Aug 26

W6TRW Club Meeting September 10th, 2024

Speaker Topic for this Month:

“Extreme but Practical Antennas for Portable Ops”

Adam Kimmerly, K6ARK

One of Adam’s favorite aspects of the amateur radio hobby is antenna design and construction, and over the years, he has come up with several antennas that fall into the category of “extreme” or possibly even “ridiculous” but are also amazingly practical in certain situations. In this presentation, Adam will review a few antenna designs and the process of creating them from concept and design to prototyping, testing, and tuning.

Adam Kimmerly, K6ARK, is an avid SOTA activator, engineer, and search and rescue member. Adam has been a ham since 2010 and much of his radio activity consists of portable operations. With the goal of continually making his setup more compact, effective, and light, Adam has come up with several antennas and other kits and components that help him achieve his goals. Adam’s website https://k6ark.com and YouTube channel provide him a way to share them with everyone.

When: Tuesday, September 10th at 5:30 PM

Where: Northrop Grumman S-Cafe and Virtual Meeting on Zoom

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82794654895

Meeting ID: 827 9465 4895

Phone dial-in: 1 669 900 6833

Jul 31

W6TRW Club Meeting August 13th, 2024

In-Person Meeting

We will be holding the monthly W6TRW general meeting at noon on Tuesday August 13th, in the east patio of the Building S Cafeteria on the Northrop Grumman campus in Redondo Beach.  This lunch meeting takes place of the W6TRW evening Zoom meeting for August; no guest speaker for August.

See the map below if you are not familiar with the Northrop Grumman Space Park Redondo Beach campus.  Look for Building “S” on the map, head North of the building and walk down the stairs. The meeting will take place on the left (east) patio.

When: Tuesday, August 13th at Noon

Where: S Cafeteria East Patio, Northrop Grumman

No Zoom Meeting for August

Jul 02

W6TRW Club Meeting July 9th, 2024

Speaker Topic for this Month:

“SOTA Adventures with X-Band”

Ara Kourchians, N6ARA

Join us for an exciting deep dive into the world of Summits on the Air (SOTA) and the technical challenges of operating X-Band radios atop mountains. In this presentation, Ara will share his unique experiences with miniaturizing field gear while striving for greater capabilities. Discover more about the equipment, signal propagation, and practical tips for achieving a successful activation across the many bands!

Ara Kourchians, N6ARA, is a Robotics Electrical Engineer with an extensive background in circuit design, embedded systems, visual effects, robotics, and space systems. First licensed in 2007, Ara is constantly seeking new ways to enhance his amateur radio skills. He began his ham radio journey by designing, building, and flying custom APRS trackers for high altitude balloons. After a brief hiatus following college, Ara resumed his ham radio activities in 2020, learned CW and explored the world of HF. Today, you can often find him on mountain tops testing new gear, tinkering with various modes, rigs, and antennas. His enduring passion lies in miniaturizing electronics for lightweight portable operations.

When: Tuesday, July 9th at 5:30 PM

Where: Northrop Grumman S-Cafe and Virtual Meeting on Zoom

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82794654895

Meeting ID: 827 9465 4895

Phone dial-in: 1 669 900 6833

Jun 03

W6TRW Club Meeting June 11, 2024

Speaker Topic for this Month:

“W6TRW Field Day 2024 – Be Radio Active”

Greg Shreve KE6YEX, Dylon N6MX, Mark KD7DTS

 

We’re planning for Field Day 2024.  We’ll be at Friendship Park again this year. 2024 ARRL Field Day’s “Be Radio Active” encourages radio amateurs to take advantage of the peak of Solar Cycle 25, which we are nearing. Activity this year is likely to be extremely high thanks to favorable solar conditions. The upper HF bands, such as 15 and 10 meters, should benefit most from the Cycle’s peak.

We need people to help with setup starting at 8 AM Saturday – you’ll learn a lot about radios, antennas, batteries and solar power, and you’ll get to meet the radio operators.  Stick around and make a few radio contacts!

