SBARC,
Thanks to everyone that made Field Day such a great success. The
participation from the club on this year's Field Day was the higher than in
the previous eight years. Both the setup and take-down were fairly easy
tasks. The easy setup and operation made Field Day a truly fun event. The
attendance at the Sunday BBQ was also higher than the previous eight years.
The food at the BBQ was great (I will publish my recipe for the potato salad
if anyone requests it).
Propagation was still down this year. Radio conditions were about as bad as
last year. The approximate score is :
QSOs Points
CW QSOs 1164 4656
Phone QSOs 660 1320
VHF 50 100
Bonus Points
Emergency Power 200
Media Publicity 100
Public Location 100
Info Booth 100
NTS to SEC 100
W1AW Message 100
NTS Traffic 100
Satellite QSO 100
Natural Power 100
Site Visit by Served Agency 100
Educational Activity 100
Youth Element 80
Web Submittal 50
Total Bonus Points 1330
Total Points 7406 (unofficial
estimate)
Scores for previous years are:
2005 5832
2006 4380
2007 5488
Areas that we were not able to score in this year are :
GOTA Station
Digital Contacts
Site Visit by Elected Official
The above areas need to be improved for next year.
We need a GOTA coordinator.
Potential GOTA candidates will be solicited at local VE
sessions.
Digital capability will be added to the Rover.
A separate Digital Mode station should be explored.
We need a contact to an elected official so we get credit for
this activity next year.
With the same radio propagation conditions as last year we were still able
to get a 35 % increase over last year. A higher score is good, but it is
also important that we participated in ARRL events that improved individual
knowledge and skills in key areas. It is also important that we tested our
club equipment for potential emergency response.
Thanks to everyone that made this year's Field Day such a great success.
Mark your calendars for Field Day 2009 on June 27 - 28.
Comments and suggestions for improving Field Day are welcome. Please reply
to this message.
See you next year.
'Please copy 2A Santa Barbara from K6TZ. QSL ?"
Tom Saunders N6YX
Cell 805 452 0840
Email tsaund(a)cox.net
Hi again folks:
I mistakenly included two erroneous times on the AO-51 passes. The last two
occur after FD. I've included an updated version. Sorry for the duplicate
emails.
Ken
Hi folks:
Please give the K6TZ VHF/UHF Field Day station a call this weekend! We will
be active on the following frequencies/modes:
6 M SSB: 50.100-50.3.00 (50.125 calling)
6 M FM: 52.525
2 M SSB: 144.200-144.275 (144.200 calling)
2 M FM: 146.520
1.25 M SSB: 222.100 (no SSB capabilites)
1.25 M FM 223.500 (calling)
70 CM SSB: 432.10-432.30 (433.000 calling)
70 CM FM: 446.000
Ken Owen, N6KTH
Hi folks:
As many of you know, I will be operating a satellite station at the SBARC
Field Day this year. In addition to adding a multiplier to our score, I
would like to offer people a chance to see how easy it is to work the
"birds." I have attached a document showing all of the passes available
Saturday and Sunday for the four satellites I will be concentrating on.
Once I make our first contact, I will be glad to give others an opportunity
to make contacts through the satellites. I will also be operating on 6
meters, 2-meters, and 432 MHz FM and SSB.
Feel free to join me and/or help out with the logging!
Ken, N6KTH
AMSAT Area Coordinator
SBARC Members
Field Day is this weekend. The event starts at 11 AM and runs for 24 hours
to Sunday.
It looks like the club will do very well this year in the ARRL Field Day
scoring category. We have some expert contesters that will be helping us.
We are also entering in most of the ARRL bonus points categories. This will
give us a higher score than we have had in recent years. In addition, these
activities are great educational opportunities. They include the following
activities :
HF Contacts with CW and Phone
Digital Modes
Satellite Contacts
National Traffic System Messages
Solar Power Contacts
Site Visit by Elected Official
Educational Activities
Youth Training
So come on out and bring a friend. This is going to be a fun weekend. We
love spectators !
And dont forget the BBQ at 1 PM Sunday. The BBQ is open to all club
members and guests.
The location is the Ellwood School in Goleta, 1 ½ miles west of Storke Road
on Hollister. For more information, check the club web site or reply to
this message.
Tom Saunders N6YX
Cell 805 452 0840
Email tsaund(a)cox.net
What a dance!
I have contended from the beginning there can be no lasting resolution until there is legislative or executive action to specifically exempt licensed amateur radio operation.
As the law stands now, there is no specific exemption for amateur radio operation. ARRL reluctantly confirms this but is taking no action to remedy the problem.
73, Don, W6YN
-- <michael(a)reynoldsoffice.com> wrote:
This was posted on the ARRL site today:
---------------------------------------
California Hands-Free Law to Go into Effect July 1; Ham Radio Not Affected
Says Counsel
A new California hands-free cellular telephone law goes into effect July 1,
2008. It, like many others around the country, prohibits using mobile
telephones while driving unless a hands-free device is utilized. ARRL has
received numerous questions about its application to the use of mobile
Amateur Radio stations by licensed amateurs. The law, in relevant part,
states as follows:
"23123. (a) A person shall not drive a motor vehicle while using a wireless
telephone unless that telephone is specifically designed and configured to
allow hands-free listening and talking, and is used in that manner while
driving."
