BARK News
2018 Annual Meeting Summary
Yesterday, Saturday November 10, 2018, BARK held its annual meeting.At that meeting, John, W6FAQ and Paul, KJ6GCP, were unanimously elected to return to their board seats for another 2 year term.
Also at the meeting, the members unanimously approved the adoption of the new BARK bylaws. The bylaws are posted on the website here: New Bylaws
Also approved at the meeting was Ken, K6WLS's plan for County Fire reconstruction activity. Anyone wishing to help out in the recovery efforts should contact Ken.
Minutes of prior 2018 meetings have been posted on the links page here: Meeting Minutes. Novembers minutes will be posted as soon as they are finished.
Finally, please welcome new member, Bruce Marcum, W6RBM, who has recently relocated to the Woodland area from SoCal.
Thanks for your service in 2018. Here's looking forward to a prosperous and uneventful 2019! 11/11/2018
November General Meeting; 2019 Meeting Dates
The November general meeting will be held on Sat. Nov 10, 10am-noon - 500 1st St, Woodland.At this meeting we will be electing two board positions, for seats that are up for election this year, John W6FAQ and Paul KJ6GCP. So far, we have two nominees, the incumbents, John and Paul. If there are any additional nominations please let a sitting board member know at least a week before the November meeting.
Also at the November meeting, we will have an approval vote on the proposed bylaws updates. Please be sure to review the proposed changes, which can be found on this webpage below. If you cannot attend, the meeting, please assign a proxy, or one will be assigned for you at the meeting.
As usual, there will be an FCC test session, immediately preceding the general meeting at 730am at the LDS Chapel on Pioneer in Woodland.
Finally, at yesterday's board meeting, the 2019 BARK meeting schedule was determined as follows:
Sat. Feb 9, 10am-noon - 500 1st St, Woodland
Sat. May 11, 10am-noon - Winters EOC, 702 Main St, Winters, CA 95694
Sat. Aug 10, 10am-noon - 500 1st St, Woodland
Sat. Nov 9, 10am-noon - Winters EOC, 702 Main St, Winters, CA 95694
FCC Test Sessions will be held the morning of the same days:
Sat. Feb 9, 7:30am - 9:30am LDS Chapel on Pioneer, Woodland
Sat. May 11, 7:30am - 9:30am Winters EOC, 702 Main St, Winters, CA 95694
Sat. Aug 10, 7:30am - 9:30am - LDS Chapel on Pioneer, Woodland
Sat. Nov 9, 7:30am - 9:30am - Winters EOC, 702 Main St, Winters, CA 95694
10/14/2018
Proposed ByLaws Changes - Vote Notice - November Gen. Meeting
At the November BARK General Meeting, there will be a vote cast for the approval of bylaws updates recommended by the Board of Directors.Below are two links. The first is the final version of the Bylaws, after modification. The second is the original with proposed edits as marked up text, for reference.
Please review the proposed changes and attend the November General Meeting to vote on these changes. If you cannot attend, be sure to assign a proxy vote to someone who is attending, otherwise according to the 2013 Proxy resolution, your approval will be voted by an officer present at the meeting.
If you have any feedback or questions regarding these changes, feel free to contact a member of the Board, or an officer.
The final version
The marked-up original
8/12/2018
August General Meeting and FCC Test Session
The remaining 2018 General meetings will be held as follows:Sat. Aug 11, 10am-noon - Winters EOC, 702 Main St, Winters, CA 95694
Sat. Nov 10, 10am-noon - 500 1st St, Woodland
Remaining 2018 FCC Test Sessions will be held the morning of the same days:
Sat. Aug 11, 7:30am - 9:30am - Winters EOC, 702 Main St, Winters, CA 95694
Sat. Nov 10, 7:30am - 9:30am - LDS Chapel on Pioneer, Woodland
We will be seeking election committee members to supervise the election of vacancies on the board of directors as well as office selection at the November Annual meeting.
All members and interested parties are invited to join.
Contact President Joe, or any of the board members, if you need assistance in getting to the August meeting.
8/5/2018
BERR37 (144.37) and BERR Packet Nodes (223.6 Forwarding Only) are back on-air
K6WLS and AG6QO got temporary transmission lines in place for the two BBS packet nodes today. Both are on the air and in service.These will eventually need to get new heliax as well as lightening arrestors.
Ed, W1EJ, tagged along and activated Berryessa Peak on Summits on the Air (SOTA) for 40 CW QSO's on an Elecraft KX-2 with 10 watts !!
