Category Archives: Club News

General Club Meeting – October 15, 2021

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Several people have asked about FT8 in recent months, so we thought we would do an introductory presentation to explain what it is and how it works. FT8 is a fast paced digital mode for HF and it works even when most other modes don’t. It’s high sensitivity to weak signals makes it a favorite mode for many of us without amplifiers and big beam  antennas. It typically takes about 35 watts and a modest dipole or wire antenna and you can easily make contacts world wide. Many hams do quite well with QRP rigs and simple wire antennas. Next month is also our annual election month. So, this meeting we will be submitting the slate of candidates chosen by the nominating committee. We’ll also open up nominations from the membership. It is not yet determined if we will be able to have an in-person meeting in November, so we are making plans for online voting like we did last year. If we do have an in-person meeting, we’ll use a combination of regular ballot voting and online voting for those who choose not to attend. For those to you interested in the PowerPoint presentation it can be downloaded here:  https://www.sbarc.org/Downloads/wsjtx_and_ft-8.pptx Post expires at 11:59pm on Friday October 15th, 2021 but will still be available in the archives.

Raspberry Pi and Amateur Radio – General Club Meeting – September 17, 2021

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We’re sure many of you have heard club members talk about Raspberry Pi’s and how we use them for performing tasks on our network as well as other things we do in our own shacks. Raspberry Pi’s are small but powerful, full featured computers that can be used for a variety of purposes. And, they start at $5 for RPi Zeros and $35 for the more powerful, original sized boards. The newest Raspberry Pi 4 series are even more powerful and start at $45. They are ultra reliable and will run for years. This month we had a PowerPoint presentation on how you can use Raspberry Pi’s with amateur radio. There are many things you can build with these little machines for use with APRS, DMR, test equipment, digital modes for HF, clocks, weather stations, maps and on and on.  

General Club Meeting – August 20, 2021

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Our speaker this month will be Orv Beach W6BI. They will bringing us up to date with everything that is going on in mesh networking. There have been a lot of changes in the past 4 years since Orv last presented to out members. A lot of us have mesh nodes deployed, but most of us have not kept up with the latest firmware and equipment. The Mesh community has grown considerably.  This will be a very informative meeting and anyone interested in Mesh Networking should make plans to attend. We had hoped to return to in-person meetings but with the Delta variant of the virus now going around, we felt it would be a good idea and reassess next month. SBARC General Club Meeting Friday, August 20, 2021 at 7:30 PM (Check-ins at 7:00pm) ZOOM Details Topic: General Club Meeting – August 20, 2021 Time: Aug 20, 2021 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84922888250 YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwYzxhvGFuI We hope to see you all at the meeting!   Post expires at 12:02am on Saturday August 21st, 2021 but will still be available in the archives.

SBARC General Club Meeting – July 16, 2021

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We will be having our meeting on Zoom again this month but hope we can resume in-person meetings soon. Officials in charge of our normal meeting facilities have not yet adopted a post-pandemic policy and outside groups are still not allowed to hold meetings there. We hear they are going to revisit this policy later this month, so hopefully we’ll get the go-ahead soon. We were hoping to have a presentation on Mesh networking this month but had a date mix-up and we are rescheduling to the August. So, this month we are going to talk about the new SpaceX Starlink internet system. Elon Musk has launched an ambitious project to bring internet to the entire globe and how but works is the next generation in communications. SBARC K6TZ is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: SBARC General Club Meeting – July 16, 2021 Time: Check-in on Jul 16, 2021 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada) Meeting starts at 7:30. Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88508754377 Live on YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-eSyHD8dX0     Post expires at 1:50am on Saturday July 17th, 2021 but will still be available in the archives.

FM Simplex Node Frequencies in Santa Barbara

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  Over the past few months there has been a renewed interest in AllStarLink FM simplex nodes among our members. These low power devices allow users to connect to remote VoIP nodes and repeater systems using an internet connection and an HT. Most opt to buy or build a device on 70cm. A couple years ago, during the initial DMR hotspot craze, SBARC expert consultant Matt W6XC identified a few frequencies around 431 MHz that were useful for digital hotspots like the OpenSpot and ZumSpot. HOWEVER, these frequencies are NOT appropriate for analog FM nodes. We must use a different part of the 70cm band for FM emissions. Matt suggests the following options for low-power, analog FM usage: 440.000/445.000; 446.860/441.860; 446.880/441.880 may be used as pairs for a low-power duplex node or as separate simplex node frequencies. Please listen to these frequencies with low squelch settings and no CTCSS for a few days before permanently parking your node here to see if and how these frequencies are used. FM simplex nodes are best PL/CTCSS protected, especially if they are left connected to a system like K6TZ or WIN System. Definitely avoid 446.000 altogether. This is the National Calling Frequency for 70cm. 446.500 and 446.520 are “General Simplex” frequencies. Others many want to use these for simplex QSOs or other itinerant purposes so please don’t park your node on any of these three frequencies. Also note that 432.000-439.999 MHz is allocated to weak signal, Amateur Television and digital emissions only. 440 is tough given the lack of simplex allocations. It’s a truly stuffed band! Perhaps just as important as which frequency you choose for your node is setting the PL/CTCSS tones. In Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, DO NOT use 131.8 or 88.5 127.9 or 131.8 Hz as a tone for your node. Picking almost anything else will ensure that you don’t inadvertently open the receiver of a repeater on the same or nearby frequency. If you are interested in these FM VoIP nodes, consider the ClearNode and SHARI projects.   Levi, K6LCM K6TZ Trustee

REGULATORY ALERT: Changes to RF Exposure Rules

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You may have read about a recent change to the FCC regulations governing RF Exposure standards for amateur radio stations.  The new rules went into effect on May 3, 2021. While the change does not modify existing RF Exposure (RFE) limits, it does now require that ALL amateur radio licensees evaluate their stations for RFE. What does this mean for me? Operators of existing amateur stations have two years to complete an RFE evaluation. However, operators of all new stations or of any existing stations that are modified in a way that’s likely to change their RFE profile — such as different antenna or placement or greater power — will need to conduct an evaluation by the date of activation or change. This means that every station you operate from a legal limit HF station with a beam to a personal Pi-Star or AllStarLink hotspot will have to be evaluated for RFE. Some experts have advised that one should also retain evidence of those evaluations. Will this change really affect me? While there is little risk that your low-power HTs and hotspots will will present results that require mitigation of RFE, you might be surprised to find that your 25-50-watt mobile 2-meter radio with a common 6dBi mobile whip antenna will radiate RF in excess of the Maximum Permissible Exposure (MPE) up to to 10-15 feet from the antenna! So it might be a good idea to refresh your knowledge about RFE and be sure that you understand your responsibilities as a licensee. What can I do to be sure I am in compliance? The easiest thing to do is to evaluate your station using an online RF exposure calculator. The tool at this link makes the process relatively straightforward. You can simply print the results from the web calculator as evidence of your evaluation. If your station exceeds the MPE for the frequencies you are operating on, you might need to reduce power or relocate your antenna to mitigate the risk of exposure. Where can I learn more? There have been a number of online threads and YouTube videos addressing this issue. Many have veered deep into technical discussions with some YouTube videos rambling on for hours on the subject. That is certainly more time than most hams will want to dedicate to regulatory compliance. The most succinct and organized video primer on the subject that I have found is the YouTube video “New FCC RF safety rules for ham radio” from Ria, N2RJ. She has organized the information into… Continue reading →