Fallbrook Amateur Radio Club Bulletin June 2020

No Regular June Meeting We Will Be Doing A Virtual Zoom Meeting.

Members To Get Email Invite
Visitors Will Need To Contact Webmaster.

[email protected]

The Fallbrook Amateur Radio Club normally meet at 3:00 PM on the first Saturday of the month.

Normal Meeting Location, The Scout Hut, 231 E. Hawthorne St. Map

THIS MONTHS MEETING AGENDA

  • No Regular June Meeting, Virtual Meeting By Zoom.
  • Field Day
  • Show and Tell: Show projects you have been working on, hardware software or what ever, show your shack. Using webcam, pictures, etc.

Fallbrook Amateur Radio Renewals

NameCallDate Expires
SECOND NOTICE
Buntin, PaulKM6VXO5/31/2020
King, WayneK6BFR5/31/2020
Promack, RyanKF6ODE5/31/2020
Zeimantz, JaneKK6LBQ5/31/2020
FIRST NOTICE
Dillon, R. DonW6PLT6/30/2020
Lara, ConradKG6JEI6/30/2020


de KJ6UMY

Cheap Alternative Solvents For PCB Cleaning

hackaday.com
I’ve had good luck with carb cleaners in the past, but it’s really dependent on the ingredients. The best is now banned, freon with a little methylene chloride. Another dangerous thing from my youth (add to playing with asbestos and mercury).
saferchemicals.org

Why sitcoms stopped using laugh tracks

winamp.com
To see how I feel about sitcoms, the only show mentioned in this video that I watched is M*A*S*H.

Crimping

I’m a big fan of crimping connectors vs. soldering. The ham videos that suggest soldering connectors after crimping are completely wrong.

Farming then and now

Then: youtube.com
Now: chonday.com

Old-fashioned scythe tool faces the modern weed whacker in epic showdown

winamp.com
Yeah, but throw in a few rocks, gopher mounds and fence posts…

The Ars COVID-19 vaccine primer: 100-plus in the works, 8 in clinical trials

arstechnica.com
Some good information on different types of vaccines and how they work.

Evolution of the Coronavirus

Tracking COVID-19 outbreaks with evolution berkeley.edu

World Commercial Radio

Radio.garden

A $350 “anti-5G” device is just a 128MB USB stick, teardown finds

arstechnica,com
“The 5GBioShield makes it possible, thanks to a uniquely applied process of quantum nano-layer technology, to balance the imbalanced electric oscillations arising from all electric fog induced by all devices such as: laptops, cordless phones, wlan, tablets, etc.,” the company says, adding that the USB stick “brings balance into the field at the atomic and cellular level restoring balanced effects to all harmful (ionized and non-ionized) radiation.”


de KG6HSQ

Understanding HF Propagation


Top 13 US National Parks in 4K Ultra HD


Around The Corner – How Differential Steering Works (1937)


North County Fire honors Hoyt for service to her community

Look in the picture background.
villagenews.com


de W6VR

6 GHz Interference – It ain’t gunna be pretty

Massive interference to the Broadcast Auxiliary Service and part of the cell tower microwave backbone is predicted from the FCC’s ill-conceived plan to allow WiFi operations in the 6 GHz band. This ain’t gunna to be pretty: insidetowers.com

Robocall Progress

The FCC has made progress against robocallers by curtailing their access to the US telephone network. However, fining robocallers has always been a paper tiger. Lots of fines issued; probably zero collections. Here is the latest regarding fines:
https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-364109A1.pdf

Ground-to-Spacecraft QRM

Wireless camera in Florida causes radio frequency interference to the European Space Agency’s Soil Moisture/Ocean Salinity satellite in the 1400-1427 MHz band:
https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-20-507A1.pdf

An Adventuresome Video

People often ask what broadcast engineers do. In a series of fast moving videos, Marcos O’Rourke, Chief Engineer of K-Wave Radio (KWVE-FM, San Clemente, CA along with assorted sister stations) shows us some of the more adventuresome parts of his job. The following five minute video is the product of two catastrophes the struck at the same time. One of K-Wave’s sister stations (that happened to be solar and generator powered) was off the air and the usual dirt access road was blocked by a series of mud and rock slides. The only alternate road was a seldom used fire trail that could be obstructed by fallen trees and snow of unpredictable depth. So a snow-cat and chainsaw were essential items for this trip. On the way up the mountain, there was a moment of real danger when the engine quit in the station’s Ford F-250 Super Duty diesel pickup truck hauling the snow-cat. The Super Duty stalled on a winding mountain road shrouded in fog and the truck completely blocked one direction of traffic flow. Fortunately there were enough people in K-Wave’s work crew to establish traffic control so other vehicles could safely get around the stalled truck. Restarting the Super Duty was yet another adventure. In this case, Marcos simply “rebooted” the Ford. He disconnected then reconnected the 12 volt battery and that’s all it took to get the show back on the road. Here, now, is Marcos’ action packed video:

FCC coming down hard on robocallers

The FCC is coming down hard on robocallers and naming names. It took a pandemic to drive the Commission to this point, but we say bravo! Here is the good news:
https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-364482A1.pdf

Plasma Jets May One Day Propel Aircraft – IEEE Spectrum

spectrum.ieee.org


de KG6YVD

THE SECRET WORLD OF OSCILLOSCOPE PROBES documentcloud.adobe.com


de W6BJO

NASA Engineer builds squirrel ninja course

For all you technically inclined folks,- and others, I found this fun to watch. Guess who wins the challenge??


