Next Meeting Is Friday, May 5, 2017

"A Tour Through The ARRL Headquarters"
by Bob Vallio, W6RGG & Jim Tiemstra, K6JAT

Bob Vallio, W6RGG Bob earned his Novice license in 1952 as WN6RGG. In 1953 he upgraded to General and dropped the N, now W6RGG then upgraded again to Extra in 1968. Bob is an accomplished DXer and contester. He has also participated in several DXpeditions including FO0XX (Clipperton Island), XF4L (Revillagigedo), 6Y5BF (Jamaica), 5W1AZ (Western Samoa), KP2A (Virgin Islands), 4U0ITU (ITU HQ in Geneva), VP5VW (Turks & Caicos Islands), 5V7A (Togo), HC8N (Galapagos Islands), OJ0/W6RGG (Market Reef), OH0/W6RGG (Aland Islands), and BS7H (Scarborough Reef). Bob is a long time member and past president of NCDXC and NCCC and was elected to the CQ DX Hall of Fame in May of 1997. He has also been active in Emergency Communications with Alameda County RACES since 1975. Bob was elected Section Communications Manager, and Section Manager of the ARRL East Bay Section from 1978 to 2000, and Vice Director of the ARRL Pacific Division from 2000 to 2003, and Director of ARRL Pacific Division from 2003 to present. He has served on every committee of the ARRL Board of Directors, most recently being elected by his fellow Directors to the Executive Committee..
Don's varied accomplishments in Amateur radio include amateur radio DXCC award(s) on HF, including CW DXCC and Mixed DXCC, and Satellite DXCC award no.152.  He enjoys working DX and CW modes, and general rag chewing on HF.  Occasionally, you can hear him on some of the local vhf/uhf repeaters, chatting with his amateur radio friends.  In 2007, Don was the primary control operator for contact with the International Space Station via the Amateur Radio Onboard the International Space Station (ARISS).  He and 22 students chatted with astronaut Sunita Williams while she was in orbit in the ISS.  In Don's leisure time (what leisure time), he enjoys playing tennis, racquetball, and taking walks along the beach.

Jim obtained his first Amateur Radio license, WN9ELU, in Chicago in 1970. Since then Jim has held General, Advanced and Extra Class licenses and the callsigns: WB9ELU, N6OIK, V26JAT and 3D2TJ, as well as having operated as PJ2/K6JAT and KH6/ K6JAT, and from V26DX and KH6RS. While Jim's favorite Ham Radio pastimes are contesting, DXing and DXpeditions, he has long been involved in the public service aspects of the hobby. As a member of the Oakland ARES group, Jim responded to the Loma Prieta Earthquake (1989) and Oakland Hills Firestorm (1991) disasters. Subsequently, the group successfully championed a proposal to use postfirestorm, bond Measure I funds to acquire and install amateur radio equipment in the City's Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and each of its 30 fire stations dubbed the Emergency Communication Ham Operation (ECHO) system. He worked with the group to gain RACES recognition and was instrumental in forging a formal Letter of Understanding (LOU) with the City of Oakland. In 1998, Jim incorporated the Oakland Radio Communication Association (ORCA), an ARRL affiliated club, was a founding director and became its first president. He currently is the trustee of the club's callsigns: WW6OR. Jim acted as Oakland's RACES Radio Officer for over 14 years and was the Section Emergency Coordinator (SEC) of the ARRL's East Bay Section from January 13, 2008, to June 21, 2009. He is a Life Member of the ARRL and has served as the Vice Director of the ARRL's Pacific Division since 2009.