.S or S.A.T.E.R.N.? Again, now may be the time. Over then next several newsletters, I will provide idea s, suggestions and examples or what you can do to prepare. You may already know or may have already prepared. If so, please me and share what you have done. Many others may benefit fro your experience(s). I have taken small steps, but by no means am I prepared. Mail: Tehachapi Amateur Radio Association (TARA) P.O. Box 1681 Tehachapi, CA Chance favors the Prepared Mind. Louis Pasteur Gotta Run? Grab Your Go-Box! Talk about encore. Charlie Flint, KG6CMF, was our presenter again for this month s presentation. For February s meeting Charlie gave us a little insight as to what he has done to prepare to take his radio s on the go. While commercially built Go-boxes are available, Charlie built his own. Using tool boxes that can be purchased at your local hardware Talk about encore. Charlie Flint, KG6CMF, was our presenter again for this month s

2 Suggestions or Comments Via Mail: The Dummy Load Attn: John Dyer KM6DXY P.O. Box 1681 Tehachapi, CA Via To: Subject: The Dummy Load Newsletter Or Click Here Gotta Run? Grab Your Go-Box! (Continued) presentation. For February s meeting Charlie gave us a little insight as to what he has done to prepare to take his radio s on the go. While commercially built Go-boxes are available, Charlie built his own. Using tool boxes that can be purchased at your local hardware store, Charlie built a couple of projects that enable him to take one or both kits on the go with him. He, in fact, had one of his Go-Boxes on display at last year s Field Day Event. Maybe this year, Charlie will set one up as one of our stations during this years Field Day. Do you have a Go-Box? How about a Go-Bag? Let me know. Maybe, just maybe, we can have a Show and Tell at one of our meetings or even put them on display at Field Day. Yuma Hamfest ~ Phil Dolber, W6WBT Phil Dolber was able to attend this years Yuma Hamfest and summited an article to share with everyone here. To keep the integrity of his article, as presented and submitted by Phil, I have attached his article at the end of the newsletter. It sounded like a great event and I may have to put it on my list of Must Attend in FLV Ham Radio Waves ~ Contributed by Bob K6AAQ, as printed in the Mission Trail Net Newsletter Blazer Friday afternoon, on June 16, I was at home monitoring MHz., the national 2 meter simplex calling frequency, when my radio crackled alive with an unfamiliar and scratchy call. It was to anyone that could help a disabled motorist. Their location was one mile South of the intersection of Hwy 360 and US Hwy 95 (9 miles South of Mina, NV). That is 45 miles away, not counting the bounce the signal has to make to get around Miller Mountain. It was N3XOL Nick. He is a Coast Guardsman that was traveling from Florida to his new duty assignment in California. He had a flat tire and had changed it to the temporary spare. His problem was the spare is only rated for 50 to 70 miles and just to get you to a tire shop. Nick didn t know where the closest one was? That particular spot had no cell phone coverage. He knew Hawthorne, Nevada was a little closer, but did not want to continue on and possibly not find a tire shop there. Back tracking to Tonopah, Nevada would put him further behind schedule. KG7UFO David was also mobile in his Jeep and couldn t hear Nick, due to both having low antennas and the rise of the terrain between them. I could hear both of them and they could hear me, due to my tall base station antenna. I was able to relay David s knowledge of a tire shop in Hawthorne, Nevada to a grateful Nick. I also notified WA7EEJ Kay in Hawthorne, Nevada, over the Corey Peak repeater, to watch out for inbound Nick. They made radio contact and Kay filled Nick in on where to eat. Nick commented to his wife that ham radio had come in pretty handy on this trip. When all else fails, ham radio gets through This is just one example of the many times that ham radio has saved the day. It is not only a fun hobby but comes in handy during emergencies. When the big quake shakes up California again, our power to FLV will be down for an extended period. Our wells will stop pumping. Do you have some emergency water stocked up? Also, the TV won t work and cell phone tower and landline back up batteries will run down. FLV residents will be cut off from the outside world and each other, except for our ham radio operators. W7WOW Bob Moss

