Lake Los Carneros Park in Goleta, CA will be the site of southern
California's next international-style on-foot foxhunt on Saturday, June
8, 2013. Besides some easy fox transmitters just to help you learn and
test your equipment, there will be a compact international-rules course,
set by Marvin Johnston KE6HTS. 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.
There is no charge for participation. If you have receivers, scanners,
directional antennas, attenuators, or other equipment 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. A ham radio
license and knowledge of radio equipment are not required.
For those who want to build RDF gear for use with their own two-meter
hand-held radios or scanners, Marvin will have kits for measuring-tape
yagis and active attenuators. Also available is an assembled and tested
assembly that includes the power switch, BNC connector, housing and
battery, ready to install as the tape measure beam is built. There will
be tools and soldering stations for building. If you're not an
electronic technician, don't worry because there will be experts to help
you. We want you to succeed! Send e-mail to Marvin (marvin(a)west.net)
to pre-register and get more information about equipment. The building
session will only take place if there are sufficient advance
registrations. If you already have equipment and just want to hunt
transmitters, you don't need to pre-register.
If it takes place, the building session will start at 9:30 AM. Please
be prompt. Beginner transmitters will be on the air at that time. The
main 5-fox hunt will start about 10:30 AM. Hunters may start the
courses at any time until 1 PM. Courses close at 3 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. A map to
the site is at www.homingin.com. There should be plenty of free
parking. Look for the orange-and-white orienteering flag. The building
session and hunt start will probably be in the parking lot. If that is
too crowded, we will move to a nearby picnic area.
For your GPS navigation system: 300 North Los Carneros Road, Goleta, CA
34.44416N 119.85446W
Ham radio talk-in will be on the WB6OBB repeater, 147.000(-) PL 131.8.
73,
Joe Moell K0OV
www.homingin.com
Look ahead to the SW Division Hamcon coming this September
6.pdf<https://docs.google.com/a/sbsdk12.org/file/d/0B8T8l2CdnxSMZDZCTjMyQU9jdnc/e…>
73, WA6VNN, Al at SBARC
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------------------------------
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Unified School District and may contain privileged and confidential
information. It, and any attachments, are intended only for the
addressee(s) . If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby
notified that any review, dissemination, distribution or duplication of
this communication and its attachments is strictly prohibited by applicable
state and federal law. If you are not the intended recipient, please
contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original
message and attachments.
Santa Barbara Unified School District - "Every child, every chance, every
day"
Here is a summary of our QSO with NA1SS yesterday. Thanks to Ken and Calli
for their extraordinary work getting a perfect signal from an object 230
miles above the Earth moving at 17,500 MPH! Check out the links to the
videos below. Local signal reports from Amateur stations or other
information is appreciated. Please send them my way. -K6LCMAnacapa’s
International Space Station Contact Is a Success
[image: ariss-esai]<http://www.anacapaschool.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/ariss-esai.jpg>
- *KEYT-TV news story <http://youtu.be/oRHi41M168o>*
- *Raw video of the ISS contact <http://youtu.be/LxM61-b5hmE>*
By Levi C. Maaia, K6LCM
On May 22, 2013, Anacapa School students had a chance to speak with NASA
Astronaut and former Navy SEAL Christopher J. Cassidy via a live Amateur
Radio link to the International Space Station (ISS) (Astronaut Chris
Cassidy’s NASA Bio
<http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/cassidy-cj.html>). The
10-minute Q&A session went off without a hitch at the hilltop campus of
QAD, Inc. Signal reports from local hams indicated reception of NA1SS was
possible with a modest antenna on the downlink frequency of 145.800 MHz FM.
Video of the event was streamed live online on the school’s Web site.
The arrangement was made possible by Anacapa School’s participation in the
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Teaching From
Space program, a cooperative venture between NASA, the American Radio Relay
League (ARRL), the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) and other
international space agencies that coordinates scheduled radio contacts
between astronauts aboard the ISS and schools. Support locally was provided
by Amateur Radio operators Ken Owen, N6KTH and Calli Marquez, KD6OVS from
the Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club.
[image: NASA Astronaut Chris
Cassidy]<http://www.anacapaschool.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/58856main_ascan_cas…>
As part of the preparations for this event, students in the Anacapa Near
Space Exploration Club (ANSEC) passed the Federal Communication
Commission’s Amateur Radio license exam.
