President’s Message

Hello CVARC members, families, and guests!

Ed Zimmermann-N6XEW

What at crazy February we all had. Rain, wind and snow! Make sure to keep your batteries charged and stations in peak operational condition. Daylight saving time starts March 12th. It is a great time to check batteries, smoke detectors, refresh go bags, check dates on your emergency food/water, and change the AC/heater filters.

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Results of the February 12 VE Session

CVARC held a VE session on February 12th. There were six candidates and six new licenses or upgrades were earned; three Technician, two General, and one Extra. Those who earned new licenses or upgrades at the session were:

Neil ThomsonGeneralKN6WYF
Nick BlackwellExtraKC0MQE
Dave KingTechnicianKN6YPH
Gale FernowTechnicianKN6YOX
Douglas HewittTechnicianKN6YOY
Michael RodriguesGeneralKN6TXU
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March Club Meeting

The next regular club meeting will be held on Thursday, March 16, 2023 at 7:30 P.M. at the East County Sheriff’s Station.

Topic: Designing and Assembling Amateur Satellites: Abigail Outcalt-KN6SOT and Cole Fehring-KN0TCF of the Cal Poly CubeSat Laboratory talk about  miniature satellites that have been used in low Earth orbit for many applications including communications.

Special note: if you can’t attend the meeting at the Sheriff’s station you can still participate via ZOOM, details below.

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President’s Message

Hello CVARC members, families, and guests!

Ed Zimmermann-N6XEW

January 2023 is in the books. Boy, it sure flew by. And February is half over.  The Ides of March are almost upon us.  Be sure to get on the air February 15th thru February 21st as some of our club members will be on the air as W1AW/6. The CVARC Winter Field Day was held on Saturday January 28th at Dos Vientos Park.  The event was amazing. Ron Topolinski-K6CPR had his 5-year-old grandson pounding his name in CW and sending 73! The Acorn showed up and snapped a few pictures. Thank you to our public relations board member April Taylor-KN6QQW.

The CVARC general meeting is Thursday, February 16th at 7:30 P.M. Topic: DXpedition: Paul Ewing-N6PSE is the founder of the Intrepid DX Group and has organized and participated in eight DXpeditions to very rare DX and exotic locations around the world, including Northern Iraq, South Sudan, and Yemen. Paul will discuss his visit to North Korea and how he got and lost permission for a DXpedition.

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Spring Fling-Rover Roundup is Back

Save the date! The Spring Fling-Rover Roundup is back on Saturday, April 15th. It’s a fun event- actually three events in one! There’s the contest, on 2 meter simplex where you try to make as many contacts as you can from local grid squares.

The contest is followed by picnic at Dos Vientos Park. And finally there will be a SOTA event in conjunction with the Spring Fling. For details and complete contest rules click here. The idea is to have some fun. Feel free to participate in whatever part of this event interests you.

New C4FM Digital Info Net

A new net has been started focusing on C4FM Digital. This is the digital mode of Yaesu’s line of System Fusion radios and is increasing in popularity. The net explores the features of these radios and what you can do in this digital mode including Wires-X which allows you to talk around the world.

The net is held Wednesday at 7:30 P.M. on the Oat Mountain repeater. Located above the San Fernando Valley, this is the closest compatible repeater to Ventura County. (K6PUW-Open Repeater, 447.200 -5.000. Set DG-ID Tx 00 and Rx 00 Wires-X Room 21042.) This repeater is linked to many other repeaters in Southern California through the SoCal Link Network. You can check it out at http://www.socalham.com.

This digital mode is growing in popularity and Yaesu is producing new C4FM radios to handle the demand. If you have a C4FM capable radio, check into the net and see what it’s all about. Check-ins have come from all over including Michigan, Florida, and New Zealand!

There are also plans for occasional C4FM digital simplex nets on 145.5625. If you are mobile make sure you are in the “GM” mode so that others can see you are in the area. Gary Bostrup-KM6DMM and Todd Kleopfer- KD6RCM share net control duties on the net and look forward to hearing those that can reach the Oat Mountain repeater or through a hotspot/Wires-X on the LA repeater.

Technician License Classes Set For March 2023

The Conejo Valley Amateur Radio Club (CVARC) will be offering a course for the FCC Amateur Radio License, Technician level, during the month of March. The classes will be held from 8:00 am to 12:00 noon on March 4th, 11th, 18th and 25th in the Community Room at the East County Sheriff Station, 2101 E. Olsen Road, Thousand Oaks. The Technician license grants full operating privileges in the VHF and UHF bands (as well as some others), which covers nearly all emergency communication programs as well as use of local repeaters, plus a portion of the HF or shortwave band used for long distances.

Instructor Zak Cohen-N6PK

The course will prepare people to pass the exam for the entry level Amateur Radio license. The test is being offered by CVARC on April 16th at 8:30 am at the same location. (Contact Andy Ludlum, K6AGL@CVARC.org for information on taking the test.) In addition to preparation for the exam, we will be introducing students to the many aspects of amateur radio, from emergency communications to social networks and digital operations, plus talking about local clubs and activities.

We use the ARRL Ham Radio License Manual 5th Edition as our text, which is available directly from the ARRL as well as most online retailers. To sign up for the class, email Keith Elliott W6KME at W6KME@CVARC.org.

Link to text book:
https://home.arrl.org/action/Store/Product-Details/productId/2003373064

Operate As W1AW/6

As a part of the Year of the Volunteer celebration, you could have the opportunity to operate under the ARRL’s legendary W1AW call sign from your own shack!

Between February 15 and February 21, 2023, authorized hams will operate as W1AW/6. If you want to be selected as one of the authorized operators, review the information here.

February Club Meeting

The next regular club meeting will be held on Thursday, February 16, 2023 at 7:30 P.M. at the East County Sheriff’s Station.

Paul Ewing-N6PSE

Topic: DXpedition: Paul Ewing-N6PSE is the founder of the Intrepid DX Group and has organized and participated in eight DXpeditions to very rare DX and exotic locations around the world, including Northern Iraq, South Sudan, and Yemen. Paul will discuss his visit to North Korea and how he got and lost permission for a DXpedition.

Special note: if you can’t attend the meeting at the Sheriff’s station you can still participate via ZOOM, details below.

Continue reading “February Club Meeting”