Loaded email this week… In case you missed it, some substantial upgrades have been done to the W6EK 2M repeater system. If you haven’t talked on the repeater since the weekend, you should first and foremost hear it better. It is back at full power after a long hiatus on the top antenna. We also launched voting receivers overlooking the valley HIGH above Auburn, another in Rocklin (with good ears), and a third at the Georgetown airport. ONE NOTE!!! The W6EK TX is not transmitting a CTCSS at this time, it is carrier squelch only at this time.
BREAKFAST AND FOX HUNT, THIS SATURDAY A reminder that this weekend (this Saturday) is the club breakfast at Mel’s Diner in Auburn. The fun starts at 7:30 but make sure to come early or you’ll be stuck at the kids table.
Following breakfast is Fox Hunt. The Fox Tenders for this month will be John KO6COW and his son. Thank you to both. The Fox Hunt pre-meeting will be in the parking lot of Mel’s, 9:00 AM, immediately following the monthly cub breakfast. The Fox Hunt itself will start at around 9:45 AM and end at 11:45 AM. The Fox Hunt call-in frequency will be 146.550 MHz The Hunt will be south of Mel’s and north of Indian Hill Road. The Fox transmitter will be 146.535 MHz running at 20 mW. Come one, come all. Bring the family.
HOT RF NIGHTS UPDATE New Served Agencies and Clubs Added * Placer County ARES * Community Emergency Radio Association (CERA) * El Dorado Amateur Radio Club * North Hills Amateur Radio Club * Glenn County Amateur Radio Society and GC ARES * Yuba-Sutter Amateur Radio Club and Sutter County ARES * Oroville Amateur Radio Society (tentative) * Rocklin Fire * Rocklin Police This year we’re at William Jessup University in Rocklin. We REALLY hope all club members and friends will come out.
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73, The Sierra Foothills Amateur Radio Club (W6EK) (530) 492-0920
Website: www.w6ek.org www.w6ek.org Group.io: groupsio.w6ek.org
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WHAT A HAMFEST!!! This was the biggest and best yet for SFARC. A big thanks to the over 50 volunteers at Hamfest last Saturday and Aaron (K6ABJ) for his amazing leadership. We sold over 2,000 tickets for the drawing and sold out every seller spot we had. Don’t forget to upload your photos @ www.w6ek.org/media/upload
WARM UP THE NIGHTS WITH SOME HOT RF! HOT RF NIGHTS PLANNING MEETING, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26TH @ 6PM ON ZOOM On May 17th, we’re bringing back the newly improved Hot RF Nights! Our first planning meeting is THIS Wednesday in the club Zoom room at 6PM.
FOX HUNT, THIS WEEKEND! Our next Fox Hunt will be Saturday 29. We are still looking for a Fox Tender for this weekend so go to www.w6ek.org/activities/foxhunt and send us a message. _ ___ _ ___ _ ___
73, The Sierra Foothills Amateur Radio Club (W6EK) (530) 492-0920
Website: www.w6ek.org www.w6ek.org Group.io: groupsio.w6ek.org
Social: facebook.w6ek.org facebook.w6ek.org twitter.w6ek.org twitter.w6ek.org linkedIn.w6ek.org linkedIn.w6ek.org instagram.w6ek.org instagram.w6ek.org youtube.w6ek.org youtube.w6ek.org

Apologies for the extra email… I left out a important piece of information…
HAMFEST / LAST PLANNING MEETING / THURSDAY (03/20) @ 5PM / IN PERSON AT THE TRAIN STATION
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73, The Sierra Foothills Amateur Radio Club (W6EK) (530) 492-0920
Website: www.w6ek.org www.w6ek.org Group.io: groupsio.w6ek.org
Social: facebook.w6ek.org facebook.w6ek.org twitter.w6ek.org twitter.w6ek.org linkedIn.w6ek.org linkedIn.w6ek.org instagram.w6ek.org instagram.w6ek.org youtube.w6ek.org youtube.w6ek.org

