W6GRC TX (147.105 MHz) recordings for 2026-01-29

Here.

Speaker A: W6grc. Anybody monitoring this morning. Morning, gary. How's it going today? Going good. You on your way up? Yeah, we're on i5. Just getting ready
Speaker B: to get into Willows to go up 162, the long route.
Speaker A: If you got your portable right now, what does it say for the rrsi? I don't know. I'm on the base. I'm going to go out and get my dad here in a minute. You're about an S9. Ten over.
Speaker B: All right, when you get your portable, let's look at the settings at a set location. And then tonight, after we install the new one, let's look at that. Let's also listen to the audio quality on this versus the new machine. I think you're going to see a improvement in audio and a
Speaker A: Republican signal strength. I need to order some cards. If I had a card in this icom, I could record you. Yeah, that would be cool. Too bad. Oh, you like an SD card? Yeah, I don't have any. I gotta answer the phone. I'll get back to you in a minute. W6LND.

Speaker A: I'm back, Gary. Sorry about that. W6LND.
Speaker B: Yeah, no worries. Last night I programmed the repeater in my turbo radio and I have the always admit. So I have to let the repeater break before I can retransmit. Kind of funny.
Speaker A: It's a habit we all should be a little better at.
Speaker B: Well, it makes it annoying. It's one of the features on analog on this radio. So we're at 162 now. We just got off of i5. I got Jeff and Ernie with me. We'll see how long it takes to get up to the top. We're gonna have to go a little slower than you and I did in the Toyota 4Runner.
Speaker A: For sure.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: It's gonna be far gone. Mike didn't go with you, huh?
Speaker B: No, he was sick yesterday. So I also invited Albert as well. But Albert had a appointment today, so we'll be pulling his gear down and giving it to him this week sometime if we catch up to him.
Speaker A: Yeah, I'm sure he'll probably retune those cans and put it on another frequency.
Speaker B: Yeah, recycle it and get it up somewhere else, right?
Speaker A: Absolutely. What's the model or repeater you're putting in up there? SLR 8,000.
Speaker B: Yep, SLR 2,000. And then if all goes well today, I'm gonna have. We'll be able to remotely go into it and do any type of adjustment that we want.
Speaker A: Nice. Now, is that P25 capable or just Moto Turbo?
Speaker B: It's a turbo machine. However, we're going to be running it on analog.
Speaker A: Right? Yeah, I knew that. It's not going to dual mode.
Speaker B: It can be if we want it to be. But I wasn't. Wasn't wanting to use that site for that.
Speaker A: No, I don't think. I don't think it's a good site for it. It needs to be analog and have noise. Right.
Speaker B: So we're over here, see what's the crotch here? It is County Road D, as in David. And there's actually some sort of popping noise coming in on the repeater at this location. Local interference.
Speaker A: I'm hearing it as well.
Speaker B: Guess it could be power lines. They're not super high voltage next to us, but anyway, lots of. Oh, you know what it might be, Jeremy? The high voltage voltage lines run north to south up here. That's probably what it is.
Speaker A: I was just going to say that because we had a ranch out there in that area we owned for many years. And the high voltage power lines went right through there. And it Would affect. It would affect the radio on the tractor. Right. When you listen to the radio.
Speaker B: Now we're in front of it. Did my signal clean up at all? Considerably. I assume those are some of the problems that we're experiencing on fire as well.
Speaker A: Most likely. Because you know you're coming right through them.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: I forgot.
Speaker B: There's two sets of them. There is.
Speaker A: Those belong to the wpa, I believe.
Speaker B: One set goes down to the bay area. Right. The other set keeps going down the central valley.
Speaker A: I think so. I think they both come out of Shasta Dam. But I could be wrong. The scary thing is the twin 36 inch high pressure gas lines that run right under the first. The further east set.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: And all the farmland on top of it.
Speaker B: That's the scary part.
Speaker A: Absolutely. They actually run DC voltage down those lines to keep them from getting ate up by rust.
Speaker B: Look at the cameras on St. John's
Speaker A: I haven't looked at the cameras. I tried to log into to it on my computer last night. Yeah. It's working today. Let me look at St. John.
Speaker B: Starting to melt off.
Speaker A: Yeah, it is. I can see the rocks.
Speaker B: Nobody's been in there for sure.
Speaker A: Well, you got the text I sent you day before yesterday that their helicopter wasn't running, right?
Speaker B: Yeah. That's going up there in a helicopter that's having mechanical problems. That's scary.
Speaker A: Yeah. I don't think I'd want to ride in it. Right. I think that way if the weather stays like it is for another week, you might be able to get in there with like a four wheeler.
Speaker B: Yeah. So where our cameras are a bad judge of the snow drifts and stuff, because it's up on the top where there's no.
Speaker A: You know that area that you go
Speaker B: in through before you come up on the eight hill? Know where all the trees are? Yeah.
Speaker A: And you're using an HT or are you using the mobile in your pickup?
Speaker B: Mobile in the pickup truck.
Speaker A: Yeah. So you're starting to fade out, which is interesting.
Speaker B: Where are you? By the racetrack.
Speaker A: Okay. Yeah. I find it interesting that right in there you're having trouble getting in. So something about the path where you're at into that site. There must be some dirt in front of you. Yeah.
Speaker B: Your signal came back. There's a lot of dirt. But right about here we should clean up a little bit right there.
Speaker A: Big cleanup.
Speaker B: A lot of dirt in front of us. We're down behind that little valley and foothills are in between us and the repeater.
Speaker A: You're kind of going through that draw.
Speaker B: Let me know when you get your mobile out and about. Let's see some.
Speaker A: Okay. I might throw the mobile in the pickup today.
Speaker B: Okay, that sounds good.
Speaker A: All right, Gary, we'll chat with you here in a little bit.
Speaker B: Sounds good.
Speaker A: W6CRC, mobile 73W6LND.

