AN ENGINEER LOOKS AT SCIENCE by Reese West KQ6TT

INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY A lot of the life of an engineer is solving problems which are inadequately stated, with inadequate data, time, and money.  This note is one engineer’s look at what scientists have been doing with their time and effort.  If you read it, you will find: 1. A method for electromagnet waves to propagate in our world. The mathematics for this is known but not the physical model. 2. The two slit wave experiment does not show a particle model through a single slit, and has major problems to show how photons split into two photons and recombine 3. The Big Bang and the Doppler Effect of moving signal sources. 4. There was no reason to assume that gravity was an attractive force and not a pushing force or something similar. 5. Energy propagation of matter can be made into a continuum of solid, liquid, gas, wave.  Each… Continue reading

Earth’s upper atmosphere could hold a missing piece of the universe, new study hints

by Paul Sutter https://www.yahoo.com/news/earths-upper-atmosphere-could-hold-150000722.html Earth may be swimming through an ocean of dark matter — and waves in that invisible ocean lapping against our planet’s upper atmosphere may generate detectable radio waves that allow us to finally find this elusive component of the universe, according to new theoretical research. A wealth of astrophysical and cosmological evidence points to the existence of dark matter, from the inexplicable rotation curves of certain galaxies to the growth of the largest structures in the universe. Attempts to explain this wide variety of observations with alternative formulations of gravity have failed, so the vast majority of astronomers think dark matter is some unknown form of matter that only rarely interacts with light or with normal matter. But that is a very broad idea that encompasses a lot of possibilities. Dark matter may be made of massive particles, but searches for those kinds of particles have largely turned up empty. So… Continue reading

President’s Message – June 2024

Boston Dynamics Spot with person

President’s Message – June 2024 Field Day 2024 is here! What seemed so far off in the distance is now a mere 2 weeks away.  Our June club meeting will be 100% focused on final Field Day planning.  To help with the planning, and to get the latest information, please try to attend this meeting in-person or over Zoom. Our HF nets are taking off!  The last few 40M nets have been amazing.  Strong signals locally and up and down California.  We even have a non-club member check in regularly from the South Western tip of Utah.  We had 16 check-ins at one of our recent 40M nets, 13 of which were from outside of our area!  If you haven’t been working the HF bands, give it a try!  And don’t be afraid of calling out CQ.  I’ve noticed there seems to be a lot of friendly folks that tune… Continue reading

VP Message – June 2024

Image of Jacques KN6VVQ

Hello Ventura County Hams, Can you believe that we are just over two weeks away from Field Day, how has the first half of this year gone by so fast? Our Field Day Committee has been busy planning all the technical aspects of handling one of the largest turnouts in the country, and we are looking forward to a fun 24 hours of operating at Oxnard College. We started the day with 12 stations last year, let’s try and make it 13 this year! Even if you haven’t attended any of the Planning Committee or General Membership meetings, that doesn’t mean you can’t participate. On the contrary, we would love to have you come out and operate with us! There will be plenty of great food, camaraderie, and on-air time for all. No rig? No problem. There will be lots of radios for you to jump on the air and… Continue reading

We may have just witnessed some of the strongest auroras in 500 years

By Sharmila Kuthunur  published May 20, 2024 “We’ll be studying this event for years.” Evan Boyce captured this stunning aurora above the coast of Northern Ireland. (Image credit: Evan Boyce) This month’s ramped-up auroras may have been even more remarkable than we thought. The auroral displays that wowed observers around the world two weekends ago, including folks as far south as Florida in the U.S. and Ladakh in northern India, may have been among the strongest such light shows since record-keeping began. “With reports of auroras visible to as low as 26 degrees magnetic latitude, this recent storm may compete with some of the lowest-latitude aurora sightings on record over the past five centuries, though scientists are still assessing this ranking,” NASA officials said in a statement. “It’s a little hard to gauge storms over time because our technology is always changing,” Delores Knipp, a research professor at the University of Colorado Boulder who focuses on space weather,… Continue reading

Club Project Build May 18, 2024

Club Project Basics demonstration

After the ham exam, held at the Grace Lutheran Church, Dave Schmidt AI6VX and Mark Thompson AE6GD put on a club project build-basics demonstration. John Gartman W6JPG, Chris Dimond KJ6QOP. Burt Auerbach KA6BJA, Larry Gray K6LWG, Ben Holmes, K6QV, Duane Smeckert KO6ACQ and Robert Shank KM6RSS watched Dave demonstrate the correct way to create wire connectors with Anderson Power Poles and saw Mark show the many ways to remove components from a circuit board. Dave also went through the steps of preparing an RG8X-B coaxial for a crimped PL-259 connector. Dave shows how to add an Anderson Power Pole while Ben, Chris, and Mark watch. Mark used several soldering techniques including a solder-sucker, solder remover using braided wire, temperature-controlled soldering iron and a hot air gun. No fingers were burned although some rosin smoke enhanced everyone’s enjoyment of the demonstration. Dave used three cable insulation cutters to obtain the best… Continue reading

Ham Exam held on May 18th

Ham Exam

Our club hosted its second ham exam this year (the first was held on March 9th at the Dudley House); this was the first time we held it at the Grace Lutheran Church 6190 Telephone Rd, Ventura CA 93003. The Church has a lot of parking and meeting room space, great seating and Dave brought the donuts! Six people attended; two received their technician license and two received their amateur extra license. Dave AI6VX (upper left), Larry K6LWG (walking at center), John W6JPG (far right), and Robert KM6RSS (taking the photo), administered the test as Volunteer Examiners with the ARRL as the VEC. Our next exam is scheduled for July 13 (8:30 AM) at the Grace Lutheran Church. All applicants must pre-register for an exam by sending an email to licensing@vcarc.club with your information. We will reply within a day to confirm your spot, and include information on what you will need to… Continue reading

Trivia – May 2024

Steampunk looking scene with an old book and magnifying lens

DID YOU KNOW? 1 – The candy called Lolipop was named after a racehorse that the candy maker favored. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lollipop 2. In 1956 the hula hoop craze hit, and you could a hula hoop for a wonderful price of $1.98. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/iconic-hula-hoop-keeps-rolling-180969355/ 3. 1954, the nuclear powered submarine , the Nautilus was launched.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Nautilus_(SSN-571) de Dana KG6WXE

VP Says – May 2024

Image of Jacques KN6VVQ

Hello Ventura County Hams, We continue to creep ever closer to our big event of the year, Field Day! If you haven’t alreadystarted planning what antennas and gear you are going to bring, now would be a good time tostart. We are hoping for another big turnout this year, which means we will all have to worktogether to get as many people on the air as possible. Expect some more updates as the monthprogresses. Last month we had two CQers Club get togethers at Ventura State Beach. The second one wasthe day before the M2B Marathon, which made it difficult for some people to attend. Thismonth I probably only have one weekend day to get out again, so we will tentatively scheduleour next outing for Sunday, May 19th . Keep an eye on Groups.io for more information as themonth progresses. I attended the International DX Convention in Visalia last month… Continue reading