Tag Archives: Shack

SBARC Annual Bazaar – This Coming Saturday, July 21, 2018

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The annual SBARC Bazaar will be held this year on Saturday July 21, 2018. Setup will begin at 06:00 to 07:30 with selling to begin at 08:00 and continue to 11:30. Donated equipment that has been collected throughout the year will be sold to raise funds for the club. There will also be a consignment area where you can bring items you want to sell if you like and the club will accept a 10% “commission” from those sales. The Bazaar this year will be held in the parking lot at the Club Station in the Red Cross parking lot. It will be fun to have it “at home” again this year, and the Club Station will be open during the entire time. The Red Cross building is located on the corner of State Street and Alamar. The parking lot behind the main building, and the entrance is on Alamar. We will need help and people with pick-up trucks and/or hand trucks to move the equipment and set things up and clean up afterwards. Sales people are also needed. Please contact Brian K6BPM at k6bpm@sbarc.org if you can spare an hour or two. Your time will be greatly appreciated and it is for a good cause! Post expires at 12:35pm on Saturday July 21st, 2018 but will still be available in the archives.

Field Day 2017

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SBARC will be holding our Field Day exercise beginning Saturday, June 24th at the Club Station at the Santa Barbara American Red Cross headquarters on the corner of State Street and Alamar. The Club Station will open at 9am and remain open as long as there are Field Day participants. We have various capabilities available including HF and digital modes. If there are enough participants, we may also set up the Rover and add some additional capabilities there too. Please come by, stay awhile and make some contacts. If you haven’t been to the Club Station before, it is on the parking lot level in the rear of the main building. You enter the parking lot on Alamar. Post expires at 12:00pm on Sunday June 25th, 2017 but will still be available in the archives.

Dave K6HWN “Shackmaster” Retiring November 30th 2015 [Update: Audio Interviews]

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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.

New SDR HF Radio at Club Station

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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.

Keeping the Rover Ready for Use

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                  This Saturday was pizza day at the shack, but the rover got a little attention too. The backup batteries were getting old and would not hold much of a charge so they were replaced by Tom N6YX, Bob KB6CTX and Ken KA6KEN. By the way, Bob is our “Rovermaster” and Makes sure everything is kept in good repair. The Rover is fully equipped to handle emergency communications any time it might be needed. It carries an onboard repeater, antenna mast, an HF radio, VHF and UHF radios, and plenty of gear to rig up whatever might be needed. Come on down for pizza on the second Saturday of the month and take a tour of the Rover. It’s impressive capabilities rival anyone’s home shack. And it’s totally mobile and self sufficient.  

Free Pizza Lunch – Saturday August 8th

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Stop by the club station on Saturday August 8th between 11:00 am and 1:00 pm for a FREE PIZZA LUNCH courtesy of Tom N6YX and SBARC. We are also planning another pizza lunch on September 12th too, and if there is enough interest from club members, we will probably continue to do this on the second Saturday of each month from now on. So come on down and share some pizza and visit with your friends.

ARRL Rookie Roundup Contest – Sunday, 19 April

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Update: The SBARC team will be operating on or around 7.225 and 14.240 during the contest. If you can’t participate, please try to contact them on these frequencies during the contest to get them more points! SBARC will participate in this spring’s Rookie Roundup contest at the club station on Sunday April 19th between 11:00 and 17:00 hours local time. During the Rookie Roundup, a “Rookie” is any radio amateur licensed within the current calendar year or in the previous two calendar years, regardless of license class. Operators exchange the call sign of the station they’re working plus their own call sign, first name, two-digit number of the year first licensed, and state, Canadian province, Mexican call area, or “DX.” The goal of Rookie Roundup is to encourage newly licensed operators in North America (including territories and possessions) to operate on the HF bands and experience competitive Amateur Radio operating. Experienced operators are encouraged to participate and help new operators — either on the air or in person. This is a terrific opportunity for new operators to get on the air and learn contesting skills. Old Timers may want to consider opening up their stations to rookies and serving as a contesting mentor. The more operators on the air, the more fun the Roundup will be for everyone. Review the rules before the event, and get familiar with logging and log submission processes too. Rookies exchange information with as many other stations as possible on the 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meters. Rookie entrants are encouraged to read “HF Contesting – Good Practices, Interpretations and Suggestions.” For more information and to sign up for the “team” contact Theo KK6YYZ, at theohowe@hotmail.com or (805) 896-4421. Post expires at 11:30am on Sunday April 19th, 2015 but will still be available in the archives.