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VP Says – August 2025

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Hello Ventura County Hams, I was not expecting to be writing another Vice President’s message, but here I am back again!First, I want to thank Robert KM6RSS for doing an amazing job as VP this year. I can’t think ofanother member with as much passion for, and dedication to, the club as Robert. He hasgraciously volunteered to take over the immensely important job of Secretary, a responsibilityhe is eminently qualified for. Thanks Robert! So far, this summer has been a little bit of a bust on HF. Increased solar radiation causes the F2Layer to expand upward and become less dense, making it less effective at reflecting oursignals. Adding to that, more D Layer absorption during the day attenuates signals, making thesummer feel like a real bummer. However, we are still near the peak of the solar cycle, so let’sall hope for a resurgence in our DX as we move towards… Continue reading →

Pres Says – August 2025

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Pres Says Aug 2025 A Month of ‘Power’  Power – Earthquake!  This past week there was an 8.8M quake in Russia and Tsunami warnings were issued. My seismometer, sitting in my living room 4000 miles away from the epicenter, first picked up the quake approximately 11 minutes after it happened.  P-waves, vs S-waves, are the fastest traveling waves from an earthquake.  The difference in time between the arrival of P and S waves is how scientists determine how far an earthquake is. By using data from several stations, they can determine the epicenter and magnitude. As you can see from my seismograph plot above, the Earth was ringing from this quake for over 4 hours (each line is 1 hour).  It took that long for the trace to drop to the background noise level for the day. Wow!  Also, remember I mentioned it took 11 minutes for the quake to… Continue reading →

2025 ARRL K6MEP Field Day a Success

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From John E. Ross, KD8IDJ, Editor | July 3, 2025 edited to add K6MEP Information by Robert KM6RSS Tens of thousands of hams are celebrating a successful 2025 ARRL Field Day! The largest annual amateur radio event is also one of the most beloved, as shown by countless social media posts. Activity was high, with 1536 sites in the ARRL Field Day Site Locator, and that doesn’t even count home stations, portable operations, or other participants. Above is our club President, Dave, AI6VX, operating during Saturday night. Hundreds of photos were posted from ARRL Field Day sites. See an album of some of them on the ARRL Facebook page Denney Pistole N6HV enjoying lunch while Mark Thompson AE6GD  looks on. Officer Romero and Chester K1GKM, talk about Chester’s classic car “There’s a reason that hams look forward to ARRL Field Day,” said ARRL Public Relations and Outreach Manager Sierra Harrop,… Continue reading →

Pres Says – July 2025

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Pres Says – July 2025 Happy 4th of July!  However you celebrate the Fourth, may it be safe and enjoyable.  For me it will be a quiet BBQ dinner with my wife, and later watching the ‘bigger than they should be’ fireworks going off around my neighborhood. Can you believe we just completed Field Day 2025?  It seemed so far in the future, and now it is behind us.  Regular readers of my posts know I mark the passage of time with the Fourth of July, then Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Day.  This year is half over and soon the holidays will be upon us.  Field Day 2025 is one of our Club’s big events for the year, the other being Decemberfest.  This Field Day was fantastic as usual even with lower visitor attendance.  Held once again at Oxnard College, we matched last year’s size as a 13A… Continue reading →

A different antenna story by Alan Majeski AK6MF

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I became a “bonafide” ham radio operator during field day 2025 (after some insistent coaxing from Dave, the club president) when I made my first QSO followed by 5 others in the last 20 minutes of the event. I could not have made them without his assistance, in fact, all I did was talk into the microphone when prompted, even that was more difficult than I had imagined. Alan AK6MF operating GOTA with Dave AI6VX It is a common misconception among non hams that all it takes is a radio and a license to become one. I held that notion myself until I was shown that it takes a whole lot more. I had gotten my amateur extra license sometime before but had not gotten on the air due to performance anxiety and the love / hate relationship I have with antennas. I am fascinated by them but I do… Continue reading →

VP Says – July 2025

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This month, during our July 11th meeting, we will have one guest speakers, Tim Tenopir KN6JGB, who will be discussing and demonstrating his bicycle’s UHF/VHF antenna setup. He will also provide extensive technical information about current and emerging weatherproofing technologies for protecting connectors from corrosion, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of each method, and installation procedures with samples. Thirdly, Tim will be demonstrating a homemade air cannon for installing line antennas such as dipoles, etc. in trees and other high-tie structures. Tim will provide plans for construction of the air cannon and conduct workshops at future club events such as picnics, etc. as designated by the club Board of Directors. Tim Tenopir KN6JGB Tim’s educational background is in materials and mechanical engineering, having an A.S. in Metallurgical Technology from Don Bosco Technical Institute, a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Cal State University Long Beach and… Continue reading →

Come to the K6MEP Field Day(s)!

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Where: Oxnard College grass area west of parking lot A, (Google Maps shows it as B) When: Set-up Noon Friday June 27 Start QSOs 11 AM Saturday June 28 End QSOs 11 AM Sunday June 29 AGENDA: Friday June 27th at 12:00pm – setup at Oxnard College.  Folks are encouraged to come out and set up your antennas and mark your planned operation spot.  For those that do come up and set up, or help others set up, we’ll have ‘build your own sandwiches’. Saturday June 28th – Come out early and continue or start your set up.  Fire up your laptop and get connected to our N3FJP server for automatic uploading of your logs.  Don’t wait until the contest starts before asking for help!.  For those that plan on logging to paper, I will bring out forms you can fill out to help you remember what should be written… Continue reading →

Ventura County BOS Proclamation: June is Amateur Radio Month

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On June 3rd, local amateur radio operators (aka Ham Radio) were honored with a proclamation from the Ventura County Board of Supervisors, recognizing June as Amateur Radio Month. Jeff Reinhardt AA6JR, Public Information Coordinator for the American Radio Relay League, accepted the proclamation and reminded us how valuable these unsung heroes of communication are, especially in times of crisis. John Kitchens NS6X, Santa Barbara AARL Section Manager, also spoke about the value and contribution made by ham radio operators in our county and world-wide.Their motto, “When all else fails, we are there.”You can meet these hard-working volunteers at the annual Amateur Radio Field Day, June 28-29, 2025. For more information you can visit https://www.arrl.org/field-day Ventura County Board of Supervisors and other Officials: You are cordially invited to visit the Ventura County Amateur Radio Club’s FIELD DAY ACTIVITIES (see back of page) AT OXNARD COLLEGE JUNE 28-29, 2025 FROM 11AM ON… Continue reading →

Pres Say June 2025

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IMPORTANT: Keith W6KME is holding “a class on using FT8 in a crowd and on the mode in general; lots of good tips.   If you plan on using FT8 at our K6MEP Field Day this year, you need to attend this zoom meeting! When? June 4th Wednesday 7pm – 8pmWhere? Zoom   Meeting ID  821 6511 8996Password 662071 Keith will educate us on how to run FT8 to be a good neighbor to our fellow Field Day participants For folks that have participated in our K6MEP Field Day in recent years, you know that in-band interference from other modes has been a problem, especially voice from CW and FT8.  For some SDR based rigs, even strong out of band interference can be a problem.  A big reason is from not having proper antenna spacing.  I’ve been told that K6MEP was a leader in the past as far as setting up Field… Continue reading →