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.
Rovermaster Bob, Jim, Wayne, and I installed a new 100 watt solar panel and charge controller on the Rover. This was an upgrade from the very old 20 watt panel. Took about 3 hours. Ended up taking the Rover to Wayne’s house to be closer to really great tools and a killer machine shop.
– Michael K6RQV
Post expires at 9:56pm on Tuesday March 1st, 2022 but will still be available in the archives.
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. Last year at this time we all thought that the dreaded virus would be behind us by the time Christmas 2021 rolled around. I guess not!
In a few days, we’ll be entering the third year of pandemic pandemonium. We’re not going to let it stop us though, and we are going to try to resume some sense of normalcy in the coming year.
Last year I wrote that I had hoped we would celebrate our 101st year as a club. It didn’t happen mostly because of in person committee meetings and difficulties planning a dinner given the restrictions in place. We can still make up for it next year and celebrate out 102nd year.
We plan to resume in-person monthly club meetings next year. We may do it on January 21st, however there has been some behind the scenes talk about having a co-club meeting with an amateur radio club in Arizona. That would require us to do a Zoom meeting. We’ll post something when we know more.
Once again, you all have our best wishes for this holiday season and the coming year. One way or another, we’ll see you all next year at the January 21st club meeting.
Brian Milburn – K6BPM
President – Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club
Post expires at 1:00am on Tuesday January 4th, 2022 but will still be available in the archives.
Normally this would be Election Night but in light of the continuing pandemic, we’re going to have this meeting, our final meeting of the year over Zoom, hopefully for the last time. We will re-evaluate after January 1st and see if we can go back to a full in-person meeting schedule.
So this meeting we will be announcing the election results from our online voting totals. Hopefully you have all voted by now, but if not, check the post below for instructions.
This would also normally be “Home-brew” night. Traditionally, members bring something to show that they designed and built themselves. That is always interesting because we have a very creative group.
So, for this meeting we are going to do a modified version of Home-brew Night. We are going to start off with a Powerpoint presentation on soldering. For most home-brew projects, knowing how to solder is job one! We’ll cover the basics as well as more advanced types such as surface mount components.
The balance of the meeting will be devoted to anyone wanting to show one of their projects. It anything to do with amateur radio or electronics in general. The only caveat to this is that it will be something you can show or demonstrate over Zoom.
So, be sure to vote, get a project ready to show, and we’ll see you on Friday! Zoom opens at 7pm and the meeting will start at 7:30pm.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82300595725
Join us on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6OUP33DB1k
Post expires at 8:00pm on Friday November 19th, 2021 but will still be available in the archives.
by David Hackleman, K6VML
Per Ken Alker’s request on the SBARC listserver, here is my account of Pacificon, October 15-17, 2021.
My trip to Europe had been cancelled due to COVID. Pacificon was coming up at about the same time that the trip would have been. I had never been to it and decided it would be a worthwhile alternative. Earlier in the week I made a reservation at the San Ramon Marriott, site of the convention, even though the special rate had expired. Turns out I got the room at about the same rate. This was the first time ever I reserved a room at a division convention!
I wanted to get the most out of it, so I arrived in good time Thursday for a three-night stay, after a pleasant drive mostly on I-5 from San Bernardino. As I already told you that this web page made clear that COVID protocols would be observed, and I was ready with my mask and proof of vaccination at check-in.Derrick can help you to have an extra ordinary equipment with improved technologies. You can also visit afcurgentcare.com/covid-19-services/rapid-testing to in case of covid symptoms.
That night I had a Marriott Burger for dinner in the hotel restaurant. I took advantage of “Cash Only” buffet meals as often as possible thereafter, provided for convention goers, that were quite good. Friday featured an all-day antenna seminar, but I decided to relax and enjoy my room and wander the convention floor until the vendor exhibit hall opened at 3:00.
The vendors were much the same as I have seen in Southwestern Division conventions, which was fine with me. One was John Stanford, KF6I, of Island Amplifier. Turns out he is located in Placentia and repairs and refurbishes amplifiers. I had a Clipperton-L amplifier that needed service that he was very familiar with, so discovering John alone made Pacificon worthwhile for me. And it was only Friday.
Elecraft and Buddipole were also there. Elecraft had three refurbished KX3’s for sale. All were loaded with options, and one had the 2 meter module. I kept coming back to their booth to ask about them. I also stopped to look over the IC-705 QRP rig at the Icom booth, so the rep gave me a quick rundown on it. It was also nice to see Alex manning the Aventrade booth. He was a vendor at one of the Santa Barbara Hamfests years back.
