Most of the parts that we need to put up a tower have been acquired, it would probably help if I didn't constantly change my mind on what is going up, but then that's the fun of radio!

First we had to decide on the location. Then Don KJ6ZVR marked the dimensions so he could keep the foundation hole within the size recommended. The 2' by 2' hole was chipped out of the sidewalk behind the house and once the concrete was removed, the excavation became a little easier. Well, at least until the hole became deeper than his arm! It wound up at 4' deep and then it was time finish it off with rebar, j-bolts and a frame to contain everything needed.

We had plenty of help thanks to both Bill KK6HZU and Len WA6KLK to get the concrete mixed and poured correctly. The base was fitted with J-bolts and positioned in place and then our call signs inscribed. Now while the concrete cures we will be setting the poles for guy wires.

We are well on the way to the tower going up and Don couldn't be happier!

Don and Len put up a couple more sections so we could see exactly where to place the guy wire poles. Don is busily digging holes and cant wait until the next phase goes up!

Tim WB9NJS came by and put up the top section Friday then Len installed the Diamond vertical that I bought when Bob W6RJA put it on the Swap Net. Now with it higher than the j-pole and having more gain, I am seeing the difference when comparing the two.

Saturday August 29th, WARS had a meeting at Old Mission Pizza. The meeting was brought to order by Tim WB9NJS, attendance was down a bit, but we still had good representation with members from Fort Bragg, Ukiah, Redwood Valley, Laytonville as well as Willits and Bill KD6LTB who was visiting from Hurricane, Utah. Time was spent reminiscing about past mountain top trips that several had participated in up on Walker Ridge and the good times, great meals that had been shared. An interesting note; there were 4 members that represented K7JVO, Jordan Valley Radio Society.

The meeting began with an announcement that Derek KE6EBZ had tendered his resignation as President of Wars. The question of 'muddling through' until our regularly scheduled election comes up was discussed. Jim W6JRC motioned to have the office shared by the two remaining officers until November 14th, KC6MGM seconded the motion and it was unanimously approved.

Airport & Heroes Day was discussed with about six members showing interest in being present for at least part of the day. Tim will be touching base with MCARCS, CERTS & S&R, to ensure no plans are being duplicated before reserving space. It seems like a good idea to combine each of the groups as there are members that belong to several organizations.

Events in September and October were announced and discussed. I have listed them all on the Bullitin page for convience.

WARS Technical Seminar is in the planning stages as far as topics are concerned and if you'd like to see a topic covered, contact Tim or better yet bring a question or topic to the tech Net on Tuesday nights. The seminar will be held at the LDS Church again from 10 till about 2 on Saturday Oct 24th. Tune in to the various nets for upcoming information.

Christmas Holiday Dinner has a tentative date of December 11th. Tim voluteered his and Sue's time to make this enjoyable function happen again this year. Thank you Sue!!

Photos courtesy of Sharon Sue KE6YKY

WARS met Saturday Nov 14th, at Old Mission Pizza, to enjoy Pizza and elect new officers for 2016 with 24 in attendance. 'THANKS' was given to the many that were involved in the successful Technical Seminar and all the work that went into it.

Anderson connectors were brought up, with the fact that Mike KC6MGM, had purchased connectors to install out of his own funds for the seminar and they hadn't all been used. Tim WB9NJS, stated he thought the remaining connectors would be a useful addition to the club for future use. It was then motioned and seconded that Mike be reimbursed $50 for his cost and that WARS would have the connectors available for installation if anyone needed them.

A licensing test with possible tech classes was discussed as a joint effort of MCARCS and WARS for sometime early in May. Steve KJ6EIF, Jim W6JRC, and Tim WB9NJS, will form a committee to see what the level of interest is and set a date. Steve said that the cable cut had generated a lot interest and Tim mentioned Public Health was short of HAM operators. Jim stated that we have enough VECs to hold a test locally if the demand warranted it.

After looking into purchasing a banner, Joyce KJ6ZVS, decided that it would be best, rather than just buy and donate one to the club, that it should be discussed and a design be chosen by membership since it would be representative of WARS. Mike KC6MGM, said he had an offer from a company to provide a 2' x 6' color banner for $35 that he could reccomend. After several ideas were voiced, it was decided that Mike and Joyce would form a committee to settle on several designs and then present them during the next meering for a vote. It was then decided if 2 banners could be purchased for $75 then WARS would purchase them.

