more typically consists of gross receipts derived from an activity that is related to its exempt function.

I am reviewing the “Compliance Guide for 501(c)(3) Public Charities” that came with our determina-tion letter. Anyone can go to “www.irs.gov/eo” and order this (Publication 4221-PC), and other perti-nent publications. Please do so! There is no charge.

What do we do now….?

Cont’d on Page 6...

April 2009-

It’s official!! We have re-ceived the official letter dated February 9, 2009 from the IRS determining Calaveras Amateur Radio Society, Inc is a public char-ity and exempt from Fed-eral income tax. Contribu-tions to us are deductible under section 170 of the Code.

All of us need to thank John, KI6ART; Steve, W6RXK; and the Steve Ai-rola law office for getting our IRS Form 1023 finally approved.

I have California form FTB 3500A ready for tomor-

row’s mail for a similar de-termination from the Fran-chise Tax Board. That ap-pears to be a rubber stamp of the IRS Form 1023.

Here is some of our perti-nent information:

EIN: 80-0203952

SOS: 3047628

Accounting Period Ends-June 30.

Public Charity Status 509 (a) (2) *

Effective Date of Exemp-tion September 27, 2007 (Our incorporation date). Section 509(a)(2): a pub-licly supported organization for which its public support

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

KEN, AE6LA

IRLP NEWS-ANDYTHOMAS (NV6V)

April 2009—Our IRLP node 3428 is still located at my home in Arnold. Un-fortunately, I am still ex-periencing hardware issues and the node is off the air. My current plan is to swap out the majority of the hardware and pretty much start fresh. I expect the re-

placement equipment to be in place in the next month or so. Once it is operating successfully from this loca-tion, we’ll be able to start preparing to re-locate the node to the Fowler Peak repeater site. Sorry for the down time, but I expect we will have a fully functional

and reliable IRLP node soon. I will be installing the node in the repeater vault and connecting it to the re-peater itself. Once this and testing is complete, I expect the audio fidelity of our node to improve a lot. It w i l l s o u n d g r e a t ! 73… Andy- NV6V

A PUBLICATION OF THE CALAVERAS AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY , INC .

APRIL 2009 VOLUME 45, ISSUE 2

SIERRA WAVELENGTH NEWSLETTER

Calaveras Amateur Radio

Society, Incorporated

Vol 45, Issue 2

Mailing Address: P.O. Box 391

Angels Camp, CA 95222

Website: calaverasARS.org

Club Call: N6FRG

N6FRG Repeater: 145.170 mHz Offset = 600 kHz

PL = 100 Hz

IRLP Node: 3428

INSIDE THIS

ISSUE:

President’s message 1

IRLP News & updates 1

Auto patch USE 2

YOUR CLUB officers 2

Nat’l emcomm nets 2

FCC delays 4

Visit to ECC Center 4

MINUTES– March 2009 5

Frogjump station 7

Emcomm west –reno 8

Field day 2009 9

CARS HISTORY 10

Meetings 12

Page 2 Volume 45, Issue 2 SIERRA WAVELENGTH

WHAT’S NEXT?

Thursday, May 14th Bi-Monthly Meeting

IOOF Hall Angels Camp

Meeting starts at 6:45 PM

Monday Night 7:30 PM Local

CARS Weekly Net 145.170 mHz, PL 100

Stay informed...Tune in!

1st Saturday, monthly CARS Breakfast

9:00 AM Murphys Historic Hotel

Murphys, CA

Visitors Always Welcome !

Newsletter Editor

Write C/O:

Sierra Wavelength P.O. Box 553

Arnold, CA 95223 (209) 795-7507

wavelength@calaveras.org

Using the 145.17 N6FRG Repeater Autopatch and Autodial…

The N6FRG repeater has autopatch and autodial capabilities. Club members are encouraged to use these assets whenever necessary. The autodial is a code-activated process where the repeater makes a phone call to a pre-determined number located in a slot assigned to each club member. The autopatch is just a way to connect your radio to the phone system, and make a call from your portable or mobile radio. See website: www.calaverasARS.org

Autodial and Autopatch-

Everyone in the club is given an autodial slot number, which contains their local phone num-ber. The current CARS website Roster, which requires a “password” for access, has the slot numbers listed for each member’s name. To use the autodial or autopatch to call another member’s home, or a local 7-digit telephone number, see the CARS website for instructions.

