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Squelch Tales, our club newsletter, is the official publication of SANDRA

Squelch Tales notice:  01.Jan.2009 - Publication of our club newsletter has been disrupted as we attempt to find a new printing source.  It is club policy to distribute our newsletter no less than once per quarter (4 times year).  Please be patient as we work to remedy our printing challenges. 

Historical copies of Squelch Tales dating back to 1972 can be found here:  http://www.sdrepeater.net/sandra

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Current ARRL Letter | ARRL Letter Archive

 

- 2010 - News Highlights & Website Updates
Aug.22 SANDRA is sponsoring the ARRL Southwestern Division Convention hospitality room. The hospitality room is located on the ground floor of the hotel and will be open on Saturday, September 18 beginning at 8:30 AM.

The room will provide free snacks, beverages and a friendly place to rest your weary feet. SANDRA plans to activate our special event call sign on Saturday, which is W6GIC. We will be monitoring 146.550 simplex and we also plan to have a QRP rig tuned to the 40 meter band. Look for W6GIC on 7.030 MHz.

If you’d like to volunteer to help with the room, please contact Jason, NF6E, by sending an email to nf6e<at>cox.net.

More information about the upcoming SANDARC sponsored ARRL convention can be found at http://www.sandarc.net/Convention2010
 
Aug.22 SANDRA will begin accepting nominations for office in September. Nominations close at the October board of directors meeting, and the election of officers takes place at our annual meeting in November. Nominations may be made for any one or more of the following offices:

• President
• Vice President
• Secretary
• Treasurer
• Membership Chair
• Meeting Chair
• 3-Year MAL Director

Please refer to the SANDRA leadership page for more information.
 

Aug.08 A new set of W6GIC Classic photos has been added to the Squech Tales photostream on Flickr.
Aug.07 The club membership roster has been updated.  Expired memberships and soon to expire (current month) memberships are highlighted for your convenience. 
Aug.03 John, K6RLV and Brian, WB6CYT visited Mt. Otay to service the packet system and work on our battery back-up system.  The packet system's power supply "crow-bar'd" (probably during the recent power outage) and did not reset.  Brian cycled the supply on and off and the rack came back to life.  The first battery that was to be installed on Otay was stolen from our benefactor.  Brian built and donated a low voltage cut-off to prevent the batteries from being run too far down.  THe cut-off was installed.  Tasks remaining include wiring from the battery box to several racks for 12v back-up.  We also need to obtain batteries and install them.  We are in line to get several LARGE batteries for the site.
Jul.24 A web page featuring a chronology of local events that resulted in the creation of SANDRA is now available from the "About SANDRA" page.
Jul.04 The club membership roster has been updated.  Expired memberships and soon to expire (current month) memberships are highlighted for your convenience.  New for July, 2010 is the ability to save or print a public view of the SANDRA roster as a .pdf file.  This view only provides name, call sign and expiration date of members.  Printed rosters with member contact information are for members only and can be requested on-line.
Jun.14 We had a small turn-out for the Otay clean-up today, but the group worked well together and we accomplished a lot.  SANDRA bought breakfast at Tylers Taste of Texas for four of the group.  After that, we headed to the SANDRA site on Otay.

Work commenced right away.  Alex (WB6DTR) worked on repairing damage to the road, Joseph (KI6UPY), Heather (KJ6GOO), Joseph (KI6TTF) and Clark (KJ6BSO) cleared weeds and brush from around the building.  Brian (WB6CYT) pulled wires through the conduit from the new battery box, into the building and looked at the Packet equipment.  After a few hours the site looked great and the road was greatly improved.  Everyone put great effort into our project and we made a difference.

I want to thank Joseph, Heather, Joseph, Clark, Alex and Brian for doing a great job helping SANDRA.

John, K6RLV - SANDRA Site Manager; SANDRA Technical Chair
Jun.06 Congratulations to SANDRA member Art, W3ALL! Art's winning ticket was drawn at the SANDRA "Celebration of Incorporation" event held at Giovanni's Restaurant on Saturday, June 5 and as a result, he walked away with a brand new WOUXUN KG-UVD1P Dual Band HT.
Jun.04 The club membership roster has been updated.  Expired memberships and soon to expire (current month) memberships are highlighted for your convenience.
May.18 A planned power outage on Mt. Otay has been scheduled by SDG&E for Wednesday, May 19th, 2010. The job requires the interruption of power for up to 34 hours so crews can replace several poles and reconductors. On the first day from 8:00AM - 6:00PM a helicopter will be used to assist the crews with the pole replacements. The power will be re-energize at approximately 6PM on Thursday, May 20th, 2010.

