SFM ARC On-Air Net Meetings
Please join us for our club’s 8:00 PM Tuesday Night on-air Net Meetings held at 3.545 MHz
Or you can listen and watch the CW to text translation HERE using our Live Feed!
New Slow Code Net Hits The Airwaves!
Former W6SFM CW Beginners course student has put his skills to work creating an all new Sacramento area Slow Code CW Net. The group will be working speeds as slow as 5 WPM for all those interested in getting in some practice and on-air experience!
The net will be held on an easy to get to 28.055 MHz every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 10 AM Pacific time. Be sure to join them and work some slow code!
FOC Bug Day 2019
The next FOC Bug Day is scheduled for: Tuesday, 1st January 2019, 0000-2359z
In the same spirit as the SFM ARC’s Bug Roundup Event, there has also been a continued interest in an activity held twice a year which runs alongside the Mechanical Key Days, to get on the air using your bug keys. This event is open to both FOC members and non-members. The exchange should include a description of the bug being used. Like the SFM ARC’s Bug Roundup, calling “CQ Bug Day” is suggested.
After the event, please submit your log with stations using bugs, and your vote for best bug fist, along with any questions on the event to W6SFM Member, Benny (K5KV) at his members email address, or through his email address listed on QRZ.COM.
A very special certificate will be presented to the winner. This certificate will honor Summer (VE5SDH) who was known by many as a fine bug operator, and has recently became a silent key.
W6SFM Bug Roundup Event
Please be sure to join us for the W6SFM’s twice yearly Bug Roundup event. This on-air event is held each May and November on the third weekend of the month. Please be sure to click HERE to visit our “CQ BR” webpage. Participants can register their station for the event, and to also receive a reminder email twice per year just before the event begins. Find more information, including times, frequencies and Bug Roundup Event rules by using the “Club Activities” link at the top of this website. We hope to hear you on the air!
N6MQL Presents the RigExpert Antenna Analyzer
This month Mike, N6MQL presented the new features of the RigExpert Antenna analyzers to members of both N6NA (River City ARC) and our own group at W6SFM. Below is the entire presentation.
Next Month’s In-Person Meeting
Our next SFM ARC in-person meeting will be held at its normal time and location Jan 3rd (followed by our Feb. 7th meeting). The SFM ARC in-person meeting will be held in the Howard Crowley room upstairs at the Carmichael Presbyterian Church. Directions, including a Google Map, are available at the bottom of this page.
At our January meeting, we will be discussing ARRL news and events. We will also announce the results of our officer elections. The club will finalizing our upcoming North American QSO Party contest Plans. This event is to be held at member Bob, N6PGQ’s home QTH. As always, we will have our Tech (show and tell) portion. Members and visitors are welcomed to share their Ham Radio related items they find of interest.
Solar Report by Tamitha Skov (A real report everyone can understand)
Urgent Request for ALL licensed and non licensed visiting this site Many of you have seen that the Amateur Radio Parity Act has been introduced in the U.S. Senate as S.1534, and has been referred to committee for review. This is wonderful news following the unanimous passage of H.R.555 in the House of Representatives this past January. Vice Director Jim Tiemstra, K6JAT recently returned from the July ARRL board meeting at headquarters in Connecticut. There he learned that an estimated 90% of all new housing in the U.S. contains covenants, with the majority of those having boilerplate antenna restrictions. This means that as housing expands, Amateur Radio will face increasing restrictions. It is important to realize that H.R.555/S.1534 is a bill resulting from negotiations between ARRL and the Community Associations Institute (CAI), both of whom have approved the wording of the bill. Some have questioned whether this bill goes far enough to favor Amateur Radio. It does! At this time, deed-restricted neighborhoods have the authority to absolutely deny outside antenna installations, with no recourse. This bill will guarantee the right of an amateur radio operator to have an effective outdoor antenna. It is time for ALL of us to come together, and get this important bill passed! We are now the closest we have ever been to obtaining antenna relief in deed-restricted neighborhoods. If passed and enacted, the Amateur Radio Parity Act will be the most important piece of Amateur Radio legislation since the FCCs 1985 PRB-1 regulation. That’s over 30 years, or an entire generation, of no added antenna relief. To make S.1534 pass, however, we need your help again. Below is a hyperlink to an app called RALLY CONGRESS. By clicking on the link (or copying and pasting in your browser) and completing some contact information, within two minutes you will generate a letter that will let both of your respective U.S. senators know that you want them to vote for this bill. Time is critical as we expect the bill to be heard before committee soon, and if passed in committee, it could go to the floor of the senate for a vote within a matter of weeks. Please take a moment NOW to click on the hyperlink and share with your senators your support for S.1534, the Amateur Radio Parity Act. Thank you. https://arrl.rallycongress.net/ctas/urge-us-senate-to-support-amateur-radio-parity-act I just completed and sent my letter inside of 60 seconds. Please take a minute and do so also! 73, Michael, N6MQL President W6SFM