Remember, all conversations go “over the air” like a radio-to-radio contact, so radio protocol is appropriate. Inform your call recipient they are “on the air.” If you forget to use “73” to “down” the autopatch, the repeater will down it in a minute or two.

CARS OFFICERS – 2009

Ken Sanders - President

Steve Airola - VP

Patsy Clark - Secretary

Bill Holmes - Treasurer

John Davenport - Public Information Officer

The current offices of President, and Public Information Officer (PIO) will run to the end of their terms in 2009 (see Bylaws Article III, Sec. 1 & 2 for details on terms of office).

National EMCOMM Traffic Service (NETS)...

NETS use designated watch and calling frequencies. Public service amateur radio operators everywhere are invited to moni-tor these frequencies whenever possible. During disasters and other emergencies, the frequencies are “open Nets”, but when traffic becomes heavy, they will become “command and control” frequencies with a net control station “triaging traffic”, and directing stations with traffic to another traffic frequency usually 5 kHz away.

Here are some “NETS” frequencies:

SSB: 1962, 3911, 5332, 7214, 14280, 5167.5 (Alaska only)

CW: 1911, 3540, 3911, 7111, 10119, 14050

VHF.UHF: 146.550 (Local EMCOMM Simplex); 147.420 (ARC EMCOMM Simplex); 146.520 (Nat’l Calling Simplex. Cont’d on Page 3...

Page 3 VOLUME 45, ISSUE 2

Emcomm NETS….ICS...cont’d from page 2

The Incident Command System, or simply "ICS", is about ten years old. The ICS is the child of FIRESCOPE which began nearly 25 years ago by national fire agencies. FIRESCOPE is a time-tested system for managing large scale fire incidents in-volving multiple agencies and resources.

While the implementation of the ICS varies slightly from state to state, (and some occasionally between agencies within the same state); it is fairly well standardized, and is advocated by FEMA, other federal agencies, and most public (and some pri-vate) state and local agencies.

Still interested…?

Visit the EMCOMM website at “http://www.emcomm.org/” for further information.

73...editor

ANSWER to “scrambled” word in the last issue: “PACKET”

Scrambled word for this issue… PEGRANEVI

NEWEST CARS, Inc. MEMBERS

Sam Hernandez, WS6P, West Point Kathleen Hernandez, KI6OBE, West Point

Steve Airola, W6RXK, San Andreas Helen Olla, KI6ARS, Murphys

Robert Olla, KC6VAG, Murphys Derrill Coffman, W7LTM, Coulterville

Charlotte Farr, N6NML, San Andreas Helen Holt, KA6RNO, Stockton

Michael O’Keefe, KI6PRM, Mt. Ranch Tommy Farr, W6IJ, Denair

Glenn Wharregard, KG6CGE, Rail Road Flat David Putnam, KG6BVJ, Herald

Dan Forrester, KC8DHV, Copperopolis Carol Heath, KB6GMU, West Point

Karen Coffman, WA6KEC, Coulterville Michael Wells, KG6MGF , Camp Connell

Robert Nelson, K6RDN, Murphys Bruce Hart, KI6RQY, Avery

John Stettler, KI6DWP, Jackson Jim Van Sant, WB6NQM, Valley Springs

Robert Purington, WB6QLU, Arnold Robert Nelson, K6RDN, Murphys

Kevin Ashford, AB6XS, San Jose Larry Tusoni, KQ6XY, Angels Camp

Ed Parsons, N6LZR, Murphys Barry Thaysen, K3UG, Copperopolis

Steve Shinn, KC6YFR, Murphys Lauren Hernandez, KI6VRE, Winton

Katey Hernandez, KI6UTW, Fair Oaks

TOTAL CARS MEMBERS AT THIS ISSUE: 73 !

SIERRA WAVELENGTH

page 4 Volume 45, Issue 2 SIERRA WAVELENGTH

CARS OFFICERS

President Ken Sanders, AE6LA

795-5947 ae6la@aol.com

Vice President Steve Airola, W6RXK

754-5565 stevea@goldrush.com

Secretary Patsy Clark KN6XW

795-5652 jimnpat1@sbcglobal.com

Treasurer Bill Holmes, K6DUY

728-9439 hinterland01@dishmail.net

Net Manager Fred Soderer, WB6QVI

728-9868 wb6qvi@eudoramail.com

Public Info Officer J. Davenport, KI6ART

795-7507 ki6art@arrl.net

Don’t forget to use

“Repeater Etiquette”

when using the CARS

N6FRG repeater !

