Watts Up This Week

SFARC Members and Friends,

Before we dive into Hamfest, a few call-outs for the weekend.

  • While there is no Fox Hunt this weekend, the Club Breakfast is still taking place on Saturday (3/28 — 7:30 AM) at Mel’s.
  • We launched a new Photo Gallery page and upload portal on w6ek.org (Link: https://www.w6ek.org/media/photos)
  • We have one last Hamfest planning meeting this Thursday (3/26 — 5:30PM) onsite at the Loomis Train Depot.

HAMFEST 2026

We’re still short on our volunteers for this weekend. If you can help, please go to https://hamfest.w6ek.org and click
Hamfest Volunteer Link

For Saturday. we’re looking at partly cloudy skies with temps in the 80’s so it’s going to be a beautiful weekend. A reminder that even with partly cloudy skies, don’t forget sunblock as the UV index is elevated.

One more BIG thanks to all who donated items and funds to Hamfest 2026. We have you to thank for the awesome prize pool this year and THE MYSTERY BOX! What is the mystery box?
Well… It’s new for 2026 and a mystery. 🙂 All joking aside, it’s a silent auction for a crate that contains a TON of cool stuff.

73,

The Sierra Foothills Amateur Radio Club (W6EK)
(530) 492-0920

Website: www.w6ek.org
Group.io: groupsio.w6ek.org

Social: facebook.w6ek.org | twitter.w6ek.org | linkedIn.w6ek.org | instagram.w6ek.org | youtube.w6ek.org

April 2026 Meeting

For the April meeting, Jim WA8MPA will do a technical dive into Common Mode Currents, the skin effect in coax cable, and how to visualize it all with a Nano VNA. Got a kink in your garden hose, and wonder how that works with your cables? What kind and how many ferrite beads cause a given result? They’re not all the same, and with apologies to Yogi Berra, if you don’t know what you have, it’s probably going to do something different! Come to the April meeting and find out how to make sense of all of this, and keep the currents (and garden hoses) flowing the way you want them to.

But wait! There’s MORE!

Swap Meet – Attic giveaway

Our April SFARC General Meeting will have a SPECIAL “Help yourself” opportunity for those attending.  We have a large quantity of items from our recent HamSwap that will be given away FREE!

This includes:
• Test gear
• Tools
• Project Boxes
• Build it yourself kits
• Meters
• RF connectors
• RF adapters
• Crimp-on, Stay/Con connectors

And much more!!!!

Come a little early – we will limit the per person haul to 4 – 5 items

Watts Up This Week

We are knee deep in Hamfest! If you weren’t at Friday’s meeting, we still have a big volunteer deficit. If you can help, even the smallest of time commitments, please CLICK HERE and reach out.
OR
Even better, come to the next Hamfest planning meeting, THIS THURSDAY (03/19 @ 6P) in the club Zoom room. 🙂

Hamfest Promo Banner

NEXT SATURDAY (3/28) – CLUB BREAKFAST REMINDER
A reminder that next Saturday the club breakfast is still on the schedule. Maybe you want to hit Hamfest early and then get a bite or maybe ham swaps “aren’t your thing”. Join us at 7:30 AM at Mel’s in Auburn.

That’s all for this week.

73,
The Sierra Foothills Amateur Radio Club (W6EK)
(530) 492-0920

Website: www.w6ek.org
Group.io: groupsio.w6ek.org

Social: facebook.w6ek.org | twitter.w6ek.org | linkedIn.w6ek.org | instagram.w6ek.org | youtube.w6ek.org

Watts Up This Week

WE’VE DONE LOST OUR MIND!!!!
Check out the latest prize announcement on Hamfest (see the updated flyer below)

Hamfest Flyer

A few other call outs for this week:
SFARC BOARD MEETING / THIS THURSDAY 3/12 @ 6PM / CLUB ZOOM ROOM

And we can’t forget the March club meeting happening THIS FRIDAY (3/13) at our awesome new location.
The Placer County Health and Human Service (HHS) Conference Center @ 11434 B Ave, Auburn, CA 95603
Like always. the meeting will be live on Zoom @ https://meeting.w6ek.org

