Sep 14

Volunteers Wanted: Special Olympics Fall Games

Special Olympics BallFrom Scott Marsiglia, KI6KWI

The Special Olympics Fall Games will take place in Fountain Valley the weekend of November 14th and 15th. The Special Olympics has appreciated the amateur radio operators participation for the past few years and I would like to continue that effort for this worthy cause.

I have already sent an email to our members that volunteered for the Summer Games though I wanted to see if any other club members might be interested volunteering for this event.

Special Olympics Southern California would not exist today without the expertise, time, and enthusiasm of its volunteers.

The Fall Games attracts more than 1,100 athletes from across Southern California who will compete for gold, silver, and bronze medals and ribbons in six sports. Fountain Valley Recreation Center and Sports Park will host soccer, softball, tennis and volleyball. You can visit the Southern California Special Olympics Fall Games web site: https://www.sosc.org/fallgames

Anyone interested in signing up needs to contact me for the official sign up online form. This detail is working directly under the direction of Special Olympics staff and this detail requires a simple background check due to the close proximity our operators have with the athletes. Any additional operators will be very appreciated, lunch and refreshments are provided to anyone working the full shift.

My contact information is Scott Marsiglia (310) 370-5215

smarsiglia1@msn.com

Thank you in advance,

Best Regards,

KI6KWI
Scott Marsiglia

 

Sep 09

Volunteers Wanted: W6TRW Comm Truck at ARRL Convention September 12

hamcon2015logo-TransparentThe ARRL Southwestern Division Convention – HAMCON 2015 – will take place on September 11-13 at the Torrance Marriott Hotel. You do not need to be an ARRL member to attend.

You’ll find all kinds of great stuff going on at the convention including ham radio manufacturers and vendors with deals on their goods, exhibits, and technical talks. There will be door prize raffles, VE testing, A T-Hunt and a W1AW Special Event station operated by volunteers from the South Bay Amateur Radio Club.

Our 2 meter and 440 repeaters may be used as talk-in frequencies for the convention.

The W6TRW Amateur Radio Club is going to display its communication truck outside the convention hall along with some other communications vehicles on Saturday, September 12. Volunteers are needed to staff the truck and show it off to visitors from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

If you are interested please contact Ray Enriquez, KD6IGI or use the Contact Form on this website to let us know.

Information on HAMCON 2015 can be found on their website at hamconinc.org

 

Sep 09

My Volunteer Experience – Special Olympics World Games 2015

DSC04523 By Mike Hamada, KF6UCN,

After the W6TRW Swap Meet on the last Saturday in July, I prepared for the 2015 Special Olympics World Games, as a volunteer for 5 days (35 hours).

Briefing was on Thursday, 7/23. On Sunday, 7/26, I assisted Spectator Services at the Special Olympics World Games Sailing practice event held at Belmont Pier in Long Beach.  I had my Marine Hand Held, which I purchased at the W6TRW Swap Meet for the monitoring of emergency channels and weather channels.

On Tuesday, 7/28 through Friday, 7/31, I had to be at Long Beach Marine Stadium at 06:30.  I worked as a Team Lead Person for Spectator Services, assisting with any safety issues, crowd management issues, and Spectator Services issues.  I was also responsible for making sure Spectator Services personnel had water, snacks, and shift breaks, similar to what I do for the W6TRW Swap Meet.

Long Beach Fire Dept. was called on the last day and was requested to arrive on the Support Services side, since it was closer to the Medical Tent.   I saw the Long Beach Fire Dept. arrive, then another Long Beach Fire Engine arrived from the opposite direction.  I notified all personnel on the radios that Long Beach Fire was also approaching from my location.  Everything worked out and the Special Olympics World Games Awards Ceremony continued.

The spectators and athletes had a good time and it was a fun event for me.  I used what I learned from previous Special Olympics So Cal events, W6TRW Swap Meet events, and various South Bay City and County events.

73, Always Have a Back Up Plan.

Be Prepared.

