FJ Cruisers of Northern California

East Bay Pacificon / Meetup San Ramon Saturday Oct 16th

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 +1

See the Comms Group Post for further information

Replies are closed for this discussion.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by opg4759 on September 9, 2010 at 9:25am

every =everyday ....yes I'm special sometimes

Permalink Reply by potatomutato on September 9, 2010 at 9:42am

thanks for the suggestions, guys! i've been interested in HAM ever since my first exposure to it over 15 years ago. my cousin in Japan had this huge arse antenna at his home and he'd get on the radio and reach people all over the country. i think he even reached a couple guys in the States as well.

Permalink Reply by PBn'FJ on September 9, 2010 at 9:16am

Both

Permalink Reply by Boss73 on September 9, 2010 at 4:19pm

I went to the class and and test in the same day. IT was all memorization of the questions. I still would like some better understanding of the HAM world and everything. I would like to get involved in ARES (I think that right) or some other form of emergency system cuz it just seems cool to be able to help out during a time of need.

I guess what I am saying is that I need to hang around OPG more !! hehehehehe

Permalink Reply by manoweb on September 15, 2010 at 1:38pm

Hey put me and Monica in the list! I thought I was already in.

Permalink Reply by Gino Cecchetto on October 9, 2010 at 11:49pm

I was planning to take my exam this Saturday at the firehouse in Saratoga but maybe I'll do at the this event and see if I can get a good deal on the radio I want at the same time. I'll have my 12 year old son with me so I'll be at the event only, most likely, if I go. I know, so decisive.

Permalink Reply by opg4759 on October 10, 2010 at 8:51am

You might want to check to see if the Saratoga group is going to even been there on the 16th. When I was there on the 2nd I heard them talking about Pacificon.

Permalink Reply by Gino Cecchetto on October 10, 2010 at 11:00am

The test at the firehouse is in the listing on QRZ and I've emailed Morris to let him know I was going to take my exam that weekend and he did not respond saying they wouldn't be there. It doesn't matter at this point, I've decided to go to pacificon and will take the exam there. I've been studying for around 4 weeks and have been taking the practice exams on QRZ.com, which I highly recommend to anyone studying for the exam, and have not failed any of the exams. I've been consistently in the mid to high 90's on the tests and of the three I took last last night 2 were 100% so I can attest to the exams not being that hard. I'll bet in the hamcram that they teach specifically to the 35 questions that they have on the exam for the day so it's probably pretty easy. I, myself, prefer to really learn and understand things that I undertake so I have been reading Gordy's book and listening to his CD's in the FJ, a great way to learn this stuff, as well as reading the ARRL book for a more detailed background. You can always continue reading the materials and learning after the hamcram though. I'm planning on rolling right in to the General after I get the Tech. The more of us there are with ham radios the less likely I am to have to deal with CB noise on the trail so I encourage as many as possible of you to go for the exam.

By the way, I'm not a newby to FJ's, on my second one now, but am new to the forum so I have no idea how to locate you folks at the event so if someone wants to PM me contact info, or I'll respond with mine if you prefer that would be cool.

See you next weekend.

Permalink Reply by opg4759 on October 10, 2010 at 11:12am

They can't teach just 35 questions for a specific test at the end of the HAM Cram. That would be multiplating the tests which is very frowned upon by the VEC coordinator and the FCC in fact administering VECs could lose their HAM license if they are caught doing this. The Ham Cram focuses on the various sections that have more weight in passing the test while spending less time on the sections that only have 1 or 2 questions on any given exam.

I agree reading the material to understand what your getting yourself into is important and makes it more worthwhile in the end in my opinion.

Permalink Reply by Gino Cecchetto on October 10, 2010 at 11:18am

I don't think I will be the type of ham that sits around at night DXing, I'm really more interested in trail communication and emergency communication when I'm out in the middle of nowhere, but I also want to be educated enough to not be making a bunch of newbie mistakes on the air

Hopefully I'll see you next weekend.

Permalink Reply by opg4759 on October 10, 2010 at 3:40pm

Closing this thread.

See the Comms Group Post for further information