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.
The October meeting will feature a presentation by Steve Noll, WA6EJO, on antennas and propagation. This is a MUST-SEE meeting for everyone. Steve does great presentations with lots of actual hands-on examples using his collection of 10 GHz gear and visual aids.
This will be a live demonstration exploring radiation patterns and polarization of a variety of antennas from ground planes to loop Yagis to helices, plus actual demonstrations of a variety of propagation phenomena including ducting, refraction, diffraction, knife edging, Fresnel zone, velocity of propagation, and more.
If you would like to know more about the black magic of radio waves and how to use them, you don’t want to miss Steve’s presentation. He is an expert in the field.
Steve Noll, WA6EJO, has been active in Ham Radio for the past 40 years. He pioneered 2-way Amateur Radio Laser communications in the late 1970s and operated an experimental 23 centimeter repeater and an X-Band beacon in Ventura for many years. Steve chaired several of the West Coast VHF/UHF Conferences in the 1990s where he also built and ran the antenna gain and pattern plotting range. He is a member of the Amateur Television Network and is a founding member of the MAKE Ventura makerspace. Steve retired from Advanced Photonix after 22 years as their Senior Test Engineer.
We will also be hosting this meeting on Zoom, but you won’t get as much out of the presentation as you will if you attend in person! Please try to get there, you won’t regret it!
SBARC General Club Meeting
Friday, October 21 at 7:30 PM
Goleta Union School District Board Room
401 North Fairview Avenue in Goleta
Zoom Details
Topic: SBARC General Club Meeting
Time: Oct 21, 2022 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
This year I appointed 3 members to serve on the nominating committee. The 3 members were Dave – AI6VX, Doc – W6EW, and Tom – N6YX. They completed their mission and presented a slate of nominees at the last board meeting. I want to thank Dave, Doc and Tom for volunteering for this important function.
The slate of nominees for 2023 are as follows:
Brian Milburn
K6BPM
President / CEO
Larry Martinez
WA6MVJ
Secretary
Tom Saunders
N6YX
Treasurer / CFO
Levi Maaia
K6LCM
Director at Large
Dave Schmidt
AI6VX
Director at Large
Wayne Beckman
AF6GX
Director at Large
Mike Wapner
K6QD
Director at Large
Matt Lechliter
W6XC
Director at Large
We will officially be opening additional nominations for all positions at the October 21 2022 meeting. Any member in good standing can nominate another member in good standing for any elected position above. A member in good standing is any member who is paid up on their dues. Additionally, a nominee must be a member in good standing for the period of 28 days prior to the election. This year, that day is October 21, 2022.
This year we will be allowing on-line voting, mail in voting, and in-person voting. As such, there are various cutoff dates we need to set so that we can do all our work behind the scenes. Here is the schedule:
October 21 – Open nominations from the floor at meeting.
November 6 – Nominations from the floor close at midnight.
November 10 – Mail-in and online voting begins at midnight.
November 16 – Mail-in and Online ballots close at midnight.
November 18 – Election night – In-person voting, tallying, etc.
There is also a bylaws change proposal on the ballot this year. The bylaw changes mostly involve the way we now handle the membership system, and the way we pay bills and expenses. Normal procedures such as auto-pay, credit card and debit card purchases, were never addressed in the current Bylaws, however it is the way we pay most bills and expenses. The proposed changes merely bring the Bylaws up-to-date with the times.
Our speaker this month will be Dave AI6VX. Dave is one of our board members and will be giving presentation on Allstar. He has built several Allstar nodes using different methods, and will explain about each of them.
For several decades SBARC has sponsored monitoring of the emergency beacon channel on 121.5. This was originally prompted and set up with L-Tronics receivers at several locations. Today we have a blend of L-Tronics and FAA 121.5 GRR receivers. The L-Tronics receivers shall in time be replaced by GRR receivers. Presently we have two GRR receivers in service, one at UCSB, and one at Santa Ynez Peak. A third unit shall be installed at the La Vigia TCF facility followed by a fourth unit at either La Cumbre or Diablo. This program is being privately funded by Bill, W1UUQ for as a public service benefit for public safety.
If you are interested in more details, please contact us.
Our speaker this month will be Orv Beach W6BI. Orv will be bringing us up to date on the progress of the tri-county mesh networking project. Orv is almost single-handedly promoting mesh networking to make this a robust and reliable addition to our bag of emcomm tools. Many of us have mesh nodes deployed, but most of us have not kept up with the latest firmware, equipment and buildout progress. The Mesh community continues to grow and improve. This will be a very informative meeting and anyone interested in Mesh Networking should make plans to attend.
SBARC General Club Meeting
Friday, August 19, 2022 at 7:30 PM
In-person Meeting
Goleta Union School District Board Room
401 North Fairview Avenue in Goleta
Doors open around 7:00pm
Presentation by Wayne Overbeck, N6NB, the inventor of the world-famous ‘Quagi’ antenna and now the holder of the DX Microwave record of all time. 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. 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.
Post expires at 9:14am on Saturday July 16th, 2022 but will still be available in the archives.
Brian Milburn, Santa Barbara Wireless Foundation president (left) and Levi Maaia, chair of the scholarship committee (right), presented Jack Peterson (center) with a scholarship award on behalf of the Santa Barbara Wireless Foundation at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse on Wednesday.
June 30, 2020 – SANTA BARBARA, Calif.
The Santa Barbara Wireless Foundation and the Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club awarded a scholarship to a recent graduate of Dos Pueblos high school.
Jack Peterson earned a 4.0 GPA at Dos Pueblos High School and plans on attending the aerospace program at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in the fall. He is a certified Mission Radio Operator for the Civil Air Patrol, a member of the Cyber Patriot youth security program and a participant in the EAA Young Eagles program.
Brain Milburn, the president of the Santa Barbara Wireless Foundation and Levi Maaia, a board member at the organization and the chair of the scholarship committee presented the scholar with a certificate and a financial award to mitigate his college expenses in the fall.
“Our goal is to encourage more graduates to seek careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics,” said Milburn. “Jack has been well prepared for college by the STEM programs at Dos Pueblos.”
Peterson is the first recipient of this scholarship which will be awarded annually in June. Applicants must be high school seniors who plan to study Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics in higher education. Applicants should have an excellent academic record. While not requirements, preference is given to applicants who are graduating from a high school in Santa Barbara County and who hold an active FCC amateur radio license. Donations to the scholarship fund and applications for members of the class of 2023 may be submitted at scholarships.sbwireless.org.
The Santa Barbara Wireless Foundation together with the Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club form a nonprofit, public benefit organization that develops and supports wireless telecommunications technologies in support of public safety, emergency communications, community service and scientific research in the Santa Barbara region. More information can be found at www.sbarc.org and www.sbwireless.org.