News Archive - 2023

Archived news items will be posted here, with the most recent items at the top.


DECEMBER 2023 TEST SESSION RESULTS

On Saturday, December 16th, a test session was held in Lakeport. Of the six people that tested, five passed - two new technician-class, one upgrade to general-class, and two upgrades to extra-class.


DECEMBER 2023 TEST SESSION

A test session will be held at 10 AM on Saturday, December 16th at the Lake County Office of Education in Lakeport. If you are interested in testing, please contact Tim WB9NJS. If you would like to participate as a volunteer examiner, please contact Nick KI6RIT.

For links to video recordings of the technician and general-class license training sessions, click here.

ALERT: Effective April 19th 2022, the FCC will be implementing a $35 application fee for new license applications. Upgrading an existing license to a higher class is exempt. The fee is in addition to the $15 test fee. Volunteer examiners (VEs) won't be collecting the application fee; you will need to make payment to the FCC directly. Click here for more information.


NOVEMBER 2023 TEST SESSION RESULTS

On November 4th and 11th, test sessions were held in Fort Bragg and Ukiah, respectively. Six people tested in Ukiah and five passed - three new technician-class, one upgrade from technician to general, and one upgrade from general to extra. The Fort Bragg test resulted in one new technician-class licensee and one upgrade to general-class.


NOVEMBER 2023 TEST SESSIONS

Test sessions in inland and coastal Mendocino County have been scheduled for shortly after the general class license courses!

UkiahFort Bragg
WhereRedwood Academy
1059 N. State St.
Redwood Coast Senior Center
490 N. Harold St.
WhenNovember 11th @ 9:30 AMNovember 4th @ noon
InfoNo walk-ins, pre-registration required, $15 test fee
Registration contactTim WB9NJSKen KW6V

ALERT: Effective April 19th 2022, the FCC will be implementing a $35 application fee for new license applications. Upgrading an existing license to a higher class is exempt. The fee is in addition to the $15 test fee. Volunteer examiners (VEs) won't be collecting the application fee; you will need to make payment to the FCC directly. Click here for more information.


2023 GENERAL CLASS LICENSE COURSE

Zoom presentations on the 10 subject areas of the FCC General Class Amateur Radio license test will begin October 3 at 1800 hrs (6:00 PM), and continue each Tuesday evening in October.

The two hour presentations will be recorded and available below:

To receive the Zoom link to the live presentations, send an email with GENERAL CLASS in the subject line to: stkj6eif@gmail.com. Include your name, callsign, if licensed, and the name of your community. A Zoom link will be emailed to you.

Please help us spread the word to anyone you think might be interested by sending them the attached flier.

Thanks for your help.

73s Steve, KJ6EIF and the presentation team

Editor's note: Click here to view recordings of the technician class license course held earlier this year, as well as links to practice exams and other useful resources.


JUNE 2023 TEST SESSION RESULTS

On Saturday, June 17th, a test session was held in Lakeport. Of the two people that tested, one passed both the technician and general-class tests!


2023 FIELD DAY

As officers of our local amateur radio groups, we would like to extend an invitation for you to meet with the amateur radio operators of our community as we participate in the national ARRL Field Day event, Saturday and Sunday, June 24-25 at the Baechtel Grove School, 1150 Magnolia St, Willits.

More information here.


JUNE 2023 TEST SESSION

A test session will be held at 9:30 AM on Saturday, June 17th at the Lake County Office of Education in Lakeport. If you are interested in testing or would like to be a volunteer examiner, please register here.

For links to technician class video recordings from spring 2023, click here.

For study materials and copies of the PowerPoint presentations used in the classes, contact Nick KI6RIT.

ALERT: Effective April 19th 2022, the FCC will be implementing a $35 application fee for new license applications. Upgrading an existing license to a higher class is exempt. The fee is in addition to the $15 test fee. Volunteer examiners (VEs) won't be collecting the application fee; you will need to make payment to the FCC directly. Click here for more information.


APRIL 2023 TEST SESSION RESULTS

On April 8th and 15th, test sessions were held in Fort Bragg and Ukiah, respectively. Five people passed the technician-class exam in Fort Bragg and two in Ukiah. Congratulations to all participants!


