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Our club station (site 530) is in the Stanford Foothills, accessible by the dish trail. Click the image above to view a map.  

Welcome to the Stanford Amateur Radio Club, W6YX!

Upcoming Meetings:

Next Meeting Date: January 12th
Time: 7:30pm PT
Meeting link: https://meet.jit.si/w6yx

Topic: Student information meeting!
If you are a student that is interested in getting more involved with the club, or are simply curious what the club has to offer beyond talks, this is a good opportunity to hear about our projects and introduce yourself!

 

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Details
Who: ARRL Pacific Division Director, Kristen McIntyre

What:

 "Complex Dynamics in Ham Radio"

 
Where:   Zoom (link)
Meeting ID: 930 2254 5628
Password: 356840
When:
Tues, Dec. 8th at 7:30pm PT

 


Kristen McIntyre, K6WX

Complex Dynamics in Ham Radio

Why does Ham Radio work "when all else fails"?  Most other communication systems are built on the principle of centralized control and centralized infrastructure.  Amateur Radio, by comparison, lacks centralized control, organization, or structure and yet often outperforms commercial systems which are specifically designed to work during a disaster.  This talk will explore the notion that it is the lack of central organization which makes our radio service well suited to perform in circumstances where order has been replaced by chaos.  A new area of research has been gaining popularity recently that investigates the dynamics of decentralized complex systems.  This research when applied to Amateur Radio can help us to understand why our radios continue to work when other systems fail. 

 

 

Details
Who: Stanford Prof. David Leeson

What:

"Stanford and Silicon Valley: How Amateur Radio
Launched the Chain of Events"
Where:   Zoom (link)
Meeting ID: 958 6960 4465
Password: 590327
When:
Tues, Nov. 10th at 7:30pm PT

 


David Leeson

 

Stanford and Silicon Valley: How Amateur Radio Launched the Chain of Events

Today's monumental eminence of Stanford and Silicon Valley did not happen overnight; rather, it is the outcome of a hundred-year chain of contingent events that arose from an early nurturing fertile environment. A consideration of the roots and prehistory of the present-day outcome can provide valuable guidance for individuals, entities and regions seeking to identify new emerging areas of opportunity before everything is cast in concrete.

In the period from the 1920s through the 1950s, momentous societal events included the revolution in atomic and nuclear scientific understanding, the Depression and WWII. In the Depression, Stanford was facing great financial difficulties. In radio and electronics, little room was available in those days for independent development in the face of the established patent monopolies of the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and the national telephone utility (AT&T).

But on the US West Coast, a unique cooperative regional culture, especially of radio amateurs, enabled a small number of research and business enterprises to respond and seed fertile new ground in vacuum tubes, radio, microwaves and particle accelerators. Then in WWII, these individuals and companies played greatly increased national roles, establishing their claim to further advances in these areas on a much larger scale.

The postwar business successes of Stanford Industrial Park microwave companies, coupled with the historic $100 million funding of the Stanford Linear Accelerator, brought the area to readiness for the next phase, the establishment of semiconductor and computer businesses here. This chain of events resulted in the emergence of Stanford as an international research institution and of Silicon Valley as the model of overarching success in new technologies.

With the technological changes now underway in response to our current novel world situation, might this be a similar time of the emergence of new opportunities? If so, what can we learn from the prehistory of Silicon Valley about the hallmarks of a supportive culture that might support fruitful new beginnings?

Slides available here

 

 

Details
Who: Invited Speaker, Bruce Perens

What:

Building Your Own Remote Ham Radio Site,
Where You Can Have Antennas As Big As You Want!
Where:   Zoom (link)
When: Tues, Oct. 13th, 7:30pm

 

 

Building Your Own Remote Ham Radio Site, Where You Can Have Antennas As Big As You Want!

Wouldn't it be fun to have the space for a half-wave vertical at 160 meters, or some really large wire antennas, and legal limit power, and not worry about how the neighbors feel about it? Bruce Perens made the jump, and bought 10 acres of cheap land in far-Northern California, sight-unseen on eBay! He has since been building an off-grid station on the land. Having a personal remote station is within the reach of many hams, and a remote station is a great club project!
 
He will discuss:
 
  • Pitfalls of buying land on eBay, why it sometimes really can be a bargain and why it often isn't.
  • Is farmland really RF-quiet?
  • Is there dark sky for astronomy?
  • How will you remote-control your off-grid station?
  • How will you power your remote station?
  • Getting there.
  • What will you use for the shelter for your equipment?
  • Dealing with legal requirements: you can't do everything you want on your own land, you might not be able to do anything.
  • Meeting the neighbors: some are really nice! Oops, there are pot farmers on three sides! Oops, everyone has guns
  • Construction projects.
  • Temperature in your shelter.
  • Owning an unsupervised site, security issues.
  • Camping there.
  • Burying antenna wires and other pipes and wires.
  • The potential of fire on your site.


Biography

This month's meeting is an excellent opportunity to hear from a Ham who is very active in communications and has made significant contributions in many areas. Mr Perens is one of the founders of the Open Source movement, and has been involved in Linux development, and communication standards.