We are looking forward to SEA-PAC 2025 and the SEA-PAC committee has been hard at work. We have some great things to share, so you are going to want to read this issue of the Waves!
Please feel free to copy and distribute this to your friends and clubs.
The SEA-PAC Committee
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Friday, January 24th through Sunday, January 26th. Friday will be a setup day. Those assisting in setup Friday should arrive at 2 p.m. The event begins Saturday at 0800 PST (1600 UTC) and continues through 1359 PST (2159 UTC) Sunday. Location: 3710 Crestline Dr., Waldport at the South County Resources facility. Those attending are reminded to bring a folding chair, drinks and a snack/meal. The club Buddihex antenna will be setup Friday as well as two popup shelters and tables. We will be most likely transmitting on 20m from the club antenna.
The entire month of December several youth operators will become active with YOTA as suffix in the callsign. The idea for this is to show the amateur radio hobby to youth and to encourage youth to be active on the ham radio waves.
Sign-up link to participate in Field Day with LCARC
The Lincoln County Amateur Radio Club Field Day for 2024 will be held June 22-23 at the Oregon Coast Community College South Beach Campus. Setup will begin Friday afternoon, June 21 at 3 p.m. focusing on the club’s new Buddipole hexbeam antenna deployment.
So far, there are at least two individuals staying overnight both Friday and Saturday night. We are planning on having a setup for the public as well, from 1-3 p.m. Saturday. At this point, there has not been anyone to volunteer to bring a main meal, as we have done in the past, so it’s Pot Luck! Please bring a dish of some type to share with everyone, as well as a chair to sit in.
If you have any questions or would like to volunteer to help, please contact Michelle Pelkey at (206) 910-9667.
CRITICAL UPDATE – As of June 5th, the Barrel to Keg Relay has approximately 1/2 of the required volunteers to effectively run what our group has agreed to be responsible for. We need 17 more volunteers! Per Doug, “we are close to failing coverage and backing out of the event, which will either cause the promoters to cancel the event or make it that much less safe for participants”. Not all volunteers need to be operators, so please recruit a spouse or friend to help out in this incredibly fun event. For operators it is a chance to use your radio and practice tactical skills in a fun environment.
Barrel to Keg Relay: Saturday July 13. Teams of runners relay from Wren to South Beach.
This is an all-hands-on-deck event for us to remotely pull off our mission. This is a unique and fun event, and has tons of tactical radio experience tied to it. If you are new as an operator or not participated in a public service event like this, please don’t hesitate to volunteer – you will be paired with someone who has experience on this event and there will be exercises we will do before, so you see and experience how it works.
Thank you and I hope to hear from more. Rather than tie up the listserv, please send me any questions or to sign up via my gmail account: dougholbrook05@gmail.com.
Update:KB7KBH reports response has been weak, and he also finds himself busier than expected, so the digital focus on Wednesdays has been suspended. Plenty of good information below, however, and a future event or discussion is always possible.
Greetings all. Michael W7ALX wanted me to do the Wednesday Lunchtime Net to see if there was any interest in folks wanting to expand their knowledge in Digital, and Satellite Opps. I am by no means an expert, but I’m willing to assist those that are interested. We will have the normal net, then after check-ins we can discuss the digital and Sat stuff.
Here are some examples of radio setup for digital modes.
VARA HF is very similar to FT-8 and some of the settings are similar. It again depends on the brand of HF radio you have. I did a lot of trial and error until I got it. YouTube videos are helpful in setup.
Satellite Comminutions
Satellite comminutions can be a challenge. There are a few in the club that work the birds with a HT or two, and a handheld dual band Yagi antenna. You can find tracking software for your cell phones to help with that. Most of the Sats uplink on 2M, and downlink on 440, depends on the satellite. There are Linear sat’s that are SSB, in that case you would need a radio capable of 2M and 440 SSB. The challenge is the Doppler shift. I have a unit called S.A.T from CSN Technologies. It is a standalone unit that can be used on your cell phone (no computer necessary. It will control the antennas, frequency’s and doppler shift. I have the Yaesu G5500 rotor for azimuth and elevation antenna control.
Anybody interested can come over to my QTH, and see how it works.
Winter Field Day for 2024 is rapidly approaching. It will be held on January 27th and 28th. Should anyone have interest in organizing club participation, it’s not too late to speak up. At this juncture, it may just be a short field exercise at a local park to practice setup and make a few contacts. Please contact an officer if you have any ideas or interest.
More information gleaned from a recent [RATPAC] email:
First and foremost: have fun with ShakeOut! ShakeOut is a great opportunity to engage with our communities and get to meet our neighbors.
USGS ShakeOut Scenario Map
Here is OFFICIAL USGS ShakeOut Scenario Map: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/scenarios/eventpage/usshakeout2023_se/map – The map will populate with entries on ShakeOut Day – The map will map Winlink DYFI entries – The map will map web DYFI entries made on the USGS ShakeOut Scenario DYFI. – Use the “Comments” in either the Winlink or the Web DYFI to indicate your call sign, group affiliation(s) and any other information you would like USGS to know about. All information you share is optional. – The USGS map is available to anyone interested and functions exactly like the real DYFI maps after an earthquake.
On the weekend of August 20th, After a few weeks of hurried planning and meeting with Yaquina Head management, LCARC successfully deployed at Yaquina! Weeks ahead of the event, several club members including N7HQR, NJ7OK, N7TEE, KK7LIA, K7MCW, AC7CD, KA7OQQ, KK7KMY, and KE7FTI met onsite and/or online to decide, with park management approval, where to setup. Shortly thereafter a dry run was performed onsite and further tuning of the antenna done at the home of NJ7OK.
Operating on lighthouse property Saturday, we had over 20 contacts on the 20 meter band from Alaska to New Mexico and points in between. As expected, it was a windy and chilly day, but the vertical buddipole and our canopy weathered the conditions from the late morning into the early afternoon.
Further contacts were made Sunday off site venturing to 40 meters after verbally “spotting” on the noon time net. All in all the weekend produced 30 contacts including a very supportive handful of enthusiastic QSO’s from local club members and other friends here in Lincoln County.
A huge thank you goes out to fellow club members who supported in person or in the background. A special thanks to the parks service at Yaquina Head, specifically Chris Papen, who permitted us to have a presence during their 150th anniversary celebration. A good rapport was established and we look forward to working with them in the future!
