Category Archives: Club News

Slate of Candidates for 2023

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This year I appointed 3 members to serve on the nominating committee. The 3 members were Dave – AI6VX, Doc – W6EW, and Tom – N6YX. They completed their mission and presented a slate of nominees at the last board meeting. I want to thank Dave, Doc and Tom for volunteering for this important function. The slate of nominees for 2023 are as follows: Brian Milburn K6BPM President / CEO Larry Martinez WA6MVJ Secretary Tom Saunders N6YX Treasurer / CFO Levi Maaia K6LCM Director at Large Dave Schmidt AI6VX Director at Large Wayne Beckman AF6GX Director at Large Mike Wapner K6QD Director at Large Matt Lechliter W6XC Director at Large We will officially be opening additional nominations for all positions at the October 21 2022 meeting. Any member in good standing can nominate another member in good standing for any elected position above. A member in good standing is any member who is paid up on their dues. Additionally, a nominee must be a member in good standing for the period of 28 days prior to the election. This year, that day is October 21, 2022. This year we will be allowing on-line voting, mail in voting, and in-person voting. As such, there are various cutoff dates we need to set so that we can do all our work behind the scenes. Here is the schedule: October 21 – Open nominations from the floor at meeting. November 6 – Nominations from the floor close at midnight. November 10 – Mail-in and online voting begins at midnight. November 16 – Mail-in and Online ballots close at midnight. November 18 – Election night – In-person voting, tallying, etc. There is also a bylaws change proposal on the ballot this year. The bylaw changes mostly involve the way we now handle the membership system, and the way we pay bills and expenses. Normal procedures such as auto-pay, credit card and debit card purchases, were never addressed in the current Bylaws, however it is the way we pay most bills and expenses. The proposed changes merely bring the Bylaws up-to-date with the times. You can view the proposed changes here: https://sbarc.org/Downloads/BylawEdits_10-2022.pdf Brian – K6BPM President, Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club Post expires at 7:51pm on Sunday November 20th, 2022 but will still be available in the archives.

SBWF To the Rescue

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Wayne AF6GX, Michael K6RQV, and Bill W1UUQ made a trip to Channel Islands Harbor this week to troubleshoot and repair a radio problem on the National Park Service Park Ranger patrol boat. The were able to locate and fix the problem which was due to an improperly installed and damaged antenna connector. This is a perfect example how the Santa Barbara Wireless Foundation provides valuable public services. Thanks Wayne, Michael and Bill! Post expires at 6:23am on Monday June 16th, 2025 but will still be available in the archives.

SBARC May 2025 General Club Meeting

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Every year at our May general meeting we celebrate Old Timers Night. This allows us the opportunity to honor those with multiple decades of experience in amateur radio. Many of our more “seasoned” members have been SBARC members for most, if not all of their time as licensed hams. This is good opportunity to thank them for their service to the club and to the amateur radio community in general. We are also going to look a the world of Software Defined Radio which has been posphoned for the past couple off months. While these radios can listen to amateur radio frequencies, you can also explore the radio waves that are all around you. These radios are fun to use and the software for them is generally free. This is an in person meeting and will also be available on Zoom. SBARC General Club Meeting Friday, May 16, 2025 at 7:30 PM Goleta Union School District Board Room 401 North Fairview Avenue in Goleta Doors Open at 7:00pm and the meeting will start at 7:30pm Zoom Details: Topic: SBARC General Club Meeting – May 16, 2025 Time: May 16, 2025 07:00 PM Pacific Time Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88131603071?pwd=owsVO4Ga1csPrt4p0GLwrI9AxXsqQT.1 Post expires at 1:00am on Saturday May 17th, 2025 but will still be available in the archives.

April 18, 2025 General Club Meeting

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Since we assume that everyone is interested in radio, we’ll be looking at some various types of software defined radios. While these radios can listen to amateur radio frequencies, you can also explore the radio waves that are all around you. These radios are fun to use and the software for them is generally free.   Please join us this Friday! SBARC General Club Meeting Friday, April 18, 2025 at 7:30 PM (Doors open at 7pm) Goleta Union School District Board Room 401 North Fairview Avenue in Goleta Zoom Details: SBARC K6TZ is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: April Club Meeting Time: Apr 18, 2025 07:30 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86422274349?pwd=61aHim0uqMaZqbUDNHubjQwpth4VxU.1 Meeting ID: 864 2227 4349 Passcode: 867922 Post expires at 1:06am on Saturday April 19th, 2025 but will still be available in the archives.

