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ARDF Practice April 2, Las Carnaros Lake
by Marvin Johnston 18 Mar '11

18 Mar '11

Hi everyone, It has been a year or so since we've put on an ARDF practice at Lake Las Carnaros. So we decided to do it there for our monthly So. California ARDF practice. Unlike most of our other practices where we pay for maps/etc., this one will be free. I just saw one error ... the main hunt will take place of 146.565 MHz. All the details on on the HomingIn website at: http://www.homingin.com/joemoell/sbarmap0411.html Thanks! Marvin, KE6HTS

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My 2 cents on Amateur Radio
by Andrew Seybold 17 Mar '11

17 Mar '11

Daryl and members of the list- Amateur radio plays a daily part in many different types of wireless communications. Many public safety communications officials (APCO) members are hams and got their start in two-way radio Many organizations such as the Radio Club of America are made up of 50% or more hams Many commercial (cellular) engineers and technicians are hams Many of those who develop next generation two-way radio products for Motorola, Harris, Icom, Kenwood and others are Hams Ham radio serves as a gateway for many people and they go on to contribute to commercial and land mobile radio Over the years, technologies pioneered by hams have gone on to become important contributions to the land mobile radio industry Hams NEED to stay abreast of what is happening in the commercial and land mobile radio worlds-if we bury our heads in the sand that we won't be prepared to defend our spectrum and/or continue to contribute to the profession For my part- I started my career in commercial communications as a result of becoming a licensed ham radio operator in 1962 When I worked for RCA, GE, and Motorola communications companies as a sales engineer my being a ham opened many doors with communications directors in many cities and Counties and gave me a decided advantage of very competition Today I serve on several national committees-one for APCO, as vice-chair of the broadband committee, and one for the FCC as a part of the Public Safety Advisory Council for their ERIC (Emergency Interoperability center. Both of these committees have several ham radio operators on them and this gives us a common bond when working together. If it were not for ham radio I would never have gotten to this point in my life-it changed my idea of what I wanted to become and do for a living, Ham radio is a daily part of my life and to ignore the aspects of radio communications which do not seem relevant to the hobby is not advisable. For example, the speaker at the next Club meeting is, I am sure, going to discuss the threat to the 420-440 MHz hand band by a bill that is currently in Congress. But I doubt that he will address the following issues: 1) The current administration and FCC believe that narrowband communications is OLD technology and that only broadband is important going forward-never find the fact that no broadband technology supports ANY type of simplex communications, and most don't support one-to-many communications 2) In order to repurpose spectrum for broadband the FCC must FIND spectrum which is contagious. Most Land mobile radio systems are intermingled with each other-that is the police and fire channels co-exist with plumbers, trucking companies, taxi companies and others, so taking this spectrum back and converting it to broadband is not a very viable option. HOWEVER, HAMS do operate on contiguous spectrum in both the 144-148 and 420-450 bands. This makes it easy for the FCC to recommend that this spectrum be repurposed for commercial broadband systems. AND in the 420-450 bands hams are secondary to NTIA which controls the government spectrum and which has been ordered to work with the FCC to identify spectrum which can be repurposed for broadband use. 3) The section of this bill, HR607 that deals with the spectrum give back was crafted my ME-simply because the original bill wanted to take back 144-174 AND 450-512 MHz for broadband use. We have exactly 15 minutes to write this portion of the bill on the day it was introduced and so I came up with this compromise AND added some conditions which would insure this will never happen. The next two paragraphs of the bill deal with how and when the spectrum would be given back and it is virtually impossible for this to happen. a. The REASON this was put into the bill is that the bills need to be "scored" in order for it to make to the floor of the House-the higher the score the more importance the will have-AND once the scoring is done there will be many amendments to the bill. b. I have attached my slides which I will be presenting on Sat to a group in Ventura FYI. In Closing let me say that Ham radio is the foundation for the land mobile and commercial cellular world-AND to focus just on ham radio and NOT be aware of what is happening in the rest of the world of wireless is, to me, short sighted and dangerous. Andy W6AMS

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Vertex VX-150 For Sale
by Marvin Johnston 17 Mar '11

17 Mar '11

Hi everyone, I've got a Vertex Standard VX-150 with box, manual, extra battery, SMA antenna, and charger. It looks to be almost new condition. I say "almost" since it had some frequencies programmed in it when I started to check it out. I did a full reset to remove the frequencies that had either been programmed or cloned into the radio. The only "weird" thing is that it appears to be able to transmit out of band, so I don't know if it came this way or was modified. Be aware that it almost takes an engineering degree to program it :). $125.00 I'll be taking it down to the Chino Hills swap meet if it is not sold by Friday night. Marvin, KE6HTS

