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.
Our club meeting this month will have two parts. At the November meeting we will hold our annual elections to elect board members and officers 2018. The nominating committee will present it’s slate of nominations for these positions and we will officially open floor nominations from the membership at large. There are a couple of other issues on the ballot as well, and we’ll discuss these, hear opposing views, and hold a question and answer session to make sure everyone understands the issues that will be before membership in November.
The second part of the meeting will be a hands-on demonstration on using DMR radios. We have previously had presentations on a general overview of DMR, programming radios, and now it’s time to learn how to operate. Many of our members have purchased excellent TYT MD-380 DMR radios and have them programmed and ready to go. DMR is quite a bit different than using normal ham FM radios, and there are a lot of features available. We’ll talk about using the menu options as well as all of the advanced features and explain all the interesting things you can do with DMR. So if you have a DMR radio, bring it to the meeting with you so you can follow along!
SBARC General Club Meetings are held 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. Put the date on your calendar and bring a guest!
Post expires at 11:00pm on Friday October 20th, 2017 but will still be available in the archives.
At the General Club Meeting on November 17, 2017, the Club membership will have the opportunity to elect the 2018 SBARC Board of Directors. Members must be in good standing for at least 28 days prior to the election in order to be eligible to vote. Expired memberships may be renewed online or in person at the General Club Meeting this Friday, October 20, 2017.
The SBARC Nominating Committee has submitted the following slate of nominees for consideration by the membership. Additional nominations may be made from the floor by any member in good standing at the October 20th General Club Meeting and prior to the election at the November 17th General Club Meeting.
Nominees for the Executive Committee
These candidates are presently running unopposed. (i) = incumbent candidate
President and Chief Executive Officer: Brian Milburn, K6BPM (i)
Chief Financial Officer: Tom Saunders, N6YX (i)
Secretary: Wayne Beckman, AF6GX
Nominees for Director At Large
Members may vote for up to 4 directors.
These candidates are presently running unopposed. (i) = incumbent candidate
Director At Large: Ken Alker, KA6KEN
Director At Large: Theo Howe, KK6YYZ (i)
Director At Large: Levi Maaia, K6LCM (i)
Director At Large: Michael Taylor, K6RQV (i)
Submitted to the membership by this duly appointed
Nominating Committee in accordance with the SBARC Bylaws:
Levi C. Maaia, K6LCM
Michael Taylor, K6RQV
We will be conducting a special vote at the SBARC General Club Meeting on November 17, 2017 on a proposed change to the SBARC bylaws.
Background:
After much discussion, the Board of Directors is recommending that we raise the annual club dues from $24.00 to $35.00. The dues have not been raised in over 16 years, and the modest increase we are recommending helps us keep our revenues more in line with current expenses. At our current membership levels, the $11.00 increase will provide approximately $1600 per year in additional revenue for the club. Over the past 16 years, costs for things like insurance, vehicle maintenance, infrastructure maintenance, etc. have risen, and the dues increase will help us prevent having to dip into the club’s reserves for regular expenses. This averages out to be a 91¢ per month increase per member. Most other clubs have significantly higher dues than ours.
Reason for bylaws change:
The current bylaws require a vote by the membership on any dues increase. We feel that any adjustments in the dues amount should be a function of the Board of Directors. The Board spends many hours over the course of a year discussing and implementing cost cutting policies, and we endeavor to be responsible custodians of the club’s finances.
Under the current reading of the bylaws, any adjustment in the annual dues amount could be decided by a very small number of members. It is not unusual to have meetings with a total attendance of 25 or less. That means at a meeting where a vote is taken, any proposal could be decided with a majority decision of 13 members or less. This could be unhealthy for the club as it could prevent a dues increase of even $1.00 that may be needed to ensure we can pay our regular fixed expenses.
Proposal:
The current bylaws can be read in their entirety at http://sbarc.org/documents/bylaws.pdf.
The Board of Directors proposes to eliminate the following paragraph in Section 2:
(a) The amount of dues shall be set by the Board of Directors and shall take effect when confirmed by a majority of voting members present at a regular meeting. Prior to said meeting, the Board shall cause a notice of such dues vote to be sent to each member of record at least one week in advance of said meeting.
