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Diablo Peak web-cam
by Bill Talanian 13 Jun '16

13 Jun '16

JUNE GLOOM AND THE MARINE LAYER The club equipment at Diablo Peak, 2500' ft, on Santa Cruz Island is typically above the marine layer overcast. The marine layer and wind evolves in various patterns that may be observed by 15 photos taken 360 degrees every 10 minutes. The pictures are transmitted back on a UC link that will soon be replaced by a redundant 5.8 gHz SBARC link to our Mesa site. In addition to the Diablo web-cam we are looking forward to an additional camera mounted at the east end of Santa Rosa Island. This has been an expensive multi-year project privately funded from out-of-pocket expenses by key people in SBARC. <http://diablo.voneicken.com/imageview.cgi> Bill Talanian gHz

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Fw: Program for the SBARC June 17, 2016 Club Meeting
by zharasty＠verizon.net 11 Jun '16

11 Jun '16

Tom: FYI Walt From: Darryl Widman Sent: Saturday, June 11, 2016 1:25 AM To: Darryl Widman Subject: Program for the SBARC June 17, 2016 Club Meeting Program for the SBARC June 17, 2016 Club Meeting Folks, this is Mike Bales, KI6VBK, Co-Founder of Santa Barbara Hackerspace Mike Bales, KI6VBK, is the CEO and co-founder of the Santa Barbara Hackerspace, which was founded 6 years ago in his garage. Mike moved from San Diego to Santa Barbara to attend Santa Barbara City College to get a start on a degree in Electronic Engineering. He was frustrated with the limited access to the labs there and couldn’t afford the equipment that was required for an electronics project he was working on. His life changed when he attended the Bay Area Maker Faire in San Mateo that year and discovered the concept of hackerspace. He thought that there must be others in a similar situation in need of space and equipment for personal and school projects given Santa Barbara’s many schools so he decided to try and start a hackerspace. Hackerspaces are community-operated physical places, where people share their interest in tinkering with technology, meet and work on their projects and learn from each other. SB Hackerspace started small, about a half dozen people meeting in Mike’s apartment / garage for the first 6 months or so. Once they built up a small core group they rented their first space on Aero Camino in Goleta and quickly grew and acquired more members. Mike has a day job as a systems administrator for a small IT company which manages networks and equipment for 30 clients in the Santa Barbara area, in addition to running the hackerspace, and developing open source weather balloon trackers and other neat projects. Two other active members of the group are Garrett Holmstrom, AG6RQ, and Mike Kapuscik. Garrett is fairly active and is getting involved in some of the SBARC mesh networking projects. He is known as the network wizard at the hackerspace as he maintains their computer network infrastructure. He has been instrumental in building a ground crew on a number of their weather balloon launches. Mike Kapuscik is a City College student who works for a startup in town developing IoT (Internet of Things) equipment. He is well versed in electronics and embedded programming / development. He has been the lead on the Scanning Electron Microscope restoration project and Mike Bales says that they would never have gotten it working without his time, knowledge and diligence in pouring over the schematics and documentation. If you would like to know more about this young, exciting group of people and what they are doing, you are invited to drop by and pay them a visit. The Santa Barbara Hackerspace is a fun and friendly setting for makers and hackers to build, experiment and learn together. They welcome all participants, no matter their level of skill or experience. Their general meetings are on Saturdays from 2 pm until late, and there are usually people there during the evenings on most weeknights. So, you can drop by their location on Saturday after you leave the SBARC Club Station, which closes around noon, and while you are there you can also join their mailing list for updates! Also, at this SBARC meeting, you will hear from President Brian Milburn, K6BPM, about the latest progress being made on our Mesh Network and how you can get involved with the project. He will also let us know more about how the Club Station is evolving. Levi Maaia, K6LCM, would like to tell us about our newly-formed Telecommunications group and what they are doing. At this meeting we will raffle off the latest Wouxun Model 8D dual-band duplex cross-band repeat HT. We should sell enough tickets at this meeting to pay for the very neat radio! We still have our monthly Club Meetings at the Goleta Union School District at 401 No. Fairview Ave. in Goleta, right across the street from the Goleta Library. The meeting begins at 7:30 PM but come early and look at all the Free-to-Good-Home stuff your friends have brought for you to see and take home with you. Be sure to bring yours for them! Before the meeting begins is a good time to shake a few hands and bring in those cookies and cakes you brought along because you are such a neat person! And we all do thank you for that. The Satellite Amateur Radio Club Swapfest and Barbecue is an annual event always held on a Saturday, the day before Fathers Day, so it is the day right after our Club meeting. This fun event is looked forward to by hams all over the South Coast. For many years, SBARC has supported their event with our presence and by purchasing tickets to win their great prizes. I have won my share of them. In turn, members of the Satellite ARC have supported our events. This is the kind of event where folks can bring their excess junque and spread it out on the picnic tables and, with a tear in their eye, part with it for the right price! So many bargains. Those who walked away with their hands in their pockets and then, after some serious thought, returned to go ahead and buy it only to find that someone beat them to it can be seen moping around. How funny. It is also traditional to have a challenging Transmitter Hunt. This year there will be several of them. Yours truly will be hiding one and searching for the others. Bring your 2-meter sniffer with you. Some of us caravan up there and have breakfast at Ellen’s Danish Pancake house in Buellton. Come along with us. You said that your YL loves to bake cookies? Would she let you bring some to our Club meeting?