HAMFEST IS HERE … … and the forecast for Saturday looks GREAT with high temps in the mid 60’s. More importantly, none of that wet stuff falling from the sky.
HAMFEST / LAST PLANNING MEETING / 5 PM / IN PERSON AT THE TRAIN STATION
A reminder for those who plan to help at Hamfest on Saturday. Don’t forget: * Safety Vest * An HT programmed with the SFARC Com Plan found here @ www.w6ek.org/complan o Talk-In / CH 03 / K6IOK Repeater 145.130- CTCSS 114.8) o Volunteers / CH 04 / TAC 1 Simplex o Parking / CH 05 / TAC 2 Simplex o Vendor / CH 06 / TAC 3 Simplex * Sunblock, Hat and Sunglasses * Headlight for the early morning * SFARC Name Badge * $$$ MONEY – LOTS OF IT 🙂 * Print out of the com plan just in case. 🙂 Even though sellers are due to arrive at 0600, they will be earlier. A good recommendation is to be onsite at 0430 if you’re part of the early crew. We can all but guarantee we will see the first of the sellers by 0530 if not earlier.
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73, The Sierra Foothills Amateur Radio Club (W6EK) (530) 492-0920
Website: www.w6ek.org www.w6ek.org Group.io: groupsio.w6ek.org
Social: facebook.w6ek.org facebook.w6ek.org twitter.w6ek.org twitter.w6ek.org linkedIn.w6ek.org linkedIn.w6ek.org instagram.w6ek.org instagram.w6ek.org youtube.w6ek.org youtube.w6ek.org

You’ve heard it here first, we’ve gone and lost our MINDS!!! We’re finalizing plans for Hamfest 2025 and still looking for volunteers. Now more than ever is the time we need your help. Maybe you can’t even make the event, no problem, YOU CAN STILL HELP. Make a QST on each and every net you attend. We’ve prepared a simple script too, found here: www.w6ek.org/activities/hamfest/qstscript
Print and hand out the event flyer (www.w6ek.org/activities/hamfest/flyer www.w6ek.org/activities/hamfest/flyer) or send people to the website (hamfest.w6ek.org hamfest.w6ek.org)
NEXT PLANNING MEETING IS TONIGHT (03/12) @ 6PM in the club Zoom room at www.w6ek.org/activities/meetings/jointhemeeting
A FEW OTHER REMINDERS THIS THURDAY (03/13/2025): SFARC Board Meeting | 6PM, SFARC Zoom Room | www.w6ek.org/activities/meetings/jointhemeeting THIS FRIDAY (03/14/2025): SFARC Club Meeting | 7:30PM, In-person or Zoom | www.w6ek.org/activities/meetings/jointhemeeting THIS SATURDAY (03/15/2025): Extra Class Antenna Build Lab | In-Person | Contact the advancement team @ www.w6ek.org/aboutsfarc/coursesandtraining

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73, The Sierra Foothills Amateur Radio Club (W6EK) (530) 492-0920
Website: www.w6ek.org www.w6ek.org Group.io: groupsio.w6ek.org
Social: facebook.w6ek.org facebook.w6ek.org twitter.w6ek.org twitter.w6ek.org linkedIn.w6ek.org linkedIn.w6ek.org instagram.w6ek.org instagram.w6ek.org youtube.w6ek.org youtube.w6ek.org

With Hamfest fast approaching we have another planning meeting scheduled for THIS Wednesday @ 6P in the club Zoom room. If you can’t attend the planning meeting but would like to help in some form or fashion, go to www.w6ek.org/activities/hamfest/volunteering

ALL ABOARD FOR HAMTRAK! THIS THURSDAY AT A TRAIN STATION NEAR YOU
The train pulls out Roseville at 10:51 AM on Thursday. Are you on the fence? There are still tickets as of this morning. 🙂 If you plan to attend but you haven’t RSVP’d, this is the last call. 🙂

Are you going to Hamtrak II, Back On Track? We’re making dinner reservations in Reno for the group and we need to know if you’re joining us. RSVP now @ www.w6ek.org www.w6ek.org

NEW PRIZES ADDED TO HAMFEST AND WE HAVE LOST OUR MINDS Help spread the word and the attached flyer. hamfest.w6ek.org hamfest.w6ek.org Next Hamfest Planning Meeting is 02/20/2025 @ 1800 on Zoom _ ___ _ ___ _ ___
73, The Sierra Foothills Amateur Radio Club (W6EK) (530) 492-0920
Website: www.w6ek.org www.w6ek.org Group.io: groupsio.w6ek.org
Social: facebook.w6ek.org facebook.w6ek.org twitter.w6ek.org twitter.w6ek.org linkedIn.w6ek.org linkedIn.w6ek.org instagram.w6ek.org instagram.w6ek.org youtube.w6ek.org youtube.w6ek.org

