Welcome to the Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club

aspenWelcome, and thanks for visiting our website. The Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club (SBARC) was established in 1920 and has operated continuously ever since. If you are a licensed amateur radio operator and not yet a member, we hope you will consider joining our club. If you are not yet licensed but have an interest in amateur radio, contact us and we’ll help you get started! Better yet come meet our friendly members at one of our monthly club meetings or at the Red Cross Club Station on Saturday mornings.

Photo caption: Repeaters are the backbone of our local communication systems. SBARC operates numerous repeaters that are open and free to use, including one on Diablo Peak on Santa Cruz Island, which our team accesses with the help of Aspen Helicopters.​

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Latest News About Our Main Repeater Site

The Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club is a 501(c)(3) non-profit public benefit corporation. Our public service efforts and emergency communications infrastructure are supported by donations from our members and the community. Your tax deductible contributions help ensure our continued success

SBARC Designated Emergency Frequencies

  • SBARC Main Repeater Output 146.79 / Input 146.19 PL 131.8
  • In the event the repeater is not working, use 146.79 SIMPLEX
  • Also monitor 146.52 SIMPLEX

We also maintain a list of local frequencies used by first responders and emergency services. These are useful for programming consumer grade scanners. Please click here.

 


SBARC/WB6OBB Annual Christmas Party 12/14/24

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You are invited to the annual SBARC/WB6OBB Christmas Party. We will be holding this event on Saturday, December 14, 2024 at 1:00 pm at Rusty’s Pizza Parlor location at 5934 Calle Real near the Walgreen’s Pharmacy on the mountain side of Calle Real east of Fairview. This is a BYOP (Buy your own pizza) event and please bring a wrapped gag gift for the gift exchange! These parties are usually well attended so this is a chance to visit with a lot of people whom you might not see during the year. Stop by for a few minutes, or stay for the whole event!

No club meeting this month. We’ll look forward to seeing you at the party!

Post expires at 5:00pm on Saturday December 14th, 2024 but will still be available in the archives.

2025 Year Election Results

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The election for year 2024 is complete. All incumbents were reelected and will return to serve in 2025.

The dues increase measure passed and dues will be increased to $40 annually effective January 1, 2025.

Importantly, the measure concerning changing the corporate name to Santa Barbara Wireless Foundation was approved by the membership. The next steps will include a final draft of the Bylaws to reflect the changes, and formal adoption by the board at the first board meeting in January 2025. Certain changes regarding bank accounts, IRS and state forms, licensing, and other items will be performed by the appropriate board members. Levi K6LCM will remain as Club Trustee, and Wayne AF6GX will remain as Site Trustee. These appointments are ongoing and are not subject to annual changes. Bill W1UUQ remains Trustee Emeritus, a lifetime appointment.

You may notice some subtle changes to our public facing materials to reflect the new corporate name in areas where we want to promote ourselves as a more professional, multi-faceted organization. This will be an exciting time as we work to restore our relevance as leaders in the communications field.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to vote. Your participation ensures that all voices are heard. Thanks also to our board members for organizing and holding this years election.

Post expires at 10:20am on Friday January 10th, 2025 but will still be available in the archives.

Bob Tangel WD6ESU – SK

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Bob Tangel WD6ESU became a silent key on October 23, 2024 in Medford Oregon. Bob was a past president of SBARC and was very active in ARES, Search & Rescue support,  and many other SBARC activities. Bob worked at Delco and retired in 2008 to Medford.

His obituary is available on Noozhawk.

Post expires at 10:12am on Thursday December 5th, 2024 but will still be available in the archives.

Santa Ynez Peak Repeater Antenna

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Wayne, AF6GX, tilting the 145.18 tower back up into service. Photo: Michael, K6RQV

The antenna for the K6TZ Santa Ynez Peak repeater on 145.18 was replaced today. As a result, its coverage is now vastly improved!

If you haven’t yet, please take a moment to test your signal into this repeater and the new 446.400 repeater on La Cumbre Peak West. Both are standard negative offset, same PL 131.8.

Together, these two repeaters have increased our systemwide coverage tremendously.

2024 Annual Picnic

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SBARC Members enjoying the fine food!

We had a great turnout for the annual SBARC picnic this year. Dave AI6VX handled the cooking again this year and many others brought food to share. No one went away hungry. Of course Darryl held a transmitter hunt as is his custom. Many people helped to put this together. Dorothy K6DSO picked up the burgers, hotdogs, and all the fixings. Mike K6QD brought the new popup tents (they we didn’t use). Larry, WA6MVJ brought water and ice. Big thanks to everyone who helped out and helped clean up afterwards.

Dave, AI6VX at the grill and Levi, K6LCM picking up a few pointers.

 

Post expires at 7:02pm on Thursday October 10th, 2024 but will still be available in the archives.

Repeater Updates: 446.400 Moved to La Cumbre Peak West

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Wayne, AF6GX and Levi, K6LCM installing the new BridgeCom repeater at La Cumbre Peak West. Photo: Michael, K6RQV

It was a foggy, cool day at La Cumbre Peak when SBARC members Levi, K6LCM; Wayne, AF6GX; and Michael, K6RQV, headed up to the site to install the club’s new BridgeCom FM repeater on 446.400 MHz. Despite the low visibility and brisk weather, the team successfully completed the installation, bringing a significant upgrade to the repeater system.

The new repeater offers excellent coverage and is now linked to the club’s wider system, ensuring even greater range for members and improving communications across the region. This installation is part of SBARC’s ongoing efforts to enhance the reliability and reach of its network for amateur radio operators in Santa Barbara and beyond.

Stay tuned for more updates and make sure to give the new repeater a try on 446.400- PL 131.8.

Packet Capabilities at LCPW

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We have moved the club VHF packet node from the Mesa to La Cumbre Peak West. At nearly 4,000′ above sea level, this station has a Winlink gateway that can gate mail between RF and the internet (Starlink-capable and 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: LCPW (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.

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