3 Membership and Dues It s that time of year. As you know, every year about this time we need all our members to renew their membership with the club. You will find a copy of the membership application attached to this months newsletter. The fees are simple: $25.00/year per member. If you have family living at home with you, they can join for an additional $12.50/year. Attending school, college or trade school? No problem, your membership is even less. ARRL CALENDAR of EVENTS This page will be devoted to providing our members with events sponsored by the American Radio Relay League (ARRL). We will review the calendar on their website monthly and update the list below. You may also find information on their website at: April Rookie Roundup Phone May 2018 No Events Scheduled June June VHF 16 Kids Day Field Day July IARU HF World Championship

4 TARA CALENDAR of EVENTS This page will be devoted to providing our members with events sponsored by or involving the participation of our club. We will review the calendar on a monthly basis and update you accordingly. All dates are subject to change. April Board Meeting, Gracian s 6:30pm 7 Ham Radio Breakfast, Village 8:30am 7 High Desert Rally 10:00am (Mountain Bible Church Library, Tehachapi) 12 Club Meeting, Mountain Aire 7:00pm 14 EmComm Training, Mountain Aire Estates, 8:00am-12:00pm 26 EmComm Meeting, Mountain Aire 7:00pm 27 Breakfast (Mulligan Room, Bear Valley 8:00am May Board Meeting, Gracian s 6:30pm 4 Ham Radio Breakfast, Village 8:30am 4-5 High Desert Trails Rally, Ridgecrest CA 10 Club Meeting, Mountain Aire 7:00pm 12 EmComm Training, Mountain Aire Estates, 8:00am-12:00pm 24 EmComm Meeting, Mountain Aire &:00pm 26 Breakfast (Mulligan Room, Bear Valley Springs) June Ham Radio Breakfast, Village 8:30am 7 Board Meeting, Gracian s 6:30pm 9 EmComm Training, Mountain Aire Estates, 8:00am-12:00pm 14 Club Meeting, Mountain Aire 7:00pm ARRL Field Day, Brite Lake Recreation Area, Pavillion 3 28 EmComm Meeting, Mountain Aire &:00pm 30 Breakfast (Mulligan Room, Bear Valley Springs) 30 Challenge the Bear Race (Bear Valley Springs) Please Note: The Board Meeting (7 th ), General Meeting (14 th ) and the EmComm Meeting (28 th ) may be canceled or rescheduled to be part of the 2018 ARRL Field Day Event. April, May and June will be highly active months for the club. Please make every effort to contribute and participate in as many of these events as possible. April s club meeting will be devoted to getting prepared for the 2018 ARRL Field Day Event. Please join us and help plan and prepare for a great weekend. You are critical to making Field Day a success.

5 IMPORTANT INFORMATION This page will be devoted to providing our members with events sponsored by or involving the participation of our club. We will review the calendar on a monthly basis and update you accordingly. LOCAL REPEATER INFORMATION TARA APRS Digipeater No Tone KA6PTJ-3 APRS BVS APRS Digipeater: No Tone WA6LDQ-3 APRS BVS Repeater: Backup Freq Hz Tone Simplex W6SLZ Open Machine BVS Repeater: Hz Tone W6SLZ Tehachapi Repeater: Hz Tone KI6HHU Tehachapi Repeater: Hz Tone KG6KKV Tehachapi Simplex: No Tone Tehachapi Simplex: No Tone Open Machine Open Machine Overlooks Bakersfield Local Simplex Local Simplex In addition to the repeaters listed above the following repeaters, part of the Kern System, can be reached from locations throughout the Tehachapi area. They are linked together and more information may be found at Frazier Mountain (8,000 ) PL KK6AC - Jerry Garis Cummings Mountain (7,800 ) PL KI6HHU Lee Bouchard Double Mountain (8,000 ) PL KI6HHU Lee Bouchard ATTENTION: For those interested in monitoring dispatch for the Bear Valley Springs Police Department - All dispatch for BVSPD will be handled by the Kern County Sheriff s Department - KCSO Eastern Dispatch: KCSO East TAC:

