Category Archives: Club News

Yaesu System Fusion-DMR (YSF2DMR) Cross-Mode Repeater

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Over the past two years, there has been an explosion of interest in DMR amateur radio. Many SBARC members have been bitten by the DMR bug and they are chatting around the world on global Brandmeister talkgroups using hotspots and repeaters. While much of the attraction of DMR is the ability to work DX on a handheld transceiver, many local operators hang out on the local SBARC Brandmeister DMR Talkgroup (TG 31073).  In fact, every Tuesday night, the Digital Communications and Technology Net moves from 2m FM to TG 31073 at 21:00 Pacific Time. If you aren’t on the air with DMR yet, not to worry.  You may be able to chat on TG 31073 with a radio you already own! K6TZ operates a multimode digital repeater at La Vigia on the Mesa in Santa Barbara. We have recently reconfigured this repeater to bridge traffic from Yaesu System Fusion radios to TG 31073 using a new protocol called YSF2DMR. If you have a newer Yaesu radio, you may be digital-ready right now. Many new Yaesu amateur radio models available support System Fusion and are capable of connecting to the K6TZ digital repeater in order to bridge from System Fusion to DMR and TG 31073. Joining the local digital chatter on TG 31073 via System Fusion on the Santa Barbara South Coast is fairly straightforward. Just follow these steps: Obtain a DMR ID. If you have not already, click here to register your callsign with the DMR network and receive a unique DMR ID number. Your DMR ID is paired to your callsign on the DMR system and used to identify your transmissions. It takes a day or so to get a new DMR ID assigned and you only need to register once. Once you receive the confirmation email, keep it. You won’t need the number now using System Fusion but if you get bitten by the DMR bug in the future and want to explore further you will use this same DMR ID to configure a DMR radio. Set your amateur radio callsign in your System Fusion radio. Each radio model handles this differently. You must enter into your Yause radio the exact same callsign you registered to your DMR ID. The SBARC repeater will only bridge properly identified transmissions from System Fusion to DMR. So be sure you have input your callsign correctly and that you have received confirmation of… Continue reading →

General Club Meeting – February 15, 2019

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Last August our topic was DMR radio. Since then I have had a lot of requests for another DMR presentation, and since some new capabilities have become available, I thought this would be a good time. A lot of members have purchased DMR radios and would like to know more about their use and capabilities. A lot of our members have also purchased and Yaesu System Fusion radios as well. In fact, the Yaesu FTM400 mobile radio is probably the most popular general mobile radio in the Santa Barbara Area. There are probably 20 or more SBARC members with these radios but only use them for regular FM. Yaesu YSF radios are digital capable, but use a different digital protocol. Now it is easy to use your Yaesu YSF capable radios to communicate on DMR on the SBARC or other favorite talkgroup. At this meeting, we’ll show you how and do some demonstrations. So bring your DMR radios and Yaesu YSF HT’s if you have one. And, bring your questions about this or DMR in general. SBARC is lucky enough to have their own dedicated talkgroup, and we need to utilize it more. With this new capability, hopefully we can get more members to come over and give digital a try.   SBARC General Club Meeting Friday, September 21, 2018 at 7:30 PM Goleta Union School District Board Room 401 North Fairview Avenue in Goleta We hope to see you all at the meeting! Post expires at 11:00pm on Friday February 15th, 2019 but will still be available in the archives.

Snow on the Mountains

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We can’t see it from town, but the back mountain range is covered with snow! This is the view from the Diablo Peak live stream today. The camera is pointed at the City of Santa Barbara and you can see it in the foreground. Click on the picture to view it in a larger format. Post expires at 1:00am on Wednesday February 13th, 2019 but will still be available in the archives.

The Shack Floor Needed Cleaning Anyway!

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The rainstorm over the weekend brought us a nice little surprise when we opened up last Saturday. The outer doors to the club station are apparently not too waterproof! When the storm came through around dawn, it brought with it some high winds that hammered that side of the building with rain, and we had quite a bit of water come in covering most of the main room floor, and extending into the inner radio room a bit. Bill W1UUQ led the mop-up crew since he had the most experience swabbing decks! No damage done and the club station floor got a much needed mopping. Post expires at 8:00am on Monday February 11th, 2019 but will still be available in the archives.

We’ve Moved!

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Well, the website did! We have moved the club website to a new, much faster cloud server. Besides operating better, our website will no longer go down during extended power outages and will be much easier to maintain. If you see anything missing, don’t worry. There are a couple of things that did not make the transition smoothly, but we are identifying them and will get them fixed within a few days. Happy browsing! Brian – K6BPM Post expires at 1:00am on Sunday February 10th, 2019 but will still be available in the archives.

Diablo Peak Island Camera is back and better than before!

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Thanks to many generous donations via our GoFundMe campaign, the SBARC Telecommunications Services Committee is happy to announce that we have an operational  live webcam on Diablo Peak on Santa Cruz Island! Diablo is the tallest mountain on an ocean island in the lower 48 and a strategic location for gathering all types of scientific data including ship and aircraft traffic, weather and cloud patterns and amateur radio linking. Live video feed from Diablo Peak on Santa Cruz Island In September 2018, the legacy standard-definition camera stopped functioning. While we have raised enough funds to install this new HD camera, there continue to be ongoing expenses necessary in order to keep it operational. We continue to raise funds to support this impressive high-definition replacement unit. The camera allows aviators, mariners, researchers and public safety teams to ensure the safety of their island missions by providing a glimpse of the conditions in all directions around the island, in the channel and out to sea. It is an especially important asset for fire watch both on the island and looking back toward the Santa Barbara South Coast.  Unlike many strategic webcams, this live camera is available to anyone interested in taking a virtual trip to this remote, secluded promontory and peering off into the deep blue yonder! Levi C. Maaia, K6LCM Co-Chair, Telecommunications Services Committee Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club, Inc. a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public benefit corporation

Merry Christmas from SBARC

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On behalf of myself and the SBARC Board of Directors, I would like to wish all our members a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We have excited grandkids coming to our house and will have a house full of family all weekend. Hopefully you will all enjoy your holidays as much as I hope to. In a few days, we’ll be starting our 99th year as a club. And, in just one year, SBARC will be celebrating its’ 100th anniversary. There are not many organizations of any kind that can claim that. We’ll be adding a new continuing agenda item for board and general meetings in 2019 for planning our 100th anniversary activities. We already have several ideas and will be soliciting ideas from our members. One of our ideas is to resurrect Key-Kilx for a special 100th Anniversary Edition. We’re hoping we can get a lot of our members to contribute stories or articles about notable members or events from the days of SBARC past. This will be a time for honoring and remembering all those that have contributed to SBARC’s success and longevity over its’ long history. So please think about some way you can contribute in the coming year! Once again, you all have my best wishes for this holiday season and the coming year. We’ll see you all in January! Brian Milburn – K6BPM President – Santa Barbara Amateur Radio CLub Post expires at 6:07am on Wednesday January 2nd, 2019 but will still be available in the archives.