The Central States VHF Society is proud to sponsor and announce the
dates and times for the?2025?run of
the?VHF and up Spring Sprints!
?
Contest Date and Time:
¡ì?
Microwave (902
MHz and up) Saturday May 3, 2025.? 0800 AM ¨C 0200 PM Local.
NOTE:.N6ZE plans to operate on?900 MHz (33cm) & 1294.5 MHz fm simplex & 1296.1 mhz usb/cw (23cm) from?atop?Stunt Rd, in Santa MonicaMts (DM04qb29nm) from about 0900-1100 pdt. Laision 432.1 mhz USB / 446.0 mhz fm-simplex. Woodie, WA6WDY, will be second op.
¡ì?
50 MHz Saturday
May 10, 2025.? ? 2300z through Sunday May 11, 2025, 0300z?
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Classes:? Stations will be classified as either Single Op or Rover.
A portable or mobile station that operates from only one grid is considered a
Single Op station.? A Rover must operate from at least 2 grid squares. All
simplex modes are welcome!
?
Please note the new rules
allowing analog and digital contacts on the same band for extra points.
?
More information and rules are posted
at:?
?
I hope that all of you can join and enjoy the activity and event!
?
Please post your claimed scores and comments to the 3830 Contesting
site:?
This month, during our May 9th meeting, we will have two guest speakers, John Kitchens (N6SX) and Pat Anglum (N6XTM); both are members of our club.
Our first speaker, John Kitchens (N6SX), will present ¡°ARRL Happenings¡±.
John was first licensed in 1966 as WN6UYJ through the Robert E Peary Junior High School¡¯s TRXster radio club, WA6VUA, taught by electric shop teacher Don Ulrey, WA6TRX. John built a 5-watt transistor radio (not tubes-transistors were new) from a schematic in a book, he thinks was titled weekend solid state projects. It worked. That was about 1967.
John was licensed as KZ5JS in the Panama Canal Zone, in 1975-76, while in the USAF. He became an Amateur Extra about 1983 for those ¡°extra 25 KCs¡± for CW contesting. John has been Section Manager for about 10 years and a member of K6MEP since 1981. He is also a member of CVARC, Simi Settlers, Central Coast, VCARS, Satellite ARC, QRP-ARCI, 4 States QRP Group and more. John enjoys contesting, POTA, SOTA; all usually QRP.
John also likes to catch a fish now and then out of the surf and in trout streams. He tries to be creative, making little trees and plants look big by developing bonsai plants. Since becoming a widower, John has enjoyed doing a bit of traveling; driving cross country 5 times in four years and recently activating parks along the way.
Out second speaker is Pat Anglum N6XTM, who will present a talk about software-defined radio (SDR). Software-Defined Radio (SDR) is a radio communication system where traditional hardware components, such as mixers, filters, amplifiers, and modulators/demodulators, are replaced or augmented by software running on a general-purpose computing device, like a computer or embedded system. This allows for greater flexibility, as the radio's functionality can be modified through software updates rather than hardware changes. The RTL-SDR (developed in the 2010s), based on the Realtek RTL2832U chip (originally designed for DVB-T TV tuners), revolutionized SDR by making it accessible for under $30. While the RTL2832U wasn¡¯t designed for SDR, its ability to output raw digital samples enabled software-based radio processing.
Pat was first licensed around 1993 as a Technician Plus.? He had a Radio Shack 10-meter mobile transceiver with which he often worked Japan.? That radio bit the dust and Pat was inactive for about 30 years. In (2022) he bought a Baofeng 2-meter hand held and was somewhat active on 2 meters.? A few years ago, he was listening to a remote SDR and started listening to the ham bands.
This rekindled his interest in HF ham bands.
Pat decided to upgrade to General in January of 2023 and bought a used Kenwood TS-530S from another ham. It works well and he made many contacts on 40 meters. (His only antenna right now is a 40-meter dipole). Pat started studying for his Extra and passed the test on May 13th, 2023.? He also has an old 5BTV that he is trying to put back into service.
Here¡¯s a table of our speakers and/or activities for this year (completed is grayed out):
73,
Robert Shank KM6RSS Vice President, VCARC
Event: 40M Local Net 1900 Local Time 7.242 LSB - Wednesday, April 30, 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.
The Central States VHF Society (CSVHF)?is proud to sponsor and announce the
dates and times for the?2025?run of
the?VHF and up Spring Sprints!
?
Contest Date & Time:
¡ì?
432 MHz Wednesday April 30,
2025.??2300z (4 pm PDT)?to
0600z (11pm PDT), operate no more than four hours between your first contact
and your last contact.
Note: N6ZE in Thousand Oaks, CA (DM04ne) plans to operate QRP from Tarantula Hill within city limits on 446.0 mhz fm simplex & 432.1 mhz usb from about 6:30pm PDT until about 7:30pm PDT. I hope lots of others get on the air for this event.
