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.
With in-person gatherings out of the question for most of this year, we have been holding General Club Meetings online using Zoom and YouTube Live Streaming since April. While most of us miss being able to see our amateur radio colleagues, remote technologies have enabled more members than ever to gather virtually. In May we welcomed Andy Seybold – W6AMS, SBARC member and acclaimed wireless communications guru. Andy gave a fantastic presentation on AT&T FirstNet and the future of interoperable digital and 5G cellular communications in the public safety sector from his home station in Arizona!
We have been able to archive monthly meeting presentations on the SBARC YouTube channel, thanks to our virtual gatherings. Since April, monthly membership participation in our meetings has risen considerably with members, like Andy, joining our local crew from far and wide. Meanwhile, YouTube recordings of the meeting archives have generated nearly 1,000 views.
We are proud to celebrate the creation of the Santa Barbara Wireless Foundation (SBWF). The Foundation is part of our 501(c)(3) public benefit corporation dedicated to developing and supporting wireless telecommunications technologies for public safety, emergency communications, community service and scientific research in the Santa Barbara region. For years, SBARC members have donated their skills and time to support partner organizations throughout Santa Barbara County. This outreach is an important part of maintaining important relationships for SBARC, allowing us continued access to coveted mountaintop communications sites and strengthening our community ties to ensure our organization’s relevance in a new era of advanced digital communications.
SBARC remains an amateur radio membership organization with SBWF as a part of the Club’s strategic outreach. SBARC members are invited to contribute to SBWF’s efforts. The Santa Barbara Wireless Foundation name and logos were designed to maximize our ability to attract funding and support from outside of the amateur radio community. This initiative will ensure the Club’s continued ability to serve those interested in the art and science of radio communications while supporting new and existing relationships for public service and emergency communications in our community.
Diablo Peak (or Devil’s Peak) on Santa Cruz Island is one of the most inaccessible places in California. At 2,429 feet above sea level, it is the tallest mountain on an ocean island in the contiguous 48 states. The Santa Barbara Wireless Foundation and SBARC maintain public safety and amateur radio telecommunications facilities at Diablo Peak on Santa Cruz Island. A crew of volunteer amateur radio operators set out with the help of the Santa Barbara County Air Support Unit (and its newly acquired Blackhawk “Firehawk” Helicopter) to perform maintenance at the site on December 2, 2020.
The election results are in and here is the not so unexpected results:
2021 Executive Committee
President and Chief Executive Officer: Brian Milburn, K6BPM
Chief Financial Officer: Tom Saunders, N6YX
Secretary: Dorothy Oksner, K6DSO
2021 Directors At Large
Director At Large: Dave Schmidt, AI6VX
Director At Large: Wayne Beckman, AF6GX
Director At Large: Levi Maaia, K6LCM
Director At Large: Michael Taylor, K6RQV
Thank you everyone who voted in our very first online voting experiment!
Post expires at 2:25pm on Monday November 23rd, 2020 but will still be available in the archives.
0:00 Pre-meeting chatter
26:30 Meeting Start and Intros
53:30 Tracking Transpacific Airliners Presentation Start
1:27:10 Questions & Answers
Meeting Presentation Slides (pdf)
Our November Club Meeting was host to our Board of Directors election as well as a presentation by Levi C. Maaia – K6LCM on using your ham equipment and/or computer or smartphone to listen in on transpacific airline traffic on the VHF and HF bands.
Hams aren’t the only ones using HF on a daily basis for reliable, long-distance communications. Airline pilots use HF frequencies from 2800 kHz to 22 MHz as their primary means of communication with shore stations during oceanic flights. These comms can be received by anyone with an HF SSB tuner and provide interesting data points for HF propagation. Aircraft are even sending PSK over HF! Levi showed us a tracking demonstration of a flight from Los Angeles (LAX) to Sydney (SYD) as well as pointed us toward some resources for tracking and listening in on our own, with or without a radio!
Last month we tried to have a demonstration on FT8 but had difficulties with the amount of computer horsepower necessary to run both Zoom and the radio software. So this month, we are going to do a Power Point presentation instead. This is probably a good approach in that explaining how it works will help it make more sense when actually used in practice.
Also, it is almost election time again. So next month we will have our very first Zoom election! We’ll talk about this and the modified procedures we will use.
Here are the Zoom details below:
SBARC K6TZ is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: SBARC General Meeting October 16, 2020
Time: Oct 16, 2020 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82955222894
Meeting ID: 829 5522 2894
Or watch on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rwuros6JJto
Post expires at 11:00pm on Friday October 16th, 2020 but will still be available in the archives.
Featured in the October 2020 QST magazine, Ham Bootcamp is a series of demonstrations and tutorials sponsored by the Nashua (N.H.) Area Radio Society designed to help newly licensed Technician, General, and Extra class license holders get on the air and use their amateur radio license. Bootcamp is also a great opportunity for prospective Hams who are interested in seeing what the hobby has to offer.
Despite the limitations imposed in light of covid-19, Ham Bootcamp continues in an online format. The Ham Bootcamp online program is available to all licensed and prospective Hams in North America.
Visit the Nashua Area Radio Society website to register!