When: Saturday-Sunday June 22 – 23, 2024

Where: Friendship Park, San Pedro/ RPV

Event Schedule: Club Set-Up starts Saturday 22 June 2024 8:00am
Weekend of 22-23 June 2024

Begins at 1800 UTC Saturday ending at 2100 UTC Sunday

Want to participate? Contact Greg Shreve KE6YEX, greg.shreve2@ngc.com or 310-809-0649 (cell/text) for info.

The W6TRW Amateur Radio Club will set up their antennas and emergency
communications equipment in Friendship Park for the annual emergency response
drill, the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) Field Day. American Radio Relay
League Field Day is a nationwide annual public service drill put on by amateur
radio operators to prepare for volunteer emergency and disaster response.

http://www.arrl.org/field-day

Greg Shreve, KE6YEX

Greg has been the Field Day Co-chair for the past couple of years, along with the veteran radio operators and co-chairs for all the other Field Day activities, the people who have really made Field Day a success, year after year.  Greg is a past president of the W6TRW Amateur Radio Club.

Dylon Mutz, N6MX

Dylon is President of the W6TRW Amateur Radio Club, multi-talented W6TRW Shackmaster, and admin for our Discord server. Dylon managed our Tower 2 refurb, and in the past two years, he has organized a number of work parties for new HF antennas, a complete re-build of our club’s satellite antennas, as well as implementing and assisting numerous repeater upgrades and AllStar nodes, and participating in the annual ARRL VHF contests.  Dylon has been a key member of the W6TRW Field Day team for the past several years.

Mark Knight, KD7DTS

Mark was originally licensed in the late 1990s.  After moving to California, he started volunteering as a forest ranger with the San Gorgonio Wilderness Association (SGWA). Part of being a ranger is keeping in radio contact with the Forest Service to respond to emergencies. He modified his original Yaesu FT50R, to get back on the air while in the mountains – and he discovered an amazing SOTA and POTA community. All Mark’s operations are QRP from a backpack or a bicycle, powered exclusively by batteries and coffee. Mark is W6TRW Amateur Radio Club Secretary this year, and he has a key role in engineering our QRP Field Day 2024, as he did in 2023.

When: Tuesday, June 11th at 5:30 PM

Where: Northrop Grumman S-Cafe and Virtual Meeting on Zoom

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82794654895

Meeting ID: 827 9465 4895

Phone dial-in: 1 669 900 6833

May 07

W6TRW Club Meeting May 14th, 2024

Speaker Topic for this Month:

“Everything Electrical Vehicles”

Aaron Dyer

Aaron Dyer moved to California in 2007 and has lived in Ontario since 2011. He is the Senior Manager of the Program Design and Development team in Southern California Edison (SCE)’s Customer Programs and Services organization. His team focuses on designing programs and services for SCE’s customers that will advance the deployment of clean energy solutions, with specific focus on transportation and building electrification. Aaron is an engineer-by-training and, prior to joining SCE in 2019, he spent over a decade designing emissions control systems for power plants and petrochemical facilities. He went on to manage the development of multiple lithium-ion based energy storage products.

Aaron will be presenting Everything About Electrical Vehicles (EVs). Whether one chooses a pre-owned or a new car, this presentation will help the consumers make informed decisions as this is a significant household purchase. Some topics are getting started on the road to ownership, what’s involved along the way, and how to maximize cost-saving benefits while going green with EV. Learn how SCE customers saved time and costs by making the switch to EV.

When: Tuesday, May 14th at 5:30 PM

Where: Northrop Grumman S-Cafe and Virtual Meeting on Zoom

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82794654895

Meeting ID: 827 9465 4895

Phone dial-in: 1 669 900 6833

Apr 03

W6TRW Club Meeting April 9th, 2024

Speaker Topic for this Month:

“Two Projects in Amateur Television“

Dylon Mutz, N6MX

Dylon is the W6TRW Amateur Radio Club 2024 President and Shackmaster. He graduated from CSU, Fullerton in 2015 with a B.S. in Computer Engineering and started his career at NG shortly after in digital design and verification. Dylon joined W6TRW around the same time and credits club members for everything he knows about RF. His interests and projects cover digital hardware, software, and RF. Dylon has also helped manage and participate in our Tower 2 refurb, and in the past two years, he has organized a number of work parties for new HF antennas, a complete re-build of our club’s satellite station, as well as implementing and assisting our repeater upgrades and Allstar nodes, and participating in the annual ARRL VHF contests. Dylon has also been a key member of the W6TRW Field Day team for the past few years.

