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FARS Meeting Programs - 2024 [2023] [2024] [2025]FARS meetings take place on the 4th Friday of each month, except for no meeting in February (Banquet), and meetings on a different Friday in June (Field Day), November (Thanksgiving), and December (Christmas). See the calendar for specific dates. Meeting Schedule
After the program, and FARS business, we hold a raffle for a few prizes. FARS Mini Flea Market:
Visitors are welcome to attend our regular meetings.
(directions) Friday September 27, 2024 - Membership MeetingFARS Annual Amateur Radio Home Brew Contest This month’s meeting is scheduled to convene at Covington. This meeting is also available on-line via Zoom. All presenters for this meeting must be in-person. No Zoom presentations accepted. This meeting is about you. Yes you, our members and guests. Our Annual Amateur Radio Homebrew Contest is a opportunity to show off a project that you have worked on in the past year. Each participant has a few minutes to show and explain his project to our audience and has a chance to win one of our four prizes: $40 First prize
K6YA is the Club radio call sign for the Foothills Amateur Radio Society. The current trustee for K6YA is KA6MZE.
This picture is of the Field Day 2007 set up crew.
Other: Refreshments We will be raffling off prizes at this meeting: * Indicates prizes awarded. Friday October 25, 2024 - Membership MeetingProgram to be Announced This month’s meeting is scheduled to convene at Covington. This meeting is also available on-line via Zoom.
K6YA is the Club radio call sign for the Foothills Amateur Radio Society. The current trustee for K6YA is KA6MZE.
This picture is of the Field Day 2007 set up crew.
Other: Refreshments We will be raffling off prizes at this meeting: * Indicates prizes awarded. Friday November 22, 2024 - Membership MeetingProgram to be Announced This month’s meeting is scheduled to convene at Covington. This meeting is also available on-line via Zoom. This meeting is one week earlier than usual. It has been scheduled for the 3rd Friday instead of the usual 4th Friday of the month due to Thanksgiving. Be sure to put the correct date on the calendar.
K6YA is the Club radio call sign for the Foothills Amateur Radio Society. The current trustee for K6YA is KA6MZE.
This picture is of the Field Day 2007 set up crew.
Other: Refreshments We will be raffling off prizes at this meeting: * Indicates prizes awarded. Friday December 20, 2024 - Membership MeetingProgram to be Announced This month’s meeting is scheduled to convene at Covington. This meeting is also available on-line via Zoom. This meeting is one week earlier than usual. It has been scheduled for the 3rd Friday instead of the usual 4th Friday of the month due to Christmas. Be sure to put the correct date on the calendar.
K6YA is the Club radio call sign for the Foothills Amateur Radio Society. The current trustee for K6YA is KA6MZE.
This picture is of the Field Day 2007 set up crew.
Other: Refreshments We will be raffling off prizes at this meeting: * Indicates prizes awarded. Previous Programs - 2024 [2023] [2024] [2025]Friday January 26, 2024 - Membership Meeting[K3ADM]
Raffle Winners:
WYWH: Weak Signal Propagation Reporter (WSPR) Adrian Motamedi, K3ADM This month’s meeting is scheduled to convene at Covington. This meeting is also available on-line via Zoom. Weak Signal Propagation Reporter (WSPR) is an HF digital communication mode used for weak-signal HF radio communication between amateur radio operators. It achieves reliable communication by using low data rate and strong forward error correction coding (FEC). WSPR was originally designed and implemented by Joe Taylor, K1JT, for probing potential propagation paths with low-power transmissions. The protocol is nicely implemented in a computer program. So what is WSPR good for? WSPR can give insight into station performance without test equipment. Questions like… Despite having good SWR, does an antenna work well? What does its radiation pattern look like? Talking to other hams, you might hear that a band is open, but then wonder how well your antenna works on that band. How do you know when exactly from your specific location, the band is open to your exotic DX destination and its vicinity? While HF propagation software tools like VOACAP and Proplab-Pro give predictions, a WSPR beacon reveals what is happening now! You can see seasonal, day/night, and hourly propagation, and also monitor reported paths to different receivers – all nicely displayed on a map. WSPR software can even alert you at the best time for a QSO with your favorite destination. It can help you to adjust your antenna’s pattern or direction, or gather statistics about your beacon. Adrian Motamedi, K3ADM, explains the WSPR protocol, then explain how he set up a Raspberry Pi computer as an ultra-low power (10mW) and low cost WSPR beacon. He explains how he designed, simulated, and measured a harmonic filter for the output. He tells how he time synchronized a standalone, Internet independent, WSPR beacon for less than $35. Adrian’s presentation is available on-line.