W6GRC.W6LND. Hey, Jeremy, we're just heading up. Okay, The RSSI here on Pabst Avenue is about ranging around 80, 70 to 80. Okay, let's use that after we put the new repeater and let's see what it looks like. Sounds good. I'm on my mobile, but I was monitoring the RSSI on the HT. All right, sounds good. Yeah, we're. We're on 313 now and just moving slow on the way up because the road's pretty rough. That's gonna be a. Yeah. Interesting ride up there, I'm sure. All right, Gary, we'll chat with you a little later. W6LND. W6TRC.

Speaker A: W6grcw6lnd. W6grc.w6lnd. Sounds like it's working, Jeremy.
Speaker B: It is. My HD doesn't work on analog, of all things. Key fail. Okay. Is that working? Yep. I hear you. Get loud and clear. Sounds good. All right, that's with 5 watts. We're just getting everything put together. I wanted to make sure I had the cable connected and everything. Looking good.
Speaker A: That sounds good, Gary. All
Speaker B: right, let me get
Speaker A: everything
Speaker B: connected, and I'll holler at you in a minute,
Speaker A: okay? You'll have to text me.
Speaker B: Okay.

Good afternoon. The time is 12:34pm.

Speaker A: Kf6 obi.
Speaker B: We're still running on about 5
Speaker C: watts. We're working on everything up here, but we're up and going.
Speaker A: Roger that. Gary. Yeah, that at this level. There's quite a bit of static on the carrier, Over.
Speaker C: Yep, we're just barely peeping. I think it might even be 1 watt. This is the settings from down on the bottom of the hill. So soon as we get it everything wired in, then we'll turn it up.
Speaker A: Okay, well, hopefully things are set. Okay. It seems like a long turnaround time. Yeah, I happen to be in Chico. I had to make a run over here last minute, so I'm on the mobile in the truck.
Speaker C: Okay, we don't hear any noise locally, so that's good. That means there's nothing interfering up here, so by the end of the day we'll have her wrapped up.
Speaker A: Roger that.

