Category Archives: Featured

Field Day Site Selection and Planning Update

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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.

Amateur Videos on Amateur Radio: YouTube

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In recent years, there has been a notable shift in the landscape of amateur radio journalism. Traditional print magazines and journals, once the cornerstone of the ham radio community, are increasingly becoming a rarity. This decline is part of a broader trend seen across many fields, where digital media is supplanting print media. As a result, much of the latest news, technological updates, and exciting new projects in the amateur radio world are moving to more contemporary platforms like YouTube. This shift has given rise to a number of popular YouTube channels that have become the new go-to sources for amateur radio enthusiasts. These channels offer a diverse range of content, from in-depth tutorials and product reviews to real-world applications and community interactions. Here is a list of some prominent YouTube channels that are leading this digital transformation in amateur radio journalism. If you have others you like, please leave them in the comments! Ham Radio Crash Course: Basics to advanced ham radio topics, tutorials, reviews, and discussions. Ham Radio 2.0: Product reviews, interviews, event coverage. KB9VBR Antennas: Antenna performance improvement, DIY projects, tips. K8MRD Radio Stuff: Educational content, real-life ham radio experiences. HamRadioConcepts: Equipment reviews, tutorials, experiments. Temporarily Offline: Mix of educational content and personal experiences. K0PIR: Software, hardware, digital modes in ham radio. Ham Radio DX: Reviews, tutorials, interviews, propagation and DXing. Dave Casler KE0OG: Educational content on amateur radio topics. KM4ACK: Ham radio technology, DIY builds, software solutions and RaspberryPi projects.

New Packet Capabilities at TCF

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We have just installed a new VHF packet node at the Talanian Communications Facility on the Mesa. The new station has a Winlink gateway that can gate mail between RF and the internet (perfect for emergencies), as well as a few other features, including a local keyboard chat room! Check it out if you have a TNC or sound card modem for VHF packet on 145.050. The main node is K6TZ-2 but the following aliases will connect you directly to the various services: MESA (main node), TZPBBS, TZCHAT, TZRMS (Winlink) Note that BPQ is a little different than Kantronics. Commands like MHEARD and CONNECT (to hop) require a port number (in this case the port number to use is 2). More details in the welcome message. Thanks to Doc, W6EW for donating the Kenwood TM-D700 to the club and to Bill, W1UUQ for leaping into action when I said I needed help tracing out the coax at his namesake TCF. This is the first of a couple major planned packet upgrades. We expect to install an updated digipeater at the La Cumbre West Site in the coming weeks which will expand the reach of this node. If you are interested in learning more about VHF packet radio and other digital modes, join us on Tuesday nights for the Digital Communications & Technology Net and consider joining our group mailing list. -Levi, K6LCM K6TZ Trustee