Category Archives: Club News

Our old friend Jug – WA6MBZ passed away on Friday January 7, 2017 after a long illness. Jug was a long time member of SBARC and had his hands in project after project over the years. Jug also served on the SBARC Board of Directors and on various committees. He was instrumental in getting the club station activated several years ago, and was frequently the first in line to try new modes and radio technologies. For many years Jug was known as the “Trivia Master” on the morning Cuckoo Net. He dutifully read a trivia question every morning. He had a special computer where he stored trivia questions – prepared years in advance – on every topic from radios to thimbles and drink coasters. Jug was also an officer in the 220 MHz Spectrum Management Association (220SMA), the 220 MHz frequency coordination group for Southern California. Anyone that ever visited his house knew of Jug’s commitment to amateur radio. Radios and computers were packed into every available square inch of space he could find. His roof bristled with every form of antenna. He also had a few vehicles completely outfitted with everything from HF radios to GHz equipment along with solar panels to keep the batteries charged. He was the consummate “ham” and could build anything – and did! Amateur radio has lost one of the last of the “real hams”. You can read this post here if you need solar panel installation services. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held for Jug on Thursday, January 12 at 10:00 am at Our Lady of Sorrows Church. Please leave your stories and remembrances in the comments. Post expires at 7:15am on Thursday February 9th, 2017 but will still be available in the archives.

The SBARC Telecommunications Services Committee continues testing the link between the K6TZ 146.790 and W6YJO 145.180 repeaters.  The 146.790 machine is located on the Mesa in Santa Barbara and serves the Santa Barbara South Coast and portions of Ventura County.  From atop Santa Ynez Peak, 145.180 has wide-area coverage including Santa Barbara North County. Signal reports and link quality reports between the two repeaters are appreciated. Additionally, the following VoIP nodes are now online for incoming connections to the system only: AllStar Node: 43763; EchoLink Node: 4376. Amateurs wishing to connect via smart phone are encouraged to download and install the EchoLink app for iOS or Android.

The Amateur Radio Parity Act H.R. 1301 is in jeopardy of not passing into law unless the U.S. Senate acts to pass it before the holiday recess. This may or may  not directly affect you now but ensuring access to reasonable antennas for amateurs across the nation supports the health of our hobby and ensures that all amateurs will have on-air capabilities, especially in an emergency. CLICK HERE to send emails to Sen. Boxer and Sen. Feinstein. Let them know that you want them to pass the Act NOW: H.R. 1301 has already passed the U.S. House of Representatives and has the endorsement of the ARRL and the American Red Cross. It is now up to the U.S. Senate to send the Act to the White House. Here’s what ARRL has to say about the matter: ARRL once again is calling on its members to urge their US Senators to support the Amateur Radio Parity Act (H.R. 1301) when it comes up in the Senate during the “lame duck” session of Congress that adjourns in mid-December. The House of Representatives approved the bill in September, but if the Senate does not follow suit, the bill will die, and the entire process will have to be repeated. ARRL Hudson Division Director Mike Lisenco, N2YBB, who chairs the ARRL Board’s Legislative Advocacy Committee and has been heavily involved in efforts to move H.R. 1301 forward, said today, “The clock is ticking!”

Did you know that ARRL CEO Tom Gallagher, NY2RF, is a member of SBARC? Tom Gallagher, NY2RF, of West Palm Beach, Florida, succeeded David Sumner, K1ZZ, as the chief executive officer of ARRL on April 18, 2016 . He oversees all activities at ARRL Headquarters in Newington, Connecticut. Licensed in Pennsylvania in 1966 as WA3GRF (and later N4GRF in North Carolina), Gallagher is a member of the West Palm Beach Amateur Radio Group (and the Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club). He describes himself as “an incurable HF DXer and inveterate tinkerer” and credits his first visit to the Franklin Institute’s Amateur Radio station W3TKQ in 1963 for inspiring his interest in ham radio. Amateur Radio led to an early career in broadcasting. He was a cameraman and technician with WGBH-TV in Boston, the CBS Television Network, and Metromedia’s WIP Radio in Philadelphia. He joined ARRL following 3 decades as an international investment banker and financial services executive. His career has included senior leadership positions with JP Morgan Chase & Co and CIBC Oppenheimer & Co in New York, and with Wachovia Capital Markets in Charlotte, North Carolina. He has also served as an adjunct professor at the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and as CEO of the Secondary School Admission Test Board in Princeton, New Jersey. Gallagher has served on boards, both public and non-profit, including two NYSE companies, the NPR affiliate in Charlotte, the Executive Board of The PENN Fund at the University of Pennsylvania, and The International Center of Photography. Gallagher graduated magna cum laude with a BA from the University of Pennsylvania, and he holds an MBA from The Wharton School. He is a graduate of The Lawrenceville School, where he held the Nicholas Noyes scholarship. In addition to ham radio, Gallagher enjoys saltwater fishing and sailing which, he confesses, is sometimes just an excuse to operate maritime mobile. Editor’s note: Biography info credit ARRL website.  

Bob – K6CTX, SBARC’s Rovermaster has assembled a list of local go-to frequencies to consider scanning, especially during special events, emergencies or disasters. This is intended to be a starting point for the most active local frequencies of interest and not necessarily a comprehensive list of all possible public safety channels. Click here to view the SBARC Repeater-Scanner Frequencies Sheet in Google Sheets format. From there you may copy/paste or download the file for local manipulation.