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President’s Message

“Two Alpha?”  “No, 20 Alpha…  2-0.”  “20 Alpha?!?!  Wow!”  If you spent any time operating as AA6CV on Field Day, you undoubtedly experienced this.  Probably more than once.  We have a lot to be proud of. 

Every year CVARC has a very impressive Field Day operation; the tents, the number of stations, the antenna farm… the BBQ alone was an impressive undertaking.  Working Phone, Digital and CW on eight bands, we made over 1000 contacts in 72 different Sections, 53 States and Provinces, and 15 countries.  Wow!

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A High Altitude Balloon Project

by Stephen Terry- KM6ZXQ

Just before Christmas of 2018, my son told me he wanted a drone for Christmas so that he could send a camera into space and take pictures of Earth.  After explaining to him that perhaps there are more suitable vehicles to achieve this task and admiring how simple getting a camera to space was in his mind, I wondered myself if we could do it.  I mean, how hard could it be?  I knew then that it wouldn’t be as simple as it was to him, and after digging into it I realized it would be a much larger challenge than I anticipated.  This was my welcoming to amateur radio. 

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July Club Meeting Information

The next regular club meeting is Thursday, July 18, 2019 (always the third Thursday) at the East County Sheriff’s Station’s Community Room, 2101 E. Olsen Rd, Thousand Oaks at 7:30 pm.

Talk-in coordination is on the Bozo repeater, 147.885 (- 127.3)

Topic/Guest Speaker – Mesh Networks: Ham radio networking (also known as “mesh” networking) is one of the fastest growing activities in amateur radio.  Orv Beach-W6BI will discuss a bit of the history of ham networking, its current status, its future as well as how you can get on the network and most importantly, what the heck you can do with it.  (Hint – lots!)

Raffle Prizes: RF Connector Adapter Kit, RTL-SDR Dipole Kit, Heil Handie-Talkie Headset

Pre-Meeting Dinner: Join fellow club members for a pre-meeting dinner at 5:00 at Yolanda’s, 590 East LA Avenue, Simi Valley, CA 93065 .

Upcoming CVARC Programs

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CVARC Field Day This Weekend

Please join us for Field Day this weekend, Saturday June 22nd and Sunday June 23. We’ll be setting up 20 stations at Maple Elementary School, 3501 West Kimber Drive, Thousand Oaks, CA.

Setup will start 1100 PDT on June 21.  (Please don’t come any earlier as, according to the Field Day Rules, we can set up no sooner than 1100). Operations will start at 1100 PDT June 22 and end 1100 PDT June 23. Cleanup will commence at 1100 PDT June 23. There will be a BBQ on the evening of June 22. You can still get a ticket for the BBQ at the June 20th club meeting.

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June is Amateur Radio Month

At their regular meeting of June 4, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors presented a proclamation designating June as “Amateur Radio Month” in recognition of the volunteerism provided by the county’s emergency communications volunteers.

Accepting the proclamation were John Kitchens-NS6X, ARRL Santa Barbara Section Manager, and Rob Hanson-W6RH, ARES District Emergency Coordinator and ACS Radio Officer for Ventura County.

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RF Bonding and Ground Planes

Every cable connecting the components in an Amateur Radio Station can act as an antenna. Differential and common mode voltages and currents in these cables can result in interference and even an RF shock. Stations with more than a few components can benefit from RF bonding and ground planes.

Simply stated, RF Bonding is the interconnection of all the station component chasses with a low RF impedance bonding strap. If the bonding strap is also connected to a ground plane under the station and both the bonding strap and ground plane connect to a ground rod the possibilities of RF shock and RF interference are virtually eliminated.

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