W6SFM – Samuel F. Morse Amateur Radio Club

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!

W6SFM CW Beginners Course (April 8th – June 10th, 2020)

The SFM ARC is proud to announce our next W6SFM CW Beginners Course. In an effort to preserve Morse Code on-the-air, and enhance the skills of the Amateur Radio Operator, the SFM ARC offers an instructional course in the art of sending and receiving Morse Code. We also offer this course to the general public, and those who would like the benefits of improved cognitive memory skills. You do not need to be a licensed Amateur Radio Operator to take this course.

The W6SFM CW course consists of 10 classes held once per week, Wednesday evenings from 7 – 9 PM. In this class students will learn the International Morse Code, the art of sending on a straight key, radio Pro-Signs, and the proper etiquette of an on-air CW QSO, plus MUCH MUCH more. Both Theory and Practical use of HF radio and Morse Code are discussed in this class. Students are provided with a professionally built Morse Key and Oscillator to be used both in-class and at home. This Key and Oscillator are worth more than the price of the course by itself and are for the students to keep at the completion of the course! In addition to the in-person class instruction, an Online practice video and weekly email are also provided.

New and returning students can purchase a seat in our upcoming course by simply clicking on the “Merchandise” link at the top of the Homepage and selecting the “W6SFM CW Beginners Course” icon. Purchases can be made using PayPal, Credit and Debit cards.
Returning Students who sign up at our discount rate must bring their equipment with them from their previous class. All Students are encouraged to bring any Straight keys that they currently own in an effort to practice good sending methods on them. Please note that Our CW Beginners classes tend to fill up quickly and seating is limited. We recommend enrolling as soon as possible to be guarantied a seat in the class. We hope to see anyone who is interested in learning the Morse Code, or brushing up their skills at our next class! Please use the contact us link at the top of this page to ask any questions you may have.

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

PLEASE NOTE THAT OUR NEXT MEETING WILL BE HELD VIA ZOOM MEETING. THIS IS A VIRTUAL MEETING THAT ANYONE CAN ATTEND USING THEIR DEVICE FROM THE COMFORT OF THEIR HOUSE. THIS IS A 2 WAY MEETING WHERE OTHER MEMBERS CAN SEE AN HEAR YOU ON CAMERA (IF YOU SO CHOOSE).

TO ATTEND THIS MEETING YOU WILL NEED TO DOWNLOAD THE ZOOM PROGRAM OR APP (ZOOM WORKS WITH ALL PLATFORMS, PC, MAC, IOS IPAD/IPHONE, ANDROID ETC) DOWNLOAD THE FREE ZOOM PROGRAM BY CLICKING HERE ALTHOUGH NOT REQUIRED, IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT YOU OPEN A FREE ACCOUNT. WE ALSO RECOMMEND THAT YOU RUN THE PROGRAM AS OPPOSED TO USING THE IN-BROWSER VERSION, ALTHOUGH BOTH WILL WORK FINE. YOU MAY ALSO DOWNLOAD THE ZOOM PROGRAM/APP/ADD-ON BY GOING TO THE FOLLOWING WEB URL: https://zoom.us/download#client_4meeting

IF YOU NEED ASSISTANCE WITH THIS PLEASE USE THE CONTACT US LINK ABOVE FOR HELP. AN INVITATION WILL BE SENT TO EVERY ACTIVE MEMBER OF THE CLUB. ON THE DAY OF THE EVENT THE MEETING INFORMATION WILL ALSO BE POSTED HERE.

Our next SFM ARC in-person meeting will be held at its normal time (7:00 PM) and location April. 2nd followed by our May. 7th meeting. Meetings are held in the Howard Crowley room upstairs at the Carmichael Presbyterian Church. Directions, including a Google Map, are always available at the bottom of this website.

At our April meeting, we will be discussing ARRL news and events. We will also have a Bogus Story Contest hosted by Vice President John (WB6UBK). Members will be asked to read their BS Contest stories to the group. After, the members both in-person and on-line will decide the winner of the coveted Bogus Story Contest Trophy. The club will also discuss the upcoming Kids’ Day in the Park event, asking for volunteers.

As always we will have Show and Tell where members and visitors are asked to bring in interesting items that they purchased or found to display to the club members and our visitors. Be sure to bring a guest with you. Or, if you’re not a member of the W6SFM, and your reading this, feel free to join us for our next meeting.

Solar Report by Tamitha Skov (A real report everyone can understand)