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November Virtual Breakfast, Saturday 11/28 @ 9AM
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Hi, Grab those turkey day leftovers, toss in an omelet, and join us for our November month-end breakfast this Saturday at 9 AM. See the link below. Time: Nov 28, 2020 09:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada) Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://specialized.zoom.us/j/92608848416?pwd=bURBcks3MEJta01waFBEcWtIZXBmUT09 Password: 310252 Or iPhone one-tap: 16699006833,92608848416# or 12532158782,92608848416# Or Telephone: +1 669 900 6833 (US Toll) +1 253 215 8782 (US Toll) Meeting ID: 926 0884 8416 Password: 310252 Cheers, Ray - N6DZK
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10/31 Meeting Notes
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Follow up to 10/31 meeting... Thank you to the team that did the Fox Hunt presentation. Brent (KG6KPD) did a nice presentation on Fox Hunt Basics 2021 Garlic festival HF station Consensus is this would be a cool "side" event for the club. Previous thought, just not executed on Likely requires permission of GF Do we have to worry about RF of HF transmissions interfering with local WiFi or comms? SBCARA 1st Thursday of the month, HF net on 40 meters. We'll keep trying. Think about NVIS solutions that may work better. Ray still owes updated frequency list. Woody provided financial report. The club still has operating funds. Obviously no festival this year impacts the club balance. But at current balance we are fine for now. Annual expenses are just under $2,000 for NARC fees, POBOX rental, Insurance, UHF site rental, and pitching in for Field Day food, and other misc items. Talked about club t-shirts again. Low count makes for higher cost so will look at options. Costco Business had some options, but only seems to allow one sided print. Foundation of new repeater support team I am sorry, and yet elated, that our own Brent (W6BWJ) will be moving out of the area soon. Brent has been one of the primary repeater support folks for the club for a while now. I have been a bit of an apprentice, and while I know the networking side of the systems, the actual programming of the controllers is a bit archaic and Brent has been the primary keeper of the code as it were. This is going to create a support "hole" that needs to be filled, but as Brent and I have discussed, may also be the catalyst for needed change. Sam (AI6OG), Mike (KJ6GVS) and Elise (KI6PUO) have now joined the repeater maintenance team. We will set a meeting here in the near future to review logistics, and current repeater configuration. Ray has to meet with Brent (soon!) to pass over remaining access info and operating codes, etc. As part of the changes will need to evaluate continuation of utilizing the RLC DSP-404 controllers. Out of production and support, and have been very difficult to program. But replacing with something like an Arcom controller causes new issues with linking the UHF and VHF sites that would need to be resolved. Thanks for another great meeting! Thank you to those that came with your Halloween spirit. Cheers, Ray
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Halloween Breakfast! Oct 31 @ 9 AM.!
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Group! Join us this Saturday for a spoooky breakfast. Tell your scariest Baofeng story, or about the most frightening ham shack you've ever seen, or creepiest ham radio event! Ham themed costume encouraged, but not required. ( For example: I will be dressed as a grumpy old DX guy that just rolled out of bed for a net.) As a follow up to last month's meeting, we will have a guest speaker, and short presentation on radio Fox hunting as a prerequisite for a future club Fox Hunt. See you Saturday! Connection details below. Cheers, Ray N6DZK Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://specialized.zoom.us/j/95704690013?pwd=eXJmR1V6SDlrWXFNOVIyWTI5bDRlQT09 Password: 147718 Or iPhone one-tap: 16699006833,95704690013# or 13462487799,95704690013# Or Telephone: +1 669 900 6833 (US Toll) +1 346 248 7799 (US Toll) Meeting ID: 957 0469 0013 Password: 147718
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Please complete the GVARC Member Activity Survey!