Adrian Motamedi, K3ADM, graduated in the field of microwaves and high-frequency technology.
After university, he started his professional career as a high-speed digital circuit design engineer at Siemens, later Infineon Technologies.
In 2007 he joined Juniper Networks, where he worked on system, chip, package and EMI designs. For Juniper's MX2020 flagship product for the Edge market, he developed the first backplane having 3000 links at 10- and 25-Gbps. At Aruba networks and subsequent chip startup, his team developed a 3.2-Tbps switch chip for switches at commercial data centers. The startup was acquired Cavium Inc., and then by Marvell Semiconductors. He then joined an automotive/clean energy company and worked on EV infrastructure in the US and abroad. Adrian currently works for an AI startup. He has six patents in the field of high-speed design and simulation. He speaks at JEDEC & Design-Con conferences. He is a member of the IEEE and is a volunteer on the boards of directors of FARS and a physics non-profit. Adrian is an avid hobbyist who holds licenses for Amateur Radio, boating, and as a student Pilot. He enjoys hiking, flying small airplanes, following the stock market and financial statistical analytics and prediction algorithms and software. Other: Refreshments We will be raffling off prizes at this meeting:
![]() DSO03D12 100 MHz dual trace scope with probes - features a built in DVM and signal generator ![]() Nano VNA H4 Vector Network Analyzer. 10 KHz to 5.4GHz, 4in touch screen ![]() Tiny Spectrum Analyzer Frequency 100KHz-960MHz, resolution 2.5KHz-640KHz ![]() uSDX+ QRP HF Xcvr 160-6 meters – SSB (10W), CW (5W), digital QRP transceiver ![]() MFJ-264 1KW Dummy Load - good to 650 MHz ![]() BaoFeng UV-5R x3 Tri Band VHF/UHF HT ![]() Retekess portable radio Covers AM/FM/SW. MP3 player/recorder. Great for emergencies, WWV monitoring. LiOn battery ![]() Flashlight Mil spec - 800 lumen aircraft aluminum LED flashlight, rechargable 18650 3000mAh battery ![]() Non-stick Silicone Rescue tape fuses to itself with no glue ![]() Workman KS-2 Mag Mount Mobile Radio Antenna w/ adapters for BNC, SMA female, and SMA male ![]() S-Pixie 40M 180mW CW Tranceiver completed built and tested. Headphone, power 12v / 9v battery * Indicates prizes awarded. Friday February 23, 2024 - Membership MeetingFARS Winter Banquet - Coastal station KPH – its history, restoration, and modern operations Richard Dillman, W6AWO via Zoom This month’s meeting is scheduled to convene as an in person only meeting (NO Zoom Access) at the Blue Pheasant in Cupertino. Reservations are required to attend. Friday March 22, 2024 - Membership Meeting[N5YJZ] [KK6IK] ![]()
Raffle Winners (L-R):
Not Shown: Parks on the Air Clay Couger, N5YJZ and Scott Nacey, KK6IK This month’s meeting is scheduled to convene at Covington. This meeting is also available on-line via Zoom. Clay Couger, N5YJZ, gives an overview of Parks on the Air activities, events, and mechanics. Scott Nacey, KK6IK, talks about his recent experience, equipment, and lessons learned as he traveled to and activated numerous parks around the Bay Area.
Clay Couger, N5YJZ, was first licensed in the early 1990's while a student at Oklahoma State University.
Upon graduation, Clay got married and moved to the Bay Area where he worked as a program manager first for Cisco and later Ciena.
His interest in Amateur Radio rekindled in 2017. Upon retiring in 2023, he fell in love with Parks on the Air (POTA).