Life KJ6VIE, brought in a battery charger that he bought and was just beginning to test its performance. It charges everything including alkaline batteries that we all recycle! It seems that they can be charged quite effectively making them more practicable. to use.

Election of officers commenced with Tim WB9NJS, saying that although he would happily give his office as treasurer up to someone else, he would be willing to keep it if no one else was interested. A vote was taken and Tim was reinstated as Teasurer. Joyce KJ6ZVS, also stated that she would be willing to be secretary for another year and that was voted and passed as well. Nominations for president was opened up with Mike KC6MGM declining the nomination because of the position he had just accepted with CERTs. Len WA6KLK was nominated, and while he was encouraging the membership to step forward and serve as an officer, Mike proposed that if Len took the office for 2016 then he would accept president for 2017. A vote was taken and passed with Len as president in 2016 and Mike filling the position in 2017.

Using a question and answer format patterned after the Tech Net, WARS hosted a Seminar Saturday, October 24th. Topics were chosen from some of the varied questions and discussions held on the recently started Tech Net, Tuesday evenings, at 7:00 on Countywide.

First up was a discussion presented by Joyce KJ6ZVS of her (and Don's KJ6ZVR) experiences in getting a tower. From making the decision to put up a tower all the way to where the project now stands, complete with lots of pictures! Adding to it, was a review of the risks associated with tower work, safety equipment and procedures including a climbing harness demonstration by Tim WB9NJS.

Choosing the best connector from the many options available to get power to your radio and how they each measure up was demonstrated by Mike KC6MGM. Why Anderson power poles are really helpful, during emergency situations and how to install them in the correct polarity for ease of use! He also had connectors and installed them for anyone that wanted them on their radios or power cords.

Common RF connectors - choices and installation was explored by Ben WB5QAL. What the four most common HAM connectors are and when to choose one type of connector versus another, as well as installation options of solder vs crimp. Using a coax cutter and crimp on connectors makes the job easier for sight impaired and many other HAMs. Murphy visited during Ben's talk, and proved to everyone in attendance, that sometimes the best equipment can and will malfunction during a demonstration when his talking WATT/SWR meter said that inferior coax showed better results!

During a break all participants had the ability to have hands on experience with Anderson power poles, coax cutters and crimp on PL259's, or enjoy some refreshments, visit, and ask more questions about what had already been discussed. Special thanks goes to Sue KE6YKY for setting up the snacks and keeping all the plates full!

Presenting next was Life KJ6VIE speaking about a backup DC power system for your station. How to keep your station on the air when your power goes out and how to size a battery to meet your receive and transmit loads. Different types of deep cycle batteries and what type to use. Battery boosters, battery tenders and charge controllers were discussed for a charging system. Photos of Life's installed backup power sytem puts it all together so that it is available when needed.

Next Tim WB9NJS enlightened us on non-line of sight VHF 'bounce'¨ paths. He explained that local VHF propagation is not always direct line of sight and how directional antennas can help identify alternate paths. How signals can 'bounce'¨ off large geologic features sometimes in surprising ways. He did a review of some identified 'bounce' paths and gave tips on how to look for other bounce paths using topo mapping software.

Attendee demographics were interesting in that 19% of those present came in from Lake County including Ben WB5QAL who was one of the speakers and lady operators made up 24% of those that were there. Three of the presenters have been HAMS for three years or less showing that newer hams are willing to stand up and speak.

Wow, summer has flown by and was wonderfully busy! We (Don KJ6ZVR & I KJ6ZVS) were fortunate enough to attend the Beginning of Summer BBQ that LCARS hosted at Lake Mendocino, John KJ6IBP and Len WA6KLK were also there representing Mendocino County HAMS. There was no lack of delicious food brought by those that attended, lots of conversation, laughter and advice! The weather cooperated giving us a gorgeous breezy day on the lake.

