The August meeting was held at The Amblers Club, starting at 7:30PM. Several members met prior to the meeting for dinner at Mountain Mike's Pizza and a few came early to share a libation and fun at the bar.
On the business meeting agenda, John NZ6Q started the meeting by having members introduce themselves. The treasurer's report was delivered by Paul N6KZW as KC6RRR was ill. He reported our bank balance was in good shape, our membership number stands at 70 and there were no new bills to pay. Our event coordinators Ed N6XMA and Mark W6SXA reported on several upcoming events. First, HamCram is Saturday, August 11th with about 20 pre-registered. On September 22nd, we will have Elmer University at the Fire Station. This will be more focused on "hands-on" classes and new hams will have opportunities to build simple antennas and get hands-on experience. Our next meeting will also be our transmitter hunt and Bar-B-Que, Thursday night September 13th, starting at 6:00 PM at the Moose Lodge Picnic Grounds located on Davis Road just north of Thornton Rd in North Stockton. California QSO Party is coming the first weekend in October and we need to get ready for our next big on-the-air event.
Ron KG7OR presented a very interesting history of the name of our club, it's origins and many of the 'key players' who started both the Stockton & Delta Amateur Radio Clubs. It was very interesting to learn how the no-code Technician License started by the FCC in the 1950s lead to the creation of the Delta Amateur Radio Club.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:35 PM. Our next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, September 13th starting at 6:00 PM with Bar-B-Que dinner and potluck. Our Transmitter Hunt program by Mike K6MDS will follow.
CHECK OUT THE PERSEIDS METEOR SHOWER THIS WEEKEND!!
August 10, 2018 – Theeey’re heeere!
The Perseid meteor shower is here! Perseid meteors, caused by debris left behind by the Comet Swift-Tuttle, began streaking across the skies in late July and will peak on August 12th.
The Perseid meteor shower is often considered to be one of the best meteor showers of the year due to its high rates and pleasant late-summer temperatures. This year’s shower peak, however, has the added bonus of dark skies courtesy of an early-setting crescent Moon. Combine these ideal observing conditions and high rates (an average of 60 meteors per hour at the peak) with the fact that the best nights for viewing – August 11 to 12 and August 12 to 13 – occur on a weekend and you have a recipe for successfully viewing some celestial fireworks!
When Should I Look?
Make plans to stay up late or wake up early the nights of August 11 to 12 and August 12 to 13. The Perseids are best seen between about 2 a.m. your local time and dawn. If those hours seem daunting, not to worry! You can go out after dark, around 9 p.m. local time, and see Perseids. Just know that you won’t see nearly as many as you would had you gone out during the early morning hours.
How can you see the Perseids if the weather doesn’t cooperate where you are? A live broadcast of the meteor shower from a camera in Huntsville, AL (if our weather cooperates!) will be available on the NASA Meteor Watch Facebook starting around 8 p.m. CT and continuing until the early hours of August 13. Meteor videos recorded by the NASA All Sky Fireball Network are also available each morning; to identify Perseids in these videos, look for events labeled “PER.”
Why Are They Called Perseids?
All meteors associated with one particular shower have similar orbits, and they all appear to come from the same place in the sky, called the radiant. Meteor showers take their name from the location of the radiant. The Perseid radiant is in the constellation Perseus. Similarly, the Geminid meteor shower, observed each December, is named for a radiant in the constellation Gemini.
How to Observe Perseids
If it’s not cloudy, pick an observing spot away from bright lights, lay on your back, and look up! You don’t need any special equipment to view the Perseids – just your eyes. (Note that telescopes or binoculars are not recommended.) Meteors can generally be seen all over the sky so don’t worry about looking in any particular direction.
Perseids on the Radio
While observing the meteors, listen on 6-Meters and 2-Meters for Meteor Showed "skip". Meteors can create great opportunities for short duration long range conditions on 2-Meters or 6-Meters. Read more about working meteor showers by clicking on this link: ARRL PERSEIDS METEOR SCATTER
Not all of the meteors you’ll see belong to the Perseid meteor shower. Some are sporadic background meteors. And some are from other weaker showers also active right now, including the Alpha Capricornids, the Southern Delta Aquariids, and the Kappa Cygnids. How can you tell if you’ve seen a Perseid? If you see a meteor try to trace it backwards. If you end up in the constellation Perseus, there’s a good chance you’ve seen a Perseid. If finding constellations isn’t your forte, then note that Perseids are some of the fastest meteors you’ll see!
Pro tip: Remember to let your eyes become adjusted to the dark (it takes about 30 minutes) – you’ll see more meteors that way. Try to stay off of your phone too, as looking at devices with bright screens will negatively affect your night vision and hence reduce the number of meteors you see!
