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ARRL Club News

Published by the American Radio Relay League
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February 20, 2024

Editor: Michael Walters, W8ZY <clubs@arrl.org>

IN THIS ISSUE

- Anacapa Island Dual Activation a Success
- Line Up and Sign Up Club Activity to Generate Club Funds
- Donate the ARRL Library Book Set
- Submitting Info for this Newsletter
- How to Plan and Apply for an ARRL Hamfest or Convention
- Important Links

==> ANACAPA ISLAND DUAL ACTIVATION A SUCCESS

On September 17, three members of the Conejo Valley Amateur Radio Club
in Thousand Oaks, California, had a successful expedition to Anacapa
Island to conduct a dual activation of the Channel Islands National
Park for Parks on the Air (POTA) and Islands on the Air (IOTA.) Club
members Bill Willcox, KF6JQO; Martin Hickey, AJ6CL, and Andy Ludlum,
K6AGL, traveled by boat to the small volcanic island located about 11
miles off the coast of Port Hueneme in Ventura County, California.

Anacapa Island is made up of three islets (appropriately named East,
Middle, and West Anacapa Islands) and are only accessible by boat. The
activation was held on East Anacapa Island. Thousands of birds use the
islets as nesting areas because of the lack of predators. Anacapa is
home to the largest breeding colony of western gulls, as well as the
endangered California brown pelicans, in the world.

The team leader, Bill Willcox, KF6JQO, conducted extensive planning
with park rangers to ensure the team and its equipment would not
disturb native plants or animals. Park sites, especially those with
over 10,000 years of human history, have strict prohibitions against
any ground disturbances. The chief ranger noted that disturbing the
ground is one of the easiest ways to accidentally commit a felony in a
national park.

An antenna location was chosen on a mostly bare spot on the ground near
a picnic area. With the environmental considerations in mind, staking
the ground to secure the antenna was out of the question. The team
chose a lightweight vertical antenna supported on a tripod. The tripod
sat on an aluminum window screen that rested on the ground and served
as a ground plane. The screen was stabilized by four half-liter water
bottles, one on each corner. The thin antenna was (mostly) stable in
the windy island environment.

The equipment had to be light enough to be comfortably carried up 157
steps from the boat landing. Using a battery-powered 100 W multi-mode
transceiver, the team was most successful on 20 meters, but also
operated on 10 and 40 meters. Most of the contacts were made using SSB,
although Martin Hickey, AJ6CL, ended the 3-hour activation with a
flurry of CW contacts on 10 meters.

The team was pleased with the results. A total of 72 contacts were
made. The most impressive results were on 20 meters, where contacts
were made with stations in California, Washington, Oregon, Utah, Idaho,
Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Hawaii, Indiana, Ohio, Alabama,
Florida, Missouri, Michigan, Georgia, Virginia, West Virginia,
Pennsylvania, and New York. Band conditions on 10 and 40 meters allowed
for mostly local contacts, with the exception of a 10-meter contact
with the Australian state of Queensland.

For more information, visit us at http://www.cvarc.org/.

By Andy Ludlum, K6AGL

==> LINE UP AND SIGN UP CLUB ACTIVITY TO GENERATE CLUB FUNDS

The Club Commission Program is a way for ARRL Affiliated clubs to
generate funds for the club by allowing their members to join or renew
thair ARRL membership through the club. The club then receives a
commission for membership. New members earn the club a $20 commission
with renewals earning $5 each.

Hosting a membership night at a club meeting is a great way to utilize
this program. Below are five easy steps for how to do so. You may adapt
these to fit your club's needs, but the basic process remains the same.

Step 1. Prior to your membership night, let club members know that at
the upcoming meeting they can expect the opportunity to join ARRL or
renew their existing membership applications.

Step 2. Designate someone to be stationed at the membership table to
accept applicatons and renewals.

Step 3. Print out the ARRL Membership Application form from the ARRL
website so that each member who wishes to join or renew will have an
opportunity to fill out an application and select the membership
options that apply.

