Conejo Valley Amateur Radio Club
An ARRL Special Service Club since 1970
Early last August a group of Southern California SOTA operators were camping in the Big Bear Mountains. The objective of the camp-out is to spend some face-to-face QSO time, and then they split up and go to different SOTA summits and they gain a lot of S2S (Summit-to-Summit) bonus contacts, most of those happening on 2 meters.
Continue reading “My Best SOTA DX “CVARC members went home with several dual band j-pole antennas after a build was held Saturday, May 20th at the East County Sheriff’s Station. Keith Elliott-W6KME gave a great “this is how it works” talk and most importantly all involved had fun! Thanks to Tom, Audrey, Linda, and April for the photos.
Bill Willcox-KF6JQO has revised his very useful Field Day Interference Checklist for 2023. The list offers a number of tips and best practices for minimizing interference with your Field Day setup. Of course, these suggestions can be very helpful for your own shack if you are having RF problems. You can view the checklist here or on this website at Links/Technical Articles/Anti-Interference Checklist.
Starting July 8th, and then on the 15th, 22nd and 29th, CVARC will be holding a General License class at the East County Sheriff Station, 2101 E. Olsen Road, Thousand Oaks from 8:00 A.M. to noon. The General License gives hams access to the HF bands and opens the door to worldwide communications.
The class will be taught by Keith Elliott-W6KME and will use the NEW edition of the ARRL General Class License Manual, 10th edition. A new pool of questions takes effect for the FCC test on July 1, and the new manual covers many more modern features of HF operation than before, including FT8 and other digital modes. The is no charge for the class, but a copy of the manual is required.
To reserve a spot in the class, contact Keith-W6KME at W6KME@CVARC.org.
CVARC’s Field Day returns for a third years at the Sherwood Development Company’s field, aka “Dicken’s Patch.” The site is located at 373 West Potrero Road, Westlake Village. The event runs from Saturday June 24 at 11:00 A.M. to Sunday June 25th at 11:00 A.M. Setup begins at noon on Friday June 23rd.
Continue reading “2023 CVARC ARRL Field Day”
Field Day is around the corner, and we’re having a weekly Zoom meeting to prepare, Wednesdays at 8:00 P.M. Anyone planning to take part in CVARC’s 2023 Field Day in Hidden Valley is invited. The meetings are every Wednesday until Field Day, with the same login info every time. Email Keith Elliott- W6KME for more information.
Meeting ID: 897 4068 7586
Passcode: 212039
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89740687586?pwd=QzFQQitoaXE0Y2NJbisxbllDMlZjUT09
Hello CVARC members, families, and guests!
May is upon us and a very busy month for amateur radio in Ventura County. We have the Ride to Defeat ALS, the CVARC J-Pole Build, and the Mountains to Beach Marathon. If you have not volunteered for an event before, these events are a great way to get started.
Congratulations to the 20 newly licensed/upgraded operators from the CVARC VE Session held on April 16th. We look forward to hearing you all on the air soon!
Continue reading “President’s Message”CVARC held a VE session on April 16th. There were 21 candidates, and 20 new licenses or upgrades were earned: 13 Technician, 5 General, and 2 Extra. Among those who earned new licenses or upgrades at the session were:
For the last several years, CVARC members have participated in a Science Night event at Brookside Elementary School in Oak Park. Club members introduce the students to ham radio and give them a chance to get on the air. The club’s involvement in the event was started by Stu Forman-AD6SF, whose son Harrison-KM6VGE was a student at the school. The most recent event was on April 28th. Joining Stu were Bill Willcox-KF6JQO, April Taylor-KN6QQW, and Zak Cohen-N6PK.
The J-POLE is a dual band, 2 meter and 70 cm antenna. It’s perfect for portable operations and well suited for mounting at home. Best of all, it takes up very little space! Primarily a dipole, the J-pole antenna exhibits a mostly omnidirectional pattern with an average gain near 2.2 dBi.
The antenna will provide a great improvement in range for repeater access and simplex contacts.
CVARC will provide everything you need, including all the materials and tools needed to complete the project. There will be easy to follow instructions and experts there to assist with soldering, assembling, and testing your new antenna. All you need to do is sign up, show up, cut, and assemble the pieces. It’s a great project build and a lot of fun. We even provide you with an overview on the history of the J-Pole and how it works at the build.
Saturday May 20th 8 A.M. at the East County Sheriff Station located at 2101 E. Olsen Road in Thousand Oaks.
Continue reading “CVARC Hosting J-POLE Antenna Build May 20th”