|
2008 |
News Highlights &
Website Updates |
|
Jul-03 |
The club
membership roster has been
updated. |
|
Jul-01 |
A new California
hands-free cellular telephone law goes into effect July 1, 2008.
ARRL has received numerous questions about its application to the
use of mobile Amateur Radio stations by licensed amateurs.
ARRL response can be found in the
June 20, 2008
edition of the ARRL Letter. |
|
Jun-29 |
The Mt. Laguna 220
power amp was taken out of line and removed from the repeater site
for repair. The repeater is operating on limited power output,
pending the repair of the power amp. |
|
Jun-29 |
Without any effort to
make repairs, the Otay node appears to be up again. The cause
of the temporary failure is unknown and will be investigated during
the next Otay site visit. |
|
Jun-26 |
The Otay node appears
to be down. This includes the 1200 BPS 2M node, the high speed 432
county link and the 6M long-haul link. The technical committee will
address this during the next Otay site visit, date TBD. |
|
Jun-22 |
The technical
committee visited the Sharp autopatch repeater site and installed
the recently repaired controller. The autopatch is now back to
normal operation. |
|
Jun-14 |
A group of volunteers
completed a very much needed Mt. Otay site clean-up activity.
Volunteers cleared brush and weeds to create a fire break. Thank you
to everyone who volunteered for this important project. A special
thank you to Filamars for
their outstanding contribution. |
|
Jun-07 |
Standard templates for
board of director meetings and general meetings have been posted to the documents
and forms page. |
|
Jun-06 |
Version 2.4 of the
club policy and procedures manual has been approved by the BOD and
posted to our documents
and forms page. |
|
May-17 |
Version 1.4 of the
club membership application and version 1.4 of our repeater user
request form have been posted to our documents
and forms page. These forms are now interactive Adobe
Acrobat forms. |
|
May-10 |
The club
membership roster has been
updated. |
|
Apr-25 |
The Mt. Otay 2 meter
repeater, 146.640, is back to normal operation. The issue was
traced to a loose cable from the repeater to the controller.
Our members owe a big thank you to our technical committee chairman
for spending a Friday afternoon on Otay to fix the repeater! |
|
Apr-20 |
The Mt. Otay 2 meter
repeater, 146.640, has been shut down pending resolution of an audio
muting problem. The technical committee attempted a controller reset
to fix the problem, but the problem was not cleared. At this tine it
is likely that a hill trip is required to fix the problem. Please be
patient as our technical committee makes plans to visit the hilltop
and work on the repeater. |
|
Apr-10 |
The autopatch is in
"repeater only" mode pending enhancements to the repeater
controller. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you. |
|
Apr-09 |
Special message from
the San Diego Amateur Radio Council (SANDARC)
regarding the 2008 San Diego Count
Fair. |
|
Apr-08 |
The club
membership roster has been
updated. |
|
Mar-11 |
The technical
committee performed maintenance at the Hi Pass site and also visited
the Mt. Laguna site.
They reported that our 2 meter APRS antenna on Mt. Laguna along with
our 220 antenna were damaged as a result of recent storms.
Repairs were made on site, with the 220 antenna being remounted as
best as possible. Future trips may be necessary to put things
back the way they were before the storm. |
|
Feb-02 |
Paypal and credit card
processing has been added to the SANDRA website to support
new memberships, membership renewals
and donations. |
|
Feb-01 |
The club
membership roster has been
updated. |
|
Jan-27 |
The
June, 1978
edition of Squelch Tales has been posted to the SANDRA History
website. |
|
Jan-01 |
Happy New
Year from the 2008 San Diego Repeater Association Board of Directors. |
|
|
|
|
2007 |
News Highlights |
|
Nov.21 |
Happy Thanksgiving!
The Lyons Peak repeater is back at full strength thanks to the
SANDRA technical committee. |
|
Nov.01 |
SANDRA annual meeting
held. Election for 2008 club officers closed.
Officers for 2008 are as follows: President, Jason
Lansky NF6E; Vice-President, Michael "Stogie" Panger KG6JCW;
Secretary, Tuck Miller, NZ6T; Treasurer, Ken Decker
WA6OSB; Membership Chair, Bob Boehme, W6RHV, Meeting Chair,
Ben Concepcion, N6VVY. Member At Large Directors:
3-Year, John Austin K6RLV, 2-Year, Chuck Wood WD6APP; 1-Year,
Bayard Rehkopf K6GAO. Collectively, our
club officers and member at large directors make up our club Board
of Directors. Congratulations to everyone! |
|
Oct.31 |
SANDRA repeaters are
back to normal use. Some activity from the Red Cross
continues. |
|
Oct.25 |
ARES has activated
emergency nets across San Diego repeaters to support communications
during San Diego's fire emergency. Please be aware of this activity
on SANDRA repeaters and other repeaters across the county.