73

Editor….

Visit to San Andreas ECC Dispatch Center….

Several CARS members, who are communication volunteers for the Calaveras Sheriff’s OES Department, met at the CALFIRE dispatch center in San Andreas on March 28th for a tour, setup by PT Brown, KG6FEY. In at-tendance for this tour were PT (KG6FEY), Miriam (K6MAB), Sam (WS6P), Barry (K3UG), and John (KI6ART).

A full operating tour of the dispatch center was given by Ed Allendorf (KI6WJV), center Communications Operator, who provided members with details of the centers operation, with actual incoming 911 calls.

The dispatch center has recently been remodeled with all first rate communications equipment, and software that not only allows the operators to see the location of the in-coming calls, but also plots the caller’s location on a detailed street map shown on a 48" monitor for responders to use to quickly arrive at the scene. This system is quite com-plex and expensive.

Additional tours may be available in the future…..contact PT if interested.

Thanks for the tour Ed…!

FCC Delays SSB and AM Change...

(Apr 1, 2009) -- The FCC announced April 1 that the scheduled mandatory change-over of SSB and AM HF voice communications in the Amateur Radio Service has been delayed for one year; originally scheduled to begin April 1, 2009, the new changes will now take effect April 1, 2010.

Under the plan, originally approved by Congress during the Clinton Administration, all Amateur Radio voice communication in the HF spectrum (3-30 MHz) will adopt digital voice technologies, reducing the bandwidth of typical QSO’s from an average of 2.4 kHz to an average of 1.5 kHz. No particular protocol is specified -- amateurs can use any method they desire as long as it is digital. During the transition period, 20 meter nets have been assigned temporary frequencies in the 10 meter band for their analog (SSB or AM) operations; they have also temporarily been allowed to use up to 10 kW due to limited propagation on that band. Note that 160 meters is not included in this changeover, as it -- being below 3 MHz -- is an MF, rather than an HF band. As previously announced by ARRL, QSL’s for 10 meter contacts using the temporarily authorized higher power will not count toward DXCC.

Andy– NV6V, CARS Website….

VOLUME 45, ISSUE 2 PAGE 5

MINUTES OF March 12th general MEETING… Patsy Clark

President Ken Sanders, AE6LA, called the meeting to order at 6:45 pm in the Odd Fel-lows Lodge building in Angels Camp. The minutes were accepted as written in the Wavelength Newsletter. Bill Holmes, K6DUI, gave the treasurer’s report. Our present balance is $1,613.97. All bills are paid. The IRS, and State of California now officially recognize us as a non-profit corporation. As such, all donations to the club are tax de-ductible.

REPORTS Steve Airola – W6RXK, Vice President, asked how the group liked the new meeting location. The responses were positive. Since there is a $25 charge per meeting for the use of the IOOF facility, members present may want to make a small donation each meeting to pay this charge. For the next meeting in May, Wally Radcliff from Columbia Communications will present a program for the club members

Ken Sanders – AE6LA, President, gave a report on the Fowler Peak Repeater Committee meeting held just prior to this business meeting. They are trying to add a remote base at Fowler Peak to improve coverage in parts of the county where propagation is poor. The committee made a motion for the club to budget $300 to pay for equipment. Chuck Farr sec-onded the motion, and it was approved.

A picnic is being planned with TCARES for September 12th, 2-6 PM at Utica Park in Angels Camp. Ken asked for a volun-teer to chair the event. Patsy Clark – KN6XW volunteered.

John Davenport – KI6ART, PIO, read a letter from Brent Harrington to the members explaining the reasons we did not receive a grant. John is now the VE team liaison person with the ARRL VEC. He is in the process of scheduling a class and test sessions.

Andy Thomas – NV6V, reported he was making progress with the IRLP.

PT Brown – KG6FEY, announced that there will be a dinner for VIP volunteers at Frog Town on April 23rd, 2009 at 5:30 PM. All members interested in working with Cal Fire are invited to the dinner, and to be enrolled in the program. Those who have signed up to be on volunteer call by the Sheriff’s OES for emergencies need to take and pass the Incident Command System training classes, IS-100, 200, and 700. These classes are available online at “http://training.fema.gov”, and then click on “Fema Independent Study”, upper right. This is important…you will not be able to work on emer-gency communications with the County OES unless you have this training, says PT Brown (KG6FEY) EC coordinator.

