Jerry L Pettis VA Amateur Radio Club Celebrates Five Years

Feb. 1 marked the fifth anniversary of the Jerry L Pettis Amateur Radio Club. Founded Feb. 1, 2011, the “ham” radio club provides emergency backup communications for the hospital and connects with veterans from all over the country during its daily networking operation. Formation of the club dates back to November 2010 when USAF veteran Keith Tomas, KE6TT, began asking questions of hospital staff regarding an amateur radio station that had previously operated at the hospital. Meeting multiple dead ends, Tomas found himself at the VA’s Emergency Management Office where he met hospital staff members Mark Solheid, KJ6BBI, and Ted Gegoux who were trying to resurrect the station but were not certain what would be needed or if they could garner the operator resources to keep the station operational. Tomas volunteered his services and work began bringing new life, significant upgrades, and a national reputation to the club now celebrating five successful years. First steps involved inventorying equipment, making requests for upgrades where no budget existed, and recruiting members with a shared vision. The club’s first members were Keith Tomas KE6TT, Larry Anderson W6LAR, Fred Ziegler K6NLX, Harley Brogdon KG6ZEL, Don Kramer WA6UVW, hospital staff Mark Solheid KJ6BBI, and Ted Gegoux. Ted did not have his license at the time however, with support of club members, he received the call sign KJ6MHD on Jan. 26, 2011. Tomas worked with the appropriate agencies to register the group as a recognized amateur radio club with the FCC call sign of KJ6MUQ being issued on February 1, 2011. This call sign was later changed to the current W6VAH representing the VA hospital. The club currently has 18 members and operates a daily 20 meter net on 14.255 SSB Monday-Friday between 9 and 11 a.m. In the early days this net was held once a week as staffing the radio room was a challenge with only a few members. As membership and reputation of the net expanded it became a daily event with operations continuing regardless of holidays and weather. The club has logged more than 26,000 contacts including confirmed contacts in over 80 countries using SSB, CW, and PSK. QSL cards are mailed to first time contacts who are active military, veterans or those who send a card and request a reply. In recognition of their five year anniversary the W6VAH club held a two-day special event running their net over the weekend of Jan. 30-31. During this time members logged over 500 contacts with operators worldwide. The weekend was recognized as a major success by all. What began as a club based in a closet with a single Omni-directional antenna has grown to an extremely active club supporting emergency operations of one of California’s largest VA hospitals. The W6VAH club is a tight knit group of operators coming from a variety of backgrounds with a passion for serving their country and community while sharing the love of amateur radio. They have earned the respect of the hospital and surrounding community being rewarded with penthouse space for an impressive array of radio gear, operate the W6VAH 440 repeater, and maintain a diverse array of antennas on their rooftop farm. In addition to operating the W6VAH shack, the club regularly conducts license testing with ten members being VE’s (volunteer examiners) through the ARRL, Amateur Radio Relay League. In part because of the proficiency of the club, its involvement with the SHARES program and its geographical location, the Jerry L Pettis has been selected as one of the backbone stations for the “HF Resilient Radio Network” linking VA facilities around the country. The installation of channelized HF radios gives the hospital the ability to securely talk with other VA facilities, including Hawaii.