Happy viewing and Get On The Air!
If you're interested in more SpaceNet and Space Info, check out the SARA Club SpaceNet Friday nights starting at 20:00 hours on the SARA Club repeater 145.390MHz PL 136.5 - offset.
PARACHUTE MOBILE MISSION 32 SCHEDULED FOR AUGUST 25TH
Parachute Mobile Mission 32 will take place August 25, 2018. We’re ramping up for another great mission. Some modifications are being made to the HF equipment vest. We’ll also be experimenting with new APRS radio during the HF jump.
There will continuous updates here on the website and QSTs made on the W6CX repeater, 147.060+ 100, and N6NFI repeater, 145.230- 100.
QSL Card
If you make a contact with a skydiver you will receive a QSL card. Please be sure to confirm your contact by sending an email to Rob, at KC6TYD@gmail.com. Please indicate which jump it was and the time of your contact.
As always, the mission is subject to delay or cancellation due to weather or aircraft issues.
If you would like to volunteer for the ground crew, go to the Parachute Mobile Website at www.parachutemobile.com
Get Your Ham Radio License in Just 1 Saturday!
Saturday, October 13th, 2018
8:15am-3:30pm – Doors Open at 8:00 AM
Stockton Fire Station 2 – Training Division
110 W Sonora St, Stockton, CA 95202
HamCram is an easy way for emergency workers (paid and volunteer), CERT team members and others who might use Amateur Radio in an emergency to get their licenses.
It is also an excellent way for current hams to help family members get their licenses.
There is no easier or quicker way to get a ham license.
HamCram is for persons seeking their first license (Technician Class) as well as current hams seeking to upgrade from Technician to General Class or General Class to Extra.
Cost for the one-day event is $25 and preregistration and prepayment are strongly encouraged.
If you have ever wanted to get your license (or know someone who should), now’s the time!
RADIO SHACK TO OPEN MINI OUTLETS INSIDE HOBBYTOWN STORES
The nearly century-old, twice-bankrupt retailer has signed a deal with HobbyTown USA to put a mini RadioShack outlet in some 50 HobbyTown USA stores across the country that would sell items that might appeal to radio amateurs and experimenters. Those locations will be identified with RadioShack signage.
HobbyTown markets remote-controlled cars and boats as well as drones and other hobby-related merchandise.
RadioShack shuttered all of its company-owned retail outlets. Its last unsuccessful effort to bail itself out of debt involved a deal with cellular provider Sprint. HobbyTown USA has 140 retail outlets, and, according to the Post article, RadioShack eventually could carve out a presence -- on the order of 500 square feet -- in all of them.
Stores in HobbyTown USA's headquarters town of Lincoln, Nebraska, as well as in Parker, Colorado, and Mooresville, North Carolina, will be among the first to host RadioShack express concessions.
"HobbyTown is purchasing the RadioShack merchandise and offering it to its hobbyist customers who need the tools, wires, and other accessories that RadioShack makes," the Post article said.
The article quoted Steve Moroneso, chief executive of General Wireless Operations Inc. -- an affiliate of hedge fund Standard General, which acquired RadioShack in 2015 -- as saying that RadioShack's strategy now is not to own brick-and-mortar stores. RadioShack came out of bankruptcy in January with 400 dealers, an online retail presence, and a distribution center. General Wireless acquired the 1,743 retail outlets that survived RadioShack's 2015 bankruptcy.
Moroneso also told the Post that there is "plenty of interest from dealers who want to open a full-line Radio Shack." Read more.
FIELD DAY PICTURES CHECK OUT YOUR
2018 OPERATION
Stockton – Delta Radio Amateur Radio Club at:
CHARLIE'S VINEYARD
12990 N DeVRIES RD, LODI
Saturday, June 23rd and Sunday, June 24th
Thanks to Bob KM6ONS and Dave N6LHL for these shots....
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KIDS DAY
SATURDAY, JUNE 16TH
REPORT
Twice a year, ARRL offers an event designed to promote Amateur Radio to our youth. Kids Day is designed to give on-the-air experience to young people and hopefully foster interest in getting a license of their own. It is also intended to give older hams a chance to share their station and love for Amateur Radio with their children.