6 CLUB & Other WEBSITES TARA TARA Facebook Page: AVARC BVSERT KCCVARC ARRL: WKCARES: TARA Officers and Committee s President: Phill Turok (AE5PT, phill.turok@gmail.com) 1 st Vice President: Dan Mason (AB6DM, imprezaspeed@yahoo.com) 2 nd Vice President: John Dyer (KM6DXY, km6dxy@arrl.net) Secretary: Valerie Mason (KK6WLQ, val3mason@yahoo.com) Treasurer: Sylvia Dolber (KD6UUC, sylviaquilts@gmail.com) Web Page: Dan Mason (AB6DM, imprezaspeed@yahoo.com) Facebook: Phil Dolber (W6WBT, w6wbt@arrl.net) TARA Meeting and Club Membership Information The Tehachapi Amateur Radio Association meets every second Thursday of the month at 7:00 PM (except for July - no meeting). Our meetings are held at the Mountain Aire Estates Activities Center, 600 South Dennison Road in Tehachapi, Ca. Drive in the entrance and the Activities Center is straight ahead. T.A.R.A. Member Annual Dues: Additional Family Member: $25.00/year $12.50/per person Club address: T.A.R.A., PO Box 1681, Tehachapi, CA Membership Application On the last page of this newsletter is a copy of our Membership Application. Please share this with any friends, family or neighbors that are either Hams or may be interested in Amateur Radio. Applications can and will be accepted at all club meetings. If you prefer, you may mail your application along with the applicable dues to the club Post Office Box as follows: Tehachapi Amateur Radio Association (TARA) P.O. Box 1681 Tehachapi, CA

7 Yuma Hamfest 2018 By Phil Dolber W6WBT

8 Thursday morning February 15 th I experienced an uncontrollable urge for a hamfest fix. I called my wife to verify that she had Friday off and would like to join me on a little adventure. We hung up, I put in for a vacation day Friday, worked the remainder of the day hurrying home to pack. By the way at lunch I called 9 hotels and finally found one that still had a room. We hit the road for the Yuma Hamfest at 0600 Friday morning. The hamfest opened at noon and by my calculations, with a one hour a meal stop, I could easily catch the first seminar was interested in and Sylvia would be off to visit her friends at the Library where she had worked. The Yuma Hamfest, once called, The Yuma Hamfest and Emergency Preparedness show, first started in I believe the entry fee was 1 dollar. It is held at the, rustic, Yuma Fair Grounds, a perfect venue for the time of year and the size of the crowd. That first year the attendance was 400 people. The Yuma Hamfest is hosted by the Yuma Amateur Radio Hamfest Organization (YARHO) which is the Clubs sole purpose. They were officially recognized as an ARRL affiliated club in 2013 and completed their Articles of Association in May The articles state the purpose of the Association is to: promote an interest in Amateur Radio communication for the purpose of providing communication in the event of disasters or other emergencies; further public safety through the advancement of emergency radio communication techniques; foster education in the field of emergency radio communication; disseminate technical and educational information relating to emergency communication; educate the general public regarding emergency preparedness by means of seminars and information displays. These goals shall be accomplished by sponsoring an annual convention (called a hamfest ) for Amateur Radio operators and the general public. By 2010 Attendance had doubled in 2016 and 2018 they hosted the ARRL Southwest Division Convention and this year s attendance is 1,452 and still counting. The Yuma Hamfest has also hosted the Southwest Section Convention in the past. The vendor area was about the same with a couple of new names attending, the Drawings were awesome they had both Door Prize and the Grand Prize drawings There was nothing on the Grand Prize list I would not have been pleased to win (Although I didn t). See the list of prizes near the end of the article. The seminars this year did not disappoint and the attendance for the tailgating was the best I ve seen. With lots of worthwhile goodies for: operators, collectors and experimenters to name just a few enthusiast s that would fine interesting items to purchase. There was also a Country Store, a consignment area, for those with equipment to sell that did not want to be tied down by tailgating. There were over 20 vendors showing and selling their wares A.R.R.L. Amateur Radio Council of Arizona (ARCA) American Red Cross Beamspeed Internet Service Bodily Defense, personal protection equip. Civil Air Patrol DX Store DXCC Field Checkers FlexRadio FUE Enterprises, hand soldering equipment Ham Radio Outlet Hi Tech Liquidators, electronics surplus and close out bargains Impulse Electronics, Go Box parts Lido Radio Products, radio mounts Micro node International, Plug & Play IRLP, AllStar, EchoLink, D Star, C4FM, DMR, dpmr & P25 Hotspot Solutions. On The Go Products, embroidery services, caps, shirts Pacific Antenna Palomar Engineers, Antenna & RFI/EMI products & parts PAPA System, Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) RF Gear 2 Go, Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) Tote A Lee Yours, handmade fabric tote bag Wired Communications, Yuma County Sheriff's Office, 18 Seminars offered something of interest to most Hams and auxiliary communicators. For those who did not want to sit all day they offered an antenna clinic and afterword a 2 hour Transmitter Hunt. They even had some seminars for the non Ham XYLs. See the Seminar offerings below. I last attended the Yuma Hamfest in 2012 and I must say returning this year I was not disappointed.

