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The San Bruno Amateur Radio Club





Organizations

NameDescription
Amateur Radio in Space The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (as AMSAT is officially known) was first formed in the District of Columbia in 1969 as an educational organization. Its goal was to foster Amateur Radio’s participation in space research and communication. AMSAT was founded to continue the efforts, begun in 1961, by Project OSCAR, a west coast USA-based group which built and launched the very first Amateur Radio satellite, OSCAR, on December 12, 1961, barely four years after the launch of Russia’s first Sputnik.
ARRL The largest organization supporting American Amateur Radio Operators.
C.A.R.L.A. -- California Amateur Radio Linking Association A radio repeater system in Northern and Central California
Comm Academy Comm Academy is a free, virtual training conference for anyone interested in learning more about emergency communications technologies and practices. Taking place April 9, 2022, Comm Academy will feature a lineup of experienced emergency preparedness and emergency communications personnel with great information, stories, and ideas to share. More than just a collection of online presentations, Comm Academy 2022 will be an interactive event, with participants able to converse with presenters and other attendees via YouTube chat.
QSL.net QSL.net hosts over 31,000 web sites... over 54,000 e-mail forwarding accounts... over 600 mailing lists... and provides bandwidth and hardware for N6RT's DX Services (including log searches for over 20 million QSOs) at DX.QSL.NET.
San Mateo County Sheriff's Office Communications Unit Our team consists of a group of Amateur Radio operators who volunteer with the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office. Working under the Sheriff's Emergency Services Bureau we provide Communications and Logistical support during many different types of local and regional events and emergencies. If you are active in Amateur Radio, have an interest in emergency communications and are looking to use your skills please consider being part of our team.
The Northern Amateur Relay Council of California Welcome to northern California's repeater coordinating body. The Northern Amateur Relay Council of California, Inc. (NARCC) is the Amateur Radio coordinating organization for the 10 meter band and higher in Northern California. In cooperation with the FCC, ARRL, and the support of the hams in northern California, NARCC performs the repeater coordination function for the region. NARCC's region extends from California's coast to the Nevada border and from Tehachapi in the south to the Oregon border in the north. All amateurs with repeaters in the region are urged to file for Coordination and maintain their station data with NARCC. Having a station with Current Coordination helps should a dispute arise.
The Northern California Packet Association The Northern California Packet Association The Digital Band Planning & Coordination Group of Northern California
The San Bruno Community Foundation’s Community Grants Fund The San Bruno Community Foundation’s Community Grants Fund. This responsive grantmaking program allows local community groups to apply for grant funding to support new or existing programs that benefit the San Bruno community. Such programs may include, but are not limited to, racial equity and social justice programs as well as programs addressing community needs related to COVID-19.
The WIN System The WIN System is a community of amateur radio operators focused on educating all licensed radio operators so they can better serve their communities. The WIN System operates a series of over 100 linked repeaters which cover a great deal of the US and many other countries around the world. The WIN System is an OPEN Repeater system. We encourage all licensed amateur radio operators to stop in and get acquainted.

License Information

NameDescription
AA7HW VE Team A dedicated group of VEs working with remote testing
Anchorage Amateur Radio Club The Anchorage Amateur Radio Club(AARC), call sign KL7AA was organized in 1947, and we have over 150 members. We invite anyone with an interest in amateur radio or public service to contact us. The AARC is dedicated to public service and public safety. AARC also provides auxiliary communications and training to any group or civil authority. As you may know, the club continues to be busy with outfitting/configuring the Radio Science and Operations Center (RSOC), operating several area analog voice repeaters as well as a DMR repeater, APRS Gateways, Winlink Gateways, a satellite system, a high-speed mesh network, and much more. We support emergency communications through the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) and operate as a SHAred RESources (SHARES) High Frequency (HF) station in direct support of the State of Alaska Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) as well as the Civil Air Patrol on HF and VHF. Membership dues are $20 per calendar year and are accepted by credit card or PayPal.
BAEARS Written by Scott A. Mercer (KI6SEJ) Wednesday, 04 November 2009 20:42 BAEARS is an Amateur Radio club in the San Francisco Bay Area that provides classes and testing for those interested in getting their Amateur Radio license or in upgrading their existing license. We hold three to four sessions per year, depending on interest and classroom availability. Generally, the sessions range between 75 and 100 participants. Our method was developed by John Portune, W6NBC, in 1995 to improve the percentage of people passing the exam. See John’s website at http://w6nbc.com/ for information on the design and results from this learning system. We have helped approximately ~3900 people obtain their radio licenses since we began these sessions.
FCC License Search The main FCC page to do license lookups of all types.
Getting an FCC Registration Number (FRN) in the Universal Licensing System (ULS) This article provides information on getting an FCC Registration Number (FRN). You need an FRN if you are “doing business with the FCC.” To get an FRN, you need to complete FCC Form 160. The easiest way to complete FCC Form 160 is online by following the steps below.
HamStudy Lots of information for wantabe amateur radio operators
ilicon Valley VE Group The Silicon Valley Volunteer Examiner (VE) Group is an organization of South Bay radio amateurs affiliated with the ARRL VEC. Our goal, first and foremost, is to give you an opportunity to earn your amateur radio license or upgrade. We offer Technician, General, and Extra class exams to amateur radio newcomers and old hands alike.
NCVEC The volunteer examiner program came into being as a result of several factors. Primarily due to budget cutbacks, the federal government decided to remove itself from the administration of most categories of radio license examinations. On September 13, 1982, public law 97-259 was enacted which amended the Communications Act of 1934 to permit the FCC to accept the services of private individuals and organizations acting to prepare and administer examinations for applicants wishing to obtain (or upgrade) an Amateur Radio license. Approximately one month after this legislation became law, the ARRL (American Radio Relay League) filed a petition requesting that only non-profit educational organizations be allowed to participate in the program.

