CLARA Current November 2024

Welcome to the November edition of the CLARA Current! We have three activities in the next 10 days. Read on to see what’s coming up. We hope you can join us!


From Bob KØNR

We are continuing our Ham Help Workshops to assist new folks getting their ham license and newer hams getting on the air and improving their skills. 
We’ve decided to do this roughly every two months:

Our next Ham Help Workshop will be held Sat Nov 9th 2 pm at Casa Del Rio Clubhouse in Buena Vista.

Tom W9TR will be leading a hands-on antenna building project described elsewhere in this newsletter. 

We will also have our normal topics, depending on the needs of the people that attend:

  • Guidance and coaching on how to get your ham radio (Technician) license.
  • Guidance and coaching on how to upgrade to General or Extra.
  • 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)
  • <other topics by request, just let me know>

Bylaws Review Committee

The committee is composed of Bob K0NR, Doug K0ILO and Sam W5CU. We have met once and are off to a good start.
Our guiding principle is to update the Bylaws in some areas that have become a bit outdated or need clarification, but to not change how CLARA is organized and operates.


From Tom W9TR

Amateur Radio Foxhunting

Foxhunting is a fun activity where participants (the hunters) use radio direction finding techniques to locate a transmitter (the fox) hidden within a designated search area.  Directional antennas, a map and a compass are used to find the approximate the location of the fox. As you get closer to the fox, signals get very strong, so you use other techniques like removing the antenna, body shielding, and offset tuning to pinpoint the fox’s location.  Besides being a lot of fun, radio direction finding is used to find downed aircraft, weather balloons, and sources of interference to amateur and public service radio systems.

CLARA will be holding a Foxhunt on Saturday, November 16th, 2024 starting at 9:00AM at the Ruby Mountain Trailhead off of CR 300 near Nathrop. The fox will transmit on the 70 CM frequency of 446.025 MHz.  All hams and non-hams are invited. That’s right, since you’ll be receiving only, you don’t need to be a licensed ham to participate.

The fox will be hidden somewhere between Buena Vista and Poncha Springs at an elevation below 9000’. The fox will be on public land, on a trail,  less than 1000’ from a county, BLM, or Forest Service road. High-clearance or 4WD vehicles will not be required.

CLARA will be holding a foxhunt antenna building workshop on Saturday, November 9th, 2024 at 2:00 PM at the Casa del Rio Clubhouse. We’ll be building a 6 element handheld directional antenna great for foxhunting. Cost will be $15 dollars. We’ll be building a variant of this antenna:

https://www.wa5vjb.com/yagi-pdf/cheapyagi.pdf


From Rick WA6NUT

GNSS: Global Navigation Satellite Systems

by Bill Sample, NØIET

GPS is important to amateur radio.  Some of us have radios frequency-locked to the GPS system, giving us unmatched frequency accuracy and stability.  And APRS uses GPS to track locations.  A local NTP server with a GPS reference can be useful for FT8 operation for timing when no Internet service is available.    And many of us have cars equipped with GPS systems we use to find our way on highways and city streets.  The Maidenhead coordinate system is used to report station locations.

Bill’s presentation will provide an overview of the various GNSS systems provided by different countries.  He’ll present a brief history of GPS, how GNSS works and the popular map coordinate systems.  GPS augmentation systems allow instrument approaches to airports in the clouds and in low visibility and even allow aircraft to land in zero cloud height and zero visibility conditions.  Bill will tell us about his favorite GPS app and he’ll give us some practical tips on how to use GPS to great advantage in the backcountry.

Bill has bachelor and masters degrees in engineering and holds air transport and flight instructor pilots licenses.  He worked for 38 years as an engineer designing electronics for aircraft and space vehicles.  Bill is a member of Chaffee SAR South and uses GPS to locate and rescue lost and injured subjects in the backcountry.

You’re invited to our November 12th meeting!  Social hour starts at 6:00 PM, meeting is at 7:00 PM.  Light refreshments will be served.

To join our meeting Tuesday evening by Zoom, click  HERE


From Jim KDØMRC

Our checking account has $1160 and PayPal has $59.

We just received approval to install the repeated at the Otero Pumpstation (Homestake), and hope to install it in the next couple of weeks.


From Sean KFØIHL

Last month’s CLARA meeting, held on 2024-10-08, was a break from formal
presentations in the form of a show-and-tell session. There were six of
us at the clubhouse and two joining via Zoom. Three folks brought
something to show:

Rick, WA6NUT, demonstrated amateur television
With a receiver setup at the clubhouse, we observed a transmission from
Rick’s station across the street. The setup involved a 70cm, bowtie
antenna with tabletop stand, a Pluto SDR, and a stack of software like
VLC Player and gnuradio.

For more info about ATV and DATV, check out this link.


Next, Brian, KF5WCW, gave a tour of his HF mobile installation.

  • The Vibe contains a Codan HF radio: push-to-tune-and-talk, 160m-10m
  • remote tuner mounted at the feed point
  • big antenna mount, bolted to the car
  • full size SS whip
  • radio mounted in a hard case, secured to lashing points in the vehicle
  • removable for portable, campsite operation

Sean, KF0IHL, demonstrated a WSPR transmitter kit build. It is a 6 band, multi-mode transmitter based around an Atmega328 microcontroller. As built, it covers 80m/40m/30m/20m/15m/10m and transmits between 100mW and 200mW, from a single BS70. I’ve had good results, incuding being spotted on WSPR by the Neumayer III Station in Antarctica (30m, dipole 26′ AGL).


Club License Update: We’ve fixed the name on our club license to read “Chaffee Lake Amateur Radio Association”.


That’s it for this edition of the CLARA Current. We have some really exciting events planned this month, so don’t miss out! For more info regarding our monthly meeting, like location info or how to join the meeting via Zoom, Visit our Events Calendar. 73 from me, KF5WCW and the entire CLARA board!