Field Day Update

With just over a month until the Field Day, excitement is growing. Not only does SBARC have an excellent site at Chase Palm Field, but the solar cycle is surely approaching its peak! And, over twenty five people have expressed interest in attending Field Day in some capacity. It is sure to be a fun event! Since the last Field Day update, several individuals have graciously volunteered to prepare food and beverages for the event. JoAnne – KA6RPN, has kindly agreed to prepare a special treat for Sunday breakfast, Steve – AK6CE, has volunteered to grill burgers & hotdogs for a club picnic on Sunday and Les – W6CGE will arrange a variety of non-alcoholic beverages. Donations for food & beverage will be gratefully accepted at the time of the event. To aid in final preparations, we need your input once again. Please complete the survey via the link below indicating your participation preferences. This will enable us to purchase the right amount of food & beverages, and also to be prepared from a radio operations perspective. We realize that plans change, and so your response here will not preclude you from adjusting your plans to suit your needs as Field Day draws near. Survey Link:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VV3CC8S If you haven’t subscribed to the special SBARC Field Day mailing list, simply send a blank email to fieldday24+subscribe@sbarc.org  No subject or message is necessary, and you can unsubscribe any time you want. 73s from the SBARC Field Day Team Post expires at 2:27pm on Friday May 31st, 2024 but will still be available in the archives.

We need your help!

As we all know, we are losing our primary repeater site on the Mesa. We have received no help from the city thus far in finding a new location. It’s time to show support for SBARC and let the Mayor and City Council members know how we feel. We would like to get SBARC members and friends of SBARC to send an email to the City Council so we show them how we feel. I prepared a sample email that you can copy and paste or you can write your own. Emails need to be sent to the following email address: sbcitycouncil@santabarbaraca.gov The sample email is below: Dear Council members, I am writing in support of the Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club. Over the years, they have provided communications support for dozens of parades, marathons and bicycle races, entirely on a voluntary basis. They have made their availability a priority in many of our worst disasters and have been instrumental in helping many neighborhood groups develop emergency communications programs. I am aware that the City has ordered them to vacate the location they have used for 50 years for their primary communications systems. I would urge City officials to do everything possible to help this non-profit organization find an alternate suitable communications site so the community can continue to depend on this valuable resource.

Digital Communications Net

Tonight , April 30, we are doing something different for the regular Tuesday night Digital Net. We’ll be doing a demo of Fusion 360 and how we use it to design things to print on our 3D printers. Anyone is welcome to attend at 8:00pm. Topic: SBARC Digital Net Time: Apr 30, 2024 08:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86032520380?pwd=WmtlZ2o2WXBYV2loWUlGM3VDN1lxdz09 See you then! Post expires at 1:00am on Wednesday May 1st, 2024 but will still be available in the archives.

Chase Palm Field Secured for Field Day 2024

The SBARC Field Day team has secured permission from City of Santa Barbara Parks & Recreation to hold our Field Day activities at Chase Palm Field in Santa Barbara. This site offers many advantages over others considered including overnight use, favorable radio operation conditions, accessibility to all of our members, and visibility to the general public. Please take a moment to read the following, brief  summary of our plans for the SBARC Field Day event:   Field Day Plan We are now organizing teams to support Operations, Food & Entertainment and Administration & Safety aspects of Field Day. We will be in touch with those of you that expressed willingness to help via the Field Day survey. In the mean time, f you have questions or suggestions about Field Day 2024 feel free to send an email to the team at fieldday@sbarc.org 73s from the 2024 SBARC Field Day team!

Field Day Site Selection and Planning Update

The Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club has secured a site for the 2024 ARRL Field Day.  After considering a long list of sites and speaking with administrators of five of them, we obtained permission to operate from Girsch Park and Ellwood School, both of which are in Goleta. We selected Ellwood School for our Field Day site given that the Goleta Valley School District granted permission to operate over night, and the space available to us there is larger and quieter than at Girsch Park. Recognizing that Ellwood School is not as visible to the public as Girsch Park, and that our survey revealed a desire to make Field Day accessible to the public, we are working on a communication plan to raise awareness of our event.  Importantly, the planning team felt that conducting the 2024 Field Day in a quieter location will give us experience that we can apply to future field day events while allowing time to evaluate and negotiate with other, more public sites. We are now working hard on operations planning.  We will be in touch soon with those of you that expressed interest in getting involved.  And, we will communicate what to expect if you intend to operate your own station or a club station, or to attend socially. If you would like to help with or have questions about field day feel free to get in touch with either Warren Myers (KN6ZZI) or Mike Wapner (K6QD). Post expires at 7:35pm on Wednesday May 1st, 2024 but will still be available in the archives.

SBARC General Club Meeting – Mar 15, 2024

We didn’t get time last month to talk about home weather stations, so we’ll doing that this month. Several club members have them, and more and more are installing them. Come learn how they work and how they can make rainy days (and the Cuckoo Net) more fun! We’ll also be bringing you up-to-date on the TCF move and what progress we’re making. We may also have an update on field Day preparations. SBARC General Club Meeting Friday, April 19, 2024 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: Apr 19, 2024 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada) https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85433056653?pwd=ZkhXYllRNE1kVGNOclBPbzdES3Yxdz09 Meeting ID: 854 3305 6653 Passcode: 815505

SBARC General Club Meeting – Feb 16, 2024

Our February meeting notice is a little late, but not to worry! There is a lot going on, but the meeting will be held as scheduled. At this months meeting we’ll be bringing everyone up-to-date on the La Vigia/Vic Trace saga and what we’re doing to make sure we stay up on the air – somewhere. We’ve been working on finding alternate sites for our repeater assets as well as the various other services we maintain. We’re also going to be talking about home weather stations. Several club members have them, and more and more are installing them. Come learn how they work and how they can make rainy days (and the Cuckoo Net) more fun! We’re also going to be talking about little about this years Field Day and getting started with planning.   SBARC General Club Meeting Friday, February 16, 2024 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 – February 16, 2024 Time: Feb 16, 2024 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89034781686?pwd=UDVPeE5kSmwzdWdhWnRrY0JFWFd5QT09 Meeting ID: 890 3478 1686 Passcode: 409030