Club News

What’s happening at SBARC? Here you will find the latest club news, events, projects, net activities, and news from our special interest groups (SIGS).

Be sure to check in frequently so you don’t miss out on any of the interesting things going on with the club and its members!

We have moved content for the Technical Mentoring and Elmering Net here, and content for the Digital Modes Net here.



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, March 15, 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: Mar 15, 2024 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86138488060?pwd=RTR2R2JPbVRDdmRJRUx3K2MwbnpQZz09

Meeting ID: 861 3848 8060

Passcode: 032984

Post expires at 1:30am on Saturday March 16th, 2024 but will still be available in the archives.

Field Day Preparations

The Field Day Planning team offers the following update for your awareness and consideration.  The update includes two parts, results and planning actions taken based on your input.

First, thank you to those that completed our recent survey.   The input from 29 people that responded is much appreciated.  Having evaluated the feedback, here are a few insights that are forming our planning process:

1) Eight individuals stated they plan to activate their own station, eight stated that they would like to operate a club station, and another seven said they will attend socially.

2) With regard to Field Day site, nine people said that an accessible location is first priority, seven said that visibility to the public is first priority and five said that operating considerations were first priority.

3) As for duration of participation, 18 respondents said that they will participate for a few and, or daylight hours.  Four said that they would participate in the evening and seven.  And four people said that they will participate the entire Field Day (location permitting).

4) Nearly all said that they would like to help with field day, either in set-up/break-down, supervising the GOTA station, arranging food or with administrative tasks.

5) As for operating mode, those planning to work a station said that they would prefer to operate: SSB (12), FM (9), Digital (6) and CW (3).

6) Respondents were fairly evenly distributed with regard to their Band preference (80 – 10M & VHF/UHF).

Now that we have received your input, we are working on securing permission for a Field Day site.  Based on your input, we prepared a list of sites and have evaluated them according to criteria identified through the survey.  We are actively engaging site owners/administrators and will report back as soon as we have more information to share.

We are also preparing an operating plan that will guide gathering of equipment & supplies, as well as organization of the Field Day itself.  We will communicate this plan when it is more fully developed.  We will then also solicit volunteers for specific tasks.

Finally, we will be preparing a communications plan, both for our membership, and the public – many of you indicated we should utilize this opportunity to promote our hobby and club to our community.

Thanks again for your input and strong interest in this event.  Should you have questions or further input, please feel free to contact Warren Myers KM6ZZI or Mike Wapner K6QD.

73s

The SBARC Field Day Planning Team

Post expires at 12:05pm on Friday April 12th, 2024 but will still be available in the archives.

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

Amateur Videos on Amateur Radio: YouTube

Amateur videos on amateur radio are becoming the go-to sources for current news. (Image created by DALL-E AI engine in ChatGPT 4)

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!

  1. Ham Radio Crash Course: Basics to advanced ham radio topics, tutorials, reviews, and discussions.
  2. Ham Radio 2.0: Product reviews, interviews, event coverage.
  3. KB9VBR Antennas: Antenna performance improvement, DIY projects, tips.
  4. K8MRD Radio Stuff: Educational content, real-life ham radio experiences.
  5. HamRadioConcepts: Equipment reviews, tutorials, experiments.
  6. Temporarily Offline: Mix of educational content and personal experiences.
  7. K0PIR: Software, hardware, digital modes in ham radio.
  8. Ham Radio DX: Reviews, tutorials, interviews, propagation and DXing.
  9. Dave Casler KE0OG: Educational content on amateur radio topics.
  10. KM4ACK: Ham radio technology, DIY builds, software solutions and RaspberryPi projects.

November 17, 2023 General Meeting – Election and Home-brew Night

November meetings are always election night meetings, so members who did not vote online will be able to vote in person. Of course we’ll all be tallying up the votes and announcing the winners, so plan on being there, even if you already voted.

November meetings have traditionally also been Home-brew Night!  We invite everyone to bring a something you have built, or a project in progress, to show, demonstrate, and tell your ham friends about. Home-brew is what being a ham is all about! Anyone can go buy a radio, antenna or other accessory, but to many hams, building their own gear is much more fun and rewarding. So bring something (or a lot of things) because we’re all interested in seeing what you’re up to! 

We will also be hosting this meeting on Zoom, if you can’t attend in person, but please try to be there if you can to congratulate the new board members, whoever they are!

SBARC General Club Meeting
Friday, November 17 at 7:30 PM
Goleta Union School District Board Room
401 North Fairview Avenue in Goleta

Zoom Details
Topic: SBARC November Club Meeting
Time: Nov 17, 2023 07:30 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86560422518?pwd=VzNua1F5WUxwcVhUTWUwRFM1SGlDQT09

Meeting ID: 865 6042 2518
Passcode: 241358

We hope to see you all at the meeting!

Post expires at 8:01pm on Saturday November 18th, 2023 but will still be available in the archives.

New Packet Capabilities at TCF

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

General Club Meeting – September 15, 2023

This month we are going to have a presentation from Gene Swiech WB9COY on Antennas

Gene is going to talk about antenna types, baluns, matching networks, polarization and more. This is something we all need a refresher on, and will be very informative for our newer members!

SBARC General Club Meeting
Friday, September 15, 2023 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 – September 15, 2023
Time: Sep 15, 2023 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81888870959?pwd=QlNVWVU2d2RHRWlOU1Z4cHUra3MyQT09

Meeting ID: 818 8887 0959
Passcode: 442446

Post expires at 1:06am on Saturday September 16th, 2023 but will still be available in the archives.