“It’s a lot of work. You need to know a lot about electronics and radio
frequencies,” said ANSEC team member Sam Robertson, KK6EMJ. ” There are a
lot of laws involved in it because when you’re on the radio you need to be
responsible so you aren’t, say, talking over a (broadcast) radio station or
TV station.”
Each year, Anacapa students participate in the school’s Synthesis Unit,
Anacapa’s premier tool for developing critical thinking skills. Each Unit
provides students with unique opportunities to explore a specific topic in
depth with expert speakers, field trips and hands-on experiences. This
year, the Synthesis Unit topic is “Space: Where Are We Going?” As part of
this Synthesis Unit, Anacapa hosted a three-day series of speakers in
January who presented on a variety of space-related topics including Santa
Barbara-area aerospace contractors, academic researchers and NASA Astronaut
Rick Linnehan, who visited Anacapa from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in
Houston (Videos from Synthesis Unit “Space: Where Are We
Going?”<http://tinyurl.com/ckmzn8o>).
After the speaker series, Anacapa students then hopped a bus to visit the
space launch complexes at Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara County.
As a complement to this year’s Synthesis Unit, Anacapa teachers across
varying content areas have incorporated lessons regarding space, astronomy,
NASA, and the ISS into their subject curriculum.
ARISS and Teaching From Space, a NASA education office, support
participating schools in instilling interest in science, technology,
engineering and math subjects and careers among students. The ARISS radio
contact is one in a series of educational activities in the U.S. and abroad
to improve teaching and learning in science, technology, engineering and
mathematics. Teaching From Space promotes a variety of learning
opportunities and builds partnerships with the education community using
the unique environment of human spaceflight.
[image: P1010406R]<http://www.anacapaschool.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/P1010406R.jpg>
ANSEC Team members pose next to the satellite antenna array after the
contact with Astronaut Chris Cassidy.
SBARC Members,
Many of you have asked me about listening in on the International Space Station contact tomorrow between Astronaut Chris Cassidy and Anacapa School students taking place as part of the ARISS program. We will do our best to simulcast it on one of the K6TZ repeaters: 146.790 and/or 446.400 beginning at around 10:42 am. Please check both frequencies. You may also attempt to monitor the downlink directly on 145.800 MHz FM during the contact window from 10:42 am - 10:53 am.
We are also planning a live video webcast starting at about 10:30 am. See the information below.
Levi, K6LCM
Watch live video as ...
Anacapa students make a rare space-to-Earth radio contact with
NASA Astronaut Chris Cassidy
Live video stream from the event starts
Wednesday, May 22, 2013 at 10:30 a.m. PDT
CLICK HERE TO VIEW
Cassidy is a flight engineer on Expedition 35, the 35th and current long-duration mission to the International Space Station (ISS) and Cassidy’s second spaceflight. Anacapa students will have an opportunity to ask questions of Cassidy during the 10-minute live forum as the space station’s orbit passes over Southern California.
The arrangement is made possible by Anacapa School’s participation in the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Teaching From Space program, a cooperative venture between NASA, the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) and other international space agencies that coordinates scheduled radio contacts between astronauts aboard the ISS and schools.
Read more about this event in our official media release.
Astronaut Chris Cassidy’s NASA Bio: http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/cassidy-cj.html
Videos from the Anacapa School Synthesis Unit “Space: Where Are We Going?”: http://tinyurl.com/ckmzn8o
Live video of the contact: http://www.anacapaschool.org/ansec
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: SB Library/SB Makerspace(/SBARC?) Reception and Forum Tonight at the Library at 6:30pm - It's FREE for EVERYONE
From: Rod Fritz <rod(a)sbatv.org>
To: SBARC Listserver <listserver(a)sbarc.org>
CC:
You should see what the Library and Makerspace are doing together! SBARC has an opportunity to ride along and introduce a lot of people to Amateur Radio in the process. There has never been a better time to get young people involved. Come and see what this is all about. There's a free reception and forum TONIGHT at 6:30pm in the Santa Barbara Public Library downtown. Libraries aren't just about books any more. This activity brings libraries into the 21st century with new knowledge, electronics, gadgets and software. This isn't about you being a kid in the past. It's about doing the amazing things that kids can do now and as they build (MAKE) the future. Hope to see you there. Check out many demos including the Mood Star that just got back from the Maker Faire in San Mateo (KMO was a major contributor). - Rod Fritz, WB9KMO.