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Tonight is Construction Night at the Club Station from 7:30pm to 9:30pm - You are invited...
by rod＠sbatv.org 17 Mar '11

17 Mar '11

Hello SBARC Members and Friends, You are invited to participate in Construction Night. . Bring in a project to work on. o It's OK to just drop in with something to work on o If you let us know in advance, we'll be better prepared to help . Drop in to see what we're doing and to learn new things like. o Test equipment at the Club Station and how to use it o How equipment works and how to work on it . Join us to work on the projects and offer up your Elmering skills These are the projects we'll work on tonight. . Whatever project you bring in. . Modify 2.4 GHz ATV Transmitters o Solder SMA connectors to allow an external antenna o Measure microwave output frequencies and power o Solder surface mount components to increase power output o Plan a PIC mod to change the frequency . Modify 2.4 GHz ATV Receivers o Solder SMA connectors to allow an external antenna o Measure local oscillator frequencies to determine receive frequencies o Plan a PIC mod to change the frequency We hope to see you at the Club Station tonight at 7:30pm. Don't forget to get on the air for the Technical Elmering Net at 8:00pm. Rod Fritz, WB9KMO

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(no subject)
by rod＠sbatv.org 17 Mar '11

17 Mar '11

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"Aware and Prepare"
by Bill Talanian 17 Mar '11

