Field Day is over for another year. I think that I can safely say that a lot of fun was had by everybody involved. Its part emergency drill, part contest, part campout – so you can’t run out of things to do.

On Friday night June 24th the hillside at the Thousand Oaks Government Center rapidly sprouted an assortment of antennas. Shelters, from the basic to the downright luxurious, were put up or wheeled into place. We were still putting up antennas as the sun went down, so we had a fine view of the sunset over the Conejo Valley. The relatively late start time on Saturday gave plenty of time to finish setting things up, and by the time 11am rolled around it seemed like things were in pretty good shape.

We had a steady trickle of visitors on Saturday. The Fuel Cell generated quite a bit of interest. It was the first time that many of us had seen a Fuel Cell up close. We had a good turn out for the Saturday night barbecue, with Members, Friends, City, and Press. After eating, everybody went back to operating – and I know that several people stayed up all night.

Early on Sunday morning I had the opportunity to visit the VCARS & Simi Settlers site up at the Ronald Reagan Library. They, too, were having a blast – with a slightly different set-up than ours. They were a bit more spread out than we were, and running higher power levels. They were not permitted to drive stakes into the parking lot, so their masts were ingeniously supported in various ways. They had made even more use of the light poles than we did!

At 11:00am sharp on Sunday we began to take down the antennas and tents. We were even joined by one visitor (who just happened upon our operations while visiting the Parks Service offices) who stayed to help with the tear-down.

As I write this, the paperwork is still being done. I’m looking forward to seeing detailed results. Discussions are already taking place about how we should go about planning for next year’s Field Day. In many ways it is a good idea to make a start on plans while this year’s experience is still fresh in our minds. If you were unable to participate this year, we’d love to have you join us next time. Even if you don’t know where you would fit in, please ask. It really is a lot of fun, and there are many ways to be involved, even if you don’t see yourself as the type to stay up working CW at 2:00am! 73 Steve champion, AE6NX

Although various designers have proposed aircraft that are composed only of a wing, only one designer and his company have brought those designs to the flight test phase. Jack Northrop’s fascination with flying wings resulted in a succession of prototypes, eventually leading to a large bomber design that, although not selected for production, became the basis for a configuration that entered service 50 years later : The B-2 Spirit. Mr. Flanagan’s presentation traces the evolution of the flying wing concept from the 1940s through the 1990’s.

Mr. Flanagan is employed by the Northrop Grumman Corporation as a flight test Weapon System Operator (WSO) on the B-2 bomber. A retired United States Air Force navigator, he is a 1976 graduate of the USAF Test Pilot School. He has over 4000 flying hours with 500 hours in the B-2 and has been mission qualified in the F-4, F-111, SR-71, T-38, and C-135 aircraft as well. He flew 169 combat missions in the RF-4C Phantom in Southeast Asia. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Virginia and a Master of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering (Air Armament) from the Air Force Institute of Technology.

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.

Technician Class is now scheduled to begin on Tuesday, July 12, 2005 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 3645 Moorpark Road, Thousand Oaks, California.   Classes will run for eight weeks, ending on August 30th and will go from 7:00 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. each Tuesday evening.   Anyone interested in the class let me know so that I can make sure I have all of the materials needed for the class.   Walk-ins of course will be welcome and I always try to have a few extra textbooks and notebooks for those who could not pre-register.   

As usual, the cost for the class is $20.00 if the student needs the text book, otherwise the class is free.  The $20.00 pays for the text book, class notebook and all handout materials.   Students will need only a pen or pencil to complete the student registration form the first night of classes.

  Any questions, please call Karl Moody AE6TO at (805) 523-0622

This year we had 8 stations operating on 12 bands at the old City Hall facility on the hill above the Oaks Mall. In addition we operated a “GOTA” demonstration station on several bands for visitors interested in learning what Amateur Radio is all about. We had over 35 guests visit the site. All of our stations operated from batteries, with the exception of the 15 meter station which operated from hydrogen fuel cells. All stations ran a maximum of 5 watts output power. Using our club call sign, AA6CV, we were know on the radio bands as AA6CV 8A SB. SB indicating that we are located in the Santa Barbara District and operating 8 stations on batteries or other non-commercial portable power (8A).

According to our log sheets, we completed 605 contacts, not counting the GOTA station, from 11 AM local time Saturday morning to 11 AM Sunday morning. These included contacts with Alaska on 40 CW, 20 SSB, and 20 CW, and with Hawaii on 20 SSB, 20 CW, and 15 SBB. In addition, the 20 CW and 15 SSB stations contacted the Virgin Islands. The 20 meter CW team reached Japan and Mexico while the 15 meter SSB station contacted Costa Rica.

A summary for each band is shown in the table and chart below. Clearly the 20 meter CW team of Bruce (K6ZB) and Greg (K7SDW) were working too hard !

The chart below show the percentage of contacts made on each band with stations located in the Western United States and Canada.

It is interesting to note in the following chart that, with 5 watts of power, all of the CW stations were able to make contacts in the Eastern United States, while phone contacts to the Eastern U.S. were limited to the 20 and 15 meter SSB stations. PSK 31 on 20 meters was also able to reach the Eastern United States as one would expect.

This last chart shows that 80 and 40 meters SSB are clearly the frequencies needed by ARES/RACES to provide the Sheriff’s Department and the Office of Emergency Services with voice communications to Sacramento and other Emergency Operation Centers (EOC) throughout California during a major disaster.

Ventura County Area 2 R.A.C.E.S. 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:

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) 241-9187 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.

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.