Please limit your use of Otay repeaters during this period to conserve our emergency battery power.
May.07 The club membership roster has been updated.  Expired memberships and soon to expire (current month) memberships are highlighted for your convenience.
Apr.04 The club membership roster has been updated.  Expired memberships and soon to expire (current month) memberships are highlighted for your convenience.
Mar.20 The technical committee has restored Lyons Peak 146.265 to full power.  The system appears to be functioning normally. 
Mar.06 The technical committee visited Mt. Otay to repair the Otay node.  It is now operational.  The committee was also able to restore service on Lyons Peak 146.265 using a back-up system.  The repeater is operating at reduced power.
Mar.05 SANDRA held its first membership meeting of the year.  Guest speaker was Steve Early-AD6VI, San Diego (SDG) ARRL Section Manager.  Steve provided the membership with a detailed overview of the city planning commission meeting on February 25 and how local hams can help defeat this amendment.  SANDRA has updated its public notice page to include city councilmember contact information to encourage local hams to let their voice be heard on the matter.  SANDRA will continue to work closely with our ARRL representative and stand with our sister clubs in San Diego to help defeat this amendment.
Feb.26 Video of the Feb 25, 2010 San Diego Planning Commission meeting  Please note that the actual meeting begins about 6 minutes 25 seconds into the video.  Testimony begins approximately 40 minutes into the video.  There was legal representation at the meeting to defend the amateur position thanks to the San Diego DX club.  You will see an attorney address the commission approximately 49 minutes into the video.
Feb.25 Website updates:  A repeater problem and status report is now available from the club repeater page http://www.wb6wlv.com/repeaters. Selecting this report will display any problems reported by SANDRA repeater users along with current problem status (open or closed); The links made available at the bottom of each web page on our site now include a reference to ARRL affiliated club ham radio classes within the San Diego section (SDG) in addition to the SANDARC ham radio testing schedule.
Feb.07 WB6DTR and K6RLV visited Hi Pass today.  Here is their report:  Braved cold temps (in the 30's) high winds and some rain.  A quick check with the wattmeter showed zero watts out of the 2M
repeater. After poking around, we found the input power adjust to the MSR-2000 power amp had a dirty spot on the pot and presto! Instant power out.  We checked deviation and audio levels. Reset the frequencies on the GE 220 link radio and buttoned it up!
Feb.07 SANDRA Public Notice #02072010-01 has been posted to alert the membership of a pending amendment to the City of San Diego's Land Development Code regarding height limits for amateur radio antennas.
Feb.06 On February 4, the SANDRA board unanimously approved the appointment of Herb Radisch, KF6ROX as editor of Squelch Tales.  We are grateful to Herb for volunteering for this important position.  The next distribution of Squelch Tales is scheduled for the last week of March, 2010.  You can submit ideas for articles directly to our new editor.  Contact information appears on the SANDRA leadership page.
Feb.05 The club membership roster has been updated.  Expired memberships and soon to expire (current month) memberships are highlighted for your convenience.  Newly added blue highlighted entries identify elected officers.
Jan.20 The technical committee has received numerous reports and inquiries into the status of the Lyons Peak repeater.  Site access challenges are delaying the technical committee's ability to restore Lyons Peak service.  We are doing everything possible to restore service and apologize for any inconvenience this downtime might be causing you.
Jan.08 The club membership roster has been updated.  Expired memberships and soon to expire (current month) memberships are highlighted for your convenience.  Newly added blue highlighted entries identify elected officers.
Jan.01 Happy New Year to members and non-members alike from the SANDRA board of directors!

- 2009 -

News Highlights & Website Updates | Return to the top of the page
Dec.10 Mt. Otay has suffered damage as a result of the recent storm.  146.640 and 224.200 are off the air.  449.500 is stuck in TX mode.  The technical committee is aware of this and working to assemble a crew to visit the site and investigate.  Update:  2:00 PM - The Otay systems are back up and appear to be functioning normally.
Dec.05 The club membership roster has been updated.  Expired memberships and soon to expire (current month) memberships are highlighted for your convenience.  Newly added blue highlighted entries identify elected officers.
Dec.04 The 2009 SANDRA Christmas Party was a great success! No one left the event hungry. Congratulations to the winners of the Wouxun KG-UVD1P dual-band handheld radios:

