Welcome
Welcome to the home of the Clairemont Repeater Association.
CLARA is a non-profit service organization serving most of the Southern California Amateur Radio area. Visitors are welcome to use our repeater systems for short QSOs as long as they practice courteous and considerate operating procedures. Join us if you are looking for a great repeater group, want to expand your Amateur Radio experiences, and would like to make friends along the way. Learn more.
IMPORTANT:
CLARA has a new PayPal address. See the Membership page for details.
Upcoming Events:
March 15: CLARA breakfast meeting
April 19: CLARA tailgate party
News
Update on CLARA Repeaters
February 21, 2025
Here is a follow-up message from CLARA Trustee Steve, K6ITR, on February 20th after speaking with a representative of Southern California Edison:
As you may know, the power at the repeater site has been provided by backup generators supplied by Edison since last fall after the Airport Fire damaged the power poles and lines. These generators need frequent refueling to continue operating, and they have been operating almost non-stop since they were put in place. Due to the heavy rains last week, the roads leading to the peak were washed out in places, so Edison has been unable to transport fuel to the site. Last Saturday night, the generators ran out of fuel. Once the roads are repaired, Edison will be able to transport fuel. There is no published time line for this, but it is a priority due to the large amount of equipment on Santiago Peak. Additionally, Edison is in the process of replacing damaged power poles with new steel poles, as well as the power lines. Because of the fires last month, Edison crews have been working in the burn areas across California. Work on the Santiago Peak power poles is set to resume this month.
CLARA truly appreciates the efforts of Southern California Edison as they work to restore power, especially to those most in need of it, as well as all of those involved with recovering from these fires. We appreciate your patience. Thank you for supporting CLARA.
CLARA Repeaters Down
February 16, 2025
Here is a message from CLARA Trustee Steve, K6ITR, on February 16th:
Last night, the CLARA repeaters on Santiago Peak went off line. As of this morning, 2/16, they are still down. We suspect it is because of a power outage on Santiago Peak, as Edison is still running the equipment on Santiago Peak with backup generators while they repair and replace power lines and poles that were damaged during the Airport Fire last September. We don't have information at this time as to how long the outage will last. Once power is restored, the CLARA equipment should come back on line. Feel free to try QSOs on the repeaters (don't just kerchunk them), and if there are any updates, I will communicate via email. Thank you for your patience.
February Tailgate Party
February 15, 2025
CLARA members and friends gathered for the bi-monthly Tailgate Party on Saturday February 15th. It was a fun evening with good conversation, 10 meter radio contacts, delicious cookies, a cute puppy, and an impromptu World War II song and dance exhibit.
January Breakfast
January 18, 2025
Happy New Year! The first breakfast meeting of 2025 was held on Saturday, January 18th at Denny's in Tustin.
Thank you to Todd, KI6RBW, for donating four Midland weather radios for the raffle. Congratulations to the lucky radio winners: Mike, N6QG; Jeff, KO6BUV; Nathan; and Kevin, AJ6EE.
Congratulations again to Mike, N6QG, for winning the cash prize.
Photo credit goes to Vaughn, KE6V.
New Associates
December 30, 2024
We extend a warm welcome to the following new Associates!
- Dan, NC6O
- Jeffrey, KN6VFA
December Tailgate Party
December 21, 2024
CLARA members and friends had a fun and festive gathering at the Tailgate Party on Saturday December 21st. We saw some old friends and some new faces, and enjoyed four different kinds of chili with all the fixings and a big assortment of cookies for dessert. Merry Christmas to all!
New Associates
November 18, 2024
We extend a warm welcome to the following new Associates!
- Fernando, KN6SOJ
- John, N6JES
- Toby, KO6FZO
November Breakfast
November 16, 2024
Here are highlights from the November CLARA breakfast:
- The repeaters are still running on generators since the Airport Fire, but doing fine.
- The December 21st tailgate party will be in Tustin. See the sidebar for details.
- CLARA supports the charity Toys for Tots. If you'd like to help, you can bring an unwrapped toy or child's gift to the December tailgate party.
- Congratulations to the lucky raffle winners:
- Mike, N6QG, won a magnetic flashlight and the cash prize.
- Frank, KC6ABS, won an ammo can.
- Joe, K6RPA, won a magnetic flashlight.
Tram Scramble
November 9, 2024
The first Tram Scramble was a big success. It was a beautiful sunny day on Mt. San Jacinto. We took the Palm Springs Aerial Tram up the mountain, and spent the day hiking and enjoying the wilderness and amazing views. It was a great day!
Photo credit goes to Jade, K6JDJ and Darcy, WI6ORG.
October Tailgate Party
October 19, 2024
The October tailgate party in Corona had a great turnout with 27 people including a few new faces, lots of tasty treats, a big truck, a fast car, and at least 5 dogs.
Photo credit goes to Darcy, WI6ORG, and Jade, K6JDJ.
September Breakfast
September 21, 2024
Here are highlights from the September CLARA breakfast:
- Steve, K6ITR, updated everyone on the status of the repeater after the Airport Fire.
- Dale, WE6ER, and Bobby, KD6IOW, announced that CLARA Members and Associates now have access to a Digital Voice Fusion 440 repeater on Santiago Peak that is linked with the SoCal Link network through a mutual agreement with HUARC. See the About page for details.
- Dale, WE6ER, led a discussion on what members would like to see the club do in the future. Various activities were discussed, including volunteer radio support for races or events, amateur radio test sessions, and outreach to local colleges. Stay tuned as plans solidify.
- The October tailgate party will be in Corona. See the sidebar for details.