9 Seminar Room 1 Seminar Room 2 Seminar Title Seminar Title Friday SDR Architecture Comparisons One of The Force of Fifty ARRL To the Rescue Lightning Andflmsg and Using Smartphones Grounding How to Pass the Ham Exams Saturday Flex Radio Advances in SDR Test Equipment and Ham Radio New Technician Class EXAM Q Pool, Gordon West Raspberry Pi and Arduino Stealth Antennas ARES and Agency Relationships AREDN (Amateur Radio Emergency Digital Network) Is Your Transmitter the SOURCE of RFI? Kit Building for Success Intro to DMR and Hotspots ARRL Forum, internal goings on Q&A Introduction to Digital Amateur Television Non Ham Seminars Saturday Making Pineneedle Baskets & Gourd Art Container Gardening for the Southwest Essential Oils & Better Living Olsen Tasting Event, Olsen's Marketplace's famous Kammann sausage. I sent an to Jeff Weeks, listed as the point of contact on the hamfest web page, and asked some questions about the Hamfest. He provided the information about the attendance, YARHO and directly addressed my questions. Phil: The Hamfest used to have Emergency Preparedness in the title. Is the Hamfest moving away from emergency preparedness? Or has interest in that aspect decreased among attendees? Jeff: The main reason we use hamfest or something with ham in it is because that is what the amateur radio community recognizes. When you call something a Hamfest, Hamcation, or Hamvention, everyone, ok hams, know what you re referring to. The use of hamfest is more common. Our marketing materials still reference and have bullet items referring to emergency preparedness. Many of the seminars still have emergency preparedness aspects and overtones to them. Some years the seminars are more emergency/disaster related than others. It just depends on presenters and the topics that are really hot at that point in time. This year AREDN has been a big topic at many hamfests and it has great emergency value. We had Craig McVeay (N0CSM) talk about his experiences in Puerto Rico using amateur radio during disaster relief. While it may not be in the title, I don t think the correlation between amateur radio and emergency preparedness will ever go away. Phil: In I seem to remember that the big three, Kenwood, Yaesu and ICOM had booths along with Elecraft. Is there a reason that these companies have stopped attending the Yuma Hamfest? Jeff There are many hamfests throughout the year and the big three like everyone else are more cautious with their marketing and travel budgets. One issue is that the week before the Yuma Hamfest, Hamcation happens in Florida on the other side of the country. We are trying to get the big three to return and we have others that rub shoulders with them that are trying to get them to see the value in coming back to the Yuma Hamfest. The one thing I can say, is when they do come back, the western hams must come and spend money and make it worth their while, if they are to be there year after year. Jeff HRO Phoenix came this year. It was their first time. Normally HRO San Diego was the HRO face. This year Phoenix decided to come and it was worth their while. Nano node International came this year from Henderson, NV. This was the first time they have come and

