Greetings All,
SBARC's next public service communications event is the Santa Bike Tour & Fest for MS,-- http://www.santabarbarabiketour.com/ -- on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2005
There will be 7 rest stops and 13 SAG vehicles. Each SAG assignment covers a specific segment of the 4 ride option event, which ranges from Emma Wood State Beach in Ventura to Stow Grove Park in Goleta.
We're still have positions to fill. Please contact me as soon as possible if you're available.
Coming up next:
Saturday, Nov. 5. 2005 - Santa Barbara News-Press Half-Marathon
http://www.newspress.com/halfmarathon/
These events provide a great opportunity to test your communications system. and to provide good PR for ham radio.
Thanks,
Hubert
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Greetings All,
We need 5 more operators (SBARC members) for this Sunday's Carpinteria Triathlon. If you'll be available, please contact me as soon as possible,
http://www.carpinteriatriathlon.com/
Thanks,
Hubert
___________________________________________________________________
Try Juno Platinum for Free! Then, only $9.95/month!
Unlimited Internet Access with 250MB of Email Storage.
Visit http://www.juno.com/value to sign up today!
Last sunday Ansh and I did a number of long-distance wifi tests to try
out some new 16dBi Vagi (dual-Yagi) antennas and we got pretty mixed
results. The base station was located at my home at 2100 ft altitude
near San Marcos pass with a CM-9 80mW-100mW radio and a 16dBi Vagi with
horizontal polarization. The Vagi was pointed at "downtown" Santa
Barbara approx 9-10mi away.
Driving down Hwy 154 we made a first stop to verify that everything was
working. We then proceeded to the rooftop of a parking garage in
downtown (by Anacapa and de La Guerra, but we couldn't get a good line
of sight and some quick tests showed no connection. We then moved to
another garage (by Anacapa and Cota Streets) where we indeed had line of
sight to the base station between some roofs and trees, just a few
degrees above horizontal. We set-up a 2nd Vagi with the same radio and
got a connection before even carefully aiming the antenna. The signal to
noise ratio (SNR) was 11-12dB at the base station and around 14dB at the
mobile end. Presumably the base station gets a lot more noise by
pointing at downtown. In any case, using the link over SSH was quite
acceptable.
We then switched the radio at the mobile end to a new 400mW Ubiquiti
SR2. The SNR at the base went up to 15-16dB, but the measured packet
loss went up and using the link with SSH was rather unpleasant. Having
read reports that some early cards have transmitter problems we're now
wondering whether ours is affected...
We then tried 5dBi and 9dBi omnidirectional antennas. This was a little
difficult due to the horizontal polarization of the base station. After
toying around for a long time, we came up empty-handed. Either the 7-11
dB less gain are enough to make a connection completely impossible, or
the omnis picked up a lot more local noise thereby reducing SNR further.
In any case a rather disappointing result!
We're planning to do additional tests this coming sunday, this time
setting up our "mobile" shop at La Vigia to make the whole thing a
little easier. If anyone is interested in participating or just stopping
by, please send me an email.
The experience so far tells me that we really need the 50' tower on the
rover if we want to set-up a mobile station "anywhere" downtown. With
all the buildings and trees it's difficult to get a predictable line of
sight to anywhere. Also, while a little camera mounted behind the
antenna might be cute for pointing the antenna we really need a good
compass-based approach. Even through last sunday was relatively clear,
it was impossible to make out any details in the area of the mountain
station even when using a 15x-45x field scope: the haze plus the
blurring due to air movement were too strong.
Thorsten - N6TVE
Hi everyone,
September is the time we start our monthly meetings again, and we have a
good one to start with! Travis Wood, AE6GA, has been working on
autonomous vehicle software systems for the DARPA Grand Challenge (DGC)
since the DGC was first announced. For those of you who don't know, a
two million dollar prize is being offered this year for the first
autonomous vehicle to complete the course between Barstow, CA and Primm,
NV. Travis will be talking his experiences with the DPC, about the
software to do the job, and is bringing a robot to demonstrate the
software he has written.
Meetings are open to the public, so please invite your friends to attend
as well!
When: Friday, October 15, 2005
Time: 7:30 PM (Doors open at 6:45!)
Location: Goleta Union Schools Admin. Board Room
401 N. Fairview Ave., Goleta
Hi everyone,
The Red Cross is in need of volunteers to help answer the phones, etc.
as things are quite busy down there thanks to Katrina. The available
time slots are 2 hours long. There are openings for Thursday through
Saturday of this week, and all next week.
The only requirement is that you have taken the Red Cross orientation
class. If you would like to help but haven't taken the class yet, there
will be a class on Wednesday evening from 6:00PM to 8:00PM at the Red
Cross.