PT has appointed five “assistant emergency coordinators (AEC)” to help him in the event of an emergency. The five ap-pointees are: Sam Hernandez – WS6P for West Point, Kit Brown – WB6QVU for Mountain Ranch, Ken Sanders – AE6LA, for Angels Camp to Bear Valley, and Barry Thaysen – K3UG, for Copperopolis. John Davenport – KI6ART, was appointed as the Public Information Officer. PT introduced these men, told of their excellent qualifications, and presented each with an ARRL certificate.

Andy Thomas – NV6V, is working on setting up a “special event station” during the county fair in May, using the club N6FRG call sign. A sign-up sheet was circulated for those interested in working the stations. (see page 7, bottom...)

Bill Holmes – K6DUY, announced field day would be June 27-28. We will again be at the Bear Valley location, as last year. There will be a planning meeting on April 11 at 11:00 a.m. at Bill’s house. (see page 12…)

Fred Soderer, WB6QVI, asked Net Control Operators to announce the number of member and visitor check-ins each week, at the end of the Net.

Sam Hernandez – WS6P, reported on the Weds. evening digital NBEMS net. All are invited to join them each week at 20:30. Call or email Sam for more information. It sounds like they are having fun and learning a lot of valuable skills, which can be used during emergencies.

Cont’d on Page 7...

SIERRA WAVELENGTH

VOLUME 45, ISSUE 2

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE...cont’d from Page 1

What do we need to do now...?

- As of this publication, we now have California State non-profit status, also.

- Patsy, our club Secretary needs to continue keeping minutes of our meetings, and preserving our records.

- I believe John is searching for grants to pursue. We all can certainly join in making suggestions for possible grants and other support for our activities.

- Treasurer Bill is making great progress establishing our financial records using Quicken.

- Budgets for each committee need to be established and approved by the membership so routine items can be paid by our Treasurer. Heads up committee chairmen...

- Expenses, other than routine ones, need to be submitted to the Treasurer well in advance of bi-monthly meetings, so they can be approved at the bi-monthly general membership meeting.

Our first annual e-Postcard IRS filing was due 11/15/2008...we missed it. No fine. Miss 3 filings, and you are out. Our biennial Statement of Information to California Secretary of State is due anytime 5 months prior to the month of original filing. So, I will plan on getting the CARS, Inc. officers together in August when we have financial statements ready for our current period, 7/1/2008 to 6/30/2009 and we will file the forms. The IRS Form 990-N is a simple affirmation done totally online. The biennial statement uses an online form and is printed and mailed with a $20 check. As far as I can see, our total cost to maintain our 501(c)(3) corporation will be $20 every 2 years.

Our By Laws Committee needs to be re-authorized and convened to draft a means to fold the Fowler Peak Repeater Group into CARS, Inc.

I sketch out the above so no one is intimidated by it. Any of us can serve in the officer positions of our repeater club.

Also, as many of you know, we are facing the threat of serious changes to our repeater system. At the April 4, 2009 meet-ing of the Northern Amateur Relay Council of California, NARCC, there were 3-proposals (Option A, B, C) presented to change the channel spacing in the 2-meter 145.xx sub-band from 20 kHz to 12.5 kHz. This to provide more space for re-peaters in the band. Nine of ten NARCC directors voted in favor of this at their Jan. 24 board meeting. I certainly had hopes of derailing this, but at the meeting in Concord it was voted to stay any action until May. I would say it looks good for no change for no Change for CARS. If the 12.5 kHz spacing was approved, much of our individual and repeater equip-ment would need to be replaced to conform to new spacing. Modification may be possible for some of it, but it would not be a good situation in any event.

Please come to our next Bimonthly General Meeting May 14th at the Odd Fellows Hall (IOOF) in Angels Camp. Enter only from the back parking lot side on Raspberry Lane off of Nain Street. As usual, we will plan on starting at approxi-mately 6:45 pm, and I plan on having the room open between 5:00 –5:30 pm for a possible Repeater Committee meeting. Please join me early if you can.