Software

NameDescription
EchoLink EchoLink® software allows licensed Amateur Radio stations to communicate with one another over the Internet, using streaming-audio technology. The program allows worldwide connections to be made between stations, or from computer to station, greatly enhancing Amateur Radio's communications capabilities. There are more than 350,000 validated users worldwide — in 159 of the world's 193 nations — with about 6,000 online at any given time.
FDLog Software This site is the home for the FDLog Field Day Logging Software. This program interacts with each Field Day station operator and synchronizes the log database across multiple computers via the (usually wireless) network. It cohesively ties the whole Field Day site together and facilitates not only logging but coordinating operations and band occupation. It runs on Windows, Linux and Macintosh using Python.
heywhatsthat A software tool that maps probable paths of radio signals over a given terrain
KiGQ This site publishes macOS software and information relating to my amateur radio interests, primarily HF CW contesting and antennas. If you found the site without first discovering W7AY’s outstanding work, be sure to visit Chen’s site.
N1MM Logger+ N1MM Logger is the world’s most popular ham radio contest logging program. For CW, phone and digital modes, its combination of contest-optimized features is unmatched.
QRUQSP Introducing our free Field Day Logger and Winter Field Day Logger. Our Field Day Logger is an online logging system designed for Field Day and Winter Field Day. You'll need a Wi-Fi or internet connection and any device with a web browser.
RF Exposure Calculator This program uses the formulae given in FCC OET Bulletin No. 65 to estimate power density in the main lobe of an antenna, with use of the EPA-recommended ground reflection factor as an option. This program is intended for approximate far-field calculations. It may overestimate the actual field strength of high-gain antennas in the near field (within several wavelengths of the antenna). However, it may also underestimate the strength of fields that may be encountered in hot spots in the near field. No computer program can accurately predict where wiring or reflective objects may create hot spots in your particular installation.
rt systems A popular software for programming amateur radios
Ubiquity Line of Sight Checker Tool Online software for checking LOS or Line of Sight paths for radio reception provided by Ubiquity.