Let’s get creative this year on Field Day

By Dan Romanchik, KB6NU

First, note that the ARRL has modified the Field Day rules for this year. The biggest change is that Class D stations, that is home stations using commercial power, can now work other Class D stations for points. Previously, this wasn’t allowed.

The second change is that the ARRL will publish aggregate club scores this year. In previous years, this was only done for Class A and Class F entries. Remember, though, Field Day isn’t a contest (yeah, right!).

Personally, I plan to operate 1B-Battery. I’m going to set up my KX3 on the front deck and power it with a LiFePo battery charged by a recently-acquired solar panel to get the 100 point bonus for alternate power. For an antenna, I plan to set up my 20m/40m fan inverted-V “GOTA antenna” in the front yard.

I’m going to shoot for other bonus points, too:

  • copy the bulletin—no brainer
  • promote my location on social media—I am going to get on NextDoor and invite neighbors over to watch from an acceptable “social distance.”
  • put some literature down at the bottom of the hill near the street and claim a public information table.
  • send a press release to the local online paper and claim a media publicity credit.
  • perhaps get someone under 20 to come and operate while I coach from an acceptable “social distance.”

If Class B isn’t your cup of tea, check out the presentation, “Field Day and Social Distancing,” docs.google.com by Anthony, K8ZT. It has a lot of great ideas, including ideas on how to operate mobile (Class C).

Field Day doesn’t have to be a downer this year. Get creative and have some fun.

=============================

Dan Romanchik, KB6NU, is the author of the KB6NU amateur radio blog (KB6NU.Com), the “No Nonsense” amateur radio license study guides (KB6NU.Com/study-guides/), and often appears on the ICQPodcast (icqpodcast.com). When he’s not thinking up new ways to enjoy Field Day, he likes to build stuff and operate CW on the HF bands.


Meeting Minutes

Fallbrook Amateur Radio Club
Virtual Meeting, Fallbrook, California
May 2, 2020

Apology from the beginning. About midway thru the meeting we had a power failure that lasted about 5 minutes. I had to reboot the computer, load Zoom and rejoin so missed several minutes of the meeting. Came back in as Forrest was doing a bit of history about his fire fighter background.

Ron, KG6HSQ, opened a virtual meeting via the Zoom Program at 1502.

Ken, W6MF, gave the following financial report.

Checking Balance March 31, 2020 $6,798.70
Petty Cash Balance March 31, 2020 $58.81
Total
$6,857.51

APRIL INCOME
ARRL Dues $147.00
Membership Dues $120.00
Total
$267.00

APRIL EXPENSES
ARRL Renewal Fees $141.00
Total
$141.00

PETTY CASH
Petty Cash Balance March 31, 2020 $58.81
Expenses April 2020 $0.00
Total $58.81

Checking Balance March 31, 2020 $6,924.70
Petty Cash Balance March 31, 2020 $58.81
Total $6,983.51

Members Dropped:
Gregory Gibbs, KI6RXX
Jim Byers, KI6OCZ – Moved from the Area

Ron announced that Field Day planning was undecided at this point due to the shut-down activities because of the virus. ARRL at this point has made no changes. He indicated that if we did proceed with Field Day that we might have to contend with some rules set by Frazier School where we’ve held the activity in past years.

Bob, W6VR, indicated that the FCC has had lots of inquiries regarding “Remote Test”. He indicated that FCC has no rules against remote testing. Apparently there are some sites around the country that have done such testing.

Stephen, KC6MIE, said that San Diego ARES was conducting “rally’s” on 6 meters. The idea behind the rally’s is to determine stations around the area that can get into the system in case of an emergency operation. There will be a ZOOM meeting next week and Stephen can send a link if anyone needs the information. Some of the frequencies that will be used are: 52.525Mhz, 146.52Mhz, 223.500Mhz, and 446.000Mhz.

Lee, KM6UFF, demonstrated some solar panels that he has obtained. The cost of each panel was around $80.00. He also showed and discussed some “corner protectors” that were available.

POWER FAILURE ——-

Upon re-connecting, Forrest, KK6BYR, was describing some of the history of his background as a professional firefighter. (Returned just as he was finishing his presentation)

Ron, KG6HSQ, presented the program with a discussion and “live screen” demonstrations of the WinLink Program. WinLink is a program that can send and receive messages via UHF, VHF and HF. It is used by the Red Cross in this area to gather and distribute information. Winlink has a website (www.winlink.org) where information can be obtained as well as a place where the necessary software can be downloaded if you would like to setup a station. It does not cost to join WinLink but they do ask for a donation. The WinLink site also has training videos available to assist Amateurs that join the group.

Ron demonstrated several “live” screens showing various forms used to receive and send e-mail. He demonstrated how to prepare an e-mail and then “connect” with stations in the system to send e-mails. Hospitals use the system and many of them use tactictal calls as identifiers in the messages. He discussed Peer to Peer communications using the system. (For a complete and expanded description and use of the system contact the website directly)

Ron announced that information regarding future FARC meetings was not known at this time. He will keep the membership informed via e-mail as our environment changes.

With no further business the meeting adjoured at 1435.

Ken Dickson, W6MF
Secretary/Treasurer
Fallbrook Amateur Radio Club