73,

Ken Sanders - AE6LA

President

SIERRA WAVELENGTH PAGE 6

VOLUME 45, ISSUE 2 SIERRA WAVELENGTH

Frog Jump Special Event Station- Committee Report:

We’re pleased to announce that for our re-vitalized efforts to support a Special Event Station, there will be incentives for club members to participate! Remember the Special Event will occur beginning on May 14th and go to May 17th, 2009.

Here are some preliminary details...

We’re going to award PARTICIPATION certificates.

1.) Participating Station

2.) Participating Operator (for someone that operates from a station not their own)

3.) Most Contacts

4.) Farthest DX Contact

5.) Most Contacts on SSB

6.) Most Contacts on CW

7.) Most Contacts on Digital (PSK-31, RTTY, MFSK, etc..)

8.) Most Contacts on FM

We’re hoping to develop a list of station owners that would be willing to host operators that would like a chance to operate in this special event, but don’t have access to a station. We might even need a couple “Elmers”...

We’d also like to encourage the taking of ‘action’ photos, to be digitally submitted for inclusion in the newsletter .. or, maybe even QST!

Also, how about some ‘soapbox’ comments about your experiences, what people asked, what conditions were like, your fa-vorite contact, etc.?

We’re also looking for a volunteer to keep the stations posted on the status of the “Frog Jump” itself, many stations inquire as to which Frog is in the lead, etc.

Join in the fun...this is a great way to put the Calaveras Amateur Radio Society on the map! Barry Thaysen, K3UG

PAGE 7

Minutes...cont’d from Page 5 NEW BUSINESS Self-introductions were made. Attendance was excellent. I did not get a complete list of those attending so do not know the exact number. John, KI6ART was asked to find out if we could hold our monthly breakfast at the Murphys Historic Hotel, in Murphys.

NEXT MEETING will be May 14, 2009. Tim Cody – KD6NRB, and Bill Holmes – K6DUY will furnish the refreshments.

MEETING ADJOURNED followed by refreshments furnished by Kathy Hernandez – KI6OBE. Thanks Kathy.

EDUCATION PROGRAM Cliff Kurtz – N6ZU from Stockton presented a very interesting and informative presentation on linear amplifiers. He has built many amplifiers over the past 40-years for the Stockton area. He brought an amplifier with him he had built, and also photo albums of work. He said for the beginner this was not the initial project to build. One needs to have skill working with metal, and have the proper tools for the project. Thanks Steve for making the arrangements for this program, and thanks Cliff for sharing your expertise.

Respectfully submitted, Patsy Clark – KN6XW, Secretary

Page 6 SIERRA Wavelength Volume 45, Issue 2 PAGE 8

On May 1, 2, and 3, PACIFICON 2009, the Pacific Division Convention, will be held with Em-commwest in Reno, Nevada.

The convention will take place at Circus Circus Hotel, with lots to do and see. Our keynote speaker from the ARRL will be Field Organization Supervisor Steve Ewald, WV1X, and on Saturday night our special guest speaker will be Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH, formerly of the FCC. This is one evening you don't want to miss, but we are filling up and seat-ing is limited - so hurry and register now! Advance registration is only $10, but will be $15 at the door, and ADVANCE REGISTRATION ENDS APRIL 22nd. The vendor hall has been expanded and features a host of great products and ser-vices from the latest gear and rigs to antennas, books, badges, jewelry, and much more!

Led by HRO, Icom, and Yaesu, many of your favorite vendors will be there! Our Saturday morning "Reno Ham Swap" is FREE to all sellers (just bring your tables and chairs and you're set). The swap will be in the hotel's parking lot right across the street at 6th and Sierra with setup after 6am and selling begins at 7am. Then at Midnight Saturday night, don't miss out on the mysterious but always fun, "WOUFF-HONG Ceremony this year! Plus, YOU COULD WIN SOME GREAT PRIZES - like radios, H/Ts, antennas, gear, gift certificates, go-kits and supplies; and lots more in our raffles going on all weekend! Our special event station, N7V, will be operating from the swap site all day, so come operate, visit or make a contact, and collect our special QSL card. All information and registration details can be found on our website at http://www.emcommwest.org/.

Questions? email info@emcommwest.org. Come and enjoy a fun-filled weekend in "The Biggest Little City In The World" at EMCOMMWEST / PACIFICON 2009!

Editor...