Equipment Information

NameDescription
Ailunce A manufacturer of radios and antennas for amateur radio
Alinco A standard in the amateur radio world for equipment
American Morse Equipment Greetings from the shop of American Morse Equipment. My name is Doug Hauff, owner, operator, and chief bottle washer. I studied for but never took my Novice test as a kid, but in the 1990's I got back into radio & got my Novice ticket. The NorCal 49er got me into QRP, and I made my first hogout enclosure for the 49er. I got my General ticket after a bit, then scrambled and got my Extra ticket before the 20 wpm requirement was removed. Meanwhile, I made enclosures for the NorCal 38 Special, Rainbow Tuner, Small Wonder Labs SW series, NorCal 20, Red Hot Radio 40. I also came out with the Straight Key and then the Porta Paddle. The Mitybox for the SWL Rockmite just keeps going. I continue to operate my CNC Machine Shop & work on new designs for Amateur Radio.
Baofeng Tech A source for amateur radio operators who are looking for great values
Bioenno Power Bioenno Tech, LLC, doing business as Bioenno Power is based in Southern California. Our primary goal is to provide for the commercial market advanced power solutions centered on an advanced Lithium-ion type power unit called Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP). LFP batteries are one of the most advanced forms of Lithium-ion batteries commercially available and offer greatly enhanced characteristics Lead Acid batteries and even other related Lithium based batteries cannot match. Besides LFP, we also provide Lithium-Polymer (LiPo) batteries primarily for high RC model applications. Bioenno Power offers True Lithium Capacity Assurance: no gimmicks, no false advertisement and no nonsense. We take pride in individually inspecting and quality-checking each and every battery when it is stocked into inventory and when it is shipped to our clientele. What you order is what you get.
CWMORSE.US Quality Morse Code Keys, Paddles & Equipment ~ Made InThe USA
DX Engineering From station accessories and antennas to the cable assemblies, clamps, and hardware that bring it all together, DX Engineering products are made without compromise. DX Engineering always uses superior materials and expert engineering.
Elecraft Founded in 1998, Elecraft offers full-featured transceivers and accessories both as factory-assembled and easy-to-build kits. The latter makes us unique among major ham manufacturers. We can trace our company’s roots back to Field Day – the ultimate proving grounds for radio gear as well as hams themselves. Our design philosophy was clear from the beginning: Our radios would offer both high performance and portability. These two goals have spawned seven complete transceiver product lines. It all began with the K2, a three-pound, all-HF-band, all-mode radio with a traditional desktop form-factor. The K2 achieved wide acclaim from users and testing organizations alike, and is still available today as a full kit, in 10- and 100-watt versions.
FlexRadio FlexRadio was the first to introduce a true SDR transceiver to the amateur community that allows the personality, functionality, and performance of the radio to be upgraded through simple software downloads. With the introduction of FlexRadio’s SDR-1000 transceiver and the PowerSDR platform in 2003, we single-handedly changed the course of the ham radio industry. This revolution continues to change the face of amateur radio today through our new software solution aptly named SmartSDR and the new FLEX-6000 Signature Series transceiver line.
GigaParts A go to source for amateur radio equipment
Ham Radio Outlet In 1971, a California Highway Patrol officer and veteran of the Navy signal corps, who happened to be a ham, came into possession of a little radio emporium on a wooden train platform in Burlingame, CA. Bob Ferrero (Bob), who was then K6AHV and later became W6RJ, was a dedicated California Highway Patrolman. He loved ham radio and was determined to make a go of starting a business selling amateur radio products.
ICOM One of the popular names in amateur radio equipment
Jameco Electronics- Belmont, Calif Welcome to Jameco Electronics - your one-stop shop for electronic components and power supplies. We have been in business for over 45 years and carry a wide selection of products at great prices. What sets us apart from other electronics stores is our ability to offer a large selection of in-stock items at a fraction of the price of our competitors. Shop our brand-name products as well as our own lines of electronic parts and kits.
Kenwood A top name for amateur radio equipment
McMaster-Carr A source for network cabling and network supplies and tools.
MFJ Enterprises MFJ Enterprises, Inc., was founded in 1972 by Martin F. Jue. The company began operations in a small rented hotel room in the old Stark Hotel in downtown Starkville, Mississippi. The company began marketing its products in October of 1972. The first product was a high selectivity filter that would enable a receiver to separate one Morse code signal from scores of other signals that were being transmitted over the radio airwaves.
Mouser Electronics A source for all kinds of electrical equipment parts and supplies
Palomar Engineers Palomar Engineers provides a full selection of ferrite products and filters to suppress RFI/EMI interference and broadband noise on electronic equipment from 100 KHz to 1000 MHz. We also manufacture HF antennas and related products including common mode coaxial feed line chokes, coax noise filters, AC/DC interference filters, and broadband impedance transformers used for antenna and transmission line matching.
Polycase Electronic enclosures keep your components protected in any environment. Polycase offers an array of electronics boxes and multi-purpose metal and plastic electronic enclosures. Superior materials include high-quality plastic, aluminum, and steel varieties, with indoor and outdoor electronics enclosure options available. From robust NEMA rated enclosures to basic potting boxes, find your perfect fit at Polycase.
Powerwerx A source for Anderon powerpole connectors, batteries, chargers, cables and all kinds of things amateur radio Operators love to have
QRP Labs A source for QRP kits and products.
QRPOme A great source for build em yourself radio kits including radios in Tuna Cans and Mint Tins
RF Parts Company A source for all things RF
samtec Samtec is headquartered in New Albany, Indiana, USA with sales and manufacturing facilities across the globe in essentially every major market. Currently Samtec has over 20 sales locations worldwide and 7 manufacturing locations spread strategically across the globe. This location diversity is part of the Samtec World Direct shipping program which allows extremely fast lead times and a level of service that is unmatched in the industry.
San Mateo Electronics Established in 1961. San Mateo Electronics has been suppling the Silicon Valley with common & hard to find parts. Whether you're a hobbiest or professional installer/repairman we have the tools and parts to get your job done. Since 1961 we have been your One-Stop-Shop for all your electronics accessory needs. Most people think of us as what Radio Shack, and Fry's Electronics used to be... People looking for : Haltek, HSC Electronic Supply, Halted Specialties, Excess Solution have often found what they are looking for, here at San Mateo Electronic Supply.
Sotabeams We aim to encourage, support and facilitate all radio amateurs to take their hobby to new places. We will achieve this through specialist advice, training and products.
Spiderbeam High quality fiberglass masts for HF antennas
true CABLE In 2015, we started trueCABLE to shake up an outdated industry. Our simple goal: Deliver the fastest, most reliable low-voltage supplies directly to your door and back it up with stellar customer support. Whether you’re a seasoned installer or a do-it-yourselfer, trueCABLE has what you need, when you need it. While other companies focus on profit, we take pride in our work and focus on customer experience. Feel free to Meet The Team that makes your experience here at trueCABLE easy!
Yaesu One of the popular names in amateur radio equipment