Please complete the GVARC Member Activity Survey! Hello Garlic Valley Amateur Radio Club members! At the September 26th ¡°virtual breakfast meeting¡± those attending discussed having club activities beyond the monthly breakfast meeting and weekly Tuesday night net. At that time, I took the action to put together a brief survey to see what activities are of interest to members. We realize that COVID-19 puts constraints on what we can do in person, but there are several activities that can be done virtually or in a responsible and socially-distanced manner. You will find the survey at the following link: https://forms.gle/UCSYVQG36CRWe9MZ7 Please complete the survey by November 30th, 2020. This will let us start evaluating everyone¡¯s responses and begin planning those activities of interest. Feel free to contact me if you have any difficulty with the survey. Also, if you have not been receiving email from the [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> email group then join at: /register and then subscribe to the ¡°w6ggf¡± group (OR, just send an empty email to: [email protected]). This will allow us to easily communicate with everyone, and the Google Groups system manages all the email discussions so you can go back and see if you¡¯ve missed anything. (Note: invitations to join [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> were sent out once or twice in the past, but not everyone has replied to accept the invitation). Thanks for supporting GVARC! Regards, Sam Palmisano, AI6OG (408) 406-8050 Scanned by McAfee and confirmed virus-free. Find out more here: https://bit.ly/2zCJMrO
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9/26 Breakfast Meeting Notes
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Hi, Thank you to all that came and participated at our breakfast this morning. We had about 22 at our peak, I think, this morning. It was really great to see everyone and catch up with folks. Topics of discussion included recent events, club officers, the Ed Fong presentation at the recent Ham Fun Night, welcoming some new members to the group, and what areas of interest there may be to the group for future presentations, guest speakers, or other activities. We talked about the NanoVNA H4 Vector Network Analyzer (Antenna Analyzer) that Ed Fong spoke about at his presentation. They are available at R&L Electronics for $60 which is significantly cheaper than some of the other sites. Several of us have already purchased them and they are very cool addition to any ham's toolkit. Ed did a really cool job of explaining why his J-Pole design was a better option than things like a Slim-Jim and even a Copper Cactus antenna. There was discussion regarding a group buy ($5 off?) but that has not been followed up on yet. We also briefly reviewed GP-5/SSB world radio receiver from County Comm. It is a compact, pocket size, quality AM/FM/SW receiver that can also receive in the ham radio bands, and supports USB/LSB modes for listening. Another cool addition to your kit. Can run on 5V USB. Action Items: Sam - Will put together a survey to the group to find out areas of interest for future activities, presentations, or learning/teaching opportunities. Ray - Will take the previous roster and compare against the current groups.io site and re-invite those that did not respond from the first invite to see if we can capture more of the original roster. Tim, Mike - For the October Breakfast, will conduct and/or arrange for a guest speaker for a presentation on Fox/Hound activities, equipment needed, techniques, and how to conduct a Fox and Hound radio event. Tim already owns a 2M "Fox" Homemade antennas vs commercial vs no special antenna Areas of operation Safety Prizes? Sherry's idea was there would be an "entry fee" of a large candy bar to go into the pot. Winner takes all. (sound like fun) George suggested a Garlic Festival Special Event Station for HF (Love this idea!) Heatherly offered to help design a QSL card to go with the event. Was also a suggestion around holding a local HF net. Conditions have not been ideal for this as SBCARA has tried this a few times and success has been limited. Will try again on 80M. Next weekend is the California QSO party? Who is participating? Maybe we can do Discord to meet as we are operating from our homes? Ray - Revisit the South County truncated frequency list that was worked on with Woody, finish prepping for distribution, create a proper communication regarding the update and distribute to the web sites, and to this group. See you all next month! Ray N6DZK
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Let's Eat Breakfast! (Virtually) 9/26 @ 9 AM
Howdy, Ya! The last Saturday of September is here! So let's get together this Saturday @ 9AM and Zoom. Maybe we can get a recap of the Ed Fong visit with Ham Fun Night from the San Benito contingent, and I can show the new VNA analyzer he suggested (which just arrived). If anyone else has any show and tell items, bring them along. Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://specialized.zoom.us/j/97167659107?pwd=d1RxVzlUQXI1RmpCcW1CRWJVd1RiQT09 Password: 996672 Or iPhone one-tap: 16699006833,97167659107# or 13462487799,97167659107# Or Telephone: +1 669 900 6833 (US Toll) +1 346 248 7799 (US Toll) Meeting ID: 971 6765 9107 Password: 996672 Cheers, Ray N6DZK
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Hi! Grab a bowl of cereal, or eggs and toast, your favorite morning beverage, make sure you are dressed above the waist, and join us for our virtual, video, monthly breakfast meeting! See you this Saturday at 9 AM! Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://specialized.zoom.us/j/95726380859?pwd=WmJVM0RZZDdhVjd0ZGdjN0c2a2JKUT09 Password: 170681 Or iPhone one-tap: 16699006833,95726380859# or 13462487799,95726380859# Or Telephone: +1 669 900 6833 (US Toll) +1 346 248 7799 (US Toll) Meeting ID: 957 2638 085 Password: 170681
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Menlo 4 Rudy T. Fire Mechanic Lower Left, Chief Karl K. Both I served with at Hurricane Katrina in 2005. And I Lower Left hand corner of Team Photo. Steve C Walch W6MNL 408-409-5513 https://walch.net/ The information contained in this message may be legally privileged and confidential. It is intended to be read only by the individual or entity to whom it is addressed or by their designee. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are on notice that any distribution of this message, in any form, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please immediately notify the sender and/or and delete or destroy any copy of this message.