ARRL General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, advises that "The definition of
prohibited behavior in California's recent statute does not include a
prohibition of operating a mobile, licensed Amateur Radio station while
driving, because Amateur Radio transceivers are not telephones. While ARRL
cannot guarantee that this statute will not be interpreted by law
enforcement officers or the courts of California more broadly than that, it
is our view that a fair reading of the statute excludes mobile operation of
Amateur Radio equipment by licensed radio amateurs.
That said, it is obvious that drivers should pay full time and attention to
driving. To the extent that operating their amateur stations while mobile
is a distraction to them, they should consider, if possible, pulling over
safely to the side of the road and conducting their amateur communications
while stationary."
ARRL Regulatory Information Manager Dan Henderson, N1ND, adds that while
the statute on its face does not apply to Amateur Radio mobile operation,
problems could still arise: "Law enforcement officers are not
telecommunications experts and may not understand or be concerned about the
difference between a cellular telephone and a ham radio. If you do get
stopped, be polite and state that you were operating a mobile Amateur Radio
transmitter as specifically authorized by the FCC and not a wireless
telephone. Don't engage in an argument if the officer issues a citation --
that won't help your cause. If cited, you will need to follow the
instructions about contesting the citation in traffic court. As ARRL
counsel notes, the language of the statute does not appear to include
amateur mobile operation. Unfortunately, you could have to go through the
inconvenience of appearing in court to contest a citation."
ARRL will continue to monitor the application of this statute relative to
radio amateurs.
Free Resistors by the Hundreds!
I have two 25-pullout tray organizers full of resistors of various sizes
(watts & Ohms) that are labeled 20 Ohm thru 18M. They are being
offered for FREE! The only catch is that I am only going to keep them
until this Friday morning; then they are going out with the trash -
unless someone wants them in which case I will hold onto them until they
can pick them up!
I think that this was a "FreeBee" at one of our past July swap meets
and now it is time to make more room in my garage. I want for them what
I paid $0.00, but if someone can use them, I would hate to find that
fact out later once I dump them!
Hurry up and call - I have the banks of phones on the ready and folks
waiting answer your calls! Wait! There is more - free wire, cables, etc
in a wooden box that has to go and I have not looked inside in over two
years. Your guess is as good as mine!
73 de AD6EZ
Denny Morales
805-968-0221 Home
805-886-3817 Cell
dennismo2(a)cox.net
Hi folks:
As most of you know, SBARC is arranging a special contact with an astronaut
on the International Space Station and a local Boy Scout troop (tentatively
set for the week of August 18 to 22). We have every element necessary for
the primary station plus a back up station, except we need to borrow a
couple of two-meter amplifiers. The ARISS folks require that we have 80
watt transmit capability on two-meters, and our radios will fall just short
of this.
So, we need your help! Please let me know if have an amplifier available
that is capable of at least 80 watts. We will need to borrow it in the days
leading up to the week of 8/18. This is your chance to help out on a very
special SBARC event. Check out the "background" below and the attached
draft application for more info.
Thanks in advance!
Ken Owen, N6KTH
AMSAT Area Coordinator
n6kth(a)n6kth.com
(805) 448-5726
BACKGROUND:
The history is as follows. Glenn Schiferl, a scout leader and head of the
UCSB Physics computing services, approached co-worker Bob Pizzi (AC6PZ) and
informed him that the astronaut on the next launch to the ISS wanted to do a
contact from the ISS with a local BSA group. Bob said SBARC would back up
the effort. Since an astronaut is requesting this contact, all of the
normal approvals and application delays will be bypassed.
We have arranged to have the contact take place on the patio on the roof of
the physics building. There are plans in the works to involve the astronomy
department and to include an educational component with the scouts. This
could be a huge media event, and it's a great opportunity to set up the
SBARC rover and spend the day promoting the club and amateur radio. NASA
will promote this event as well.
An ISS contact of this type involves kids submitting questions in advance,
and a few get the opportunity to ask the questions of the astronaut.
THE RADIO EQUIPMENT:
There will need to be two, two-meter FM ham stations capable of space
communications (see the attached block diagram). The primary station will
have full tracking capability (azimuth & elevation rotors, tracking software
and interface) a circularly polarized beam, pre-amps and a power amplifier.
The backup station will only need to have an omni-directional antenna, but
it will also need pre-amps and amps. Ken, N6KTH has the critical equipment
necessary for the tracking station, and he, plus two of the other principle
organizers all have Yaesu ft-847s that will be used as the rigs for both
stations.
It is not my intent to turn the SBARC ListServer into another UTube
squash court of bouncing political rhetoric but there are times when
something has so much humor to it that it is hard to resist.
In the name of fun and entertainment on how to cut down on future RFI.
><http://youtube.com/watch?v=e-LOtKIIKcg>http://youtube.com/watch?v=e-LOtKIIKcg
>
