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Club Meeting, Picnic with Portable Operations, and VE session this month
I am sending out this email so folks can free up their calendars for these club events happening this month.? All will occur at Grace Lutheran Church 6190 Telephone Rd, Ventura 93003.?
Map link is here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/TpP7S7s3SBxQMnx59
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Friday March 14 7pm - Monthly club meeting.? Guest speaker will be Ed Fong WB6IQN, of Ed Fong Antennas, who will be giving a presentation on VHF/UHF antennas.
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Saturday March 22 8:30am - VE session.? Ready to upgrade?? Have a friend looking to get their license?? Do you like taking tests with paper and pencil vs on a computer screen?? We have room for you!? Send an email to licensing@... to register your spot.
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Saturday March 22 11am - 2pm - Picnic and Portable Operations.
Mark your calendars!
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Dave
AI6VX |
Re: 7.270 LSB for the 40M net tonight
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-------- Original message --------
From: "Dave Schmidt AI6VX via groups.io" <dgschmidt@...>
Date: 3/5/25 7:28 PM (GMT-08:00)
To: Thomas Stough <tastough@...>
Subject: Re: [K6MEP] 7.270 LSB for the 40M net tonight
I texted back and forth with Dick KB0JOU and we moved down to 80M on 3.987 LSB and audio quality was really good.? He was hitting me 10 over.? I guess I jinxed myself with the Pres Says saying we didn't need to move to 80M for the net. . . .
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40M was hopping, just not good locally.
Dave AI6VX
On Wed, Mar 5, 2025 at 7:11?PM Thomas Stough <tastough@...> wrote:
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Re: 7.270 LSB for the 40M net tonight
I texted back and forth with Dick KB0JOU and we moved down to 80M on 3.987 LSB and audio quality was really good.? He was hitting me 10 over.? I guess I jinxed myself with the Pres Says saying we didn't need to move to 80M for the net. . . . . 40M was hopping, just not good locally. Dave AI6VX On Wed, Mar 5, 2025 at 7:11?PM Thomas Stough <tastough@...> wrote:
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Re: 7.270 LSB for the 40M net tonight
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On Mar 5, 2025, at 7:09 PM, Dave Schmidt AI6VX via groups.io <dgschmidt@...> wrote:
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QST QST QST! All New Hams...
Hello all!
The Ventura County Amateur Radio Society (VCARS) will be hosting a Contesting and HF clinic for Newly Licensed (within the last 3 years) Operators. This will take place on April 13th 2025 in Newbury Park. We will be setting up a full station with logging capability to allow new hams to experience contesting during the ARRL Rookie Roundup. We will have experienced operators and contesters there to guide and teach the participants during the event! Any licensed ham can participate at this event regardless of license class. We will have many control operators that can allow you to operate on the HF bands. If you are interested in this unique opportunity to dive into the fun and competitive world of contesting please contact me directly at stu@... I look forward to being one of you guides in this amazing learning opportunity. Looking forward to hearing from you all, Stu AG6AG stu@... |
Event: 40M Local Net 1900 Local Time 7.242 LSB - Wednesday, March 5, 2025
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Group Notification
Reminder: 40M Local Net 1900 Local Time 7.242 LSB When: Organizer: Description: |
Re: Mountain Topper MTR4b v2.3 - For Sale
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Re: Mountain Topper MTR4b v2.3 - For Sale
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýHeya everyone -Just wanted to let you know that this is still available, and I¡¯m reducing the asking price to $335. ?I¡¯m very?surprised that someone hasn¡¯t grabbed this radio at this point. 73 -- Matt N3AR
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Event: 2M/70cm Net - Monday, March 3, 2025
#cal-reminder
Group Notification
Reminder: 2M/70cm Net When: Where: Organizer: Description: Please join us for our Monday Night Net.Mondays 8:00pm using the PVARC linked repeaters South Mountain: Camarillo Hills:? ?
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Topic: VCARC Monday Night 2M Net Zoom Meeting
Time: Dec 23, 2024 08:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada) ? ? ? ? Every week on Mon, 10 occurrence(s) Join Zoom Meeting ?