This June 16th, Bob K6DGQ, Ron KG7OR and others will again be taking Kids Day out to the Galt Public Library. The ARRL even picked up on the story from the Galt Herald and you can read that here: ARRL MEDIA HITS PAGE
The W6SF club also activated Kids Day at the Margaret Troke Library in Stockton. Ed N6XMA and Mark W6SXAhave been working with the library to set up a station on Saturday June 16th from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. After a few glitches in set-up, we were on the air by about 10:15 AM. Big thanks to Gayle KK6RAO who help get things set up, but also stayed the entire event and gave great demonstrations to the kids. We want to give as many children as possible at the library an opportunity to get on the air. We had as many or more adults than kids stop and look at our station with 3 saying they were going to come to the HamCram in August.
The librarian was also very pleased to have us on-site. She not only committed to reserving us better space in January for Kids Day 2019, but to also promote HamCrams through the library's bulletin board and counter space.
While we would have liked more kids to see our set up, we had pretty tough competition from two movies being shown that day in the library as well.
MUSEUM SHIPS WEEKEND WELCOME ABOARD THE USS LUCID
MUSEUM SHIPS WEEKEND
REPORT
Museum Ships Weekend is in the log books and what a weekend it was. The radio fun started Friday night on June 1st with contacts on 20M 40M phone and on FT-8 from our "ground station" just outside the ship.
Saturday morning started early with 40M CW contacts including Russia, Japan and China on our inverted-L antenna with 300 watts, then onto the 20M 3-el Yagi mounted on top of the ship.
Emilia KI6YYT and her crew from the YL Ladies of the Net on 40M arrived and continued operating most of Saturday afternoon until just before dinner time. We were also visited by several scouts with scout Amy getting on the air and managing a very weal contract with a station on Oklahoma.
Dinner was delicious. Steve and the crew from Chuck's on Pacific really created a delicious feast of Prime Rib, Mashed potatoes with gravy, vegetables, and a delicious pudding dessert.
This was a great operating event with lots of support for our new hams. Speaking of which, Bob N6TCE and the HamCram crew tested 9 new hams on board the ship. One young man came from Reedley (south of Fresno) to pass his Technician license.
The story is best told in pictures. Please enjoy these below and I will add more as I receive them.
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CLUB REPEATERS
Located in the Sierra Nevada Mountains at 2500 feet, the club repeaters cover the Southern Sacramento and Northern San Joaquin Valleys. The call-sign is W6SF and can be heard on 147.165 MHz and on 442.250 MHz with a PL of 107.2 Hz. Club simplex frequency is 147.51 MHz.
SDARC also has a UHF repeater, operating independently, on 444.575+ PL 107.2. This is a local low level Stockton repeater with the call W6SF. As the project progresses, three receiver/voters will be installed via T1 phone lines and the addition of IRLP linking to other repeaters.
CLUB REPEATERS
Located in the Sierra Nevada Mountains at 2500 feet, the club repeaters cover the Southern Sacramento and Northern San Joaquin Valleys. The call-sign is W6SF and can be heard on 147.165 MHz and on 442.250 MHz with a PL of 107.2 Hz. Club simplex frequency is 147.51 MHz.
SDARC also has a UHF repeater, operating independently, on 444.575+ PL 107.2. This is a local low level Stockton repeater with the call W6SF. As the project progresses, three receiver/voters will be installed via T1 phone lines and the addition of IRLP linking to other repeaters.
CLUB REPEATERS
Located in the Sierra Nevada Mountains at 2500 feet, the club repeaters cover the Southern Sacramento and Northern San Joaquin Valleys. The call-sign is W6SF and can be heard on 147.165 MHz and on 442.250 MHz with a PL of 107.2 Hz. Club simplex frequency is 147.51 MHz.
SDARC also has a UHF repeater, operating independently, on 444.575+ PL 107.2. This is a local low level Stockton repeater with the call W6SF. As the project progresses, three receiver/voters will be installed via T1 phone lines and the addition of IRLP linking to other repeaters.
CLUB REPEATERS
Located in the Sierra Nevada Mountains at 2500 feet, the club repeaters cover the Southern Sacramento and Northern San Joaquin Valleys. The call-sign is W6SF and can be heard on 147.165 MHz and on 442.250 MHz with a PL of 107.2 Hz. Club simplex frequency is 147.51 MHz.
SDARC also has a UHF repeater, operating independently, on 444.575+ PL 107.2. This is a local low level Stockton repeater with the call W6SF. As the project progresses, three receiver/voters will be installed via T1 phone lines and the addition of IRLP linking to other repeaters.
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RadioShack shuttered all of its company-owned retail outlets. Its last unsuccessful effort to bail itself out of debt involved a deal with cellular provider Sprint. HobbyTown USA has 140 retail outlets, and, according to the Post article, RadioShack eventually could carve out a presence -- on the order of 500 square feet -- in all of them. 
