Tag Archives: Social

General Club Meeting – October 15, 2021

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Several people have asked about FT8 in recent months, so we thought we would do an introductory presentation to explain what it is and how it works. FT8 is a fast paced digital mode for HF and it works even when most other modes don’t. It’s high sensitivity to weak signals makes it a favorite mode for many of us without amplifiers and big beam  antennas. It typically takes about 35 watts and a modest dipole or wire antenna and you can easily make contacts world wide. Many hams do quite well with QRP rigs and simple wire antennas. Next month is also our annual election month. So, this meeting we will be submitting the slate of candidates chosen by the nominating committee. We’ll also open up nominations from the membership. It is not yet determined if we will be able to have an in-person meeting in November, so we are making plans for online voting like we did last year. If we do have an in-person meeting, we’ll use a combination of regular ballot voting and online voting for those who choose not to attend. For those to you interested in the PowerPoint presentation it can be downloaded here:  https://www.sbarc.org/Downloads/wsjtx_and_ft-8.pptx Post expires at 11:59pm on Friday October 15th, 2021 but will still be available in the archives.

Raspberry Pi and Amateur Radio – General Club Meeting – September 17, 2021

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We’re sure many of you have heard club members talk about Raspberry Pi’s and how we use them for performing tasks on our network as well as other things we do in our own shacks. Raspberry Pi’s are small but powerful, full featured computers that can be used for a variety of purposes. And, they start at $5 for RPi Zeros and $35 for the more powerful, original sized boards. The newest Raspberry Pi 4 series are even more powerful and start at $45. They are ultra reliable and will run for years. This month we had a PowerPoint presentation on how you can use Raspberry Pi’s with amateur radio. There are many things you can build with these little machines for use with APRS, DMR, test equipment, digital modes for HF, clocks, weather stations, maps and on and on.  

General Club Meeting – August 20, 2021

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Our speaker this month will be Orv Beach W6BI. They will bringing us up to date with everything that is going on in mesh networking. There have been a lot of changes in the past 4 years since Orv last presented to out members. A lot of us have mesh nodes deployed, but most of us have not kept up with the latest firmware and equipment. The Mesh community has grown considerably.  This will be a very informative meeting and anyone interested in Mesh Networking should make plans to attend. We had hoped to return to in-person meetings but with the Delta variant of the virus now going around, we felt it would be a good idea and reassess next month. SBARC General Club Meeting Friday, August 20, 2021 at 7:30 PM (Check-ins at 7:00pm) ZOOM Details Topic: General Club Meeting – August 20, 2021 Time: Aug 20, 2021 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84922888250 YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwYzxhvGFuI We hope to see you all at the meeting!   Post expires at 12:02am on Saturday August 21st, 2021 but will still be available in the archives.

General Club Meeting – February 19, 2021

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If you are a regular participant or lurker to the Digital Communications Net on Tuesday evenings, you have probably heard us talk regularly about using micro-computers and micro-controllers like the Raspberry Pi and Arduino and other similar development boards. These capable little devices can do all kinds of interesting things that you can use in amateur radio, home automation, environmental monitoring, or just for general learning. This month we’re going to look at how to get started experimenting with Arduino and compatible Microcontroller boards, from getting the things you need, to writing your first program.   Of course, it is a Zoom meeting again and here are the details. We will use a waiting room again this time. Check-ins start at 7pm and the meeting will start at 7;30pm. YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1meW9pR74Y Topic: February 2021 SBARC General Meeting Time: Feb 19, 2021 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89983037848 Meeting ID: 899 8303 7848 Post expires at 1:00am on Saturday February 20th, 2021 but will still be available in the archives.