Andrew Seybold, W6AMS, serves on the Board of SBARC.
[image: Urgent Communications]
------------------------------
Boston bombings raise sharing questions for FirstNet
By Andrew Seybold
The bombings during the Boston Marathon were a terrible tragedy, and the
news media got a lot of things wrong in the first few hours after the
blasts. One report, later retracted by the *Boston Globe*, was that the
federal government had ordered all commercial networks to be shut down. No
one knew if the bombs had been set off via cell phones, which is one of
many ways they could have been detonated. The idea was that the networks
were shut down was based on a fear that there could be more bombs, and the
networks could be used to detonate them.
The real story was that the networks were not ordered to shut down, but
they were so overcrowded that many call requests could not be put through.
So many people being denied access to the networks led to the assumption
that they had been shut down.
Even so, the fact that the networks were overloaded—as they are in times of
major incidents—should be of concern to
FirstNet<http://urgentcomm.com/organizations/ntia-firstnet?intlink=autlink>.
Because FirstNet is exploring the possibility of sharing the Nationwide
Public Safety Broadband Network (NPSBN) with commercial operators, which
will in turn make use of excess capacity on the network, the following
questions need to be considered in the final network design. These
questions are applicable during commercial-network overload, as well as
when—and if—commercial networks are ever ordered to shut down.
1) If the commercial networks were to be shut down or become
overcrowded, and the network operators had a sharing agreement to use the
FirstNet network, would all of the users on the commercial networks be
shifted over to FirstNet, causing increased traffic and congestion on the
NPSBN when it is needed most by the first responders?
2) If commercial users had access to FirstNet and the commercial
networks were shut down, does this also mean that the NPSBN would have to
shut down, because a commercial device on this network would also be
capable of detonating a bomb by remote control?
3) What—if any—safeguards will be built into the sharing agreements
between FirstNet and the commercial network operators, and how will the
load between FirstNet first responders and commercial users be monitored
and managed? Will it be possible to shut down access to the NPSBN for
secondary users (commercial users) when the commercial networks are shut
down or are overloaded?
The FirstNet system design is based on public safety having pre-emptive
access to the network. In theory, pre-emption would occur in two phases.
The first would be to limit the bandwidth and capacity available to
non-first-responder users during incidents. The second would be ‘ruthless
pre-emption,’ in which a first responder who accesses the NPSBN would be
granted that access instantly, even if it meant terminating a commercial
(secondary) user’s connection.
This sounds great in theory, but in today’s real world, any type of true
pre-emption might not be possible. One of the committees I serve on is made
up of some of the brightest
LTE<http://urgentcomm.com/technology/long-term-evolution?intlink=autlink>engineers
in the business. They have participated in the standards body
work for LTE, designed LTE systems, worked with LTE systems, and have more
knowledge and hands-on LTE experience than any other group I have worked
with or talked with. When I raised the following issues, they dug into
them, and their top-line answers are shown after the statements.
*Assertion 1:If the signaling channel is overloaded, then a User (UE) with
maximum priority and pre-emptive rights may not be able to access the
network.*
*Top-Line Answer:This is essentially a true statement, especially in a
network that is shared with commercial users.*
*Assertion 2:* *LTE provides a way around this problem (as stated in
Assertion #1) that can be implemented to ensure full priority access when
needed.*
*Top-Line Answer: Mitigation tools exist in the
3GPP<http://urgentcomm.com/governance/standards/3gpp?intlink=autlink>standards,
but due to a wide range of potential scenarios and causes, to
characterize this as “solved” would be an oversimplification.*
There is much more to the response from this group that I will publish soon
in my *Public Safety Advocate* e-newsletter, but the reason for the
response is based on the following overlying characteristics of LTE (or any
cellular-like network):
1) In order to make a call (or get onto the network), the device must
send a request for access to the network. The network then verifies that
this unit is permitted access and attaches the device to the network.
2) The signaling channel input is located at each cell site, and it
sends the request to the network. If the number of requests for service
exceeds the capacity on the signaling channel, some of the requests will
not be processed.
If the request for service or pre-emptive service is not delivered to the
cell site and transmitted to the network, the network has no way of knowing
the request was even made. Further, if the requests overload a number of
cell sites, they may not travel from the cell site to the network for
processing. In other words, if the LTE signaling channel (RACH) is
congested, the level of priority makes no difference. If the cell site does
not receive the request for service, it cannot be processed. So in reality,
there is no true pre-emption in LTE today.
