Jan 09

W6TRW Club Meeting January 10, 2023

Speaker Topic for this Month:

“Intro to Amateur Microwave Radio — History of amateur microwave and how to get started”

Dennis Kidder W6DQ

“Hams have always pushed technological limits … in the 20’s SHF meant 28 mcs, and today, we are pushing into mm wavelengths.  We will share a brief history of microwave communications by amateurs, and describe what is needed to get started yourself.”

Dennis was first licensed as WN6NIA in 1969 and was granted W6DQ, the callsign of one of his Elmers, a little over ten years back. He is a retired system engineer out of the aerospace industry, having worked on everything from satellites to airport telecommunications systems, military air traffic control to battlefield comms. Dennis is an amateur radio renaissance man, a collector of the game changing radios from pre World War 2 to the present. He enjoys 80 meter AM on his Collins broadcast transmitter and working 10 GHz SSB with the San Bernardino Microwave Society. Dennis is the co author of Arduino Projects for Amateur Radio and a sought after speaker at ham radio events.

When: Tuesday, January 10th at 6:30 PM

Where: Virtual Meeting on Zoom

Meetings will continue virtually online for the time being, but we plan to discuss returning to in-person meetings in 2023! Stay tuned for future updates!

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

Meeting ID: 827 9465 4895

Phone dial-in: 1 669 900 6833

Dec 08

W6TRW Club Meeting December 13, 2022

Speaker Topic for this Month:

“2022 W6TRW Equipment Upgrades”

Chris Wachs WA2KDL and Dylon Mutz N6MX

With another year coming to an end, it’s a good time to reflect on all that has happened throughout the year.  And there was A LOT that happened this year within the club. This meeting will cover the various upgrades made in 2022 to the W6TRW repeaters, shack, OSCAR station, and tower antennas.  We’ll also cover some of the plans for 2023 and continuation of ongoing projects.

We’re happy to have you join us for the last meeting of the year! Happy Holidays and New Year!

When: Tuesday, December 13th at 6:30 PM

Where: Virtual Meeting on Zoom

Meetings will continue virtually online for the time being, but we plan to discuss returning to in-person meetings in 2023! Stay tuned for future updates!

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

Meeting ID: 827 9465 4895

Phone dial-in: 1 669 900 6833

Oct 27

W6TRW 54th Annual Awards Banquet 2022

W6TRW 54th Annual Awards Banquet 2022!

“RF Safety and Amateur Radio”

Presented by: Wayne Overbeck, N6NB

When: Tuesday, November 12th at 5:00PM – 8:00PM

Where: Northrop Grumman Space Park (Bldg S) Cafeteria

One Space Park, Redondo Beach, CA

Image courtesy of pexels.com

Welcome back to our FIRST in-person event since before the pandemic! Wayne Overbeck, N6NB, will be presenting on RF Safety in Amateur Radio. Wayne previously presented for our club meeting in September on “Roving even before there was roving: A 65-year Odyssey” which was very interesting and really showed off the creativity, ingenuity, and history of the activity! We are very much looking forward to having Wayne back for this banquet presentation.

Join us for a fantastic catered dinner, socialize with other club members and hams, and learn more about our great hobby! Club members also have the opportunity to win door prizes!

Attendees, please fill out form linked below to RSVP.

The RSVP deadline has also been extended to November 4th!

Click here for the W6TRW 54th Annual Awards 2022 RSVP Form

Oct 10

W6TRW Club Meeting October 11, 2022

Speaker Topic for this Month:

“External Filters for Ham Radio:
How to solve a problem, have fun, and make more contacts!”

Dick Knight, N1OR

Hams often encounter interference that can be easily eliminated with the right external
filter. Dick will discuss when this is likely to occur and share tips on how to select a suitable
filter to solve the problem. Options to consider include purchase of completed filters, kits,
and even DIY design. Dick’s talk will include an overview of these options with examples and
sources. Tips will also be included for filter selection, construction, design and evaluation.
Building a filter can be a very enjoyable activity as well as resulting in more contacts in
challenging environments.

Like many University of Illinois graduates, Dick was drawn to the exciting California electronics industry of the 1970’s. He spent a career in government electronics (Watkins Johnson), instrumentation (Tektronix) and a display start up ( Sarif ). In “retirement” he served as Interim Dean of Engineering (Portland State) and other academic roles. In the ‘90’s Dick, his wife and two sons became hams and enjoyed communicating while hiking and climbing in the Oregon wilderness. More recently his son, KD7DTS, began using a Software Defined Radio in high interference areas and enticed Dick into the challenges and pleasures of designing, making, and using external ham radio filters.