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Monthly Breakfast - Garlic Festival Virtual Breakfast (Garlic theme!) - Sat, 07/25/2020 9:00am-10:30am
#cal-reminder
Reminder: Monthly Breakfast - Garlic Festival Virtual Breakfast (Garlic theme!) When: Saturday, 25 July 2020, 9:00am to 10:30am, (GMT-07:00) America/Los Angeles Where:https://specialized.zoom.us/j/94881452391?pwd=TGNadzJ6TnJBd2VVOHU2Rmg0R2F0Zz09? View Event Organizer: N6DZK Description: Hey there club! At 9 AM this Saturday, wear your Garlic Fest T-Shirts, grab your garlic cheerios, garlic chorizo and eggs, your garlic donuts, a beverage of choice, and join us for first, and hopefully last, garlic festival virtual breakfast! Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://specialized.zoom.us/j/94881452391?pwd=TGNadzJ6TnJBd2VVOHU2Rmg0R2F0Zz09 Password: 986089 Or iPhone one-tap: 16699006833,94881452391# or 13462487799,94881452391# Or Telephone: +1 669 900 6833 (US Toll) +1 346 248 7799 (US Toll) Meeting ID: 948 8145 2391 Password: 986089 Cheers! Ray N6DZK
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Event: Monthly Breakfast - Garlic Festival Virtual Breakfast - Saturday, 25 July 2020
#cal-invite
Monthly Breakfast - Garlic Festival Virtual Breakfast When: Saturday, 25 July 2020 9:00am to 10:30am (UTC-07:00) America/Los Angeles Where: https://specialized.zoom.us/j/94881452391?pwd=TGNadzJ6TnJBd2VVOHU2Rmg0R2F0Zz09? Organizer: N6DZK Description: Hey there club! At 9 AM this Saturday, grab your garlic cheerios, garlic chorizo and eggs, your garlic donuts, a beverage of choice, and join us for first, and hopefully last, garlic festival virtual breakfast! Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://specialized.zoom.us/j/94881452391?pwd=TGNadzJ6TnJBd2VVOHU2Rmg0R2F0Zz09 Password: 986089 Or iPhone one-tap: 16699006833,94881452391# or 13462487799,94881452391# Or Telephone: +1 669 900 6833 (US Toll) +1 346 248 7799 (US Toll) Meeting ID: 948 8145 2391 Password: 986089 Cheers! Ray N6DZK
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Upcoming Event: GVARC Monthly Breakfast Meeting - Sat, 06/27/2020 9:00am-10:30am
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#cal-reminder
Reminder: GVARC Monthly Breakfast Meeting When: Saturday, 27 June 2020, 9:00am to 10:30am, (GMT-07:00) America/Los Angeles Where:https://specialized.zoom.us/j/92149283774?pwd=ZWNETk1vekQxZlRxN3F2dklKa1RsQT09 Password: 320882 View Event Organizer: GVARC Description: Monthly Breakfast - Online for the time being. Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://specialized.zoom.us/j/92149283774?pwd=ZWNETk1vekQxZlRxN3F2dklKa1RsQT09 Password: 320882 Or Telephone: +1 669 900 6833 (US Toll) +1 346 248 7799 (US Toll) Meeting ID: 957 7339 3201 Password: 312303
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Hi, The poll results were pretty low. Only 6 responses. We will still be hosting our virtual Saturday morning month-end breakfast. The information is in Groups.IO in the calendar, and a reminder will automatically go out on Thursday with the link details. The bottom line is we are still under Covid-19 precautions. ARRL has acknowledged this and has made several rules adjustments to allow for clubs and individuals to participate in this year's event. To that end please see below... Remote Operation Opportunity If you would like to operate an HF station on Field Day but either do not have your own HF station and/or high enough privileges, please contact me directly ASAP. I will be providing time slots for folks that would like to do so. You will be using a program called RCForb Client (0.9.250 public alpha version) from RemoteHams.com. If you already have access privileges you may operate under your own call sign. Just follow the directions per below to set up your logging. If you do not have high enough privileges then you will be operating under my call sign, N6DZK, and I will be the control operator for your session. I have not figured out how to do the logging for that yet. But will come up with something by next Saturday. I am thinking we will just use the chat in Groups.io to keep track, or something along those lines. Contact