Category Archives: Club News

Dave K6HWN “Shackmaster” Retiring November 30th 2015 [Update: Audio Interviews]

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Our longtime Shackmaster and net control for numerous nets has announced his retirement from his SBARC duties. He has also taken steps for establishing a trust with the help of attorneys. His announcement as dictated is as follows: “The Shackmaster is retiring 30 November. After eight exciting years of reviving the station and receiving a treasured award Shackmaster Dave will retire due to advancing age and pressing obligations because finally there are younger, competent, dedicated and friendly hams to take over and share shack duties. He will also retire from his nets and all else he does for the Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club leaving others to fill these slots. One of his biggest regrets is not serving under the very promising administration of soon to be president elect Milburn. The decision is final. No discussion.” The Shackmaster’s shoes will be hard to fill. We wish Dave all the best and are grateful for all he has done for SBARC. For retired people, people can check out estate planning law firm and get their legal help! Update 1: Levi, K6LCM interviewed Dave on January 13, 2014 at the Club Station about his work to revive the shack in the 2000s and his appointment to Shackmaster in 2007.  Play the audio of that interview below or download an mp3 file.   Update 2: Dave was also interviewed on the SBARC Club Net by Jerel, WT6G on August 26, 2015 about his duties as a jailer many years ago in Berkeley, California.  Play the audio of that interview below or download an mp3 file. Update 3: Dave received a special citation from the SBARC Board of Directors earlier this year. Here is the complete story and an audio recording of the presentation. Post expires at 7:00am on Tuesday December 1st, 2015 but will still be available in the archives.

General Club Meeting Coming Up November 20th

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There is a LOT going on this month, and it there was ever a meeting you don’t want to miss, it’s this one. First off, there will be a lot good of HF, VHF, UHF, and Microwave gear, as well as a few amplifiers on sale. This is from a donation to the club and 100% of the proceeds will be used to benefit the club! It is also election night. We will elect our Board of Directors for 2016, so be sure you come and make your vote heard! A slate was proposed by the nominating committee in October and additional nominations will be accepted from the floor. In addition, this will be our Fifth Annual Home Brew night. Bring whatever you have that you had a hand in — Designing, Building, Modifying, Ruining — all will count. Put something in writing next to your entry to let us know about what you did. Don’t be embarassed — be proud. Bring it! Now on to our speaker! Our guest speaker for the evening will be Wayne Overbeck, N6NB, the inventor of the world-famous ‘Quagi’ antenna and now the holder of the DX Microwave record of all time, which will be his subject for the evening. Wayne is a sought-after speaker in the Amateur Radio community. Retired Professor of Communications, emeritus, from California State University in Fullerton with Ph.D and J.D. degrees, he has too many accomplishments to mention in a short introduction. This will be Wayne’s third presentation to SBARC. We are honored! The “Quagi” antenna, a combination of a quad and a yagi, was invented and developed in Wayne’s back yard in 1972 and is still a favorite of VHF / UHF Amateurs all over the world. In 1996, Wayne’s name appeared on the FCC’s OET-65 bulletin as one of the committee members who developed the U.S. radio frequency safety standards. He integrated and mass-produced a “tool-box transverter” system that covers the Amateur bands from 6 meters to 10 GHz. Wayne continues to inspire us in Amateur microwave and VHF/UHF as he leads Hams in local, interstate and international radio contest outings. An attorney and member of the California BAR since 1975, Dr. Overbeck brings broad knowledge and experience to the Amateur Radio Community. This is probably the biggest meeting of the year, so try to make it. We’ll see you there! Post expires at 1:33am on Saturday November 21st, 2015 but… Continue reading →