Scott Nacey, KK6IK is a long term Amateur Radio operator first licensed as WA1YOJ in the late 1970’s while in Junior High School.
In college, Scott earned both engineering and business degrees from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts.
Professionally, Scott spent decades in computer hardware and software engineering, management and global technology & business innovation. Now retired, Scott has been rediscovering ham radio and the many amazing things that are happening with the hobby. Check out Scott’s QRZ.com page for some additional detail of his Amateur Radio journey and of the radio technologies and activities he has been rediscovering. Other: Refreshments We will be raffling off prizes at this meeting:
![]() DSO03D12 100 MHz dual trace scope with probes - features a built in DVM and signal generator ![]() Nano VNA H4 Vector Network Analyzer. 10 KHz to 5.4GHz, 4in touch screen ![]() uSDX+ QRP HF Xcvr 160-6 meters – SSB (10W), CW (5W), digital QRP transceiver ![]() BaoFeng UV-5R x3 Tri Band VHF/UHF HT ![]() RK-560 50MHz-2.4GHz frequency counter - CTSS/DCS decoder ![]() Beats by Dr. Dre Solo HD head phones with eggshell case; gen 2 ![]() Radio Shack RS-22-502A 12V 1.75A Unregulated Power Supply ![]() Workman KS-2 Mag Mount Mobile Radio Antenna w/ adapters for BNC, SMA female, and SMA male ![]() Palomar CMNF-500-50 Common Mode Noise Filter - 1-60MHz - common mode choke ![]() S-Pixie 40M 180mW CW Tranceiver completed built and tested. Headphone, power 12v / 9v battery * Indicates prizes awarded. Friday April 26, 2024 - Membership Meeting[W6NBC] ![]()
Raffle Winners (L-R): Easy Home-Brew Yagi Design John Portune, W6NBC This month’s meeting is scheduled to convene at Covington. This meeting is also available on-line via Zoom. John Portune, W6NBC, speaks about designing and building Yagi antennas. Yagi antennas are parasitic array antennas made from an array of dipoles in which one element is driven and the others are parasitic i.e. present in the near field but disconnected from the feedpoint. These extra elements serve to shape the array’s beam pattern and result in a directional beam pattern. John describes three simple “easy-to-remember” rules that let you create Yagi antennas that are at least 95% the equal of those that an expert antenna engineer can design or that on-line calculators can create. Low-cost home-brew examples are given.
John Portune, W6NBC, is a native of Los Angeles California.
John received a Bachelor’s degree in physics from Oregon State University in 1960.
He was licensed Advanced WB6ZCT in 1965 and Extra in 1972. He holds UK Amateur license M0GCK and FCC GROL and General Radio Telegraph commercial licenses. His career was as a television broadcast engineer and instructor, and included KNBC Los Angeles TV Channel 4 KNBC and Sony Broadcast San Francisco. John has published over 35 articles in Amateur Radio magazines, notably QST and OTA. Since retiring, he’s been active on HF, VHF, UHF-SSB, FM, digital modes and ham satellites. John is married to KF6OEB, has three children, and 12 grandchildren. His other interests include team railroading, pipe organ, and sushi enthusiast. John’s web site is https://w6nbc.com. Other: Refreshments We will be raffling off prizes at this meeting:
![]() DSO03D12 100 MHz dual trace scope with probes - features a built in DVM and signal generator ![]() Nano VNA H4 Vector Network Analyzer. 10 KHz to 5.4GHz, 4in touch screen ![]() uSDX+ QRP HF Xcvr 160-6 meters – SSB (10W), CW (5W), digital QRP transceiver ![]() BaoFeng UV-5R x3 Tri Band VHF/UHF HT ![]() HP Chromebook - 14 inch w/ Touch Screen - 32GB SSD; 4GB RAM. Great camera for zoom calls ![]() Beats by Dr. Dre Solo HD head phones with eggshell case; gen 2 ![]() Radio Shack RS-22-502A 12V 1.75A Unregulated Power Supply ![]() Workman KS-2 Mag Mount Mobile Radio Antenna w/ adapters for BNC, SMA female, and SMA male ![]() S-Pixie 40M 180mW CW Tranceiver completed built and tested. Headphone, power 12v / 9v battery * Indicates prizes awarded. Friday May 24, 2024 - Membership MeetingSWR! Who Cares? Kristen McIntyre, K6WX This month’s meeting is scheduled to convene at Covington. This meeting is also available on-line via Zoom. Kristen, K6WX, talks about the meaning of standing wave ratio (SWR). Standing wave ratio has long been a boogieman in ham radio. Some make it the defining parameter of their station efficiency and performance. But why do we care? Does it have a role in designing our stations? Kristen explores in some depth what SWR is and what it tells us and whether it really defines our station.