Propagation

NameDescription
Digimode Automatic Propagation Reporter This started out as a project to automatically gather reception records of digimode activity and then make those records available in near realtime to interested parties — typically the amateur who initiated the communication. The way that it works is that many amateurs will run a client that will monitor received traffic for callsigns (the pattern 'de callsign callsign') and, when seen, will report this fact. This is of interest to the amateur who transmitted adn they will be able to see where their signal was received. The pattern chosen is typically part of a standard CQ call. The duplicate check is to make sure that the callsign is not corrupted. The rules for protocols like FT8 are different as the callsigns are protected by error correction. You do still need to call CQ in order for your signal to be reported.
DXMAPS 4.2 - QSO/SWL real time information DXMAPS 4.2 - QSO/SWL real time information
KFS WebSDR Half Moon Bay Welcome to the KFS WebSDR HF radio receiver system located six miles south of Half Moon Bay, California USA. This facility is maintained by Craig, W6DRZ, e-mail w6drz@arrl.net. To find out about recent changes to this system, click here. A complete technical description, operating tips, updated propagation information, and a donation opportunity can all be found on the ABOUT page. More information on the worldwide WebSDR project can be found on www.websdr.org.
Mapping Radio Coverage, And Viewing It In Google Earth Mapping Radio Coverage, And Viewing It In Google Earth
Reeverse Beacon Network The Reverse Beacon Network is a revolutionary new idea. Instead of beacons actively transmitting signals, the RBN is a network of stations listening to the bands and reporting what stations they hear, when and how well.
SPACE WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER SPACE WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION

Contesting

NameDescription
California QSO Party The California QSO Party (CQP) is held every year on the first weekend of October. The first CQP took place in 1966. Since 1974, the Northern California Contest Club (NCCC) has sponsored CQP. CQP has traditionally opened the annual contest season by providing an opportunity for contesters to prepare for the ARRL November Sweepstakes since the format is similar. Stations outside of California, worldwide, work stations in California only. The 58 counties of CA are the multipliers. California stations work all stations in or out of CA. The 50 US states and 8 Canadian areas are the multipliers. Stations outside of Canada and the US add to one's QSO total but do not count as multipliers. See the full set of CQP Rules for more details.
KH6WZ Wayne Yoshida Wayne. KH6WZ, is a sought after speaker on topics of interest to amateur radio operators including Microwave contesting.
QRZ GridMapper Click on the map to select a grid square, or, enter desired location.

