Friday, August 31, 2012

Tucson Weather at the Summer Gathering

Forecast for the 15th annual, yes we've been doing this for 15 years now, NWAPRS Summer Gathering: Sunny and warm. Temperatures could be in the high 70's or low 80's. It would even make Dave feel like he was home. (we'll miss ya good-buddy)

We have a few RV sites still available, lots of tent space and for those wanting to sleep inside we still have bunks available in our lodge. RSVP for accommodations ASAP at info@valleycamp.org

If an overnight trip is not in the cards, come out early Saturday and join us for breakfast and a full day of presentations and time to get all your APRS questions answered. We will be making available to anyone that wants to join us for lunch burgers and hot dogs. Coffee will be available all day. For those of you wanting to gather around the grill and cook your dinner together we will have the BBQ going Saturday evening around 6PM.

We have an added treat for anyone staying overnight; the local elk herd has returned this week and is very vocal early in the morning along with the chorus of owls.......You might even see the large bull that is following the herd of cows and calves around at a distance.
If anyone is interested I could be talked into discussing my work trapping, collaring and tracking the Middle Fork elk.

We no longer have an IGATE here at Valley Camp, so if someone wants to bring their portable system along that can use WiFi for your Internet connection please do, we are to far away from the nearest digi for units running less than 10 watts to get messages or position reports into an IGATE.

We also lost our EchoIRLP node, but I am hoping to have one on the air by September 7th.

Our schedule this year will allow lots of time between presentations so please bring your projects and ideas as well as questions to share, that is what this event is all about!

Cost of this event? A donation to Valley Camp to help us keep the place running.
That's all the news from Valley Camp for now.  See you all in a week!

73,
Thom

Thursday, August 30, 2012

NWAPRS Gathering - Save the Date: September 7, 8 and 9th

Greetings Northwest APRS users and fans of the Summer Gathering!

First - Save the Date: Friday through Sunday, September 7, 8 and 9th with the technical / educational / discussion content on Saturday the 8th. Breakfast will be 7 to 9am on Saturday - talks will start at 9:30am. I would stay longer if you have available time...

Second - plan to attend. The parts folks like have been retained. The social interaction, the access to knowledgeable people, the chance to mess with new radios and software and the beautiful setting at Valley Camp near North Bend all remain the same. The focus remains on APRS - the whole expanding universe of tools, techniques, software and hardware for tracking, messaging, and resource announcing.

Third, if you gave a talk last year, please consider updating us on the tool, software or technique you shared. There has been much development of new hardware, and considerable progress in passing APRS data across many systems from packet to D-Star to HSMM. If you didn't have a chance to share last year, please consider this as your invitation to talk this year. Either way, please send me a title, brief abstract of your topic and your phone and email contact information. That is all it will take
to get you onto the Saturday agenda.

We remain possibly the friendliest group in amateur radio and continue to strive to be the place to come for help getting started and staying abreast of all things "Automatic Packet Reporting System." ---
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_Packet_Reporting_System.

We continue to meet at the most laid-back, natural and lovely venue available to amateur radio: Valley Camp on the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River, King County, Washington, near North Bend. Valley Camp, 49515 SE Middle Fork RD., North Bend, WA 98045

We share a number of meals and libations during Summer Gathering - more info will follow on bringing potluck items and/or grill-able food items.

Saturday breakfast will be hosted by the West Seattle ARC.

Contact our hosts, Thom or Teena for arrangements for RV parking, camping or possible access to the bunkhouse/lodge by calling 425-888-1852 or email info@valleycamp.org

More information can be found on the web about Valley Camp or the NWAPRS Group website nwaprs.info or on the NWAPRS Blog page.

Thanks! I look forward to seeing everyone again for the 15th Annual Summer Gathering.

Call or write with any questions or comments, to get onto the agenda or to offer to assist with planning.

vy 73 de WR5J,
Curt Black
West Seattle Amateur Radio Club
wr5j@arrl.net