And replace it with this paragraph:
(a) The amount of dues shall be set by the Board of Directors. In the event that the Board recommends that the dues should be adjusted, the Board shall cause notice of such change to be sent electronically or by mail to each member of record at least twenty-five (25) days prior to the next scheduled meeting of Board. Members will be allowed to submit their arguments or recommendations electronically, by mail, or in person for consideration before the final vote is taken by the Board. Any such change shall take effect at the Board’s discretion, but no sooner than 30 days after its adoption.
Best regards,
Brian Milburn, President
Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club, Inc.
Post expires at 9:00pm on Friday November 17th, 2017 but will still be available in the archives.
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Post expires at 10:06am on Thursday October 12th, 2017 but will still be available in the archives.
Here is something interesting that may interest some of our engineering oriented members.
The Science and Engineering Council of Santa Barbara has regular monthly luncheons that are open to the public. The luncheons are held at the High Sierra Restaurant (old Elephant Bar). The SEC is a group of engineers and scientists that are active in the local area. Activities include:
This year our Annual Bazaar will be hosted by Santa Barbara Electronics Supply.
Come look at all the cool electronics gear and accessories your local amateur radio club is selling! Support our public service efforts and emergency communications infrastructure!
When: 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM, July 22 2017
Where: Santa Barbara Electronics Supply, 1503 Cook Place, Santa Barbara, CA
Located behind the Airport Control tower, on the ocean side of Hollister
All proceeds benefit the Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club, a 501(c)(3) non-profit public benefit corporation which operates solely on member dues and contributions from the community. We are a wonderful community of helpful people, and we (and Santa Barbara Electronics Supply) appreciate everything you can do to support us!
Post expires at 12:00pm on Saturday July 22nd, 2017 but will still be available in the archives.
SBARC General Club Meeting
Friday, July 21, 2017 @ 7:30 PM
401 N. Fairview Ave. in Goleta
Imagine sitting in your living room using an inexpensive hand-held radio and making crystal-clear, static-free contacts throughout California, the United States, and the WORLD! This is not only possible, but it’s easy to do using Digital Mobile Radio (DMR). And, we’re doing this now, right here in Santa Barbara!
This month, SBARC hosts a special presentation by Michael Rickey, AF6FB on the new and quickly growing DMR digital voice mode. Michael will give us a demonstration on how DMR works and explain how the PAPA system is supporting a build-out of DMR repeaters in Southern California, making it easy to stay connected to the network throughout our region.
DMR is unlike most other digital voice modes used on VHF/UHF FM in amateur radio as it is supported by several major radio manufacturers including several low-cost imports commonly used by amateurs. You can click here for quality industrial products at fair rates to ease your manufacturing process. DMR networks can be accessed from repeaters here in Santa Barbara and also through home-brew and professionally built hotspots. You can get on the air with DMR with a Tytera MD-380 HT for as little as $80 and access thousands of talk-groups around the world and even chat with fellow SB hams dabbling in digital on our very own SBARC DMR talk-group.
Win a new TYT MD-380 DMR radio!
Most DMR repeaters can access the same talk-groups available on any other repeater. So no mater where you travel, you can radio
home. DMR also uses TDMA to support multiple users per FM repeater pair and at 12.5 kHz wide, it is far more efficient than traditional analog wide-band FM.
We will be raffling off a BRAND NEW TYT MD-380 DMR radio. Someone will go home with this on meeting night, so come early and buy your tickets!
SBARC General Club Meetings are held 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. Put the date on your calendar and bring a guest!
Live camera view from UC San Diego’s High Performance Wireless Research & Education Network (HPWREN) looking west from Santa Ynez Peak
As a reminder, all amateurs are welcome to participate in ongoing discussion about the Whittier Fire on SBARC repeaters. Please keep transmissions short (less than 10-15 seconds) unless you have urgent traffic. Always yield to stations with urgent traffic and leave long pauses between transmissions for breaking stations.
The County of Santa Barbara is posting official updates on the Whittier Fire on its website.
Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club repeaters on Santa Ynez Peak remain on the air. The 145.180 MHz repeater on Santa Ynez Peak is presently linked to 146.790 MHz on the Santa Barbara Mesa. These linked repeaters are functioning as the club’s main channel for communications related to the fire.
For live updates from radio amateurs observing the fire and monitoring emergency frequencies around the county, listen to a live audio stream of SBARC’s linked repeaters.
Air Command tactical frequencies with local air tanker traffic:
These frequencies are simplex so an external antenna will help with reception.
Air Tac 02: 169.150 MHz FM
Air Tac 05: 167.950 MHz FM
– Levi, K6LCM