A week later we (Len, Don & I) made our way down the coast and enjoyed a lovely brunch at St Orres with the Anchor Bay Radio Club. After our meal and visit with several of the coastal members we had the opportunity to stop and visit with Scott AF6MQ at Manchester. I picked up some jumper cables from Jonathan KK6RPX in Albion to deliver to Soulin KK6VLV in Redwood Valley! I found out it is reltively easy to move 'stuff' from inland to the coast or vice versa, seems lke during the summer everyone is willing to make a trip to enjoy a spot of fog or in reverse some warmth!

Don is getting his tower ... we have gathered almost everything we need to put up a 40' tower. It was lots of work to get ready, we picked everyones brains for information, located and brought in parts, dug a foundation hole, sought help to do what we can't, and now in the next few weeks it will actually get errected!

WARS and MCARCS held a joint Field Day behind the Mendocino County Museum. Alan WA6JBK, Nick KI6RIT and Steve KJ6EIF were working stations while Jim W6JRC had his portable station displayed. Several HAMS stopped by in support to visit and enjoy treats brought by Marcella KI6MJC. Contacts were slow Saturday evening but picked up before Field Day was concluded. Folks interested in getting licensed stopped by to see what the hobby was all about and to find out about the process.

Lake County HAMS had a GOTA station set up at George Hoberg's Vista Point a beautiful site overlooking Clear Lake where those interested in the hobby could make a contact and get information, or newly licensed HAMS could see what HF was all about. Lots of social interaction, great conversation and exchanges of ideas happened around the tables. A Tri-tip BBQ highlighted Saturday evening events where food and laughter were plentiful and a couple of officers from Lakeport PD, stopped by to enjoy a great meal.

24 HAM radio enthusiats met for a WARS meeting and pizza on a warm afternoon, after a bit of social interaction the meeting was brought together by Derek KE6EBZ. One of our areas newest licensees Soulin KK6TNL, was welcomed as well as Donna KG6TOI, and Jim KG6PTX, visitors from ABRC in Gualala.

Tim WB9NJS, gave a treasurer's report noting that the insurance policy is about due. Joyce KJ6ZVS, talked about the 1200th breakfast coming up soon as well as the WARS website and requested any interesting information about what members were participating in be made available for the website to keep it fresh and interesting. George K7WWA, asked that the website note Charter Members. Len WA6KLK, commented on the newest page titled WARS History. He asked if anyone had stories and or photos to please share so our history doesn't get lost.

Derek is working on setting up a build workshop/BBQ on the coast centering around a 'simple' project that may use soldering skills. Details will follow as they become available. Alan WA6JBK, offered to teach soldering techniques and he also reported the 51.96 (6M) repeater is again up and functioning in Lake County.

Field Day is from 11am Sat, June 27th until 2pm Sun, June 28th and will be held in the grassy field behind the Mendocino County Museum, Commercial St., in Willits. There are currently plans to have 3 stations set up and everyone is welcome to participate. Contact: Marcella KI6MJC, for food preparation plans and any questions.

Tim spoke about the sucesses and difficulties encountered during the ECOMM Heath Care Drill. Potential problems definitely were discovered and solutions are now being sought. Quite a bit of discussion followed with input from members that either had problems and or suggestions. George spoke a bit on the dedication of Greg WA6RQX, who manages to keep the countywide linked repeater system in working order even when it is not convenient and urging us all to be sure and thank him if we speak with him.

Coming up in September there is a Reach/Airport function being planned. George queried the interest in a HAM Radio demonstration even though we are not considered first responders. Keep an eye on the Bulletins as more information will be posted as is available.

Derek started a discussion on repeater interference, how to identify the source and how to deal with it. It was noted that the coast has interference of music while the YL Net has had whistling.

While walking around the Rec Grove on a beautiful Sunday, looking at the array of restored vehicles on display, we enjoyed visiting with many friends that we don't often see. In the mix were 2 local HAM radio operators that had brought their cars for all to enjoy. Bob W6BOI, out of Lakeport with his 1931 Model A Ford and Denis WB6TCS, out of Covelo with his 1965 Oldsmobile Cutlass.

There was also music, games, vendor booths including food, raffles and plenty of family fun to be enjoyed. Veterans were also honored as the Ameican Legion Post 174 Color Guard presented "The Colors" along with the National Anthem at noon.