ARES information:
http://www.sdgares.net |
|
Aug.25 |
MARA, the
Mercury Amateur Radio Association, approached the SANDRA board for
approval to conduct a simplex mapping exercise on 146.640, Saturday,
September 29 from 9:00 to 10:00 AM. The purpose of this exercise is
to map simplex RF pathways between key locations. The SANDRA
board approved MARA’s request to use our repeater for this test.
The process consist of manning likely operating locations, then
having each station transmit: call sign, location, antenna type,
transmitter power output and a "10" count over a repeater.
While this station is transmitting, each receiving station (except
Net Control) records the call-sign, then switches to the repeater
input and records signal level and quality, if any signal is heard.
The Net Control will do the same, except the NCO will also record
the station location, antenna type and power output. The key
to the operation is using a repeater to coordinate transmissions.
MARA collects this data in the event that the repeater is not
available, to allow us to pass messages by simplex relay, if
necessary. Current results can be found at
http://marasandiego.org/. |
|
Aug.01 |
Elections are coming!
Our election committee consists of K6GAO, WA6OSB and WD6APP.
Nominations for office will begin in September and conclude in
October. If you are interested in running for an open SANDRA
office, or if you would like to nominate someone for an open seat,
please email your nomination to our election committee at
election@wb6wlv.com or
contact SANDRA toll free at 888-683-8233. |
|
Jun.30 |
Membership is
reporting low power output from the Lyons Peak repeater. Board
has been notified and will address the issue accordingly. |
|
Jun.09 |
SANDRA members and
friends made a successful maintenance trip to the Mt. Otay repeater
site. Participants in alphabetical order by call sign suffix:
KI6ACI, WD6APP, WB6CYT, WB6DTR, NF6E, N6ERD, KI6IAR, N6JOJ, N6LRV,
WA6OSB, K6RLV, N6TNC and N6VVY.
A substantial amount of work was performed on the Otay vehicle
access road and the site footpath. Radio maintenance was also
performed on the Otay 2m and 220 machines. Antenna lines were spot
checked and tower/clamp bolts were checked for snugness.
The next edition of Squelch Tales will feature the Otay Road
Warriors with a nice write-up and photos. A few RAW (unedited)
photos have been uploaded to the SANDRA photo album:
http://tinyurl.com/28gc39.
Thank you to our dedicated members and friends who came out to help
us! |
|
May.22 |
The Lyons Peak
repeater is once again on the air. An isolator has been placed in
line to help avert future PA failures. |
|
May.19 |
SANDRA was represented
by the club president, NF6E at the 4th annual Council-wide Girl
Scouts Bridging Ceremony in Balboa Park. A small, portable HF
station was set-up for a couple of hours to demonstrate live CW to
the public. SANDRA will receive official recognition in Girl Scout
newsletters for its participation. The press also attended the
event.
Read the full special event bulletin. |
|
Apr.19 |
Lyons Peak has failed
again. The technical committee has determined it is the power
amplifier, again. Repairs will be made and a root cause
analysis conducted. |
|
Apr. 08 |
The SANDRA Board met
in special session to discuss the club Board meeting and general
meeting schedule. As a result, the club Board meeting schedule has
been changed. |
|
Mar.12 |
The technical
committee has visited the Lyons Peak repeater site and repaired the
repeater's power amplifier. The repeater is back on the air. |
|
Mar.10 |
SANDRA has been
informed by the membership that the Lyons Peak repeater has failed.
The technical committee is investigating. |
|
Mar.01 |
The first board
and general meeting of the year will be held at the San Diego County
Education center. |
|
Jan.03 |
The
Echolink repeater was taken down for frequency and audio adjustment.
