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Morse Group Meeting with Kate Hutton

Guest speaker Kate Hutton-K6HTN, the “Earthquake Lady,” was a staff seismologist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, CA where she monitored earthquakes for 37 years. During that time, she was regularly on television following earthquakes to explain the seismic event. 

Dr. Hutton is also a licensed ham and she’ll be discussing how she got started in amateur radio, Morse code, and traffic handling.

April 6 at 10:00 am in the Community Room of the East County Sheriff’s Station.

Any questions should be directed to Steve Gillis-KZ6H.

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Ham Radio License Classes Return in July

CVARC is offering four-week FCC Technician License (Level 1) and General License (Level 2) classes.

The class dates are:

Saturday, July 20, 2019    Saturday July 27, 2019 Saturday August 3, 2019 Saturday August 10, 2019

The Technician License (Level 1) class will be held from 8:00 am to Noon.   The General License (Level 2) class will be held from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm.

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President’s Message

If you were at our February meeting, you likely heard that we’re planning some new things for 2019.  Well, maybe not new, but we’re bringing back some things that CVARC hasn’t done in a while.

It’s been a few years since we’ve had a real club picnic, one that wasn’t also a Mini-Field Day.  So we’re planning to have a club picnic in August – a picnic where spouses and children are encouraged to attend – a picnic that’s less about radio and more about good food and socializing… although there will be a little radio fun.

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March Club Meeting Information

The next regular club meeting is Thursday, March 21, 2019 (always the third Thursday) at the East County Sheriff’s Station’s Community Room, 2101 E. Olsen Rd, Thousand Oaks at 7:30 pm.

Talk-in coordination is on the Bozo repeater, 147.885 (- 127.3)

Topic/Guest Speaker: Repeater Systems: Brad Ormsby-W6VO discusses the numerous repeater systems available to Conejo Valley hams.  Which are open or closed?  Brad will also describe a linked repeater system and discuss some of the special attributes of each.  He’ll also talk about the cost of membership and how to choose what system would best meet your needs and interests.

Raffle Prizes: ARRL Antenna Book; ARRL’s Magnetic Loop Antenna Book; Weller WLC1000 Soldering Station.

Pre-Meeting Dinner: Join fellow club members for a pre-meeting dinner at 5:00 at Brent’s Deli, 2799 Townsgate, Westlake Village, 805-557-1882.

Upcoming CVARC Programs

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The Adventures of Pete and Woodie at the January 2019 VHF Contest

During the third weekend of January, Pete Heins-N6ZE and Woodie Woodward-WA6WDY spent 16 hours roving around SoCal to have fun…and that’s what they did!

Pete Heins-N6ZE/R holds a 23cm (1294.5 MHz VJB Cheapie Yagi) and an ALINCO DJ-G7 triband FM handheld atop a ridge in the Santa Monica mountains (DM04qb) on Saturday of the January 2019 VHF Contest. VHF/UHF propagation conditions to the San Diego area (Grid DM12) were what one would normally expect during summer months: 10 watt VHF/UHF stations with only whip antennae were easily worked. Best distance worked was with K6PFG (DM12mt) at 130 miles. The temperature inversion which produced the enhanced summer-like conditions is clearly in view behind N6ZE and just above the water surface of the Santa Monica Bay. (Woodie Woodward-WA6WDY is wearing the “Radio” T-shirt. He frequently roves with Pete.) Note that two years ago, during January ‘17 VHF Contest, typical winter propagation conditions existed and no San Diego stations were heard.

Pete and Woodie entered the ARRL’s January 2019 VHF Contest in the “Rover” category because they utilized six VHF/UHF bands: 6 meters on 50.125 MHz USB & 52.525 MHz FM; 2 meters on 144.200 MHz USB and various FM Simplex frequencies from 146.52 –> 146.61 MHz; 135 centimeters on 223.5 MHz FM; 70 centimeters on 432.1 MHz USB & 446.0 MHz FM; 33 centimeters on 927.5 MHz FM; and 23 centimeters on 1294.5 MHz FM.

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