17 Mar '11

To: Recipient list It has taken us 5 long years to get a start on rebuilding our physical infrastructure at our worst site located on La Vigia Hill (Vic Trace Reservoir). This week the telecommunications equipment was removed from the old garden shed in preparation for a new communications shelter to be installed. Within two months we hope to begin piecing back the systems and looking for improvements in communications technologies to aid and assist the public during extreme emergencies or disasters. Timing is everything and we reached our financial goal to get the project underway. Thanks to all who continue to give their support. You know who you are. Bill Talanian Report cites problems with county emergency communication : Grand jury found official reports in recent fires an hour old or more SCOTT STEEPLETON, NEWS-PRESS CITY EDITOR March 17, 2011 5:24 AM When it comes to communicating with the public during emergencies, Santa Barbara County could learn a lot from the silver smith who, on a midnight ride in 1775, uttered these immortal words, "The British are coming! The British are coming!" A report by the Santa Barbara County Grand Jury on emergency response efforts subtitled "Paul Revere -- Where are You?" looked at communication during the devastating fires in the county over the past five years and found a "disconnect" between front-line personnel, first responders and the public that "led to episodes of a lack of timely communication among emergency agencies, and between those agencies and the media." During the fires, official sources reported information to the public that was as much as an hour old, according to the report. "At times information reported by local television and radio media was not current, whereas, out-of-county media sources provided more informative emergency updates." "The reality is public information is one of the most difficult aspects during an emergency," said Michael Harris, director of the county Office of Emergency Services. "We feel like OES had made improvements. We feel like we've got very strong partnerships with the media." Natural and man-made disasters are nothing new to Santa Barbara County. The report cites a life-threatening simoon in 1859, where the air temperature in Goleta rose "to a startling 133 degrees in a matter of hours," establishing a national record that stood until 1934, when Death Valley hit 134 degrees. Today, residents could face wildfires, hazardous materials spills, barricaded subjects, dam breaks, earthquakes, nuclear disasters, flooding and even terrorist threats -- but in the opinion of the grand jury, the emergency communications system seems to be letting the taxpayers down. This report echoes some findings from the 2005-06 grand jury. In a report titled "Emergency Public Information: What's happening? Where do I go? What should I do?" the earlier panel found that emergency public information systems intended to warn residents of major emergencies and urge actions they need to take to protect life and property "remain outdated, unreliable and ineffective." Agencies were urged to make things better. In its investigation, the 2010-11 panel heard about turf squabbles hampering information sharing. It uncovered "an overly cautious culture" in the county's public information system. And it found that, taken together, problems exist that cause "a reduction in effectiveness of the communication of alert and emergency directions to the public." Mr. Harris, who came to the county four years ago this week, pointed out that authorities can put out information instantly, but if the information is not accurate, it does no good. "If you're not accurate, you lose all credibility, and you lose your ability to get people to do what they need to do in an emergency." Held up for special attention in the report is the Reverse 911 system, operated by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department. After finding the system "has shortfalls in its ability to alert/inform affected residents and media under certain emergency conditions and during certain times," the panel recommended the Office of Emergency Services immediately find and implement, subject to the approval of the Board of Supervisors, "additional and more effective systems to alert and communicate with residents in a timely manner during any type of emergency." The investigation was prompted by questions from the public about how quickly alert and appropriate response information can reach affected residents during emergencies. None of the agencies interviewed, from cities to school districts to law enforcement to the county have an effective public education program dealing with emergency alerts and how to respond to the alerts. When it came to releasing information, the grand jury found many officials seemed reluctant to do so "because of verifiability issues." "These officials expressed concern that past experiences where there had been the dissemination of inaccurate information could be repeated," the report states. "In the case of a fire event, this could lead to disastrous consequences." But verifying information in the recent wildfires, the report continues, "significantly slowed alert and follow-up information needed by the public in some cases from 30 to 60 minutes." "Such a time delay could equally lead to disastrous results. Ironically, because the most recent wildfire could be seen from a media building, the information went out to the public verified by eyewitness reporting from that station." The grand jury also highlighted social media, including Twitter, as a way for officials to "immediately get the right word out and maintain constant official updates." Turning its attention to Reverse 911, the report states that after a decision is made on what emergency message to send and where, that message can be go out within six minutes. The system can handle about 2,800 30-second calls per hour, but the number is cut in half if a message in a second language is used. A back-up system can help achieve more than 10,000 calls per hour. The Sheriff's Department bills Reverse 911 as "the premier community notification tool designed to enhance emergency preparedness and facilitate urgent and necessary notifications to citizens during emergent events." Indeed, during the 209,000 Jesusita Fire, for example, 209,000 calls were made. "We have had constant success with our Reverse 911 system since we first went online in 2005," according to the Sheriff's Department's web site. But the 2010-11 grand jury found the system falls short as an emergency alert system -- and alerts during the early morning hours "can be an especially difficult challenge," according to the grand jury. For example, a 2:30 a.m. call-out one day in Santa Ynez Valley yielded just nine live answers out of 3,500 calls. "If telephone lines go down during an emergency event, the system goes down," states the report. "Cordless phone systems are useless if there is a power loss. The present backup for such a system shutdown is boots on the ground knocking on doors, bullhorns, helicopters, and alerts from vehicles passing through neighborhoods." Cell phone users have to register to be on the call list, but unless the person with the phone knows that the caller ID COSB stands for County of Santa Barbara, he or she would not know to answer. The News-Press sought comment on the grand jury's Reverse 911 findings from Sheriff Bill Brown or some other department representative, but was told since command staff have not had a chance to read the report. Spokesman Drew Sugars said the department "will submit a response within the 60-day response period." Government is not required by law to pass along any information to other agencies and some emergency agency personnel suggested to the grand jury "that jurisdictional issues can play a role in the reluctance to pass information up and down as well as laterally in the information pipeline." To that end, the grand jury recommends agencies do a better job of communicating and passing along emergency information immediately. The report requests the various agencies to respond within 60 to 90 days. So, how can the public better prepare for emergencies? The grand jury says registering your cell phone on the Reverse 911 list is one step. That web address is https://santabarbara.onthealert.com. Once registered, leave the cell phone on at night while charging and answer late night or early morning calls. And if you have a smart phone, you can add a police canner application. You can also register for emergency updates through the NIXLE3 alert system at https://local.nixle.com/register. e-mail: ssteepleton(a)newspress.com Early Warning Plan : Lauro Dam emegency plans,safety measures explained SONIA FERNANDEZ, NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT March 17, 2011 6:15 AM What would happen if Lauro Dam burst and the water ran uncontained down the hillside into the suburban San Roque neighborhood? While there is very little likelihood of the dam failing catastrophically, officials from the Cachuma Operations and Maintenance Board and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation tried to imagine that scenario Wednesday as they explained their emergency action plan to the public. "It is a worst-case scenario," said COMB General Manager Kate Rees. Lauro Dam is not as full as the theoretical emergency situation assumes, and a failure of the dam would most likely happen over time, and be detectable. The more likely situation, said Ms. Rees, would be that the various sensors, drains and other monitoring systems would pick up anomalous data, perhaps an unexpected drop in the water level, which may mean a long leak to a major breach, or seismic activity that could weaken the dam. From there, COMB and the Bureau of Reclamation would evaluate the information and issue a notice to the agencies affected by the event. The government agencies would then put their emergency action plans into action. In Santa Barbara, that is likely to involve the reverse-911 system, where residents get calls from the city's emergency operations department, with advice on how to deal with the emerging situation. The county Office of Emergency Services also is likely to be involved, depending on the severity and magnitude of the disaster. Backup energy and communication systems also would be employed as needed, Ms. Rees said. In the case of an earthquake, "I can't say it's going to be an early warning system," said Darrin Williams, a civil engineer with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. People are likely going to feel major tremors at the same time sensors pick up the quake, which the bureau measures in terms of ground acceleration, rather than magnitude. A weaker, shallow quake that disturbs the ground can be just as damaging as a deep temblor, Mr. Williams said. Lauro Dam, which was modified in 2006 after a fault was discovered in the area, is estimated to be able to withstand a .07G (ground acceleration) event, and the bureau is looking at raising the bar to a 1.2G standard. Built in 1952 as part of the Cachuma project, Lauro Dam is a 137-foot tall, 540 foot-long structure in the hills north of the city of Santa Barbara. The Lauro Reservoir has a capacity of 640 acre-feet. The dam and reservoir are connected to the South Coast Conduit, which serves residents from Goleta to Carpinteria. It is known as a regulating reservoir, which helps to supply adequate flows along peak usage periods, while also storing water. As for what happens if the dam fails catastrophically, the Bureau of Reclamation devises a map that shows where and how fast water would travel from a ruptured, filled-to-capacity Lauro Dam. The bureau declines to disseminate the inundation map to the public, but the information is given to local agencies, including law enforcement and public works, for their emergency planning. The agencies can distribute their own maps to the public, Mr. Williams said. From a 1998 version of the inundation map, the heaviest and fastest flows are likely to head through the San Roque neighborhood. The map is updated roughly every 10 years. However, the dam exceeds Reclamation's "very stringent standards," to provide a "low risk of failure," say COMB and Bureau of Reclamation officials. At least one attendee at the public meeting was happy with the presentation. "It's good what's being done," said local resident Philip Walker. "I appreciate the work that has gone into this." e-mail: news(a)newspress.com

