May Club Meeting Information

April 19, 2019April 19, 2019

May Club Meeting Information

The next regular club meeting is Thursday, May 16, 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 – Field Day: CVARC Operations Chair Bill Willcox-KF6JQO previews plans for the club’s biggest event of the year! Field Day will be held on June 22-23 at Maple Elementary School, 3501 Kimber Drive in Newbury Park.

Raffle Prizes: Bioenno Power 12V 9AH battery plus charger, CigBuddy 12V lighter to power pole, Power analyzer with backlight LCD

Pre-Meeting Dinner: Join fellow club members for a pre-meeting dinner at 5:00 at the Junkyard Cafe, 2585 Cochran Street, Simi Valley. (805) 520-5865

Upcoming CVARC Programs

April 18, 2019April 23, 2019

CVARC to Hold Extra Licensing Classes

The Conejo Valley Amateur Radio Club is hosting a five-week FCC Amateur Extra license class.

The class dates are November 2, 9, 16, 23 and December 7. All classes run from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

April 12, 2019April 12, 2019

Save the Dates: June 21-23 is Field Day

-by Bill Willcox- KF6JQO CVARC Operations Chair and 2019 Field Day Chair

It’s time to start getting ready for CVARC’s 2019 ARRL Field Day.

There is no better learning experience in ham radio than participating in a Field Day event. Once again we will be using the practice fields at Maple Elementary School, 3501 West Kimber Drive, Thousand Oaks, CA.

Setup will start 1100 PDT on June 21. (Please don’t come any earlier as, according to the Field Day Rules, we can set up no sooner than 1100). Operations will start at 1100 PDT June 22 and end 1100 PDT June 23. Cleanup will commence at 1100 PDT June 23. There will be a BBQ on the afternoon and evening of June 22 (details to follow).

March 22, 2019March 22, 2019

April Club Meeting Information

The next regular club meeting is Thursday, April 18, 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 – Arduino Powered Antenna Analyzer Project: Eric Oberg-KE6MLF will present an Arduino-based antenna analyzer project as designed by W8TEE and K2ZIA. It allows you to determine how close your antenna is to a 50 ohm impedance and provides a graphical display. On top of that, the project costs less than $75!

Raffle Prizes: 28 ft. heavy duty fiberglass telescopic pole, tri-band portable VHF/UHF antenna, Helping Hands soldering tool

Pre-Meeting Dinner: Join fellow club members for a pre-meeting dinner at 5:00 at Szechuan Garden, 484 E Los Angeles Ave., Moorpark, 93021 (805) 517-1930

Upcoming CVARC Programs

March 19, 2019March 20, 2019

Your Help Is Needed for Science Night Activity Wednesday Night, March 20, 2019

Just in time for the spring equinox, CVARC is participating in a science night event at Walnut Canyon Elementary School in Moorpark this Wednesday night between 6 and 8 p.m.

Bill Willcox-KF6JQO has been coordinating the club’s involvement in this educational activity. He’ll be joined by CVARC members Brett Price-KM6VFW, Mike Felio-K6MJF, Stu Forman-AD6SF and Harrison Forman-KM6VGE.

Here’s where you come in. Our team at the school will be monitoring and calling CQ on 40M (7.220 to 7.200 MHz), on the Bozo repeater and on the Amgen repeater. They’ll begin tuning up about 5 p.m. Kindergarten through 5th grade students and their parents will be participating on the air between 6 and 8 p.m. Please monitor or call our team at the school directly. Again, the call signs to listen for are: KF6JQO, AD6SF, KM6VFW, K6MJF and KM6VGE.

Please join in and help us promote amateur radio to a new generation.

March 13, 2019March 13, 2019

Volunteers Needed for School Science Night Event

Bill Willcox-KF6JQO is looking for a few CVARC members to help him at a Science Night event, 6-8 p.m. on Wednesday, March 20th at Walnut Canyon Elementary School, located at 280 Casey Road in Moorpark.

February 3, 2019February 3, 2019

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.

January 23, 2019February 11, 2019

February Club Meeting Information

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

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

Topic/Guest Speaker: Antennas: Ben Kuo-AI6YR has found a way to make almost anything into a serviceable ham radio antenna, even an old bicycle wheel! Ben will talk about his experimentation with antennas and show us some examples of low cost antennas any ham can make with just a little understanding of the basics.

Raffle Prizes: ICOM IC-H16 VHF Transceiver, Samlex 250W AC Inverter, Heil Handie-Talkie Headset

Pre-Meeting Dinner: Join fellow club members for a pre-meeting dinner at 5:00 pm, at The Dugout Sports Grill, 109 W Cochran St, Simi Valley. 805-955-9200

Upcoming CVARC Programs

January 3, 2019January 3, 2019

Magnetic Loop Antenna Project Finished

With remarkable teamwork and precision, a dozen mag loop antennas were finished December 29, 2018 after two full days of work. The project was led by Adrian Jarrett-K6KY. All the antennas were tuned and tested and Adrian says they should work particularly well on 20 meters as well as 30 meters and 17 meters. We haven’t had any reports of the antennas on the air yet, but you are sure to see some at CVARC’s Winter Field Day event on January 26th. Continue reading for pictures from Day 2 of the build.

January 2, 2019January 7, 2019

Summary of N6ZE/K1FJM ARRL September 2018 VHF Contest Operation

For many years, I have been a fairly active VHF/UHFer and particularly enjoy operating in VHF/UHF Contests and like to encourage others to do the same. Knowing that many local area hams have been licensed for just a short period of time or have never participated in a VHF/UHF contesting event, I traditionally clog local ham radio chat rooms with announcements for these operating opportunities.