Speaker A: Kf6obi is
Speaker B: on air. Are you still mobile w6grc? Yes, I am headed back to Willows. How's the audio sound?
Speaker A: Well, you're coming in broken, so I don't like that.
Speaker B: You look everything over. Well, I am moving. We're headed south right now. Fixing to head west. But you're in a mobile, correct? With a normal antenna. Are you on a portable mobile with mag mount on the roof?

Speaker A: W6grc.w6lnd. All right, jeremy, you sound good. What type of radio are you using? Motorola xtl 2500 with a mobile.
Speaker B: Okay.
Speaker A: How's the repeater sound on the valley floor? Sounds good. Okay, I'm going to play a lot of audio through it. Right now, what we're doing is just listening to the signal, making sure we don't have any issues. Okay. Well, I'm going to.
Speaker B: I'm going to be.
Speaker A: I'm going to step away for a moment, but I can wait a moment if you need. Now, you're hot into the repeater, so just making sure.
Speaker B: Okay.
Speaker A: I'm in between two orchards out here at the ranch.
Speaker B: Okay. Ss1.
Speaker A: Amateur Radio Newsline report number 2517 with a release date of Friday, January 23, 2026, to follow in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. The following is a QSP. A severe solar radiation storm disrupts HF communication. US lawmakers propose restoring funds to Voice of America and in New Zealand, Q codes are on the move. All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report number 2517 comes your way right now from around the world. This is Newsline, Amateur Radio's first independent on the air news and bulletin service. Now reporting from Wadsworth, Ohio, here's Stephen Kenford.
Speaker C: Nawb.
Speaker A: Our top story this week is the most severe solar radiation storm in more than 20 years. It began on Monday, January 19, and lasted through much of the week. The National Weather Service declared the storm to be at an S4 level, a degree of severity not seen since October of 2023. F4 is the second highest level of this type of storm. The storm severity, which exceeded that of the one in October of 2023, disrupted the HF ban, challenging Ham radio operators while creating spectacular auroral displays. A bipartisan agreement among the US Lawmakers could restore the government's financial support of Voice of America, ra, Radio Free Europe and other federally funded news services. Kent Peterson, KC0DGY, has that story.
Speaker C: U.S. lawmakers in Washington, D.C. have reached a deal that would fund the Voice of America, giving its parent organization, the U.S. agency for Global Media, an estimated $653 million. That figure is considerably lower than the annual $860 million provided previously to the agency, as described on the Radio World website. The funds would also pay for restoration of operations for Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia. A minimum of $30 million is earmarked for medium and shortwave programming by the Office of Cuba Broadcasting. The deal is part of a larger spending bill. The National Security, Department of State and Related Programs Appropriations Act. It has the support of both parties in Congress, and its funding plan goes against the White House's executive order from last year, which shut the international news services. Even if the measure receives final approval from the House and Senate, it will still require the President's signature. This is Kent Peterson, KC0DGY the NASA's
Speaker A: Artemis 2 mission began its long awaited journey to the moon and back on Saturday 17th January with the Rocket's rollout onto the launch pad at the Kennedy Space center in Washington. Three of the four astronauts who will be aboard have their amateur radio licenses. Travis Lick, N3ils tells us what's up next.
Speaker D: If all goes well, astronauts Reid Wiseman, KF5LKT, Victor Glover, Ki5BKC, Jeremy Hansen, KF5LKU and Christina Cook could be poised for liftoff as soon as early February on the Artemis 2 test site. 40 noon won't be touching down on the moon's surface.
Speaker B: The test
Speaker D: will establish a path for an eventual longer human presence on the moon. In fact it will be a springboard in a manner of speaking, to send the first NASA astronauts to Mars. By the time the quartet splashes down in the Pacific Ocean, their journey will have taken them the farthest from Earth that any crewed mission has ventured. This will be the first human spaceflight to the moon in more than 50 years. Last year the US space agency asked hams with the necessary capabilities to observe the Doppler shift on the spacecraft's S band return link carrier signal. The spacecraft's S band range is between 20250 and 2290 MHz. Volunteers will not be transmitting or uplinking signals. This is Travis Lisk, N3ILS determined to
Speaker A: preserve Taiwan citizens ability to communicate. Despite ongoing damage to underwater Internet cables, many Taiwanese are pursuing the wireless option of amateur radio. John Williams, VK4JJW brings us the details.
