We welcome members and non-members to our monthly club meeting.? We start the meeting promptly at 7:00pm. We also have our meeting over Zoom.? Zoom details will be sent out over our K6MEP Groups.io page.
Presentation this month will be: Paul Strauss WD6EBY with an update on his repeater system
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Topic: VCARC March 2025 Meeting Time: Feb 14, 2025 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting
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Meeting ID: 925 4457 5947 Passcode: 093730
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Description: 1900 Local Time? 40M net on 7.242 LSB.
If the frequency is busy, check 5 Khz below or above as we may have moved there, or check your email as I will try to email the Groups.io list with our new frequency
To help with coordination, please tune to 147.515 Mhz simplex! This will allow us to let each other know if we moved to another frequency, or if band conditions are poor and we want to try a different band.
Event: 2M/70cm Net - Monday, February 10, 2025
#cal-reminder
Heads up that I have a bad case of vertigo and will not be driving to Poinsettia Pavilion today.
The vertigo started yesterday, and thankfully is a lot better today but I still shouldn't be driving.
I will try and operate 10M from my house but I know I don't have good coverage there.? Hopefully some of the other regular 10M folks with bettery?'ears' can act as net control.
Just dropped a new video in the "Testing Radios. Radio Output Tests And Results." Series. This is a group of videos that cover radio tests with a new compact video format...
Here is a link to the new video that covers the Yaesu FT-60R:
And for future reference or sharing with others, here is the link to the playlist:
Let me know if you like the new format of multiple videos to cover subjects...
So I wanted to try something different. I'm going to start doing radio testing videos. This video is the explanation of the setup so the actual radio tests make sense.
I figure doing it this way reduces the length if the videos considerably!
Thanks to all who have signed up to work the event.? The response has been enthusiastic and at this point we are fully staffed.? Due to a recent drop out we are in need of an additional SAG driver.??? You would need a vehicle equipped with a mobile radio (dual band is preferred).? We can provide an APRS tracker and mag-mount antenna if?you need one.? A bike rack is also a plus.
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SAGS will transport Lead Bike 1 and Chase Bike 1 to Half Start, Lead Bike 2 and Chase Bikes 2 and 3 to Full Start, deliver APRS trackers to Full and Half Starts, move errant runners to correct starting locations, deliver T-shirts and Early Bird sweatshirt/gift certificates to Aid Stations, transport drop out runners to Finish area, and otherwise act as our mobile eyes and ears (i.e. our cavalry) out there on the race course.? Each SAG vehicle will carry a small crate of supplies (pick up from and return to Race Supplies near Net Control).? There is a custom Google Map available which includes the route, aid station locations, mile markers, etc. which can be loaded onto a smart phone or tablet using Google Maps.??
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That said, it's a long day....starting at 0430 (Zero Dark Early) and finishing around 1:30 or 2:00 in the afternoon when all the runners are in.? But it's fun.....just ask Stu? AG6AG.
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Let me know if you are interested.? If you have any questions please feel free to either email me or call me at 805-559-9314
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Thanks and 73,
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Burt
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Event: 40M Local Net 1900 Local Time 7.242 LSB - Wednesday, February 5, 2025
#cal-reminder
Description: 1900 Local Time? 40M net on 7.242 LSB.
If the frequency is busy, check 5 Khz below or above as we may have moved there, or check your email as I will try to email the Groups.io list with our new frequency
To help with coordination, please tune to 147.515 Mhz simplex! This will allow us to let each other know if we moved to another frequency, or if band conditions are poor and we want to try a different band.
Re: Looking for someone to host the Monday Night net tonight at 8pm
On Monday, February 3, 2025, Dave Schmidt <dgschmidt@...> wrote:
We currently have no one signed up to host the net tonight, but before I fill those shoes I wanted to reach out and ask for a volunteer.
?If you are interested, please reply. As an incentive, each time you host the Monday night net, you will receive three raffle tickets towards any of the raffles held at the monthly club meetings in 2025, max of 6 tickets per calendar month. Elected club officers are not eligible.?
If you want to host a net but cannot do it tonight, February 10 and 17 are also available.?
Any takers?
Dave Ai6vx?
Looking for someone to host the Monday Night net tonight at 8pm
We currently have no one signed up to host the net tonight, but before I fill those shoes I wanted to reach out and ask for a volunteer.
?If you are interested, please reply. As an incentive, each time you host the Monday night net, you will receive three raffle tickets towards any of the raffles held at the monthly club meetings in 2025, max of 6 tickets per calendar month. Elected club officers are not eligible.?
If you want to host a net but cannot do it tonight, February 10 and 17 are also available.?
