Author: John Aboud KK6ZVQ

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April Meeting Recap: Digital Modes and Baker to Vegas

We had a full house at tonight’s monthly SPARC meeting, which featured two informative presentations.

Tim's presentation
Understanding digital radio

Tim WA0PTC explained the pros and cons of the three major digital radio modes: D-STAR, C4FM/Fusion and DMR. Eric K6EJC added that, based on the volume of business he sees at Ham Radio Outlet, DMR growth has soared in the past two years. Bob WB6YJJ and Rick KI6ZKM demonstrated the vocal clarity of Fusion using their handhelds.

IMG_1341.jpg
How hams help B2V run smoothly

Oliver K6OLI reported on his service as a volunteer at the annual Baker to Vegas relay race — as he put it, “a near Death Valley experience.” With no cell service for huge stretches of the race, amateur radio is vital to the safety of over 8,000 runners, guests, family members and support staff.

AREDN mesh kit
Example mesh deployment

B2V also presented an opportunity to test mesh networking capabilities. Thanks to a portable Verizon satellite link, Oliver and his team were able to connect their laptops and VoIP phones to the regional mesh networks in Altadena, Pasadena and Sierra Madre. This has exciting implications for the future of emergency communications since mesh go kits are fairly inexpensive and extremely portable.

Our May 2 meeting is scheduled to feature John Vidale, Director of the Southern California Earthquake Center. On June 6 our guest will be an administrator from our local FEMA district. Hope to see you there — any changes will be posted on SouthPasRadio.org. 73!

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Are You in a Hazard Zone?

Los Angeles Times quake reporter Rong-Gong Lin II is back with an epic article headlined “The ‘Nightmare’ California Flood More Dangerous Than a Huge Earthquake.” Lin describes a scenario that USGS scientists have named the ARkStorm or “Atmospheric River 1,000-year Storm.” In summary, it would be bad. He uses the phrase “inland sea.” Given that this model is a “1,000-year storm,” you probably don’t need to run out and buy a raft, but you may be tempted.

One reader comment promoted by the Times editors links to a service called MyHazards hosted by the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. Once you input your address, the service tells you what hazards may impact your home, including fire, flood, tsunami and earthquake. Take a look, and then take action to prepare for an emergency. Because there are plenty of scenarios short of a 1,000-year storm that could disrupt your community.

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Climb into Summits on the Air

SOTA is an award scheme for radio amateurs that encourages portable operation in mountainous areas. It’s not just for mountaineers. There are awards for activators (those who ascend to the summits) and chasers (who operate from home, a local hilltop or are even Activators on other summits). You can monitor past and upcoming SOTA activity at SOTAwatch.org.

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PRC’s Los Angeles Area Repeater Map

Thanks to the Pasadena Radio Club’s Bruce Nolte N1BN for permission to share his updated map of area repeaters. 

Below is information on PRC’s monthly meetings. Full details about PRC activities are available on their site.

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Looking for a Technician License Class?

If you’ve been waiting for an entry level class to earn your ham ticket (your FCC amateur radio license), consider this one from Mark Seigel W6MES. Mark is a member of the PRC and provides printing services for their monthly newsletter.

When: April 5, 2018 – May 24, 2018
7 weeks of instruction
8th week – FCC test by licensed examiners

Where: 10034 Commerce Ave, Tujunga, CA

What you will need: ARRL Radio License Manual – 2nd or 3rd edition
Pencil and paper

Contact info: Mark Seigel W6MES – licensed instructor for 18 years
mark.seigel@gmail.com – put “HAM RADIO” in the subject
818‐430‐5244

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Train for an Emergency with Ham Basics 101

SPARC’s own Oliver Dully K6OLI will be leading a series of training sessions at our ARES Northeast activity days, held the last Saturday of the month at Huntington Hospital. The goal is to practice emergency communications skills. If you have never had proper training or you would like a better understanding of how to put your ham skills to use, visit the first session on February 24.  If you have any questions, feel free to contact Oliver or Gary Wong W6GSW at the email addresses on the flyer below.

Click here for Activity Day Training 2018 flyer as PDF.

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Soldering Coax Connectors

Preparing the RG-8X

What good is a shiny J-pole antenna if you can’t connect it to your radio? It makes a nice sculpture — a “copper cactus” — but it won’t help much with reception. So for our latest SPARC build, the club met at the garage of Bob WB6YJJ to put our soldering skills to the test. Bob and Tim WA0PTC guided us through the process of soldering UHF connectors, also known as PL-259 connectors, to lengths of RG-8X coaxial cable. With some patience and steady hands, everyone went home with new, handmade cables to hook up and get on the air.

Checking the connector
Checking the connector

Soldering it all together
Soldering it all together

PL259 Diagram
How to connect PL-259 connectors to coax cable. Diagram via americanradiosupply.com

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Is It Legal to Operate Your Radio in the Car?

The short answer: Yes, it is legal to operate your radio in the car.

Long answer: Governor Jerry Brown recently signed into law AB-1222, which clarifies that operating mobile is still legal. Hams in California had been concerned about a law passed last year that seemed to ban operating amateur radios in cars. The well-intentioned law, AB-1785, was meant to cut down on accidents and deaths from distracted driving, a growing problem. The target of the law was, obviously, driving while using mobile phones. But the language in AB-1785 was broad and could have been interpreted to ban ham radio use as well.

AB-1222, signed on September 26,  removed the terms “specialized mobile radio device” and “two way messaging device” as prohibited devices.

Here is a quote from the Assembly Transportation Committee bill analysis:
“The author believes AB 1785 inadvertently included devices that were not intended to be included in the wider cellphone ban. Devices such as two-way radios functioning on business band or civilian band (CB) radios which have a more limited scope of functions, and thus, a more limited potential for distracting a driver. … According to guidance issued by the California Highway Patrol, a radio installed and mounted in a vehicle with a wired hand microphone, for example, business band or CB radio, is not considered to be wireless communication device, nor is it considered a specialized mobile radio device, and therefore not subject to enforcement under AB 1785.”

Many thanks to the local ARRL chapters who reached out to their state representatives and made sure this important clarification was passed. The quote above was taken from a useful post about AB-1222 by Andrew Silvester KC6O of the Sacramento Valley chapter. (They also have a post about how pot grow lights interfere with ham radio because, you know, Northern California.)

Don’t do this though.

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2 Meter Copper J-Pole Antenna

After two informative presentations from Allen Wolff  KC7O, first on soldering technique and then on constructing a 2m cooper j-pole antenna, SPARC members held a group build as our October meeting. Bob WB6YJJ generously hosted the eager builders in his garage workshop. The total cost of materials per antenna was only $20. And according to an antenna tuner, each j-pole had an impressive 1.2 : 1 SWR (standing wave ratio). Not bad! (I used my j-pole during our October 11 on-air net and received good signal reports. —ed.)

If you are interested in building your own 2m j-pole, Allen has graciously shared his presentation. Click here or on the image below to download it as a pdf.

If you have any questions about Allen’s design, feel free to reach out to us.

And here are a few pictures taken during the build.

A completed j-pole ready to go on-air.