Gathering – Summer 2023 – PNWDigital @ Valley Camp

2023 The Year to Reconnect!!!
The 2023 Gathering is in the can. More to appear soon by way of the Agenda & Recap page and updated on presentations, the Bat Walk and more. This page will reappear in 2024 updated for the Gathering.

  • Friday July 28 to Sunday July 30, 2023 (Socially extended weekend)
  • Donation: $10 Admission for Saturday Event includes 1 – $5.00 raffle ticket
  • Saturday July 29: Main events; Presentations, Buy/Sell/Trade / Lunch / Raffle

Valley Camp Address: 49515 S.E. Middle Fork Rd, North Bend, WA, 98045
Lat/Long: 47.465186, -121.679608 / 47°27’54.7″N 121°40’46.6″W
Talk-in: PNW Regional / VC repeater Local 1 / FM: 446.525s / 146.58s
Click on map for larger view

PNWDigital and Valley Camp are co-organizing this event again, but this 2023 event will be a few months later in the year than our past Gatherings. So, bookmark this page to stay up to date. If you have ideas, thoughts or questions, you may comment at the bottom of this page or send us and Email to: gathering2023@pnwdigital.net. If you want to help us organize it, present a topic or provide other support please let us know.

  • 7-28-23 This is the Weekend!!! // Agenda
  • Coffee is out as of 0700 Friady morning and all weekend
  • Friday late afternoon/early evening, semi-secret surprise something er-other
  • Talk-in Radio monitoring help needed Saturday 0600-0830 (all or part)
  • Sunday Pancakes (plus) hosted by Valley Camp hosts
  • Latest Talk-in or other comms for travel or onsite use:
    • Any PNWDigital repeater/hotspot (or BM): PNW Regional (31771) Timeslot 2
    • Valley Camp DMR repeater: Local 1 (440.725 +5Mhz, CC1)
    • Metro 2 Group for Valley Camp, East Tiger and Demo repeaters
    • 446.525 simplex (also Echolink access) / 146.58 simplex
  • Saturday training/presentations all day; $10 donation to attend (includes 1 $5 raffle ticket)
  • Onsite Lunch Option on Saturday
    • ($10 donation; salads, brats, burgers, sides, beverages / reservations requested via survey for head count)
  • Food: Saturday full lunch / dinner support / Sunday breakfast
    • Saturday dinner/potluck support with grill/BBQ, condiments, bevs optional
    • Sunday morning Pancake breakfast (informal)
    • Sat dinner/potluck support and Sun breakfast is hosted by VC Staff and at no cost but donations are appreciated. 🙂
  • Camano Island Coffee included for the weekend! (bottomless / unlimited)
  • Grand Prizes — provided by Let’s Get Ready
    • 1 – Anytone D578UV-II Mobile Radio with Bluetooth Speaker-Mic-Display (BC-01)
    • 2 – Anytone 878UV-II HT’s (programmed with community codeplug)
      • Charged, ready to go out of the box with a temp RID, for immediate use at Valley Camp
    • 1 – Anytone AT-5555N II 10/11 meter mobile radio
    • 2 – Anytone BT-01 Bluetooth display mics
    • 5 Anytone HT 3100 mAhr batteries & 5 speaker/mics
  • Over $1,800 (Amazon pricing) donated for this fundraiser (contact LGR directly for PNWDigital discount pricing)
  • HRO Gift Certificates (not donated) // Rollup J-Poles and misc swag
  • RT Systems Programmer and cable certificates donated by RT Systems
    • PNWDigital 10% off Coupon Code: NORF (currently, may change)
  • Swap/Sell/Free space on Saturday, so bring your treasures.
    • back of the truck style, bring your own chairs and pop-up shade if you like, more info later
  • Camping reservations for RV full hook-ups are filled, wait list available.
    • Dry camp RV spaces may still be available, inquire ASAP, plenty of tent and bunkhouse space.
    • Call Valley Camp for the latest information and availability
  • DMR Demonstration Repeater and hand-out demo radios in the Pavilion
    • 440.125 +5, Color Code 1, Local 1 and Metro 2 (networked to VC Metro 2)
      • With Callwatch viewing at the repeater; winkie LED’s too
    • AreoFlex/Anritsu DMR Radio/Comm Test Set available to check your DMR HT’s
  • Presentation coordinator: Greg, AC7RX
  • Raffle/Fundraising coordinator: Benton, NX7O
  • Folks, this is not only a training event but also social and more importantly, our fundraiser that 100% benefits Valley Camp (501c3). It is PNWDigital’s only fundraiser; we are requesting donations for the benefit of an outstanding Ham oriented organization that has a beautiful venue which is well-appointed for Ham use. If you are a RV’er, camper, tenter or bunkhouse enthusiast, then you will not be disappointed. If you cannot attend, donate to PNWDigital with a note to pass it on to Valley Camp and we will do so and also add you to our donors list.

