Welcome
Welcome to the N6JER Amateur Radio Site! I hope to keep this site updated with interesting and useful information for ham radio operators.
You can usually find me on a couple of different Sacramento-area repeaters. I haven't yet really jumped on the HF bandwagon (the conditions are far from ideal right now anyway), so I'm staying on VHF/UHF for now:
146.925 Grass Valley, CA - powerful 2m box on Wolf Mountain. Great coverage from Sacramento to Chico.
442.725 Stockton, CA - high-level linked repeater system. Great coverage from Stockton to Sac. I am often on this machine when at home.
444.500 Aubrun, CA - I bounce over to this machine occasionally for local rag-chewing. Has very good coverage in the Sacramento area and is pretty quiet.
My Gear
Right now I'm using Yaesu and Icom equipment. My favorite is Icom for its simplicity and durability. Yaesu is great for versatilaty and features. My base station is a Yaesu FT-7800. Great little radio! Mobile I use an Icom 208-H. I really like this radio. You can almost program it blind! I also carry a Yaesu VX-6R for portable use. What a feature packed little radio. I may upgrade to the VX-8R one of these days because I'm so impressed with the VX-6R.
My QTH station is totally solar powered with 130AH of battery backup. Honestly, I do not even have a 120V power supply wired to my radios. I use a 75w panel on the roof and a 7A charge controller keep the batteries topped off all the time. I charge my handheld radio with the batteries, too. Who needs the 'grid'?
I also use the FT-7800 with a Rigblaster NoMic for Echolink. You don't need to by the expensive adapter cable! The details are in this one-page PDF I created. This documenation does not seem to be available anywhere else I've looked!
I'm actively involved in the California linked radio project called the Amateur Radio Repeater Group (ARRG). A great group of talented operators and engineers keeps this linked system operating from the Grapevine to Chico! Check it out at KG6KKV.COM
Friends
I'd like to acknowledge some of my friends and companions in the ham radio community, who each make this hobby fun and interesting!
KI6FEO, KG6KKV, W6MKS, K7PBX, WA6IOK, KI6VWJ, KK6AC, N6SMU, KI6HHU, N6VYQ
Weather
Below is a 24 time-lapse video from my weather cam in Sacramento. It will always display the last 24-hr period up to the current image. Images are uploaded to the server every 5 minutes (5m/frame). The still image that is displayed by default is the most recent capture.
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