- Michael Todd, K6WD
- Jim McCormick, K6UMA

An extra special thank you to meeting chairman Ben, N6VVY and our friends with the Filamars group for brilliant handling of the beverage and food service.  Event photos will be made available soon.  Merry Christmas to all!
Dec.03 Lyons Peak is back on the air after being down for about one week.  The power supply died and needed to be replaced.
Nov.22 Club website updates:  A new web-based form has been added to our club website to assist those who would like to use a SANDRA repeater for a net or group activity; an adjustment to the club news page has been made to discern our open Yahoo Group forum from our moderated forums; our club Operating Guidelines have been converted into a stand alone .pdf file and made available from the docs and forms page.
Nov.21 The membership chairman has sent all SANDRA members a flyer in the mail informing them of the upcoming Christmas party.  The flyer contains a map to the party as well.  We hope to see many old friends and many new faces at the party!
Nov.16 The root cause of the buzz on 449.500 was identified over the weekend and fixed. It was found to be a problem with repeater's power supply. The repeater is back to normal operation.
Nov.08 A nasty buzz has appeared on the Otay UHF repeater output (449.500).  The technical committee, in the process of working on the Mt. Otay battery box, will investigate the buzz during the next hill trip.
Nov.05 SANDRA annual meeting held.  Election for 2010 club officers closed.  Officers for 2010 are as follows:  President, Jason Lansky NF6E; Vice-President, Michael "Stogie" Panger KG6JCW; Secretary, Barbie Flinn, WA6URS; Treasurer, Ken Decker WA6OSB; Membership Chair, Bob Boehme, W6RHV, Meeting Chair, Ben Concepcion, N6VVY.  Member At Large Directors3-Year, Chuck Wood WD6APP; 2-Year, Bayard Rehkopf K6GAO; 1-Year, John Austin K6RLV.  Collectively, our club officers and member at large directors make up our club Board of Directors.  Congratulations to everyone!
Oct.31 The club membership roster has been updated.  Expired memberships and soon to expire (current month) memberships are highlighted for your convenience.  Newly added blue highlighted entries identify elected officers.
Oct.11 The original 1978 "ARES Charter of Affiliation" certificate was found in the SANDRA history locker.  It has been scanned and is now available for viewing from the SANDRA "about us" page.
Oct.10 SANDRA was represented at the first Ham Radio Outlet Amateur Radio Appreciate Day by WD6APP, NF6E, W2IRI, WA6OSB and K6RLV.
Oct.02 Nominations for office concluded at the end of the October 2009 SANDRA board of directors meeting.  The 2010 slate of SANDRA officers follows:  President, NF6E; Vice President, KG6JCW; Secretary, WA6URS; Treasurer, WA6OSB; Membership Chair, W2IRI; Meeting Chair, N6VVY; Three Year Member-at-Large, WD6APP; Two Year Member-at-Large, K6GAO; One Year Member-at-Large, K6RLV.
Sep.29 The club membership roster has been updated.  Expired memberships and soon to expire (current month) memberships are highlighted for your convenience. 
Sep.19 An all volunteer crew participated in Hi Pass repeater site brush clearing and maintenance around the property owned by Floyd, W6BTP.  The event was coordinated by the SANDRA technical chairman, K6RLV and included the following participants, listed alphabetically by call sign suffix:  W6CAW, NF6E, K6GAO, KI6GRN, W2IRI, N6JOJ, KI6KTY, WA6LNF, AF6MX, KG6NDX, K6RLV and KG6TDP.  SANDRA appreciates everyone's hard work.
Sep.06 The 2009 SANDRA elections committee is now accepting nominations for office.  Please visit the SANDRA "leadership" page for information on the club election process.  A web form is also available from the leadership page to submit nominations electronically.  You may also submit nominations by standard mail or in person.  Nominations will be accepted through the end of the October board of directors meeting.
Aug.29 The club membership roster has been updated.  Expired memberships and soon to expire (current month) memberships are highlighted for your convenience. 
Aug.09 The SANDRA board is very pleased to announce that effective immediately, Alex Groza, WB6DTR has been elected by the board to be an advisory director.  The board has set the duration of this appointment from today, August 09 through December 31, 2009.

ABOUT ADVISORY DIRECTORS

Advisory director positions are non-voting board positions.  These positions are typically assigned to SANDRA members who have shown exceptional interest in SANDRA operations and who have provided valuable insight and support to the board. They perform special assignments as specified by the directors, attend meetings and are able to speak on behalf of the club.

Congratulations Alex and thank you for your continued dedication to SANDRA.

Aug.01 The club membership roster has been updated.  Expired memberships and soon to expire (current month) memberships are highlighted for your convenience. 
Jul.20

There will be a special meeting of the SANDRA board held on Saturday, August 1.  Meeting will begin at approximately 11:00 following the ham radio swap meet breakfast at the Ranch House restaurant in Santee.