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Reminder of ARDF near Santa Barbara on Saturday
by Marvin Johnston 10 Jun '16

10 Jun '16

Hi all, Just a reminder that tomorrow (Saturday) will be a practice ARDF course at Lake Los Carneros. My plan is to be done setting the course by 9AM, so anyone who wants ARDF training should be there about that time. There will also probably be an easy 80M FoxOring course in addition to the 2M course. We will have some 80M receivers available for loan. I'm making some changes in my life, so this may be the last public one I put on here. Thanks! Marvin, KE6HTS ************************* Partly cloudy skies and a high temperature of just 67 degrees are forecast for Lake Los Carneros Park in Goleta, CA, which will be the site of our next international-style on-foot foxhunt on Saturday, June 11. There is no charge for participation. Besides some easy fox transmitters just to help you learn and test your equipment, there will be a beginner-level international-rules course on the two-meter band, set by Marvin Johnston KE6HTS. An optional 80-meter fox transmitter may also be on the air. The site area is slightly less than 140 acres. It is relatively flat, making it a good site for foxtailers of all skill levels. If you need some one-on-one help to get started at finding transmitters, just ask. Full-color orienteering maps will be available. If you have receivers, scanners, directional antennas, attenuators, or other equipment s suitable for on-foot RDF, be sure to bring it. Make sure all batteries are fresh. A limited amount of RDF gear will be available for loan to beginners. Transmitter hunting will begin about 10:00 AM. You may start out on the courses at any time until 12 noon. Courses close at 2 PM. Directions to Lake Los Carneros: From US 101 about 8 miles west of downtown Santa Barbara, take the Los Carneros Road exit, head north about 1/4 mile and turn right into the Stow House parking lot. There should be plenty of free parking. Look for the orange-and-white orienteering flag. The hunt start will probably be in the parking lot. If that is too crowded, we will move to a nearby picnic area. A map to the site is at www.homingin.com. Ham radio talk-in is on the WB6OBB repeater, 147.000(+) PL 131.8. 73, Joe Moell K0OV

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SK WA6IMZ (fr) Alberic Smith
by Alan Soenke 07 Jun '16

07 Jun '16

Father Al as we were used to calling him passed away at his home in Washington state on May 30 2016. We all knew him as the local ham friar at St. Anthony's for many years. It's been a while since he retired to St. Francis' in Washington. He was a frequent visitor to the SBARC domain and attended Field Day regularly. He had once asked me to do repairs on his cubical quad antenna atop St. Anthony's. After the repair was done we gave it a thorough testing at Field Day with the help of Prof Steve Long. Father Al has been missed and will be remembered May he rest in peace. Al WA6VNN Sent from AOL Mobile Mail

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Please join SBARC for Field Day June 24 to 26
by Tom Saunders 05 Jun '16

