Hello Club Leaders,

Below, I included an invitation and announcement of opening registration for the Central States VHF Society Conference in Cedar Rapids, IA. All events today struggle with attendance. The Central States VHF Society maintains a strong core membership. However, we need to grow. We believe that many amateur radio operators use 50 MHz and above.

As an ARRL Special Operating Conference, we are asking you to publish this announcement in your newsletter.   If you need to shorten the letter, that is fine. If you need to add to the letter, we request that you write your own testimonial in a separate article to add weight to the invitation. At a minimum, please consider running a super short advertisement like:

Central States VHF Society 2024 Conference

July 25-27, 2024

The registration link is: 56th Annual CSVHFS Society Conference-Annual Conference

Room Reservation link is: https://www.choicehotels.com/reservations/groups/G9668829

Note that we have a special conference room rate when you use the link.

Convention web site at: https://2024.csvhfs.org/

Thank you in advance for your efforts,

Bill Caldwell, N0LNO

President

Central States VHF Society

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Central States VHF Society 2024 Conference Registration is Open!!!

Hello everybody,

The Central States VHF Society Conference in Cedar Rapids, IA on July 25-27, 2024 is open for registration. A great technical program provides time to see operating rovers and microwave dishes, measure low noise amplifiers, measure your antenna gain, and learn through one and a half days of classroom style presentations.

Our family program shows off three historic facilities in the Cedar Rapids area. The National Czech and Slovak Museum showcases our Czech heritage in Cedar Rapids. The Brucemore Mansion tells the stories of two influential families in Cedar Rapids whose legacy still impacts our community. The Amana Colonies visit begins with a bus tour of the colonies including stops at a communal kitchen, a church, and museum. Lunch and shopping are on your own.

The Friday and Saturday luncheons provide an opportunity to dine with your new and old friends and listen to a very interesting speaker. The banquet provides a great meal, award presentations, keynote speaker, and a prize drawing with thousands of dollars worth of prizes. Amateurs and family members leave with something. We are pleased to announce our luncheon and banquet presentations.

Friday Luncheon: “902 MHz EME Roving October 2023 - 27 States in 21 Days + WAS #1”, by Peter Van Horne, K6AU

In September 2023, I decided to make a 902 MHz EME roving trip starting October 1, 2023.  The goals included Al, W5LUA, completing WAS #1 on 902 and helping the other active 902 EME operators complete as many states as possible.

Saturday Luncheon: “A DXer’s Gridpedition to EN67. Or What’s a Guy Like YOU doing in a place like this?” by Tom Vinson, NY0V

In this presentation, Tom will take you through his journey from HF DXing until he went on his first solo Gridpediton to EN67 in June 2023. Topics will include how he decided which grid to activate, the equipment and system used, how it turned out, and the lessons he learned.

Saturday Evening Banquet Keynote:  "Sights Along the Way or Snorkel and Bounce" by Karen Orzech and Lance Collister, W7GJ

Lance and Karen will share their adventures in visiting exotic locations that Lance activated on 6 meter EME while Karen pursued photography and snorkeling hobbies.

You may wonder what happens at a Central States VHF Society Conference. The following paragraphs describe the highlights of a conference. When you attend, you can experience all of these functions. You also meet many people who enthusiastically embrace activating the higher bands. There are many propagation and communication modes to experience.

Two antenna ranges provide an opportunity for members to measure the gain performance of their antennas. In past years, new designs performed well. Sometimes, a quick adjustment provided improved performance. Antennas ranging from 144 MHz to 10 GHz can be evaluated.

Low noise amplifiers extend range in weak signal environments. For many bands, amateur radio operators homebrew their own low noise amplifiers. The noise figure measurement bench provides an opportunity for the measurement of noise figure on a world class noise figure analyzer.

Since amateur radio operators rarely experience the show and tell of operational stations, many amateur radio operators bring rovers and microwave dishes to Central States VHF conferences to show other enthusiasts how simple or complex these stations can be. Weather permitting, we will be herded down the line of stations. Each owner then discusses the unique features of their stations.

Vendors display and sell their products in our vendor room. Some products are brand new. Some used. Some vendors salvage test equipment and commercial products to provide items that are useful in the VHF and higher bands.

Members share innovations, adventures, technological advancements, and operating practices in a series of presentations on Friday afternoon and all day Saturday. The hospitality suites provide an informal opportunity to interact with each other.

The registration link is: 56th Annual CSVHFS Society Conference-Annual Conference

The Room Reservation link is: https://www.choicehotels.com/reservations/groups/G9668829

Note that we have a special conference room rate when you use the link.

Updated information on the convention can be found on our web site at https://2024.csvhfs.org/

We look forward to seeing you in Cedar Rapids.

Thank you,

Bill Caldwell, N0LNO                                Rod Blocksome, K0DAS

President                                                          Vice President

Central States VHF Society                   Central States VHF Society