For Sale – Yaesu FTM-400DR

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[ACT BY TUESDAY IF INTERESTED – TAKING TO YUMA SWAP WEDNESDAY MORNING!]

For sale are two gently used Yaesu FTM-400DR dual-band APRS 50-watt mobile color touch-screen radios in great condition supporting analog and digital operating modes.  The microphones and accessories are all brand new, never used (including programming cable and software).  Andrew (KG6END) and I (KA6KEN) have these in our cars, and at home.  Several people in the local ham community have these radios too.  I used mine as a scanner for local fire updates in December.  The APRS function is really a fun feature – ask me about it!  It also does GPS tracking and has an altimeter function and more.  These have the “secret” MARS MODIFICATION done to them already!  They also have the original Fusion I firmware (if you desire newer Fusion II firmware, I’ll update for free).  Pre-programmed with a code-plug with dozens of local repeaters and emergency channels.  Free 30 minutes of free training.  All for $499.  This is about $70  less than a new one would cost (less tax and shipping, too) and includes the Mars mod, firmware upgrade, code plug, and training!

Contact – Ken KA6KEN – 805.685.2030  [land line – no text messages]

Technical Mentoring and Elmering Net – 2/1/2018

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The audio archive of this net can best be followed by downloading the .mp3 file for the appropriate date here and listening with the media player of your choice. You can move the progress slider forward or backward to the subject of interest to you.

We had another good net tonight with 13 check-ins plus net control, Brian – K6BPM and some chat room visitors! Tonight’s subjects included:

  • What to do if your minor (<18) daughter get’s her technician license and you don’t want her actual address listed in ham databases. (Hint, P.O. Box, relative’s address, etc).
  • Thomas Fire / Montecito Floods: Was the fire determined to be causal of the floods ane are insurance companies covering the flood claims?
  • Linear Loaded Antenna, what is, why would you want and how to achieve?
  • How low can you mount a vertical dipole antenna?
  • Vertical antenna radials, buried or elevated and why?
  • Ultimax Extreme end-fed antennas (ultimax-antennas.com).

Tune in to the SBARC TM&E Net every Thursday at 8:00 PM local (2000 Hrs) and see what interesting questions will arise or ask some of your own! All club members and visitors are encouraged to check in to the net each week and join in with questions and /or answers to and contribute the knowledge of new and seasoned amateur radio operators alike.

Technical Mentoring and Elmering Net – 1/25/2017

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The audio archive of this net can best be followed by downloading the .mp3 file for the appropriate date here and listening with the media player of your choice. You can move the progress slider forward or backward to the subject of interest to you.

We had another good net tonight with 16 check-ins plus net control, Ken – KA6KEN and some chat room visitors! Tonight’s subjects included:

  • Yagi antennas and conductive versus non-conductive booms/masts.
  • Yagi antennas, how important is it to have and electrically neutral (carbon fiber) boom versus an aluminum boom?
  • Yagi antennas, should the driven element and parasitic elements be on the same plane?
  • Great antenna theory book and easy read, Array of Light by N6BT – Tom Schiller https://nextgenerationantennas.com/

Tune in to the SBARC TM&E Net every Thursday at 8:00 PM local (2000 Hrs) and see what interesting questions will arise or ask some of your own! All club members and visitors are encouraged to check in to the net each week and join in with questions and /or answers to and contribute the knowledge of new and seasoned amateur radio operators alike.

Technical Mentoring and Elmering Net – 1/18/2018

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The audio archive of this net can best be followed by downloading the .mp3 file for the appropriate date here and listening with the media player of your choice. You can move the progress slider forward or backward to the subject of interest to you.

We had another good net tonight with 9 check-ins plus net control, Eric – KG6WXC and some chat room visitors! Tonight’s subjects included:

  • Yagi antenna driven elements, what’s the difference? (filtering weak signals on receive).
  • What makes for a low noise antenna?
  • Why is a carrier wave necessary?
  • Call sign suffixes.

Tune in to the SBARC TM&E Net every Thursday at 8:00 PM local (2000 Hrs) and see what interesting questions will arise or ask some of your own! All club members and visitors are encouraged to check in to the net each week and join in with questions and /or answers to and contribute the knowledge of new and seasoned amateur radio operators alike.

General Club Meeting: January 19 – EmComm Discussion

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Left and center: Air tankers were instrumental in quelling the Thomas Fire. | Right: Santa Ynez Peak is home to some of SBARC's critical communications infrastructure.

SBARC General Club Meeting
Friday, January 19, 2018 at 7:30 PM
Goleta Union School District Board Room
400 North Fairview Avenue in Goleta

Amateur radio operators in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties proved to be valuable assets in the Thomas Fire and now once again with the ongoing Montecito mudslide disaster. As a result of our members’ efforts to keep our analog and digital communications systems up-to-date with relevant information about evacuations, firefighting efforts and recovery operations, the ARRL featured SBARC in an article in its weekly email newsletter last week.

Everyone on the air rose to the occasion, especially during the critical days of the Thomas Fire. Amatuer radio remains a critical lifeline for those now affected by the disaster in Montecito.

At our meeting on Friday, we will host a debriefing and discussion with our membership about what the Club did well and what we can improve upon for future emergency responses. Please join us on Friday to let us know your thoughts on the future of amateur emergency communications in Santa Barbara.

We hope to see you all at the meeting!

Post expires at 1:00am on Saturday January 20th, 2018 but will still be available in the archives.