The Stanford Amateur Radio Club continues an active and historical existence as one of the premier amateur radio clubs in the U.S.A. The membership of the Stanford Radio Club has through the years maintained the club's impact at the leading edge of radio and electronic frontiers, from the advent of single-sideband to space communication. The club's call sign W6YX, usually heard as an august "Whiskey Six Yankee X-ray" is recognized the world over as the source of international QSO's stemming from a membership of all nationalities. French, Spanish and Japanese are but a few of the languages of W6YX.
The location of the club is within the boundaries of the main Stanford campus near the intersection of Searsville Road and Campus Drive. The station includes two trailers which are dedicated to HF and VHF communications. The HF equipment includes three separate transceivers, two linear amplifiers, and antennas. The antenna list includes monobanders for 10, 15, 20 and 40 meters. A delta loop is available for 80 meters, and an L beam is available for 160 meters. VHF equipment includes antenna and rigs for 6 meters, 2 meters, and 70 cm. The VHF equipment is organized as part of an OSCAR satellite station with tracking programs available on a C64 computer.
Other equipment includes items such as two RTTY keyboards and terminal units, Fluke multimeter, Tektronix 2215A oscilloscope, a satellite TV receiving station, the Russian TV receiving station with monitor outlet, and various other test gear and computer support.
Membership to the club is open to licensed amateurs within the Stanford community of students, faculty , staff, and alumni. For interested participants requiring an amateur radio operators license, training materials and code tapes are available and classes can be scheduled with the club members with sufficient interest. Dues for members is $25 for the calendar year with yearly dues mandatory for key privileges.
All students are encouraged to join and contribute to the Stanford Amateur Radio club to aid in the development of an experienced personnel base for implementation of earthquake preparedness. In the event of a major earthquake, communications within the Stanford community will be totally dependent in the fist hours after a disaster upon a volunteer network of Stanford amateur radio operators. Subsequent demand for personal effort will involve health and welfare traffic beyond the disaster area as conditions permit. Currently the radio club membership consists of a nucleus of approximately 36 individuals. This should be an expanded number including all licensed radio amateurs at Stanford. Please join now!!
Dr. R. Lane Smith, KX6T, club advisor