7/22/2018
Grid Power (AC) has been restored at the repeater site
Yesterday K6WLS reports, PG&E has reinstalled our damaged meter, returning AC power to the vault.Also, Ken checked the SWR on the 144.37 (BERR37) antenna and it appears to be serviceable. Good news.
Next on the recovery plan is to get proper transmission lines restored and get BERR37 and BERR BBS packet nodes operational. 7/17/2018
Donations
Several kind organizations and individuals have asked how they might help BARK recover from the significant loses incurred by the County Fire.Those inclined to make monetary donations may do so immediately by sending check or money order to our Treasurer at :
B.A.R.K.
c/o Doug Hollowell
795 Alwin Dr
Dixon, Ca 95620
For those who prefer to use PayPal, you can send a donation of your choosing to BARK at BARKradioKlub [at] gmail [dot] com. Just select 'Send Money' and give the email address above. Please add a note indicating "County Fire Recovery Fund", and describe who is making the donation. And THANK YOU!!!
We are still in the process of determining details of replacement costs. As mentioned earlier, we know we need to replace at least three 2m vertical antennas, and as much as 250 feet of 1/2 inch Heliax (LDF4-50A), lightening arrestors, and connectors.
We will need to replace at least one sector mesh tranceiver/antenna with lead in, and at least two 20ft solar panel lead it sets.
We were unable to test the BBS Packet Node antennas today (BERR37 and BERR), but hope to do so in the very near future.
Watch for updates here as the recovery process unfolds.
7/15/2018
Sunday Night Net - returns to KE6YUV tomorrow, July 15
Thanks to the efforts of K6KN and K6WLS, the BARK repeater is functioning on solar power.The Sunday Night Net will therefore return to its home repeater KE6YUV starting tomorrow.
7/14/2018
KE6YUV Repeater is back on the air - temporary setup
K6WLS and K6KN went back up the hill yesterday and got the repeater running on battery only.Today, K6WLS went back up and connected the solar from the BBS nodes (BERR37/BERR) to the FM repeater (since BERR37 and BERR are down waiting for new coax). He also removed a lot of the burnt-up equipment from the vault roof and tower. Thanks Ken !!!
So the KE6YUV FM repeater is back on the air on temporary coax and solar power. It should run indefinitely.
We will need to install new hardline for all antennas.
BERR37 and BERR are awaiting coax to test the serviceability of their Telewave antennas. 7/12/2018
BERRY / KBERR is ON THE AIR !
Thanks to the extraordinary efforts of Bill, K6KN, and Ken, K6WLS, KBERR / BERRY packet node is back on the air ! Using a temporary antenna and coax, and shifting the functioning solar to the KBERR radio, it is ready for use.Ken will give a detailed report of what they found and what they did at tonight's net on N6QDY repeater.
Thank you Bill and Ken!
7/8/2018
CalFire County Fire News Release - July 8
http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/admin8327985/cdf/images/incidentfile2101_3565.pdf 7/8/2018July 8 Net - will be on N6QDY 147.255, + offset, 123.0 PL
We will be using N6QDY again on July 8, for our Sunday night net.We still have not gained access to the repeater site, due to controlled burns, OES activity, and PG&E crew activity.
Fire recovery info will be posted here as it becomes available.
7/7/2018
CalFire County Fire News Release - July 7
http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/admin8327985/cdf/images/incidentfile2101_3544.pdf 7/7/2018CalFire County Fire News Release - July 6
http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/admin8327985/cdf/images/incidentfile2101_3533.pdf 7/6/2018Overview of the BARK repeater vault
Excellent overviews of the burnt-out BARK repeater site, thanks to CalOES.
7/5/2018
First view of damage
CalOES has provided some photos of our repeater site, giving us the first idea of the extent of damage.Looks like essentially all antennas and feedlines have been destroyed, and the PG&E meters melted.
We'll need to get there to see if there is any structural damage to the tower, and what the condition of inside equipment is. Still awaiting news on when we will be able to get on-site.
Click on photo to get enlarged version.
BBS node antennas and FM repeater transmit antenna, feed lines(left), BERRY node antenna (right):
PG&E meters (left) and Solar and feed lines (right):
Mesh nodes, temp YUV xmt ant, and Crystal Comm tower(left), and mesh ant and Crystal Comm's tower (right):
KE6YUV FM Rcv ant):
7/4/2018
Fire spreads into valley - updated map
MODIS map update (4 July 0814 local) shows ridgeline cooling, fire moving into more populated valley areas.Scroll down to see map of fire at the peak of repeater site involvement, on July 2.
