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.
Dave’s parting display
Our official “Shackmaster” Dave K6HWN peddled off into the sunset (or sunrise) on November 30th at 0800 hours. Dave managed the club station and hosted numerous daily and weekly nets for over eight years. He put a tremendous amount of work into turning the club station into a functioning radio room and making sure it was always open at scheduled times. Over the years he welcomed dozens of new amateurs and club members with his trademark friendliness and willingness to help others. Dave takes his rightful place in the annals of the Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club as one of the most dependable and dedicated members we’ve ever had the experience of associating with.
Dave left some final comments for SBARC members here. However, we’re hoping that we may not have heard the last of him.
The audio from Dave’s final morning net can be heard by listening to the embedded audio link below.
Post expires at 1:00am on Tuesday December 15th, 2015 but will still be available in the archives.
Wayne Overbeck, N6NB, explains trans-pacific ducting
Our meeting this month was a busy one. First, it was our annual election night to select board members for the coming term. The results of the election are here. It was also our annual “Home Brew Night” and people brought all kinds of interesting things they created themselves to show and share with others.
We were also treated to a presentation from Wayne Overbeck, N6NB, the inventor of the world-famous ‘Quagi’ antenna and now the holder of the all time DX Microwave record. He has had successful contacts from Palos Verde California to the volcano tops of Hawaii on various UHF and microwave bands. His amazing skill and resourcefulness has made him a legend in the UHF+ DX realm. On top of that, Wayne is an excellent speaker and his humor and comfortable speaking style is particularly engaging. We all hope we will have the opportunity to hear him speak again and hear more stories of his remarkable DX quests.
If you would like to listen to the audio recording of the meeting, including Wayne’s presentation, head over to the Audio Archives area, or listen to the embedded audio below.
http://www.sbarc.org/audio-archives/General%20Club%20Meetings/2015-11-20%20General%20Club%20Meeting.MP3
Post expires at 3:57pm on Monday December 21st, 2015 but will still be available in the archives.
SBARC Board for 2016, left to right – Frank Dambach K6FLD – Director, Dorothy Oksner K6DSO – Secretary, Tom Saunders N6YX Treasurer and CFO, Brian Milburn K6BPM – President and CEO, Jay Hennigan WB6RDV – Director, Levi Maaia K6LCM – Director, and Theo Howe KK6YYZ
– Director
Annual elections were held at the well attended club meeting on November 20th, 2015 to elect the SBARC Board of Directors for 2016. As there were no nominations from the floor, Darryl KF6DI made a motion that the club accept the proposed slate. The motion was seconded by Dave K9KBX, and carried after majority approval by the members present. The newly elected officers and directors are Brian Milburn K6BPM President and CEO, Tom Saunders N6YX Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Dorothy Oksner K6DSO Secretary, and Directors at Large Theo Howe KK6YYZ, Levi Maaia K6LCM, Frank Dambach K6FLD, and Jay Hennigan WB6RDV. The new board will continue to move SBARC forward with new faces, new ideas, and new enthusiasm. We look forward to 2016 being another year of progress for amateur radio in Santa Barbara.
Post expires at 6:47am on Tuesday January 5th, 2016 but will still be available in the archives.
Over the past few months, Bill (W1UUQ) and Levi (K6LCM) have been working on a system to receive position information from aircraft flying over Southern California and the Central Coast using the Federal Aviation Administration’s Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS–B) system. Similar to the APRS and AIS protocols which allow for the tracking of mobile amateur stations and ships at seas respectively (both also supported by SBARC sites) , ADS-B is part of the FAA’s NextGen plan to more accurately track aircraft in busy airspace and provide better cockpit situational awareness for pilots. ADS-B position reports are sent unencrypted by many commercial aircraft and by some private aircraft. The FAA has issued a mandate for all aircraft flying in the vicinity of medium and large traffic volume airports to carry ADS-B equipment by 2020.
Using a Raspberry Pi microcomputer, a USB software defined radio (SDR) dongle and open source software designed to receive ADS-B data signals broadcast on 1090 MHz, the SBARC ADS-B receiver is receiving position data from the SBARC site at Santa Ynez peak. From the mountain, the data is sent via microwave to the club’s La Vigia repeater site on the Santa Barbara Mesa. From this prime location at about 4,300 feet above sea level, the receiver directly detects nearly 1,500 individual aircraft per day flying in airspace from Fresno to Mexico. This is such an incredible reception location it was not a surprise to learn that the official FAA ADS-B site for transmission and reception of ADS-B signals for air traffic control is also located atop Santa Ynez Peak.
SBARC is feeding ADS-B data to Flight Aware and adsbexchange.com. Both sites make data received by many worldwide receivers available to the general public, however adsbexchange.com provides live data access, while Flight Aware delays position reports by several minutes.
Go to adsbexchange.com and then from there click the icon that looks like this to launch the map:
The first time you view the map you may have to scroll to find Santa Barbara. This should not be necessary on subsequent visits from the same computer and browser. Note that you are seeing aggregated data from the SBARC receiver site as well as many other sites around the world.