Kristen McIntyre, K6WX, has been interested in radio since she was five years old.
As a youth, she built many radio kits including her favorite: a one-tube radio kit.
Kristen started in Amateur Radio by getting her Technician’s license in the late 1970s while an undergraduate student at MIT. She built a 2-meter repeater with an autopatch to use while on campus at MIT. Kristen now holds an Amateur Extra class license and also is licensed in Japan as JI1IZZ. She is active on 2 meters, 1.2 GHz, and HF. She built an Elecraft K2 while on vacation. Kristen likes to work HF mobile using the K2 and a hamstick. She also operates from her apartment using an Icom IC-7600 driving an Ameritron AL-811H power amplifier into a homebrew helical vertical dipole. She loves to chase DX using mostly CW, and works contests from time to time. Kristen’s professional career has been diverse. In the early 1980s, she designed high-power linear amplifiers. She spent five years in Japan, architecting and designing precision analog test systems while learning the Japanese language and culture. Kristen returned to the U.S. and has worked at or consulted for Silicon Valley tech firms. At Adobe Systems, she architected PostScript Level 2 and its RTOS underpinnings as well as AppleTalk networking for PostScript printers. In the early 1990's, she became a consultant and later founded an Internet service provider and a network consulting firm. At Sun Microsystems Laboratories, she did research on the robustness and emergent properties of large distributed computer systems. She is currently a senior software engineer at Apple Computer, working on OS X and iOS. Kristen holds a degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She was officer and president of the Palo Alto Amateur Radio Association (PAARA). She was ARRL Technical Coordinator for the East Bay Section, and in 2018 became ARRL Pacific Division Vice Director. Kristen is currently serving as ARRL Pacific Division Director and ARRL First Vice President. Other: Refreshments We will be raffling off prizes at this meeting:
![]() DSO03D12 100 MHz dual trace scope with probes - features a built in DVM and signal generator ![]() Nano VNA H4 Vector Network Analyzer. 10 KHz to 5.4GHz, 4in touch screen ![]() uSDX+ QRP HF Xcvr 160-6 meters – SSB (10W), CW (5W), digital QRP transceiver ![]() BaoFeng UV-5R x3 Tri Band VHF/UHF HT ![]() HP Chromebook - 14 inch w/ Touch Screen - 32GB SSD; 4GB RAM. Great camera for zoom calls ![]() AL-207F 2m/709cm Antenna - Dual band base antenna - VHF/UHF; ½ wave at VHF, two 5/8 wave at UHF ![]() Pittsburgh Digital Caliper 6 inch Digital Electronic Caliper, large 4-digit LCD display ![]() Workman KS-2 Mag Mount Mobile Radio Antenna w/ adapters for BNC, SMA female, and SMA male ![]() S-Pixie 40M 180mW CW Tranceiver completed built and tested. Headphone, power 12v / 9v battery * Indicates prizes awarded. Friday June 14, 2024 - Membership Meeting[AA6XA] ![]()
Raffle Winners (L-R):
Not Shown: Digital Signal Processing (DSP) in Amateur Radio Jeff Kabel AA6XA This program was originally scheduled for May. This month’s meeting is scheduled to convene at Covington. This meeting is also available on-line via Zoom. This meeting is one week earlier than usual. It has been scheduled for the 3rd Friday instead of the usual 4th Friday of the month due to Field Day. Be sure to put the correct date on the calendar. Digital Signal Processing (DSP) is everywhere in modern communications systems. Jeff, AA6XA, gives a qualitative introduction to DSP. He covers basic DSP concepts (sampling and quantization) and give some simple examples. DSP can be math heavy but is presented here to not to require any difficult math. He gives you a feel for how DSP works and some of the ways it is important to wireless communications.
