Watts Up This Week, Early Edition

July 5, 2026 W6EK

Hey Members and Friends,

An early release of “Watts Up This Week”, Happy Independence Day Weekend SFARC!

NEWSLETTER CORRECTION
There was an accidental omission from the Sierra Signals newsletter sent out last week. We DO have new members to vote in. They will be shared at the club’s July General Club Meeting with a ballot to follow sent by email.

CLUB MEETING, THIS FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2026 @ 7:30 PM
Placer County Health and Human Services Conference Center
11434 B Ave, Auburn, CA 9560
OR online at www.w6ek.org

NEW FOR THE SUMMER OF 2026, HAMS AND HOPS
Dust off your favorite QSL stories and join your fellow operators for an evening of cold brews and good company at:

MOONRAKER BREWING COMPANY
12970 EARHART AVE #100 IN AUBURN
JULY 29TH FROM 6–8 PM

Whether you’re a seasoned Elmer or a fresh Technician still grinning over your first contact, this is your chance to ragchew in person, no antenna required! Great beer, great people, and zero band conditions to worry about. Come for the hops, stay for the hams—we’ll be listening for your call! 73 and see you there!

RESERVE YOUR SPOT TODAY FOR THE SFARC FALL CAMPOUT
Each year, SFARC members gather for a fun-filled weekend in the Sierra Nevada mountains. For 2026, we’re back at Stampede Reservoir’s Logger Campground. All members and guests are welcome to attend for the entire weekend or for a day trip.

The weekend includes fox hunts, movie nights, great food, games, and if you look hard enough, you’ll likely find someone with a radio doing POTA activities. This is a family-friendly event for all ages, so bring your family, kids, and/or grandkids.

Visit https://www.w6ek.org/activities/campout for more information.

This is a BYO campsite event so please check the W6EK website TODAY and reserve your campsite too.

Camp Bag

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

June 29, 2026 W6EK

Members and Friends,

As we exhale from FIeld Day, Mark (W2MWK) and I wanted to take a minute in this week’s update to send out a big thank you to all the participants and volunteers at Field Day 2026. We’re still compiling our numbers but early results look encouraging. At 10 AM on Sunday, Dennis showed us a quick snapshot and we had accumulated over 1660 contacts!!! While we don’t know the GOTA numbers yet, the station was very active and looking at the faces of the younger operators as they made contacts gives me hope for our hobby’s future.

This event does not come together in a vacuum. This year’s dedicated volunteers had the antennas and stations setup in record time. And the tear-down was a record-breaker event to see. We cannot give enough praise to those volunteers that showed up Friday morning at 8 AM and those that stayed after the 11 AM to finish up on Sunday.

We’ve got a ton of photos on the website already but would love your snaps from the weekend. Click the link below and upload them before you forget.
And of course, one lucky club member has a chance at a $100 HRO gift card at the end of year Christmas Party for BEST PHOTO OF 2026!!!

73,
Mark (W2MWK) and Smitty (WB1G) | Field Day 2026 Chairs
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

- Front Page, Main Page 01

SAVE THE DATE: July 29th. 6-8 PM at Moonraker Brewery

June 28, 2026 Smitty (WB1G)

NEW FOR THE SUMMER OF 2026!

Dust off your favorite QSL stories and join your fellow operators for an evening of cold brews and good company at:

MOONRAKER BREWING COMPANY
12970 EARHART AVE #100 IN AUBURN
JULY 29TH FROM 6–8 PM

- Front Page, Main Page 03

Amateur Radio Exams / VE Testing: August 3, 2026

June 28, 2026 Smitty (WB1G)

Looking for a local, comfortable, friendly, and inviting atmosphere to help you successfully pass your ham radio exam? Sierra Foothills Volunteer Examiner Team provides monthly in-person exam sessions with mentors on hand to answer your questions about equipment, local resources, clubs, and events. You’ve successfully passed your ham radio exam, now what?

SFARC Elmers are here to help and guide you!

The Sierra Foothills VE team offers many scholarships. Free exams and Free FCC licenses for all students, youth, and young adults ages 25 and under! Military and First Responders receive a 50% discount on exams!

For more information and to pre-register for an upcoming session, CLICK HERE.

NEXT IN-PERSON DATE: August 3, 2026 @ 7 PM

- Front Page, Main Page 02

RESERVE YOUR SPOT TODAY!

June 27, 2026 Smitty (WB1G)

Dates

Sept 17–20, 2026

Thursday through Sunday

Where

Logger Campground

Stampede Reservoir · Double Bit Loop

RSVP by
SEPTEMBER 10TH

🔥Save My Spot!

FOUR DAYS IN THE PINES

The weekend includes fox hunts, movie nights, great food, and games — and if you look hard enough, you’ll likely find someone with a radio doing POTA activations.

A family-friendly event for all ages — bring your family, kids, and/or grandkids.

Expired

Crawler

June 27, 2026 Smitty (WB1G)

Watts Up This Week

June 24, 2026 W6EK

SFARC Members and Friends,

Lately everything has been about Field Day BUT DID YOU KNOW we still have a group getting together for this month’s Club Breakfast at Mels?
This Saturday (June 27) — 7:30 AM, Mel’s Diner in Auburn**

** Note, this is the last breakfast of the summer at Mel’s Diner. Starting July 25th, we’ll be taking breakfast to our summer time location at Wings at the Auburn Airport (https://www.w6ek.org/activities/clubbreakfast)

REPEATER UPDATE (THIS WEEKEND)
Priority usage of the W6EK 2-meter repeater will be provided to the Western States Endurance Run from 4AM on Saturday, June 27 through 12 noon on Sunday, June 28. During this time, AllStarLink (ASL) and Echolink will be in monitor mode and the W6EK 2-meter repeater will only transmit local RF traffic. Remember that the club also has the 220 and 440 repeaters. There will be no Coffee Break Net on either Saturday, June 27 or Sunday, June 28.

FIELD DAY UPDATE
All are welcome to swing by at any time. For those new to the club, Field Day is a revolving door. We’ll have plenty of snacks, water, etc…