California temporarily suspends controversial portable generator sales ban In late 2021, hearing that California¡¯s Air Resources Board was pushing a rule that would shut down the sale of portable generators incensed RVers.?
At the time CARB wanted to shut off California sales of generators other than those that could meet ¡°ZEE¡± or Zero Emissions Equipment standards.?
Essentially, portable generators would be nothing more than a battery pack¡ªnot something that ran on fossil fuel.?
CARB relented, and said that by 2024, generators could still burn ¡°petro fuels¡± but would need to meet tight standards.?
But now California lifts generator sales ban¡ªthe wildfires have proven bigger than CARB. California lifts generator sales ban until July The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is now easing requirements for portable generators to help meet the surge in demand due to Southern California wildfires. Until June 30, 2025, generators that meet U.S. EPA standards can be sold in California, temporarily bypassing state emissions requirements. This move supports efforts to assist residents during the wildfires and ensure access to power for medical and other needs in case of outages. Portable generators are defined as those under 19 kilowatts. Consumers are advised to follow safety guidelines for fuel storage and operation. This will be a great time for Californians to snap up portable generators like the rest of the country buys without a second thought. But make no mistake, come 2028, if CARB¡¯s regulation on portable generators doesn¡¯t change, so-called portable generators will be nothing more than a battery pack with an inverter.
January, to me, came and went very quickly. During the month, our club members and friends enjoyed the following activities:
Jan 5th?Sunday 19:00 ¨C Monthly Board Meeting ¨C Attended by all seven board members.
Jan 10th Friday 19:00 ¨C Monthly club meeting ¨C Clement KM6OKZ discussed the logistics and showed photos of his antenna and tower project, which is now complete!
Jan 18th Saturday 8:30am ¨C VE session ¨C seven people took tests and six either obtained a new license and/or upgraded their current one. Dave scanned the documentation and sent it to the ARRL (VEC), which sped up the licensing process. Here¡¯s the link to the photos:?.
Jan 25th Saturday 9:00AM ¨C Church Clean-Up ¨C Our club had 14 (or more) volunteers who helped to trim the dozen or more trees in the parking lot so that the asphalt resurfacing machine could work under them. We were all prepared with our work clothes, our PPE, and some of us brought pole chain saws, regular saws, and other equipment to make the activity successful. Here is a link to the photos:?. We were able to give back to the Grace Lutheran Church for their generosity in allowing us to meet at their facility. Bert Rapp (one of the church leaders) sent our president a thank you text later stating: ¡°The servant heart of the men in your club is amazing.? Your help was outstanding today.¡± We also helped fill-out the potluck lunch by bringing chips, Boston baked beans, sodas, water, lemon bars, brownies, etc. Linda Shank brought dessert and helped set up the food preparation and assisted with the cleanup. This wasn¡¯t our ¡°normal¡± club picnic, but an appreciation lunch for those helping.?Our club¡¯s next official picnic will be March 22nd.
Jan 25th and 26th ¨C Winter Field Day ¨C We didn¡¯t do anything official through the club, however it was a great way for everyone to test their radios and antennas by making short QSO¡¯s with folks near and far.
TREE CLEAN-UP Some of the club participants in the tree-trimming activity at Grace Lutheran Church on January 25th.HAM EXAM From left to right, Dave AI6VX acted as the liaison, John W6JPG, Peter W6PJG, Robert KM6RSS (not shown due to taking the photo), Jim Inman KB6JI and Larry K6LWG were the Volunteer Examiners. Dana KG6WXE provided logistical assistance.
Of course, our club held all of the weekly nets (Monday Night 2m/70cm, Wednesday Night 40m and Sunday afternoon 10m) and were joined by club members, local Ventura County hams, and some ¡°long distant¡± hams from back East and the Mid-West on our 10m net. Remember that if you act as net control for our Monday Night Net in a given month, you will receive three raffle tickets (up to six if you are net control twice or more during the month).
February brings a number of activities to our club:
Monthly Board Meeting on Sunday, February 9th at 19:00 on Zoom
Monthly Club Meeting on February 14th (Valentine¡¯s Day) at Grace Lutheran Church. Paul Strauss, WD6EBY, is scheduled to present a talk on ¡°Ventura County Repeater Status¡±.
February 23 Ventura Marathon where several club members will provide emergency communications for this day-long event and Burt KA6BJA is the comms organizer.
See you all at the Friday the 14th?club meeting (Valentine¡¯s Day) at the Grace Lutheran Church 6190 Telephone Rd. Ventura CA 93003 where Paul Strauss, WD6EBY, will present ¡°Ventura County Repeater Status¡±. Please bring your ideas, energy and questions!
Burt Auerbach KA6BJA
Rob Fredericks KO6BZI
Robert Shank KM6RSS