Speaker E: Last summer a court in Taiwan gave a three year prison sentence to the Chinese captain of a ship registered in Togo after he was convicted of deliberately damaging Taiwan's underwater cables. Though that high profile case in the justice system appeared to settle one incident, Taiwan remains challenged by such ongoing damage which cuts the island off from the
Speaker D: rest of the world.
Speaker E: Taiwan is also embroiled in ongoing tensions with Beijing which claims the self ruled territory as its own. Recent media reports say that amateur radio is being seen as Taiwan's wireless workaround to maintaining connectivity. A civil defence group there has been providing ham radio instruction to prepare candidates for their operating licenses. Although there's already an amateur radio presence in Taiwan represented by the Chinese Taipei Amateur Radio League, these newest candidates are pursuing license status, especially because of the damage being done to the cables. Their hope is to be able to step in and maintain communications if Taiwan is cut off from the Internet. More than 90% of Taiwan's Internet traffic is carried by 15 international and 10 domestic communication cables. This is John Williams, VK4JJ the American
Speaker A: Red Cross has many powerful tools in its repertoire to assist communities in distress, and now in Flagstaff, Arizona, it is about to add amateur radio. Ralph Squillace, KK6ITV tells us about it
Speaker F: the Legacy of Silent key Jack Lunsford NT 7mm is going to help save lives. Jack, who had been a member of the Northern Arizona DX association association, became a silent key at the age of 94. In December of 2024, his daughter presented his beloved Kenwood Radio to the DX association, hoping it would continue its mission of communication and goodwill. Bob Wirtz, NF7E, the association president, has ensured that this will happen. He has donated the radio to the American Red Cross office in Flagstaff for use by licensed amateurs among the staff and volunteers. Denny Pricer, KC3DTB, a Red Cross recruitment specialist for the region, acknowledged the gift, saying in a press release, ham radio provides emergency broadcasts when everything is downed. They are more powerful than portable radios and can be used to communicate around the globe. Lately there has been a resurgence of ham radios with wildfires and other disasters. This is Ralph Squillace, KK6ITV.
Speaker A: A short window of time remains to nominate candidates for this year's award to be presented at hamvention. The categories are Amateur Radio Club of the Year and Amateur Radio Operator of the Year, Technical Achievement and Special Achievement. The Club of the Year Award honors organizations that demonstrate commitment to their community and society. The Operator of the Year acknowledges active amateurs who are also active contributors to the amateur community at large and its future. The Technical Achievement Award recognizes hams whose inventions, experiments, or other related accomplishments have improved hair ham radio. The Special Achievement Award honors an individual who has shown over the years a commitment to professionalism, service, and advancement of ham radio in general. Nomination forms can be found on the hamvention website@hamvention.org. you will also find details about supporting documentation that is required. The nomination period closes on the 10th of February. Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio News I've heard on bulletin stations around the world, including the W9MIV repeater of the Mid State Amateur Radio Club in Greenwood, Indiana at 7pm local time. Through the years, amateur radio operators have become as much a fixture at one of India's major religious gatherings as the thousands of pilgrims themselves, and for a very good list life saving reason Jason Daniels VK2 Law explains the gang of
Speaker G: Saga Mellah, the week long Hindu pilgrimage that takes place each January where the Bay of Bengal beats the Ganges river is a sacred time for millions throughout India. The crowd size makes it a perilous time as well. A man suffered a stroke, a toddler became separated in the crowd from her mother and the father of a teenager nearly drowned, according to news reports. Members of the West Bengal Radio Club, who have been a steady presence at the Mellah for many years, are deployed with their radios into the crowd, connecting with a central hub to successfully find the toddler's mother. A trio of radio operators shared a photo of the three year old with others and reached out to an amateur radio operator in the festival family's hometown in Bangladesh for additional information. In another instance, a teenage girl said her father had not returned from his visit to the shore of the island, prompting the Hands to conduct a search. They got in touch with the on site health centre and learned that he'd been transported there after nearly drowning earlier in the day in the shallow waters surrounding the island. The Hams were also able to reassure the family of a 64 year old stroke patient. They contacted his family to let them know he required medical assistance and had been airlifted to Kolkata for treatment. This is Jason Daniels VK2 Law competitors