The vendor exhibit closed at 6:00. After dinner I wandered the convention hall some more. Left at one booth in the hall was a basket full of vacuum tubes. And right on top was a 5U4GB made by Sylvania, which I recognized as the rectifier for my Hammarlund HQ-180. So I snatched it up. (I verified later that it was for the taking.) The special event station was up and running, and I thought I would take advantage of it to keep my sked with Leigh KM6JE in Santa Barbara. I waited only a short time for two young guys to finish working the 80 meter station, an IC-7600. After a volunteer disinfected the station for me, I quickly made contact with Leigh and we had our usual Friday night QSO.
So I’m batting 1000 here! Saturday came, and though normally I make a point of attending the forums, I just wasn’t into them this time. They were good, but I went to a couple for a few minutes and quickly got antsy and left. Once again I wandered the hall, and I hear Rod Fritz WB9KMO say something to me from behind. It was good to see him again and we had a good long eyeball QSO. I also spotted Dick Norton N6AA and detained him briefly about a section matter. I remarked that I saw Rod but no others from our division, whereupon he proceeded to rattle off the call signs of a number of them who were indeed attending.
After sauntering through the vendor exhibit hall once more, I went up to my second-floor room to take a break. It was there that I got to thinking, and decided I would treat myself and go buy the KX3 with the 2 meter module. Michelle at the Elecraft booth was familiar with me because I had already bought the AX1 QRP antenna there earlier, and the 40 meter extension. It turns out I unwittingly beat out another guy by mere seconds who wanted the same one! He settled for one without the 2 meter module. As Michelle told me, “Your timing was perfect!” Still batting 1000.
The day was still young. I spotted Dave Casler, KE0OG, at the outdoor lunch tables. He has a YouTube channel devoted to ham radio that I enjoy and I told him so. I met several other interesting hams at our lunches. Dave KM6QKI had served on a navy submarine and had stories to tell. I mentioned I planned to see the USS Hornet museum ship after the convention. Wouldn’t you know, Randy K8TR at our table happened to work security for it and said not to miss the “Engine” and “Island” tours. Also enjoyed talking with KF6FIO and AC6MN who came for the day.
Sunday was the swap meet. It was big! Lots of interesting gear. I scored several items, including a dual fuel Coleman lantern for $35, something I had been wanting. Works perfectly! It was time to pack up, and I found myself in the middle of a train of attendees rolling our suitcases out to our cars ahead of check-out time. Dave KM6QKI and I attended the ARRL Forum together, then it was time to head out.
One person I talked to said the convention was almost cancelled due to COVID. Though turnout may have been less than usual under the circumstances, to me it appeared to be very well attended. Congratulations to the Mount Diablo Amateur Radio Club, and to the San Ramon Marriott, for putting on a great event!
Several people have asked about FT8 in recent months, so we thought we would do an introductory presentation to explain what it is and how it works. FT8 is a fast paced digital mode for HF and it works even when most other modes don’t. It’s high sensitivity to weak signals makes it a favorite mode for many of us without amplifiers and big beam antennas. It typically takes about 35 watts and a modest dipole or wire antenna and you can easily make contacts world wide. Many hams do quite well with QRP rigs and simple wire antennas.
Next month is also our annual election month. So, this meeting we will be submitting the slate of candidates chosen by the nominating committee. We’ll also open up nominations from the membership. It is not yet determined if we will be able to have an in-person meeting in November, so we are making plans for online voting like we did last year. If we do have an in-person meeting, we’ll use a combination of regular ballot voting and online voting for those who choose not to attend.
For those to you interested in the PowerPoint presentation it can be downloaded here: https://www.sbarc.org/Downloads/wsjtx_and_ft-8.pptx
Post expires at 11:59pm on Friday October 15th, 2021 but will still be available in the archives.
L to R: Abhilekh, W6WV; Levi, K6LCM; Rovermaster Bob, K6CTX
The Rover team set up the mast and HF station at the Red Cross Club Station on Saturday 9/18/2021 making CW and SSB contacts with Alberta and New Jersey. The team will try and do this once a quarter. They are also planning to activate La Cumbre Peak with the Rover in the next month!
We’re sure many of you have heard club members talk about Raspberry Pi’s and how we use them for performing tasks on our network as well as other things we do in our own shacks. Raspberry Pi’s are small but powerful, full featured computers that can be used for a variety of purposes. And, they start at $5 for RPi Zeros and $35 for the more powerful, original sized boards. The newest Raspberry Pi 4 series are even more powerful and start at $45. They are ultra reliable and will run for years.
This month we had a PowerPoint presentation on how you can use Raspberry Pi’s with amateur radio. There are many things you can build with these little machines for use with APRS, DMR, test equipment, digital modes for HF, clocks, weather stations, maps and on and on.
