Welcome to the June edition of the CLARA Current! Summer Field Day is THIS MONTH (6/28-6/29)! If you plan to participate, be sure to attend the June meeting next week on Tuesday the 10th. Come, ask questions, and sign up to operate, or just come and see what it’s all about. We will also build a go-box for field day that YOU can borrow! Read on for details.
From Rick WA6NUT
May Meeting Notice
Tuesday, June 10th, 2025 Social: 6 pm, Meeting: 7 pm
Casa del Rio Clubhouse
27665 CR 313 #24 in BV
Building a Go-Box by Brian Daugherty, KF5WCW
Our speaker for our June meeting will be Brian Daugherty, KF5WCW. Brian is our club president, and he’s experienced in portable and mobile HF operation. He operates HF mobile on his commute to work, and during the summer he spends most weekends operating his portable HF station in the backcountry, along with his faithful canine companion.
At our meeting, Brian will be showing us how to build a Go-Box. So what is a Go-Box? A Go-Box is a portable station, packaged for easy transportation and use for Field Day, POTA, or emergency communications. And Field Day is coming soon, at the end of the month!
Brian will show us how the Go-Box is assembled, including terminating the Powerpole wiring, and affixing the Go-Box components into the rack case. The components are a combination of donated equipment and purchased accessories, including the Kenwood TS-590S HF transceiver, LDG antenna tuner, power supply, speaker, load center, and a rack panel with USB charger, Powerpole input, dual Powerpole output, and a voltmeter.
We’ll be using the Go-Box at the upcoming Field Day, June 28-29. And the Go-Box will be available for loan to CLARA members!
To join our meeting Tuesday evening by Zoom, click HERE! The passcode is 7373
Note from Brian KF5WCW: Building the go-box will serve as a hands-on element to field day preparations. In addition, we will demo/test equipment we plan to use during the event, sign up operators, and answer questions about Field Day in general. See you there!
From Bob KØNR
Ham Help Workshop
Saturday June 21 – 2 to 4 pm at the Casa Del Rio Clubhouse in Buena Vista, 27665 County Road 313 #24.
Our special topic for the June workshop is Best Practices for Summits On The Air Operating.
Summits On The Air (SOTA) is a worldwide program with radio hams operating from the tops of mountains. It is a great way to combine radio fun with hiking in Colorado. The summits vary in difficulty so you can choose the easy ones or go for the more difficult ones. In particular, Colorado has a special SOTA event coming up in August, the Colorado 14er & Mountaintop Event, an excellent opportunity to participate in SOTA, whether on a summit or operating from home. See ham14er.org.
This is a workshop format with a bunch of hands on demos and good discussion. We have a number of CLARA members that have already participated in SOTA and we invite them to come to this workshop, show off their gear and share what they have learned.
We can also cover these topics, customized to meet the needs of the attendees:
- Guidance and coaching on how to get your ham radio (Technician) license.
- Guidance and coaching on how to upgrade to the General or Extra license.
- Help with making your first VHF/UHF ham radio contact.
- Help with programming your VHF/UHF radio (we program the radios for you).
- Help with learning how to program your VHF/UHF radios using Chirp or similar software.
- Demonstrations of operating a ham radio station (VHF/UHF and HF)
- <other topics by request, as needed>
Registration is not required, but it is best to let us know that you are attending, along with what you need help with.
Please contact:
Bob Witte KØNR bob@k0nr.com
From Doug KØILO
Secretary Report
Brian called the Zoom meeting of the Board to order at 7:00 pm May 15. The bulk of the meeting was about the June ARRL Field Day.
Brian reported that we have several antennas and ample equipment available. He also reported that he is sending a request to use a small EOC trailer for field day. Sam is going to be there with his travel trailer. Sean will also have his pop-up camper for field day, and Bill is once again offering use of his RV. A special thanks to these guys for helping make Field Day possible! We also decided that the June club meeting will be dedicated to finalizing field day plans in addition to assembling the CLARA HF go-box. Sign up sheets will be available, so be sure to sign up to run a station!
Brian reported that he is submitting a request to the Office of Emergency Management for financial assistance with the purchase of two CLARA laptops to be maintained for emergency communications and other ham radio tasks.
The discussion then shifted to the club repeaters. Norm and Jim will look at both the Monarch and Quail (pump station) repeaters due to some odd behavior they have been exhibiting. The Monarch repeater is not yet accessible. Please make alternate communications plans if you are intending to rely on these assets.
Bob gave information about ham radio classes and exams. Classes are well attended, but a more focused effort may be required to get additional people licensed.
It was reported that the EmComm committee has been formed and is meeting the first Thursday of each month via Zoom. Brian also reported that Norm gave CLARA some VHF and UHF parts and antennas, so if you are planning a project, ask Brian about parts! We are hoping for a large turnout for the June club meeting with lots of participation in the ARRL Field Day June 28th and 29th.
From Jim KDØMRC
Fianace Report
We have $1416.43 in checking and $359.78 in PayPal, for a total of $1776.21. More and more members are paying dues, so keep it up, THANKS!
Remember that to borrow assets (like the go-box we are building that the June meeting) are only available to dues paying members. Dues are NOT required to participate in CLARA activities. Associate members can still join in all the fun. Dues allow us to track voting members and make other administrative tasks easier to manage while funding CLARA activities and maintenance to assets like repeaters.
The largest ham radio convention in the state will be held Oct 23 to 26 in Grand Junction. Take a look at the website here: https://www.hamconcolorado.com/. Several of our members have already registered! That’s it for this edition of the CLARA Current. Thanks to everyone for being a part of CLARA. 73 and see you at the monthly meeting on June 10th! KF5WCW out.