Tony K6TTP sent us this article on the end-fed half-wave antenna written by John VA3KOT for Ham Radio Outside the Box. “This is probably the best overview article on end-fed half-wave antennas I’ve read in many many years. It broadly addresses in brief the fact and opinion that exists in the EFHW world, and explains the complexities, alternatives, and some variations on the type.” It’s a great introduction for anyone considering constructing one of their own. The caption for the image accompanying this post reads, “49:1 showing 2xFT140-43 ferrite cores. No case, insulated wire protects windings from moisture.”
SPARC was proud to provide communication assistance to South Pas Active Streets during a community cycling event on Saturday, March 16. Jason KM6WJQ and David KK6DA, two active members of ARES LAX NE who recently worked the Firecracker 10k in a similar capacity, lent their considerable expertise. Together with John KK6ZVQ, they monitored the progress of a bike caravan along Mission Street and informed ride marshals whenever the group became split up by red lights or delays.
South Pas Active Streets organized over eighty bicyclists to ride from Garfield Park to the South Pasadena Nature Park and back. Over half of the riders were children, many of whom had never visited the Nature Park or Arroyo bike path before. Several community groups participated in activities at both parks, including South Pasadena Beautiful, Friends of the South Pas Nature Park, the D.U.D.E.S., a local Lionsheart chapter, and The Hive which provided a craft station. Mayor Evelyn Zneimer and Councilperson Janet Braun joined the group and spoke about the importance of community involvement with our civic planning.
Below are two embedded Instagram posts showing a selection of photos from the event.
At our March 2024 meeting, SPARC welcomed Joe and Sandra Fekete to discuss vintage and antique radio restoration. Joe Fekete is an active member of SCARS, the Southern California Antique Radio Society. He was a ham in 1970s and has served as an FCC liaison. He currently lives in Monrovia with his wife Sandra who is a self-described “conehead,” which in the restoration hobby means someone who specializes in repairing speakers.
Joe and Sandra demonstrated their techniques for restoring old radios to appear “right off the assembly line.” For example, when stuffing capacitors they recreate vintage labels to preserve technical information and capture the look of the original components.
The meticulous couple spent three years restoring the radio of a 1957 Corvette on behalf of Cerritos collector Kent Browning.
Here are a few resources the Feketes mentioned for anyone interested in attempting a restoration:
Several SPARC members have extensive experience with vintage ham equipment. Bob WB6YJJ brought in two beautiful vintage radios and an oscilloscope, seen below.
The gleaming transmitter on the right is a working Johnson “Viking Valiant” from the late 1950s. Rick KI6ZKM brought a Hallicrafters rig that he plans to repair.
Tony K6TTP shared several tips for anyone embarking on a restoration:
Document everything with photos.
Locate a trustworthy schematic for your rig and compare it to the physical equipment.
Replace all the capacitors. If a vintage capacitor hasn’t failed, it will.
Tony recommends Old Radio Parts for obtaining replacement components and the website HiFiAudio.com for its many kits and guides. Tony is restoring a Hallicrafters SX-140 with help from HiFiAudio’s guide.
Mark WB6CIA suggested building a collection of vintage tube substitution books. He also consults SAMS Photofact manuals which can be ordered online or found in vintage bookstores.
SPARC thanks the Feketes for a fascinating presentation, and thanks all the members who shared their equipment and wisdom.
Flying around the web, I found this useful booklet created by Noël Martin, F4JJD. It’s called, simply enough, the Amateur Radio Booklet 2024 Edition (3.3 MB PDF). It includes:
Back in October of 2021, SPARC welcomed Jim Wilson, K5ND to discuss 6 meters, the “magic band” of amateur radio. Jim has recently released a new edition of his book Magic Band Revealed. Available in paperback or as a PDF, Jim’s book is one of the most trusted sources of information on 6 meter DXing.
