Our PIO has prepared this excellent article on ARES matters — Santa Cruz County ARES Mastered Social Distance With “SAFE” by Allison Hershey (KM6RMN) In the spring of 2020, EC John Gerhardt (N6QX) saw event after event postponed, then canceled as COVID-19 spread around California. Santa Cruz County’s ARES groups traditionally provided communications for Strawberry […]
News
FCC Reduces Proposed Amateur Radio Application Fee
QST via ARRL, 12/30/2020 — FCC Reduces Proposed Amateur Radio Application Fee to $35 The FCC has agreed with ARRL and other commenters that its proposed $50 fee for certain amateur radio applications was “too high to account for the minimal staff involvement in these applications.” In a Report and Order (R&O), released on December […]
Happy Holidays
Happy Holidays ! I hope that you’re all doing well, and enjoying the substantially improved band conditions. I continue to hunt rare, weak signal CW DX using fully operational analog gear from the 1970s. To be sure, some things never change. Ongoing research in wire antenna design has yielded increased gain and directivity. The CQ […]
November Sweepstakes
Fall is here, and I hope that you’re all doing well, and staying safe. There’s been all kinds of activity in the section. We are fortunate to have multiple contributors to this month’s newsletter. Thank you, all ! ARRL November Sweepstakes is rapidly approaching. HF operators — this one’s for you ! http://www.arrl.org/sweepstakes Contest Objective: […]
Emergency Equipment
Via John Parks / W6JPP: If any club has any emergency equipment that can be deployed in time of local, state or national emergency please contact me at [email protected] as I am trying to compile a list of who can be contacted so we can lend communication support to the official agencies that might need […]
Club Meetings
Club meetings are happening. Several clubs continue with Zoom meetings. Turnout has been good, some clubs such as the NCDXC club has up to 50 attendees, which approaches the turnout at an in person meeting. Some people will be reluctant to attend in-person meetings even with the County approval. I see Zoom meetings being the […]
Section Volunteers
Kudos to our section volunteers ! The organization continues to evolve. Tim Howard / KE6TIM is our new District Emergency Coordinator. Tim succeeds Michael Fox / N6MEF, who has recently relocated to Texas. Tim previously served as Emergency Coordinator (EC) for Milpitas. Judy Halchin / KK6EWQ is our new Assistant District Emergency Coordinator. Welcome aboard, […]
The Simulated Emergency Test
The San Benito County Amateur Radio Association participated in the Simulated Emergency Test (SET) on October 10, and Shakeout Day on October 15. Thanks to Tim / W6TST, our DEC, for this update. […]
The Santa Cruz County District Emergency Coordinator
Robert Ritchey / KJ6FFP, the Santa Cruz County District Emergency Coordinator, prepared his ARES team for activation on October 14. Here’s an extract from his recent broadcast message, which is a good indicator as to the quality and level of detail in his operations: “ARES has been activated by Santa Cruz County OES for the […]
Thanks to the Palo Alto and Half Moon Bay Amateur Radio clubs
Thanks to the Palo Alto and Half Moon Bay Amateur Radio clubs for your recent hospitality. I continue to attend virtual club meetings. Other good news: substantially improved conditions on 20 meters. Solid CW QSOs with Asiatic Russia and South Korea around 14.020 on 10/31, using 100 watts and a sloping dipole. 73 for now, […]