By Steve Champion, AE6NX
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The results of the CVARC Skills "&" Interests survey are in, and they show us to be an interesting and varied group. The response rate was quite low (about 25% of the membership) so it is difficult to say just how representative the responses are, but I think they can give us some general pointers. One thing that stood out is that there are several areas where there is a high degree of “beginner interest”. So expect to see guest speakers or club activities related to: VHF/UHF Antenna Design or Construction, QRP, ARPS, Packet, PSK31, CW, VHF/UHF mobile installation, or Getting Kids on the Air. The last of these registered very highly in responses, so the Board has asked Ben Champion to come up with some ideas for running a program at the monthly meetings specifically for our younger members and their friends. A regular Kids’ Net is also being considered. In survey responses, there were also some areas where there seems to be a very high degree of expertise within the club (including some already mentioned above). Perhaps these would be areas where we could undertake some more ambitious club projects: Emergency Communications, HF/VHF/UHF antennas, Equipment Construction, and various aspects of Personal Computers in radio. Interestingly enough, the “other hobbies” section of the questionnaire revealed something about our group that I didn’t know: We have many Campers and Hikers among us. This makes me think that perhaps we should book a group campsite this summer and have our own CVARC mini-field-day. We don’t have to wait for Field Day for an excuse to go camping and play with our radios! If anybody has prior experience in arranging a group campout, please let me know. So, the survey has given us some food for thought… but if you have any more ideas for club activities or guest speakers, then you have my email address. More complete results of the Skills "&" Interests Survey can be obtained by emailing Steve at steve@stevechampion.com . The results, as presented, do not identify individual members – so if you need to find an expert in a particular technical field please ask. 73 Steve Champion, AE6NX |
CVARC Meeting Mapping VHF/UHF Coverage
Presented by Steve Champion, AE6NX
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You have probably seen those colorful maps showing the estimated coverage of a commercial VHF/UHF station or a repeater… but did you know that you can create this kind of map very easily yourself, using free software? Come join us for a talk at our February CVARC club meeting on Mapping VHF/UHF Coverage. It will be presented by Steve Champion, AE6NX. He presented this talk in the UK in January (at Cambridge "&" District ARC), and it was very well received. The meeting will begin at 7:30pm at the Elks Lodge on Conejo School Rd., with a social session prior to the meeting from 7:00 to 7:30. Hope to see you there. |
FCC License Examinations - Next Exam On February 13, 2005
By Jeff Reinhardt, AA6JR
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CVARC hosts FCC License Examinations at 8:30 AM on the second Sunday of even numbered months at the Ventura East County Sheriff Station on Olsen Rd. (near the Reagan Library). CVARC conducts exams for all license classes . Exam candidates must bring a form of government issued photo I.D., the original AND a photocopy of any existing license or Certificate of Exam Element Completion, a Social Security (or government issued Taxpayer I.D.) number, and $14 ARRL VE Exam fee (cash is preferred). No advance reservation is necessary, walk-ins are welcome. Advance notice is needed for special circumstances, such as reading the exam to sight-impaired candidates. If you have any questions, contact CVARC VE Coordinator Jeff Reinhardt at 818-706-3853. |
By Karl Moody, KJ6WVZ