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Technical Elmering Net
by Michael＠NO6O.com 17 Mar '11

17 Mar '11

Come Join the Technical Elmering Net ------------------------------------ Thursday, 8:00pm until 9:00pm On the following repeaters: 146.79 MHz (La Vigia Hill) 223.92 MHz (Santa Cruz Island) 224.08 MHz (La Cumbre Peak) Minus offset, PL 131.8 Hosted by Dave Milton, K6HWN All Amateur Radio-related topics are welcome. Bring your questions, experiences, and/or expertise. ---Michael, NO6O

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SBARC Wednesday Nets - Trivia Night!
by Michael＠NO6O.com 16 Mar '11

16 Mar '11

SBARC Wednesday Nets -- TRIVIA NIGHT! ------------------------------------- Beginning at 7:00 pm on the following linked repeaters: 146.79 MHz (La Vigia Hill) 223.92 MHz (Santa Cruz Island) 224.08 MHz (La Cumbre Peak) Minus offset, PL 131.8 ---------------------------------- 7:00pm - 7:30pm -- Amateur Radio Newsline (www.ARNewsLine.org) 7:30pm - 8:00pm -- !! TRIVIA NIGHT !! Hosted by Dave Milton, K6HWN 8:00pm - 8:30pm -- Swap Net, hosted by Dave Milton, K6HWN ---------------------------------- Then, at 8:30pm, on 144.210 MHz, is the VHF Single Side Band Roundtable, typically hosted by Ken Owen, N6KTH. This popular roundtable is now in its fourth year. Some People start checking in early between 8:00pm and 8:30pm. For details, visit www.n6kth.com/vhf. ---Michael, NO6O

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Urgent Communiations
by Bill Talanian 15 Mar '11