Meeting ID: 938 9789 7253
Passcode: 323972 ---
One tap mobile
+16699009128,,93897897253#,,,,*323972# US (San Jose) +16694449171,,93897897253#,,,,*323972# US ---
Dial by your location
? +1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose) ? +1 669 444 9171 US ? +1 719 359 4580 US ? +1 253 205 0468 US ? +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) ? +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) ? +1 386 347 5053 US ? +1 507 473 4847 US ? +1 564 217 2000 US ? +1 646 558 8656 US (New York) ? +1 646 931 3860 US ? +1 689 278 1000 US ? +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC) ? +1 305 224 1968 US ? +1 309 205 3325 US ? +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) ? +1 360 209 5623 US Meeting ID: 938 9789 7253
Passcode: 323972 Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/adFVuvKycL
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Pres Says - march 2025
Welcome to March! Can you believe that it is almost time to change our clocks again?? The above screenshot was taken from shows the hours of daylight each day for the whole year - the stepped offset is where the time changes and the white vertical bars shows our current date.? On March 9 we will set our clocks forward 1 hour. I¡¯ll be happy to have more light in the evenings, and I think this time change will help our 40M net on Wednesday, though 40m conditions have been pretty good this past month. In February we had a very interesting talk from Paul Strauss WD6EBY on his work implementing a simulcast repeater system.? For those that missed it, when complete, Paul¡¯s system will allow you to communicate on one frequency seamlessly anywhere in Ventura County.? You would no longer have to switch between different repeater frequencies depending on location.? This technology is already being used with public service agencies and it¡¯s amazing to hear that we will also have this capability.? Thank you Paul! Also in February, 15 of the 57 ham operators (26%) that volunteered for the Ventura Marathon were from our club!? Thanks to all those that provided communications and assistance for the event.? Organized once again by Burt KA6BJA, everything went smoothly.?? Volunteering to operate at marathons is a great way to put your ham radio skills to use. You¡¯ll learn which repeaters work best for your location, communications protocol, being part of a larger group of ham operators all using the same networked repeaters, using your equipment in a portable setting, being the face of ham radio, and having fun doing it! The next marathon is the Mountains to Beach Marathon on April 13 and Burt is ready to take volunteers.? Are you interested?? If so, or if you¡¯d like to know more about what is involved, contact Burt KA6BJA at bjauerbach@... or talk to him in-person at our next club meeting. What¡¯s planned for March? Club Meeting - Friday March 14th 7pm is our next club meeting where Ed Fong WB6IGN will be joining us over Zoom to give a talk on VHF/UHF antennas.? Many of you are already familiar with Ed, having read his QST articles and/or purchased his antennas.? When I got back into the hobby, I attempted to build Ed¡¯s designs but ultimately purchased his roll-up dual bander, which I carry everyday in my backpack along with a dual band HT.?? Also at this meeting we¡¯re going to kick of Field Day 2025 planning.? Can you believe it is only 3 months away? Picnic - Saturday March 22nd 11am - 2pm we¡¯ll have a picnic and portable radio operations gathering at Grace Lutheran Church in the outside pavilion area. This will be potluck style like we¡¯ve done in the past where the club will provide the fire, meat, and bottled water, and you bring the rest.? Please also bring a radio, antenna and coax and get on the air!? With Field Day only 3 months away, it¡¯s time to dust off what you¡¯re going to use. Signup sheet for food will be at the club meeting and also on Groups.io VE Session - Saturday March 22nd 8:30am there will be a VE session (license testing) at Grace Lutheran Church.? If you are looking to upgrade, or get your license for the first time, drop us an email at licensing@... so we can send you information on what you need to bring on testing day. We¡¯re one of a few local locations where you can test using real paper tests, writing your answer down on real paper answer sheets.? We have modernized the way tests are submitted, so your upgrade or new license will be issued within days of your test, however for those of you that like paper testing, we are your answer. Nets - Our nets have not changed.? The 40M Wednesday net did not change as conditions improved.? 2M Monday and 10M Sunday net are unchanged.? We are still looking for hosts for the Monday 2M net.? If you¡¯re interested, you can sign up for a date by going to this link Note that if you volunteer to host a Monday night net, you will receive 3 raffle tickets that can be used at a future club meeting in 2025. (elected club officers are not eligible) This wraps up my Pres Says for March 2025.? See you all at the March 14th club meeting! Dave AI6VX VCARC President |
Event: 10M Local Net 1600 PDT 28.395 USB - Sunday, March 2, 2025
#cal-reminder
Group Notification
Reminder: 10M Local Net 1600 PDT 28.395 USB When: Organizer: Description: 1600 PDT? 28.395 Mhz USB
If the frequency is busy, check 5 Khz below or above as we may have moved there ?