Our longtime Shackmaster and net control for numerous nets has announced his retirement from his SBARC duties. He has also taken steps for establishing a trust with the help of attorneys. His announcement as dictated is as follows:
“The Shackmaster is retiring 30 November. After eight exciting years of reviving the station and receiving a treasured award Shackmaster Dave will retire due to advancing age and pressing obligations because finally there are younger, competent, dedicated and friendly hams to take over and share shack duties. He will also retire from his nets and all else he does for the Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club leaving others to fill these slots. One of his biggest regrets is not serving under the very promising administration of soon to be president elect Milburn. The decision is final. No discussion.”
The Shackmaster’s shoes will be hard to fill. We wish Dave all the best and are grateful for all he has done for SBARC. For retired people, people can check out estate planning law firm and get their legal help!
Update 1: Levi, K6LCM interviewed Dave on January 13, 2014 at the Club Station about his work to revive the shack in the 2000s and his appointment to Shackmaster in 2007. Play the audio of that interview below or download an mp3 file.
Update 2: Dave was also interviewed on the SBARC Club Net by Jerel, WT6G on August 26, 2015 about his duties as a jailer many years ago in Berkeley, California. Play the audio of that interview below or download an mp3 file.
Update 3: Dave received a special citation from the SBARC Board of Directors earlier this year. Here is the complete story and an audio recording of the presentation.
Post expires at 7:00am on Tuesday December 1st, 2015 but will still be available in the archives.
There is a LOT going on this month, and it there was ever a meeting you don’t want to miss, it’s this one.
First off, there will be a lot good of HF, VHF, UHF, and Microwave gear, as well as a few amplifiers on sale. This is from a donation to the club and 100% of the proceeds will be used to benefit the club!
It is also election night. We will elect our Board of Directors for 2016, so be sure you come and make your vote heard! A slate was proposed by the nominating committee in October and additional nominations will be accepted from the floor.
In addition, this will be our Fifth Annual Home Brew night. Bring whatever you have that you had a hand in — Designing, Building, Modifying, Ruining — all will count. Put something in writing next to your entry to let us know about what you did. Don’t be embarassed — be proud. Bring it!
Now on to our speaker! Our guest speaker for the evening will be Wayne Overbeck, N6NB, the inventor of the world-famous ‘Quagi’ antenna and now the holder of the DX Microwave record of all time, which will be his subject for the evening. Wayne is a sought-after speaker in the Amateur Radio community. Retired Professor of Communications, emeritus, from California State University in Fullerton with Ph.D and J.D. degrees, he has too many accomplishments to mention in a short introduction. This will be Wayne’s third presentation to SBARC. We are honored!
Wayne’s vehicles
The “Quagi” antenna, a combination of a quad and a yagi, was invented and developed in Wayne’s back yard in 1972 and is still a favorite of VHF / UHF Amateurs all over the world. In 1996, Wayne’s name appeared on the FCC’s OET-65 bulletin as one of the committee members who developed the U.S. radio frequency safety standards. He integrated and mass-produced a “tool-box transverter” system that covers the Amateur bands from 6 meters to 10 GHz. Wayne continues to inspire us in Amateur microwave and VHF/UHF as he leads Hams in local, interstate and international radio contest outings. An attorney and member of the California BAR since 1975, Dr. Overbeck brings broad knowledge and experience to the Amateur Radio Community.
This is probably the biggest meeting of the year, so try to make it. We’ll see you there!
Post expires at 1:33am on Saturday November 21st, 2015 but will still be available in the archives.
JT65 Signal Reports
The club station now has a brand new computer and a FlexRadio Flex 3000 SDR (software defined radio) up and running and on the air. Unlike traditional radios, the Flex has no knobs or buttons. It is completely software driven and has all the features (and then some) of the high end radios from the major manufacturers. The Flex is hooked up to a computer running Windows and uses sophisticated, but easy to use software to control everything.
In addition to regular SSB/FM/AM operation, we also have seamless digital operation for whatever modes we want to operate. Our first test used JT65 on 15m and we quickly logged QSO’s from the Czech Republic, Belgium, France, England and Germany. The screenshot on the right from PSKReporter.info shows signal reports from stations that heard K6TZ from all over the USA, Europe, South America, and even South Africa. Great DX is easily accomplished from our “noisy” club station.
If you have never operated an SDR radio, you are in for a great experience. The display shows a wide area of whatever band you are working using a panadapter and waterfall so you can see all activity at once. This graphical representation of the band lets you find and tune activity quickly and easily. This new radio is available for members to use during regular club hours, Tuesdays 7:30 pm to 10:00 pm and Saturdays 9:00 am to noon. Come on down and check it out! If you are interested in reading the user manual and learning how this exceptional radio works, it is available for download here.
Post expires at 3:40pm on Tuesday December 1st, 2015 but will still be available in the archives.