Speaker A: and volunteers are getting ready for the 2026 World Radio Sport Team Championship in July, but organizers are also looking a bit farther down the road to 2030. Graham Camp BK4BB has those details.
Speaker H: A competition of sorts is taking place. Among would be Hosts for the 2030 World Radio Sport Team Championship and the Organisation Sanctioning Committee has set a deadline of 15 February to receive letters of intent. The letters should include the proposed time frame and location, the estimated budget with fundraising plan and identify the officers and organising committee. Letters of intent or questions about the host selection process should be sent to dougk1dgmail.com the committee would like to announce the next host during the closing ceremony of WRTC 2026 in July in the UK. This is Graham Kemp VK4BB in the world of DX.
Speaker A: Listen for the special event call sign HI60UD which is on the air to mark the 60th anniversary of the second oldest amateur radio Club in the Dominican Republic. The Union Dominicana de Radio Aficionados operators are on the HF bands using SSB and the digital modes through to 31 January. Preferred QSL is via LOTW but direct and EQSL will be accepted. Chas NK80 is on the air as far as 5h3dx from Tanzir until 9 February, operating CW and using the digital modes on 20 through 10 meters. If conditions permit, he will also be on 6 meters. Alex IW5ELA is active holiday style as 8q7EL from the Maldives iota number as 01 until 27 January using mainly CW on various HF fans. Listen for Alder PY1 FAD on the air through 23rd February as HR 1pm from Guyana. He is using CW, SSB and digital modes on 160 to 6 meters. He is also operating via satellite during the week from 2300 to 0300 UTC and more frequently during the weekend. See the qrz.com pages for these three stations for QSL and additional information. Finally, here's our last story for this week. This one, which originates in New Zealand, has been patiently waiting in Q. Or is that waiting in Q as in the letter Q? Actually, both are correct because this story is about Q signals, but it's also about cars. And Jim Meachin, ZL2BHF is here to give us a cue. Or is that a clue?
Speaker B: No doubt you've been on the air and heard qsl, QSO and qrz. If you check into any nets, you have likely met up with qnc, QNI and qnf. But have you ever encountered any of these while driving? Here in New Zealand? Our cars don't just have turn signals, they have cue signals. David Zadil 2WT, recently reported to Niels at L1NZ, the NZNET news manager, that he's been seeing more and more vehicles with plates that are sporting all kinds of cue signals. That's because New Zealand, which issues three letters and three numerals to each of its newly registered vehicles, does so in alphabetical order. Not quite two years ago, the system began issuing plates with the letter Q. A busy radio operator, David is always on the alert for a qrz, but when he recently spotted one while taking a walk, he wasn't operating pedestrian mobile it was on the plate of a car at a nearby QT8S. Sadly, he didn't find a QTH, at least not one that was on a car he was ready to locate a qrv, however, and he did parked not far from his own qth. David told Newsline that the worst Q code any car can receive is qsd. An enthusiastic CW operator, he knows that it means your keying is defective. He told Newsline, I would not own a vehicle with that number plate. Now I'm not driving, but it's time for me to put the brakes on anyway. Time to go. QRT this is Jim Meachin, Fidel 2BHF.
Speaker A: Are you ready to write a HAM radio haiq? It's easy, even if you've never written a single line of poetry in your life. Visit our website@arnewsline.org and as you compose your ode to your favorite on the air activity, we will help you use the correct number of syllables to make an authentic Haiku. Submit your work and then sit back and wait to hear whether your inspired haiku will be highlighted on our website, where everyone can read it. With thanks to American Red Cross ars Tech David ZL2 David Behar K7VB dw.com DX News 425 DX Bulletin Mvention James Gifford N8K E T KB6NU Blog Live Science NASA National Weather Service Neil ZL1NZ NZNet News qrz.com forums Radio World shortwaveradio.de Spacecom, the Statesman, Times of India, Wireless Institute of Australia, WRTC and you our listeners. That's all from the Amateur Radio Newsline. We remind our listeners that Amateur Radio Newsline is an all volunteer nonprofit organization that incurs expenses for its continued operation. If you wish to support us, please visit our website@arnewsline.org and know that we appreciate you all. We also remind our listeners that if you like our newscast, please leave us a five star rating wherever you subscribe to us for now with Karen, Eve Murray, Katie2 gut at the news Desk in New York and our news team worldwide. I'm Stephen Kinford, NAWB in Wadsworth, Ohio, saying 73 and as always we thank you for listening. We wish all our listeners the very best for the year ahead in 2026. Amateur Radio Newsline is copyright2026. Amateur Radio Newsline retains ownership of its material even when retransmitted elsewhere. All rights are reserved.

