Club News

What’s happening at SBARC? Here you will find the latest club news, events, projects, net activities, and news from our special interest groups (SIGS).

Be sure to check in frequently so you don’t miss out on any of the interesting things going on with the club and its members!

We have moved content for the Technical Mentoring and Elmering Net here, and content for the Digital Modes Net here.



SBARC/WB6OBB Annual Christmas Party 12/14/24

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

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.

General Club Meeting – November 15, 2024

November meetings are always election night meetings. Members who do not vote online will be able to vote in person. Of course we’ll all be tallying up the votes and announcing the winners, so plan on being there, even if you already voted.

We are also going to be talking about getting set up with Winlink. Winlink is a very useful system you can use to send email over RF without the internet. Winlink has been around for awhile, but it is getting easier to use and SBARC is now fully equipped to handle members emergency email traffic.

It’s Home Brew Night Too!

November meetings have traditionally also been Home-brew Night!  We invite everyone to bring a something you have built, or a project in progress, to show, demonstrate, and tell your ham friends about. Home-brew is what being a ham is all about! Anyone can go buy a radio, antenna or other accessory, but to many hams, building their own gear is much more fun and rewarding. So bring something (or a lot of things) because we’re all interested in seeing what you’re up to!

The meeting will also be available on Zoom, if you can’t attend in person, but please try to be there if you can to congratulate the new board members, whoever they are!

SBARC General Club Meeting
Friday, November 15, 2024 at 7:30 PM (Doors open at 7pm)
Goleta Union School District Board Room
401 North Fairview Avenue in Goleta

Zoom Details:

Topic: General Club Meeting – November 2024
Time: Nov 15, 2024 07:30 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85645742809?pwd=l46QUn9PaPQ1M2z2DY3gPLFVGC2wqC.1

Meeting ID: 856 4574 2809
Passcode: 036337

 

Post expires at 1:42am on Saturday November 16th, 2024 but will still be available in the archives.

Official 2024 Election – Voting Now Open

Voting is now open for our 2025 election for the 2025 year. 

Online voting is available and you can also download and deliver your ballot. Ballots will also be available at the meeting for in-person voting.

You may vote online until midnight November 13, 2024.

Click Here to Visit the Official SBARC Election Page

Online ballot is at the bottom of the page.

Thank you for participating!

Post expires at 11:58pm on Wednesday November 13th, 2024 but will still be available in the archives.

Bob Tangel WD6ESU – SK

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.

General Club Meeting – October 18th 2024

We’ll have a lot to talk about this meeting!

First, we have news about the status of the Vic Trace / TCF site you will want to hear. As most of us know, we have been under a deadline of October 31 to remove our equipment and relocate the building. We’ve been busy and we’ll bring you all up-to-date.

Every November SBARC holds its annual elections. The election will be held at the November Club Meeting. One of my jobs as president is to appoint a nominating committee to provide candidates for the club officers and directors at large. This year Dorothy K6DSO and Larry (WA6MVJ) comprised the nominating committee and we’ll present the slate of candidates at this meeting.

This year we’ll also be proposing some organizational changes that will require a vote by the membership. We’ll be discussing these thoroughly, explaining everything and answering any questions. Some of the changes are ones we have worked on for several years. Bill W1UUQ will also provide us some background that will help to define the issues we hope to address and how SBARC can position itself to reestablish our community relevance moving forward.

Additional election information and schedule will go live on the website immediately after this months meeting.

As we have done for the past few years, you will be able to vote in person, by mail, or using online voting.

You will definitely want to attend this meeting or listen in on ZOOM.

SBARC General Club Meeting
Friday, October 18, 2024 at 7:30 PM (Doors open at 7pm)
Goleta Union School District Board Room
401 North Fairview Avenue in Goleta

Doors open at 7pm, meeting starts at 7:30pm

Zoom Link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87896497627?pwd=noXxHmQeFAWaaVIclEw31nRYweaEDF.1

Post expires at 11:59pm on Friday October 18th, 2024 but will still be available in the archives.

Santa Ynez Peak Repeater Antenna

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.