Conejo Valley Amateur Radio Club
An ARRL Special Service Club
By Pete Heins-N6ZE
The 2020 Spring Six Meter SPRINT, the final one until fall 2020, was held on Saturday, May 9, 2020, and what a SPRINT it was:
The Spring 2020 Microwave SPRINT was held on Saturday, May 2nd. Five seasonal SPRINT events, sponsored by the Central States VHF Society, are held in the Spring and Fall to encourage use of and foster simplex activity on the VHF/UHF bands.
During four hours of operation from three locations, Pete Heins-N6ZE made 14 contacts on 23cm and 33cm with 10 different stations. He made two additional contacts with N6VI from another location, but only the furthest distance counted for points.
Continue reading “Spring 2020 Microwave SPRINT”
By Pete Heins-N6ZE
On Wednesday evening, April 22, 2020, the 70 cm Spring SPRINT served as a “highlight of the day” to escape today’s issues. The weather was great: T-shirt weather, with calm winds and great visibility. The activity level was a pleasant surprise with many stations worked throughout Ventura County.
Continue reading “N6ZE’s 70 cm and 135 cm Spring SPRINT Results”By Pete Heins-N6ZE
I operated from a local Thousand Oaks hilltop (DM04ne) during the first two hours of the Spring 2 Meter SPRINT, which was held on Monday evening, April 6th. Hint: To increase one’s VHF/UHF score go to the highest hilltop you can access!
I made 23 QSOs in 3 Grids. Score is 69. I contacted DM04 (19 QSO), DM03 (1 QSO), & DM13 (3 QSO).
I also heard K6MYC in DM07 (205 miles), north of Fresno and N6RMJ in DM25 (257 miles), in the Northwest corner of Arizona. Not one peep was heard from DM12, DM14, CM94, or CM95.
By Pete Heins-N6ZE
The ARRL January 2020 VHF Contest was held on January 18 – 19, 2020. N6ZE/R, operated by Pete Heins-N6ZE and Woodie Woodward-WA6WDY, made just over 250 QSOs on 6 bands from activating four Ventura and Los Angeles county grids. Our 7-hour stint at our Saturday location in the Santa Monica mountains (DM04qb) yielded 150 QSOs.
Continue reading “N6ZE/Rover in the January VHF Contest”October 9, 2019 – 70 cm (420 – 450 MHz) SPRINT Operation
Just 8 days after participating in the 135 cm (222 -225 MHz) SPRINT, Woody-WA6WDY, and I traveled again to the top of Stunt Rd. in the Santa Monica Mountains (DM04qb) to participate in the 70cm (420 – 450MHz) SPRINT. From our location more than 2000 feet above sea level, with an unrestricted RF horizon in many directions, 100 watts of SSB & FM, and an 18 element horizontally polarized Yagi, we made 20 contacts (QSOs) in Ventura, Los Angeles, & Orange Counties in 1.5 hours of operating. Interestingly, we worked 8 stations in both Ventura County and in Grid DM13 to the East/Southeast of Los Angeles. Thanks to CVARC/VCARS/ACS members who got on.
Continue reading “More SPRINT Ops with Pete Heins-N6ZE”Unlike my 2 meter Fall 2019 SPRINT operation on Thousand Oaks’ Tarantula Hill for last week’s event, Woody-WA6WDY, and I traveled to the top of Stunt Rd. in the Santa Monica mountains (DM04qb) to participate in the 135cm (222 – 225 MHz) SPRINT. From our location, more than 2000 feet above sea level and with an unrestricted RF horizon in many directions, 100 watts of SSB & FM, and a 7 element horizontally polarized Yagi, we made 13 contacts (QSOs) in Ventura, Los Angeles, & Orange Counties in just over one hour of operating.
Several stations which we contacted were more than 40 miles distant; one, WA6EJO, used just a handheld with whip antenna from Ventura.
Continue reading “135 cm (222- 225 MHz) SPRINT Report by Pete Heins-N6ZE”On Monday evening, September 23, 2019, I conducted a minor “DX-Pedition” to the peak of Thousand Oaks’ Tarantula Hill (T-Hill) to participate in the Fall 2 Meter SPRINT operating event.
I decided to bring a 2 meter rig up the .8 km trail to the 1017 foot Summit of “T-Hill” for a number of reasons. As a passionate VHF/UHF-oriented ham for several decades, I encourage others to operate and submit contest entries to demonstrate the use of the very valuable bands & frequencies assigned to Amateur Radio Operators.
Continue reading “N6ZE’s Very Minor DX-Pedition by Pete Heins”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 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.
Continue reading “The Adventures of Pete and Woodie at the January 2019 VHF Contest”CVARC hosts several portable operating events each year.
The first event this year is Winter Field Day, January 26, 2019, from 10 AM to 4 PM at Dos Vientos Park Picnic Pavilion, 4801 Borchard Road, Newbury Park.
CVARC has reserved the pavilion from 8 AM to 5 PM, so please plan on setting up no earlier than 8 AM. (We may want to use this venue again, so we don’t want to anger the Recreation and Parks Gods.) We’ll have pizza and drinks available around lunchtime.
Continue reading “CVARC Winter Field Day”