We hope to have it back in service in a few weeks. |
|
Jan.01 |
Happy New
Year from the 2007 San Diego Repeater Association Board of Directors. |
| |
|
|
2006 |
News Highlights |
|
Dec.31 |
Members of the
San Diego Repeater Association Technical Committee were at the SANDRA Otay site today to perform routine maintenance. All radios were
inspected to ensure that they were well with-in their legal operating
parameters. All the SANDRA repeaters at the Otay site are operating
properly. |
|
Dec.26 |
The SANDRA
Technical Committee is aware that the Lyons Peak repeater is off the
air. We are working on getting
the repeater back on the air as soon as possible. |
|
Nov.11 |
The SANDRA EchoLink repeater is on the air! |
|
Jul.16 |
SANDRA Technical
Committee members completed Phase 1 of the SANDRA Echolink repeater
project. The VHF repeater was installed and is operational at the Otay
site. The repeater operates on 145.360 - MHz. with a PL of 107.2.
Phase 2 involves constructing a ground station relay and connecting it
to the Internet. Phase 2 will be completed in the near future.
|
|
Jul.06 |
The San Diego Repeater
Association's By-laws and Policy and Procedures manual have been
revised. The club meeting schedule has also
changed. |
|
Jul.02 |
Members of the SANDRA Technical Committee performed
maintenance at the Laguna, Hi-Pass and Otay sites today. All repeaters
are performing to specifications. |
|
Jun.03 |
Amateur radio
operators will again soon be assisting State and Federal Forestry
officials with Red Flag Patrols, which is part of the Fire Alert
System. Yes, wildfire season is upon us again. Teams of specially
trained amateur radio operators will be patrolling areas throughout
San Diego County as part of the Red Flag Patrols. SANDRA repeaters are
used for Red Flag Patrol communications, with the Lyons Peak repeater
being the primary frequency used. |
|
Jun.01 |
SANDRA, Inc. (San
Diego Repeater Association) is in the process of a much needed By-Laws
update. The Board approved the revisions, and a membership vote will
take place at the next SANDRA meeting which is Thursday, July 6th.
Your participation is encouraged. The meeting will be in Room 306. The
By-Laws revisions, as published in Squelch Tales May/June 2006
edition, will require a majority vote of the membership present in
order to be adopted. You can request a copy of the old By-Laws be
sending an e-mail to SANDRA, Inc. |
|
May.27 |
The SANDRA Technical
Committee made a system upgrade at the Hi-Pass site. The VHF Mitrek
repeater was replaced with a upgraded / reconditioned Motorola MSR2000
repeater. The receive sensitivity is outstanding. This upgrade will
enhance the Hi-Pass system. |
|
Jan.14 |
The Mount Laguna
UHF repeater has been repaired and is back on the air. |
|
Jan.05 |
Congratulations to
Tuck Miller, NZ6T, for being elected to the SANDRA Member At Large
Board position. Also to Jason Lansky, NF6E, for his appointment as the
Club Historian. |
|
Jan.01 |
On October 25,
2003, a human-caused fire began near the mountain town of Ramona in
San Diego County, California. Fueled by acres of dry brush and fanned
by strong Santa Ana winds, the Cedar Fire spread rapidly, consuming
more than 140,000 acres in its first day. Containment came 10 days
later, only after burning 273,246 acres, destroying 2,232 homes, and
killing 14 people. Another casualty of the Cedar fire
was the repeater site which housed the Amateur Radio Club of El
Cajon's (ARCEC) repeater equipment. The repeater equipment sustained
moderate damage, and needed extensive repair. The San Diego Repeater
Association stepped in and provided a monetary donation along with
donating equipment to the Club. SANDRA made its repeaters available to
the El Cajon Club for their activities. The Amateur Radio Club of El
Cajon has been utilizing the SANDRA repeaters to conduct their various
Nets, etc. since the loss of their equipment. Within the next few
weeks, the ARCEC repeaters will once again be on the air. The San
Diego Repeater Association welcomes you back on the air, and is glad
to have been able to assist during this time. |
| |
|
|
2005 |
News Highlights |
|
Dec.24 |
Repairs were made to
the Otay 220 MHz. repeater and it is up and running! |
|
Nov.20 |
The Laguna UHF
repeater is currently off the air. The repeater is being repaired
and will be back on the air soon. The Otay 220 repeater is
experiencing an intermittent transmit problem. We will be addressing
that in the near future. We apologize for any inconvenience. |
|
Mar.17 |
The Lyons Peak
repeater is back on the air. The problem was with the repeater's
power amplifier. |
|
Mar.12 |
The Lyons Peak 146.265
MHz. repeater went off the air today. The Technical Committee will
be looking into this within the next few days. Until then, all of
the SANDRA Otay repeaters are up and running. They will have to be