Digital Topics

NameDescription
Automatic Packet Reporting System APRS is now in its 25st year! APRS is digital communications information channel for Ham radio. As a single national channel, it gives the mobile ham a place to monitor for 10 to 30 minutes in any area, at any time to capture what is happening in ham radio in the surrounding area. Announcements, Bulletins, Messages, Alerts, Weather, and of course a map of all this activity including objects, frequencies, satellites, nets, meetings, Hamfests, etc. The APRS network has grown to most countries with strong Amateur Radio populations.
Node-Ventures ClearNode is a pre-configured Raspberry Pi based AllStar, EchoLink & Digital Modes simplex node with an integrated low power UHF (or VHF) FM radio transceiver. Digital modes now include DMR, P25, YSF, FCS and NXDN.
The ION2G software The ION2G software brings HF Automatic Link Establishment (ALE) MIL-STD-188-141B to your computer with a familiar and easy to use interface. ION2G helps you stay connected to the people you need to communicate with across thousands of miles without dependence on infrastructure. Using ALE and smart algorithms, ION2G automatically finds HF radio communications channels through the constantly changing ionosphere -- while avoiding busy HF frequencies and interference. ION2G takes the guesswork out of finding a frequency to use and will find usable radio channels that even experienced HF operators may miss.
WebSDR A WebSDR is a Software-Defined Radio receiver connected to the internet, allowing many listeners to listen and tune it simultaneously. SDR technology makes it possible that all listeners tune independently, and thus listen to different signals; this is in contrast to the many classical receivers that are already available via the internet. WebSDR was first conceived as a means to make the 25 m radio telescope at Dwingeloo available to many radio amateurs for EME reception. In order to test a preliminary version of the software without using the 25m dish, a shortwave WebSDR was set up on Christmas Eve 2007 at the radio club of the University of Twente. After further development, its existence was publicly announced in April 2008. Interest for the project has been large since then, and many amateurs worldwide have expressed an interest in setting up their own WebSDR server. In November 2008, a beta testing phase has started with a few selected stations. By now, the software is made available to anyone serious about setting up a server; see the FAQ for information on this.
Wires-X Active Room ID List A guide to active Wires-X rooms
WSJT - Weak Signal Communications WSJT-X, WSJT, MAP65, and WSPR are open-source programs designed for weak-signal digital communication by amateur radio. Normal usage requires a standard SSB transceiver and a personal computer with soundcard, or the equivalent. SDR-style hardware including the SDR-IQ, Perseus, SoftRock, and FUNcube Dongle is supported by MAP65 and WSPR. SimJT is a utility program that generates simulated signals for test purposes. All of the programs are available free of charge, licensed under the GNU General Public License. Installation packages for WSJT-X are available for Windows, Linux, and OS X; WSJT and WSPR have Windows and Linux packages, and MAP65 and SimJT are Windows only. For further details about source code and operating systems, see the Program Development page.

DX-Long Distance

NameDescription
Northern California DX Foundation, Inc On a pleasant fall day in October 1972, four avid DXers met in San Francisco’s Chinatown to formalize the creation of a new charitable organization known as the Northern California DX Foundation. Their stated purpose: financially support DX activity and foster goodwill within the amateur radio community. We’ve come a long way since NCDXF's founding meeting in 1972. Back then, most DXpeditions were self-funded by the operators, but enclosing a few $$ with your QSL card was always appreciated.

Mesh Networks

NameDescription
Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network The AREDN® acronym stands for “Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network” and it provides a way for Amateur Radio operators to create high-speed ad hoc Data Networks for use in Emergency and service-oriented communications.
B.A.T.M.A.N The Better Approach to Mobile Ad-hoc Networking (B.A.T.M.A.N.) is a routing protocol for multi-hop mobile ad hoc networks which is under development by the German "Freifunk" community and intended to replace the Optimized Link State Routing Protocol (OLSR). B.A.T.M.A.N.'s crucial point is the decentralization of knowledge about the best route through the network — no single node has all the data. This technique eliminates the need to spread information about network changes to every node in the network. The individual node only saves information about the "direction" it received data from and sends its data accordingly. The data gets passed from node to node, and packets get individual, dynamically created routes. A network of collective intelligence is created.
Mesh Networking Mathison Ott, KJ6DZB one of the leaders of the San Francusco Wireless Emergency Network describes the elements that go into making a mesh network including software, equipment.
Optimized Link State Routing Protocol The Optimized Link State Routing Protocol (OLSR)[1] is an IP routing protocol optimized for mobile ad hoc networks, which can also be used on other wireless ad hoc networks. OLSR is a proactive link-state routing protocol, which uses hello and topology control (TC) messages to discover and then disseminate link state information throughout the mobile ad hoc network. Individual nodes use this topology information to compute next hop destinations for all nodes in the network using shortest hop forwarding paths.
San Fraancico Bay Area Mesh Map by KN6PLV This a real time mesh map of the San Francisco Bay Area provided by KN6PLV, Tim Wilkinson, Berkeley, CA
SFWEM-San Francisco Wireless Emergency Mesh Network-based technology permeates every aspect of our daily life, from news, to entertainment, to communication. The familiarity of these services does not change during a disaster or emergency - we still need to know what’s going on, communicate with our friends and family, and coordinate with our community. Meeting this need, the San Francisco Wireless Emergency Mesh is a volunteer-led project to build a resilient high-speed wireless network throughout the San Francisco Bay Area for use during disasters and emergencies.
[Draft] Migrating AREDN to BATMAN This proposal presents a plan to migrate the AREDN network from its current OLSR routing infrastructure to BATMAN. A two phase approach is presented; step one is a slow migration to nodes running a dual OLSR/BATMAN network stack, and step two is the final BATMAN only stack. During the migration process the current network remains intact; there is no “big bang” where everything changes at once and nothing works.