 

Mike Hamada

KF6UCN

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Sep 01

Club Meeting Tuesday Sept 8 — Sidewalk Earth-Moon-Earth with Doug Millar, K6JEY

W6TRW General Meeting:  Doug Millar K6JEY — Sidewalk Earth-Moon-Earth (EME)

September 8, 2015 at 5:30 pm

Roundtable Pizza, 4330 Redondo Beach Blvd, Torrance

 

CLICK HERE TO VIEW / DOWNLOAD A PDF FLYER FOR THIS MEETING EVENT

K6JEY

 

Moonbounce, is a form of wireless communication in which the moon is used as a passive satellite. The moon is approx. 250,000 miles away from the earth. Bouncing radio signals via the moon and back to earth is a real challenge. Any licensed amateur can conduct EME transmissions on VHF and UHF frequencies. Doug will discuss basics and show how he uses his home station.  This is the ultimate DX.

 

Frontier Scientist, Doug Millar, K6JEY, has been a ham since 1957. He built his first microwave rig for 1.2 GHz in 1960 out of a surplus Navy IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) system. He has been doing EME since 1990. He was one member of a team of hams used the 140 ft dish at Owen’s Valley Radio Observatory for EME.  A member of the San Bernardino Microwave Society W6IFE, he is the ARRL Tech Advisor in Metrology, writing chapters on Test Procedures in the ARRL Handbook.  K6JEY holds an EdD in Education Technology and is a semi-retired professor. His favorites are HF, CW, AM, boatanchors and microwaves. Doug has radios on bands up to 122 GHz.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW / DOWNLOAD A PDF FLYER FOR THIS MEETING EVENT

 

Jul 13

Swap Meet to Remain at NG Through December 2015

NOTICE:

W6TRW Swap MeetWe are pleased to announce that the W6TRW Swap Meet will continue to be held at Northrop Grumman through the end of the year.  This means that Swap Meets and VE Testing will continue as usual through December 2015.

The Swap Meet will be moving to a new location in January, 2016. That location will be announced later this year.

Please keep checking this website for updates as they become available.

 

 

Jul 06

Club Meeting Tuesday July 14 – Bill Shanney, W6QR – HF Transcievers

W6TRW General Meeting Tuesday, July 14th at 5:30 pm

Roundtable Pizza, 4330 Redondo Beach Blvd, Torrance

Bill Shanney W6QRHe’s Back! Guest Speaker Bill Shanney, W6QR on HF Transceivers

W6TRW welcomes one its own, longtime member, Bill Shanney, W6QR, to center stage.  A ham operator since 1960, Bill has written many technical articles in the club’s Crosstalk newsletter and stays current with ham radio items of interest for beginners to the most advanced operators.

Join us Tuesday night!   Find out why HF is Bill’s favorite band.

Download Bill’s presentation.

“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.”

Jun 21

Information on W6TRW Field Day

Field Day SignHi, all –

It’s summertime, and the annual ARRL Field Day is here again!  Please join us on 27-28 June at Friendship Park in San Pedro.  There will be lots of opportunities to learn about radio technology and radio operation firsthand, and to get on the air!  It’s also a great time to meet the other W6TRW club members, so don’t miss out!

We are going to operate as class 7A (7 stations, generator power) as we traditionally have done.  We will have several HF bands, digital modes, VHF-UHF stations, the Get-On-The-Air station, and we will be trying for a satellite contact.

Please see the links below for more Field Day information:

https://w6trw.com/index.php/w6trw-field-day/

https://w6trw.com/index.php/2015/05/28/w6trw-field-day-june-27-28/

and see the ARRL Field Day page:

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

Please reply to me, or to our W6TRW web page contact link, to ask for more info or to get involved.  We really want to see you at Field Day and we hope you will get some excellent experience.  You can also contact Ray, KD6IGI, to coordinate or volunteer for any part of Field Day, and you can contact Jason,KD6ELS if you want to help with setup on Friday 26 June or teardown on Sunday 28 June.

The map of the local area around Friendship Park is here.  It shows the location of our Field Day setup, on the high ground in the park.

During the Field Day operations (9 AM Saturday 27 June to noon Sunday 28 June), for entry, call:

447.000 PL 203.5 – (local Field Day repeater)

145.320 PL 114.8 – (W6TRW wide area repeater)

Call for any of the following call signs:

KE6YEX, KD6IGI, KD6ELS, KF6UCN, “W6TRW Field Day Site”

We will get you into the site.

