Category Archives: Club News

New SDR HF Radio at Club Station

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The club station now has a brand new computer and a FlexRadio Flex 3000 SDR (software defined radio) up and running and on the air. Unlike traditional radios, the Flex has no knobs or buttons. It is completely software driven and has all the features (and then some) of the high end radios from the major manufacturers. The Flex is hooked up to a computer running Windows and uses sophisticated, but easy to use software to control everything. In addition to regular SSB/FM/AM operation, we also have seamless digital operation for whatever modes we want to operate. Our first test used JT65 on 15m and we quickly logged QSO’s from the Czech Republic, Belgium, France, England and Germany. The screenshot on the right from PSKReporter.info shows signal reports from stations that heard K6TZ from all over the USA, Europe, South America, and even South Africa. Great DX is easily accomplished from our “noisy” club station. If you have never operated an SDR radio, you are in for a great experience. The display shows a wide area of whatever band you are working using a panadapter and waterfall so you can see all activity at once. This graphical representation of the band lets you find and tune activity quickly and easily. This new radio is available for members to use during regular club hours, Tuesdays 7:30 pm to 10:00 pm and Saturdays 9:00 am to noon. Come on down and check it out! If you are interested in reading the user manual and learning how this exceptional radio works, it is available for download here. Post expires at 3:40pm on Tuesday December 1st, 2015 but will still be available in the archives.

October General Club Meeting

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This months meeting was thrown into disarray because of monumental traffic problems caused by the closure of I-5 and other roads hit by heavy rains and floods. Our regularly scheduled speaker Orville K. Beach, W6BI was unable to make the meeting because of the incredible traffic delays coming from his home in Simi Valley. Many members were forced to abandon their plans to attend because even the local side street traffic was bumper to bumper. That didn’t stop us from having a great meeting though. The highpoint of the meeting was the well deserved presentation of the SBARC Lifetime Achievement award to “Jug” – WA6MBZ. Jug has spent decades dedicating his time to the furtherance of Amateur Radio and service to SBARC. The award was given to recognize his considerable contributions to our club and our hobby. Jug has always been on the cutting edge of amateur radio technology going all the way back to our very first area wide repeater systems. His contributions are everywhere and almost everything the club has done over the years has benefitted from Jugs expertise. He is the embodiment of the spirit of experimentation and a “real” amateur radio enthusiast in every sense of the word. Congratulations Jug! The rest of the meeting was basically a “ragchew” and listening to Jug relate stories about the early days of amateur radio in Santa Barbara. It was a real treat to all that were able to attend. Post expires at 10:48pm on Monday November 16th, 2015 but will still be available in the archives.

SB HackerSpace Developing an APRS WX Telemetry System

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Our friends at the Santa Barbara HackerSpace are developing the tiniest ever 1.6 oz APRS Weather Data board for weather balloon flights and private weather stations. Their little device is called the Tracksoar and it contains a GPS receiver, a 2m transmitter, weather sensors, and an Arduino compatible Atmega 328P microprocessor. They have launched a KickStarter campaign and are looking for backers. The campaign closes November 8, 2015. For more information visit the project website at: http://tracksoar.com The KickStarter campaign can be found here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1250163085/tracksoar-aprs Disclaimer: KickStarter campaigns involve risk. If participation in this project interests you and you have never backed a crowd-funded project before, please read this to ensure you understand the risks involved.

October 16th General Club Meeting Program

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This month’s presenter will be Orville K. Beach, W6BI. Orv is a member of the Simi Settlers Amateur Radio Club of Simi Valley, California. He hereby announces to the world that he is All Digital, All the Time! As an example of All Digital, All the Time, look at his operating style: CW for four years RTTY for 11 years (teletypes, homebrewed terminal units, then homebrewed computer interfaces and programs) VHF Packet radio for about 10 years – helped build up a packet network down the California coast and east to Tucson QRT off and on for a couple of years Pactor for 2 years PSK31 off and on for a couple of years 2014.. Digital Mesh radio on the microwave bands Orv brags that his last HF SSB QSO was in 1975… Although he enjoys digital more than analog radio, he says that his Principal interests are technical as well as ragchewing. Which brings us to Orv’s topic that he is looking forward to presenting to us at our Club meeting. If you haven’t already heard of it, you will surely hear about it during his presentation. It is called, “Digital Mesh Networking for Amateur Radio.” Come with an open mind and let Orv fill it with lots of interesting concepts that are probably new to you. We hold our Club meetings at the Goleta Union School District, 401 N. Fairview Ave. in Goleta, right across the street from the Goleta Library. Doors open at 7:00 PM and the meeting starts at 7:30 PM. Post expires at 7:14am on Saturday October 17th, 2015 but will still be available in the archives.

K6LCM Article on Cuban Amateur Radio Published in QST Magazine

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SBARC is proud to announce that we have a published author in our ranks! Levi – K6LCM submitted an article to QST about his recent trip to Cuba and his visit with a group of local hams. QST liked the article and it was printed in the current (October 2015) issue of QST magazine! If you attended the June 2015 General Club Meeting, Levi also gave us a great presentation and slideshow on his trip. There is more about that meeting and a link to the audio archive here: http://www.sbarc.org/2015/06/21/june-2015-general-club-meeting/ Getting published in QST magazine is quite an accomplishment for any amateur radio operator! Congratulations Levi! Post expires at 9:00am on Saturday October 10th, 2015 but will still be available in the archives.

September General Club Meeting

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Our guest speaker was Dick Norton, N6AA, our ARRL Southwestern Division Director. Dick spoke on the latest activities of the American Radio Relay League and how they influence our lives as hams. He brought us up to date on the Amateur Radio Parity Act and how we still need to contact our Congressperson Lois Capps and both of our Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer and push for them to sign on as supporters of their respective bills in the House and the Senate. Dick also talked briefly about the contest for the Santa Barbara Section Manager between our present Manager Rob Griffin, K6YR, of San Luis Obispo and Jim Fortney, K6IYK, of Camarillo. The ballots will arrive in early October in the mail boxes of ARRL members. The highlight of the Club meeting was the video presentation about President Jay’s recently departed wife and best friend in the world Winnie, KA6OFZ, SK. The well produced video showed Winnie running a QSO between her students and the astronauts passing overhead aboard the International Space Station. Listen to the full audio of the meeting here: http://www.sbarc.org/k6tz-repeater-live-audio-and-archive/general-club-meetings-audio-archives/ Post expires at 8:38am on Thursday October 15th, 2015 but will still be available in the archives.

Keeping the Rover Ready for Use

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                  This Saturday was pizza day at the shack, but the rover got a little attention too. The backup batteries were getting old and would not hold much of a charge so they were replaced by Tom N6YX, Bob KB6CTX and Ken KA6KEN. By the way, Bob is our “Rovermaster” and Makes sure everything is kept in good repair. The Rover is fully equipped to handle emergency communications any time it might be needed. It carries an onboard repeater, antenna mast, an HF radio, VHF and UHF radios, and plenty of gear to rig up whatever might be needed. Come on down for pizza on the second Saturday of the month and take a tour of the Rover. It’s impressive capabilities rival anyone’s home shack. And it’s totally mobile and self sufficient.