(Note, I will be at both events but won't be carrying a radio. I'm slow
enough without one. Wave if you see me. - WB6RDV)
Forwarded message from Rick Whitaker:
Dear SBARC members,
The year is rapidly coming to a close. With it, the chance to
participate in supporting our community marathons also is coming to an
end. There are only two more marathon events left. The ones next year
don't start until May.
Saturday, November 7, 2009- Santa Barbara News Press Half Marathon-
This has always been a fun and casual event. It starts near Leadbetter
Beach with a run (or walk) along the coast, up to the Mesa and then down
to the Biltmore and back. It starts at 0800 and the course closes at
1100. I am looking for several people to position along the course from
the Biltmore back up to the Mesa. Usually we like to have our people
stationed at the water stations so they can communicate the needs of the
race officials/volunteers. There are 6 water/aid stations in this event.
If anyone is interested in riding a bicycle at a slow pace behind the
last walkers it would really help, as the course is not big enough to
follow in a car.It has always been a very enjoyable event, and we have
participated in this for many years.
Sunday, December 6, 2009- Santa Barbara International Marathon-
This is a big event--one that we have not covered before. It starts at
a mile west of Costco and ends at Leadbetter Beach. They have over 15
water stations and it covers the entire 26 miles. There will be
competitors from across the nation showing up for this event. We will
be working closely with the Red Cross as one of the sponsors. It is not
mandatory but if you work the SB News Press Half Marathon you will get a
flavor of what we do. It would be great to get as many members as
possible for this event because of the distance it covers and the fact
it goes down sections of bike path areas. The event starts at 0630 and
will run until 1300 (1PM). We would very much like to have a good turn
out of our members and show the community our strength and purpose.
If you are interested in one or both events please get back to me. No
previous experience is needed and this gives you a great chance to get
some radio air time. If you do not have an HT or yours is broken, we
can arrange to have you borrow one from the club that will be set with
the correct frequencies and repeater codes. Please get back to me soon.
Tell me if you are interested in one or both events.
I would like your:
Full name (not just Bob or Bill),
Call sign,
email address,
phone number,
and if you need a radio.
Many thanks.
73’s
Rick Whitaker
VP of Operations
rickwhtr(a)cox.net
--
--
Jay Hennigan - CCIE #7880 - Network Engineering - jay(a)impulse.net
Impulse Internet Service - http://www.impulse.net/
Your local telephone and internet company - 805 884-6323 - WB6RDV
Also commenting on KI6HPO was Jug, WA6MBZ of Santa Barbara,
California, who wrote, ''Until he died, we had an American who had
been an AT&T employee who retired the moved to San
Quentin, Mexico, about 250 miles below the US-Mexican border''.
''Every year for many years during the summer months etc, he would
come on the Santa Barbara repeater on 146.790 MHz. He knew when the
signal level was right and therefore when he could get into our
repeater with a usable signal''.
''Our repeater is located on a hill near the beach called the Mesa.
It is at about 400 feet above sea level. He could not get into our
other repeaters that were located up at about 4,000 feet''.
''He was a very friendly guy and we used to talk to him for hours on
end. I don't think any of our group ever asked him if he could get
into other repeaters along the coast of Southern California''.
Alan...KI6HPO...San Diego
The Wi-Fi Alliance is nearing completion of a new specification to allow Wi-Fi devices to connect to one another without joining a traditional home, office or hotspot network. The Wi-Fi Alliance expects to begin certification for the new specification in mid-2010 and is currently called Wi-Fi Direct. In its early stages of development it was known as Wi-Fi Peer-to-Peer.
The new specification can be implemented in any Wi-Fi device, including mobile phones, cameras, printers, notebook computers, keyboards and headphones. Certified devices will also be able to create connections with Wi-Fi certified legacy devices already in use. Devices will be able to make a one-to-one connection or a group of several devices can connect simultaneously.
The new specification targets both consumer electronics and enterprise applications, providing management features for enterprise environments and includes WPA2 security. Wi-Fi Direct devices will support typical Wi-Fi ranges and the same data rates as can be achieved with an infrastructure connection, so devices can connect from across a home or office and conduct bandwidth-hungry tasks.
The Wi-Fi Alliance plans to publish its peer-to-peer specification upon completion and will begin certifying devices for the Wi-Fi Direct designation in 2010.