Finally, after a long Covid-19 Hiatus, we are back on this year, later in the year too so it should be warmer than our past Spring events. Here’s a snippet from recent post by Greg, AC7RX

Valley Camp is a Ham-friendly, camping-based retreat center in the woods a few miles outside of North Bend, WA. It is run by two hams and all-around good people, Teena (K7HAV) and Thom (K7FZO). Over the years they have hosted numerous ham-related events at Valley Camp. The PNW Digital group had their first DMR inspired event over a weekend in May 2019. That happened to be where I got my feet wet in DMR, with a number of technical presentations, hanging-out time, and a deluxe cookout. Covid-19 put a damper on the next couple years of planned DMR gatherings, but there’s been a recent effort to gauge interest in having a summer 2023 PNW Digital event.

Helpful links for planning and attendance

Gathering Volunteers

  • Presentation Coordinator: Greg, AC7RX
  • Fundraising Coordinator: Benton NX7O
  • Presenters (partial listing and TBA/TBD):
    • Joel, N7LF (confirmed)
    • Dave, W7NCX
    • Steve, N9VW (confirmed)
    • Steve, WA7HAA (confirmed)
  • Event Helpers (potential listing):
    • Mike – NO7RF (Confirmed)
    • Diana – KI6LWC (Confirmed)
    • Dale – W7HLO
    • Mark – N6OBY (Confirmed)
    • Rick – K7ITE
    • Ashay – K3TZZ
    • Calvin – KI6DRO
    • John – N7TES (Confirmed)
    • Tom – WA7TBP
    • Kathy – K7USR (Confirmed)
    • Steve – WA7DUH (Confirmed)
    • Rod – KC7AAD (Confirmed)
  • Camp Hosts: Thom – K7FZO and Teena – K9HAV

If you wish to know more please send an Email to: PNWD-VC-Gathering@DMR.groups.io or to the Mod Team

Group Email Addresses

First Published: January 5, 2023 Last Updated: 1 year ago by Mike – NO7RF

Views: 1185

This Post Has 6 Comments

    1. Mike - NO7RF June 27, 2023

      Thanks Richard. I will putting out the last polling on July 1st, so please check for it. Short one but will be used for our semi-final count list for planning.

    2. Mike - NO7RF July 25, 2023

      At this time, all planning is done, so no need to respond. That was one of the purposes of the 4 surveys posted since January in our various IO Groups.

  3. Mike - NO7RF April 2, 2023

    32 responses / Full Service RV spaces are all reserved / Dry Camp RV, Tent and Bunkhouse spaces are still available.

    We still need presenters too for Saturday, likely Anytone Radio programming workshop on Sunday morning.

  4. Mike - NO7RF February 13, 2023

    As of 2-13-22, we have 7-20 hams who are “interested” in attending 1 or more days.

    This level of interest is very low and not likely to be sufficient to support an organized event. If you are interested please express it in the group’s canvasing effort: https://dmr.groups.io/g/PNWD-VC-Gathering/message/12

    At a minimum, please respond to the brief poll in our main IO Group: https://dmr.groups.io/g/PNW/message/6937 We need to know numbers, level of interest, lunch, etc. If we don’t have numbers, the event will likely be canceled or at least, no organized presentations will be provided.

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