Welcome to the Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club

aspenWelcome, and thanks for visiting our website. The Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club (SBARC) was established in 1920 and has operated continuously ever since. If you are a licensed amateur radio operator and not yet a member, we hope you will consider joining our club. If you are not yet licensed but have an interest in amateur radio, contact us and we’ll help you get started! Better yet come meet our friendly members at one of our monthly club meetings or at the Red Cross Club Station on Saturday mornings.

Photo caption: Repeaters are the backbone of our local communication systems. SBARC operates numerous repeaters that are open and free to use, including one on Diablo Peak on Santa Cruz Island, which our team accesses with the help of Aspen Helicopters.​

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Latest News About Our Main Repeater Site

The Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club is a 501(c)(3) non-profit public benefit corporation. Our public service efforts and emergency communications infrastructure are supported by donations from our members and the community. Your tax deductible contributions help ensure our continued success

SBARC Designated Emergency Frequencies

  • SBARC Main Repeater Output 146.79 / Input 146.19 PL 131.8
  • In the event the repeater is not working, use 146.79 SIMPLEX
  • Also monitor 146.52 SIMPLEX

We also maintain a list of local frequencies used by first responders and emergency services. These are useful for programming consumer grade scanners. Please click here.

 


We need your help!

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As we all know, our time at our main repeater site will soon end. Our core engineering group has been working tirelessly to make sure our communications are impacted as little as possible.

If you haven’t heard, the main K6TZ repeater is moving to TV-Hill after KEYT Channel 3 generously offered space in their radio building. As of now, coverage checks have been done, the antenna has been installed, and the microwave link is up and running. We will be moving the repeater within the next few days. We expect the 146.79 repeater, Allstar, and the USCB remote link to all be working when the move is completed.

We Still Have More Work To Do

Moving the main repeater is only part of the job. We still need to remove all our other equipment. Some may find new homes relatively quickly, but we have a lot of gear that will need to be moved and stored.

Most of our core engineering group are in their 60’s, 70’s, 80’s or even 90’s. We cannot do everything by ourselves and some of us have physical limitations.

How You Can Help

Simply put, we need volunteers. We don’t yet know when, or what work might be involved. What we need right now is to build a list of members who might be available to volunteer when we need them.

Get On The Mailing List

We’ve set up a mailing list for members to join that we’ll use when we’re in need of help. If you can step up, that’s great, but it you can’t at the time, that’s fine too. We’ll undoubtedly have multiple opportunities to volunteer and we understand that members have jobs and other obligations.

When we need some help, we’ll send out an email to the list and if you can help, just reply to the message to let us know. We’ll try to give as much advance notice as possible.

Getting on the mailing list is easy. Just send a blank email to the address below. No subject or message is necessary.

workers+subscribe@sbarc.org

You will receive a one time confirmation email you will need to reply to so we can make sure we don’t get any spammers in the group. Just follow the instructions.

Once you have joined, you will receive mails from [SBARC Work Crew], and be able to send emails to the group by sending them to workers@sbarc.org.

This is a big and complicated job. We will be grateful for any help you can offer.

New Antenna Goes Up at KEYT

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If you haven’t heard, we were offered a place for our main K6TZ repeater (146.79) on TV hill, the decades old home of KEYT. Much of the credit goes to Senior Reporter John Palminteri. John was one of the first to report on our situation, and immediately stepped up to help. We are extremely grateful.

Here is Wayne AF6GX up on the KEYT mast installing a new Comet tri-band antenna. The tri-bander will provide some flexibility if we decide to change things later on. It will work for 2 meter, 440 and 220.

This is the first step in relocating the repeater. Next, we’ll be performing some coverage tests to get an idea how our coverage might differ from the current location. Next, we’ll be preparing to relocate the 440 input from UCSB and adding a microwave link back to the shack at the Red Cross. Then finally, we’ll be moving the repeater and other connected equipment.

There will likely be a day or two down-time when we do the physical repeater move. There is a lot of stuff to disconnect and reconnect and test. Our repairs at Santa Ynez Peak and Diablo Peak on Santa Cruz Island will remain on-the-air and linked through the period.

Post expires at 1:00am on Wednesday July 31st, 2024 but will still be available in the archives.

News Release: SBARC and SBWF announce annual scholarship winner

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Brian Milburn, organization president (right) and Levi C. Maaia, chair of the scholarship committee (left), presented Mateo Olin Ferreira (center) with a scholarship award on behalf of the Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club & Wireless Foundation at the Santa Barbara Courthouse on Monday

June 4, 2024 – SANTA BARBARA, Calif.

The Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club and the Santa Barbara Wireless Foundation are pleased to announce the recipient of their annual scholarship, awarded to an outstanding local high school graduate who plans to pursue higher education in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (STEM).

Mateo Olin Ferreira, a graduating senior at Orcutt Academy Charter High School, was awarded the 2024 scholarship at Santa Barbara Courthouse on Monday, June 3. Ferreira is set to graduate with a 4.0 GPA and plans to attend Allan Hancock College for initial credits before transferring to California State University, Long Beach to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Business.

Ferreira is an Eagle Scout in Troop 87, a tenor saxophone section leader, a football player and referee, and a Catholic altar server. He plans to continue his education with summer internships to gain practical experience in his field and aims to contribute to the advancement of green energy production.

Brian Milburn, the president of the Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club and Santa Barbara Wireless Foundation, and Levi C. Maaia, Ph.D., a board member and the chair of the scholarship committee, presented Ferreira with a certificate and a financial award to support his college expenses.

“Our goal is to ensure that more students choose academic and career paths in science and technology,” said Milburn. “Mateo has set himself up for success with his plan to attend community college and then Cal State Long Beach.”

Ferreira is the latest recipient of this scholarship, which is awarded annually in June. Applicants must be high school seniors in Santa Barbara, Ventura or San Luis Obispo Counties who plan to study Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics in higher education. Applicants should have an excellent academic record. While not requirements, preference is given to applicants who hold an active FCC amateur radio license.

Donations to the scholarship fund and applications by members of the class of 2025 may be submitted at scholarships.sbwireless.org.

The Santa Barbara Wireless Foundation, together with the Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club, forms a nonprofit, public benefit organization that develops and supports wireless telecommunications technologies in support of public safety, emergency communications, community service, and scientific research in the Santa Barbara region. More information can be found at www.sbarc.org and www.sbwireless.org.