15 Mar '11

Commercial P2T might be an option for enterprises, says consultant Mar 15, 2011 6:48 PM, By Glenn Bischoff More From Mobile Voice Last week at IWCE 2011 in Las Vegas, wireless consultant Andy Seybold told of the time, five years ago, that he conducted a study for the American Automobile Association (AAA) that explored whether commercial push-to-talk service was a viable option for the organization. The answer was a resounding no, he said, primarily because the technology wasnt ready. For example, one carriers push-to-talk service had a call set-up time of three to four seconds, which Seybold called a disaster. But its a different story today. The technology is better and the time is right, he said, adding that the carrier in question today has a much-improved offering that works very well. The technology is better because carriers invested billions of dollars to improve their networks, according to Seybold. He added that only a handful of significant problems still exist. One concerns group P2T when everybody is in the same cell sector, a bandwidth shortage can occur. Another concerns the fact that with the exception of Sprint Nextel commercial carriers generally offer a limited selection of P2T-capable devices. That will get better as operators get more interested in push-to-talk, said Seybold, who predicted that someday customers would be able to download a client to their existing phones that will make them P2T capable. And while <http://urgentcomm.com/mag/radio_inbuilding_coverage_mustdo/>in-building issues still exist in some places, there arent many spots today where you dont have good coverage, Seybold said. Indeed, a plethora of advantages exists to commercial P2T services for the enterprise sector. One is that commercial coverage footprints generally are much larger than those offered by land-mobile radio (LMR) systems. Another is that myriad functions such as P2T voice, cellular voice, text, Internet access and GPS all can be converged on commercial devices. And, hardened commercial devices are available that are less expensive than LMR devices and more are coming, Seybold said. For these reasons, Seybold believes that any enterprise should take a look at commercial P2T services, including taxi companies, transportation companies, delivery services and any business that employs field technicians or service agents. He even believes that public-safety agencies also should consider commercial P2T services, but only for non-sworn personnel. This is not designed to replace mission-critical voice for first responders, he said. It is especially important, according to Seybold, that any entity that is operating at 512 MHz or below take a long, hard look at commercial P2T service because of the Federal Communications Commission mandate that such systems be converted from the current 25 kHz-wide channels to 12.5-kHz operation by Jan. 1, 2013, a process popularly known as narrowbanding. The P2T fees currently being offered by the commercial operators are at an all-time low, which means that such services might be a far less expensive option compared with narrowbanding an existing LMR system, Seybold said. There are other significant problems associated with narrowbanding beyond cost, according to Seybold. For instance, all radios have to be converted at the same time, which would be a challenge for many organizations. You can mix and match, but the audio quality will go to hell, Seybold said. In addition, Seybold said that licensees should expect up to 25% degradation of the radio signal after narrowbanding. That means you may have to add more sites, he said, which would increase costs considerably. If that wasnt enough, any licensee that opts for narrowbanding will have to modify their FCC license. So, it might be less costly and a lot less problematic simply to convert to commercial P2T service, especially for those entities that have to replace their entire fleet of LMR mobiles and portables. For those who move in that direction, Seybold offered a few tips: * Execute the migration in phases, starting with executives and then moving to field personnel after it has been established that the service is working properly. Use an IP bridge to connect the existing LMR system to the commercial P2T service. * Choose the commercial carrier that has equal to better coverage to that provided by the legacy LMR system. * Ask the carrier not only about the devices they offer today that are P2T-capable, but also about what they are planning to offer in the future. * Ask the carrier to provide a pair of phones so that the P2T service can be tested before any contracts are signed or insist on a 90-day money-back guarantee. If they want your business, they will find a way to work with you, Seybold said. You have to remember that youre not a single customer. The more lines you have, the more interested theyll be in you. What do you think? Tell us in the comment box below.

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Program for the March 18 SBARC Club Meeting
by Darryl Widman 13 Mar '11

13 Mar '11

Program for the March 18 SBARC Club Meeting Dick Norton, N6AA, is serving us as the Director of the Southwestern Division of the ARRL, the American Radio Relay League. As a member of the CQ Contesting Hall of Fame, Dick Norton is recognized as one of the world’s top operators. Included in his many contesting achievements is the fact that he has been number one in the world in the CQ Worldwide DX Contest, the world series of radio contesting, more times than anyone else. Many DXers strive to contact stations in the world’s 40 zones. Dick Norton has actually operated the CQ World Wide DX Contest from each of the 40 zones, an odyssey that has resulted in an understanding of Amateur Radio worldwide. He has been a judge or participant in all of the World Radio Team Competitions. He understands that Amateur Radio issues may originate in, or impact, any country in the world. While supporting cost-effective approaches to fighting the Broadband over Power Line threat at the national level, he has spearheaded Amateur Radio's technical interface to BPL activities in the ARRL Southwestern Division. Dick is an electrical engineer with an advanced degree and is able to tackle complex technical issues and integrate them within a dynamic environment of technology and politics. Since earning his Novice class license years ago, Dick has constructed transmitters, receivers, and other equipment and services most of his own equipment. Today, he maintains a reasonably large station with an antenna 120 feet up on a tower that he still climbs. Dick is at home with tackling challenging technical issues with the ARRL or on his own workbench. View the video of the DXpedition to the little country of Qatar just north of Saudi Arabia where Dick answered calls coming from around the world. Come to our March 18 SBARC club meeting and meet this fascinating gentleman. You will be inspired. 　 ____________________________________________________________ Mortgage Rates Hit 2.99% If you owe under $729k you probably qualify for Gov't Refi Programs http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/4d7d9d61155851f395fst01duc

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