Come hear Dylon N6MX’s talk about his experience getting into Amateur Television! Dylon will summarize some of the main things he’s learned and present two new and exciting ways he’s used to get on ATV. The first project combines the wideband Pluto SDR, a RTL-SDR dongle, and everyone’s favorite hobby computer, the Raspberry Pi, to build the “Portsdown” digital ATV transceiver! The second project uses inexpensive commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) drone hardware to get on 5.8GHz! Dylon will show the parts needed and how to put these systems together so you can get on the air too!

When: Tuesday, April 9th at 5:30 PM

Where: Northrop Grumman S-Cafe and Virtual Meeting on Zoom

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82794654895

Meeting ID: 827 9465 4895

Phone dial-in: 1 669 900 6833

Feb 27

W6TRW Club Meeting March 12th, 2024

Speaker Topic for this Month:

“Test Equipment for Hams, including Vector Network Analyzers (VNAs) Explained”

Doug Millar, K6JEY

K6JEY explores practical, affordable choices for hams with the latest test tools and equipment from the lesser known to the more familiar instrument operating capabilities and alternatives to help you make the right decision.

Is your multimeter accurate?!

Bring yours in for a test using Doug’s voltage and resistance standards!

Doug Millar, call-sign K6JEY, has been a ham since 1957 and since 1990 likes to operate EME (Moon Bounce) on the sidewalk in front of his home. He is the ARRL Technical Advisor in Metrology, having written the 26th chapter in the ARRL Handbook on Test Equipment and Procedures (1995-2014), and keeps a home lab for measuring frequency, resistance, and RF power. K6JEY enjoys HF CW, AM, boat anchors, and microwaves. Doug has radios on bands up to 122 GHz. He holds an EdD in Educational Technology and is a semi-retired professor.

He will be leading a visit to Owens Valley Radio Observatory on the Weekend of June 7. The visit will include a tour of the observatory and nighttime astronomy. You can bring your own scope or look through others. More information is available if you email him at drzarkof56@yahoo.com.

When: Tuesday, March 12th at 5:30 PM

Where: Northrop Grumman S-Cafe and Virtual Meeting on Zoom

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82794654895

Meeting ID: 827 9465 4895

Phone dial-in: 1 669 900 6833

Feb 05

W6TRW Club Meeting February 13th, 2024

Speaker Topic for this Month:

“Portable Operation – Preparation and Equipment Selection”

Bill Shanney, W6QR

W6TRW welcomes one of its own, longtime members, Bill Shanney, W6QR. A ham operator since 1960, Bill has written many technical articles and talks for W6TRW and stays current with ham radio items of interest for beginners to the most advanced operators.

“My first call was WV2RDG in NJ. I became WA2RDG when I got my general in 1961. I operate 99.5% CW on 160-6M. After a long period of inactivity (career and family) I upgraded to extra class in 1988 and became very active. That is also the year that I joined the TRW ARC. I have a BSEE from NJ Institute of Technology and worked for 45 years in RF and microwave design. I retired from NG/TRW in 2007 after 31 years with the company.”

Portable operating is becoming more popular. With the rapid rise of Sunspot Cycle 25, band conditions are more favorable to low power operation. In this presentation, Bill will talk about making the best use of your time and getting the most performance from your equipment. A portable operator needs to know a little about propagation and understand the performance of their antenna. He will talk about Propagation: When Should I Go Out, Vertical Antenna Performance, Horizontal Antenna Placement, and QRP Field Day.