MISC…..Dateline: 02/17/04 The old Fowler lookout tower received one reprieve from destruction 17 years ago when it was moved to the Calaveras County Fairgrounds, but the building finally has run out of time.

Sitting about 50 yards uphill from the fairground´s main entrance, the three-story tower was originally built in 1936 and initially known as Bear Mountain Lookout, according to an article in the May 20, 1987, edition of the Calaveras Enterprise.

The building was renamed Fowler Peak Lookout in 1959 in honor of Oliver E. Fowler, a Stanislaus National Forest District Ranger who became one of the California Department of Forestry´s first district rangers in 1919.

When the CDF decided to replace the building with a more modern facility in 1987, the lookout was moved to the fair-grounds.

But now the lookout has fallen into disrepair, and has been cited two years in a row by the state Department of Health and Human Services as being unsafe, according to fair Marketing Director Laurie Giannini. "We just can no longer afford the liability," Giannini said.

Inmate crews from the Vallecito Conservation Camp are scheduled to begin razing the building Feb. 17. The small building next to the tower also will fall.

That structure has been home to the California Highway Patrol´s display. Giannini said the CHP will be in the same spot in some type of temporary housing for this year´s fair run May 13-16.

Fair officials have tried to find grants or some other means to raise money to renovate the structure, Giannini said, but with-out luck.

A contractor she had look at the tower determined it could be moved in two sections n top and bottom n but would cost as much as it would to build a new one. Broglio is hoping someone will step forward with a plan. "It´s such a neat old look-out," Broglio said. "I just hate to see old things torn down."

Cont’d on Page 9….

Sierra Wavelength VOlume 45, Issue 2

FIELD DAY 2009– Bill Homes

To all CARS members: FIELD DAY 2009 will again be in the month of June on the 27th & 28th, which are a Satur-day & Sunday...It is time to start thinking about the equipment and accommodations, whether it’s a Super Diesel Pusher, a lowly 5th wheel, a pull trailer, a tent, or heaven for-bid, sleeping on the ground! Field Day will again be the at the “glorious, heavenly, and the thin clean air” of the 8,000 foot Mt. Reba location in BEAR VALLEY. This will be our 3rd year at this location, and as before I would expect a record number of contacts and partici-pants. 2007 and 2008 we have “beat” TCARES by a considerable count! Last year we had a “whale of a time”... great food, clowning around watching the “big guns” trying to put up their huge antennas, and we often roared with laughter as everything fell out of the sky! So, put this date on your calendar; antennas are the name of the game, so come up with some configuration that no one else has, and let’s “knock ‘em” dead! 73 SEE PHOTOS ON PAGE 12

FOWLER LOOKOUT TOWER….cont’d from page 8

The lookout does not qualify for any historical designation, Giannini said, because it has been moved from its original loca-tion. "Everybody has a little bit of sentimental attachment to it, but you eventually have to do what´s in the best interests of the fair," she added.

One of those who has been trying to find a way to save the structure is Arnold resident Donna Broglio.

She and her husband Ron are developing property in Angels Camp and considered moving it there, but it might have to be re-located several times as the property is developed. "He´s hoping to find a home for it," Donna Broglio said.

A contractor she had look at the tower determined it could be moved in two sections n top and bottom n but would cost as much as it would to build a new one. Broglio is hoping someone will step forward with a plan. "It´s such a neat old look-out," Broglio said. "I just hate to see old things torn down."

Calaveras Enterprise story by Craig Koscho.

HOW CURRENT IS YOUR NIMS TRAINING…?

All ARES/RACES/ACS operators should take ICS-100, ICS-200, ICS-700, ICS-800, and the new ICS-802 course that de-scribes the communication functions in the National Response Framework. Many of us should probably retake the ICS-100 and ICS-200 courses that were updated last summer. The ICS-802 course is new as of last August, so it is new to al-most everyone. All Communications Volunteers for the Sheriff’s OES department must have at least ICS-100 & 200. If a course allows you to download the final exam questions, please do so. It will be much easier to follow the course and pass the exam, since the questions are sometimes unclear. PT, KG6FEY, Emergency Coordinator