 

When: Tuesday, October 11th at 6:30 PM

Where: Virtual Meeting on Zoom

Due to continued COVID-19 public health guidelines, the W6TRW Club Meetings will not be held in person. Instead, there will be a Virtual Meeting held on Zoom. Click on the link below on your computer, tablet, or smartphone.

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

Meeting ID: 827 9465 4895

Phone dial-in: 1 669 900 6833

Sep 05

W6TRW Club Meeting September 13, 2022

Speaker Topic for this Month:

“Roving Even Before There Was Roving: A 65-Year Odyssey”

Wayne Overbeck, N6NB

Photo Credit: ARRL QST magazine

This is a story that began in a little house in Manhattan Beach back when there were many little houses there–some selling for less than $10,000. It’s about “roving” long before it was allowed in VHF contests and it took N6NB (ex-K6YNB) on VHF expeditions from Vermont to Alaska. It started with vacuum tubes and ended with digital technologies.

First licensed in 1957, Wayne Overbeck has been interested in VHF+ operating, and especially portable contesting, for more than 60 years He won the Radio Amateur of the Year Award at the Dayton Hamvention in 1980 as well as the ARRL Technical Excellence Award and the John Chambers Memorial Award of the Central States VHF Society in 1978. He won the Chambers Award again in 2015. He holds Ph.D. and J.D. degrees and is a retired Professor of Communications at California State University, Fullerton. He was the ARRL Southwestern Division Vice Director from 1984 to 1992.

When: Tuesday, September 13th at 6:30 PM

Where: Virtual Meeting on Zoom

Due to continued COVID-19 public health guidelines, the W6TRW Club Meetings will not be held in person. Instead, there will be a Virtual Meeting held on Zoom. Click on the link below on your computer, tablet, or smartphone.

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

Meeting ID: 827 9465 4895

Phone dial-in: 1 669 900 6833

Aug 08

W6TRW Club Meeting August 9, 2022

Speaker Topic for this Month:

“A Brief Recap of Amateur Radio in the ARRL Los Angeles Section during 2022 and the Pandemic”

Diana Feinberg, AI6DF

Diana Feinberg, AI6DF, has served as ARRL Los Angeles Section Manager since 2016 and in numerous other ham radio capacities since 2006. She has been most closely associated with the Palos Verdes Amateur Radio Club at the club level and for emergency communication with the Los Angeles County Disaster Communication Service’s Lomita/South Los Angeles/Marina del Rey districts. Despite living in an antenna-restricted HOA she has worked 95 countries on the HF bands using simple indoor wire dipole antennas with 100 watts or less.

Her topics at the W6TRW August general meeting will be: 1) A brief recap of amateur radio in the ARRL Los Angeles Section during 2022 and the pandemic, as well as recent national ARRL developments, and 2) “The Lighter Side of Amateur Radio, Part 3.” At the November 2017 W6TRW Radio Club holiday dinner members saw Part 1 of “The Lighter Side of Amateur Radio” which characterized how ham radio provides some amusing avenues to an otherwise technical hobby.

When: Tuesday, August 9th at 6:30 PM

Where: Virtual Meeting on Zoom

Due to continued COVID-19 public health guidelines, the W6TRW Club Meetings will not be held in person. Instead, there will be a Virtual Meeting held on Zoom. Click on the link below on your computer, tablet, or smartphone.

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

Meeting ID: 827 9465 4895

Phone dial-in: 1 669 900 6833

Jul 06

W6TRW Club Meeting July 12, 2022

Speaker Topic for this Month:

“Sunspots and Radio Propagation”

Terry Dennison, K9TAD

Terry Dennison K9TAD, will give the latest updates on sunspots and propagation! “Sunspots”: What they are, why they happen, why they are so hard to predict, and their effect on radio propagation. Prospects for Cycle 25 and concerns that too much of a good thing might be bad.

See Terry’s numerous accomplishments as listed below!