*Note: One of the arguments we used with Congress to have the D Block
allocated to Public Safety was the fact that pre-emptive access on
commercial networks was neither practical nor feasible to accomplish. The
earthquake centered in Virginia and the following hurricane proved our
point, because—while the commercial networks remained operational—there
were many instances when access was totally blocked because the signaling
channels were overloaded.*
The bottom line is that implementing the public-safety LTE system will be a
real challenge. I am sure the FirstNet is up to it, but the solution will
need to be carefully focused on the needs of public safety during incidents
when access to the NPSBN will be critical for the public-safety community.
*Wireless communications consultant Andrew Seybold is a communications
advisor to both the National Sheriffs Association, and the International
Association of Chiefs of Police.*
------------------------------
*Source URL:*
http://urgentcomm.com/blog/boston-bombings-raise-sharing-questions-firstnet
Special thanks to Ken, N6KTH and Calli, KD6OVS for their technical guidance and efforts to make this Amateur Radio contact possible. I hope to see you there next Wednesday! -- Levi, K6LCM
Join us for a chat with NASA Astronaut Chris Cassidy as he orbits the Earth aboard the International Space Station!
View this email in your browser
Join Anacapa School for a chat
with NASA Astronaut Chris Cassidy
as he orbits the Earth aboard
the International Space Station!
You are invited to attend a special space-to-Earth radio contact with
NASA Astronaut Chris Cassidy
on Wednesday, May 22, 2013 at 10:00 a.m - 11:00 a.m.
at QAD, Inc. 100 Innovation Place • Santa Barbara 93108 (map)
*** Please RSVP by emailing space(a)anacapaschool.org. ***
Cassidy is a flight engineer on Expedition 35, the 35th and current long-duration mission to the International Space Station (ISS) and Cassidy’s second spaceflight. Anacapa students will have an opportunity to ask questions of Cassidy during the 10-minute live forum as the space station’s orbit passes over Southern California.
The arrangement is made possible by Anacapa School’s participation in the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Teaching From Space program, a cooperative venture between NASA, the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) and other international space agencies that coordinates scheduled radio contacts between astronauts aboard the ISS and schools.
Read more about this event in our official media release.
Astronaut Chris Cassidy’s NASA Bio: http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/cassidy-cj.html
Videos from the Anacapa School Synthesis Unit “Space: Where Are We Going?”: http://tinyurl.com/ckmzn8o
Live video of the contact: http://www.anacapaschool.org/ansec
Please join us for the DRTE100 and the Santa Barbara Trails Run 2013 during
the weekend of June 14th to June 16th
The DRTE (Dirt Road & Trail Endurance) 100 and the SB Trails Run is what was
known as the Blacksmith Endurance Run in 2011 and 2012. The course for both
is a little different than previous years and more off road and back woods
than previously. The DRTE 100 starts at 1800 on Friday night and runs until
noon Sunday. Most runners are completed by Saturday night. There will be
more need for operators with off road vehicles and the desire to camp out
overnight to support the DRTE 100. The SB Trails Run will be in the morning
of Saturday and it will complete by Saturday night.
If you can make any of this event please get back to me. I have split it
into separate hour shifts of at least two operators.
Friday night 1800-0600 Saturday
Saturday 0600-1800
Sat/Sunday 1800-0600
Sunday 0600-1200
These are recommendations and some of the positions will be complete by
Saturday morning. Please identify if you can participate in any or part of
any of these shifts
Last year weather came into play and a rare thunderstorm had to cancel the
race. Those that participated the year before all had a good time. This is
by far a great example of how HAM radio can shine. The course is all in the
outback of the Los Padres National Forest and can be very challenging for
the runners. The last time it was run (in 2011) the runners had wonderful
things to say about us HAM operators. They said they felt a sense of
comfort knowing that we were there and the miles of wilderness didn't seem
so alone. I hope you can participate from Friday until Saturday
night/Sunday morning. Food will be provided by the aid station people.
These people are really nice and fun.
The website is
http://trailrunningseries.com/
73
Rick Whitaker
Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club
Operations
rickwhtr(a)cox.net
home: 964-5440 please leave a message
cell: 451-3436 please leave a message