Education

NameDescription
CW Academy CW Academy is a program put on by the CW Operators’ Club aimed at increasing the number of competent CW operators on the HF CW sub-bands. It addresses all levels of enthusiasts: from those aspiring to become licensed operators who want to learn and use Morse code; to veteran operators who are intent on increasing their CW skills, speed and activity.
Electrical Symbols & Electronic Symbols Electrical Symbols & Electronic Symbols
How to test a Capacitor In this tutorial, we will see how to test a Capacitor and find out whether the capacitor is working properly or it is a defective one. A Capacitor is an Electronics/Electrical component that stores energy in the form of Electric Charge. Capacitors are often used in electronics circuit boards or few electrical appliances and perform a variety of functions.
K8ZT-Anthony Luscre Anthony Luscre is a great educational resource for Hams and partiualarly Ham Clubs looking for speakers for their Zoom programs. He has a lot of experence in many areas of Amateur Radio that appeal to everyone.
Morse Code Morse code is a method used in telecommunication to encode text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called dots and dashes, or dits and dahs.[3][4] Morse code is named after Samuel Morse, one of the inventors of the telegraph.
The Long Island CW Club The Long Island CW Club had been started in 2018 to promote and expand the use of Morse Code- CW amongst amateur radio operators, initially in our geographic area. Today there is no longer a FCC requirement to learn CW to obtain an amateur radio license. Yet we find there is still a pent up demand to learn the code, become more proficient at it and to take part in activities centered around this interesting skill. To help fill this void, we have put together a group of dedicated teachers of Morse Code – CW. We conduct CW training classes via internet video conference classes at various skill levels. We have grown quickly, branching out with members nationwide and overseas.
XOD Building Programs Visually with Nodes

EMCOMM-Emergency Communictions

NameDescription
ALERTWildfire ALERTWildfire is a consortium of The University of Nevada, Reno, University of California San Diego, and the University of Oregon providing fire cameras and tools to help firefighters and first responders: Discover, locate, and confirm fire ignition. Quickly scale fire resources up or down. Monitor fire behavior during containment. Help evacuations through enhanced situational awareness. Observe contained fires for flare-ups.
NVIS - The Ultimate Fallback Emcomm Resource Near-Vertical Incidence Skywave A method of regional communication that does not rely on infrastructure, is immune to terrain and other obstructions and supports multiple simultaneous, independent users
Radio communication via Near Vertical Incidence Skywave propagation: an overview Near Vertical Incidence Skywave (NVIS) propagation can be used for radio communication in a large area (200 km radius) without any intermediate man-made infrastructure. It is therefore especially suited for disaster relief communication, communication in developing regions and applications where independence of local infrastructure is desired, such as military applications. NVIS communication uses frequencies between approximately 3 and 10 MHz. A comprehensive overview of NVIS research is given, covering propagation, antennas, diversity, modulation and coding. Both the bigger picture and the important details are given, as well as the relation between them.
SFFD Neighborhood Emergency Response Team The Emergency Response Plan (ERP) for San Francisco defines three levels of emergency activation for the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) that correspond with the event’s need for field response. Activation levels and procedures are scalable based on the changing needs of an event.