Jul.17 The club membership roster has been updated.  Expired memberships and soon to expire (current month) memberships are highlighted for your convenience. 
Jun.16 The club membership roster has been updated.  Expired memberships and soon to expire (current month) memberships are highlighted for your convenience.  This is a static view of membership status at the time the roster is posted to the web. 
May.08 Club policy manual updated to reflect board meeting schedule in support of non-conflicting membership/board meeting dates.
May.02 The club membership roster has been updated.  A new feature has been added to the membership roster to spotlight expired (past 90 days) and soon to expire (current month) memberships.  This is a static view of membership status at the time the roster is posted to the web. 
May.01 On May 09, 2009, CERT San Diego Battalion 7 will conduct a drill on the 147.885 Sharp repeater from 08:00 to 12:00 local time. 
Apr.09 Notice:  On June 6-7 from 0600 to 1400 local time, the 449.200 Laguna UHF repeater will be used by the San Diego Ultra Running Friends (SURF) group for event communications. 
Apr.05 The club membership roster has been updated.
Mar.22 A new set of photos has been added to the SANDRA photo album on Flickr.  The set features classic photos from the estate of W6GIC.  To date, 30 photos have been scanned and uploaded, but several dozen remain.  We'll be sure to announce new uploads as soon as they are complete.
Mar.14 The new web service and web server are working swell.  All web forms are now functional.  The home page counter has been reset.
Mar.08 The club membership roster has been updated.
Mar.05 The SANDRA web server is experiencing intermittent down time.  The board has decided to move our service to a new provider and service.  Until we do, you may expect intermittent down time as the current server we are using appears to be at an end-of-life stage.
Feb.04 PayPal service on the SANDRA website to support new memberships, membership extensions and donations has been restored.
Jan.31 Please be aware that the 146.640 Mt. Otay repeater will be used to support the San Dieguito Half Marathon race on Sunday, February 8 from 6:00 AM to 12:00 PM.  SANDRA would appreciate your cooperation with this communications activity during this time.
Jan.13 Reestablishment of PayPal payment processing will be no later than Jan 31.  Technical challenges have kept us from adhering to our original Jan 10 availability date.
Jan.01 Version 1.6 of the SANDRA membership form has been posted to the documents and forms section.  This version reflects our updated dues structure of $25.00 per year.
Jan.01 Happy New Year from the 2009 San Diego Repeater Association Board of Directors.
   

- 2008 -

News Highlights & Website Updates | Return to the top of the page
Dec.21 From Jan 1, 2009 to Jan 10, 2009, SANDRA will not be able to process PayPal payments on-line.  This temporary situation is necessary to support our Jan 1, 2009 dues increase from $20/year to $25/year as well as a change to our banking information in support of our PayPal account.  This downtime will effect PayPal donations, new memberships and member renewals.  We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.
Dec.13 The club membership roster has been updated; an on-line request form for a printed version of our club roster is now available from the SANDRA membership page.
Dec.04 SANDRA Christmas pot luck and prize give away was a great successl.  More than 60 members and guests in attendance.  Raffle winner of the Yaesu VX-170 HT was Shirley Boehme, KD6ZNU. Congratulations Shirley!
Nov.06 SANDRA annual meeting held.  Election for 2009 club officers closed.  Officers for 2009 are as follows:  President, Jason Lansky NF6E; Vice-President, Michael "Stogie" Panger KG6JCW; Secretary, Jason Lansky, NF6E; Treasurer, Ken Decker WA6OSB; Membership Chair, Bob Boehme, W6RHV, Meeting Chair, Ben Concepcion, N6VVY.  Member At Large Directors3-Year, Bayard Rehkopf K6GAO, 2-Year, John Austin K6RLV, 1-Year, Chuck Wood WD6APP.  Collectively, our club officers and member at large directors make up our club Board of Directors.  Congratulations to everyone!
Nov.03 The club membership roster has been updated; an on-line request form for a printed version of our club roster is now available from the SANDRA membership page.
Oct.02 Nominations for office are now closed.  Our election is scheduled for November 6.  One office is up for consideration, that of the 3-year Member at Large director.  One person is running for this office:  K6GAO
Sep.04 Our election committee is now accepting nominations for office.  Election committee members are:  WD6APP, K6RLV and N6LRV.
Sep.04 Changes to our club bylaws as proposed in the Mar/Apr edition of Squelch Tales were ratified by the membership.
Aug.28 The club membership roster has been updated.
Jul.13 The Mt. Otay 1.2GHz repeater has been repaired and is back on the air.  The Echolink repeater on 145.360 has been taken off the air indefinitely, pending resolution of technical and frequency co-channel challenges.
Jul.06 The Mt. Laguna 220 power amp has been replaced.  The repeater is now operating at full power.
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.
Apr10 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 | Return to the top of the page
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 Directors3-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
Sep.06 A D-Star presentation was shared with the membership by guest speaker Cecil Casillas, WD6FZA.
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 | Return to the top of the page
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 | Return to the top of the page
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 -

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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 | Return to the top of the page
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 | Return to the top of the page
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.

This page last modified:  08/22/2010


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