Last 2 Spring SPRINTS??will be held:
¡ì?
Microwave (902
MHz and up) Saturday May 3, 2025.? 0800 AM ¨C 0200 PM Local
¡ì?
50 MHz Saturday
May 10, 2025.? ? 2300z through Sunday May 11, 2025, 0300z ?note: n6ze/r hopes to operate in. 902 mhz?SPRINT from Stunt Rd in Santa Monica mts.
?
Classes:? Stations will be classified as either Single Op or Rover.
A portable or mobile station that operates from only one grid is considered a
Single Op station.? A Rover must operate from at least 2 grid squares. All
simplex modes are welcome!
?
Please note the new rules
allowing analog and digital contacts on the same band for extra points.?
?
More information and full?rules are posted
at:
?
?
?
Please post your claimed scores and comments to the easy to use3830 Contesting web site:
17M FT8 is hot into Europe right now.? So many stations are calling me that it's insane.? I've finish with one guy and suddenly there's another 4 stations calling me.? I've never had this happen before.??
40M was great last night.? 9 folks checked in besides myself and everyone could hear everyone else.? W6JPG John's signal was really strong and his audio was fantastic - best I've ever heard, even better than 2M.
?
Thanks to those that came out for the net.? For those that couldn't make it, we do this every Wednesday evening at 7pm on 7.242 LSB.? If the frequency is already in use, check your email or groups.io to find out where we moved to, or tune up and down (usually up) the dial until you find us.
Hello everyone, I have some vacuum pumps looking for a new home, they are free. Just let me know so that I can bring them to the next meeting. 2 are large varian pumps and 3 are smaller Gast pumps. 73 Alan
Event: 40M Local Net 1900 Local Time 7.242 LSB - Wednesday, April 23, 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.
¡ì222.1?MHz SSB/CW & 223.5 MHz FM Simplex on?Tuesday April 22, 2025.??2300z (4pm PDT)?to 0600z (11pm PDT), operate no more than four hours between
your first contact and your last contact.
¡ì432 MHz Wednesday
April 30, 2025.
¡ìMicrowave (902 MHz
and up) Saturday May 3, 2025.?
¡ì50 MHz Saturday
May 10, 2025.
?
More information and rules are posted
at:?
?
?
Please post your claimed scores and comments to the 3830 Contesting
site:?
?
?
73,
?Pete, n6ze@...?
QTH: Thousabd oaks, ca (dm04ne)
NOTE**:? N6ZE plans 223.5 MHz FM Simplex & 222.1 MHz SSB from top of Tarantula Hill in Thousand Oaks from 1830PDT until 1925PDT to work?as many as possible in Ventura Co, participate in 222?SPRINT, & Tuesday evening nationwide 222 activity night.?NOTE
Event: 10M Local Net 1600 PDT 28.395 USB - Sunday, April 20, 2025
#cal-reminder
We had a nice turnout and pretty good weather at our Portable Radio and Help session + ARRL Ham Radio Open House day.? ?The Sun was welcome, but the winds we could have done without.? I counted 19 signatures in the log, 2 of which were new hams and excited to see folks playing radio.? As far as I know, nobody came based on my NextDoor posting of the event nor because of our listing on the ARRL website for a 'Ham Radio Open House'.??
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We will be holding these Portable Radio and Help events once every month on Saturday, our next one scheduled for May 17th.
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Separately, I have Easter plans this Sunday and will not be able to host the 10M net.? Sorry, but don't use that as an excuse not to get on the air yourself and hear who you can reach!
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Thanks again for today!
Dave AI6VX
Event: Portable Operations and Help Session - Saturday, April 19, 2025
#cal-reminder
What better way to get familiar with your radio and equipment than to come out and use it!
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We'll be meeting at the covered picnic area and you can set your antennas up in the adjacent grassy field.
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Are you a new ham and have questions?? Do you need help with a radio?? Are you not yet licensed and want to know what this hobby is all about? Come and visit.? We'll have many Elmers to answer your questions.
Reminder: Saturday 11am-2pm - Portable Radio Operations/ ARRL Ham Radio Open House
Reminder that tomorrow (Saturday) our club will be holding a Portable Radio Operations, Radio Help / ARRL Ham Radio Open House event at Grace Lutheran Church in the picnic area.?
Please come out with your radios and antennas, setup and make some contacts. I¡¯ll bring the club banner and some business cards for our club.?
Field Day 2025 is only 2 months away! Bring what you plan on using at FD to get some practice. Fingers crossed there are no solar flares.?
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I will bring charcoal and my propane griddle if anyone wants to bring their own food and cook something for themselves.?
Robert Shank KM6RSS