05 Jun '16

SBARC, SBARC Field Day 2016 June 24 to 26 at Elings Park P6260008 What is Field Day? Field Day is the annual emergency readiness exercise sponsored by the ARRL. The goal is to contact as many stations as possible during a 24 hour period. Each contact consists of a short mutual exchange of three pieces of information. If you have not participated in a Field Day before, you are in for a pleasant surprise. After just two hours in to Field Day, we will have contacted more than 30 states on HF frequencies. It is run as a 'just-for-fun' contest. It can be exciting when you hear four or more stations at the same time all over the US and Canada trying to make contact with us. It can also be challenging to make as many contacts as possible under these conditions. A single station typically makes a thousand contacts during Field Day. SBARC has done very well in past years finishing in the top ten stations running as a three transmitter club station. In recent years, we have run with a 'just have fun' attitude. Field Day is intended to simulate an actual emergency. The goal is to operate somewhere in an open field, away from structures and electrical power. Most stations operate this way while others may choose to operate from a building. This year we are fortunate to hold Field Day at Elings Park. We will be in a grassy field on the top of a hill and away from power line noise. Elings Park has amazing views of the ocean and mountains. What Can I Do? We usually have two person teams that work in two hour shifts consisting of the radio operator and a logger. The operator makes the contacts by saying "CQ Field Day Kilo 6 Tango Zulu". When another station replies, the operator sends our contact information of "K6TZ 2 Alpha Sierra Bravo". 2 Alpha is our operation of two transmitters club station running on emergency power. Sierra Bravo is the ARRL Section Code of Santa Barbara. The logger enters the calling station identification, their designation, and their section such as "K1AB 3A NJ" by a keyboard. The computer program helps with data entry, logs contacts, and checks for duplicates. The operator and logger may trade positions if they desire. The radio we use is an Elecraft K3 with a voice recorder that makes it easy for the operator. After the message is recorded, just push a button to send the message. At least one of the operator / loggers must be a General or Extra class. The hours for each shift are: Saturday 11 AM to 1 PM June 25 ` 1 PM to 3 PM 3 PM to 5 PM 5 PM to 7 PM 7 PM to 9 PM Night Shift Sunday 5 AM to 7 AM June 26 7 AM to 9 AM 9 AM to 11 AM We also need at least four people to assemble the antenna and mount it on the Rover. We also need four people to take it down when the contest is over. This is easy work and takes less than an hour. The antenna is only 60 pounds, but is too big for two people to safely move it to the roof of the Rover and mount it on the mast. Setup will be Friday afternoon starting at 1 PM. Take Down will be Sunday at noon. How to Get to the Field Day Site SBARC will be at Elings Park South Park area. This is the southeast section of Elings, near the hang gliders. You can take a dirt road from Cliff Drive, just east of Las Positas Road. It is not accessible from the main Elings Park entrance on Las Positas. We will be about 300 yards northeast of the hang gliding area. Another way to get there is to take Flora Vista, the first street east of Las Positas, then take the second left turn to the end of Calle Andalucia. Park on Calle Andalucia and walk about 200 yards. Other Information Thanks to Haydn Brooke, KK6OYV, we will run two transmitters on HF. We would like to have a celebration BBQ Sunday at 1 PM at Escondido Park. This park is one-half mile north of Cliff Drive on Flora Vista. The club will provide hamburgers and hot dogs. All SBARC members and their guests are welcome to join the celebration. How Do I Volunteer for Field Day? Just respond to this message or email tsaund(a)cox.net. You are welcome to bring family members or friends. Please specify what time(s) you prefer. If you have any questions, please contact me. 'Good Luck in the Contest' Tom Saunders N6YX Mobile (805) 452 - 0840 Home (805) 967 - 7351 Ext 1 FAX (805) 364 - 5120

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NPOTA
by Bill Talanian 04 Jun '16

04 Jun '16

To: Interested parties The below group will be coming to Santa Barbara from Arkansas to participate in the 100 th year of the National Park Service. All during 2016 National Parks On The Air (NPOTA) will be celebrated by participants contacting as many stations as possible within the park boundaries. Santa Barbara has a unique grid square on one part of Santa Rosa Island, CM93. This rare grid operation is by special arrangement with the local NPS office. If you have an interest in participating with operations on Santa Rosa from CM94 at the pier then get in touch with me or Mike Wapner K6QD. Note: The actual 100 th year date is August 25. Bill Talanian -------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: Re: Fwd: General Question Date: Fri, 3 Jun 2016 09:28:42 -0500 From: David Swanson <dave(a)druidnetworks.com> To: Bill Talanian <w1uuq(a)cox.net> CC: K6QD <k6qd(a)cox.net>, Wyatt Dirks <wyattdirks(a)msn.com>, Brian Milburn <brian(a)k6bpm.com>, Al Soenke <ajsoenke(a)aol.com> Bill et al, I've exchanged emails with Ian, and he has given us the go-ahead for our operation on Santa Rosa Island. We have to follow a few rules, but they're all things we can easily accommodate within our plans. I wanted to give you a special thanks for referring us to him, he was very understanding and immediately recognized what we were trying to do with the rare grid, and encouraged us to move forward with our plans. In fact, he wants to know our final QSO count once we're done :) So I guess at this point just let us know how much/how little the club would like to help out. Even something as simple as jumping on a repeater at some pre-arranged times to relay an email to our forums would be a tremendous benefit. Thanks again, 73! -Dave, KG5CCI

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Tinnerman nut
by Bill Talanian 31 May '16

31 May '16

WANTED 12-24 screw size Tinneman "U" type clip nuts for 19 " rack mounting electronic units. This clip is not found in stores.... industrially they sell for ~.50 cents each. Need about 50 each. Single Thread Wide Panel Range with U Design (EFC 01658)

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Lou Frenzel
by Darryl Widman 25 May '16

