The August 2020 ARRL 222 MHz & Up Distance Contest runs from 11 A.M. PDT on Saturday, August 1, 2020 until 11 A.M. PDT on Sunday, August 2, 2020. Contacts made on all frequencies 222 MHz (135cm) and up are permitted. As usual, repeaters may not be utilized.
Continue reading “Practical Hints for Participants in ARRL’s 222 MHz & Up Contest”August 9th VE Session Cancelled
The August 9th VE session has been cancelled. We still do not have access to the Community Room at the East County Sheriff’s Station. Other (outdoor) locations are not yet available and our first priority is to provide a safe environment for both examinees and VEs.
If you are interested in getting a license or an upgrade, you do have the option a taking a fully-remote exam. The program runs well and you should be able to get a license/upgrade in a timely manner. Because of the complexity of setting up these testing sessions, they do ask that only examinees who are consistently passing practice exams sign up for the remote exams. For more information go to https://blog.hamstudy.org/2020/06/so-you-want-to-take-a-remote-exam/.
For more information contact the CVARC VE Coordinator Andy Ludlum-K6AGL at k6agl@cvarc.org
Ham radio and emergency comms: Filling the USGS ‘donut hole’; (via ITU News)
By Adam Davidson, W9AS (This article is republished with permission of the author and the Amateur Radio Safety Foundation, Inc.)
On July 2nd, shortly before midnight local time in Hawaii, a dozen amateur radio operators did something nobody had ever done before—something that shows the best in amateur radio and could herald a transformation in the role ‘hams’ (another name
Source: ITU News
Understanding HF Propagation
The Uncertain Future of Ham Radio (via IEEE Spectrum: Technology, Engineering, and Science News)
Will the amateur airwaves fall silent? Since the dawn of radio, amateur operators—hams—have transmitted on tenaciously guarded slices of spectrum….
Source: IEEE Spectrum: Technology, Engineering, and Science News
Field Day Results
Martin Hickey-AJ6CL distributed a survey to operators from the various clubs across the county to collect numbers of QSO’s made in order to highlight the accomplishments of hams in Ventura County. This informal survey is independent of the scores that operators submitted to the ARRL as official Field Day entries. Official Field Day results are published in the December issue of QST.
Continue reading “Field Day Results”Mesh Network Camera Captures Simi Valley Brush Fire
Orv Beach-W6BI reports the camera on the mesh network on Chatsworth peak captured the quick work to put out a small brush fire in Simi Valley off Cochran Street late Sunday afternoon. In addition to screen shots, live video of the fire fight was streamed on YouTube.
Source: Ventura County Star
Multiband TV Rabbit Ear Antenna
Extend rabbit ears to 17” or so for 2 meter use; for 6 meters, use the rabbit ears fully extended and add 12” clip lead at ends of the dipole. (Channel 2 TV used frequencies just a bit higher in frequency than the 6 meter band.) Use power meter, SWR bridge, or internal metering in the transceiver to achieve lowest VSWR. Meant for QRP use only! Plastic Schedule 40 PVC pipe in one-foot sections, with PVC couplings, makes for a simple mast, which can be put in a suitcase for travel or in a day pack for hill-topping/SOTA use. – Pete, N6ZE
DYFI on Winlink
This month marked the one-year anniversary of the M7.1 Ridgecrest earthquake. Amateur radio operators can now report the effects of an earthquake, their experiences and the extent of the damage via radio using the “Did You Feel It” (DYFI) form on Winlink Express. This information is transmitted directly to the United States Geological Survey’s (USGS) “Did You Feel It?” system which creates community earthquake intensity maps. The form allows amateur radio operators to become citizen scientists who contribute to earthquake research and support earthquake education and preparedness in their area.
Here’s a presentation on DYFI Winlink from Oliver Dully-K6OLI at k6oli@arrl.net.
Continue reading “DYFI on Winlink”July Club Meeting Information
The next regular club meeting on Thursday, July 16, 2020 at 7:00 p.m. will be conducted via Zoom video conferencing software as we continue social distancing efforts to combat the spread of COVID-19. Details on how to access the meeting are below.
Topic/Guest Speaker – Deep Space Communications and the Deep Space Network: Stephen Townes-WB4ILW will the Deep Space Network, an international array of giant radio antennas that supports interplanetary spacecraft missions. He will also give us an overview of the fundamentals of deep space communications and aspects of flight hardware. Dr. Townes is the Chief Technologist of the Interplanetary Network Directorate and Manager of the Technology, Standards and Spectrum Program Office at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He is the current President of the JPL Amateur Radio Club.
Continue reading “July Club Meeting Information”