Would anyone happen to have an Icom programming cable, and/or the software
for ICOM radios (the IC-F4011 in particular, but maybe it is universal
w/Icom)? If not, is there anyone you suggest I ask?
Thanks!
Ken
Wanted for club task
Electric Rotary Hammer drill with hammer only option, with 9-10" X 1"
inch chisel bit for chipping concrete. This is for one time use at
repeater site for punching through reinforced concrete back fill in
concrete block wall.
Contact:
Bill Talanian
<w1uuq(a)cox.net>
I just got the message below a few minutes ago.
Bob was very well known in the t-hunting community, and helped out a
number of times at the Yuma Hamfest with the antenna building clinic and
subsequent training.
RIP Bob.
Marvin, KE6HTS
> It is with a heavy heart that I must share that Bob, WB6JPI passed away
> last night.
> I don't have any further details at this time.
>
> Bob was a true ham, always sharing his knowledge and lending a
helpful hand.
> I will miss him very much.
>
> RIP Bob.
>
> Tom, K6VCR
SBARC Members,
If you have skills with amateur radio direction finding, the Digital SIG and Telecommunications Services Committee have a challenge for you!
SBARC has just put a newly coordinated multimode digital repeater on the air at 445.200/440.200 MHz. This club digital repeater sits atop the Mesa at the same site as the 2m FM club repeater. However, there is a potential squatter on our new input frequency 440.200 MHz. This rogue station beacons with a short (250 ms) digital burst every 11 seconds 24/7. We have analyzed and decoded the signal and believe that it is a beacon from the output of a DMR or multimode digital repeater. The beacon, however, contains no ID and no location information. Since this is an input frequency according to the SoCal band plan, this is not the appropriate frequency for such transmissions.
If you have DF equipment, we could use your help to locate station transmitting the beacon as that is most likely to be the source of the interference that we are experiencing on our club system. Occasionally there are longer sustained transmissions but those could be from local users of our repeater and not the source of interference. So if you plan on helping to locate the interference, focus on the 250 ms beacon bursts that occurs at regular 11-second intervals on 440.200 MHz.
Reception reports so far indicate that the station can be heard throughout Santa Barbara and Goleta. We do not have any reception reports yet from Ventura County.
Reports and information can be passed along to me, K6LCM.
Thanks so much for your help.
LCM
Levi C. Maaia, K6LCM
Director at Large | Co-Chair, Telecommunications Services Committee
Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club, Inc.
www.levi.maaia.com
+1.805.604.5384
Note: we also have dinner at Sizzler's afterward, and all participants
are invited. We generally talk ARDF related subjects including when and
where the next practice will be.
Thanks!
Marvin, KE6HTS
**********
Southern California's next on-foot transmitter hunting session will be
Saturday, November 4, 2017 at Bonelli Regional Park. It is suitable for
both beginner and intermediate level transmitter hunters. All ages are
welcome, so bring the family. A ham radio license and/or knowledge of
radio equipment are not requirements. Try your hand at some easy
two-meter transmitters set by Joe Moell K0OV plus a 5-fox two-meter
international-rules course of beginner-to-moderate difficulty, set by
Marvin Johnston KE6HTS. One or more fox transmitters on the 80-meter
band may also be set up to try. Experts will be on hand to help you.
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.
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 attenuator circuit boards. 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. 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.
For the advanced 2-m eter course, electronic scoring may be used. If
you have an "e-stick," be sure to bring it. Trails are primitive in
some areas of the park, so wear sturdy shoes. All ages are welcome, but
young children must be accompanied by an adult at all times.
Bonelli Regional Park is near Raging Waters, Brackett Field, and
Puddingstone Reservoir. From the 57 freeway north of I-10, take the Via
Verde exit and go east through the entrance to the park. There is a
per-vehicle entry fee. Go approximately 1/4 mile beyond the entrance
and turn left into the parking lot for the Snack Shoppe (formerly the
bike rental stand). Look for the orange-and-white orienteering flag
directing you to the starting area. Talk-in is on 146.97 MHz simplex.
If heavy rain is forecasted, check www.homingin.com on November 3 for
possible cancellation.
73,
Joe Moell K0OV
I attended Hamcom in Torrance on September 16 and 17th.
I attended tech talks all day Saturday
(<http://www.hamconinc.org/tech-talks-sked.html>).
One of my favorites was "Dealing with Government for Amateur Radio
Antennas" given by Attorney Jonathan Kramer, W6JLK. He was very
articulate, witty, and an all-around great speaker. His talk was not only
very informative (he's a smart guy), but very funny. If you are interested
in putting up an antenna and/or an antenna tower, check out his
presentation found at: <http://w6jlk.com/arrl17/> (won't be the same
without his narrative, but worth a look-see).
As an aside, on Monday January 23, 2017 the US House of Representatives
passed the Amateur Radio Parity Act of 2017 by unanimous consent. This
action now sends the bill to the US Senate for its consideration. We
should all be writing to our senators regarding the Amateur Radio parity
Act (HR555). If you live in a deed-restricted community (ie. HOA, etc.)
this affects you, but even if it does not, we should do this to help our
fellow hams who are in this situation currently (and it'll ultimately help
any of us who end up in a deed-restricted community one day).
Here is info on the act: <http://www.arrl.org/amateur-radio-parity-act>
How to write to senator:
<https://arrl.rallycongress.net/ctas/urge-us-senate-to-support-amateur-radio…>
Other talks I attended:
Elecraft: mostly advertising their new products (including 1500W amp), but
that's what I was after - they have only 40-some-odd people working for
them and ALL ARE IN THE USA - even the programmers! AND they manufacture
their radios in the USA too - mostly Northern California! WOW.
AREDN project: Andre Hansen, K6AH, AREDN Project Manager - good intro to
the mesh network - apparently Orv Beach did a "birds of a feather" session
later in the day.
Lunch speaker: Ned Stearns, AA7A - DXpedition to sub Antartic South
Sandwich and South George Islands - I read about this journey on their web
site as it happened and tried to reach them while they were there, but my
set-up just wasn't good enough. It was neat to see HIS personal pictures
and video of the islands. The first island honestly looked miserable. It
was amazing how they scaled rock walls while waves splashed on them to get
to the island; they climbed rope ladders and pulled full-blown generators
up behind them; for a week they lived on top of several feet of penguin
dung (smelled foul) in tents that were constantly collapsing and getting
ripped apart by incredibly high winds - these guys really rough it just so
we can make cool DX contacts.
New Designs for Vertical Antennas: Tom Schiller, N6BT (former owner of
Force-12)- He has discovered some very interesting properties of vertical
antennas that no one has documented in the past! I bought his "Array of
Light" antenna book for $30.
Ham Radio's Role During the Vietnam War: Dennis Vernacchia, N6KI - Gave a
fantastic talk and showed pictures he took of his MARs station during the
year he served. This is the only time I've seen first-hand pictures from
someone who served in Vietnam. I wasn't sure I wanted to go to this talk,
but it turned out to be absolutely fascinating. I overheard something
about turning his presentation into a TV show - I hope he does.
The Future for Ham Radio Equipment: Bob Allison, WB1GCM, ARRL Assistant Lab
manager - A lot about how they test radios at ARRL, talked about many
manufacturers and a lot about Flex radio. My favorite quote: maybe once
all radios are SDR's, and drawing incredibly lower power, they will all be
left on 24/7 and messages will regularly be relayed from one to the next.
Some may scoff at this, yet, (ironically) what does ARRL stand for!?
I spoke with some vendors about new light weight lithium phosphate battery
technology good for backpacking (we may carry at Santa Barbara
Electronics), as well as a new fold-out photovoltaic panel array for hiking
(small, light, sturdy), another guy selling a 10-80M small portable loop
antenna (in QST this month), Dave Bottom, WI6R, the owner of RadioSport
headsets (a super smart guy with a really neat work history from San Luis
Obispo; and he races on the same tracks as I :-), and many more.
Our dinner speaker was space weather expert Dr. Tamitha Skov of Aerospace
Corporation (federally funded R&D center for the Air Force). She was
energetic, sharp, and a great speaker. Anyone interested in how the
weather affects ham radio would have loved this talk. She taught us thing
about weather (out in space) that I don't think I could have learned
anywhere else.
It was quite a weekend for someone like me who has recently gotten back
into the hobby.
Ken
