Decibels: Pesky Little Critters In our telecommunication careers, we may have all used dBs in our work. Here is a little background and how we use them in amateur radio. Decibels are a form of mathematical shorthand using logarithms. Logarithms probably originated with the ancient Greeks. Logarithms have the property expressing large values or ratios in more easily understood human terms. Decibels originated when the engineering of analog telephone circuit became more complicated. The Bell System of fond memory in the 1920’s needed a way […]
Yearly Archives: 2018
22 posts
Sonora Radio Communications Class Beginners: Learn radio communications for all ages. Advanced: Study for the Technician and General license. Cost: FREE! (sign up below) When: JAN 5, 2019, 9 AM til Noon. Where: 14535 Peaceful Valley Road, Sonora CA (New address) How will you communicate with family during emergencies? Learn how to use all types of hand held mobile and base station radio equipment. Find out what frequencies you can use without a license and start communicating right away. This class offers guidance on starting […]
By Jim, N6TP, n6tp@arrl.net We are familiar with the formula for a half-wave dipole. It appears in the antenna handbooks and in various test questions for amateur radio license exams. It goes like this. Divide the operating frequency in MHz into “468” and the answer comes out in feet. For example: 468 divided by 7.150 MHz equals 65.5 feet! If we do a little rounding, we will cut our half-wave dipole to 65 feet 4 inches. Let’s look a half-wave dipole. As the name implies it is […]
Objective: For Amateurs worldwide to exchange QSO information with as many stations as possible on the 10 meter band. Online Log Submission: Participants can now submit their Cabrillo-formatted contest logs via the web. A new online log submission web page can be used to upload your log as a file or by copy-and-pasting the log text into a text window. The log will then be checked for proper formatting and completeness before uploading to the log-checking database. You will then receive a confirmation number and […]
Pacificon, San Ramon, CA. * A full slate of outstanding Forum presentations about a wide range of amateur radio topics * A large Vendor Expo filled with exciting products and exhibits * An outdoor Swap Meet, QRP activities, Youth Activities * Electronics kit building and soldering instruction * A One Day License Prep Class to prepare you to pass the amateur radio Technician license examination and get your first amateur radio license * Two days of License Testing, A Special Events Station where you can operate and contact […]
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2019 Board Member Nominations TCARES BOARD of DIRECTORS: The Corporation has seven ( 7 ) Directors, consisting of : The four (4) executive Officers and three (3) Directors at large. Elected from the membership, these seven (7) board members will be known as the Board of Directors. ELECTION Process: 1. Nominations shall be collected during October. 2. Elections will be held in November. 3. Balloting will end on November 30. 4. Elected Board Members will be announced in December. To nominate a member to […]
http://www.pacificon.org The Pacificon staff has negotiated a convention rate of $138 per night per room for a set number of rooms. That rate is good until September 19th, or until that block of rooms has sold out, whichever occurs first. Click Here to Make Your Hotel Reservations The Pacificon 2018 Team has been working very hard to bring you the very best Pacificon that we can. The location will once again be at the San Ramon Marriott located in San Ramon, California. MDARC has […]
Amateur radio is more than a hobby for Groveland resident Carl Croci. On top of spending many nights a week relaying messages with amateur radio operators in the area and across the globe, the 77-year-old also serves as the Tuolumne County coordinator for Amateur Radio Emergency Services. The service is capable of providing backup communication for the community during wildfires and other types of emergencies to alleviate the burden on phone lines and official emergency radio systems. Croci is also a longtime member of […]
Upcoming Contact with ISS, Listen from Central California on 145.800 Hand held and mobile radios can receive, use largest antenna you have. Listen at 09:49 AM (9:49 AM pacific) CORRECTED TIME Mendez Fundamental Intermediate School, Santa Ana, CA, direct via AA6TB (Ricky Arnold KE5DAU) Thu 2018-09-06 16:49:52 UTC 81 deg An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Mendez Fundamental Intermediate School, Santa Ana, CA on 06 Sept. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 16:49 UTC. The duration […]
On Sunday, August 5, 2018, TCARES was contacted by Red Cross officials from Sacramento and Sonora, requesting Amateur Radio support for the Sonora Red Cross Shelter for the purposes of providing back up communication services should commercial services become disabled. Members of the club quickly responded by setting up a UHF/VHF radio station with an external antenna for local voice communications and is preparing a WinLink station for national Red Cross communications, as a back up to commercial methods, should they fail. Channel 19 […]
The Incident Command System is Useful in Both Emergency and Routine Incidents Join Ham Operators in a day of basic / refresher training on the Incident Command System (ICS) on Saturday, August 25, 2018. A working knowledge of ICS and how it might impact amateur radio operators will be the subject of an all-day workshop at the Tuolumne County Library. This workshop will be presented by Craig Konklin, a retired Battalion Chief and Training Officer from CAL FIRE. There is NO CHARGE for this […]
A Live Conversation from the ISS Thursday July 26: 1:20 PM. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink from Sonora on any 2 Meter radio. Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS), a Space Station Explorers partner organization, will host a live radio contact with an astronaut on the ISS. Local students will ask the astronaut questions about living and working in space and the importance of advancing science on the orbital laboratory. https://www.issconference.org/stem-day/ http://www.ariss.org/upcoming-contacts.html Interested parties are invited […]
STEPS TO GET YOUR IS-100.C Certificate Get your Free student ID: https://cdp.dhs.gov/femasid Take the Free course: https://emilms.fema.gov/IS100c/curriculum/1.html Take the Free exam: Take Final Exam Online (Note, if you previously earned an old version, you may elect to scan this document and take the test when you are ready: DOWNLOAD COURSE MATERIAL) Course Date 6/25/2018 Course Overview ICS 100, Introduction to the Incident Command System, introduces the Incident Command System (ICS) and provides the foundation for higher level ICS training. This course describes the history, features and principles, […]
Parachute Mobile | In the Air, On the Air Mission 31 Update QST, QST, QST… Parachute Mobile Mission 31 is scheduled for June 16, 2018. This will be an opportunity to for you to make a unique contact with a skydiver while he descends under his parachute. Frequencies (Corrected HF Rx frequency typo) FM: 146.430 MHz simplex HF: 14.250 MHz up 10 KC (Tx 14.250, Rx 14.260) APRS Search AF6IM or KC6TYD depending on jumper Live streaming video: (Updated 6-8-18) http://www.ustream.tv/channel/mfwright EchoLink: (Updated […]
Expect to see a ton of Northern California contacts on 2 Meters Simplex. Objective: To work as many amateur stations in as many different 2 degrees by 1 degree grid squares as possible using authorized frequencies above 50 MHz. Foreign stations work W/VE amateurs only. Date and Contest Period: The second full weekend in June. Begins 1800 UTC Saturday, ends 0300 UTC Monday (June 9-11, 2018). June VHF Contest Rules 1. Objective: To work as many amateur stations in as many different 2 degrees […]
TCARES Exhibit @ 2018 Father’s Day Fly-In TCARES applied for a free information and demo booth at the 2018 Father’s Day Fly-In for the purpose of educating the general public about the Amateur Radio arts. We are looking to see if there are about 10 to 14 club members interested in staffing 2 hour shifts on Saturday and Sunday. If we get enough sign ups, we will send in our application to get a space. In the booth space, we will put up a canopy and […]