Rededication Held for RAG Communication Room

RededicationHeld for
RAG CommunicationRoom
By RAG CHAIRMAN TOM TCIMPIDIS, K6TGT
and S/C BILL WATKINS.NI6U
t l: 45 p. m . on
Saturday,October
18, 20013,
a
beautifulfall afternoon
CommodoreBill Moore
and RadioAmateur
Group (RAG) Chairman,
Tom Tcimpidiscr.rtthe
ribbonto symbolizethe
rededication
of the CYC
C o mm unic ut ion
Cente r.
Attendingthe ceremony
were Bridge menrbers
CommodoreBill Moore
V/C John Isaksen,R/ C
Tom O'Conor,and P/C
D a vi d Collins ,whos ef l a g
overseesRAG. Also in
attendancewere 2009 P/C
Uta Leslie,CYC Manager
MicheleUnderwood,
CYC mernbers.Coast
Guard and CoarstGuard
Auxiliary members.and
representatives
of the Los
AngelesCounty Sheriff's
DisasterCommunications
Group.
The ceremonybe-ean
wi th the ples ent at ion
of
the colorsby
representatives
of our
own CoastGuard
Ar-rxiliaryFlotilla 12-42
Color Guarcl,basedhere
at CYC. Comrnodore
Moore then led us irr the
PIedgeof Alle-eiance.
Following the postingof
the colors,S/C Bill
Watkinsgave a brief
historyof RAG and the
CommunicationCenter,which was
originallydedicatedin 1984. Bill
reco-enized
Erma Darling (KB6AYN),
who was presentat the first dedication
ceremony.Also recognizedwas S/C
Ro_eer
Wilson (N6AKE) who, alon_e
with
f'ellowCYC members.assistedwith
radio communications
durins the 1984
2SIBREEZE DECEMBER 2OO8
equipmentand expanded
capabilitiesof the CYC
station(K6CYC). New
equipmentincludesnew
transceivers(radios)with
supportinghardwareand
softwareas well as antennas
for use with all new and
existing radios and the
Winlink system(the free email serviceusedby
around-the-worldcruisers
and for emergency
communi ca t ions)Tom
.
mentionedthat the station
upgradesnow offer
redundancyfor all services,
so equipmentfailureswill
no longercauseany services
to be off-line. This new
arrangementalso allows for
Winlink, voice and/or Morse
codecommunications
to
Carol Watkins photos takepl aceat t he sam et im e.
allowin_efor expanded
servicesto CYC members
and the community. Tom
also explainedthat a backup
power systemis now in
placewhich allows for
uninterruptedpower for two
to threedays with batteries
in caseof a power outage.
If needed,a generatortakes
over to supply power for
longerperiodsof time.
Ful urepl ansincludeadding
solar panelsto rr.rakethe
facility a totally selfsupporting"green" station
and further expandingand
enhancingour station's
Olympics.Bill alsonotedthat the
capabilities.
reconditionedmast supportingthe new
The RAG and K6CYC was recently
Force l2 C4E beamantennawas
designated
as both an Official
originally donatedby Patty Hathaway.
Radio Facility and a HF
Operational
Tom Tcimpidis,2008RAG
CommunicationsStation by
Contin,gency
Chairrnan,Winlink SystemsOperator
the
U.S.
Coast
Guard Auxiliary. We are
(SYSOP),and the guidingforcebehind
with
also
active
ARES (the Amateur
the new CommunicationCenternext
Radio
Emergency
Service)and other
an overview of the updated
-qave
and Tom Tcimpidisacceptecl
this
certificateon beherlfof CYC and the
R A G.
After the ribbon-cuttin-rl
cererronyand a champ:ignetoast.
werc invited
membersanclgr-rests
into the CommunicationCenterfor
a dernonstration
ol'Winlink by Tom
Tcimpidisand a clemonstration
of
voice and Morsc codeby Charlie
Pascal.All were ableto watchas
C harl i ecommuni catewit
d h ot her
hamsfiom Hawaii to the East
Coast,Canada,and the Calibbean.
A special-event
call si-en(K6C) was
assi grred
to the C ornnr t ur ieir t ion
Center(K6CYC station)firr tl-reday.
thc
This eventwas to commer-nolate
69th anniversalyof the United
StatesCoastGuardAuxiliary.
Operatingas K6C, membersof
CYC spokewitl.rover l8l stations
in 28 statesancl7 countriesfrom 9
a.m.to 5 p.m. (thehour sallowed
for this specialevcnt). The
comr-nunication
s were macleusin-9
the new transceiver
dedicatedfbr'
membersuse iind the new Force l2
beamantcnnel.
C4E nine-element
Specialthanksto CYC
ManagerMichele Undelwood,
CalifbrniaYachtClub management,
and Los AngelesAthletic Club
manzl-sement
fbr supportingthe
rebui l tl i ngof tl rcC omm r r r r icir t ion
Center.Becauseof their sLrpport,
CalifbrniaYachtClub. K6CYC. will
be ableto supportthe worlcl-wide
ham
cruisingcommunity,the Clr-rb's
radio operators,and our own
communityin the eventof a
\y
otsaster.
Emergency
CommunicationsGroups.
RAG Vice ChairmanCharles
Pascal,
WB6CIY, talkedaboutthe
stationand how memberswho are
licensedhamscan usethe facilities.
Charliealso rnentionedthat RAG is
offering(Technicianand General
license)classesfor memberswho wish
to obtaina ham radio licenseor
upgradetheir cunent license.Classes
wereheld on Saturday,November22
(Technician)
and Sunday,Novernber23
(General).PleasescontactCharliefbr
more information and/or to sign up fbr
futureclasses
(radiopascal
@earthlink.net).
More informationcan alsobe
found on the RAG's Web site
underActivitieson the CYC
Web site.
Irving Pacheco,representing
CalifbrniaAssemblymanTed
L i c u . th e np rcsented
l hc
CommuniciitionCenterof the
CYC RadioAmateurGroup a
'Certificateo1'Recognition'in
honorof the rededication
ceremony. CommodoreMoore
DECEMBER2OO8BREEZEI2g