Amateur Radio Club
The Laguna Woods Amateur Radio Club is a non-profit organization of FCC licensed Amateur Radio Operators dedicated to serving the public and other Radio Amateurs by assisting in emergencies, disasters, handling radio traffic and facilitating world-wide contacts with other Radio Amateurs. The Club is located in Orange County, California, in Grid DM13do.
Any resident of Laguna Woods Village with a current FCC issued Amateur Radio license and a willingness to contribute his or her efforts shall be eligible for membership. Associate membership is for non-licensed residents who are studying to get their amateur radio FCC license within 12 months after joining the club.
Message from the President (of the LWV Amateur Radio Club)
Please join us. For meeting information or questions, contact Mike Epstein at 949-636-0607.
Club Information
Next Club Meeting
Next meeting January 2, 2025 at 1030-1200 AM
NOTE!! We are back at the Dining ROOM #2, at Clubhouse #1
Next Club Breakfast
December 12, 2024 at 9:30 AM, at the 19th Hole
(Yes! We will have an in-person Breakfast!)
WEEKLY NETS
(note: colored and underlined text is a hyperlink to click on for more information)
Club NET
We conduct a weekly membership Club Net every Thursday evening at 1830 (6:30 PM)
147.120 MHz, +600 kHz offset with CTCSS* Tone 136.5 Hz (*Continuous Tone Coded Squelch System).
445.580 MHz, -5 Hz offset with CTCSS* Tone 136.5 Hz (This is channel 5 on the unified frequency list.).
On the first Thursday of the month, we have a simplex net on 146.580 MHz.
On the second Thursdays of the month, we have a message handling net to practice sending and receiving messages.
On the third Thursday of the month, we have a topic net.
The purpose of this net is to inform club members of upcoming activities of the club where members can participate to learn, improve their club, verify their radio’s operation and practice the protocol of radio communication in support of the Village emergency response. After announcements, we take club membership check-ins in alphabetical order. Any licensed Amateur is invited to check-in as a visitor.
RACES NET
The Laguna Woods Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) Net is held every Thursday evening immediately after the Laguna Woods Amateur Radio Club Net on our 2 meter repeater.
The purpose of this net is to inform club members of upcoming emergency drill activities of the city where club RACES members can participate to learn, improve their skills, verify their radio’s operation and practice the protocol of radio communication in support of the Laguna Woods City emergency response.
RACES members, prospective members, and visitors are invited to check in.
For additional information about Laguna Woods RACES, please see LWRACES.ORG.
Message Practice NET
Join us on the Message Practice Net, right after the RACES Net. Practice your emergency message handling skills by sending and receiving practice messages. We send the Captain’s Personal Injury and Building Damage Reports (sample fill in) and Captain’s Personal Injury and Building Damage Reports (blank forms) used by the Laguna Woods Village Disaster Preparedness Task Force as well as the ICS-213 Forms used by Laguna Woods City. We look forward to having you join us.
HELPFUL LINKS (Click on the links below for useful information)
American Radio Relay League (ARRL)
Laguna Woods Village Emergency Operations Plan
Orange County Radio Amateur Civil Emergency System (RACES)
South Orange Amateur Radio Association (SOARA)
FCC Universal Licensing System – License Search
Laguna Woods Village Community Map
ARRL “The Doctor is In (SWR Simplified)” podcast
ARRL “So Now What?” podcast for new hams
HF Propagation Tools and Solar Data
Note: On the below Photo Gallery, Click on a picture to see a larger picture and read its caption.
Club Contact Information
2024 Club Officers
- President: Mike Epstein, KA6VPG, 949-636-0607
- Vice-President: Tom Stockey, KK7IIP
- Treasurer: Bob Matonti, KN6CVB
- Secretary: Steve Nagielski, KD9TIF
2024 Club Committee Chairs
- Communication Committee: Don, K6IAA
- Disaster Committee: Mike Epstein, KA6VPG
- Liaison Committee: Carol Epstein, KB6OTB
- Program Committee: Steve Pearce, AI6RP
- Social Committee: Executive Board
- Technical Committee: Don Hill, KE6BXT, email: donhill@gmail.com, 714-345-1114
Associated Activity of the Club
- City of Laguna Woods Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES): (http://lwraces.org)
- See page 96, under Resident Engagement Programs, of City’s Local Hazards Mitigation Plan
- Disaster Preparedness Task Force: Club members provide radio communication and message handling support
Club Documents
- Laguna Woods Amateur Radio Club Bylaws
- W6LY Club Membership Application
- Unified Radio Frequencies (10-5-2023)
- Club Net Preamble for Laguna Woods Amateur Radio Club (4-5-2019)
- Laguna Woods Races Preamble (Rev 2-21-2019)
- Club Information Flyer (2021)
- So, You Want to be a Ham?
- Improving Your Simplex Experience (10-5-2023)
- Emergency Operations Center Activation Guide (2022)
- IC-213 Form Instructions
- ICS-213 Complaint Amateur Radio Message Form (May 2013)
- Good Neighbor Captain Disaster Report – Physical Injury
- Bearing to W6LY Repeater
- Go Bag Presentation by K6EEE
- Evacuation Go Bag Presentation by NH7WG
- List of Items for an Evacuation Go Bag by NH7WG
Notice Regarding Clubs
Clubs/organizations are not a part of or affiliated with Golden Rain Foundation of Laguna Woods (GRF). GRF does not endorse, approve, or authorize any particular conduct or activity of any club/organization. Clubs/organizations are solely responsible for their own statements, actions, and/or failures to act, as well as those of their members and guests. Clubs/organizations are solely responsible for compliance with all applicable GRF rules and all applicable Federal, State, and local laws, statutes, codes, ordinances, and regulations. GRF, its managing agent, their directors, officers, and employees will not accept responsibility for a club/organization’s failure to comply with any of the above. Refer to the GRF Recreation Division Policy document for more information.