me directly with any questions. Organization Meeting There will be a Zoom meeting this Tuesday at 6:30 PM to discuss FD operations for this year. If you wish to participate with the club, please attend and proceed to the notes below. The link for the Tuesday FD organization meeting is: https://specialized.zoom.us/j/95773393201?pwd=M0F2enJDdmxsMEVNTHZ0MnA5SHhrZz09 Software Setup (Looks more daunting than it is, should take 10-15 minutes or so.) For Saturday operations, in Groups.IO there is a Chats section. A new chat has been set up called "Field Day 2020". When you are operating, please check into the chat so we know who is on line. Instructions for 2020 FD Logging Purchase ($9), download, and install N3FJP's amazing Field Day Logging Software. This is the same software we use every year for Field Day. Do the basic set up per the instructions. Enter your call sign. Your Station class will be 1D or 1E. D means using house power. E means emergency power, solar, and/or batteries. Choose one. For instance, I will be in my home, but I will be running my station from battery and solar, so will be classified as 1E. Your section is SCV, Santa Clara Valley. In the N3FJP logging program, along the top menu, open Settings/Web Upload Contest Status/N3FLP HTML Formatted. Fill in the information as you see below. I will provide the FTP password on Tuesday to those in attendance. Make sure all check boxes are checked as shown. In the fields with <YOUR CALL SIGN> replace with your own call sign. In the "File Name on Website" field there can be no spaces, otherwise we will not be able to parse the file when it uploads. Example: N6DZK.html When you have completed filling in the page, click on the "Upload Now" bar. At the bottom where it says "Status" you should see a 226 - File successfully transferred. That means it worked! If you do not see a 226 message, check the password or other settings to be sure you did not insert spaces or mistype anything. Once you have done this, and confirmed you see 226 message, send me an email so I can complete the rest of the setup. Do this BEFORE Saturday. Text of the Fields so it is easier to copy and paste: ftp://ftp.solarbugs.com/ gvarc-contest@... Password: Given Tuesday at meeting Example Pages: GVARC Club Scores: https://www.gvarc.net/contest/field-day.html GVARC Member Status: https://www.gvarc.net/contest/N6DZK.html After Field Day After field day you will take the logs that you generated in the N3FJP sofware, complete the upload tasks, and submit as the GVARC club. More details to follow on this as I currently have no idea how this is done. If someone else would like to take on that task, that would be great for someone to document it. Otherwise I will get to it when
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Field Day 2020
7
#poll
A new poll has been created: Hi, Field Day 2020 is nearly here. Obviously this has been a really weird year. Setting up at a park where we would be interacting with public is probably not a good idea. Also, sharing radio equipment, headsets, microphones, etc is also likely not wise at this time. So it begs the question, what is plan B? Field Day 2020 is going to happen. So how do we adapt and overcome? For starters, the SBCARA group has sort of kind of thrown out a Club vs Club challenge. SBCARA vs GVARC. I personally love the idea, but only if we win. So... ARRL has made some rules changes this year. 1D stations are now (2020 only) allowed to contact other 1D stations for points. Normally, single "1D" stations, (sitting in your house on your own radio, by yourself), do not get any points for contacting other 1D stations. This year 1D stations can make contact with any other station for points. Also for 2020, we can submit an aggregate club score combining any class (including 1D stations). So everyone works their own home 1D station, and when you submit your logs, you also indicate they are part of the GVARC club and our individual stats will be combined for a single GVARC score. A club member has indicated they would allow a few stations to set up on their private property if club members wished to set up and operate