used in the interim. |
|
Feb.27 |
Tech Committee members
went to Otay and performed maintenance on several repeaters. The
146.04/64 repeater was checked, and the duplexer and cavities were
re-tuned. The antennas on the tower were repositioned to provide
better coverage to south and east county. A second coat of paint was
sprayed on the exterior of the building. |
|
Feb.13 |
Tech Committee members
went to Laguna and worked on the VHF repeater. A new receive preamp
was installed and adjustments to the system were made. Work was also
performed on the squelch circuit. The 147.150 MHz. repeater should
be performing much better. The antenna may need to be relocated on
the tower. |
|
Jan.01 |
Happy New Year wishes
to all from the San Diego Repeater Association. System Status:
Normal. All repeaters with the exception of the Otay 1282.300
repeater are on the air. |
| |
|
|
2004 |
News Highlights |
|
May.15 |
Tech Committee visited
Otay and Hi-Pass and did preventative maintenance checks on the
SANDRA system. All systems are to commercial specifications and
operating properly. |
|
Jan.25 |
The Hi-Pass system is
back on the air. |
|
Jan.18 |
The Hi-Pass system is
currently off the air for repairs. We will get it back up and
running as soon as possible. Sorry for any inconvenience. |
|
Jan.01 |
Happy New Year to
all. System Status: Normal. All repeaters with the exception of the
Otay 1282.300 repeater are on the air. The 1282.300 repeater is
being overhauled by W6RHV. |
| |
|
|
2003 |
News Highlights |
|
Nov.20 |
Power has been
restored to the Otay site. All systems are up and functioning
properly. |
|
Oct.28 |
The recent Otay fire
has caused a complete loss of power on Mount Otay. The SANDRA site
is fine, but we won't have power for a couple weeks. Our Otay
repeaters are currently off the air. All other SANDRA sites are
operational. SDG&E is estimating that service will be restored on or
about November 18th. |
|
Sep.18 |
All repeaters are
operating properly. We are hoping to have the Otay 1200 MHz.
repeater back online soon. Send us an e-mail if you are experiencing
any problems with any of the systems. |
|
Mar.30 |
The SANDRA Otay
146.640 MHz., 224.200 MHz. and 449.500 MHz. repeaters are on the
air. We want to thank all the people who assisted us during the Otay
reconstruction project. Many hours were spent at the site throughout
the year long project. We also received donated materials as well as
monetary donations. We appreciate and thank our members for their
understanding and patience while the 220 and 440 repeaters were off
the air. We have also purchased a new antenna for the Mount Laguna
224.060 MHz. repeater. We will be installing the new antenna in the
near future. |
|
Mar.14 |
Most of our news
and site updates have been posted in SQUELCH TAILS or announced
during our nets. The Otay site is almost complete. The towers have
been erected and the antennas installed. We just need to run
feedline from the antennas to the building. Here's a link showing
work at the Otay site:
http://sdrepeater.net/sandra/otay |
| |
|
|
2002 |
News Highlights |
|
May.26 |
Technical Committee
Members continue to work on the Otay tower reconstruction project.
We now need to arrange to have cement poured into the tower
foundations. |
|
Mar.02 |
SANDRA, Inc. acquired
new towers for the Otay site. A crew drove to Los Angeles today to
pick up 100 feet of Rohn 65G tower. We plan to have all radios on
Otay up and running as soon as possible. Thanks for your patience. |
|
Feb.23 |
A work party returned
to the Otay site and finished cutting up and hauling away the fallen
tower sections. Everyone's assistance is greatly appreciated. |
|
Feb.16 |
A work party went to
the Otay site and began the task of dismantling the fallen towers.
The crew was able to get the 146.640 repeater back on the air.
Thanks to all! |
|
Feb.10 |
All repeaters located
at the SANDRA Mount Otay site are currently off the air. The towers
were destroyed by high Santa Ana winds. New towers have been
obtained and plans are in place for getting things up and running
again. We regret any inconvenience, and assure you we are doing
everything possible to get all systems up and running as soon as
possible. Thank you. |
|
Jan.21 |
We are still
experiencing problems at the Sharp Hospital site. It appears the
problem is with the controller. The Tech Committee is working on
correcting this problem. The controller may have to be returned to
the manufacture. |
|
Jan.20 |
The SANDRA Tech
Committee made a maintenance trip to the Laguna site. Preventative
maintenance was performed on all our systems. The 220 MHz. antenna
was repositioned on the tower for better performance. |
|
Jan.13 |
The SANDRA Tech
Committee made a maintenance trip to the Otay site. Preventative
maintenance was performed on all our systems. |
