GOTAhams Planning ahead

With Field Day past many clubs will be looking back and winding down, Sorry that is NOT how this group operates. We have an important general membership meeting coming up soon, July 9th 7:00 pm at Casa Jimenez restaurant, where we will be hosting the ARRL ORG Section Manager. We will have a slide show showing our Field Day, Swap meet booth, “In the Park” field Ops etc. and discuss what we do, how we can improve, future Ops and possibly forming a committee for Field Day 2020. I would like to begin some “Maker” training including basic soldering skills, kit building, antenna construction and any other ideas submitted by our members.

We would like to offer hosting a Boy Scout JOTA/JOTI in October, Kathi and I will be at “Pacificon” in San Ramon that weekend but I would still like to see the GOTAhams do our regular Field Ops that weekend. Mark will definitely need plenty of support for that Op. Being the creative crew that I have come to depend on, please don’t be shy about offering more ideas for what keeps this Club “Radio Active” ’73 Ken KC6WOK

Field Day in the Books!

We would like to Thank everyone who helped with our ARRL Field Day, Sunbelt Rentals for supplying our Glow Bug LED “Balloon light”, spider box and cable power distribution box for our Kitchen & GOTA station. We will list our team members on the Field Day page, but I would like to specially Thank Vilma Arlotti for her hard work on Hospitality/Meals and keeping our team hydrated and we’ll fueled all weekend. Also our Secretary Kathi, KD6CAF for an amazing job keeping everyone organized and being our #1 “go-fer” and Greeter. Kathi IS the Real strength behind GOTAhams, she is an amazing force that all the “Goats” depend on. Thanks, Vilma and Kathi for being on our Team.

Field Day is Here!! YAAAY!

We woke up to a wet morning at “Bonelli Bluffs” (formerly East Shore RV) our Hospitality officer and VP are working on breakfast. Last night brought some interesting visitors, we had a racoon, he brought a friend. We also had a couple overly friendly skunks, fortunately they were not intimidated by humans so scaring them off was not really dangerous (Smelly?) I will work on getting a couple photos up on the site. We are looking forward to seeing all of you today. ’73 Ken KC6WOK

On Site for Field Day!!

We are on site at Bonelli Bluffs (formerly East Shore RV) have our antennae up and a couple of radios operating finalizing some station set-up and working on our dinner. We are looking forward to meeting some new folks and have heard from “enquiring Hams” propagation is really far better than we anticipated, it’s looking like a fine Field Day for 2019 and a great event for the young and growing GOTAhams. ’73 Ken KC6WOK

Countdown to FIELD DAY 2019!

We are almost there June 22-23 2019, Saturday 1800 UTC (11:00 AM PST) to Sunday 1759 UTC (10:59 AM PST. http://www.arrl.org/field-day Visit our Field Day page at: https://gotahams.com/field-day-2019/ You can also visit us on our Facebook Group at: Adventures of GOTAhams Group/ Adventures of GOTAhome

Location

We are returning to East Shore RV park at Bonelli regional park at sites C31 and C33 not on the bluffs like last year but in a more protected and much greener area with a large picnic area and fire pit. We can still see the lake but should be away from “On-Shore” breeze that dropped the evening temp to Brrrrrr!

1440 Camper View Drive, San Dimas, CA 91773

Kathi and I are planning to arrive at East Shore on Friday about 12:00 noon, several people have volunteered to help set up our pop-ups, tables Chairs Antenna masts and pulleys and our triple power system, 12 volt solar power for stations, 120 volt AC Solar powered inverter for stations and mains power for our GOTA station and kitchen/serving area. Our Field Day is Family Friendly and all Hams or Non Hams are welcomed. Come out and watch us operating our radios, feel free to ask any questions about Amateur radio, emergency communications, CERT teams etc. Bring the kids, let them play with some “Snap Circuits” learn Morse code, hunt a fox (transmitter) or just hang out and enjoy the company! GOTAhams is an energetic, very friendly group that really loves the social side of this Hobby after all, Amateur Radio is the first “Electronic Social Media” We hope to see you there ’73 Ken KC6WOK

