Rules, Regs and Schedule

[jfoster]

I realize that a valid Ham License is not a requirement but foe anyone planning to venture off shore it is a convenience. Here is an announcement for the next Ham Cram. They occur in the same place on weekends through the year.

John Foster
K16HME (licensed with Ham Crams to Extra class after a 50 year lapse)
Blueberry, Nonsuch 22 Sail #48

EARN YOUR RADIO LICENSE IN ONE DAY!
Sunday, June 13, 2009
8:45AM SHARP! - 3:00PM

San Francisco County Fair Building Hall of Flowers – Rec Room
9th Avenue and Lincoln Way
There will be a General cram for Techs same place & time.

Ample free parking. Great lunch restaurants nearby.

Bring 2 IDs (one with picture), a couple of pens and
$20 cash for Technician study materials, tips, and test OR
$40 cash for General study materials, lecture, and test OR
$14 cash for testing only (Extra, Morse code tests available too)

8:45AM Check-in for study. Don’t be early or late. Dropins OK.
If you want test only (no preparation onsite) come at 2PM.
8:50 Beginners’ tips, donuts 9:00 Self-study starts, coffee
1:30 Exams begin 3:00 Last tests start
No advance preparation needed for beginners, we do it all in 6 hours. General exam class begins 9:05AM (if you are already licensed or have already thoroughly mastered the Technician exam material).
Questions? hamcrams.com Next test date: September 13, 2009

Passing this test will get you a ham radio license from the FCC good for 10 years. You will be able to use:
O local repeaters for Bay Area communication
O Echolink for Internet-based radio
O satellite and moon-bounce
O international shortwave frequencies for global communication!

Come and join the great world-wide community of ham radio.

Current sponsors/supporters:
Auxiliary Emergency Radio Organization (AERO)
Bay Area Red Cross
Salvation Army PLEASE POST
How our cramming system works: John Portune, W6NBC, discovered and Ross Peterson developed and perfected a technique based on the fact that short term memory was a fantastic aid for retaining answers to test questions for an hour or two. From this Ross devised the famous “ham cram” (rapid scanning of questions and answers for just a few hours, then sitting down and taking the test). His method has consistently achieved pass rates of 75-95% and higher.
This method does NOT teach you how to be a radio operator, or even the material which underlies the test questions. This method focuses on your PASSING the test. This is Step 1 in becoming a ham radio operator.
Step 2 is to learn how to use a radio. We sell an inexpensive book to help with Step 2 right after the exam. Step 3 is to buy a radio, and Step 4 is to get on the air, and get experience checking into nets that are used for preparedness and drill. As you progress in Step 4, you may wish to serve as net control for a net some evening.
But first things first--get your license. And that is what this day’s activities are all about. Because the test focuses on SHORT TERM memory, there is little purpose in getting the technician test materials in advance.
Study tips: If you want to do some advance preparation, get hold of a high-school physics book and read the part about the relationship between wavelength and frequency and the relationship between current, voltage, resistance and power.
Or: Wavelength x Frequency = Velocity
For radio waves, we use the velocity of light, 300 million meters per second. If we measure frequency in Megahertz (1 million cycles per second), then the formula becomes meters x megahertz= 300. So if I ask you what is the wave-length of a 150 Megahertz signal, the answer is 2m. If you need to convert meters to feet, multiply by 3 and add 10%. A half-wave antenna has one-half wavelength elements. A conventional dipole has two 1/4 wavelength elements.
Current (rate of flow) = amperes (amps) = I
Voltage (pressure) = volts = EMF = E (for electromotive force)
Resistance = ohms = R I=E/R
Power = watts = P P=I x E

Important news on Upgrading to GENERAL: If you now hold a Technician license and you would like GENERAL privileges you need to pass the General Element of the test. You will not be required to learn Morse code any more to get a general license. If you now hold a Technician license but haven’t passed General yet, come to any session with a copy and the original of your license and take our GENERAL cram ($40, includes class, study guide, and testing). It’s essential you first refresh your high school physics material on waves and the relationship between wave-length, frequency and voltage, plus current, resistance, capacitance and inductance, and power (the electricity chapter, DC and AC).


--
Dave Gomberg, San Francisco NE5EE gomberg1 at wcf dot com
All addresses, phones, etc. at http://www.wcf.com/ham/info.html
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[haulback]

Kinda good it's not a requirement, as it is a bit of a ways from here.

Maybe Dogbark and I could have made a road trip out of it, though.

Jim/Haulback

[BobJ]

I thought a Ham Cram was one of those breakfasts at Denny's.


(Sorry - board's been a little slow lately.)



An interesting thread on S/A about the guys that snap-rolled the J/80 on Saturday, outside the Gate - some arm-chair quarterbacking but also some good input. Glad the guys are safe. I'm not trying to start a thread on that here - just sayin'

[jfoster]

I thought a Ham Cram was one of those breakfasts at Denny's.