Our February 2024 meeting was held via Zoom and featured Clint Bradford, K6LCS presenting “How to Work Amateur Satellites with Your HT.” Clint has been a ham since 1994. His niche in the hobby is working amateur satellites with minimal equipment and spreading the word on how to do it. He has served as a liaison between NASA, the ARISS team, and schools coordinating amateur radio contacts between the International Space Station and students. Clint has created a support Web site at work-sat.com that’s a one-stop source for all the citations, equipment recommendations, and software suggestions made in his presentation. He also maintains a Groups.io list at work-sat.groups.io. He resides in Jurupa Valley, California, with his wife Karen, who expertly handled Zoom duties during the meeting.
Some notable Clint quotes:
Why work satellites? It’s just another cool thing we can do in this wonderful hobby of amateur radio.
Tips to improve your HT’s battery life: Cut your output power in half, improve your antenna, use an earpiece.
Our simplex net returns next week on 2/14. Chris KM6OUK is compiling signal reports from the simplex nets so we can map propagation behavior in our area.
The Battleship Iowa Amateur Radio Association (BIARA) will hold a special event station on February 22 from 1600 to 2400 UTC. Try contacting this unique radio station to our south in San Pedro.
UPCOMING MEETINGS
March 6 at 7:30 p.m. — We’re back at the Eddie Park House where we will be joined by Joe Fakete, an active member of the Southern California Antique Radio Society. Joe will speak on vintage and antique radio restoration. Bring an old ham rig or vintage consumer radio, and Joe will walk you through the steps to put it back in working order. Email us if you would like to bring some equipment but need help transporting it. Related: Jim Fisher, the president of SCARS, invites everyone to learn more about the group, become a member, and participate in SCARS’s annual auction. It takes place on 2/17 in Tustin.
April 3 at 7:30 p.m. — Also back at Eddie Park House, our guest will be Diana Feinberg, AI6DF. Diana is section manager for the ARRL LAX section. Her visits to SPARC to update us on League business and the state of amateur radio are an annual tradition.
At our January member meeting we introduced the new club officers for 2024 and thanked outgoing president Stan Tahara KR6CV and outgoing treasurer Bob Vanderwall WB6YJJ for all their hard work.
Our featured topic was simplex operation and tips for participating in a simplex net. Jeff Liter, W2JCL gave a presentation which you can view embedded below. Download a PDF copy (1.1 MB) of it by clicking here.
In conjunction with the discussion of simplex, we announced the addition of a new simplex net to our monthly schedule (click here for full details).
SAVE THE DATES January 20: ARRL January VHF Contest. A good opportunity to get on the air and test your equipment. We encourage you to participate from home or the field.
January 27: Winter Field Day. Join SPARC in Eddie Park for this annual emcomm practice event.
JOIN OUR GROUPS.IO SPARC is migrating its mailing list to groups.io so members and friends can have more control over how they receive news and updates from the club. Whether you are a long-time member or simply interested in hearing about our activities, we hope you will subscribe and stay in touch.
IT’S DUES TIME And speaking of membership, now is the time to join or renew. Dues are only $20 per year, per household. Cover all hams at the same address with one payment!
Starting on January 10, SPARC will experiment with adding a simplex net to its monthly schedule. We will adjust the net based on need and experience if necessary. Here is the current monthly schedule.
1st Wednesday of the month, 7:30 p.m. Monthly member meeting — NO NET
2nd Wednesday of the month, 7:30 p.m. Simplex net on 145.600 MHz, no PL tone
3rd and subsequent Wednesdays, 7:30 p.m. Check-in Net on the TELCO Repeater 145.180 MHz PL 156.7 Negative offset
Our goals for the simplex net are to practice emergency communications skills and to develop a propagation map of the city so that club members know “who can hear me” without a repeater.
Our November 2023 membership meeting was cancelled due to a guest speaker falling through, but spirits were high at our annual December social at the Canoe House restaurant. Over a dozen members gathered to catch up and discuss their various radio-related projects.
A week later, during our December 13 on-air net, participants described their favorite ham radio gifts, either received or purchased for themselves. The fond memories included: