Technical Mentoring & Elmering Net

Technical Topics and Advice for New Hams

Thursdays from 8:00 to 9:00 PM on the SBARC Hub linked repeaters.

The Technical Mentoring and Elmering Net is dedicated to teaching. We discuss technical topics related to ham radio at ALL levels of expertise, with very special emphasis on helping any new ham any way we can. Remember you are an expert in your field of endeavor, so its no shame if you are just a beginner in ham radio. In fact, a great question for the net is “ WHAT are you guys talking about?”

There is no “lecture topic”, meaning that we are completely question-based, so its great if you have a list of questions ready. We take check-ins at the beginning, and throughout the net, so you can join (and leave) anytime you want to. Usually we discuss some technical topic for awhile, then leave breaks for people to jump in with a different question. Often several very expert hams are on, with possibly some listening ready to help with something they know, or to answer up to net control asking “who wants to answer that question?” The net is very informal and friendly, and also helps any new ham with even non-technical ham radio questions, like correct operating procedure, etc.

You’ll find recordings of the net in the SBARC Audio Archives.

Net controllers, see the TM&E Net preamble and script wiki.

 



Technical Mentoring and Elmering Net – 10/1/2026

The audio archive of this and other SBARC nets have been indefinitely discontinued. Hopefully the audio recordings will be resumed before too long by another local ham enthusiast with the technical ability and resources necessary to do so.

We had another interesting net tonight with 9 check-ins plus net control Brian, K6BPM. Tonight’s topics included:

  • Santa Barbara Electronics making progress.
  • MARS Mod on Yaesu FTM-100.
  • Using AI Agents for MARS mods for Ham radios.

Tune in to the SBARC TM&E Net every Thursday at 8:00 PM local and see what interesting ham radio questions might arise or ask some of your own! All club members and visitors are encouraged to check in to the net each week.

Technical Mentoring and Elmering Net – 9/24/2026

The audio archive of this and other SBARC nets have been indefinitely discontinued. Hopefully the audio recordings will be resumed before too long by another local ham enthusiast with the technical ability and resources necessary to do so.

We had another interesting net tonight with 6 check-ins plus net control Ken, KA6KEN. Tonight’s topics included:

  • AllStar node.
  • Diodes, capacitors and bears, oh my!

Tune in to the SBARC TM&E Net every Thursday at 8:00 PM local and see what interesting ham radio questions might arise or ask some of your own! All club members and visitors are encouraged to check in to the net each week.

Technical Mentoring and Elmering Net – 9/17/2026

The audio archive of this and other SBARC nets have been indefinitely discontinued. Hopefully the audio recordings will be resumed before too long by another local ham enthusiast with the technical ability and resources necessary to do so.

We had another interesting net tonight with 7 check-ins plus net control Dave, AI6VX. Tonight’s topics included:

  • AI Engines.
  • Welders.
  • Dave’s (AI6VX’) AI projects.
  • Mestastic.

Tune in to the SBARC TM&E Net every Thursday at 8:00 PM local and see what interesting ham radio questions might arise or ask some of your own! All club members and visitors are encouraged to check in to the net each week.

Technical Mentoring and Elmering Net – 9/10/2026

The audio archive of this and other SBARC nets have been indefinitely discontinued. Hopefully the audio recordings will be resumed before too long by another local ham enthusiast with the technical ability and resources necessary to do so.

We had another interesting net tonight with 7 check-ins plus net control Ken, KA6KEN. Tonight’s topics included:

  • Suggested radio for simplex operations?
  • 2 M SSB – Vertical vs. horizontal polarization.
  • What kind of distance RX and TX can be expected on simplex depending on type of antenna and power?
  • MeshCore vs. Meshtastic.

Tune in to the SBARC TM&E Net every Thursday at 8:00 PM local and see what interesting ham radio questions might arise or ask some of your own! All club members and visitors are encouraged to check in to the net each week.

Technical Mentoring and Elmering Net – 9/3/2026

The audio archive of this and other SBARC nets have been indefinitely discontinued. Hopefully the audio recordings will be resumed before too long by another local ham enthusiast with the technical ability and resources necessary to do so.

We had another interesting net tonight with 7 check-ins plus net control Biran, K6BPM. Tonight’s topics included:

  • MeshCore.
  • Elecrow ThinkNode M1 (Amazon.com; Store.rokland.com).
  • AllStar Node Remote.

Tune in to the SBARC TM&E Net every Thursday at 8:00 PM local and see what interesting ham radio questions might arise or ask some of your own! All club members and visitors are encouraged to check in to the net each week.

Technical Mentoring and Elmering Net – 8/27/2026

The audio archive of this and other SBARC nets have been indefinitely discontinued. Hopefully the audio recordings will be resumed before too long by another local ham enthusiast with the technical ability and resources necessary to do so.

We had another interesting net tonight with 8 check-ins plus net control Ken, KA6KEN. Tonight’s topics included:

  • General discussion including HVAC, A/C refrigerants, etc.
  • Ham callsign prefixes.

Tune in to the SBARC TM&E Net every Thursday at 8:00 PM local and see what interesting ham radio questions might arise or ask some of your own! All club members and visitors are encouraged to check in to the net each week.

Technical Mentoring and Elmering Net – 8/20/2026

The audio archive of this and other SBARC nets have been indefinitely discontinued. Hopefully the audio recordings will be resumed before too long by another local ham enthusiast with the technical ability and resources necessary to do so.

We had another interesting net tonight with 4 check-ins plus net control Dave, AI6VX. Tonight’s topics included:

  • Verizon’s Cell Phone Booster, is it a repeater or does it just connect to wireless network?
  • Cell phone coverage.
  • HamVoip/AllStar.

Tune in to the SBARC TM&E Net every Thursday at 8:00 PM local and see what interesting ham radio questions might arise or ask some of your own! All club members and visitors are encouraged to check in to the net each week.