New SDR HF Radio at Club Station

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The club station now has a brand new computer and a FlexRadio Flex 3000 SDR (software defined radio) up and running and on the air. Unlike traditional radios, the Flex has no knobs or buttons. It is completely software driven and has all the features (and then some) of the high end radios from the major manufacturers. The Flex is hooked up to a computer running Windows and uses sophisticated, but easy to use software to control everything. In addition to regular SSB/FM/AM operation, we also have seamless digital operation for whatever modes we want to operate. Our first test used JT65 on 15m and we quickly logged QSO’s from the Czech Republic, Belgium, France, England and Germany. The screenshot on the right from PSKReporter.info shows signal reports from stations that heard K6TZ from all over the USA, Europe, South America, and even South Africa. Great DX is easily accomplished from our “noisy” club station. If you have never operated an SDR radio, you are in for a great experience. The display shows a wide area of whatever band you are working using a panadapter and waterfall so you can see all activity at once. This graphical representation of the band lets you find and tune activity quickly and easily. This new radio is available for members to use during regular club hours, Tuesdays 7:30 pm to 10:00 pm and Saturdays 9:00 am to noon. Come on down and check it out! If you are interested in reading the user manual and learning how this exceptional radio works, it is available for download here. Post expires at 3:40pm on Tuesday December 1st, 2015 but will still be available in the archives.

October General Club Meeting

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This months meeting was thrown into disarray because of monumental traffic problems caused by the closure of I-5 and other roads hit by heavy rains and floods. Our regularly scheduled speaker Orville K. Beach, W6BI was unable to make the meeting because of the incredible traffic delays coming from his home in Simi Valley. Many members were forced to abandon their plans to attend because even the local side street traffic was bumper to bumper. That didn’t stop us from having a great meeting though. The highpoint of the meeting was the well deserved presentation of the SBARC Lifetime Achievement award to “Jug” – WA6MBZ. Jug has spent decades dedicating his time to the furtherance of Amateur Radio and service to SBARC. The award was given to recognize his considerable contributions to our club and our hobby. Jug has always been on the cutting edge of amateur radio technology going all the way back to our very first area wide repeater systems. His contributions are everywhere and almost everything the club has done over the years has benefitted from Jugs expertise. He is the embodiment of the spirit of experimentation and a “real” amateur radio enthusiast in every sense of the word. Congratulations Jug! The rest of the meeting was basically a “ragchew” and listening to Jug relate stories about the early days of amateur radio in Santa Barbara. It was a real treat to all that were able to attend. Post expires at 10:48pm on Monday November 16th, 2015 but will still be available in the archives.

SB HackerSpace Developing an APRS WX Telemetry System

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Our friends at the Santa Barbara HackerSpace are developing the tiniest ever 1.6 oz APRS Weather Data board for weather balloon flights and private weather stations. Their little device is called the Tracksoar and it contains a GPS receiver, a 2m transmitter, weather sensors, and an Arduino compatible Atmega 328P microprocessor. They have launched a KickStarter campaign and are looking for backers. The campaign closes November 8, 2015. For more information visit the project website at: http://tracksoar.com The KickStarter campaign can be found here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1250163085/tracksoar-aprs Disclaimer: KickStarter campaigns involve risk. If participation in this project interests you and you have never backed a crowd-funded project before, please read this to ensure you understand the risks involved.

October 16th General Club Meeting Program

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This month’s presenter will be Orville K. Beach, W6BI. Orv is a member of the Simi Settlers Amateur Radio Club of Simi Valley, California. He hereby announces to the world that he is All Digital, All the Time! 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 Orv brags that his last HF SSB QSO was in 1975… Although he enjoys digital more than analog radio, he says that his Principal interests are technical as well as ragchewing. Which brings us to Orv’s topic that he is looking forward to presenting to us at our Club meeting. If you haven’t already heard of it, you will surely hear about it during his presentation. It is called, “Digital Mesh Networking for Amateur Radio.” Come with an open mind and let Orv fill it with lots of interesting concepts that are probably new to you. 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 7:14am on Saturday October 17th, 2015 but will still be available in the archives.

K6LCM Article on Cuban Amateur Radio Published in QST Magazine

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SBARC is proud to announce that we have a published author in our ranks! Levi – K6LCM submitted an article to QST about his recent trip to Cuba and his visit with a group of local hams. QST liked the article and it was printed in the current (October 2015) issue of QST magazine! If you attended the June 2015 General Club Meeting, Levi also gave us a great presentation and slideshow on his trip. There is more about that meeting and a link to the audio archive here: http://www.sbarc.org/2015/06/21/june-2015-general-club-meeting/ Getting published in QST magazine is quite an accomplishment for any amateur radio operator! Congratulations Levi! Post expires at 9:00am on Saturday October 10th, 2015 but will still be available in the archives.