2023 TECHNICIAN CLASS LICENSE COURSE

The Willits Amateur Radio Society (WARS), Mendocino Auxiliary Communications Service (MACS), and the Mendocino County Amateur Radio Communications Service (McARCS) hosted a free, five-week course for those interested in obtaining a technician-class amateur radio license.

For those that want to view all of the videos in sequence as a playlist, click here.

Students are encouraged to obtain a copy of the Gordon West 2022-2026 Technician Class study guide, available here.


MARCH 2023 TEST SESSION RESULTS

On Saturday, March 18th, a test session was held in Lakeport. Of the two people that tested, one earned their technician-class license and one upgraded to general-class. Congratulations to all participants!


APRIL 2023 TEST SESSIONS

Test sessions in inland and coastal Mendocino County have been scheduled for shortly after the technician class license courses!

UkiahFort Bragg
WhereRedwood Academy
1059 N. State St.
Redwood Coast Senior Center
490 N. Harold St.
WhenApril 15th @ 9:30 AMApril 8th @ noon
InfoNo walk-ins, pre-registration required, $15 test fee
Registration contactMcARCSKen KW6V

ALERT: Effective April 19th 2022, the FCC will be implementing a $35 application fee for new license applications. Upgrading an existing license to a higher class is exempt. The fee is in addition to the $15 test fee. Volunteer examiners (VEs) won't be collecting the application fee; you will need to make payment to the FCC directly. Click here for more information.


2023 MENDOCINO COAST 50K ULTRA MARATHON

This is a 50k run through the Jackson Demonstration Forest starting and ending at Big River beach. Due to a lack of cell phone coverage along the route, the event organizers have requested ham radio support for their event to provide information to the race officials on race status and safety issues.

We are looking for six or seven volunteers who are willing to staff the checkpoints. It is a fun experience and a chance to practice your skills operating on a radio net.

The event will be on Saturday, April 22nd and has a net control station at the start/finish line and five checkpoints along the route. The race begins at 7:00 AM from the start point and normally lasts approximately 9.5 hours. The check points are staffed in succession as the race progresses with the start point and station one being staffed at 7:00 AM. We normally do a split shift for the net control with a 7:00 AM to noon operator and a noon to 5:00 PM operator.

You can learn more about the event at https://mendocinoultra.com/

For additional information or to volunteer for the event, contact Mike KC6MGM.


MARCH 2023 TSUNAMI DRILL

The annual west coast tsunami drill will be held on March 29th from 1100 to 1200. We need radio operators for the following locations:

  • Ten Mile
  • Pudding Creek
  • Noyo Harbor
  • Caspar Beach
  • Mendocino Bay
  • Van Damme
  • Albion
  • Manchester
  • Point Arena
  • Anchor Bay
  • Gualala

Prior to the exercise, instructions and maps will be sent to all volunteers.

If you will be available to staff one of the above locations on March 29th, please email Mike KC6MGM.


MARCH 2023 TEST SESSION

A test session will be held at 9:30 AM on Saturday, March 18th at the Lake County Office of Education in Lakeport. If you are interested in testing or would like to be a volunteer examiner, please register here.

For links to technician class video recordings from summer 2021, click here.

If you have questions regarding the license test sections covered in the videos above, click here.

For study materials and copies of the PowerPoint presentations used in the classes, contact Nick KI6RIT.

ALERT: Effective April 19th 2022, the FCC will be implementing a $35 application fee for new license applications. Upgrading an existing license to a higher class is exempt. The fee is in addition to the $15 test fee. Volunteer examiners (VEs) won't be collecting the application fee; you will need to make payment to the FCC directly. Click here for more information.


UPDATED THURSDAY NET TIME SLOTS

Effective February, there will be a change to the time slots of the Thursday nets. The Swap Net will shift from 7:30 PM to 7:00 PM, and other nets (YL, Part 97, WARS, etc.) will shift from 7:00 PM to 7:30 PM. The reason for this shift is that the Swap Net usually runs for 15 to 20 minutes, while the other nets often stretch past 30 minutes. This change will allow the other nets to be “open-ended” and run for longer if needed.

Edit: The schedule change was a success! This month's WARS net was able to run for nearly an hour and had a lot of good discussion. Thank you to all net control operators for agreeing to the change.


To view older news postings, click here.

23 visitors to this page since October 2024