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by Ken Larson  KJ6RZ
President

The following people have volunteered to serve you next year as board members:

   We are still in need of candidates for the positions of Vice President, Public Relations, and Social. At the November CVARC general meeting, we will formally elect the board members for next year. By then we will need to identify candidates for these remaining board positions.  We need your help! Filling all of the board positions is critical to the continued success of our radio club.
   I want to sincerely thank the listed candidates for their willingness to serve as board members next year.  They make it possible for us to have a Conejo Valley Amateur Radio Club where we, as amateur radio operators, can meet, enjoy the various aspects of our hobby, and serve the community in which we live. 
73s  Ken  (KJ6RZ)

   The September 28^th replacement for the "TRW Swap Meet" will be held in Ventura, in the Redwood Glen area of Arroyo Verde Park 9am - 4pm.   
   Take the fwy (101 or 126) to Victoria, north to Foothill Rd., left to the park entrance, right to north end of the park.  Bring food to barbecue.  Talk-in: 146.88 -  127.3 .
   Contacts: Lloyd KE6BBP 642-5770,  Joe K6NE 642-2337,  Stewart KG6BOV 488-7388.
   $1 entrance to the park, +$2/family donation for site expenses, +$?? for special values on the tables.  Bring your swap items for display.

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by Karl Moody  KE6WVZ

   The next CVARC amateur radio course (the last for this year) for the Technician Class license will begin on Tuesday September 17^th and run for ten weeks through November 19^th. These classes will be held from 7:00 PM to 8:45 PM each Tuesday evening at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints at 3645 Moorpark Road in Thousand Oaks, one block north of Olsen Road. Karl Moody, KE6WVZ will be teaching the classes.
   The class will use the Third Edition of Now You're Talking as the classroom text.  The cost of $20.00 includes this book along with a three ring notebook and all other materials needed.  Students who already have the 3rd edition of Now You're Talking may be charged $5.00 to cover other class materials depending on availability of donated materials from several local merchants.
   Students who may not be able to attend every class may use a recommended "Independent Study" program using the same materials with assistance from the class instructor and other "elmers" (ham radio mentors) willing to help.
   Anyone interested must contact Karl Moody KE6WVZ no later than the September 12^th CVARC meeting. Class is limited to 25 members.

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by Jonathan Becker  KC6QOQ

   This year, the ARRL Southwestern Division  Convention was held at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido. It featured the usual events -- exhibitor displays, forums, evening banquet, DX breakfast, and the Sunday T-Hunt.  Of course, there were hourly and final prize drawings with prizes ranging from books to multitudes of radios.
   Our very own Jeff Reinhardt AA6JR gave a forum presentation titled "100 Great Publicity Ideas."  In his talk, Jeff emphasized that there are many ways to publicize our club throughout the year.  These include school ham radio days, Valentine radiograms, Fathers and Mothers Days radiograms, Field Day, Jamboree on the Air, club speakers, Thanksgiving and Christmas / Chanukah / Kwansa radiograms, ARES / RACES, radio support for local sporting events, parades and celebrations, and much, much more.
   Other forums included the use of AMSAT, and Weak Signal work on VHF / UHF. The AMSAT forum focused on the future of amateur radio satellites. In essence, future satellites will be less complicated and less expensive, thereby reducing their tendency to fail. It ended with a satellite communication demonstration -- communicating with the UO-14 satellite using a dual band HT and a handheld dual-band Yagi antenna. During the VHF / UHF Weak Signal forum, Pat Coker N6RMJ noted that not all VHF / UHF communications have to be line of sight. The minimum equipment needed is a rig capable of SSB and/or CW and a loop antenna for weak signal work. Finally, he noted that weak signal communication is the exact opposite of QRP. Unlike QRP, in weak signal communications the received signal is the weak signal (not the transmitted one).
   On Sunday Morning, the DX breakfast featured a video presentation on the 2002 South Sandwich / South Georgia Micro-Lite DXpedition. The video showed how the VP8THU / VP8GEO group carried out their DXpedition on Southern Thule Island next to Cook Island in the South Sandwich Islands. Long before they arrived to Southern Thule, Captain Cook had called that island "the worst place on Earth" because of the tricky navigation required.  The island had not been visited by hams since the last DXpedition 10 years ago. They found that California and Japan were surprisingly easy to contact.
   The 2003 ARRL Southwestern Division Convention will be held on September 5^th to the 7^th at the Hilton Long Beach. The theme will be "Focus Back on the Volunteer."   Save those dates.
   --Jonathan