Election Night – Home Brew Night – November 15, 2019

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It’s that time again! Time to elect your club officers and board of directors. If you cannot make it to the meeting, and want to vote by absentee ballot, please see below. In addition, this will be our Annual Home Brew night. Bring whatever you have that you had a hand in — Designing, Building, Modifying, Ruining — all will count. Put something in writing next to your entry to let us know about what you did. This is the time to share your talents and skills with the rest of us. Don’t be embarassed — be proud. Bring it! Nominees for the Executive Committee These candidates are presently running unopposed. (i) = incumbent candidate President and Chief Executive Officer: Brian Milburn, K6BPM (i) Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer: Tom Saunders, N6YX (i) Secretary: Dorothy Oksner, K6DSO Nominees for Director At Large Members may vote for up to 4 directors. These candidates are presently running unopposed. (i) = incumbent candidate Director At Large: Levi Maaia, K6LCM (Previously served as a director) Director At Large: Wayne Beckman, AF6GX (i) Director At Large: Michael Taylor, K6RQV (i) Director At Large: Rick Whitaker, KG6VLB Absentee Voting: The official SBARC ballot is available by clicking here. We hope you can make it to the meeting, but if you can’t for some reason, we still hope you will cast your vote by absentee ballot. Here is the procedure: Download and print the ballot. Make your selections, sign and date it at the bottom of the page. If you have a scanner, please scan the document and save it to a PDF file. if you don’t have a scanner, take a clear digital picture of the completed ballot. Send either the scanned ballot or photo of the ballot by email to the Club Secretary, Dorothy K6DSO at secretary@sbarc.org. Please note, if you are submitting your absentee ballot by email, it must be received by 11:59 PM on November 14, 2019.  Of course, you can also send it by regular mail to the address below. Please make sure your ballot is received by November 14th. Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club, Inc. Post Office Box 3907 Santa Barbara, CA 93130-3907   We hope we can count on you to attend! It is at the normal place at the normal time. This is our last regular meeting of the year, so please try to make it. We’ll be having our Christmas Pizza Party in December so be sure to… Continue reading →

SBARC Summer Potluck Barbecue – September 15th 2019

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You are invited to join us for a good old fashioned summertime potluck barbecue. SBARC will host this years get-together at Stow Grove Park on La Patera Lane in Goleta just before it intersects Cathedral Oaks Rd. We will be in Area 2, the same location as last year. This once-a-year SBARC event will be held on September 15, 2019, from 9:30 AM until 2:30 PM.  After last years success, we decided to keep the same format this year. SBARC will supply delicious 1/3 lb. hamburgers and cheeseburgers with all the fixings for all SBARC members and their immediate families. For non-members, burgers will be $5 each. You are welcome to bring your own beverages and we will have cold sodas and water available for $1. Since this is a potluck, we are encouraging everyone to bring something to share. You can bring a salad, potato chips, beans, hot dish, cookies or other desert, whatever you like and whatever you have time for. We hope you will join us for a relaxing meal and take the time to catch up with old friends. Of course, we can always use a little help setting things up before the event and cleaning things up afterwards. If you have a little time we would surely appreciate your help. Hope to see you there! Post expires at 1:05am on Monday September 16th, 2019 but will still be available in the archives.

Field Day 2019 – Saturday June 22 thru Sunday June 23

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This year we’re putting the “Field” back in Field Day!  We will be operating from Elings Park up on the hill where the hang gliders take off. We will be operating from 11:00am Saturday until 2:00pm Sunday, and we still have several time slots to fill, so we would really appreciate your help. We need three volunteers per time slot, two to operate the two stations (morse code [CW] and voice [SSB] this year), and one to help with outreach to the public (answering questions, etc).  We also need people to help set up before-hand, and help break-down at the end. Operating/outreach time-slots are four hours long (but if you can only do something less, we’ll still fit you in).  We are considering visiting a restaurant for an early dinner after the event Sunday – stay tuned!  Your club needs you! Let’s make this a fun field day for everyone. We will bring the Rover to just above the hang gliding area at about 10:00am on Saturday, June 22.  We will need a small crew to help assemble di-poles and erect antenna masts and pop-ups. Check out the ARRL Field Day intro and the ARRL Field Day Rules for more information.  If you want to follow along closely with field day activities, please subscribe to the field day mailing list. You are more than welcome to work a 4-hour operator shift and a 4-hour outreach shift, if you so desire, or even take two operator shifts at different stations and/or times (lowering the need for as many total volunteers). Feel free to mix it up and hang out. If you can help out in any way, please contact us immediately, and let us know what hours you are available. Ideally, we’ll be filling shifts for these seven time slots: 11am-3pm, 3pm-7pm, 7pm-11pm, 11pm-3am, 3am-7am, 7am-11am, and 11am-2pm, but again, let us know when you can help, and we’ll fit you in! Post expires at 8:00pm on Sunday June 23rd, 2019 but will still be available in the archives.