FJ Cruisers of Northern California

East Bay Pacificon / Meetup San Ramon Saturday Oct 16th

Repost from the Socials post.

Figured we needed to get a East Bay get together going again and this is a perfect opportunity.

http://www.pacificon.org has information on what is expected to be there Tickets are 15 dollars if you buy in advance and I believe 20 dollars the day of the event.

This is a good opportunity for for folks to get a get their license as well as check out some of the latest gear from the various manufactures

Some of the highlights

HAM swap - 6AM - Noon. Here you can find that diamond in the rough, or you can be amazed at how much crap people own and try to sell. It 's very entertaining,
HAM Cram - You can signup and knock you tech license out. It's included with the cost of the event, but they do have a 40 person max so if your interested then sign up soon.
People watching - If you though some of the off roaders were eccentric, they can't hold a candle to a large group of hams.
Vendors - Sometimes they do show deals so you might get a percentage off of gear. but it's a great place to pick up batteries and other electrical accesseries.
Forums - They also have a bunch of forums that might peak your intrest.

I'm also going to see if I can get the guys that run the CARLA system to hang with us after the event. A great group of guys and a sweet system.

For those of you that aren't interested in going to Pacificon we can then get together after we are done with the convention.

Unless someone has a better idea, I'm thinking the Hopyard in San Ramon will be a good place meetup after Pacificon. They have a decent menu and unless something has changed radically a great beer selection.

If you are interested just sign up in the comments and let me know if your going to Pacificon or just the meetup or both.

OPG4759 - Both.
Sonof40 - Both
Patrick +1 - Both
Boss73 - Both
DWH - Both (tentative)
Toe4x4 - Meet Up
downy_ball - Both
PBn'FJ - Both
Manoweb + Monica - Both

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Boss73 on October 16, 2010 at 5:37am

Quote from OPG :

"3:30-4pm meet up at the Hopyard in San Ramon".

SO I was off by a half hour.....

Permalink Reply by potatomutato on October 15, 2010 at 4:53pm

i'll be there for the social. if anyone plans on getting out earlier than 3:30 PM, let me know...i can always head over a little earlier.

Permalink Reply by Boss73 on October 15, 2010 at 6:18pm

I may just do that..

Permalink Reply by potatomutato on October 16, 2010 at 9:56pm

nice seeing everyone! it was good to talk a little shop. i'm excited about all the HAM developments going on here.

Permalink Reply by Boss73 on October 17, 2010 at 10:10am

Also good to see everyone.. Had some good beers there also.. Always a good place if they have Pliney on tap !!

Permalink Reply by opg4759 on October 17, 2010 at 11:22am

Good day long day. I was at the event at 8:30am and I didn't get home until 11:45pm

Permalink Reply by manoweb on October 17, 2010 at 3:45pm

Ok so I came back just now from the second day at pacificon.
First of all, sorry for yesterday night I didn't show up but we stayed until 6.30 at the conference and then we realized one of Monica's friend was coming to our place for dinner so we had to run back home.

After several hours of discussion with experts, I still need to make a decision where to mount the antenna. Until I know if I will buy a roofrack or not, maybe a "lip-mount" on the rear is the best way - but I know it won't be able to match the "performance" of a center-roof NMO mount antenna (police-car style). Maybe with a "ground-independent" antenna configuration like the Comet SBB-5, the lip-mount won't be so bad.

Second, and most important, I've seen some WONDERFUL stuff for APRS. I think I will get more info and open a specific post but imagine some small devices, not outrageously expensive, that allow to:
- stay at the base camp and, with a small computer or netbook, follow the position of all the groups; or connected to a handheld GPS to see everybody's else position.
- a small black box (with integrated radio) that will broadcast the position for others to follow
- tha same in a waterproof unit with integrated batteries
- a device to send/receive APRS with CB or Family radio

Permalink Reply by opg4759 on October 17, 2010 at 3:56pm

well I did see you on my way out.

Don't open a new post on APRS I already have one going. If you have additional information for the main post send me a message and I will update the main post.

I'm working on some projects with the Byonics TinyTrack 4 and I'm going to be building some throw boxes with a one way tracker and 5 watt radio to place on various rigs.

Data over CB and FRS is specifically forbidden according to the FCC part 95 rules. I would rather get people that are interested in APRS that aren't HAMs yet their tickets, since there is a ton that we can do legally.

Permalink Reply by manoweb on October 17, 2010 at 9:02pm

Well but have you seen the box "micro-trak":
http://www.byonics.com/microtrak/mt-rtg.php

This should be a ready to go solution for who does not want to buy a new radio with integrated GPS and APRS support.

About APRS over FRS, I am confused; why do you imply it is illegal?
- Garmin sells an FRS radio that also sends the position https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=146&pID=8523
- Quoting the document you cited:
*******************************************
(2) The FRS unit may transmit digital
data containing location information,
or requesting location information
from one or more other FRS units,
or containing a brief text message to
another specific FRS unit. Digital data
transmissions must be initiated by a
manual action or command of a user,
except that an FRS unit receiving an
interrogation request may automatically
respond with its location. Digital
data transmissions shall not exceed
one second, and shall be limited to no
more than one digital transmission
within a thirty-second period, except
that an FRS unit may automatically
respond to more than one interrogation
request received within a thirty-second
period.
*******************************************

Permalink Reply by opg4759 on October 17, 2010 at 9:30pm

Yes I've seen the Microtrak I've very well versed in all of Byonics products it's a neat little box. but I'm one to build out my own stuff, I can customize the radios and generally build it cheaper. Plus I understand how to fix it in the field.

The Rhino is technically a GMRS radio not a FRS radio, FRS is based on the GMRS simplex frequencies so the Rhino can talk on it.. Also since FRS is limited to 500mw running APRS on it is really kind of pointless and not worth the money.