BARK repeaters down
Visual observations and satellite update confirm that the BARK site is definitely involved in the active County Fire.We'll update this site with new information as it becomes available, but we expect it will be at least days before anyone will be able to get in to the site to assess damage.
7/2/2018
County Fire - Check N6QDY 147.255, + offset, 123.0 PL at net time
The BARK repeaters are all down today. Unfortunately, it appears likely that it is due to the County Fire: http://www.fire.ca.gov/current_incidents/incidentdetails/Index/2101Although the current Cal Fire map shows the southern fire boundary as north of the repeater site, it is obviously not up to date. Several eye witnesses saw intense flames at or around the repeater site last evening around 1030pm (June 30). About an hour ago (1440 local, July 1), evacuations began for some residents of Golden Bear development just north of lake Solano near the south-eastern end of Lake Berryessa, west of Winters.
Both the FM repeater and the BBS packet nodes were recently placed on solar powered battery backup, and so would not be down due to only grid power loss.
While we don't have any direct reports from the fire scene, at this point, it appears that the best case scenario is that the repeater site is covered in fire retardant, as it is at the center of a Temporary Flight Restriction zone, reserved for tanker flights. It may be worse than that.
Tonight Bob has volunteered to try to move the net to N6QDY repeater, 147.255 MHz, + offset, 123.0 PL, with 7.185 and 28.400 (HF SSB) as backups.
Check back here for updates as they become available.
73,
Joe AG6QO
1700 Local 1July - Update -
MODIS fire map shows that the repeater site was definitely involved. Fire has spread south nearing the southern end of Lake Berryessa. Highway 128 closures near Pleasants Valley Road are in effect. Evacuations continuing.
MODIS fire map of the area:
Map last updated 2 July 2222 local. (ctrlR to reload browser)
Google Earth overlay can be found here by clicking 'KML':
https://earthdata.nasa.gov/earth-observation-data/near-real-time/firms/active-fire-data
The evacuation center in Guinda was closed earlier today. The evacuees from Golden Bear are being hosted at the Winters Community Center.
7/1/2018
2nd 180 W Solar Panel Installed
Today, K6WLS and AG6QO installed the 2nd 180W solar panel, backing up the FM repeater. At this point, the two BBS packet nodes and the FM repeater, should be able to run indefinitely upon loss of grid power.These replace the smaller units damaged in last December's wind storm.
180 W Solar panel now powering BBS Packet Nodes
K6WLS and AG6QO installed the first of potentially three 180 W solar panels at the repeater site today, which will eventually make the site able to run indefinitely during loss of grid power.
3rd Quarter Board Meeting
The third quarter meeting of the BARK Board of Directors will be held on Saturday, July 14 at 9am. The place is to be announced. Board Members should expect an email announcing the place within the next few weeks.5/27/2018
May 11 General Meeting Minutes are posted
The minutes of the May 11 General Membership meeting have been posted and can be viewed here.5/23/2018
August Testing and General Meeting Location : Winters CA
Reminder, the August 11 FCC Testing Session and the BARK General Meeting will be held at theWinters CA EOC at 702 Main St. Winters.
The Final General Meeting of the year and the final test session of the year in November, will be back at the usual locations.
The remaining 2018 General meetings will be held as follows:
Sat. Aug 11, 10am-noon - Winters EOC, 702 Main St, Winters, CA 95694
Sat. Nov 10, 10am-noon - 500 1st St, Woodland
Remaining 2018 FCC Test Sessions will be held the morning of the same days:
Sat. Aug 11, 7:30am - 9:30am - Winters EOC, 702 Main St, Winters, CA 95694
Sat. Nov 10, 7:30am - 9:30am - LDS Chapel on Pioneer, Woodland 5/13/2018
February Meeting Minutes Posted
The minutes from the February 2018 General Meeting have been posted online and can be downloaded here:http://ag6qo.com/BARK/2018Feb10minutes.pdf
5/13/2018
Silent Keys
It is with heavy heart we call attention to the passing of two fine long-standing BARK members.In July 2017, we lost past BARK Director "Sam" Bledsoe, N7DTW. Sam's wit and intellect will be sorely missed.
More recently, Rose Jolly, W6QPV, who often graced our Sunday night nets, moved on to a higher plane.
Her kind, gentile nature lifted the spirits of those with whom she crossed paths. We will always remember her with great fondness.
Our love and sympathies are with their friends and families. We cannot adequately express our thanks for their contributions to our hobby and community.