Happy first week of February members and friends! We have a few noteworthy mentions this week.
HAMFEST IS COMING!! WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT HAMFEST If you’re new to SFARC, or a new ham, this might be your first ham swap. Or maybe you’re an “old timer”; the SFARC Loomis Hamfest is coming up on March 22nd. Planning is underway and we’re looking for volunteers. EVEN IF you think we already know you’re volunteering, please take a quick minute and visit www.w6ek.org/activities/hamfest/volunteering to get on the list. In addition, we need EVERYONES help getting the word out. If you attend local nets, or even a Northern CA HF swap net, consider making a QST. We’ve crafted a short and simple QST @ www.w6ek.org/activities/hamfest/qstscript … And last, but certainly not least, we have another PLANNING MEETING THIS THURSDAY @ 6PM in the club’s Zoom room. This is the biggest club fundraiser of the year so don’t be shy, come join us and help anyway you can.

RIVER CITY ARCS SPECIAL PRESENTATION – THIS TUESDAY, 01/04/2025 ARRL Pacific Division Director Tony Marcin, W7XM, will speak on ARRL Policy Matters & Direction in Amateur Radio at the Tuesday, February 7, 7:00 pm PT in-person meeting of the River City ARCS. This will include an update on the January ARRL Board of Directors meeting. Members and visitors are welcome. Zoom log on is also available upon request to contact@n6na.org mailto:contact@n6na.org.
VE TESTING TONIGHT IN AUBURN | 7PM A last minute reminder for anyone wanting to get their first license or upgrade. The SFARC VE team will be hosting a session tonight @ 7PM in Auburn at the Confluence Church. If you’d like more information, or to sign up, head to www.w6ek.org/activities/testing NOW. 🙂
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73, The Sierra Foothills Amateur Radio Club (W6EK) (530) 492-0920
Website: www.w6ek.org www.w6ek.org Group.io: groupsio.w6ek.org
Social: facebook.w6ek.org facebook.w6ek.org twitter.w6ek.org twitter.w6ek.org linkedIn.w6ek.org linkedIn.w6ek.org instagram.w6ek.org instagram.w6ek.org youtube.w6ek.org youtube.w6ek.org

We’ve got some stuff lined up this week as well as some upcoming events to prepare for.
EXTRA CLASS UPDATE The SFARC Extra class started last night, however, there were some that could not enroll on the website due to a software bug. If you are one of those people, the issue has been corrected and we’ve added a “Course Selector”. Its a much easier way to sort through all the options. While this is available immediately for the Extra class, the upcoming Tech and General courses will be added soon. Link: www.w6ek.org/aboutsfarc/coursesandtraining
HAMFEST IS HERE – FIRST PLANNING MEETING THURSDAY, JANUARY 30TH @ 6PM Join the Hamfest 2025 planning team tomorrow night on Zoom as we put in motion the upcoming plans for the Annual Loomis Hamfest. SAVE THE DATE: March 22nd, 2025 Link: www.w6ek.org/activities/hamfest
SPECIAL PRESENTATION: ARRL POLICY MATTERS & DIRECTION, FEBRUARY 4TH, 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM ARRL Pacific Division Director Tony Marcin, W7XM, will speak on ARRL Policy Matters & Direction in Amateur Radio at the Tuesday, February 7, 7:00 pm PT in-person meeting of the River City ARCS. This will include an update on the January ARRL Board of Directors meeting. Members and visitors are welcome. Zoom log on is also available upon request to contact@n6na.org mailto:contact@n6na.org.
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73, The Sierra Foothills Amateur Radio Club (W6EK) (530) 492-0920
Website: www.w6ek.org www.w6ek.org Group.io: groupsio.w6ek.org
Social: facebook.w6ek.org facebook.w6ek.org twitter.w6ek.org twitter.w6ek.org linkedIn.w6ek.org linkedIn.w6ek.org instagram.w6ek.org instagram.w6ek.org youtube.w6ek.org youtube.w6ek.org