Step 4. After gathering all of the applications and payments, fill out
one Club Reconciliation Form amd send the entire package to ARRL. Full
payment for the application is submitted. The Club Reconciliation Form
is available at the ARRL site as well.

Step 5. Once the applications are received by ARRL, they will be
processed and the commission will be issued to your club.

After full payment is made to ARRL, commission is paid to the club.

Commission is only paid on Standard memberships, not Blind, Family, or
Student memberships.

Complete program details, as well as the required forms, are available
under the Club Commission Program tab at Affiliated Club Benefits
<http://www.arrl.org/affiliated-club-benefits>.

==> DONATE THE ARRL LIBRARY BOOK SET

ARRL Affiliated Clubs and members who wish to gift or donate books to a
local library, school, or classroom, can do so with ease via ARRL's
Library Book Set. For a special price of $250 (including US ground
shipping), the set includes the most popular ARRL publications, such as
ARRL license manuals, The ARRL Handbook, and The ARRL Antenna Book for
Radio Communications, among others. These publications and resources
will encourage potential new amateur radio operators from among
students, youth, and the wider community, while also providing support
to current licensees who are library users.

A complete description of the program, including the books and details
for ordering, is available at Library Book Set
<https://www.arrl.org/library-book-set>.

Be sure to read the "Club Station" column in the April 2024 issue of
QST (coming soon), in which a Florida club shares how they donated
books to their local library.

==> SUBMITTING INFO FOR THIS NEWSLETTER

ARRL Club News is for radio clubs to show how they are working in the
community and the hobby to advance amateur radio. If your club
completes a project, supports an event, does an EmComm activation, or
activates a park, we want to hear about it. You can submit your
newsletter article to us at clubs@arrl.org. We like to get them as text
or Word files instead of PDFs. If you have pictures, please submit them
with caption information, as well as the name and call sign of the
photographer. We want to highlight the good work being done by the
clubs and show others in the community. Think of this as a chance to
show off your club and your programs.

==> HOW TO PLAN AND APPLY FOR AN ARRL HAMFEST OR CONVENTION

If your amateur radio club is planning to host a convention, hamfest,
tailgate, or swapfest, please consider applying for it to be an
ARRL-sanctioned event. To learn what it means to be an ARRL-sanctioned
event, and to get some ideas on how to prepare for and conduct a
hamfest or convention, visit www.arrl.org/arrl-sanctioned-events
<http://www.arrl.org/arrl-sanctioned-events>.

To have your event sanctioned, complete the online application at
www.arrl.org/hamfest-convention-application
<http://www.arrl.org/hamfest-convention-application>.

The ARRL Hamfests and Conventions Calendar can be found online at
www.arrl.org/hamfests <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests>. In addition, the
Convention and Hamfest Calendar that runs in QST each month also
presents information about upcoming events.

==> IMPORTANT LINKS

ARRL Home: www.arrl.org <http://www.arrl.org/>

Find an ARRL Affiliated Club: www.arrl.org/clubs
<http://www.arrl.org/clubs>

Find your ARRL Section: www.arrl.org/sections
<http://www.arrl.org/sections>

Find a license class in your area: www.arrl.org/class
<http://www.arrl.org/class>

Find a license exam in your area: www.arrl.org/exam
<http://www.arrl.org/exam>

Find a hamfest or convention: www.arrl.org/hamfests
<http://www.arrl.org/hamfests>

Email ARRL Clubs: clubs@arrl.org

ARRL Club News is published every month (12 times each year). ARRL
members may subscribe at no cost or unsubscribe by editing their Member
Data Page at www.arrl.org/opt-in-out
<https://home.arrl.org/action/My-Account/Opt-In-Out>. Archived issues
can be found at http://www.arrl.org/club-news

Copyright (c) 2024 American Radio Relay League, Incorporated.
Use and distribution of this publication, or any portion thereof, is
permitted for non-commercial or educational purposes, with attribution.
All other purposes require written permission.

<http://www.arrl.org/>