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At the January meeting of the CVARC Board of Directors, our new president, Steve Champion, asked the Board members to consider things the club could work on during the coming year. My first thoughts went off in a direction only someone on real strong cool aid could envision. Then during a later discussion about what to do with some radio equipment recently donated to the club it hit me. I suggested that we find a member who has not been on the air lately, perhaps because he or she simply doesn’t have a radio, and donate the radio to that member. As the Board discussed the pros and cons of the suggestion, the bigger idea crept into my head. It was then that “EMOTA” (Every Member On The Air) was born. As I thought about the number of members in the Conejo Valley Amateur Radio Club, it dawned on me that I have made radio contact with very few of these faithful, dues paying members. Sure, I see them every now and then when I attend club activities, and some of them I even recognize when I see them in Home Depot or Lupe’s restaurant in Thousand Oaks. But, have I ever talked to them on the radio? I know that some of us have difficulty getting on the air because of long work hours and family responsibilities. However, we all seem to enjoy talking together about our radio related activities each month at the CVARC club meeting. So one suggestion that might be fun and allow us all to get together on the air more often would be to have a weekly CVARC social net on the 2 meter Bozo repeater. Another idea that could be a lot of fun and generate some friendly rivalries among our members was suggested by Greg Lane, K7SDW. Greg suggested that as part of our EMOTA program, we have a Worked All Members (WAM) contest with a CVARC WAM Certificate awarded to anyone working at least 50 CVARC members on any band; i.e. HF/VHF/UHF. With 63 current members we will have to re-activate some members we don’t usually hear from, but I think this is a challenge worthy of CVARC. One reason that we don’t hear some of our members on the air is that they do not have the necessary radio equipment. As a part of the EMOTA program, we plan to make every effort to help any member who does not have a radio for local communications get on the VHF/UHF bands. This effort includes an appeal to every member of CVARC who may have surplus radios that are repeater capable in the 2 meter and 70 centimeter bands (with special emphasis on the 2 meter band) to consider donating such equipment to the club. Board members have already volunteered some equipment and others have volunteered to help repair or service donated equipment. Our younger Board members have offered to climb up on the roof or patio cover to install donated antennas so we can have every member on the air. So, I suggested that CVARC launch a project to get “every member on the air” (EMOTA) in 2005. We will be talking more about this project at our February CVARC club meeting. In the mean time, if you have any ideas, or comments, or wish to donate radios, time, labor, or anything else to EMOTA, please give me a call. KARL MOODY KE6WVZ (805) 523-0622 |
By Ken Larson, KJ6RZ
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In recent months CVARC has taken on an international flavor. In addition to being a CVARC member, Alan Masson, K6PSP / G3PSP, is also a member of the Edgware "&" District Radio Society, (G3ASR), which is located in a northwest suburb of London. According to Alan, Edgware is quite a small club, with a particular interest in serious contesting. About a year ago Alan asked if it would be OK if the Edgware club published a couple of our CVARC articles in their newsletter "Edgware Ham News". We of course were delighted to help them out. The Edgware club has a web site at http://www.g3asr.thersgb.net/index.htm. If you take a look in their Gallery section of the website you will find some photographs that were taken by Alan, either many years ago, or on recent visits to their Field Day stations. You might even recognize a couple of shots of Alan, a little younger and slimmer! About a week ago I received a request from the Ottawa Amateur Radio Club "Groundwave", asking if they could publish one of our articles. Earlier in January we received a similar request from the Hervey Bay Amateur Radio Club in Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia (VK4 land). We gave both clubs permission to print our articles. A considerable dialog has developed between the Hervey Bay club and ourselves. They have sent us their