Get on the air and see who you can hear!? A good way for Technicians to participate on HF as they are allowed a small slice of 10M.
Edit: Moved time to 4pm (0000 UTC) so we are not in the last hour of various contests through the year. |
VP Says - March 2025
Our guest speaker for the March 14th meeting will be Dr. Ed Fong (WB6IQN). As many of you may know, he is the inventor of the DBJ-1 and DBJ-2 antenna that was featured in the February 2003 and March 2007 QST. His most recent antenna was the TBJ-1 ¨C a triband base antenna that was published in March 2017 QST. His DBJ-1 is a highly effective dual band VHF/UHF base station antenna and the DBJ-2 is the portable roll-up version. The DBJ-2 won the QST Plaque of the Month Award. Both of these antennas are featured in the ARRL VHF Antenna Handbook and also in the ARRL Antenna Classic Handbook. There are over 40,000 of these antennas in use today. About half are used by hams and the other half by government and commercial agencies. Dr. Fong has extensive knowledge of RF design and teaches at UC-Santa Cruz. His students learn about antenna theory in a hands-on approach by building them. My first VHF-UHF antenna (I called it a DBJ-1+) was custom made so that it was capable of handling 250 watts. I ordered it in August of 2016, just after completing my three Amateur License tests at the end of July and had bought a used Yaesu FT 857D (HF and VHF-UHF but no 220Mhz) from a ham in Queens, New York. Ed questioned me about needing such a high power-handling capability as most mobile transceivers only output about 50 watts. However, I had just purchased a linear amplifier off of eBay and wanted to ensure that the new antenna could handle the load. Ed told me that the proceeds of this antenna go to his graduate students at UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz ¨C Silicon Valley.? They help with the construction and also get experience in tuning a dual band antenna which is an art in itself. I was so impressed with the antenna, I ordered one for my son, Jim N6VC, who had just completed his ¡°re-licensing¡± after letting his old one lapse for 25 years. Since Jim lives in San Jose, Ed said that Jim could come by and pick it up and not pay shipping fees. Also Ed gave him the PVC pipe for free.
In September of 2018 I became active in emergency communications and wanted to assemble a ¡°go-bag¡± with a handheld unit, extra batteries, etc. and decided to add a dual-band VHF-UHF portable antenna. I contacted Ed again and purchased a DBJ-2 kit, with a 6-ft extension and a BNC to PL259 adapter. Later that month I bought a Retevis 70-watt monoband 220 MHz mobile transceiver and needed to add that band but didn¡¯t want to install two antennas on the roof. I contacted Ed again and bought his TBJ-1 triband antenna, as described in the March QST issue which called it a Triband Base Antenna.? His students at UC Santa Cruz ¨C Silicon Valley built the antenna, fully enclosed in the 6-ft ?- inch 200 psi PVC pipe with a SO-239 connector. I installed it on my roof on top of a 15-ft mast, inserted into a 5-ft tripod.
In April of 2021 I contacted Ed once again and asked to purchase another TBJ-1 triband antenna, this time for Field Day and ACS/ARES event use. I keep it at-the-ready with a sectional fiberglass mast and tripod and most recently used it at the Ventura Marathon (February 22, 2025), shown below with me and Dana KG6WXE in our volunteer gear.
In September of 2018 I became active in emergency communications and wanted to assemble a ¡°go-bag¡± with a handheld unit, extra batteries, etc. and decided to add a dual-band VHF-UHF portable antenna. I contacted Ed again and purchased a DBJ-2 kit, with a 6-ft extension and a BNC to PL259 adapter. Later that month I bought a Retevis 70-watt monoband 220 MHz mobile transceiver and needed to add that band but didn¡¯t want to install two antennas on the roof. I contacted Ed again and bought his TBJ-1 triband antenna, as described in the March QST issue which called it a Triband Base Antenna.? His students at UC Santa Cruz ¨C Silicon Valley built the antenna, fully enclosed in the 6-ft ?- inch 200 psi PVC pipe with a SO-239 connector. I installed it on my roof on top of a 15-ft mast, inserted into a 5-ft tripod.