Please contact Will Teft at 448-5702 or Mike Williams at 687-1331 if you
are able to help out. The Red Cross has done a great deal to help SBARC
and this is one opportunity for us to say thanks!
JOTA Weekend October 15 and 16, 2005
We of the Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club are planning on utilizing our
new Rover van for the JOTA (Jamboree-on-the-Air), an international Boy
Scout/Amateur Radio joint affair. We will drive it to the Boy Scouts of
America Los Padres Council Camp Allegre located along Highway 154 near
the entrance to Lake Cachuma. We will position it in the open area near
the flagpoles. From that vantage point, propogation to all directions
except south should be possible. From that exact location, I was able to
contact Japan ten years ago during the Webelos Scout campout.
So far, the ideas shaping up for JOTA include the following activities:
(1) JOTA HF radio contacts with Scouts talking over our radios in the
Rover van with other Scouts far away. We are planning on fastening a
large map of the US (thanks to Will Teft, KG6GHK) to the side of the van
whereby the Scouts can place a magnet with their name on it on that point
on the map to show their buddies where they made that radio contact.
(2) Transmitter hunting with, possibly, ARDF (map and compass work).
Several transmitters can be running in timed sequence. Marvin Johnston,
KE6HTS, and possibly Joe Moell, K0OV, will help set up an outstanding
course for the boys, along with personalized instruction. Helpers are
encouraged to come out and lend a hand. Be an Elmer!
(3) Morse Code practice oscillator kit construction (including soldering)
as a superb souvenier of the JOTA weekend. You can bet the Scouts will
be encouraged to learn the code and begin studying for their first ham
license. Use of hand tools will be shown.
(4) Amateur Television with Rod Fritz, WB9KMO, demonstrating several
modes. Sending video from various campsites to a receiver at the Rover
van will be very fascinating. Possibility of Slow Scan has been
discussed. If possible, a relay setup to be able to link into the ATV
net in Southern California will be examined.
(5) Campfire with skits and singing, awarding JOTA patches for excelling
in above activities. Mike Jogoleff, WA6MBZ, ordered 12 @$4 ea along with
200 wallet-sized cards -- one per Scout. The Scout units will control
the campfire.
(6) Above cards to be presented to Scouts and colored stickum stars to be
affixed for completing each activity as the weekend progresses.
(7) Radio Merit Badge work. We will need those willing to become merit
badge counselors. Merit badge pamphlets and cards will be needed.
The Scout office is excited about this whole event. Scout leaders are in
the loop already and are looking forward to JOTA. You can bet they will
be talking it up with their boys. They have planning to do, such as
meals/cooking, preparing their campsites, transportation, what to pack,
etc.
If any of you has another idea for an activity, please get in touch with
me. We will be needing at least 25 hams present to keep things moving.
Please be one of them!
Thank you and 73,
Darryl Widman, KF6DI
805-969-2326
auditron(a)juno.com
Dear communicators,
The American Red Cross Santa Barbara Chapter needs your assistance in
answering phones and doing similar tasks at their headquarters on State
Street. The two-hour long shifts start at 8 a.m. and run until about 4
p.m. (or later if needed). You can take one shift or several and don't
necessarily need to come in at exactly the start time but can overlap.
The Red Cross will provide a short training session for you.
Mike Williams, KC6DSH, is coordinating the effort and you can call him
at the Red Cross at 687-1331 extension 35, or call him on the 146.79
repeater.
This assignment may go on for quite some time and is an excellent
opportunity for SBARC to show our gratitude to the Red Cross for their
generosity in allowing us to use their facility for our activities for
many years.
I hope you can help.
73,
Lou
Hi Gang -
I am looking for a wall-wart with a positive center with a 5v at 2.5A
output. Any help with this would be very much appreciated.
Tnx -
73 de Denny AD6EZ<><
Dennis H. Morales, AD6EZ<><
Goleta, CA 93117
Hi everyone,
Just a reminder that Monday, September 5, is the deadline for the
September issue of KeyKlix. Articles can be sent to Bill
Smathers, at WillZ789(a)cs.com.
Thanks!
Marvin
Hi everyone,
Tomorrow is the first Saturday of the month and you are welcome to join
us for breakfast. If you plan on attending, please send an email to
Dennis (WB6OBB) at dennis(a)west.net to confirm.
Thanks!
Marvin, KE6HTS
P.S. - I didn't forget the time and location, just figured I'd put it at
the end :). We will be meeting at Cody's Restaurant near the corner of
Turnpike and Hollister at 8:00AM.