10 they said the hamfest was good to them. FlexRadio has been coming regularly and have been pleased with the Yuma Hamfest. I think as the Yuma Hamfest gets more exposure and word of mouth starts getting around, major companies will start looking at the Yuma Hamfest again. I want to thank Jeff for taking the time to put his information together for me. I know that right after the hamfest is a very busy time for their organization and I want him to know both efforts are greatly appreciated. As I mentioned earlier they raffled some pretty nice prizes. The Grand Prize Drawing held was after everyone was served at the buzzard BBQ (Catered by Famous Dave s) The Grad prizes and sample of the door prizes, can be viewed below 16 grand prizes worth over $25,000were available to win (you did not have to be present to win). Grand prize tickets were $2 each, six for $10, or 15 for $20. 1st Prize FlexRadio FLEX 6700 SDR meters 2nd Prize Icom IC meters 3rd Prize Elecraft K3S 100W Kit meters 4th Prize Yaesu FTDX 3000D meters 5th Prize Kenwood TS 590SG meters 6th Prize Yaesu FT 991A meters 2m 7 70cm 7th Prize Icom IC meters 8th Prize Elecraft KX3 Kit meters 9th Prize Yaesu FTDX 1200, meters 10th Prize Elecraft KX2, meters 11th Prize Yaesu FT 891, meters 12th Prize Kenwood TM D710G, APRS, w/ GPS 144/440 MHz Mobile 13th Prize Yaesu FT 817ND HF/VHF/UHF QRP 14th Prize Icom ID 5100A Dual band D Star 15th Prize Yaesu FTM 400XDR, Dual band mobile 16th Prize Kenwood TM V71A, Dual band mobile Door Prizes They also offered tickets for door prizes that were drawn hourly drawings. You did have to be present to win these. Below are just some of door prizes offered this year. Tickets were $1 each, or six for $5. 5 Hyper ORIA Screwdriver set were drawn for. 2 Ultra Bright LED Book Light were drawn for. 1 LaCrosse Wireless Color Weather Station1 Noco 1 Genius G3500 Smart Battery Charger 1 CAT Rechargeable LED Light 1 embrighten LED Lantern 2 Powerwerx 150 piece powerpole set 2 Powerwerx powerpole TRIcrimp 5 Foxelli Headlamp Brite White/Red Led 4 Baofeng UV 5R V2+ Dual Band HTs (USA Warranty)

11 Some other things worth mentioning The offered onsite camping. $15 for preregistration and $20 if you haven t planned ahead. Most spaces had0 electrical 20, 30, 50 AMPS (first come first serve). Most sites are in the lawn area near the main building. All sites are dry camping only however, there is a dump site on the grounds. Tent camping is also allowed, because the contractual arrangements all camping is the same price camping. Camping is allowed starting Thursday night through Saturday night, with a strictly enforced exit by noon on Sunday. There were more food venders this year. The regular food concession, boasts meals prepared by a personal chef, was open at 07:00, for breakfast and 1100, for lunch. Most breakfast and lunch items cost $4.00 to $6.00. In addition, there was a pizza vendor, a home made root beer/root beer float vendor and a kettle corn vendor open throughout the afternoon on Friday and all day Saturday. For dinner there are many good restaurants in Yume however, keep in mind this is snowbird season and Yuma s population is double this time of year. Reservations are definitely a good idea. We chose one of our favorite places the River City Grill (Mediterranean food) with a nice patio. Perfect for the 72 degree weather In conclusion even though I didn t win one of the awesome Grand Prizes This hamfest is better than most in southern California, worth the drive and the motel. I attended 7 seminars and I felt that most were well done and interesting well worth my time and attention. Did I mention that the entry fee went up to $5.00 around 2010? It and has remained at that price since. I give this Hamfest 2 thumbs up.

12 MEMBERSHIP TYPE (Check all that apply) New Member Individual $25.00 / Year Renewal Family $12.50 / Additional Family Member / Year APPLICANT INFORMATION TEHACHAPI AMATEUR RADIO ASSOCIATION P.O. BOX 1681 TEHACHAPI, CA MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION Date of Application Call Sign License Classification / License Held Technician General Extra First Name Last Name Street Address Apt. / Unit City State Zip Code Home Phone Number Cell Phone Number ( ) ( ) Address Background Have you ever been convicted of a crime, felony, etc.? If so, please provide details below: No Yes Details: Other Memberships ARRL ARES RACES CERT OTHER Family Members in Household (Fill out only if completing a Family Membership) Call Sign Class (T/G/E) First & Last Name Age Amount Paid Cash / Check Date Approval Applicant Signature: Date: Revised October 12, 2017