Welcome to the May edition of the CLARA Current! Summer Field Day is less than two months away and we REALLY need volunteers to help with planning. Let Brian KF5WCW know if you can help with this event in any way. No amount of help is too small! Now, let’s see what we have on tap for May!
From Bob KØNR
Fox Hunt Experience
Joyce/K0JJW and I had a great time doing the Fox Hunt in april. Here are a few tips and things we learned that day.
Some fox hunters had trouble with the S-meter on their radios. You really need a good indication of relative signal strength and most of the Chinese radios are lacking in this area. Most of the traditional ham manufacturers from Japan do a good job with this. Like all of the other hunters, we used a small handheld Yagi antenna to point at the fox to find the maximum reading. We used a handful of fixed attenuators to reduce the signal level when we got close, otherwise the S meter shows full scale with the antenna pointed in any direction.
We had a difficult time with reflections off the mountains. For example, we were located on the west side of Salida and had strong signals south towards Methodist mountain and a strong signal off Tenderfoot Hill (S Mountain). It turned out that the south bearing was the correct one but it wasn’t obvious at the time. This is all part of fox hunting in the
mountains…you just need to be aware that this can occur and judge accordingly.
We found it useful to have multiple radios going. We used an FT-60 handheld for the actual direction finding with the Yagi antenna but had another HT monitoring the Fox so we would not miss any information from the Fox. We also had the mobile radio in the Jeep on the Fox frequency. If we wanted to transmit to the Fox, that provided a really strong signal that would always be heard.
One area that we struggled with was mapping. I had printed out a map of the area that we could draw on but it really did not have enough detail. There’s a tradeoff between area coverage and detail. Our US Forest Service map turned out to be very helpful. I had trouble with compass readings from my phone…I think the app I was using was messed up…or maybe it was just operator error. I really did not plan for compass readings and grabbed the app at the last minute.
Having a two person team worked well: one can handle the map, one can do the radio bearings. Also, bouncing ideas around on where the Fox is and where to go next was good. Two minds are better than one.
April Ham Help Workshop
The April Ham Help workshop was a success. We did not have anyone looking for help with licensing exams so we ended up focusing just on the topic of VHF/UHF Digital Voice, primarily focused on DMR. We had ten people participate with a wide range of experience with DMR operating. I was able to demonstrate the use of my DMR radio on the Rocky Mountain Ham Radio repeater system that covers most of Colorado. I also
demonstrated using a hotspot to contact stations around North America via the Brandmeister network. I think we all learned something that afternoon.
The next Ham Help Workshop will be June 21st. We have not chosen a topic yet.
From Rick WA6NUT
CLARA May Meeting Notice
When: Tuesday, May 13th, 2025 Social: 6:00 PM, Meeting: 7:00 PM Where: Casa del Rio Clubhouse 27665 CR 313 #24 in BV
Amateur Satellite Communications by Doug Tabor, N6UA
Our speaker for our May meeting will be Doug Tabor, N6UA. He will be speaking on amateur satellite communications. Doug’s presentation will be full of practical information on getting started in working the satellites, and will feature a live demonstration.
Doug is a resident of Cheyenne, Wyoming, and has recently retired from a career in broadcast engineering for three stations in Wyoming. He has served as Secretary for AMSAT-NA, the North American branch of AMSAT. AMSAT, the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation, promotes space education and designs, builds, and maintains amateur satellites, and has continued since the first amateur satellite, OSCAR 1, in 1961.
Doug was introduced to amateur radio in 1956 by his dad, K9BXC. He started out as a Novice in Utah in 1966 as WN7GFB, transmitting with a Gonset Commander. He passed his General exam in 1967, and now holds an Amateur Extra license. His life-long interest in amateur radio has included SOTA/POTA operation on CW, FT-8, and SSB on HF, in addition to his work with amateur satellites.
You won’t want to miss Doug’s presentation!
To join our meeting Tuesday evening by Zoom, click HERE! The passcode is 7373
From Doug KØILO
Secretary Report
The CLARA board met via Zoom April 17. Brian called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Present were Brian, Doug, Rick and Jim. Bob was unavailable that day due to travel.
After some discussion, building the “GO BOX” will be done at the June meeting so it will be available for Field Day, the last weekend of June. The Emcomm Committee will work with the county EOC to determine the role of the club in emergencies. More on that to come!
Regarding Field Day, currently only Brian and Doug have volunteered to work on the committee with a sprinkling of help from Sean, as his schedule permits. An effort to get more volunteers is needed for Field Day and other work in the club. Bill Sample has offered the use of his motor home again (Thanks Bill!). Band pass filters are needed to minimize interference. They are expensive from DX Engineering etc., so after some discussion, the board voted to approve the purchase of low cost Chinese filters for 40, 20 and 15 meters. Hopefully they arrive in time!
We then discussed the Monarch repeater. Brian reported that we may have access to the repeater a little earlier than expected. Repairs to the antenna and duplexer are likely needed. We also discussed the Quail repeater which may benefit from some duplexer tuning. We are working to repair/optimize these resources as soon as possible.
The meeting ended with a discussion about the need for more volunteers.
From Jim KDØMRC
Fianace Report
We have $1415.80 in checking and $339.78 in PayPal, for a total of $1755.78. More and more members are paying dues, so THANKS!
Dues are NOT required to participate in CLARA activities. Associate members can join in all the fun CLARA has going on. 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. THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
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/ Stay tuned to the website as more information becomes available. Several of our members have already registered. The more the merrier! 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 May 13th! KF5WCW Clear.