How'd the audio sound? W6grc? That audio sounded fantastic. Gary.kf6opi. All right, messenger, we're still working W6GRC. Talk to you in a bit.

Speaker A: K6jw1. W6grc.
Speaker B: You're 4569 forward work perfect. I have everything port forwarded. So when you're back in the qth, can you let me know if you can see everything? We still got about an hour worth of Cat 6 cable runs to do. All right, copy that. I'll probably be back home before you guys are done, so I'll test it and let you know.
Speaker A: Sounds great. Thank you very much.
Speaker B: K16,
Speaker A: Your radio is on the right frequency. This is the home of sac Valley's original 105 W6 GRC with a PL tone of 110.9.

K6 javion.

W6grc k6jw. How's it looking on your side? Looking good. Connected from my note here at home. And I have the web interface up, so I think we're good. I might need one more forward. I'll let you know here in a second. Sounds good. Also, let's have the announcements go off every hour for now so I can hear the audio as I'm coming down the hill. Okay, I will go make that change right now.

Jim. When you got the Web interface open for ubiquity, take a peek at the camera. You'll see a beautiful sight.

All right, I shot you the text with the additional port and then I've also changed it to every hour. All right, I want to get that port confirmed before I come off the mountain. Give me about five minutes. Yeah, no rush. I'll be here. K6 again. Go in the ubiquity device and look at the cameras if you have a minute. W6GRC, KF6OBI. Go ahead. Mike. Yeah. When are you going to add the cameras to the St. John. Yeah. Project on the dashboard? As soon as I get home and get everything settled down. We're just getting the cameras loaded up here. Roger that. Everything is sounding great here from the qth. Awesome business. You drive safe coming back. We'll do. We'll be here for another hour, minimum. Roger that. I'm jealous. What? Killer views. Sack valley. We got him pointed right towards the hottest girl in the neighborhood pool. Of course. W6GRC. Ah, perfect. I look forward to that. K6JW1.

Jim if he can test that port. W6grc. Looking good, K6GM. And did you log in to protect yet? Yeah, yeah, I see the. I see the cameras there. Two more coming.

Wsx lnd.

W6lnd coming via all star. Okay, I'm just testing the All Star node into the machine. The difference in volume level or signal strength. Not. Not noticeable. Gary, of course I'm talking to you with my portable on the hip. Right? Because I'm on my base. A half a watt going into my All Star node. All right, we're just doing some Cat 6 cleanup and trying to get the STR receiver connected. Okay, well, we'll chat later. On the phone. I was just curious, once you had it up on the hill, if I'd be able to connect. And I can. Yep, it's sounding good. Okay, Gary, we'll talk to you later. W6LND get ready for coffee. Net for tomorrow. Exciting. I won't have to use an All Star node to join. Yeah, that's the idea. Need to get with you on my 4000. It won't let me transmit on analog. Okay, Gary, well, let me know if I can help you any. Just copy with your portable. Tell me what the signal strength is. Obviously, bases are good. We're looking for copies with portables. Okay, I will get my portable out and then I'll key it up.

Okay. Inside my house, it's showing about an 82. Okay. That's respectful. Okay, Gary.