Clubs

NameDescription
Coastside Amateur Radio Club The Coastside Amateur Radio Club (CARC) is affiliated with the ARRL and normally meets on the second Wednesday of each month at 1930 hours in the Linda Mar Fire Station Community Room on Linda Mar Boulevard in Pacifica. Please check the Coming Events page for any exceptions. Visitors are welcome.
Golden Empire Amateur Radio Society The Golden Empire Amateur Radio Society (GEARS) was established on August 13, 1939, by eleven Amateur Radio operators from throughout the Northern Sacramento Valley. GEARS members are interested in many aspects of amateur radio, HF, VHF, UHF, and other modes. We endeavor to represent all interests and minimize the influence of any one special interest.
KARO-ECHO HOME KARO ECHO is the acronym for the Kensington Amateur Radio Operators (KARO) and the El Cerrito Ham Operators (ECHO) mutual benefit association, an all-volunteer non-profit tax deductible organization (501c3) of amateur radio operators providing auxiliary communications and related training for the cities of Kensington, El Cerrito, and adjacent areas in the event of a disaster. KARO ECHO works with CERT (Community Emergency Response Teams), but is not an official part of the CERT program. As a 501c3 corporation KARO-ECHO is open to provide radio communications to other local non-profits who operate in the public interest.
Millbrae Amateur Radio This is the home for the Millbrae Amateur Radio Club
Mount Diablo Amateur Radio Club The Mount Diablo Amateur Radio Club (MDARC) was founded on January 9, 1947. Today it has a membership of over 300 dedicated hams and is one of the largest amateur radio clubs in California. MDARC's purpose is to encourage innovation in amateur radio, provide public service and educational opportunities, foster good will within our community, and have fun in the process. MDARC provides a wide variety of programs and activities for its members. These include hosting and staffing PACIFICON (ARRL Pacific Division convention) each October, bringing in great speakers and offering ham radio classes to the public. Our Field Day event, holiday party, and radio equipment auction are all enjoyable events!
Oakland Radio Communication Association The Home of the Oakland radio club
Palo Alto Amateur Radio Association The Palo Alto Amateur Radio Association (PAARA) is a premier general interest club located in the San Francisco Bay Area dating back to 1937. Whether you’re interested in DX, Contesting, EME, ARES, MARS, Microwave or any other facet of amateur radio, you’ll find one or more members who have similar interests.
San Mateo Radio Club The San Mateo Radio Club serves the Amateur Radio community in San Mateo and the surrounding communities on the San Francisco peninsula since 1946. The club provides a focus for its members to share common interests in the many varied aspects of a great hobby. Support emergency preparedness, helps newcomers to get on the air, and encourages growth in more experienced operators. The club promotes the exchange of knowledge and skills among members. The club’s goal is to improve its member’s technical and operating capabilities and to foster fellowship.
SC4 Amateur Radio Club SC4 Amateur Radio Club provides licensing classes and training to those with an interest in amateur radio. SC4ARC owns and maintains infrastructure and club dues and donations provide support for SC4 Amateur Radio Emergency Service (SC4ARES.) Club membership is open to all persons interested in amateur radio and complying with the requisites of membership in good standing as set forth in our by-laws. SC4ARC is a 501(c)(3) organization IRS# 45-4315108. Dues and donations may be tax deductible.
South County Amateur Radio Emergency Service The principal mission of the South County Amateur Radio Emergency Services (SCARES) group is to provide emergency communication for the communities of Belmont, Foster City, Menlo Park/Atherton, Redwood City, San Carlos, and San Mateo when called upon.
Southern Peninsula Emergency Communications System SPECS serves the communities of Palo Alto, Stanford, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Mountain View and Sunnyvale by helping to recruit, train, and maintain a crew of amateur radio operators ready to provide emergency communication services in a time of need. To learn more about the importance of amateur radio in a time of need, read this article from The Atlantic and this article from PAARAgraphs related to the recent PSPS power outages, titled "Do Hams Still Matter?"

Antennas

NameDescription
Buddipole All kinds of antennas that can be broken down and packed for portable use
Diamond Antenna A popular manufacturer of amateur radio antennas
Dipole Calculator This calculator uses a "K" multiplying factor value of .975 to adjust for the effect of antenna wire diameter on length which is applied to the free-space half-wavelength equation. This works very well with #18 to #12 wire sizes.
DX Commander Amateur Radio Antennas My name is Callum and I own two technology businesses; a digital media business an IT Recruitment company; BarclayAnderson.com which posted $10M turnover right before the recession. We’re currently rebuilding after the storm.
Ed's Antennas I am the inventor of the TBJ-1 (US patent 9,608,336), DBJ-1, DBJ-2 and DBJ-UHF (US patent 8,947,313) antennas which are extremely popular among the ham and commercial communications community. Please email me if you wish copies of these patents. We have sold over 30,000 of these antennas in the last 12 years to hams, commercial and government agencies. I have published numerous articles on these antennas in QST and CQ (QST March 2017. QST February 2003 and QST March 2007, CQ Summer 2012). They also appear in the ARRL VHF/UHF Antenna Classics, ARRL Vol 8 Antenna Compendium, ARRL Vol. 3 Antenna Compendium. The proceeds of these antennas go to support my group at UC Santa Cruz -Santa Clara Valley.
EZNEC Antenna Software by W7EL View Antenna display, showing the "wires" making up the model of the five-element beam, with currents and 2D slice superimposed to show orientation. Several other items, such as currents and wire numbers, can be added to this display. Left: 2D display showing detailed information about the selected slice.
Greyline Maker of flagpole antenna systems
HF Kits HF Kits provides complete self-build kits and spare parts for radio amateurs. Self-made is so much fun! The self-build packages in the webshop are made up of quality parts. You won’t find any ready-made mysterious wonder antennas or self-build sets with cheap speaker wire. What you will find here: BalUn’s, End Fed Antennas, Dipole Antennas, Antenna Traps and Common Mode Chokes self-build kits. Of course, parts will also be available such as: ferrite, Antenna Litze, housings, winding wire, stainless steel, fastening material, shrink sleeve, isolators, coax cable, RF connectors and interface connectors.
Jackite For 30 years Jackite has designed bird kites/windsocks that beat their wings, banking on the air, soaring across the sky emulating a real bird in flight. Fly off a pole like a windsock and be amazed by the realistic flight. All birds made of tear resistant Tyvek and printed with fade resistant inks. We sell fiberglass telescoping poles and accessories.
Myantennas.com MyAntennas.com initially started a few years back around 2005, as I have designed and built the antennas for a fellow Ham radio contesters and DX-ers my entire life. At first, it was a nice thing to do for friends, since I had already worked on designing antennas for Cushcraft Corporation back in 1997. In 2000, I had left CC and started my own Telecommunication business, taking a professional hiatus from designing antennas.
PackTenna PackTenna makes ultralight, portable HF amateur radio antenna systems and accessories. PackTennas are light weight, compact, portable HF antenna systems ideal for operating on the trail, at the campsite, on Field Day, SOTA activation, air travel, or HOA restricted locations. PackTennas use full size wire antenna elements that can be configured in a variety of ways including verticals, dipoles, inverted vee’s and long wires delivering full size antenna performance. The unique combination of backpacking quality hardware, a 10 meter (32’) tall mast that collapses to 26 inches and custom feed points and accessories make this the ideal portable HF antenna system.