73, Don, W6YN
Hi Everyone,
The ATVSIG Group has proposed a project with the initial working name, "Ham
WiFi".
The purpose of the project is to "establish reliable high-speed digital
radio communication between two or more amateur radio stations". A possible
long-term goal may be to establish what is known as a "mesh network".
We already have a startup workgroup, but wonder who else might be
interested. Let me know if you want to "participate" or "monitor" the
project.
Participants will assess needs, establish objectives and build a prototype
system.
Monitors will provide input to the project group and monitor the group's
progress.
Please pass this information on to others in SBARC who may want to be part
of the group.
Anyone interested can email me at rod(a)sbatv.org
Thank you,
Rod Fritz, WB9KMO
SBARC ATVSIG Chair
I sometimes scan various bands on my Kenwood F6A, to discover what's on
the air, and came across 300.125 MHz, or very near that. I found voice
transmissions going on during the late evening. It could be occurring
during other times, but it seems consistent between 10pm and Midnight.
There are Spanish speaking men and woman have very brief transmissions with
other. I do not understand enough Spanish to know what they are saying.
What seems unusual, to me, is the type of transmission, and the fact that
there is no record in the FCC ULS of any assignments on or near that
frequency. The ULS only has two listings nationwide between 300 and 301
MHz, and they are both inactive licenses.
According to the frequency spectrum allocations, this frequency is
allocated for mobile, mobile satellite, or fixed; and it is government
exclusive.
The transmissions, as I mentioned, are brief, and there are, at least, 4
or 5 people. Each transmission ends with a quick burst of three
DTMF-like
tones, which, together, last only about half a second. The people seem to
be coordinating something. It seems more like information being passed,
rather than casual talk.
Another thing about the transmissions is that they are sometimes
distorted, as if the mode cannot be distinquished by the radio. Sometimes
they come in well using FM, and other times they can be heard well using
AM. The signal appears to zero beat on 300.125 MHz. I have wondered whether
I am picking up a harmonic frequency. I have tried various multiples or
fractions of the frequency, and have not found it elsewhere.
The signal at my house, near Patterson and Hollister, is very strong. In
fact, if I use the radio's attentuator, the signal is still full scale.
Has anyone else come across this? Would someone else try listening, to see
whether they receive it, or understand it?
---Michael, NO6O
Hi All,
In the event that you do not subscribe to Paul Cook's [K7RA] weekly propagation newsletter, you really might give it a go. It is most informative and it is especially educational to a new ham like me.
Anyway, I wrote to Paul mentioning my summer and early fall experiences with the S.B.A.R.C. repeaters and he included it in this weeks bulletin.
In case you haven't read it, here it is for your reading.
73,
Alan
Alan Vigeant, KI6HPO of San Marcos, California wrote, "I'd like to
inform you of past and most recent conditions here in NE San Diego
County. Since early April, I've been having daily chats with my good
friends at the Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club, which is situated
about 165 miles NW of my QTH."
Alan continues, "I am at 2,200 feet of altitude, on the SW rim of
what I like to call the Palomar Ridge, which is about 5,600 feet
above sea level. Between the two rims is what I call the 'Palomar
Trench.' My QTH is about 12 miles SW of the Palomar Observatory.
Using William Hepburn's 'Worldwide Tropospheric Ducting Forecasts
web site (see http://www.dxinfocentre.com/tropo.html), which has
proven most helpful to me, I can pretty much set my watch as to when
the duct will be forming. My QTH is about 40 miles east of
Oceanside, California. My signal follows the ducting which occurs in
the trench and then goes up the coast of Southern California to
Santa Cruz Island, where their 220 MHz repeater is."
He goes on to say. "The past week proved to be a most curious one
for me. While I was speaking to the 7:00 AM SBARC Morning Net, I
noticed that the S-meter on my 220 rig (I utilize the club's 223.920
repeater) began to fluctuate rapidly."
He ends with, "Looking out my garage side door, I could watch the
cloud cover come in from the Pacific; as I looked on, I could
actually see that as the cloud cover rose, the meter would decline
to an S-3. As the Sun grew higher in the sky and the cloud bank
began to recede into the Pacific, the meter would register an S-9 to
almost 40 over. At times, during the summer evenings, I could look
out along the Palomar trench and look to the horizon to see if prop
was going to be good or not so good for the evening."
Thanks, Alan! Very interesting report.