last three newsletters and they have access to ours via the CVARC web site. The remainder of this article is excerpts from several emails that I received from their club President, Wade Millwood VK4ACB G'day Hervey Bay Amateur Radio Club (HBARC) has about 30 members these days. We have clubrooms in a park right on the foreshore of the bay. We share the facilities with a boxing club, they of course don’t have access to our club station VK4CHB. Its generally an amicable arrangement except when they leave some of the punching bags hanging up on the Saturday morning we have our monthly meeting! Our club operates a VHF repeater on 146.625 negative offset, 600 KHz here in VK. Our members are not a bad bunch, very sociable, we always had beer in the fridge at the club. However, the lawyers over here are following their American cousins and really getting behind liability claims, so our insurance company advised us to not sell liquor anymore. We have the monthly meeting on the third Saturday of the month. Over the years we have had a large number of visiting hams from many countries, a lot of seagoing types stop in the bay. We had an artist amongst the members who used to paint our supply of metal chairs with call signs and sometimes portraits of visiting hams, it is the history of the club really. I don’t know how the visitors feel about club members sitting on their face though! Our club has in the past been very active on the DX scene, we have had a number of awards over the years featuring various events. One of the most popular was the Whale award. Hervey Bay is on the migration route for whales going down to Antarctica for summer. They rest in the Bay for quite a while as they pass. Whale watching is big business here for the tourist industry. If you look at a map of Queensland, find a large island called Fraser Island sticking out from the coast. Hervey Bay is right where the island comes closest to the coast, its a beautiful area. From my QTH I get a clear shot out over the Pacific Ocean for a good part of my horizon. Incidentally, Fraser Island's IOTA number is OC-142. Our club has activated the Island a couple of times mainly for the Lighthouses On The Air weekend. That is quite an adventure usually. It is a 80 mile 4 wheel drive up the ocean beach of the Island to get to Sandy Cape lighthouse right up on the very tip of the island. The island is the largest sand island in the southern hemisphere and is very popular with tourists. It is a magic place having large freshwater lakes and rainforests but is still very much a tropical island. Wade Millwood VK4ACB |
| Date | Event | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Jan. 13 | CVARC Meeting | General CVARC Meeting |
| Feb. 10 | CVARC Club Meeting | General CVARC Meeting |
| Feb. 13 | FCC License Exam | Begins at 8:30AM at East County Sheriff Station |
| Feb. 25-27 | Coyote 4 Play | 3 day Cross Country Race in Ojai "&" Santa Monica Mts. |
| Mar. 10 | CVARC Meeting | General Club Meeting |
| Mar. 12 | Westlake Street Fair | Tentative Date |
| Mar. 13 | CROP Walk | Radio Support for T.O. CROP Walk |
| April 2 | Simi Valley MS Walk | Tentative date |
| April 10 | FCC License Exam | Begins at 8:30AM at East County Sheriff Station |
| April 14 | CVARC Meeting | General Meeting |
| Apr 23-24 | Baker to Vegas Run | Supporting Ventura County Sheriff Dept. |
| May 7 | Cruisin Conejo Bike Ride | Tentataive Date |
| May 12 | CVARC Meeting | Club Meeting |
| May 14 | Sea To Summit Bike Ride | Tentative date |
| June 9 | CVARC Club Meeting | General CVARC Club meeting |
| June 12 | FCC License Exam | Begins at 8:30 am at East County Sheriff's Station |
| June 25-26 | Field Day | CVARC annual field day event, you don't want to miss it! |
| July 3 | Moorpark Fireworks | Support for Moorpark's 3rd of July Fireworks |
| July 14 | CVARC Club Meeting | General CVARC Club meeting |
| July 20 | CVARC Radio Class | Spouses Amateur Radio License class |
| Aug. 11 | CVARC Club Meeting | General CVARC Club meeting |
| Aug. 14 | FCC License Exam | Begins at 8:30 am at East County Sheriff's Station |
| Sept. 8 | CVARC Club Meeting | General CVARC Club meeting |
| Oct 9 | FCC License Exam | Begins at 8:30 am at East County Sheriff's Station |
