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Mysterious sighting not so mysterious.
by WILLIAM TALANIAN 17 Dec '24

17 Dec '24

SBWF ADSB 1090-978 Sightings from SYP and Diablo Peak Not so mysterious sighting over Santa Barbara County last night at 11 PM. Our ADSB system spotted a hacker balloon at 30,000 ft. It had an ICAO ID which means it must have lights aboard. I was in the process of recording the data when my computer suddenly went dead. I tracked it about 10 minutes as it hovered at 30 miles NNE from Vandenberg AFB. I traced it down to a company in Los Olivos that markets balloon flight operations. When the computer came back on the target was gone. Speculation is it parachuted back to earth. These balloon flights are not rare. They can stay up for weeks at a time as they hover and move at 1 - 2 mph at high altitude in a diameter of 200 miles and stay clear of the jet stream. They ID as HBAL. They are known to take off and land near Mojave. From what I learned it is a low priced commercial testing of electronic systems to cover north and south America. At one sighting I saw three high altitude balloons very close to SB and VTU. A year ago ADSB uncovered another mysterious UAV over Lake Cachuma after several flights. It was followed back to a barn at Santa Ynez. It was a large scale commercial UAV aircraft capable of carrying a moderate payload. Wayne Beckman and I investigated this and were invited to inspect the aircraft. The rules covering such aircraft are quite clear..... they must have an N number and require a flight plan. We took many pictures if I can find them. At the same time last night a REACH EC-135 took off from Santa Maria at 5525 ft headed NNE for a patient transport. It landed, we lost the ADSB signal behind terrain. This does not cover my sightings of many of U2 flights and a Soviet TU-144 bomber flight over SB County. I don't normally send this out as a message to all as it is a no brainer. Bill Talanian

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75m Santa Net
by Levi C. Maaia 05 Dec '24

05 Dec '24

For those of you with little ones around, the Santa Net is held every evening between now and Christmas on 3.916 MHz at 5:00PM Pacific Time (check-ins open 1/2 hour before). LCM Levi C. Maaia, K6LCMwww.levimaaia.com

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Fwd: [arrlsb] Fw: Call to Action - H.R. 4006 / S. 3690 Ham Radio Law
by WARREN MYERS 02 Dec '24

02 Dec '24

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November 11
by WILLIAM TALANIAN 07 Nov '24

07 Nov '24

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All about AIS
by WILLIAM TALANIAN 01 Nov '24

01 Nov '24

SBARC operates two two AIS receivers, station 533 and station 1360 to monitor the SB Channel. Bill Talanian | | | | | | | MarineTraffic Contributors Newsletter | | October 2024 | | | | | | | | Dear community member, As Halloween approaches, we wanted to add a touch of spooky fun to this month's newsletter! Whether you're out there capturing hauntingly beautiful maritime shots or tracking eerie movements on your AIS stations, we’ve got some spine-chilling updates and challenges just for you. 🎃 Stay tuned for eerie stories, frighteningly good photography, and a little Halloween treat to keep your antenna signals strong and your cameras snapping. Don’t let the ghosts of the sea scare you away! Happy Halloween!👻 | | | | | | | | | | | | Featured contributor of the month | | | | Our featured contributor for this month is David Theron. He is an amateur radio operator managing four stations across South Africa, with his largest coverage station based in Napier (Station ID 6950). At 30 years old, he resides in Worcester, South Africa, and works as a fiber maintenance technician for an internet service provider. Born deaf, David received a cochlear implant at the age of four, an experience that deepened his understanding of the importance of effective communication. Driven by a lifelong curiosity about alternative forms of communication, he earned his amateur radio operator’s license at 18, broadcasting under the call sign ZS1GA. How David discovered MarineTraffic A few years ago, David installed a Flightradar24 antenna on Theronsberg, achieving the third-best coverage in South Africa. While aviation has long been an interest of his, he’s equally passionate about maritime activity and the sea, which led him to volunteer with the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI). Seeing the essential service that Flightradar24 provides for aircraft sparked his curiosity about a similar tracking system for seagoing vessels. After some research, he discovered MarineTraffic and reached out, offering to help by installing antennas to aid maritime tracking. The setup process, communicated via email, was simple and straightforward. Within days, we sent him the necessary equipment at no cost, allowing him to make a valuable contribution to seafaring safety and vessel monitoring. About the location - Elevated towers in South Africa The company David works for maintains communication towers across the Western Cape, strategically positioned on high mountain peaks. After thorough research, he identified the optimal spots to install MarineTraffic antennas. Two of these installations, located in Lamberts Bay and Napier, provide excellent coverage and have proven highly effective for tracking seagoing vessels. Separately, Banderas Bay has become a popular destination for cruising sailors during the winter. Arriving typically in November, they stay through the winter months, as the bay’s orientation makes it a natural hurricane hole, shielding it from Pacific hurricanes. Many sailors even keep their boats there through the summer and early fall, the area’s designated hurricane season, to benefit from the bay’s protective geography. Insights and Advice Being active in our communities is essential, and what better way to contribute than by helping vessels in distress? Through my partnership with MarineTraffic, I’m also installing an antenna for FlightAware to support air traffic coverage. Collaboration and mutual assistance are key—it's up to all of us to lend a hand whenever we can. — D. Theron | | Photos of the Month | | We are thrilled to present this month’s curated selection of photographs from our talented community. | | | | Do you want your photo to be featured in our newsletter? | | Upload a photo | | Ship Hunt Challenge: Spot & shot! | | Dear Photographers, As you may know, last month we have launched the spot&shot challenge and we are happy to announce that 2 of the vessels hunted last month have been spotted by our talented photographers. Thanks to Bonici Emmanuel , Hannes van Rijn, Peet de Rouw, Jan Verhoog, Helmut Seger and Thomas Hofmann beginning with this month, you can admire photos of CMA CGM FORT JAMES. Also, NORD VULCAN is now present in our gallery thanks to the first shots of Erick Montalvo. For those of you excited to take part in this month's challenge, here are the featured ships. Follow their voyages here: HLS FLUORITE PERTAMINA GAS DAHLIA AMALFI BAY CMA CGM POINTE DU PITON CMA CGM ALTAMIRA MI SHAN TINOS I ASIA INSPIRE VOYAGER NO.1 ISLA PUNA | | Invite someone you know! Share the link below with your friends and help them join the world's largest network to receive AIS . | | | | Become an AIS station partner | | Thank you all for being a member of this great community! | | |

