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President’s Message

Daphne Vandervalk-KN6TXX

Greetings, CVARC Members and Visitors,

Spring is here, and I hope you are enjoying the nice weather! We are so fortunate to live in the beautiful Conejo Valley area, and ham radio offers so many good excuses to go outdoors.

To recap the last couple months: For our February general meeting, Ed Zimmermann–N6XEW brought his Bambu Lab 3-D printer and demonstrated its operation while giving a talk on the various printing techniques and what they can be used for. He brought several items he has made to show what things can be created that are useful to hams. It’s exciting to think what we can make now right at home with a printer and some innovation.

Jason Oleham–KM4ACK, who has a popular ham radio channel on YouTube, joined us via Zoom for our March general meeting to discuss the topic of one of his recent videos, “Why I Stopped Building Go Bags.” He has developed an organized modular system to pack exactly the right items and have everything he needs depending on where he is going and what radio he will be bringing. He shared a lot of great ideas that all of us can use.

Upcoming events:

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2025 CVARC Spring Fling-Rover Roundup

CVARC is planning a special amateur radio event for Sunday, April 27, 2025, with the goal of keeping alive the spirit of camaraderie and togetherness among hams in the Conejo Valley. Let’s connect over the air and in person.  The idea is to have some fun.  Feel free to participate in whatever part of this event interests you.

Rover Roundup Contest: 10:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M.

Picnic: Dos Vientos Park: Noon to 3:00 P.M.

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New SOTA Mountain Goat: Martin Hickey-AJ6CL

Newly crowned Mountain Goat Martin Hickey-AJ6CL celebrating his new status at Tarantula Hill Brewing Company. (Photo by Ryan Huggins-KI6BTY)

Congratulations to Martin Hickey-AJ6CL for achieving SOTA “Mountain Goat” status on Friday, March 21st when he activated Camarillo Hills for his final point.

In Summits on the Air (SOTA), achieving “Mountain Goat” status means an activator has reached 1,000 points by activating summits, a significant milestone recognized with a trophy (and great public acclaim!)  Martin earned his 1000th point after making his fourth QSO on summit W6/SC-375 on 20-meters SSB with CVARC Member Ryan Huggins-KI6BTY.

If working in the shack is more to your taste, “Chasers” can achieve “Shack Sloth” status with their 1000th point.

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Parks On the Air On the Beach

Save the date April 12, 2025, for “Parks on the Air at the Beach” at San Buenaventura State Beach in Ventura.

Where: San Buenaventura State Beach, 901 San Pedro Street, Ventura, CA. Directions: North 101 to Seaward, exit 68.  Turn left on Seaward, then right onto Harbor Blvd, then left onto San Pedro.  Destination is on your right.

Hours: 1000-1600

Parking cost: $10 per vehicle (It pays to ride pool) (if you have a Ventura County Library card you can check out a day pass)

Station Operation Mode – Portable, battery only, no stakes, please.

Where: We will try to set up near picnic tables, call Bill Willcox at 805 304-4732 for exact table location.

BRING YOUR OWN VITTLES AND BEVERAGES.  NO ALCOHOL, PLEASE.  (There are ample fast food choices off of Harbor Blvd.)

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April Club Meeting

The next regular club meeting will be held on Thursday, April 17, 2025, at 7:30 P.M. at the East County Sheriff’s Station.

Topic – History of Call Signs: Dr. David Pepper -WA6TWA, a retired laser physicist from Camarillo and a ham for over 60 years takes us on an interesting journey through the storied history of ham radio call signs.

Special note: if you can’t attend the meeting in person you can still participate via ZOOM, details below.

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Yaesu 991A Packet Setup

Marshall Davidson-KO6FBJ, along with a few CVARC friends, recently completed configuring his Yaesu 991A and his computer to send and receive packet Winlink emails. He wanted to share what he learned to arrive at a successful configuration. You can read his article by clicking here. In addition, this has been added to our Technical Articles as a guide for others.

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March Club Meeting

The next regular club meeting will be held on Thursday, March 20, 2025, at 7:30 P.M. at the East County Sheriff’s Station.

Jason Oleham-KM4ACK

Topic – Why I Stopped Building Go-Bags: Jason Oleham–KM4ACK stopped building go-bags two and a half years ago. He’ll share what he learned and explain why he’s taken a new “modular” approach to go-kits.

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President’s Message

Daphne Vandervalk-KN6TXX

Hello CVARC Members and Friends,

Fires, floods, and earthquakes – we’ve had it all this year in Southern California and it’s only February! One thing I really appreciate about this club is that there’s always someone at the other end of the local radio to touch base with immediately when something significant happens nearby. The sense of community in our local area is top-notch.

We enjoyed the presentation by our guest speaker, Riley Hollingsworth, at our January general meeting. He emphasized the importance of keeping our radio bands free of FCC violators with entertaining anecdotes and a thorough knowledge of what goes on in our general area even though he is on the east coast. It was engaging and thought-provoking, and we appreciate the time he spent with us.

We also had a fun time at our Winter Field Day. The weather was a bit chilly but fortunately not windy, and we had a nice gathering with radios, sandwiches, and friends along with a few visitors who learned about amateur radio for the first time. Thank you again to our Operations Director Martin Hickey-AJ6CL for putting together another fine event for the club!

Ed Zimmermann-N6XEW will be the speaker at our February 20th general meeting, where the topic will be “3-D Printing Useful Things for Hams.” He plans to bring a printer and do a live demonstration, so come early and carpool if possible to see it in person.

On that note, the CVARC Board of Directors is aware that as our club has grown, our space for parking at meetings has shrunk, and we are seeking suggestions for a new location that will meet our needs. Let us know if you have any good ideas!

73,

Daphne-KN6TXX

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CVARC To Hold Technician and General License Classes in March

CVARC will be holding amateur radio license classes for the entry level Technician License and the second level General License on five Saturdays in March 2025. The classes will be held Saturday mornings from 8:00 A.M. to noon on March 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29 in the Community Room at the East County Sheriff Station at 2201 E. Olsen Road, Thousand Oaks.

Contact CVARC Education Director Keith Elliott-W6KME at keith@w6kme.org with any questions or to reserve a spot in either class.

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