Several members drove to Roseville to view the world’s largest steam engine known as “Big Boy.” Big Boy weighs 1.5 million pounds and 24 wheels! John, NQ6Q brought his VHF/UHF portable antenna which impressed all with its small size yet great performance. Dan, KN6DRN shared propagation information. Research shows that the “summer doldrums” degrade HF signals as the ionosphere is heated and expands, making it less reflective. In addition, during the summer the ionosphere is less dense as it expands. This reduced density also weakens its ability to reflect radio waves. However, of late, the SFI index has been very high. This measures the amount of charged particles in the ionosphere. More charged particles creates an environment of farther radio wave coverage and QSO’s reaching greater distances.

Meetings are held at the South Tower every Monday night at 6:30 PM. Our club conducts a weekly radio network at 7:00 PM every Monday on the W6LHR Repeater at 147.030 MHz, 167.9 PL. If you are looking for a way to engage in the community and have an interest in amateur radio, please check out the LHARG. We can help with programming handheld radios. For more LHARG information visit our Website, the URL is: lharg.us or email dlehrer72@gmail.com