Program for General Club Meeting – February 19, 2016

Our speaker this month will be Orville Beach, W6BI. Orville was scheduled to speak last fall, but the closure if I-5 that evening created a colossal traffic jam, and he was forced to turn back. This time, hopefully, things will be back to normal and Orville will be able to make it to our meeting in good time. Orville K. Beach, W6BI, is a member of the Simi Settlers Amateur Radio Club of Simi Valley, California. Orville claims he is now All Digital, All the Time! He earned his Novice license in 1967 with the call of WN6WEY and has held an Amateur Extra class license for the past 17 years and has acquired the vanity call of W6BI. As an example of All Digital, All the Time, look at his operating style: CW for four years RTTY for 11 years (teletypes, homebrewed terminal units, then homebrewed computer interfaces and programs) VHF Packet radio for about 10 years – helped build up a packet network down the California coast and east to Tucson QRT off and on for a couple of years Pactor for 2 years PSK31 off and on for a couple of years 2014..  Digital Mesh radio on the microwave bands Although he enjoys digital more than analog radio, he says that his principal interests are technical as well as ragchewing. Orville’s  topic will be, “Digital Mesh Networking for Amateur Radio.” This should prove to be one of the more interesting topics we have had recently, so everyone should try to male the meeting. We will be hosting Orville for dinner before the meeting at Cody’s in the Turnpike Shopping Center at 5:30 PM. Everyone is welcome to join is. We hold our Club meetings at the Goleta Union School District, 401 N. Fairview Ave. in Goleta, right across the street from the Goleta Library. Doors open at 7:00 PM and the meeting starts at 7:30 PM. Post expires at 11:00pm on Friday February 19th, 2016 but will still be available in the archives.

Technical Mentoring and Elmering Net – January 14, 2016

The audio archive can best followed by downloading the .mp3 file for the appropriate date here and listening with the media player of your choice. You can move the progress slider forward or backward to the subject of interest to you. We had yet another good net tonight with 9 check-ins, net control (Frank, K6FLD), and some chat room visitors! Tonight’s subjects included: Repeaters in our area, any lists of them available for programming your radio. Emergency communications practiced in the area by SBARC and ARES. SBARC Rover communications and mobile repeater. Digital modes. Tune in to the SBARC TM&E Net next Thursday at 8:00 PM (2000 Hrs) and see what interesting questions will arise or ask some of your own! All club members and visitors are encouraged to check in to the TM&E net each week and join in with questions and /or answers to and contribute the knowledge of new and seasoned amateur radio operators alike.

Remember to Renew Your Club Membership!

This is a good time to renew your club membership. If you have not joined the club yet, or let your membership lapse, this is a good time to do that too! Your club dues help support the substantial infrastructure the club offers including the repeaters as well as the club station. Membership is ONLY $24 a year. That is only $2 per month and your dues are very much needed and appreciated and helps the club keep everything up and running. You can now also pay your dues online and even set up automatic annual payments! Remember… the board changed the policy on when dues can be paid. You can now pay your dues any time of the year and your “anniversary” date will be on the same date each year. So joining any time during the year will cover a full 12 months.

MarVac Reopening in July as “Santa Barbara Electronics”

MarVac will be reopening as Santa Barbara Electronics sometime in soon. The doors will be open during the stocking process. Hours are 10am to 6pm Monday – Friday, and 10am – 5pm on Saturdays. It will be under new management and will be located in the same location in the Magnolia Shopping Center on Hollister at Walnut. It will have a complete refresh of stock, and your input is encouraged if there are things you would like to see them keep in stock. It will be managed by Andrew KG6END, the son of Ken KA6KEN. Please give them a call with your suggestions at 805-681-2524.

New Phone Numbers for SBARC and Club Station

We have new phone numbers for the club and club station courtesy of Impulse Advanced Communications and several club members that worked on getting things installed. The new numbers are as follows: Main number: 805-456-K6TZ (805-456-5689) Club station: 805-880-K6TZ (805-880-5689) Note: You can transfer from the main number to the club station number by pressing zero. The main club number goes directly to a voice mail system that electronically distributes messages to our board members within seconds. This will help to make sure it gets to the right person and in a timely manner. The phone at the club station will be answered during normal club hours. There is also an answering machine on the club station phone if you want to leave a message for the Shackmaster. Post expires at 7:32pm on Wednesday July 15th, 2015 but will still be available in the archives.

NTS Net Adds New Day

The NTS net meets every Sunday at 21:00 on the 147.000 repeater. NTS stands for National Traffic System, and the purpose is to deliver ARRL Radiograms. Hams that participate ensure that their message handling skills remain current. The NTS net is adding an additional net on Wednesday evenings at 21:00 on the 147.000 repeater. If you are interested in learning this skill, check into the net and they will teach you what you need to know. It you would like to learn more about the National Traffic System, click here.