(Sorry - board's been a little slow lately.)

An interesting thread on S/A about the guys that snap-rolled the J/80 on Saturday, outside the Gate - some arm-chair quarterbacking but also some good input. Glad the guys are safe. I'm not trying to start a thread on that here - just sayin'

The SA topic link is shown below

http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/ind...&#entry2204526

[John Hayward]

Boy, I jumped in today for the first time in many months and look at what I missed!! June 19th sounds good to me. Sounds like Jim is going and wants to increase his lead over me this race. Well Jim, all I have to do to get ready is replace a bulkhead, boom, traveler, dodger, autopilot, radar and a few hundred other miscellaneous things. Now we need to make sure Jeannie gets here for this race and the General regrets his "this is my last transpac" decision and Mark has another bout of forgetfullness and goes again and NaNa goes and makes it on the first try this time and so on.

The June 19th start makes my plans to go to Puget Sound/Alaska after the race more viable than they turned out to be last year.

Looking forward to more good times under the tree.

John Hayward
Dream Chaser

[FRakaFDR]

Since I did the SHTP in 04 I was looking forward to doing another. I missed the '06 and '08 editions but 10 looked good. But.... 19 June? "THE" TransPac starts from 29 June to 5 July (in '09). The PacificCup starts 5 July '10. the Vic Maui starts July 1 thru 7. And you guys are starting on the 19th? That is 3 and possibly 4 weeks before the N Pacific high becomes stable and the trades develop. In '04 which started on 26 June, the trades developed the day after I finished giving the slower boats a couple of days of surfing that I didn't have. On the 19th in '10 it could be a beat all the way to Hanalei Bay. Maybe I should start looking for somebody to go with me in the PacificCup doublehanded.

Frank Ross, Prankster

[tiger beetle]

Since I did the SHTP in 04 I was looking forward to doing another. I missed the '06 and '08 editions but 10 looked good. But.... 19 June? "THE" TransPac starts from 29 June to 5 July (in '09). The PacificCup starts 5 July '10. the Vic Maui starts July 1 thru 7. And you guys are starting on the 19th? That is 3 and possibly 4 weeks before the N Pacific high becomes stable and the trades develop. In '04 which started on 26 June, the trades developed the day after I finished giving the slower boats a couple of days of surfing that I didn't have. On the 19th in '10 it could be a beat all the way to Hanalei Bay. Maybe I should start looking for somebody to go with me in the PacificCup doublehanded.

Frank Ross, Prankster

Hi Frank - good to hear from you.

At this point the SSS TransPac is slated to start mid-June rather than late-June. It is impossible to state with any degree of certainty what the weather pattern will be on any particular day a year in advance; you're correct that the odds increase in your favor of having the Pacific High set up in a position advantageous to a run from Hawaii to Kauai - and you need to recognize that this does not guarantee that the High will be anywhere useful on a particular day, whether it be in June or July.

Based on your comment of requiring 3-4 weeks after June 19th for the High to set up, then all races are starting too early. Based on my point, it's a crap shoot - no one can guarantee anything.

If you truly want to have a particular set of weather circumstances to appear before departing San Francisco, then it would be best to arrive in the Bay, get the boat all set, and then sit tight and wait for your weather window to open. It could happen Tuesday, Thursday, the following week...

The Pacific High, even when it is a nice stable tight High, continually wobbles about the eastern Pacific basin, and in any given 5 day period may shift from Hawaii up towards Kodiak and down towards San Francisco.

What we do know is we'd like to start the race on a Saturday, at a specific time of day, with the current going in the right direction (we can predict that accurately), with the Corinthian Yacht Club in a position to help host the start - and June 19th looks to be a pretty good day for that.

It would be fun to see you on the start line. If you'd rather doublehand the Pacific Cup, go for it and have a great time!

- rob

[FRakaFDR]

Thanks for the reply Rob.

I guess that I make the mistake of looking at the race from the perspective of a racer only. SSS obviously has other requirements that must be addressed.

I agree that the weather can be a crap-shoot, but predictions are now much better than when us "old-timers" started. The conventional thinking is that the weather is the same for all boats, but that doesn't hold up when some boats get there in 14 days and other boats in the same class take 16 days. Weather stability is what creates a level playing field. However, as you suggest, stability may not occur even in the first weeks of July.

Frank Ross, Prankster

[dogbark]

Just a quick look at the weather for this years Transpac shows nothing is certain if we wait until July to start. Granted it is from LA but it doesn't look fast for the earliest starters. Less than 12 months! Cheers, Al

[FRakaFDR]

Hi Al;
Have another look at the weather today (7 July). Looks a little more reasonable doesn't it?

Frank Ross, Prankster