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Looking for a Picstart plus programmer
by Dave Schmidt 14 Oct '24

14 Oct '24

Taking a long shot here. I have a friend whose Microchip Picstart Plus programmer is bad (will not program pic12F629 parts), and he's looking for another. Before I look on Ebay for him, does anyone have one that you're willing to part with? Let me know privately, thanks! Dave AI6VX

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Lon.TV
by Levi C. Maaia - K6LCM 06 Oct '24

06 Oct '24

I like to watch this guy’s tech reviews. Today he did an appeal to viewers to get their ham license and a review of some emcomm capabilities. https://youtu.be/JxClUewCe5A?si=__34IMQBPE7Gl711 LCM *Levi C. Maaia* www.levimaaia.com +1 805.604.5384

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VHF and HF Antennas on a Steel Roof
by Jordan Sideris 04 Oct '24

04 Oct '24

Hello friends, I have been off the air for a while now as I built my new shop/garage/office and the time has come to get the radios set up in my new office space. It is a steel building with a steel roof and I am wondering if anybody has any experience with how to work around that. My last location was a regular stick built house with my home made j pole on the roof for VHF and a K8NDS style helically wound magnetic loop for HF also mounted on a pole about 3 feet off the roof. I am sure I can't be that close to the steel structure, but looking for any knowledge or first hand experience anybody is willing to share with me. Thank you Jordan Sideris K6YVJ in Santa Ynez

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Santa Ynez Peak 145.18
by Levi C. Maaia, K6LCM 03 Oct '24

03 Oct '24

The antenna for the K6TZ Santa Ynez Peak repeater on 145.18 was replaced today. As a result, its coverage is now vastly improved! If you haven’t yet, please take a moment to test your signal into this repeater and the new 446.400 repeater on La Cumbre Peak West. Both are standard negative offset, same PL 131.8. Together, these two repeaters have increased our systemwide coverage tremendously. https://www.sbarc.org/repeaters-data-systems/ Levi C. Maaia, K6LCM Director at Large | K6TZ Trustee Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club Santa Barbara Wireless Foundation a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public benefit corporation

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Fwd: [vc-acs] Why we do this
by Dave Schmidt 01 Oct '24

01 Oct '24

Another forward from the Ventura ACS/ARES groups.io page Dave Ai6vx ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: *Hanson, Robert - W6RH via groups.io <http://groups.io>* <w6rh= hotmail.com(a)groups.io> Date: Monday, September 30, 2024 Subject: [vc-acs] Why we do this From hurricane HELENE FEMA update: (remember these states prepare for hurricanes) *Health & Medical: Healthcare assessments are ongoing. * - FL: 54 healthcare facilities without power; 7 facilities damaged; - GA: Public Health Emergency (PHE) declared by the Secretary of HHS. 18 medical facilities on generator power & 5 facilities without water *Communications:* - NC: 26.69% cellular systems are operational in the impacted area - 19 PSAPs are down; emergency calls are being routed to other PSAPs (911 center) - SC: 81.7% cellular systems are operational in the impacted area *Communications remain heavily disrupted, cellular service inoperable, and partial internet services * *From earthquake preparedness:* When The Big One hits it’ll take under two minutes for more than 10 million Southern Californians to lose internet, power, and a sense of security. Listen to “The Big One: Your survival guide” here: *https://laist.com/podcasts/the-big-one <https://wabpub.com/sendy/l/u7Z5aJC8928cPsGxgMXWBBLQ/rMPcx0tok892aD25LYNFlKx…>* After the M 6.7 1994 Northridge earthquake (which the podcast claims will pale in comparison to “The Big One”), two hospitals transferred their patients to a non-functional hospital, thus the patients had to be transferred a second time. This is a situation where Amateur Radio might provide support when other communications infrastructure is impaired. The mission of EmComm partners is to prevent and/or alleviate human suffering in such situations. Please stay prepared. Thank you for providing these mission critical communications. 73 Duane WB9RER KPARN Public Website <https://sites.google.com/view/kparn-org/home?pli=1> _._,_._,_

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