Useful Links

Cal Fire Current Incidents

This map shows the history of fires and the current hot spots (as current as they get their info). Scroll on the left to the fire you want to see. Use the + in the lower right corner to enlarge the fire areas: 

S.F. Chronicle Fire Map

Want to listen to HF amateur radio? Scroll to "WEB RCVRS" and click on one of the links.

http://bandconditions.com/

Want to learn about SOTA (Summits on the Air)? It's a lot of fun and all hams can participate. You can set up your station on a mountain peak and be an "activator" or communicate from the comfort of your ham shack and be a "chaser!"  When the weather is nice there is a good chance you will hear activators calling CQ from the surrounding peaks. Check out the following links for more info and be ready to join in! And have fun!

http://www.sota.org.uk/

https://w6-sota.org/

A fun and informative site regarding space news

 https://www.spaceweather.com/

Miklor is a very useful site that provides simplified instructions for operating and programming a variety of radios

http://www.miklor.com/

About Go Bags

http://www.qsl.net/kc0nrk/go-bags.html

QSL.net has a fun link listing some famous hams

http://www.qsl.net/w5www/famous.html

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has a cool space weather page

http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/communities/space-weather-enthusiasts

Many hams like to use UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) because it is easier to keep track of contact times all around the world. If you would like to know the current UTC time you can find it at the following link

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/timezone/utc

Here is a link to The Great ShakeOut page 

https://www.shakeout.org/california/index.html

.

If you need to renew your license you can do it at the FCC website.

https://www.fcc.gov/wireless/support/universal-licensing-system-uls-resources/renewing-license-universal-licensing

Here is a link to an ARRL pdf of the phonetic alphabet used by ham radio operators

http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Youth/Phonetic%20Alphabet.pdf

Here is a great resource site created by local ham KM6NHH

A lot of good stuff here!

http://www.friendlyskies.net/radio/

While it is no longer required by the FCC to keep a log of your contacts, it's still not a bad idea. A page on the ARRL website talks about this and provides a link to a downloadable (and free) log page

http://www.arrl.org/keeping-a-log

There are astronauts on The International Space Station (ISS) who are hams and often contact hams on Earth. To learn more about it go to the ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) website

http://www.ariss.org/contact-the-iss.html

If you would like to track the International Space Station go to the following link

https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/sightings/

Local call signs in order of call sign suffix 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1qQEVT9BCFX8D-eqhhB7gnnsjbQt2uA0oa3MmB7WQmdY/pubhtml

Local call signs listed by name in alphabetical order

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-iq3abtMjIKOZWrGR7eA9ynNubndLBxFcaoMGmDL8m4/pubhtml

There has been some confusion for ham radio operators regarding the distracted driving law that was signed by Gov. Jerry Brown last September. A recent CHP memo adds a little bit of clarification but is NOT a change to the law. That is still a work in process. The following link is provided for you to download and print but is no guarantee that it will get you out of a citation. If you try to avoid a citation by showing this memo to a police officer, please remember to be polite and do not force the issue. You can ask if they have seen the CHP memo and offer to show it to them. They may or may not give you a citation. To reiterate, THE FOLLOWING PDF LINK IS NOT A CHANGE TO THE LAW. Proceed with caution.

http://www.no1pc.org/cvc23123/CHP-Enforcement-of-Section-23123.pdf