See you there!!

— Greg KE6YEX

 

Jun 20

Special Olympics Summer Games Cal State University Long Beach

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The W6TRW ARC crew at the Special Olympics. Left to right: Scott Marsiglia, KI6KWI, Doug Walker, W6DOW, Mike Hamada, KF6UCN, Michael Bao, AI6BJ, John Bacon, KG6IMP.

On Saturday & Sunday June 13th &14th W6TRW club members John Bacon KG6IMP, Michael Bao AI6BJ, Mike Hamada KF6UCN, Scott Marsiglia KI6KWI, and Doug Walker W6DOW assisted SCRAN, the South Coast Radio Amateur Network group as additional sport venue Amateur Radio communications for Special Olympics Summer Games at Cal State University Long Beach.

This was probably the best showing and representation of W6TRW club members ever for Special Olympics working with Mark Lidikay’s group SCRAN.

Each club member worked at assigned details, John Bacon Track & Field, Michael Bao Gymnastics & Basket Ball, Mike Hamada Volunteer Check-in, Scott Marsiglia Aquatics, and Doug Walker at Games Headquarters to relay important venue information to net control assisting with making Special Olympics events run very smoothly.

On Saturday after the games ended for the day, our volunteers were all treated to a great dinner at the “Dog Pound” (the Dog Pound is the distribution Nerve Center for all Special Olympic Staff members and key Volunteers). Anniversary awards were given to volunteers and staff members.

The games went extremely well as the athletes enjoyed a smooth and well orchestrated Special Olympics event. Amateur Radio is appreciated and requested each year for both Summer Games and Fall Special Olympic Games.

Special Olympics is a hard event to work, not anyone can do this, but the people who do volunteer work at this event and the Special Olympic staff members are the best people I have ever volunteered for. I for one am grateful to Mike, John, Douglas and Michael for their support, I think I received the best radio operators the club had to offer.  Special thanks to all W6TRW club members for a job well done.

— Scott, KI6KWI

Click the link below for photos.

Continue reading

Jun 09

W6TRW ARC Meeting June 9

W6TRW Monthly General Meeting

Roundtable Pizza, 4330 Redondo Beach Blvd, Torrance

Tuesday, June 9th at 5:30 pm

Speaker Topic:  Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS)

 

arisslogGet ready for the world of Amateur Radio on the ISS:  Hams in Space!  Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, will show us his latest work with ARISS and video of a radio contact with an astronaut.  AJ9N and ARISS have been inspiring students as an interface between the schools and NASA.

Please see the ARISS flyer.  This will be a very interesting and informative presentation, and should be relevant to our planned satellite contact effort at Field Day.  Perhaps some W6TRW members can share their satellite, MIR or ISS contact experiences.

 

 

 

May 28

W6TRW Field Day June 27-28

IMG_0826The W6TRW Amateur Radio Club returns this year to Deane Dana Friendship Park in San Pedro for Field Day.

Since the first ARRL Field Day in 1933, radio amateurs throughout North America have practiced the rapid deployment of radio communications equipment in environments ranging from operations under tents in remote areas to operations inside Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs). Operations using emergency and alternative power sources are highly encouraged, since electricity and other public infrastructures are often among the first to fail during a natural disaster or severe weather.

W6TRW plans to set up 7 separate stations operating simultaneously on HF through UHF in the park using emergency power generators. We’ll also use solar power, batteries, and satellites for communications and set up a special youth station operated by scouts.

Setup will start on Friday, June 26. Field Day operating will be from 11:00 AM Saturday, June 27 until 11:00 AM Sunday, June 28. Sunday afternoon will be teardown of the towers, antennas, and equipment and cleanup of the site.

All of this can’t happen without a lot of dedicated people. We’re looking for help setting up, operating, and teardown afterwards. If you are interested in participating in Field Day with W6TRW, contact Club President and Field Day Chair Greg Shreve by clicking on the “Contact” tab on the web site and sending your message.

We will have a great event and great activities. Come out and join us and learn what fun amateur radio can be and how to get your amateur radio ‘ham’ license before the next disaster strikes.

More details are on our Field Day page.