Other than Field Day, this is the big event of the year.
The annual holiday party was held starting at 6:00 PM for a social hour and 7:00 PM for dinner. Our party was held at Marie Callenders 5711 E. La Palma near Imperial Hwy. After the social hour and dinner, we said farewell to our President as he introduced the new board, passing out their badges and then passing the gavel to Nicholas-AF6CF, our new President.
Congratulations to Dom Mech, who received the 2015 Good of the Club award. Nicholas - AF6CF took away the grand prize, an ICOM 706 Mark II HF Radio. Many other prizes were won by other attendees. Each of the ladies attending also received a poinsettia and their choice of Belgium chocolates or shortbread cookies
Club elections were held at the November meeting to select the 2015 Board of Directors. Here are the results:
President: AF6CF Nicholas Haban Vice Pres: W6ETC Tom Cowart Secretary: W6HHC Ken Konechy Treasurer: W6ATB Greg Bohning Activities: N6TMT Tim Millard Membership: N6XBP Don Mech Publicity: KD6OXD Vern DeMars Technical: WØMEC Clem Brzoznowski Dir at Lrg: N2VNI Tony Scalpi Dir at Lrg: AF6C Bob Eckweiler
Kevin Zanjani - KI6DHQ from Bioenno Power in Santa Ana, CA presented an overview about LiFePO4 (lithium iron phosphate) batteries. His presentation discussed its applications in ham radio, how to select the correct capacity, its advantages over existing battery technologies, and simple LiFePO4 system setups for portable power and solar applications.
The annual OCARC Auction was held in lieu of our regular meeting. Items auctioned were ham radio and electronics related items, with the exception of a Lionel train set which drew much attention. Rules to our yearly auction are posted in RF Newsletter in September and October. Auction is normally held at our regular meeting site.
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The OCARC held a ‘SHOW-and-TELL’ event at the September meeting. A show-and-tell event is a teaching method, and when used properly encourages instruction, good information, great conversations, times for Q&A, and in some cases a sense of what could be or should have been? The target audience was both new and old Amateur Radio Operators from within the Orange County, California Amateur Radio community.
The OCARC August meeting hosted a POE (Panel of Experts) event offering very interesting, informative and enlightening discussions about various aspects of amateur radio. Members were able to ask questions and receive advice from experts in the areas of contesting, DX, digital operations, meteor scatter, portable radio, nets, repeaters, and more.
Bill Prats - K6ACJ spoke on the basics of building Arduino and Raspberry Pi projects (including real do-it-yourself examples). He presented insight into the tools, project examples and key background considerations for the development of DIY home projects that can provide better results the first time around.
Once again the OCARC participated in the ARRL Field Day. More details are on our Field Day webpage.
The June presentation by Chip Margelli, K7JA was "A Tour of the World's Largest Antenna: The Arecibo Radio Telescope in Puerto Rico." The Arecibo dish is the stuff of legend, having been used for a number of exciting discoveries, including one that brought a Nobel Prize in Physics to Dr. Joe Taylor, K1JT. Chip and Janet Margelli were in Puerto Rico in January for the ARRL Convention, and on Monday after the show they received a very special tour by the Operations Director (WP3R) that included a walk up the catwalk to the feed dome!
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Nicholas AF6CF presented the need/justification of a portable ham radio HF station. Showed various components that can be considered like antennas, rigs, QRO RF amplifiers and batteries. AF6CF also demonstrated how fast the portable station can be set-up (less than 5 minutes).
This event is where the big DXers gather each spring on the West Coast to talk about DX and hamming in general. Lots of big prizes, talks, and a banquet. For more details visit http://www.dxconvention.com.
Ken - W6HHC talked about what you can accomplish using Antenna Modeling software. Not only can you design your own antennas for HF to UHF, but you can use the software to predict radiation pattern effects of antenna height and polarization.
Each year a group of members of the OCARC support the Orange Police Dept. in the annual Baker to Vegas Challenge Cup Relay Race by providing communications and logistics over the 120 mile race long course. This year the Orange team once again finished the grueling race in under 16 hours (15:58:01) and finished a respectable 45th overall (out of 262 total teams), and second in their division of 150 officers or less.
Greg - W6ATB talked on meteor scatter (aka meteor burst) communications at the March meeting. New computer software allows amazing QSOs on short meteor ionization trails.
The 11th annual Yuma Hamfest was held at the Yuma Fairgrounds, 2520 East 32nd Street, Yuma, Arizona.
For further information visit their website: www.yumahamfest.org
If you've worked some of the DXpeditions over the past several years, the person on the other end of your cherished contact may have been Arnie - N6HC. Besides being a top-notch operator, Arnie is also a doctor. He brings this important skill, and needed medical supplies on DXpeditions; and on numerous occasions he has put his training to work. Whether it is easing a sea-sick fellow operator on a long boat journey to the DX-spot, or cleaning and sewing up an accidental wound, everyone feels a little more secure with Arnie as part of the team.
Doctor Arnie has given us many presentations, with great slides and stories on his numerous DXpeditions, but always with the focus on ham radio. On this occasion he focused on the medical role he plays in these DX event.
Don Hill - KE6BXT and Joe Ayers AE6XE presented a talk on Broadband Hamnet and the Orange County Mesh Network. If you have a compatible WiFi router lying around or purchase one you can participate in this new aspect of our hobby.
The websites Don and Joe presented in their talk are listed here.
Except as noted, club Breakfasts and Board Meetings were held at Marie Callender's 1821 N. Grand Ave. in Santa Ana on Saturday:
* This breakfast was held at The Jägerhaus, 2525 E. Ball Road in Anaheim on the second Saturday.
** At the May 2nd 2015 Board Meeting the board agreed to hold all future monthly breakfast/Board meetings at Marie Callender's on the FIRST SATURDAY of the month. The move prevents a conflict with the CARA breakfast attended by some board members, and a monthly Anaheim HS reunion that is held at The Jägerhaus on the first Saturday
*** The December 3rd breakfast is canceled due to the Holiday Party being held the night before.
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