FCC Extra Class Amateur Radio License (2010)
First Licensed in 2007
Callsign: K9TAD
Memberships
American Radio Relay League (ARRL)
Volunteer Examiner (VE)
Southern California DX Club
Southern California Contest Club
PAPA System (Southern California FM/DMR/D-Star Repeater Club)
AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation)
G-QRP Club (UK Low-Power QRP Club)
Awards
WAC (Worked All Continents) – Completed
Have confirmed contacts from all six continents for WAC award plus Antarctica:
Antarctica, Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and North and South America

WAS (Worked All States) – Completed
Have confirmed contacts with all 50 US states,
WAS Mixed
20 meter Endorsement
WAS Digital
20 Meter Endorsement
DXCC (Worked 100 Countries and DX entities)
Have confirmed contacts with 126 Countries (and DX entities)
DXCC Mixed
DXCC Digital

73, Terry
K9TAD

When: Tuesday, July 12th at 6:30 PM

Where: Virtual Meeting on Zoom

Due to continued COVID-19 public health guidelines, the W6TRW Club Meetings will not be held in person. Instead, there will be a Virtual Meeting held on Zoom. Click on the link below on your computer, tablet, or smartphone.

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

Meeting ID: 827 9465 4895

Phone dial-in: 1 669 900 6833

Jun 09

W6TRW Club Meeting June 14, 2022

Speaker Topic for this Month:

“W6TRW Field Day 2022 Preparation”

Greg Shreve, KE6YEX

 

Field Day QTH: Friendship Park
1805 W 9th St, San Pedro, CA 90732
Event Schedule: Club Set-Up Saturday 25 June 2022 11:00am
Weekend of 25-26 June 2022

Begins at 1800 UTC Saturday ending at 2100 UTC Sunday

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

 

When: Tuesday, June 14th at 6:30 PM

Where: Virtual Meeting on Zoom

Due to continued COVID-19 public health guidelines, the W6TRW Club Meetings will not be held in person. Instead, there will be a Virtual Meeting held on Zoom. Click on the link below on your computer, tablet, or smartphone.

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

Meeting ID: 827 9465 4895

Phone dial-in: 1 669 900 6833

May 06

W6TRW Club Meeting May 10, 2022

Speaker Topic for this Month:

“EFHW Antenna”

Bill Shanney, W6QR

W6TRW welcomes one its own, longtime members, Bill Shanney, W6QR.  A ham operator since 1960, Bill has written many technical articles 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.”

Find club meeting presentation slides like this one on our Club Presentations page!

 

When: Tuesday, May 10th at 6:30 PM

Where: Virtual Meeting on Zoom

Due to continued COVID-19 public health guidelines, the W6TRW Club Meetings will not be held in person. Instead, there will be a Virtual Meeting held on Zoom. Click on the link below on your computer, tablet, or smartphone.

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

Meeting ID: 827 9465 4895

Phone dial-in: 1 669 900 6833

Apr 01

W6TRW Club Meeting April 12, 2022

Speaker Topic for this Month:

“Activating Parks and Summits on 10W (or less!)”

Mark Knight, KD7DTS

Originally licensed in the late 1990s, I initially got hooked on ham radio as a means of reliable outdoor communications during boy scout expeditions. After a few active years on the air, the sun cycle faded, 10m went dead, and I fell out of contact with amateur radio throughout college, graduate school, and some time overseas in Europe.

After moving to California, I 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. Rather than buy a new radio, or borrow one, I modified my original Yaesu FT50R. That got me back on the air while in the mountains – and I discovered an amazing SOTA and POTA community which emerged since I was last operating.

Fast forward a year or so, and I’ve got a lightweight ‘go’ kit set up for adventures. I carry two radios, a Xiegu X6100 HF+6m rig, and a Yaesu FT5DR HT to cover the 2m/70cm bands with APRS spotting. I’ve got a few antennas, all kit-builds or homebrew, which are all either random wires or tuned EFHW. Courtesy of N1OR, I also have several high-quality homebrew bandpass/BCI filters to protect the front-end of the X6100.

All my operations are QRP from a backpack or a bicycle, and powered exclusively by batteries and coffee. See you on the air soon!

73,

Mark KD7DTS

When: Tuesday, April 12th at 6:30 PM

Where: Virtual Meeting on Zoom

Due to continued COVID-19 public health guidelines, the W6TRW Club Meetings will not be held in person. Instead, there will be a Virtual Meeting held on Zoom. Click on the link below on your computer, tablet, or smartphone.

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

Meeting ID: 827 9465 4895

Phone dial-in: 1 669 900 6833