Category Archives: Club News

Theo Howe, KK6YYZ – Unfortunately, this year the SBARC rover based Field Day had to be modified for lack of volunteer operators. The suggestion was made to operate from the Clubstation’s radio room, and quickly the call was put out for interested operators. At 18:00 Zulu Saturday (beginning of Field Day) things started slowly with a few people stopping in to the club station to operate and visit. As the afternoon progressed however, we had a steady stream of visitors and club members excited to operate the Club station on Field Day. We now also have two new members of the Club because of the event.  We worked 40,20,15, 6 and 2 meter contacts. Modes were SSB except for 2m which was FM and SSB. The Club Station, which is not known as a “big gun” in town, nevertheless made many contacts all the way to the East Coast, American Virgin Islands, Hawaii and New Zealand (though they are not a part of Field Day, officially). You can be proud of your club stations’ reach on Field Day! I wanted to put out a big “Thank You” to everyone who participated, and we will be inviting you all back again for other ARRL contests at the Club Station! There are plans to upgrade your radio room and improve our contesting abilities. We will have at least one- if not more- logging station to allow for high speed contesting. We look forward to all of your participation! A big thank you goes out to Ken KA6KEN who was there the entire time helping to work DX. Post expires at 1:00am on Saturday July 4th, 2015 but will still be available in the archives.

SBARC member and local Santa Barbara ham Levi, K6LCM recently had the opportunity to travel to Cuba legally under the U.S.’s new relaxed travel policies. While he was there he visited a Cuban Amateur Radio station and met with local radioaficionados in Havana! Levi will share photos and video from his visit which includes a never-before-seen peek at some of the ingenious homebrewing and repairs that have kept Cubans stations on the bands – including operating many digital modes – despite so many challenges to maintaining radio equipment. Join us for Levi’s presentation at the June SBARC Club meeting. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to get an inside look at life in this mysterious and forbidden island and learn what being a ham in Cuba is really like! Also on the agenda for the evening will be a brief discussion about this year’s ARRL-sponsored Field Day, which starts on Friday, June 26, for the setup and goes on the air for 24 hours straight beginning at 11:00 AM Saturday, June 27. Tom, N6YX, is da man in charge. He invites you all to come out to the Camino Real Shopping Center at Storke Rd. and Hollister Ave., just across from the movie theater, and see what you can do to help us to get on the air and make those contacts and to show the public what Amateur Radio is all about. What an opportunity that will be! There is some talk about a BBQ afterwards. Come find out. We meet Friday, June 19, 2015 at the Goleta Union School District, 401 No. Fairview Ave. across the street from the Goleta Library. The doors should open around 7:00 PM so come early and shake some hands, especially those of Levi.

Our normal broadcast of Amateur Radio Newsline on Wednesdays at 7pm will be off the air for the time being. Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF has had some serious health issues in recent months and Newsline has continued with the help of temporary volunteers. New volunteers are needed to continue operation and they are actively being solicited. So until some new people can be brought on board to help keep things running again, weekly production of Newsline will cease. We wish the best for Bill and hope for a speedy recovery.

At 10:00 AM on Saturday, April 25 2015, a group of SBARC members, including the club president and BoD members, gathered at the American Red Cross building at State and Alamar in Santa Barbara to present an official citation in recognition of the tremendous efforts put forth by Dave – K6HWN in his role as the official “Shackmaster” at the K6TZ Club Station and the coordinator of many of the SBARC on-air nets. First licensed years ago, Dave returned to the hobby in the mid-2000s when he began operating on 2-meters from his boat in Santa Barbara Harbor.  He quickly made friends on the K6TZ repeater and found a second home on the air with Santa Barbara-area hams.  Shortly thereafter, Dave committed to opening access to the nearly forgotten SBARC Club Station in the Red Cross basement by creating open station hours where he could host members and guests and train them on the operation of the station’s many HF, VHF and UHF radios.  It is through this mentoring that many new hams have gotten on the air for the first time. Quite a few seasoned hams have returned to the hobby and the club also as a result of the Shackmaster’s efforts to provide a nexus for activity around the K6TZ repeaters and Club Station. Over the years, Dave has also taken on the duties of recruiting net control operators for many of the club-sponsored nets and hosts the “Technical Mentoring and Elmering Net” himself on Thursday evenings.  Even casual listeners to the K6TZ 146.79 repeater will certainly recognize Dave’s voice from “K6HWN Announcements” his trademark periodic bulletin, which he reads throughout the day on the repeater and collects for posting on this Web site and at k6hwn.org. On violation of a registered trademark you can sue a person for infringement. Trademark lawyers serving in Chicago can help you out legally. The plaque, presented by SBARC board member Brian – K6BPM reads: With sincere appreciation to Dave – K6HWN “SHACKMASTER” for your years of dedication, mentorship, friendliness and being “The Voice of K6TZ” Presented in 2015 by the Board of Directors and the members of the Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club. “Its really hard to believe this,” said Dave upon receiving the award. “Many individuals have expressed (their appreciation) to me but never as a group; this is a ‘wow!’” An audio recording of the presentation can be heard here: