Greetings from the K6R Team
by David Swanson
Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club,
My name is Dave Swanson, KG5CCI, and on behalf of myself and Wyatt Dirks,
AC0RA, I'd like to say hello to everyone. Wyatt and I are part of the K6R
team that will be camping on Santa Rosa Island inside the CM93 grid square,
on September 16th-18th in hopes of handing out that rare grid on Amateur
Radio Satellites. We have assembled all the required equipment, secured all
the necessary permissions, and arranged for travel and campsites on the
Island, and we're just sorting out the final details now. One of those
details we were hoping to find a volunteer from the club to help with.
We are in need of a expedition 'Pilot' of sorts to help us relay
information back to the AMSAT Mailing list from the Island. We'd like to be
able to update chasers as to who we have in the logs, so they know they
made it. Since we'll be well outside cellular range on Santa Rosa, our best
method of doing this is the K6TZ 220mhz repeater on Diablo Peak, on Santa
Cruz Island. We will have 220mhz radios with us for this exact reason, and
we think this will be the best method to get information out to folks.
So, if you have a reliable link into the 223.920 repeater on Diablo Peak,
will be around the weekend of the 16th-18th, and want to copy and relay a
bunch of information for a mini-dxpedition of sorts, please email me back
at dave(a)druidnetworks.com with your availability and willingness to help,
and we'll discuss the specifics of what is required.
On a side, but somewhat related note, on Saturday the 17th between 2PM and
4PM PDT we plan on doing some terrestrial VHF/UHF work from the 1200ft MSL
'Black Mountain' on Santa Rosa Island, inside CM93. We'll have a small 2
meter and 70cm beam with us, and we'd love to make some simplex contacts on
the high bands from the rare grid. If you have a station that is up for the
challenge, email us with your details and we'll try and set a schedule.
Thanks again everyone, we look forward to coming out west and we'll post
any further updates to our QRZ page at https://www.qrz.com/lookup/k6r as
the launch date gets closer.
73!
Dave, KG5CCI and Wyatt, AC0RA
6 years, 6 months
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805 Area Code Change
by Bill Talanian
Paul Strauus, wd6eby, and technical contributor to SBARC voices concerns
about area code changes.
By Tom Kisken of the Ventura County Star
Posted: 6:47 p.m. 0
Plans to add a new area code to the 805 mean Paul Strauss may one day
have to dial 11 digits to call someone who lives next door.
That seems like a step backward to the Camarillo resident who spoke
Monday at an Oxnard public hearing on a proposal that could be
implemented in 2018.
"It's like we're catering to the technology instead of the technology
catering to the individual," said Strauss, who is 62. "… It's my
generation that's going to have the hardest time with this."
The hearing focused on the dwindling prefixes available in the
three-plus county region that currently uses an 805 area code that dates
back to 1957.
Only 40 of 792 prefixes are left and they are expected to run out by the
middle of 2018. That means a change in area code is unavoidable, said
Joe Cocke, of the North American Numbering Plan Administration, which
administers phone numbers in 20 countries, including the United States.
In the plan called an overlay and proposed by the telecommunications
industry, people who currently use 805 would keep it. People who move to
the region beginning in mid-2018 or who want to add lines could be
assigned a new, still unknown area code.
A final decision from the California Public Utilities Commission, which
organized Monday's hearing, is likely to come next year and be
implemented before the prefixes are dialed out.
But the overlay means people would have to dial 10 digits with every
phone call. On land lines, people would also have to dial a 1. The cost
of the call would not be affected.
The extra dialing is a concern for some.
"The seven (digits) is bad enough," said Pat Brown, 75, of Oxnard,
relating decades of telephone experience that date back to the days when
operators connected local calls. "This overlay is going to be horrendous."
Brown suggested a better alternative that involves splitting off part of
the 805 and assigning it a new area code.
But splitting an area code into two has become almost obsolete. The last
split nationwide was nine years ago with California's most recent split
coming 12 years ago.
In addition to technical problems that could temporarily affect text
messages, a split means people have to change their phone numbers. That
can carry a financial punch for some, said Cocke.
"It hurts a business if they have to change their phone number," he said.
Linda Calderon, 75, of Oxnard, said she supports the overlay in part
because she does not want to change her phone number or her business cards.
Ten-digit dialing is routine for cellphone users, noted Jerome
Candelaria, of the California Cable and Telecommunications Association.
"It appears that having to change the area code is more disruptive than
having to dial the digits," he said.
Matt Dorros, of Simi Valley, questioned whether any change was needed.
He said phone companies hoard prefixes that, if used properly, could
extend the life of the current 805 indefinitely.
"I have counted an unbelievable number of ghost prefixes in the 805," he
said, referring to numbers allegedly not assigned to anyone.
Cocke said a system of checks and balances is aimed at preventing any
hoarding. He said phone and cable companies have to prove a legitimate
need for new prefixes.
He said many of the so-called ghost prefixes are likely used for
machine-to-machine communication, including Wi-Fi connections, faxes,
medical devices and alarm systems.
Others at the public hearing asked about language barriers in making
sure the county's Mixteco population is aware of the changes coming in
2018. Brenda Birdwell, of the Braille Institute, asked officials to
consider the importance of phones to people without sight.
"It is their lifeline to the community," she said.
A public hearing on the area code was also held in Santa Barbara Monday
night with a session scheduled for Tuesday morning in San Luis Obispo.
The next step will be the formal application for an area code before the
public utilities commission. That could happen later this year with a
decision by the commission possible by the middle of next year.
For more information on submitting opinions or concerns about the
planned changes, go to http://bit.ly/2bANljm.
6 years, 7 months
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Santa Barbara Triathlon 2016
by Rick Whitaker
If you like getting some radio air time and seeing happy, fit
people (who thank you for being there) then the Santa Barbara Triathlon is
the event for you. I am looking for a small handful more of HAM Radio
Operators to help support the safety of these people who come from all over
the place to swim, bike, and ride in a wonderful event. The event is
Saturday August 27, 2016 from 0700 until about noon. The people are
friendly, the radio operators are nice, and I promise you will have a good
time. Bring a chair so you can sit down and enjoy this event and talk on the
net.
Please contact Rick Whitaker at
rickwhtr(a)cox.net
if you want to join. Who knows you may even get a cool T-shirt to wear
around that looks like you were part of the Santa Barbara Triathlon.
73
Rick Whitaker
6 years, 7 months
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Life off-shore
by Bill Talanian
Folks:
Very soon Brian Milburn, k6bpm, will be briefing everyone on a new
venture for SBARC related to a very interesting environmental program
off-shore. As you may be aware SBARC has a 35+ year relationship with
Santa Cruz Island and the coastal channel. For the past dozen years Ric
Wiles has been our point of contact at the TNC. He will now be
reassigned to Palau with the TNC overseeing the Electronic Monitoring of
the fishing boats. Ric will be still with us in-between trips. Meanwhile
I thought you might be interested in his new assignment.
Bill Talanian
-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: Tuna Ric...what are you doing!
Date: Mon, 15 Aug 2016 21:42:40 +0000 (UTC)
From: Ric Wiles <ricwiles(a)sbcglobal.net>
Reply-To: Ric Wiles <ricwiles(a)sbcglobal.net>
To: Ric Wiles <ricwiles(a)sbcglobal.net>
Hi friends and family,
It looks like I'll be departing for Micronesia, specifically Palau,
right after Labor day to start installing the EM systems on some of
these long line fishing vessels. Some of you have shown an interest in
what it is I will be doing. There is a short two part film accessed by
the link below ("CNN's Great Big Story"). This should help explain it
better than I can...and there is some cool scenery to look at too!
Cheers,
Ric
As the world population reaches 8 billion, we must rise to the challenge
of protecting biodiversity in a human-dominated world. That's where the
Conservancy comes in. We are investing in new ways to use science and
technology to catalyze change on a grand scale. Below you can read about
how we are employing these skills to revolutionize endangered species
recovery on Santa Cruz Island and sustainable fishing in the Pacific Ocean.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Keeping an Eye on Tuna: Electronic Monitoring Goes Live in Palau***
Sixty percent of the world's tuna is caught in the Western and Central
Pacific Ocean--and when it comes to fishing, this is the Wild West. A
handful of island nations have the difficult task of monitoring fishing
across thousands of miles of open ocean. In many fisheries, human
observers are the primary means of oversight. They sit on boats and log
the catch as it comes in, but that's not always cost-effective,
efficient or safe.
In the longline tuna fishery, human observers cover only 2% of the
fleet. Without observers, we don't have enough data on tuna catch,
poaching, or the number of sharks, turtles and rays that are caught. But
where observers don't work, electronic monitoring does.
Electronic monitoring involves a combination of on-vessel video cameras,
GPS systems and sensors to record all the catch on fishing boats. We've
implemented these systems here in California with groundfish, and now
we're beginning to scale them across the Pacific's longline tuna fleet.
Our first wave of installations goes live this month on seven boats in
Palau. At the same time, we are developing computer vision software to
analyze the data as it streams in. With innovative technology like this,
we are poised to revolutionize data collection and accountability in
fisheries around the world.
Watch the two-part video on *CNN's Great Big Story
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001geB18ent-UhiYbZ5XIBtOkmUgjJf9Rz6Smwr4sZ5G8bo…>*
to learn more about our work with tuna fishermen in Palau.
6 years, 7 months
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