- Join CLARA members and friends for the first-ever Tram Scramble hike at San Jacinto mountain on November 9th. See the sidebar for details.
- Congratulations to the lucky raffle winners:
- Carl, KO6BUB, won a Field Day pin.
- Todd, KI6RBW, won a KD6DDM hat.
- HUARC guest Fred won a security system and the cash prize.
- Thank you to Todd, KI6RBW, for donating the security system, and to Dave, KD6DDM, for donating the hat.
CLARA Repeaters Back Online
September 19, 2024
Here is a followup message from CLARA Trustee Steve, K6ITR, on September 18th:
The CLARA repeater site is back on line. The Airport Fire damaged several utility poles and power lines that provide power to Santiago Peak. Because of this, power had been cut to the peak. Today, Edison set up a number of generators on the peak that are providing power to the equipment that was not damaged by the fire. Because our equipment came back on line, we know that it was not damaged by the fire. This is good news, because at this time, access to Santiago Peak is restricted and requires fire department escorts. We will eventually be able to visit the site, but it may be quite some time before we have access. While Santiago Peak currently has generators providing power, we don't know if there will be interruptions. So our best bet is to use the repeaters while we have access, with the understanding that there may be outages. We don't know when power will be permanently restored, because it involves Edison repairing the damaged utility poles and transmission lines in very rugged terrain. CLARA is grateful to the fire crews for protecting Santiago Peak during the Airport Fire, and to the crews that restored power to the equipment there. Thank you for being patient during this outage.
CLARA Repeaters Down due to Airport Fire
September 15, 2024
Here is a message from CLARA Trustee Steve, K6ITR, on September 14th:
As you may know, the recent Airport Fire came very close to our repeater site on Santiago Peak, and at times was only a few feet from it. The fire crews that were dispatched both on the ground and in the air did a phenomenal job of protecting the structures and equipment located there. The Airport Fire is still an active incident, and at this time is not contained. Our first concern is for the safety of the crews and the people impacted by this fire and the others across California.
The power to our repeater site has not been restored, which is keeping our repeaters on Santiago Peak off-line. We do not know when the power will be restored. We also don't know if the power lines to the site were damaged, turned off as a precaution, or both. Access to the repeater site is currently restricted, so we are unable to assess the condition of the site and our equipment. From the camera views we can see, the site looks intact, but we are unable to verify beyond that. As close as the fire got to the site, there may be damage we cannot see. As we get more information, we will advise the members and associates.
We will still be having our September CLARA Breakfast meeting on September 21 as usual, as well as the October Tailgate Pizza Party in Corona. Thank you all for your patience, and hopefully we'll be back on the air soon.
Fire threatens Santiago Peak on September 10th
Photo credit goes to UC San Diego’s ALERTCalifornia camera network
August Tailgate Party
August 17, 2024
Clara's bi-monthly tailgate party was August 17th in Tustin. It was a fun event, with lots of delicious homemade cookies.
Photo credit goes to Darcy, WI6ORG.
July Breakfast
July 20, 2024
Here are highlights from the July 20th CLARA breakfast:
- The annual election was held. Congratulations to the new and re-elected board members:
- President - Dale, WE6ER
- First Vice President - Eric, K6EDK
- Second Vice President - George, KM6AFI
- Secretary - Dave, W6DLR
- Treasurer - Jeff, N6JSV
- First Member at Large - Bob, KD6IOW
- Second Member at Large - Brian, AG6UH
- Third Member at Large - Vaughn, KE6V
Steve, K6ITR, continues as the CLARA trustee. - Outgoing president Jade, K6JDJ, thanked everyone for their support and involvement for the past year, and the group thanked her for her service.
- Steve, K6ITR, updated the group that the tech team has done some tuning for the settings on the new repeater, that it is sounding pretty good, and to let him or the tech team know of any issues.
- Dave, W6DLR, covered results from Field Day 2024.
- Incoming president Dale, WE6ER, asked everyone to think about goals for the upcoming year, for discussion at the next breakfast meeting in September.
- Congratulations to the lucky raffle winners:
- Todd, KI6RBW, won a compass
- Joe, KM6RPA, and Alex, KJ6RUB won headlamps
- Darcy, WI6ORG, won a sun hat
- Jeff, N6JSV, won the Luxe bidet
- Mike, N6QG, won the alternate prize of Charmin Ultra Soft
- Garrett, KN6NYR, won a $150 gift certificate to Ham Radio Outlet
- Thank you to Eric, K6EDK, and Jade, K6JDJ, for donating the bidet, hat, compass, and headlamps for the raffle. (And thank you to Vaughn, KE6V, for donating the Charmin.)
Updates
July 2, 2024
The annual election for the CLARA Board will be held at the July 20th CLARA breakfast. In order to vote, Clara Members must have paid their yearly dues, which are due July 1st. Rumor has it there will be some cool raffle prizes at the July breakfast meeting, in addition to the HRO certificate. Come and see!
On July 27th, the CLARA 2-meter repeater will be used to coordinate the Harding Hustle 15K, 30K, and 50K trail run from around 5am to noon. Please allow this group uninterrupted access to the repeater during the event.
Field Day 2024
June 22, 2024
For ARRL Field Day this year, CLARA members, friends, and family spent the weekend camping at Rolling M Ranch campground in Chino Hills. It was a hot but fun weekend. All together we made more than 90 contacts using the club call sign, N6CRA.
Photo credit goes to Garrett, KN6NYR, Dave, W6DLR, Jade, K6JDJ, Steve, K6ITR, and Darcy, WI6ORG.