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Ames Amateur Radio Club
Become Radio Active!

Interested in amateur radio? Join us to ask questions, tinker, and learn all about the tech, equipment, and opportunities to get involved!

Get in touch

The Ames Amateur Radio Club (AARC), chartered in 1984, exists to provide a matrix of services, technologies, skills, equipment, opportunities, and resources for those at NASA-Ames Research Center, on the Moffett Federal Airfield, and in the local community, who are interested in amateur radio, related communication technologies, associated special events, and morale, welfare, and recreational (MWR) activities supporting and promoting NASA, Ames Research Center, and their interfaces to the local Amateur Radio community. Members of the club are available to guide newcomers and enjoy sharing their knowledge about Amateur Radio.

Club members support a wide variety of HF, VHF, and UHF communications modes for educational and recreational purposes as well as provide voluntary public service and emergency communications support to Ames, Santa Clara County, and special events occurring on the Moffett Field complex.

The AARC is coordinated with the Silicon Valley Emergency Communications System (SVECS), an ARES/RACES association, and provides an ARES/RACES point of presence on Moffett Field available to provide Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS) support as may be requested; https://www.scc-ares-races.org.

The club station, NA6MF, is affiliated with the Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL).

The AARC is a member of the NASA Exchange Council (NASA Only).

Nets and Meetings

Weekly AARC ARES / RACES Net Tuesdays @ 12:00 PST

Weekly recurring radio and teleconference net to check equipment and coordinate activities.

Radio:

  • AA6BT (146.115 MHz / Offset: + / PL: 100.0 Hz)
  • NA6MF (145.250 MHz / Offset: - / PL: 123.0 Hz)
  • NA6MF (443.600 MHz / Offset: + / PL: 100.0 Hz)

Telephone: +1 650 439 1305 / PC: 210924089#

Monthly Meetings 3rd Thursdays @ 12:00 PST

The club meets at 12:00 noon on the third Thursday of each month in the Ames Amateur Radio Club “shack.” Visitors, even those without licenses, are always welcome. Visitor passes are required for non-badged attendees from outside Ames.

Format: On-site and/or Teams Meeting

Regular Recurring Events and Activities

  • NASA on the AIR (NOTA) - Special event radio stations highlighting NASA achievements.
  • Mentoring and license study.
  • Amateur radio license testing support.
  • Amateur radio nation-wide contests, activities, and special events.

News

Member Registration

You must be NASA affiliated, a civil servant, or contractor to be eligible.

You don’t need to have a Ham license to sign up, but we will help you get one!

Dues are $20 per calendar year (due January 1st with no proration) Make check payable to “Ames Amateur Radio Club”. Return to club secretary or mail to club P.O. Box below.

AMES AMATEUR RADIO CLUB P.O. Box 73 Moffett Field, CA 94035-0073

Form coming soon

Getting a License

Local SF Bay Area License Events

Sunnyvale VEC https://www.amateur-radio.org
Twice a month. 2nd Saturday in Sunnyvale, 3rd Saturday in Redwood City.

Silicon Valley VE Group https://www.svve.org
1st and 3rd Saturday from 8AM until 10:30AM, Saratoga Firehouse

Tri-City VE Group https://sbara.org
Alternates every month. A Tuesday evening, next month a Saturday morning, rinse repeat.

Bay Area Educational Amateur Radio Society
https://www.baears.com
Gives a one day Ham Cram for Technician and General licenses. Various locations

Every May at Maker Faire San Mateo
https://mfhamtest.com

Finding Other Testing Resources

ARRL: https://www.arrl.org/getting-licensed
National Radio Examiners: https://www.w5yi.org
Other VECs: https://wireless.fcc.gov/services/index.htm?job=licensing_5&id=amateur

Online self-study: https://www.hamradiolicenseexam.com

While the focus is on passing the test by studying all of the possible questions, there’s a lot of “how” and “why” information included.

Guides to amateur radio for beginners: https://www.dxzone.com/catalog/Operating_Aids/Beginner_s_Guides/

So, You Want to be a Ham? (NASA ISS reference website): https://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/reference/radio/beaham.html

QRZ Practice Tests for amateur radio exams: https://www.qrz.com/hamtest/ Free and open to the public, you must first register or log in with a QRZ User account. No license is required to register with QRZ.

Santa Clara County OES ARES/RACES: https://www.scc-ares-races.org

For those already licensed, there are many courses in communications procedures, packet, drills, etc. See Training/Events links on left side of website.

Suggested Books for Your First License

Some of these are available in the AARC library.

Many such books can be purchased locally at HRO (Ham Radio Outlet) located on 510 Lawrence Expressway # 102 in Sunnyvale, CA (between Hwy 101 and Central Expressway). https://www.hamradio.com

SF Bay Area Clubs and Organizations

Frequencies

Tactical channels are considered for ARES and RACES activities, “Event” is used for special purposes such as club meetings, NASA-TV re-transmissions. Command is AARC’s repeater, and two packet frequencies are used with County and city EOC message handling.

AARC Tuesday Nets are on AA6BT Repeater at 12 noon

Until further notice the AARC Tuesday Noontime Net is on 146.115+, PL 100.0 (AA6BT repeater) instead of simplex frequency 146.445

Name Frequency (MHz)
AA6BT Repeater 146.115 / + / PL 100.0
Simplex Net 146.445
Repeater 443.600 / + / PL 100.0
Tactical 1 146.445
Tactical 2 146.505
Tactical 3 146.550
Tactical 4 147.465
Events & NASA TV Retransmission 146.490
Command NA6MF 443.600 / - / PL 100.0
Packet 220 (Primary) 223.540
Packet 2M (Secondary) 145.750

Field Center Operations

Year long field operations map

NASA Ames Amateur Radio Club Station: NA6MF / Grid Square: CM87X

Net Control Script

Net Control Script

Galleries

Coming soon.

Contact Us

President of AARC

Mark Allard, KD6CWM (650) 604-6145
mark.r.allard@nasa.gov

AARC Webpage Editors

**Michael Wright, K6MFW ** (650) 604-6262
michael.f.wright@nasa.gov

David Cahill, K9PWZ
(650) 604-3800
david.cahill@nasa.gov

Mailing Address

Ames Amateur Radio Club
P.O. Box 73
Moffett Field, CA 94035-0073

Get Involved

Join our weekly nets, meet up at the club house, sign up for our mailing list, register as a member if you’re eligible, or just reach out! We’d love to hear from you!

Sign up for our mailing list

https://lists.nasa.gov/mailman3/lists/arc-hamradio.lists.nasa.gov/ (NASA Only)

If you are outside of NASA

Send an email to arc-hamradio-request@lists.nasa.gov with “subscribe” in the subject (without quotes).