Jeff Kabel got his Amateur Radio license when he was 14 while in middle school.
He upgraded to Extra a few years later while in high school and went off to college to become an electrical engineer.
After taking a break from ham radio for a few years, he got back into the hobby after moving to California. Jeff is an avid SOTA activator. His activations can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/@hambitious. He enjoys home brewing, VHF+ contests, and CW contests. Other: Refreshments We will be raffling off prizes at this meeting:
![]() DSO03D12 100 MHz dual trace scope with probes - features a built in DVM and signal generator ![]() Nano VNA H4 Vector Network Analyzer. 10 KHz to 5.4GHz, 4in touch screen ![]() uSDX+ QRP HF Xcvr 160-6 meters – SSB (10W), CW (5W), digital QRP transceiver ![]() BaoFeng UV-5R x2 Dual Band VHF/UHF HT ![]() HP Chromebook - 14 inch w/ Touch Screen - 32GB SSD; 4GB RAM. Great camera for zoom calls ![]() Pittsburgh Digital Caliper 6 inch Digital Electronic Caliper, large 4-digit LCD display ![]() S-Pixie 40M 180mW CW Tranceiver completed built and tested. Headphone, power 12v / 9v battery ![]() Non-stick Silicone Rescue tape fuses to itself with no glue * Indicates prizes awarded. Friday July 26, 2024 - Membership Meeting[KI6BDR] ![]()
Raffle Winners (L-R): Antennas for Drone Applications Keith Snyder, KI6BDR via Zoom This month’s meeting is scheduled to convene at Covington. This meeting is also available on-line via Zoom. Our speaker is presenting via Zoom this month. Keith Snyder, KI6BDR, talks about the different antennas used for drones in the commercial world and a little about antennas for drone mitigation. Various antennas are used to fly hobby drones such as the DJI series drones. Basic coverages are around 2.4 GHz, 5.8 GHz, 1200 MHz, and 1600 MHz. The antennas on the drone and in the controller must work together seamlessly. When contact is lost a drone will normally fly back using GPS to its original starting location. Improving this link can be done with higher gain antennas. But what if you want to reject a drone. Then you need drone killer antennas. We’ll look at these cases and explore the fun ways to detect and deflect drones. You either love them, or hate them. Keith’s drone of choice is his DJI Mini 2 which has 4k video and he’s flown using a Yagi-Uda antenna extender on his controller. Here is a video taken from Keith’s drone in action at Waikiki Beach in beautiful Hawaii: Friday Sailing 05 25 2024 DJI Mini 2 downtown Honolulu (youtube.com). You can watch a video of Keith’s Zoom presentation on Youtube.
Keith Snyder, KI6BDR, is a master power user of the FEKO numerical electromagnetics code for antenna modeling and analysis.
He started using FEKO 23 years ago as user no. 8 in the U.S. and no. 1 at Northrop Grumman.
