Welcome to the Palomar Amateur Radio Club! W 6 N W G

Whiskey Six Nothing Works Good

Serving the San Diego County Amateur Radio Community Since 1936

Next PARC Meeting:

Wednesday, April 1, 2026 at 7:30PM

Calling Home from the Vietnam War: Ham Radio’s Role – Dennis Vernacchia N6KI

 

Please take note of the current meeting location

AND the new Zoom link below.

 

City of Carlsbad Recreation Hall

3060 Harding Street, Carlsbad

 

We strongly encourage you to come out and join us at our meetings in person. Our club thrives on your participation and camaraderie between members, newcomers, and people with general interest. Club membership is not a requirement to come to our meetings and enjoy yourself!

 

This month’s program:

Calling Home from the Vietnam War: Ham Radio’s Role – Dennis Vernacchia N6KI

Dennis Vernacchia N6KI will be presenting Calling Home from the Vietnam War: Ham Radio’s Role

 

Dennis has been a licensed ham since 1963, first hitting the air as WN2JDW in New Jersey. He holds a B.S.E.T. from Arizona State University and retired after a 40-year career in RF communications and manufacturing. He has lived in San Diego since 1974, where you can usually find him contesting on the HF bands most weekends or elmering new hams.

Dennis’s story takes a remarkable turn in 1967 when he was drafted into the U.S. Army. Trained as a radio-teletype operator, he was reassigned to an elite unit of the 101st Airborne Infantry Division – and he put his ham radio skills to work building and operating an Army MARS (Military Affiliate Radio Service) station at LZ Betty near Phan Thiet. From May 1968 to May 1969, he ran HF phone patches on the 15 and 20 meter bands, connecting soldiers with their families back home. That assignment likely kept him out of harm’s way, and he’ll be the first to tell you it kept him sane. He still uses 28.506 MHz on 10 meters as a nod to the 506th regiment he served with.

This is a slide and audio presentation full of incredible stories – smuggled antennas, midnight requisitioning, and the powerful human moments that happened when a soldier finally heard his family’s voice. It has been featured on the QSO Today podcast (Episode 168) and presented to clubs across the country. You won’t want to miss it.

 

Our Monthly Meetings are held in-person at one of the Carlsbad Community rooms (typically the Harding Community Center, but that may change based on their construction upgrades).

 

Meetings start at 7:30PM, but please feel free to join us early at 7PM for socialization, discussion, etc.

 

We do realize that not everyone can make it out to the meetings. If that’s the case, please connect with us at meeting time via Zoom!:

https://zoom.us/j/89625785552
Meeting ID: 896 2578 5552
Passcode: 146730

PARC was founded in February of 1936 and strives to provide the best services available to the San Diego amateur radio community.  PARC hosts monthly membership meetings at the Harding Community Center (3096 Harding St, Carlsbad, CA 92008)., details about the next meeting can be found on the Events page.  We also host several annual events, like Field Day, Operating Day, and a picnic.  Our repeaters serve not only as a means of communication for all amateurs in the area, but also host specific nets to allow specific topic discussions or practice for emergency preparedness.  Some of our nets include the National Traffic Service (NTS), MARA, SATERN, and Red Cross.  Special interest nets include Microwave, Ham Help, Handi-Hams, and the new C4FM Help group.

Did you know that Palomar Amateur Radio Club is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization? This means that donations of items and cash are tax-deductible! We are also registered with Amazon Smile, simply follow the link and search for Palomar Amateur Radio Club as the charitable organization, then all of your purchases done through Amazon Smile will result in small donations from Amazon to support the club. Please contact the board for more information.

Radios for Scouts is a program that the club sponsors, through generous contributions by our members, to provide a brand new pre-programmed handheld radio to local Boy Scouts who pass their Technician class exam and obtain their first callsign! Please contact the board if you’re interested in helping to sponsor this project.

Our repeaters are located near the top of Palomar Mountain, at about 5600ft above sea level, and operate on a battery bank that is fed by commercial power.  We proudly maintain independent power for several weeks in the event of an extended grid outage, and indefinitely if we make a trip with a generator and fuel.

Thank you for stopping by, feel free to say hello on our repeaters, or join us for our monthly meeting! Membership is not a requirement for using the repeaters or attending the meeting. However, we would encourage you to join the club and experience all the benefits of membership.

You can also join us on our Facebook Group and on Twitter