Placer HHS Map To Meeting Location

Watts Up This Week

WE’VE DONE LOST OUR MIND!!!!
Check out the latest prize announcement on Hamfest (see the updated flyer below)

Hamfest Flyer

A few other call outs for this week:
SFARC BOARD MEETING / THIS THURSDAY 3/12 @ 6PM / CLUB ZOOM ROOM

And we can’t forget the March club meeting happening THIS FRIDAY (3/13) at our awesome new location.
The Placer County Health and Human Service (HHS) Conference Center @ 11434 B Ave, Auburn, CA 95603
Like always. the meeting will be live on Zoom @ https://meeting.w6ek.org

MAP

73,
The Sierra Foothills Amateur Radio Club (W6EK)
(530) 492-0920

Website: www.w6ek.org
Group.io: groupsio.w6ek.org

Social: facebook.w6ek.org | twitter.w6ek.org | linkedIn.w6ek.org | instagram.w6ek.org | youtube.w6ek.org

March 2026 Fox Hunt

A reminder that there will NOT be a Fox Hunt this March due to the advent of the Loomis HAMFest on the last Saturday of the month.  One could say the Fox Hunt this month will be finding the best deal on HAM equipment at the HAMFest!

The next Fox Hunt will be the last Saturday of April immediately following the monthly Club breakfast.  Our Fox Tender for April will be Matt KO6IMP.  Thank you Matt!

See you all in Loomis.

 

Greydon KC6SLE

Watts Up This Week

We’ve got a quiet week overall with one big call-out.

THIS THURSDAY @ 6PM we have another Hamfest Planning Meeting on Zoom.
We are still looking for additional helpers so if you can help, use this link and get in touch with us -> https://www.w6ek.org/support?contact=hamfest
Maybe you can’t help on the day of, you can also help us make a QST on nets you attend, we’ve even create a QST script.

QST QST QST, THE 2026 LOOMIS HAMFEST IS COMING UP, SATURDAY MARCH 28TH AT THE HISTORIC LOOMIS TRAIN DEPOT IN PLACER COUNTY. WANNA SELL? $10 WILL GET YOU A SPOT, JUST SHOW UP AT 6AM AND WE’LL TAKE CARE OF THE REST. WANNA SHOP? NO PROBLEM! ADMISSION IS FREE TO ALL. WE’LL HAVE AN AREA TO TEST EQUIPMENT, REFRESHMENTS, AND PRIZES, PRIZES, AND MORE PRIZES WITH ONE OF THE NEW SHARK RF M1KE’S GIVEN AWAY ONSITE! ALL THE INFORMATION YOU NEED CAN BE FOUND AT HAMFEST.W6EK.ORG, THATS HAMFEST.W6EK.ORG. SEE YOU THERE.

Or share the most recent flyer:

Even the smallest bits of help move the needle. 🙂

Amateur Radio Exams / VE Testing: April 6, 2026

Looking for a local location to take your amateur radio license or upgrade exam? Sierra Foothills VE Team provides in-person exam sessions on the 1st Monday evening of the month.

Scholarships are available for students currently enrolled in Elementary, Middle, High School, or Undergraduate College programs and are 21 years of age or younger as of the date of the exam. Upon passing an exam, the student will be eligible for an instant $14 refund for the cost of the exam and also awarded the $35 FCC licensing fee.

NEXT IN-PERSON DATE: April 6, 2026 @ 7 PM

Need more information before signing up? CLICK HERE

Watts Up This Week

I’m starting this week’s update with some sad news. On Sunday, Ray (KK6AM) passed peacefully and became a silent key. If you’ve attended a net on W6EK in the last 5+ years, you’ve heard Ray. It goes without saying but he will be deeply missed within our “ham family”. Thomas, Christina, and Steven (Ray’s son), would love to get together, break bread, and tell some fun Ray stories. We even plan to throw a few back in his honor

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