Keith is an expert at reverse engineering antennas using photos and AutoCAD to import complex models into FEKO. Keith studied antennas under at The Ohio State University. He had the great fortune of having Professor John Kraus as his electromagnetics instructor. Keith’s aunt was Kraus’s secretary! Keith graduated from Ohio State in 1980 and picked up a Telecommunications Certificate from U.C. Berkeley. Keith has considerable antenna design experience having worked on a wide variety of antenna applications including: AM antenna matching at Harris Broadcast in Quincy, Illinois; reflector antennas using the NECREF code at GTE in Needham, Massachusetts; patch antenna arrays at Ball Aerospace in Boulder, Colorado; radar antenna design at Aydin Radar in San Jose; broadband antennas at GTE in Mountain View; shaped reflector antennas at Space Systems Loral; Keith worked on modelling antennas on multiple aircraft for Northrop Grumman first in Sacramento, then San Jose and now in San Diego. His current position is with Northrop Grumman Space Systems Division’s Dulles, Virginia, location. He is working on the Gateway project which is a space station that will circle the moon as part of Project Artemis. In addition, he is working on a project to improve antenna links in the battlefield including drones and drone mitigation. Finally, Keith has been preparing for retirement and has picked up hobbies. Mainly photography (SpaceX launches with a 500mm lens) and flying his DJI Mini 2 drone (in Hawaii and beyond). Other: Refreshments We will be raffling off prizes at this meeting:
![]() DSO03D12 100 MHz dual trace scope with probes - features a built in DVM and signal generator ![]() Nano VNA H4 Vector Network Analyzer. 10 KHz to 5.4GHz, 4in touch screen ![]() uSDX+ QRP HF Xcvr 160-6 meters – SSB (10W), CW (5W), digital QRP transceiver ![]() Tiny Spectrum Analyzer Frequency 100KHz-960MHz, resolution 2.5KHz-640KHz ![]() MFJ-264 1KW Dummy Load - good to 650 MHz ![]() BaoFeng UV-5R x2 Dual Band VHF/UHF HT ![]() Energizer AA lithium batteries 8 pack ![]() Non-stick Silicone Rescue tape fuses to itself with no glue ![]() Flashlight Mil spec - 800 lumen aircraft aluminum LED flashlight, rechargable 18650 3000mAh battery * Indicates prizes awarded. Friday August 23, 2024 - Membership MeetingThe K4ERO Loss Formula Untangled Steve Stearns, K6OIK This month’s meeting is scheduled to convene at Covington. This meeting is also available on-line via Zoom. In his talk last year, “Black Box Analysis of Microwave Networks,” Steve presented the riddle of the K4ERO loss formula that was published in QEX 2022 and QST 2023. K4ERO asserted that scattering parameter S21 of a black box 2-port device can be found by using a VNA to measure the input reflection of the device. In this sequel talk, Steve solves the riddle and proves the published formula. Along the way he shows the method is not general. Certain assumptions are needed, which if violated defeat K4ERO’s method. A forgotten, but better, method of determining S21 is shown. This method also uses input reflection measurements and a pair of Smith charts. This talk will illuminate “S” parameters and shows how to make and interpret measurements made with a NanoVNA, or any VNA.
HF phone: Golden Bear Amateur Radio Net, 3,975 kHz LSB at 1900 Pacific time daily.
E-Mail: k6oik AT arrl.net Articles: /docs/k6oik Steve Stearns, K6OIK, started in ham radio while in high school at the height of the Heathkit era. He holds an FCC Amateur Extra and a commercial General Radio Operator license with Radar endorsement. He previously held Novice, Technician, and 1st Class Radiotelephone licenses. He studied electrical engineering at California State University Fullerton, the University of Southern California, and Stanford, specializing in electromagnetic theory, communication, engineering and signal processing. Steve worked at Northrop Grumman Corporation’s Electromagnetic Systems Laboratory in San Jose, California. He retired as a Northrop Grumman Technical Fellow. Steve is serving as vice-president of the Foothills Amateur Radio Society, and served previously as assistant director of ARRL Pacific Division. He has over 100 professional publications and presentations and ten patents. Steve has received numerous awards for professional and community volunteer activities. Other: Refreshments We will be raffling off prizes at this meeting:
![]() Lenovo i5 Laptop - Windows 10; 8 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD, USB 3.0, 12.5-inch screen, under 3 pounds ![]() DSO03D12 100 MHz dual trace scope with probes - features a built in DVM and signal generator ![]() Weller WES51 Analog Soldering Station Professional quality, electronic temperature control ![]() Nano VNA H4 Vector Network Analyzer. 10 KHz to 5.4GHz, 4in touch screen ![]() uSDX+ QRP HF Xcvr 160-6 meters – SSB (10W), CW (5W), digital QRP transceiver ![]() Tiny Spectrum Analyzer Frequency 100KHz-960MHz, resolution 2.5KHz-640KHz ![]() MFJ-264 1KW Dummy Load - good to 650 MHz ![]() BaoFeng UV-5R x2 Dual Band VHF/UHF HT ![]() Non-stick Silicone Rescue tape fuses to itself with no glue ![]() Flashlight Mil spec - 800 lumen aircraft aluminum LED flashlight, rechargable 18650 3000mAh battery * Indicates prizes awarded. |