PAGE 9

PAGE 10 VOlume 45, Issue 2

HISTORICAL NOTES– By Harold j. farr- sk

This following article was written by Hal Farr, WQ6H, late husband of Charlotte Farr, N6NML, and father to Chuck Farr, W6AJW, both CARS club members. This article was compiled from Hal’s memory (as a “founding member”), club minutes, news items, and photos found in the club historian’s album currently held by Charlotte. The forerunner of the Calaveras Amateur Radio Society (CARS) was a loosely knit group of Calaveras County amateurs who met in 1964. This group included Hal Farr (WA6NAM/WQ6H), Hank Alto (W6PNY), Emile Guidici (W6CXK), W.D. (Doc) Hawk (K6QLW), Tommy Farr (WA6NFC/WJ6O), Nate Huston (K6TNC), Charlotte Farr (WN6DTT/N6NML), and Jim Hildreth (W6DYF). One of the main goals was to participate in Field Day, and to function for emergency commu-nication service for the County in time of local or national disaster. In 1965, the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) was organized in Calaveras County and was approved by the FCC through the California State Office of Emergency Services. This was the foundation of CARS, and kept the group to-gether. Shortly after the RACES group was formed, surplus 2-meter equipment was obtained by the County Office of Emergency Services (Civil Defense). These were single chanel crystal controlled transceivers, painted olive drab with car-bon microphones an weighing about forty pounds. Each RACES member was issued one to be used either as a base or mo-bile station, or both. At this time there were no repeaters, and these units operated strictly by line of sight. Output power was approximately 40 Watts from the 2E26 finals. A limited area net was maintained with members in San Andreas and An-gels Camp. There were frequent tube failures. Power for these units was originally 24 Volts. The power supply was modi-fied for mobile and base use. TV transformers were supplied mostly by Hank for the modification. Because of the unreliability of these rigs, they were scrapped and RACES obtained surplus (Vietnam) 10-meter transceivers, which were far more reliable and considerably lighter than the former equipment. These “black boxes” were self-contained and required little modification, and needed the proper crystals for our RACES assigned frequency. These rigs were easily converted from base to mobile operation. The RACES group had their first activity in the 1965 Field Day at Blue Mountain Lookout. The station was operated from a surplus communications shell mounted on a surplus property Chevrolet pickup owned by Calaveras County and assigned to the Emergency Services Coordinator, Hal (WA6NAM/WQ6H). The portable generator was a one-cylinder machine bor-rowed from a Linden rancher. Transmitter and receiver were provided by Hank (W6PNY), and the operators were Hank, Hal, Chuck, Tommy, and Gene (WA6LOK/WA7AMF). Field Day station was W6PNY/6, and the operating capability was only CW. Power was 30 Watts input in order to gain a multiplier in the contest. Those not on shift had the luxury of sleep-ing on a spare bed on the bottom floor of the lookout tower. “It was an experience”, according to all participants. Field Day 1966 was held at Airola Meadows using the same 30 Watt homebrew rig constructed by Hank Alto (W6PNY). Again the mode of operation was CW. Operating this station were Chuck Farr, Tommy Farr, and Hal Farr. Field Day 1967 was a joint operation with several Tuolumne County Amateurs held in Tuolumne County at a US Forestry installation on Highway 108. The CARS group operated CW, and the Tuolumne group SSB. The day was a short one for us because the Tuolumne operators discovered that our 30 Watt homebrew rig interfered with their operation. After some discussion, the CARS operators left the field to the Tuolumne group and returned home. CARS operators were Emile (W6CXK), Hank (W6PNY), Hal (WA6NAM), and Jim (W6UTU). The Tuolumne operators were Harry Grace and several others. There is a period of between the 1967 and 1973 that there is no recorded history, nor any activity that can be recalled. There are no photos or news items that can give a hint of what happened. Continued on Page 11...

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CARS HISTORY...