25 May '16

The Shack Is Back May 24, 2016 by Lou Frenzel, W5LEF, in Communiqué The exterior of a typical free-standing RadioShack store in Texarkana, Texas. (Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons) Back in February 2015, Radio Shack filed for bankruptcy. Many of us feared that we had lost a popular source of electronic products and parts. Well, in case you didn’t get the memo, Radio Shack is alive and well as a new company. It did not come out of bankruptcy as is the usual case. Instead, Standard General, a New York hedge fund, bought the assets and brand and formed a new company under the ownership of General Wireless with the name Radio Shack. It retained about 1,700 of the original 4,000-plus stores. Roughly 1,400 of the 1,700 are co-branded with Sprint and the telecommunications giant will sell cell phones and subscriber plans on-site. More Blog Posts from Lou Frenzel DIY Makers, Hobbyists, and Experimenters Get Professional Software RadioShack: Tragedy or Inevitable? The Future of AM Radio Radio Shack is now a greatly scaled-down company and more focused on building a new business model around its stores and a greatly expanded online presence. It will continue to sell popular consumer electronics items, but also will take advantage of the growing DIY/Maker niche. Look for a growing number of Radio Shack smaller electronic kits in stores in the months to come. What they really need is a few signature larger kits to generate some significant buzz and dollars. Drones and robots come to mind, but that has been done. How about more radio products? Why not ham radio products, as this is a known and growing market? Besides, the former ham kit company Heathkit is not doing anything. Radio Shack is also pursuing an educational approach to the hobbyist market. It plans to participate in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) movement in schools to introduce students to these technical fields. It will also offer in-store learning sessions and demos. I urge them to do even more educational projects like offering books, learning kits, and online webinars. I am glad to see the survival of Radio Shack. It will continue to be a valuable resource for parts and accessories that many of us have come to rely upon. Let’s hope it flourishes with the new focus and direction. Check out the new website for an update. The whole Radio Shack bankruptcy and re-emergence took place in less than a year. Yet here we are many years later still waiting on Heathkit to come back to life as the premier kit maker. So far not much is happening. A few years ago, Heathkit conducted an extensive survey of old and potentially new customers to find out what they wanted. What came of that was a $149 AM radio. A TRF rather than superhet version at that. Battery powered with no tuning dial or speaker. What were they thinking? Who is the market for this anyway? Kids? Really? People still do listen to AM radio, but mostly in their cars. It is an adult news and talk radio business. Kids and millennials listen to online sources mostly and FM if it is radio. Anyway, what’s up with Heathkit? Such a great name and reputation is just going to waste. We all know that designing new kits is not easy, especially the larger and more complex kits Heathkit is known for. But how many years does it take? Is it a cash problem? Or maybe the new owners do not believe they can live up to Heathkit’s glorious past or new customer expectations. Whatever. Hey, Heathkit guys, do something soon. Radio Shack is already showing you up. There is a single individual who claims the assets of Heathkit and as near as I can tell he is trying to make a business out of selling copies of Heathkit manuals for those of us trying to resurrect older units that we acquired sans manuals. There are a few Ham radio oriented sites that sell NOS or salvaged parts for Heathkit as well. In any event the market may indeed be ready for another Heathkit style company but I think the old one is moribund and stifled by the low aspirations of the current owner of the Heathkit assets. We used to have Knight Kits (Allied Radio) and Eico Kits too (Lafayette Electronics?) Maybe Allied Electronics, with its interest in supporting the MAKER phenomenon, could be encouraged to bring back Knight Kits. Amateur Radio, Electronic Test Equipment, and Embedded computer applications come to mind as likely markets. My 2 cents worth. Lou Frenzel Lou Frenzel, W5LEF, writes articles and blogs on the wireless, communications and networking sectors for Electronic Design. Formerly, Lou was professor and department head at Austin Community College...

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UC Remote Receiver
by Bill Talanian 14 May '16

14 May '16

The TZ .19 Remote Receiver at UCSB is back on the air. Persons operating a 1/2 watt HT from Goleta should be able to be heard 100% thru the downtown Mesa TZ .79 repeater. Thanks to Matt Lechliter, W6KGB, and Calli Marquez, KD6OVS, for their work in aligning the Mesa Voter and link radio system with the GE M3 Repeater.

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Yaesu System Fusion Repeater Up
by Brian Milburn K6BPM 10 May '16

10 May '16

Hi All, We are testing our Yaesu 440 FM and digital repeater up at the La Vigia site for a couple of weeks before it goes back to it's permanent location at the WB6OBB site on Broadcast Peak. The repeater does both regular FM and Yaesu System Fusion digital voice. We are inviting everyone to give it a workout whether you have digital capabilities or not. The frequency is: 449.300 - minus offset - PL 131.8 Several of us will be monitoring as time allows. There are quite a few of us in the local area who do have Yaesu digital radios and it is a really different experience! Join us on this repeater if you can! 73 -- Brian - K6BPM

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