3/11/2018
2018 BARK General Meeting and FCC Test Schedule
The 2018 General meetings will be held as follows:Sat. Feb 10, 10am-noon - 500 1st St, Woodland
Sat. May 12, 10am-noon - 500 1st St, Woodland
Sat. Aug 11, 10am-noon - Winters EOC, 702 Main St, Winters, CA 95694
Sat. Nov 10, 10am-noon - TBD -
Check back for locations for the Nov meeting.
FCC Test Sessions will be held the morning of the same days:
Sat. Feb 10, 7:30am - 9:30am LDS Chapel on Pioneer, Woodland
Sat. May 12, 7:30am - 9:30am LDS Chapel on Pioneer, Woodland
Sat. Aug 11, 7:30am - 9:30am - Winters EOC, 702 Main St, Winters, CA 95694
Sat. Nov 10, 7:30am - 9:30am - LDS Chapel on Pioneer, Woodland
Ken says, "There is a new technician test question pool coming up for July 1, 2018 so if you have someone or know of anyone studying for their license we need to let them know to test before then." 1/27/2018
Good news! KE6YUV repeater is back up and running!
12-21-17Ken K6WLS and Bill K6KN went up to the repeater site on Thursday. They hooked up two spare antennas as a temporary fix to get the repeater back up and running.
Thank you Ken and Bill! 12/21/2017
KE6YUV Repeater down
December 18, 2017The strong winds this last weekend cause the tower from the communications vault next to us to topple.
When their tower fell, it took out the KE6YUV repeater antennas and stripped the coax from our tower. On a positive note, the packet nodes KBERR and BERR37 are still operating.
Repairs will take time.
View a couple of photos. 12/19/2017
BARK Directors 2017
Mick-W6KRY 2017-2019Bill R-K6KN 2017-2019
Doug-KJ6VHE 2017-2019
Joe-AG6QO 2017-2019
Damien-AB6WB 2017-2019
Paul-KJ6GCP 2016-2018
John-W6FAQ 2016-2018
12/15/2017
Packet Workshop II - November 4 - 9:30 until 12:00
BARK is planning a follow up to last month's packet workshop. This is an introductory workshop intended to get everyone's equipment communicating. If there is time left over, we'll cover operational aspects of packet.Please come prepared with your intended packet equipment, including cables.
Look over the preparatory notes and material here:http://ag6qo.com/PacketWorkshop.html
We look forward to seeing you at the workshop! 10/21/2017
ATTENTION: A Packet Radio Work Shop - Sept 16
BARK sponsored Packet Radio Workshop - Sept 16 , 1000 to 1200 hours, at the offices of Luhdorff and Scalmanini CE, Main Conference Room, 500 First Street, Woodland, CA. Coffee, juice and donuts provided by BARK. Visitors welcome!!The following is a message from Joe, AG6QO who will be heading up the workshop.
"Please note that we are planning to hold a packet beginner's workshop on September 16, at 10am until about noon. If you need help getting started with packet, bring your rig, your tnc/modem, a laptop or other computer device. If you have 'em bring a battery and cables as well.
I will plan to have a 75A 12V supply, an antenna and coax, my packet gear including laptop, and my toolbox.
The most time-consuming part of setting up a station is making the cables to connect the TNC/modem to the radio. They are often custom for the TNC/radio-pair. It will make the most of our time if you will have built them and tested them ahead of time, but if you need help, no problem!
If we have time, we can cover some of the operational points in addition to getting your packet system running.
Look forward to seeing you there!
73,
Joe
AG6QO" 8/13/2017
BARK General Membership Meeting for 12 August 2017
Agenda for the BARK General Membership MeetingSat. 12 August 2017
Held at the offices of:
Luhdorff and Scalmanini, 500 First Street, Woodland, CA
1000 to 1200 hours
1. Introduction of members and visitors – roll call
2. Treasurers Report – Doug KJ6VHE
3. Membership Report – Doug KJ6CHE
4. Repeater Maintenance – Ken K6WLS and Bill K6BIL
5. Director Elections – Committee Formation – Election Nov 11, 2017
6. Club Officers Appointments – Committee Formation
7. Presentation – Damian – AB6WB – “How To Do Efficient and Logical Trouble Shooting” - Damian will walk through a logical process when troubleshooting issues with your radio station components
8. Presentation – Joe – AG6QO – “A Primer on Packer Radio” - Joe will present the basics of Packet Radio and how to set up your station to do packet radio.
