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.
We’re making big progress on the relocation of equipment and repeaters from the La Vigia site. A lot of work has been competed and some new things are going to be introduced. We think you will be excited to hear what’s coming so you won’t want to miss this meeting.
These past few meetings have allowed us to get some very valuable input from our members. Our job is to look out for your interests and to provide services and activities to help you enjoy amateur radio. Your participation and feedback have been very important in guiding our efforts and we appreciate your attendance. We want to make sure you feel you have a seat at the table as we progress to the next chapter in SBARCs 103 year old story.
Make sure you bring a pencil and paper with you as we’re going to give you some new frequencies and other details. If you have a DMR radio, bring that along too. Many of you have probably forgotten DMR programing basics, so I am going to do a short refresher explaining how to add new channels.
We hope to see you this Friday!
SBARC General Club Meeting
Friday, August 16, 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 Details:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88295475871?pwd=ovaOOzpvuao80c6GvsKjCBR2rnhsPM.1
Topic: General Club Meeting – August 16, 2024
Time: August 16, 2024 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Post expires at 11:14pm on Monday September 16th, 2024 but will still be available in the archives.
Sometimes adverse events help spawn productive projects! With the relocation of the K6TZ repeater to TV Hill, we have been forced to make room for other things, and Michael K6RQV, Jim W6JFE and Bob KO6AKG spent several hours reorganizing the shack. If you have been there in the past year, you might have noticed that thighs can get a little cluttered. RQV’s organizing skills have come in handy. Not only did we move everything from our storage locker in Goleta to out new container, we got the shack cleaned up to boot.
Post expires at 3:36pm on Friday August 30th, 2024 but will still be available in the archives.
Big thanks to everyone who pitched in on Saturday to help with the move from our expensive storage locker to our brand new container.
This portion of our relocation project is more than halfway complete. We still have three more shelf units to move and more storage items to relocate, and we will be able to vacate our storage locker for good, saving us about $6000 a year, and possibly more as the rent surely would have been bumped up another hundred dollars a month later this year.
Here’s where we stand as of today:
We will be moving the rest of the storage items next weekend and will put out a worker help request later in the week.
If you haven’t yet signed up to the project mailing list, you can do so by sending a blank email to workers+subscribe@sbarc.org. We are mailing list members about dates, times and location when we anticipate needing help, and if you can help, that’s great.
Post expires at 8:23am on Tuesday August 20th, 2024 but will still be available in the archives.
A quick update on the K6TZ repeater situation …
We are aware that the move of the K6TZ 146.79 repeater to TV Hill / KEYT-TV Studios has had a significant impact for some users. Some who had reliable coverage using a handheld transceiver in the past have been unable to make reliable contact now using the same. Others, particularly on the Riviera and in Montecito, have experienced improved coverage with the repeater move.
With this in mind, we have begun a search for a solution that can preserve the best of these changes while improving usability for those who are experiencing a degradation in service. For the time being, the K6TZ 70cm repeater on 446.400 (minus offset, 131.8 Hz PL) has been restored to service at Vic Trace (aka La Vigia, aka Talanian Communications Facility) and linked to the SBARC Hub network, until we can find a more permanent solution.
I encourage you to try this 70cm linked repeater if you have difficulties using 146.79 or any other linked repeater from your location. Signal reports are appreciated.
I am also trying to keep our K6TZ Repeaters & Data Systems page current to reflect the real-world state of the SBARC network.
-Levi, K6LCM
K6TZ Trustee
As we all know, our time at our main repeater site will soon end. Our core engineering group has been working tirelessly to make sure our communications are impacted as little as possible.
If you haven’t heard, the main K6TZ repeater is moving to TV-Hill after KEYT Channel 3 generously offered space in their radio building. As of now, coverage checks have been done, the antenna has been installed, and the microwave link is up and running. We will be moving the repeater within the next few days. We expect the 146.79 repeater, Allstar, and the USCB remote link to all be working when the move is completed.
We Still Have More Work To Do
Moving the main repeater is only part of the job. We still need to remove all our other equipment. Some may find new homes relatively quickly, but we have a lot of gear that will need to be moved and stored.
Most of our core engineering group are in their 60’s, 70’s, 80’s or even 90’s. We cannot do everything by ourselves and some of us have physical limitations.
How You Can Help
Simply put, we need volunteers. We don’t yet know when, or what work might be involved. What we need right now is to build a list of members who might be available to volunteer when we need them.
Get On The Mailing List
We’ve set up a mailing list for members to join that we’ll use when we’re in need of help. If you can step up, that’s great, but it you can’t at the time, that’s fine too. We’ll undoubtedly have multiple opportunities to volunteer and we understand that members have jobs and other obligations.
When we need some help, we’ll send out an email to the list and if you can help, just reply to the message to let us know. We’ll try to give as much advance notice as possible.
Getting on the mailing list is easy. Just send a blank email to the address below. No subject or message is necessary.
workers+subscribe@sbarc.org
You will receive a one time confirmation email you will need to reply to so we can make sure we don’t get any spammers in the group. Just follow the instructions.
Once you have joined, you will receive mails from [SBARC Work Crew], and be able to send emails to the group by sending them to workers@sbarc.org.
This is a big and complicated job. We will be grateful for any help you can offer.
If you haven’t heard, we were offered a place for our main K6TZ repeater (146.79) on TV hill, the decades old home of KEYT. Much of the credit goes to Senior Reporter John Palminteri. John was one of the first to report on our situation, and immediately stepped up to help. We are extremely grateful.
Here is Wayne AF6GX up on the KEYT mast installing a new Comet tri-band antenna. The tri-bander will provide some flexibility if we decide to change things later on. It will work for 2 meter, 440 and 220.
This is the first step in relocating the repeater. Next, we’ll be performing some coverage tests to get an idea how our coverage might differ from the current location. Next, we’ll be preparing to relocate the 440 input from UCSB and adding a microwave link back to the shack at the Red Cross. Then finally, we’ll be moving the repeater and other connected equipment.
There will likely be a day or two down-time when we do the physical repeater move. There is a lot of stuff to disconnect and reconnect and test. Our repairs at Santa Ynez Peak and Diablo Peak on Santa Cruz Island will remain on-the-air and linked through the period.
Post expires at 1:00am on Wednesday July 31st, 2024 but will still be available in the archives.
SBARC’s 2024 Field Day at Chase Palm Park in Santa Barbara was a huge success! The club came roaring back after a several-year hiatus participating in the international event. KEYT News Channel 3 senior reporter John Palminteri reports.