as another station class, as we have in the past (We have typically operated as 3A or 4A, the A being a Club, of more than 2 people, set up somewhere not usually set up for ham radio, that is operating on battery/solar - off grid). I do not know that we have enough interest in perusing this option this year. I currently do not plan to bring the tower out. I also do not see us pursuing a GOTA station unless someone has a spare station they could set up with remote hams and do it that way (which is really intriguing now that I thing about it). W6KRK with the SBCARA group had an neat idea about sharing our home machines. He and I (And maybe others in the clubs) have Remote Hams capability on our rigs. Remote Hams uses a piece of software called RCForb that allows you to remotely operate a remote radio. It is the same system we use that allows K7DAA to continue hosting the Wednesday night net from Utah. It is super easy to install and use. I am certainly not going to be running the full 24 hours, so why not let someone else have a chance to operate remotely? I was thinking of making some time slots available that club members that would be interested in making contacts on Field Day could do so even if they do not have their own gear at home. Remote Hams works exceptionally well as long as you have a decent headset, and internet connection. So, the question is... Who would be interested in. Participating as a 1D from their own home and contributing to the overall club score? And/or wish to reserve some time on a remote machine (like mine), keeping their own logs, and submitting for the club score? You are all BYOF (Bring your own food. You will have to walk all the way to your own fridge. Take the long route through the living room, you need the exercise.) You can also get creative if you want. I may just set up in the back yard, and run on solar/battery anyway. 1. I would like to participate as my own 1D or 1E (On emergency power) station. 2. I would like to participate if I can use Remote Hams software to operate another radio. 3. I will not be participating this year. Vote Now Do not reply to this message to vote in the poll. You can vote in polls only through the group's website.
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Upgrade Zoom
Hi, For tomorrow's breakfast, be sure to upgrade your Zoom client prior to the 9AM meeting. Zoom has made several security changes over the past month and the previous versions will no longer be compatible with the current changes. Version 5.0.4 is the latest and at least 5.0.2 will be needed to connect to meetings going forward. Your client should automatically prompt you to upgrade, but if it does not, in the client, you can click on your little profile icon in the top right the the client application and click on "Check for Updates". Or you can download directly from his link - https://zoom.us/download Cheers, Ray N6DZK
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May 30 Monthly Club Breakfast Meeting @ 9 AM
Hello GVARC'ers, This month's club meeting will be an on-line Zoom meeting! So, grab your scrambled eggs, pancakes, and beverage of choice, and meet us on Zoom with the following link: https://specialized.zoom.us/j/93689028027?pwd=T01jS29FWk1RanoxbDhUYmt5bVFqZz09 Password: 782107 (if you need it) We will chat about Field Day, and maybe squeeze in a Digital Mode demo, or whatever else you would all like to chat about. Cheers, Ray
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Monthly Breakfast Meeting - 9AM, This Saturday 4/25
Hi! We will be having our second social distancing monthly breakfast this Saturday at 9AM. Grab your scrambled eggs, pancakes, yogurt, muffin, and a cup a Joe and meet us on Zoom. Details below. Hope to see you Saturday! Ray Dzek N6DZK Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://specialized.zoom.us/j/99167236044?pwd=YU5TYnpLZFgxUUZqQ1VUd3N6bUdNUT09 Password: 619472 Or iPhone one-tap: 16699006833,99167236044# or 13462487799,99167236044# Or Telephone: +1 669 900 6833 (US Toll) +1 346 248 7799 (US Toll) Meeting ID: 991 6723 604 Password: 619472
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