SBARC Field Day Practice A Success

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March 29, 2024 – Members of the Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club had a fun and successful day activating a number of H.F. radio stations at Mountain View School’s playing field. We accomplished our objectives for the day, and more! The event was primarily focused on practicing set-up and use of the club’s new, portable radio stations. We activated two stations that included a “BuddiHex”, two element beam antenna and a “CrankIR”, 1/4 wave vertical antenna using tuned, elevated radials. Both antenna systems performed well with many K6TZ operators logging QSOs with USA, South American and European stations! A couple of our members also brought their own radio gear including Larry – WA6MVJ’s QRP rig (see photo below). DIY stations are definitely welcomed! Importantly, SBARC purchased and deployed for the first time, a solar-battery DC power system. This power system will not only avoid the need for a generator during field activations, it will also support our club station at the RedCross in the event of extended power outages. Our experience at the event showed that the system produced more power than we consumed during our radio operations. We also sought to give club members and visitors a chance to operate HF radios. We were fortunate that our activation occurred during the CQ World Wide WPX SSB contest and during a time of excellent signal propagation. As a result, everyone with an interest was able to work some DX! Perhaps as important as our technical experiences, we happily welcomed club members that don’t often attend field events, as well as members of the public. John – AG6LJ, Larry – WA6MVJ, Greg – WW6T, Steve – AC6T, and others joined for the fun. We also greeted a number public inquirers – most had questions about what we were doing. And, two indicated an interest in becoming licensed. All were greeted warmly, offered a bagel & cream cheese, and a Prospective HAM interest card. Looking ahead, we have secured the same exceptional site for Field Day that we had last year – “Chase Palm Field”. Based on the practice event, we are confident that the club’s stations will perform well, perhaps even better given CPF is one hundred feet from the Pacific Ocean! We will begin operating at 9:00 AM on Saturday. And, like last year, we will have a donations accepted breakfast and bar-b-que lunch on Sunday. In conclusion, we hope… Continue reading →

March 21, 2025 Club Meeting

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For this months meeting we will be joined by Rick Closson. Rick is part of the EQ25 project that is commemorating the 100 year anniversary of the great Santa Barbara earthquake. This was truly an event where ham radio saved lives. It was local hams, using early radio transceivers that were able to let the world know we needed help. We have been invited to help reenact this historical event, The earthquake nearly flattened the downtown area and changed the face of State Street forever. Rick will tell us more about the earthquake at the meeting and explain how SBARC can help support this event. This is a great opportunity to get publicity and public recognition. You can learn more about the earthquake and commemoration at https://eq25.org Please join us this Friday! SBARC General Club Meeting Friday, February 21, 2025 at 7:30 PM (Doors open at 7pm) Goleta Union School District Board Room 401 North Fairview Avenue in Goleta Zoom Details: Topic: SBARC General Club Meeting Time: Mar 21, 2025 07:00 PM Pacific Time Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81598651606?pwd=XDqHsIQa2nsVLH5h2GPKBgC2sDblVU.1 Meeting ID: 815 9865 1606 Passcode: 105176 Post expires at 3:44pm on Saturday March 22nd, 2025 but will still be available in the archives.

February Club Meeting

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With Field Day planning getting underway, we’re going to try to focus on various aspects of HF operation in some of the upcoming meetings. In recent years it seems like interest in HF has dropped off somewhat. Luckily, Warren KN6ZZI has a keen interest in HF and he will be heading up SBARCs Field Day project again this year, This year we want to add some digital mode operation into the mix, so for this meeting we’re going to be going over some of the most popular modes. Most people are aware of some of the original modes like RTTY and PSK 31, but newer modes like FT8 and FT4 are becoming immensely popular. With their ability to pull signals out of the noise, even the most modest stations can make contacts the world over. Please join us this Friday!   SBARC General Club Meeting Friday, February 21, 2025 at 7:30 PM (Doors open at 7pm) Goleta Union School District Board Room 401 North Fairview Avenue in Goleta Zoom Details: Topic: SBARC General Club Meeting Time: Feb 21, 2025 07:30 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83403374119?pwd=hwt1REFY56CGHlWSKjfcvFio404BMh.1 Meeting ID: 834 0337 4119 Passcode: 073810     Post expires at 1:00am on Saturday February 22nd, 2025 but will still be available in the archives.

Save the Date

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Announcing SBARC / SBWF Field Day June 28-29, 2025 Chase Palm Field, Santa Barbara Field Day is the most popular on-the-air event in the US and Canada, held annually on the fourth weekend of June. Thousands of radio amateurs gather with their clubs, groups, or friends to operate from remote locations. It’s a picnic, a practice for emergencies, an informal contest, and most importantly, FUN! The SBARC / SBWF Field Day Team has been hard at work preparing for the 2025 event. We’ve secured Chase Palm Field, a great location as you’ll recall from last year. We’ve also made significant updates to our portable operating equipment, which will be used for both Field Day and emergency-portable operations. These updates include: – Two new antennas: a HexBeam two-element Yagi and a “CrankIR” vertical antenna. – A solar/battery D.C. power system that allows us to operate in a special event class, giving us an advantage over our competitors. We plan to hold one or two Field Day Practice sessions this year, the first of which will be on Saturday, March 29th. We will activate two club stations, including solar/battery DC power system, two radios & antennas, and a couple of pop-up tents & tables. Anyone wishing to set-up their own station or operate a club station will be welcome. RSVP to Warren – KN6ZZI Post expires at 12:12pm on Sunday June 29th, 2025 but will still be available in the archives.