Camarillo Hills SOTA Event – W6 SOTA Association

What is SOTA?

On Thursday September 17, 2026, Ron K6CPR gave a presentation on SOTA (Summits-on-the-Air) to the Conejo Valley Amateur Radio Club (CVARC). We met at the Ventura County Fire Department conference room. Ron talked about the reasons for doing SOTA, the rules, and resources. He had also invited a panel of SOTA activators to answer questions. When asked “What is your favorite summit”, Mike K6MII told us about hiking and activating Mount Saint Helens, making 17 contacts on 2m. Mike K6STR spoke about how a $30 Quansheng HT can be modified to do 2m-CW. At the conclusion of the talk, Ron invited all in attendance to come activate the SOTA summit named Camarillo Hills, at a future date.

Many brought slides to show their SOTA adventures. This awesome meeting venue had multiple screens.

Ron once had a 7000 mi S2S (Summit-to-Summit) from Acton, CA, to the Falkland Islands. This was done on 15m SSB and a 10W radio!!! Whereas it was hot in CA, it was icy cold down south!! Now that’s a story to share!!

The SOTA panel consisted of Huston KK6WT, Ted W6TED, Mike K6MII, Lorene W6LOR, Mike K6STR, Ben AG6N, Charlie KN6CX, Tom KE6SRO, Martin AJ6CL, and Carol KE6SRN

Mike K6STR brought his home brew items. This included his 40m crystal transceiver and his 2m bandpass filter. The latter is now sold at the N6ARA.com web store.

Huston KK6WT and Ralph KK6MT had an impressive number of transceivers on display.

One impressive piece of gear on display was Huston’s WWII straight key, the “No. 48”. It was developed around 1942 and built for a portable man-pack used by infantry battalions. Huston favors it for SOTA despite its weight.

W6/SC-375 Camarillo Hills

On Sunday September 27, 2026, about 40 amateur radio operators attended a special event hosted by the Conejo Valley Amateur Radio Club (CVARC). Ron K6CPR and Sheri K6SBB know the owners of this beautiful ranch. The site is on private property, but Ron gets permission from the owner to bring CVARC members and their guests here once per year. The site is named Ancient Creek Park at Petersen Ranch. It is an occasional venue for regional community gatherings, fundraisers, and private events. For us SOTA operators, it is known as Camarillo Hills, W6/SC-375. We arrived by passing through a large white metal gate, unlocked for our event. We then drove a mile-long access road through the property. After passing acres of avocado trees and a pasture filled with cattle, we parked at the high point. Here we found the guests setup with their radio gear on a large lawn. From the lawn’s edge there was a drop-off, with spectacular views of the communities below.

Ron met the owner decades ago while on duty at the Fire Station. That was the start of their friendship. Ron became the first activator of this summit on July 2018. In November 2024 the destructive Mountain Fire burned more than 20,000 acres in the Somis and Camarillo area. The Petersen park was consumed in flames, burning the structures and trees. You would never know this now, as the site is perfect. We thank CVARC, Ron and Sheri, as well as the Petersen family, for allowing us to visit this best-ever SOTA site.

Satellite contacts

During the SOTA event Craig K6KH set out his satellite gear and made 2 contacts on AO-123, 3 on the ISS, and helped John NS6X get on SO-50. His gear consists of a full-duplex ICOM 5100 radio and an Arrow II dual band antenna. Craig is an AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation) ambassador.