The Mesh Goes Over the Mountain

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Eric KG6WXC installing a mesh network node on Santa Ynez Peak

Eric KG6WXC installing a mesh network node on Santa Ynez Peak

On Sunday June 5th we reached a new milestone in the mesh network buildout. Tom – KA6SOX, Eric – KG6WXC, and Scott – KM6COI all spent their Sunday up on Santa Ynez Peak installing mesh nodes to allow us to reach Solvang and the Santa Ynez Valley. They installed one node pointing at Gibraltar Peak, and another pointing towards the Solvang area. We likely reach much further than Solvang too but have not tested limits of coverage yet.

One of our goals has been to reach into the north county area, and this brings us one step closer. Our members in the Santa Ynez Valley can now link up with us in the greater Santa Barbara area and participate in mesh activities and nets.

In other news, we are now linked with the Ventura County mesh network group. They have been doing this for awhile and have a few more nodes than we do, but we’ll see what we can do about that! With the Ventura county link, our range has extended to well over 60 miles. The Ventura group even has a Sunday evening MeshChat net and the Santa Barbara crew can now participate.

 

One of the SYP Mesh Nodes

One of the SYP Mesh Nodes

We are also adding services like crazy here and now provide an SBARC web forum, three different email platforms including the Winlink 200o system, a packet radio gateway, three NTP time servers including one that synchronizes via GPS satellite signals, IRC chat, and more. And, there is still plenty of things to explore!

 

Photos courtesy of Scott – KM6COI

Post expires at 3:26pm on Friday July 8th, 2016 but will still be available in the archives.

SBARC Telecom Group Meets for First Time

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Telecom Group Meeting - June 4th 2016

Telecom Group Meeting – June 4th 2016

The new, and improved SBARC Telecom Group met Saturday June 4th for the first time. The Telecom Group is led by Bill W1UUQ and Levi K6LCM (co-chairs) and composed of members of the repeater and microwave crew that has maintained our infrastructure for years, and several members of the digital operations and mesh network group. Many members of the digital group have skills that will enable more people to share the load in maintaining and improving SBARC’s already amazing infrastructure. The SBARC digital group will be able to assume more responsibility for day-to-day repeater operations and programming, packet radio and APRS, weather stations, and other things that have overburdoned the telecom group for years. In the very near future, we will have some very powerful new repeater features available to the club, and this collaboration will ensure that the talents and skills available to the club are most efficiently utilized. Note: Missing from the picture is Brian K6BPM because he was taking it!

Post expires at 6:53am on Friday August 5th, 2016 but will still be available in the archives.

For Sale – Radio Reciever and Electronic Components

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The following items are for sale or free.

  • 3mm & 5mm LED’s – Great for lighting up your next DIY project!
  • High Voltage Capacitors – Available in a variety of different styles and ratings
  • 555 Timers – FREE in reasonable quantities

Daryl also has many other electronic parts, many in the original packaging. He invites a shopping list of components you may need, and he will give them to you for a good price or for free.

Contact – Daryl KF6DI – 805.565-5577

Updated – 3/26/2020

May 20, 2016 General Club Meeting

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Dick Norton on his DXpedition to Ascension Island

Dick Norton on his DXpedition to Ascension Island

Our guest speaker for the night was Dick Norton, N6AA, Director of the Southwestern Division of the American Radio Relay League. It is always a pleasure to hear Dick speak. He began with some ARRL news and updates, then treated us to a talk and slideshow about a DX Expedition he participated in on Ascension Island! It was quite interesting and Dick’s mix of information and humor is always fun.

It was also Old Timer’s night, and the winner of the earliest licensed ham was Joe – K6DXW. He has been licensed for over 50 years! Also on display was cherished pieces of vintage radio equipment and old photos from our members collections. If you missed the meeting, you missed the opportunity to see some really interesting gear. We have come a long way!

The audio for the meeting is in two parts. Head over to the Audio Archives and enjoy Dick’s presentation..

 

Post expires at 7:46am on Wednesday June 22nd, 2016 but will still be available in the archives.

Technical Mentoring and Elmering Net – May 19, 2016

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The audio archive can best 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 15 check-ins including net control, Garrett, AG6RQ and some chat room visitors! Tonight’s subjects included:

  • Mobile battery specifications and how many amp hours should the battery have?  Explain the amp hour specification.
  • Suggestion from Barbara, (KD6HKR), bring a battery charger along on the trip.
  • Solar chargers.
  • Radiation pattern of an end-fed sloped antenna.
  • Bandwidth of CW and what can change it.
  • Where is Santa Barbara Electric Supply located.

Tune in to the SBARC TM&E Net next Thursday at 8:00 PM (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 TM&E net each week and join in with questions and /or answers to and contribute the knowledge of new and seasoned amateur radio operators alike.

SBARC’s Mesh Network Taking Shape

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IMG_0018

The AREDN Mesh “Home” screen showing currently operational nodes.

We continue to make progress on building out our mesh network each week. Last Saturday, we got the node installed at the club station at Red Cross Headquarters. Theo KK6YYZ climbed the tower and ran the cable with assistance from Michael K6RQV, Brian K6BPM, and Bruce KG6NRW helped out there at the end. A WiFi adaptor was installed and any member should be able to come in with their tablet or smartphone and browse the mesh network by connecting to the mesh WiFi SSID.

Nicely constructed home-brew mount by K6FLD.

Nicely constructed home-brew mount by K6FLD.

Some of our members with more complicated installations are also making progress. Because of their more distant locations, Frank K6FLD and Eric KG6WXC decided to go with Ubiquiti Rocket MS2 radios with high gain dish antennas. Frank needed a custom mounting solution and we worked out the details using inexpensive EMT conduit on the Digital Modes Net. Eric, who lives in an HOA controlled building decided to paint his dish a nice “Dish Networks” shade of grey. Good luck disguising that!

KG6WXC's "Dish Network" grey dish antenna.

KG6WXC’s “Dish Network” grey dish antenna.

Out next phase will involve installing nodes at the K6TZ repeater site on the Mesa. We could still use some help funding this area as these will be SBARC sponsored and we need these to provide coverage for members who live on the Mesa and unable to see Gibraltar directly. We are also installing a tunneled node up on Santa Ynez Peak so that we can bring in our members in the Santa Ynez Valley. If you can help SBARC with this project, your contribution will be gratefully accepted!

In addition, Tom KA6SOX will be adding special shielded enclosures and cabling to the Gibraltar site nodes to provide interference protection.

For more information about our mesh network project, please click here.

Brian – K6BPM

Post expires at 8:11pm on Friday July 1st, 2016 but will still be available in the archives.