History

NameDescription
History of amateur radio The history of amateur radio, dates from the dawn of radio communications, with published instructions for building simple wireless sets appearing at the beginning of the twentieth century. Throughout its history, amateur radio enthusiasts have made significant contributions to science, engineering, industry, and social services. Research by amateur radio operators has founded new industries,built economies, empowered nations,[4] and saved lives in times of emergency.

Miscellaneous

NameDescription
5-Band Resistor Color Code Calculator A great little resource for knowing what a little resistor is all about
Amateur Radio License Map Use this map to find amateur radio license holders in the USA. Click here for more info. Select the type of input (callsign, gridsquare, zip code or street address) on the left. Enter an appropriate search value on the right. Hit the button. Scroll down see the map. The selection determines the center of the map. When the map appears, you can adjust the zoom level and drag the map around. If you're looking at a sparsely populated area, you'll probably need to zoom out.
HFGCS Quick Tune SDR List Use the list below to quickly tune to the most used US Air Force High Frequency Global Communications System (HFGCS) frequencis as received directly by internet software defined radio (SDR) sites. Simply find the location you want and click on the frequency to open a receiver in a new browser tab. Sites below are selected by receiver performance and proximity to HFGCS transmitters. Frequencies 4724, 6739, 8992, and 11175 are the primary and secondary ones used for EAM and SKYKING broadcasts, though there are times when the E6 TACAMO or E4 NAOC aircraft can be heard elsewhere. If there is a training exercise or real-world battle, hunt around other frequencies, such as 6697, 8776, or 11244.
ICOM Band Plan A comp[ete band plan listing uses, level of license, frequencies and more.
Nato phonetic alphabet Nato phonetic alphabet-the standard phonetic alphabet used in amateur radio
RepeaterBook RepeaterBook is Amateur Radio's most comprehensive, worldwide, FREE repeater directory. We are now supporting GMRS! Amateur Radio and GMRS require an FCC license to legally operate. As such, a valid Amateur Radio or GMRS license is required to register on this site.
WebSDR A WebSDR is a Software-Defined Radio receiver connected to the internet, allowing many listeners to listen and tune it simultaneously. SDR technology makes it possible that all listeners tune independently, and thus listen to different signals; this is in contrast to the many classical receivers that are already available via the internet. WebSDR was first conceived as a means to make the 25 m radio telescope at Dwingeloo available to many radio amateurs for EME reception. In order to test a preliminary version of the software without using the 25m dish, a shortwave WebSDR was set up on Christmas Eve 2007 at the radio club of the University of Twente. After further development, its existence was publicly announced in April 2008. Interest for the project has been large since then, and many amateurs worldwide have expressed an interest in setting up their own WebSDR server. In November 2008, a beta testing phase has started with a few selected stations. By now, the software is made available to anyone serious about setting up a server; see the FAQ for information on this. A WebSDR server consists of a PC running Linux and the WebSDR server software, a fast internet connection (about a hundred kbit/s uplink bandwidth per listener), and some radio hardware to feed antenna signals into the PC. This radio hardware is typically a quadrature mixer connected to the PC's soundcard, like the popular SoftRock kits.

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