9. New and Old Business
10. Close of business and pizza for lunch plus two door prizes to be awarded
8/3/2017
License Upgrades
Just wanted to plug HamTestOnline for studying - it is an interactive online study program that was recommended to me by one of our club members. It is absolutely an awesome way to study and it helped me to recently pass my Extra license.Please check it out.
Bill, K6BIL 6/18/2016
BARK 2017 Event Calendar Dates
The following calendar dates are BARK radio club and other ham radio related events that will occur during the calendar year 2017. Please mark these dates on your calendar. Locations and specific times will be posted at a later date.BARK Sponsored FCC exams are generally held at the LDS Chapel in Woodland.
Sponsor: BARK Repeater Club
Date: See Dates Below
Time: 7:30 AM (Walk-ins allowed)
Location: LDS Chapel
850 Pioneer Avenue
Woodland CA 95776
Contact: Kenneth R. Wilson
(530) 305-4088
Email: gramps55@gmail.com
General membership meetings are usually held at 10:00am following test sessions:
Date: See dates below
Time: 10:00am
Location: 500 1st Street
Woodland CA
95695-4026
Event Dates ----------------------------------------
Saturday, May 20 – Davis Double Century
Sat and Sun - June 24 thru 25 - ARRL Field Day
Saturday, August 5 – Tevis Cup 100 Mile Endurance Ride
Saturday, August 12 - BARK FCC exam and general membership meeting
Fri, Sat and Sun - October 20 thru 22 - Pacificon in San Ramon (www.Pacificon.org)
Saturday, October 21 – Foxy Fall
Saturday, November 11- BARK FCC exam and general membership/elections
Hopefully we will see you at one of the events – Bill, K6BIL
11/11/2015
Think About Serving As a Director for a Great Radio Club??
BARK Members and Guests,It's time to think about the upcoming club elections that will take place on November 7th. As you may or may not be aware, BARK elections are held to elect the club Directors with the Directors appointing the club officers.
This is a big election year as five (5) Director positions are open. The Director terms are two years in length. Club officer terms are for 1 year.
Please consider holding one of these offices. Our club is what the members make it, and it needs the continuing ideas, input, and interest from each of you to succeed. Our past officials have spent much time and effort to keep the flame going. We have an excellent repeater site that we all use and much effort is expended to ensure its continued operation.
If you would like to be on the ballot or would like to nominate someone for any of these positions, please email me or Bob Jordon. Voting will take place at the November 7 meeting.
Bill Gustavson (K6BIL) at K6BIL@Yahoo.com
OR
Bob Jordon (KI6BZR) at Hamguy530@AOL.com
Any ideas are always appreciated in any club. Serving on the board is the perfect way to be involved in making the club what you'd like it to be. The presentrepeater/BBS/Mesh NET system we have in place is a perfect example of the great ideas and innovation emanating from the Board and members. Let's keep it moving forward.
Technical discussions and forums are always a part of the BARK general meeting and this year we have three speakers:
Bill, K6KN – Discussion on HF antenna choices for your home station. Bill will illustrate the pros and cons of the different antenna systems along with how to use them given variances in local requirements and physical impediments.
Joe, AG6QO – "Portable Packet and Radio Mail" - Joe will demonstrate some very portable devices which are available and allow ultra-portable packet operation. He will demonstrate them and how to use them to leverage local digital resources for everyday ham use as well as emergency communications.
Damian, AB6WB – Audio Amplifier Show and Tell – Damian will illustrate what an audio amplifier is, how they work, the different types and the intricacies of each.
Hope to see you at the November meeting as we have a great and very informative agenda.
10/16/2015
BARK Dues
To BARK membershipIt has been proposed that the Current dues payment process be changed to a fixed payment date. This date will be June first and will become effective on 6/1/2014.
Those with current paid dues will either be prorated or partial billed to get to the June date. All new members will be billed a partial bill to get to that date.
Those who are already paid beyond 6/1/2014 will receive a partial billing for the following year.
Members with currently past due accounts can contact Ken Wilson to determine the correct amount to bring you into this new billing system.
Thank you for your continued support of the Berryessa Amateur Radio "K"lub.
Contact information for Ken:
K6WLS
gramps55@gmail.com
530 305-4088
12/11/2013
New Packet BBS, AG6QO-1, now available on 144.370
BARK member Joe DeAngelo, AG6QO, has recently fired up a new packet BBS in Winters, CA on 144.37. It can be accessed directly by connecting to AG6QO-1, or farther out by connecting to the BERR37 node on Mt. Berryessa, and then to AG6QO-1.Read more..
