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Club Event: 2021 ARRL Field Day

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Published: 23 June 2021

W6YX Participation in the 2021 ARRL Field Day

The Stanford Amateur Radio Club (call sign W6YX) will participate in Field Day, the annual emergency communications preparedness exercise, this year held June 26 and 27. Field Day is sponsored by the American Radio Relay League (ARRL, arrl.org), the national association for Amateur Radio (a.k.a. "ham radio").

The Amateur Radio Service creates a corps of Federally licensed radio operators who volunteer their skills to assist public safety agencies in the event of a disaster or other incident. Amateur Radio operators must pass a Federal examination and be issued a FCC radio license, which grants licensees "operating privileges" - such as the right to use high power transmitters (over a thousand watts), different modes (such as voice, Morse code, digital, and even television), and thousands of frequencies. In addition to their technology know-how, these trained volunteers provide important communications resources in disasters, locally and globally.

During Field Day, ham radio operators set up in local parks, at shopping malls, or even in their own backyards, and get on the air using generators or battery power. Field Day was designed to test operators' abilities to set up and operate portable stations under emergency conditions such as the loss of electricity, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, etc.

Ken Dueker, Director of the Palo Alto Office of Emergency Services, has said, 

"We want the community to know that in the event of an emergency, ham radio operators will be ready to assist in any way we can. In major disasters during which time normal telecommunications services are disrupted, Amateur Radio has served as an important resource to local relief efforts, working with police, fire, the Red Cross, and other agencies."

Field Day is a serious test of skill, but it is also a contest for fun and the largest "on-air" operating event each year since it began in 1933. During the weekend, radio operators try to contact as many other Field Day stations as possible, simulating emergency message handling.
The Stanford Amateur Radio Club will hold Field Day at Site 530, a location near the famous Stanford Dish, and will be operating during a 24-hour period. Unfortunately due to COVID-19 concerns, the event won’t be open to the public this year.

Invited Talk: Amateur Radio at Stanford: Its Role in Competitive Advantage

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Published: 10 April 2021

Moonbouncing from Silicon Valley (ARRL EME contest, 2017)

Amateur Radio at Stanford: Its Role in Competitive Advantage

About the talk:
Find out how amateur radio at Stanford has contributed to the strategic development of individuals like you, who have went on to play a pivotal role in the history of Stanford and Silicon Valley at large. The talk will examine the competitive and cooperative nature of amateur radio, and explore concepts such as segmentation, differentiation, and “Steeples of Excellence”, which can be applied to achieve a strategic advantage in highly competitive fields. Key figures in this history include Bill Hewlett & David Packard, Fred Terman, William Hansen, and Oswald Villard. Radio technologies with roots in amateur radio have become indispensable to the success of many Bay Area companies, finding use in smartphones, WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth, satellites, radar, and more.

• Abstract
• Slides (updated 4/20/21)
• Addendum
• Video recording

About the speaker:
David B. Leeson is a consulting professor at Stanford University, and received a Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1962 (Hughes Fellow), a M.S. from MIT (NSF Fellow), and a B.S. from Caltech. He is an IEEE Life Fellow and has written numerous widely cited papers, including a seminal work on oscillator phase noise for which he received the Cady Award. He was the founder and CEO of California Microwave, Inc. from 1968 to 1993. He is an avid radio amateur (W6NL) and is the faculty advisor and license trustee of the Stanford Amateur Radio Club (W6YX).

Perseid Meteor Shower 2019

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Published: 12 July 2019

Come to our shack to enjoy the Perseid Meteor Shower in both the visible and radio spectrum, as we attempt to make radio contact with other stations across the Western US by bouncing radio signals off of ionized meteor trails. A truly unique communication experience.

Guests are welcome. No license is required for participation. Bring a friend!