In April of 2021 I contacted Ed once again and asked to purchase another TBJ-1 triband antenna, this time for Field Day and ACS/ARES event use. I keep it at-the-ready with a sectional fiberglass mast and tripod and most recently used it at the Ventura Marathon (February 22, 2025), shown below with me and Dana KG6WXE in our volunteer gear.
Biography - Ed Fong was first licensed in 1968 as WN6IQN.? He later upgraded to Extra Class (with full 20 WPM CW) with his present call of WB6IQN. He obtained the BSEE and MSEE degrees from the Univ. of California at Berkeley and his Ph.D. from the Univ. of San Francisco.? A Life Senior Member of the IEEE, he has 13 patents and over 50 published papers and books in the area of communications and integrated circuit design.? Presently, he is employed by the University of California (previously at Berkeley and presently at Santa Cruz- Silicon Valley) as an instructor teaching graduate classes in RF design, antenna design and High-Speed interface design.? During his 40-year career he has worked for Motorola, National Semiconductor, Phillips Semiconductor and Advanced Micro Devices.? ?
See you all at the Friday March 14th club meeting at the Grace Lutheran Church 6190 Telephone Rd. Ventura CA 93003 where Dr. Ed Fong WB6IQN, will present ¡°Dual Band Antenna Talk¡±. Please bring your ideas, energy and questions!
73,
Robert Shank KM6RSS Vice President, VCARC
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Mountain 2 Beach Marathon 2025
Good Morning, ? It seems like we are just wrapping up the Ventura Marathon and now we¡¯re at it again.? The?Mountains 2 Beach?Marathon is scheduled for Sunday?April 13th?and once again we will be providing communication services for the event.? This is a call for volunteers?who would like to participate.? ??This is always a fun event and as always Race Management has guaranteed perfect weather.?The route and the exact station locations are still being finalized and will be passed along as soon as I get them.???At this point, I¡¯m gathering contact information from any of you that are interested in participating.??Thanks to all of you that have already signed up.? ?If you¡¯d like to participate (no firm commitment required at this point) please send me an email w/ your contact information including your email address and cell phone number.? ? Even if you¡¯ve never done this type of event before please consider signing up¡.and encourage others to do so as well.? If you¡¯ve never done one of these¡.no worries¡I¡¯ll pair you up w/ a marathon veteran.? It¡¯s a great chance to take your radio toys out in the field and have a lot of fun in the process. ?Thanks in advance.?? ?73,???Burt KA6BJA? ?? bjauerbach@... |
Event: 40M Local Net 1900 Local Time 7.242 LSB - Wednesday, February 26, 2025
#cal-reminder
Group Notification
Reminder: 40M Local Net 1900 Local Time 7.242 LSB When: Organizer: Description: |
Event: 2M/70cm Net - Monday, February 24, 2025
#cal-reminder
Group Notification
Reminder: 2M/70cm Net When: Where: Organizer: Description: Please join us for our Monday Night Net.Mondays 8:00pm using the PVARC linked repeaters South Mountain: Camarillo Hills:? ?
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Topic: VCARC Monday Night 2M Net Zoom Meeting
Time: Dec 23, 2024 08:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada) ? ? ? ? Every week on Mon, 10 occurrence(s) Join Zoom Meeting ?
Meeting ID: 938 9789 7253
Passcode: 323972 ---
One tap mobile
+16699009128,,93897897253#,,,,*323972# US (San Jose) +16694449171,,93897897253#,,,,*323972# US ---
Dial by your location
? +1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose) ? +1 669 444 9171 US ? +1 719 359 4580 US ? +1 253 205 0468 US ? +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) ? +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) ? +1 386 347 5053 US ? +1 507 473 4847 US ? +1 564 217 2000 US ? +1 646 558 8656 US (New York) ? +1 646 931 3860 US ? +1 689 278 1000 US ? +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC) ? +1 305 224 1968 US ? +1 309 205 3325 US ? +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) ? +1 360 209 5623 US Meeting ID: 938 9789 7253
Passcode: 323972 Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/adFVuvKycL
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