The annual Christmas dinner was held at Mimi's Cafe, 1846 Brookhurst Ave. in Fountain Valley. Happy hour began at 6:30 followed by dinner and a great time.
April Moell - WA6OPS, founder and Emergency Coordinator of the Hospital Disaster Support Communications System (HDSCS), spoke on their yearly community service event: “The North Pole Network” which lets hospitalized children enjoy Christmas more through ham radio.
The annual club auction was held at our regular meeting time and place. Items were limited to radio and electronic equipment only. Registration began at 7:00 PM.
The 2001 ARRL Southwestern Division Convention was held at the Riverside Convention Center. The banquet featured speaker H. Paul Shuch - N6TX, Executive Director of SETI
Dennis Kidder - WA6NIA presented a program on APRS - Automatic Position Reporting System. He explained about APRS, about TNCs, about the need for a GPS, about the MIC-E and how APRS works.
ARRL Vice Director Art Goddard - W6XD was our guest speaker for August. Art, a noted photographer, took us on a tour of Tajikistan via slides. We learned abput meeting yhr challenges of DX radio contest operation. Tajikistan is a former Republic of the Soviet Union and sits at the crossroads of intrigue bordered by China, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Ken Konechy - W6HHC, spoke on Fuel Cells, and how they work. He talked about them replacing batteries in the near future and what the few remaining problems are. In a few years, your notebook computer may use a Fuel Cell instead of a battery, and maybe your handheld will too!
FIELD DAY is a yearly held 24-hour simulated emergency communications drill. This year the OCARC held Field Day, for the first of many times in Portola Park on Santa Clara Ave. between Tustin St. and Grand Ave in Santa Ana.
Ken Konechy - W6HHC will presented a slide show and talk on our club’s Field Days of the past. Ken has an extensive set of slides that goes back over thirty years of W6ZE F.D. operations. Join the club as it operates from a cemetery, atop Lemon Heights, from local military bases and other areas.
Longtime member K6VDP was our guest speaker. He spoke on antennas and his experiences using open-wire feedline, various types of antenna tuners and antenna designs. He also presented several clever ways to protect your antennas and feed line connections from the elements. Larry brought lots of examples that he passed around the room for examination.
Malcolm Levy - KO6SY, (ex-G4RCU) of the Western States Weak Signal Society demonstrated weak signal SSB on the VHF bands. He talked on weak signal operations on the VHF and UHF bands, including communications using moonbounce, meteor shower and aurora. The presentation included audio clips of actual QSOs.
The Orange County Amateur Radio Club once again supported communications for the 20 stage Baker to Las Vegas Challenge Cup Relay Race. This year’s race featured competition between 204 law enforcement agencies. Since the race covers 120 miles, ham communications plays an ever increasing role in safety and scoring.
The Orange PD did not participate this year. Support was for the Cypress PD.
Our Guest speaker for March was Les Allen – KM6SQ, Les spoke on the CONDOR 220 MHz Backbone. The CONDOR Connection is a series of repeaters that are linked and provide long range communications. He answered how does this all works, and explained the wide coverage.
Gus Bogard - WM6J ARRL Official Observer (OO), spoke at the February meeting. He spoke on the 'OO' program and how the FCC is increasing their efforts to enforce the rules across the ham bands. Gus is an ARRL Official Observer.
At the January meeting, Allan Avnet - AB8AA, presented a program on Stealth Antennas. He talked on stealth antennas and how to enjoy your hobby even with those CC&Rs and local antenna restriction
Club Breakfasts and Board Meetings were held at iHop, 1001 E. 17th St. in Santa Ana on:
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