HISTORICAL NOTES– By Harold j. farr- sk….Cont’d from page 10 A newspaper item in 1973 gives a clue to the effect that “The first meeting in recent years of the Calaveras County Civil Emergency Service was held the Murphys Hotel on July 26”. The RACES program and organization was the “glue” that seemed to hold the amateurs together even though they were not formally organized into a club. On January 30, 1973, there was an election of officers consisting of Al Last (W6GSQ), President; Roy Brown ( W6IRJ), Vice President; Jim Hildreth (W6DYF), Secretary-Treasurer; and George Nelson, Activities Chairman. George was not a ham, but he was Civil Defense Coordinator for the County and the driving force that kept the organization going as the “Calaveras County Radio Amateur Emergency Service”. A constitution was drafted and adopted, and dues were set a one dollar per year. The group at this time consisted of nineteen members. Also, in July of 1973, the group held a potluck picnic at Murphys park where there were 13 members and wives in attendance. The group participated in the air shown held at the Calaveras County Airport by providing a public address system and mobile radio services for crowd control. There are pho-tos in the CARS scrapbook to substantiate this. A Heathkit HW-101 high frequency transceiver was purchased by the County for installation in the command center located in the basement of the government center. The kit was put together by Hank (W6PNY). A work party installed an 80-meter dipole on the roof of the County Administration Building. During this year, the club obtained its own license, WA6YGA, and Hal Farr was its trustee. An effort to integrate CARS as a single organization failed as a constitutional amendment. It as voted down because it was felt that membership in a club should not be a requirement for public service. Sometime prior to this, and before the organizational meeting of 1973, the RACES Group participated twice in setting up a radio station at the Calaveras County Fair Grounds in the main hall to the right of the stage. Material for the booths were purchased by the County under the auspices of the Civil Defense program and some of the material as donated by the Ameri-can Forest Products plant at Toyon with assistance of Nate (K6TNC). The RACES sign was made by inmates at the Depart-ment of Corrections Camp at Six Mile Road, Angels Camp. The first transmitter was fixed frequency 250 Watt monster, obtained by the County in the early 1950’s. A dipole was strung up on the roof of the building, trimmed to the frequency of the transmitter, which was fixed on the 80-meter band. The transmitter was AM, and the final was a 250TH. This was oper-ated for a short time, because our transmissions were broadcast all over the Fairgrounds by the Public Address System, to the dismay of the Fair Board, and the Fair Manager. The second station set up several years later at the same place was more sophisticated as it was on SSB. Again the PA system picked up the signal, but with the advantage that the modulation was en-tirely incomprehensible and no one could understand where the interference was coming from. We operated this station a little bit longer. In 1974, Al Last (W6GSQ) was re-elected President, Roy Brown (W6IRJ) Vice President, Helen Last (WB6LAL) Secretary-Treasurer, an George Nelson as Activities Chairman. The newspaper account of this meeting and election held at the Bazi-nett Hotel, noted that this as a joint meeting of RACES an CARS. The meeting was held on January 29th. At this meeting Henry Alto (W6PNY) was presented with a certificate designation him “Member of the Year”. Dues were increased to three dollars per year for regular member, and one dollar for associate members, ie, wives or husband who were not hams. Dinner meetings were popular, and there is a photo record of another dinner held at the Veterans Hall, Valley Springs, in 1974. In this year, a group of twelve members and the Calaveras County Sheriff, Russell Leach visited the nuclear power plant at Rancho Seco. This was before the plant became operational. The trip was arranged by George Nelson, Activities Chairman. Photos of this visit are in the CARS scrapbook. TO BE CONTINUED IN NEXT ISSUE OF THIS NEWSLETTER…..editor.

CARS HISTORY...

SIERRA WAVELENGTH PAGE 11 VOlume 45, Issue 2

Sierra Wavelength

))) — Rrrribit

Thanks to all who provided articles and information for this issue of the “Wavelength”. Unfortunately, not all arti-cles found room in this issue …editor

Next Bi-Monthly Meeting Thursday, May 14th, 2009

IOOF Hall Angels Camp

Meeting Starts: 6:45 PM Breakfast Meetings

First Saturday of Each Month Murphys Historic Hotel

Murphys 9:00 AM

Page 12 Volume 45, Issue 2

LOOKING for a local eatery with good food and service...?

This editor and 3 friends had the opportunity to check out and eat at V’s Restaurant in Mur-phys during the Easter weekend. V’s is a contemporary restaurant with a full bar, and an excel-lent wine list. They have great food, excellent service, and is exceptionally clean! You can choose to eat outside on the veranda, or inside in the intimate dining areas. Try the “deep fried olives”...they are wonderful!

V’s Restaurant is part of the “Victoria Inn”, a Bread and Breakfast Inn that is located just off of Main Street in Murphys.

But, be aware…No smoking and no children allowed here…!!!

Editor...

Field Day BBQ planning meeting-Bill Holmes home in Sheep Ranch– April 2009…Fun, food, and beverages for everyone!! Thanks Bill and Phyllis for you hospitality!