Another Great GOTAhams day

Saturday June 15 was another really wonderful day with My GOTAhams Family, Mark set up a hospitality booth at the Claremont Swap meet and served up free hot coffee and some Doughnut bites that were enjoyed by attendees including some quietly famous Amateurs including Bob Brehm of Palomar Engineers (Kathi and I have attended his RFI seminars at a couple Hamfests). Mark, Jack, Bruce, Bob, Charles, Chris, James with his son Samuel, Kathi and I talked with many new and old friends promoting Ham Radio, Field Day and of course our fledgling club. I almost forgot, A very generous Ham at the Swap Meet donated two thirty foot push-up antenna masts to our club that we will definitely be using for Field Day. after close of the swap meet, as usual we went to San Dimas Canyon park and set up our field station with the “GOTAhome”. As usually happens with these outings, the typical struggles with new canopies, setting up slightly different antenna configurations and setting up Bruce’s new Yaesu FT991A we finally got on the air. Well this was “Kids Day” so we were hoping for some of those contacts but we mostly heard the Big Gun stations responding to QRP stations on the eastern seaboard, nothing was really heard close to home. Our New member Charles KM6CEM sat down at the IC-7300, got comfortable tuning the rig and made a contact with W6GGI, operating from Pismo Beach. I was impressed with how well a 80 meter off-center fed diploe could quickly tune almost flat and how broad-banded it was on nearly all bands 80 and below. I do believe this may be our “go-to” all bander for Field Day along with our Diamond CP-6AR Vertical. We were visited by new friends from the general public and old friends with whom we’ve spent other field days. Kathi fed the hungry crew with a giant Sub sandwich from Capri Deli in Covina along with cold drinks and chips supplied by Mark. These Field Operations are very energizing but sure leave me tired the next day. I hope to see LOTs of smiling faces Saturday the 22nd at East Shore RV park, look up our information on our Field Day page. ’73 Ken KC6WOK

Thanks for a GREAT Meeting!

I was overwhelmed by the nearly doubling of our numbers this meeting, Very inspirational Thanks GOTAhams!

I would like to personally Thank ALL the GOTAhams and our guests for a really wonderful dinner meeting Last night. So many new faces and many friends with their Wives made for some great personal exchanges and wonderful stories about how Amateur Radio has effected your lives (and your wife’s life?)

I want you all to know, THAT was the most fun Kathi and I have ever had at a Radio Club meeting.

Some of my favorite stories were actually about the bad experiences people have had at license testing sessions. these are things that GOTAhams would like to focus on in an attempt to improve peoples experiences in Ham Radio. We did have a guest (new member?) that suggested a plan to add friendly supportive test sessions to our clubs roster of events. Thank You So much Scott for your input and insight.

I believe the positive energy in last nights meeting should easily carry through to Saturdays “Radio in the Park” where we will do some practical preparations for Field Day and continue on to an exiting, Fun and Friendly Field Day event. I have never been more exited about any Field Day because of the excitement within our GOTAhams Radio Family!

’73 Ken Kc6WOK

Counting down to… Field Day!

It has been a busy weekend working on the GOTAhome adding our second solar panel, adding a larger fuse and testing a new remote for the 2000 watt pure sine wave inverter/charger etc. We have also been researching things other Radio Clubs are planning for Field Day, that has been an adventure in itself. I know what we have planned, we haven’t been secretive in the least and our plans are fully in line with ARRL’s description of the true spirit of field day, “Amateur Radio’s open house”.

ARRL begins a lengthy description and within the first two paragraphs states that “Field Day is NOT a contest”. I personally view Field Day as Ham Radio’s largest “Social Event” of the year and would like to keep that spirit at our field day site as we do at all our monthly field events.

Many of the clubs are pushing to “Stay away if you are unwilling to work” and /or ” Radio is not a spectator sport”… Really? If anyone at all feels put off by this type anti-social behavior, please feel free to “spectate” at our Field Day site.

You are welcomed to watch, listen, have a bite to eat, ask any questions and just “Hang Out” to learn what Amateur Radio, Emergency Communications, CERT, and disaster response is all about. Bring your kids, friends and family members, we are a friendly group regardless of what you have heard or experienced about other Radio Clubs or field Day sites. GOTAhams welcomes Kids with activities to do involving Communications, Electronics and STEM focused projects including hunting hidden transmitters.

GOTAhams looks forward to meeting anyone with an interest in wireless communication whether you are a licensed operator and want to sit down at a transceiver or just want to find out what we do in this hobby. Even unlicensed folks can “Get On The Air” with our GOTAhams G.O.T.A. station and communicate with folks all over the country without the help of the internet! “When All Else Fails, Ham Radio Prevails”!

Me and all my “GOTA’s” will see you there ’73 Ken KC6WOK

GOTAhams Field Day planning

Kathi and I would like to Thank the entire membership of GOTAhams for your participation and invaluable input at last nights Field Day 2019 planning meeting. I have been to many Field day site/operations, but served on only one other planning committee, I’ve done LOTS of research on what other clubs do to plan and what works for other Clubs field days. The amount of interaction, comradery, focus and just plain hard work that we accomplished in a very short 2 hour meeting was inspiring and has Kathi and I energized about our inaugural Field Day. We are looking forward to THIS field Day more than any other we/I have ever attended or been involved in, GOTAhams is certainly going to make this 2019 Field Day their own and set the bar high for our Field Days in the future! Again as always I want to Remind our membership/Family/Friends that will join us to HAVE FUN and enjoy this Event. ’73 Ken KC6WOK