| Oct. 13 | CVARC Club Meeting | General CVARC Club meeting |
| Nov 10 | CVARC Club Meeting | General CVARC Club meeting |
Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service
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Ventura County Area 2 ARES/RACES members are encouraged to check in every Tuesday night at 7:00 pm on the Area 2 Check-in Net. Specific ARES/RACES times and frequencies are as follows: |
| Area | Time | Mode | Frequency | Pl | Repeater |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| County | 7:30-8 pm | Voice | 146.880 - | 127.3 | WA6ZTT |
| County | 7:30-8 pm | Voice | 224.020 - | 127.3 | WB6ZTR |
| County | Before 6:30 pm | Packet | 145.710 | No pl | Hospital Net |
| County | RACES Simplex | Voice | 147.570 | No pl | ____ |
| Area 1 | 7:00-7:30 pm | Voice | 147.930 - | 127.3 | WB6WEY |
| Area 2 | 7:00-7:30 pm | Voice | 147.885 - | 127.3 | Bozo - N6JMI |
| Area 2 | Simplex | Voice | 147.555 | No pl | ___ |
| Area 2 | Backup Repeater | Voice | 146.850 - | 94.8 | Grissom - K6AER |
| Area 2 | Amgen Repeater | Voice | 449.440 - | 131.8 | KE6SWS |
| Area 3 | 7:15-7:30 pm | Voice | 147.915 - | 127.3 | WB6ZTQ |
| Area 4 | 7:15-7:30 pm | Voice | 146.970 - | 127.3 | WB6YQN |
| Area 5 | 7:00-7:30 pm | Voice | 145.400 - | No pl | N6FL |
| Area 6 | 7:00-7:30 pm | Voice | 147.975 - | 127.3 | N6AHI |
| Area 7 | 7:00-7:30 pm | Voice | 146.985 - | 127.3 | WB6ZTX |
| Area 8 | 7:00-7:30 pm | Voice | 145.280 - | 100 | KN6OK |
| 6 Meter | 6:45-7:00 pm | Voice | 052.980 - | 082.5 | K6SMR |
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Net Control operations for the weekly ARES/RACES Area 2 check-in is run from the ARES/RACES communications center at East County Cheriff Station on Olsen Road each Tuesday at 7:00 PM. Visitors are welcome and have the opportunity to operate the station equipment. Contact Jerry Goldman KC6SO ( 805) 492-3749 if you plan to attend. RACES members, should remember that their RACES card is issued for only two years. When your card is due to expire call Jackie ( 805) 646-2551 at the Office of Emergency Services in Ventura to renew your card. For questions concerning ARES/RACES call Area 2 Emergency Coordinator Ken Larson KJ6RZ ( 805) 495-9435 or go to the ARES/RACES secion of the CVARC website at http://www.cvarc.org. |
| President | Steve Champion | AE6NX | (805) 493-2564 | steve@stevechampion.com |
| Vice President | Greg Lane | K7SDW | (805) 498-0454 | k7sdw@juno.com |
| Secretary | Noel Van Slyke | K6NVS | (805)482-3744 | nkvanslyke@verizon.net |
| Treasurer | Mike Pershing | KD6IJF | (805)493-1934 | mpershing@earthlink.net |
| Editor/Publisher | Ken Larson | KJ6RZ | (805)495-9435 | kj6rz@highstream.net |
| Operations | Rory Eikland | KG6HCU | (805)493-4949 | cim@earthlink.net |
| Education | Karl Moody | KE6WVZ | (805)523-0622 | ke6wvz@aol.com |
| Public Relations | Jeff Reinhardt | AA6JR | (818)706-3853 | jmreinhardt@sbcglobal.net |
| Technical | Hugh Bosma | KF6WVZ | (805)498-1987 | hrbcrb@aol.com |
| Social | Tom Stough | W0UFC | (805) 373-6836 | TomStough@juno.com |
| Member-at-Large | Ben Champion | AE6NY | (805) 493-2564 | ben@benchampion.com |
| Member-at-Large | Neil Waybright | KG6QEL | (805) 517-2962 | kg6qel@yahoo.com |
| ARRL Southwestern Division Director: | Richard Norton, N6AA | n6aa@arrl.org |
| ARRL Southwestern Division Vice Director: | Ned Stearns, AA7A | |
| ARRL Santa Barbara Section Manager: | Robert Griffin, K6YR, 1436 Johnson Ave., San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 | (805)543-3346) k6yr@arrl.org |
| ARRL VUCC (VHF/UHF Century Club) Certification: | Peter Heins, N6ZE | (805)496-1315 n6ze@aol.com |
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The Conejo Valley Amateur Radio Club is an ARRL affiliated Special Service Club. Meetings are held on the second Thursday of each month, unless otherwise noted. Meeting location is at the Elks Lodge, 158 Conejo School Rd., Thousand Oaks, CA. Meetings start at 7:30 pm. with a pre-meeting social and technical assistance session, for those who are interested at 7:15 pm. Meetings are open to the public, and members are encouraged to bring their friends. |
Editors: Ken and Paula Larson