When: Tuesday, February 13th at 5:30 PM

Where: Northrop Grumman S-Cafe and Virtual Meeting on Zoom

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82794654895

Meeting ID: 827 9465 4895

Phone dial-in: 1 669 900 6833

Jan 02

W6TRW Club Meeting January 9th, 2024

Speaker Topic for this Month:

“What is AREDN?”

Orville Beach, W6BI

Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network (AREDN™) is a high speed data network built with Amateur Radio Operators and Emergency Communications Infrastructure in mind.

AREDN Ambassador, Orv Beach, W6BI, will explain the mission of the AREDN Project, what a mesh network is, and a high-level “how to” on designing a wide-area mesh for restoring Inter/intra data-networking during disasters when primary network infrastructure has failed. Examples of what has been and can be deployed across these networks:

  • Computer Aided Dispatch (Responder management)
  • Incident response and mapping solutions
  • Static and video imagery of evolving situations.
  • Real-time communications and systems
  • Winlink message networks
  • Asset management and monitoring (Repeater control, solar power management, etc.)

Orv W6BI lives in Simi Valley, California. He’s a retired Linux system administrator, an ARRL Santa Barbara Section Technical Specialist and an AREDN Ambassador.

Orv W6BI was first licensed as WN6WEY in 1967. He’s been into with digital ham radio most of his life, starting with CW. He worked his way up through RTTY, PACTOR, packet radio and PSK31, and started messing around with ham radio networking in 2014. He helped deploy the initial network nodes and backbone buildout in Ventura County and western Los Angeles County. He currently administers several dozens of them.

He is also active in coordinating the build-out and maintenance of the wider Southern California ham radio network, which now spans from Paso Robles in Central California to the Mexican border and east of Las Vegas, comprising over 450 nodes (both hilltop and ground-level); including hospitals, police departments and EOCs.

As an AREDN Ambassador he has given over 60 presentations about ham radio networking using AREDN software over the last five years and elmered many hams worldwide on ham radio networking. He’s active in AREDN groups in Facebook, Slack, Telegram, and Discord, and monitors the forums on the AREDN website.

When: Tuesday, January 9th at 5:30 PM

Where: Northrop Grumman S-Cafe and Virtual Meeting on Zoom

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82794654895

Meeting ID: 827 9465 4895

Phone dial-in: 1 669 900 6833

Dec 22

W6TRW Winter Field Day 2024

W6TRW Amateur Radio Club

Winter Field Day 2024

Welcome to our first W6TRW Winter Field Day!

WHEN:

  • Date January 27-28, 2024
  • Time 1100 Saturday – 1059 Sunday (PST)

WHERE:

  • Chino Hills State Park at the Rolling M. Ranch Campground, Site #GC1

PLANNING TO ATTEND?

  • Please RVSP to Winter Field Day Chairs by email
    • Dylon Mutz, N6MX, n6mx@arrl.net
    • Mark Knight, KD7DTS, kd7dts@arrl.net

WINTER FIELD DAY

The mission of Winter Field Day (WFD) is to encourage emergency preparedness during winter months when weather presents unique operational challenges. WFD will:

1 – Build your skills/confidence for winter camping

2 – Provide experience conducting outdoor radio communications under unusual conditions

CAMPING

Tents only. The group site we have reserved is a drive-up primitive site. There is a bathroom, but no other amenities. (you can reserve your own adjacent site if you want to bring a camper)

Chino Hills typically has January temperatures in the range of 69° / 40° – make sure you bring enough layers and a warm sleeping bag.

FOOD

Bring your own food! The club is not providing food – this is a chance to plan how you’d eat in an emergency. Bagged, dehydrated food is an option – or you can bring a stove and get creative!

SOTA/POTA

Chino Hills SP offers opportunities for both Summits on the Air (SOTA) and Parks on the Air (POTA) activations – you can do these in addition to participation in WFD!

  • SOTA San Juan Hill, W6/CT-230 (5.5 mile round trip hike from camp, with 1200 ft of ascent)
  • POTA Chino Hills State Park, K-1139

Click here for more W6TRW Winter Field Day Information