News & Announcements

February 23, 2009
The Sierra Blanca Amateur Radio Club is planning a FREE amateur radio licensing class open to the public starting today. The course will run for six weeks and meets every Monday beginning at 6:00 PM at the Region IX Education Coop building in Ruidoso. For more information contact Rick Sohl at 378-8266 or e-mail info@sbarcnm.org .

January 27, 2009
The Village of Ruidoso Council voted today to enact an amendment to its zoning ordinance regulating amateur radio facilities within the Village limits. The revised ordinance replaces design standards that were overly restrictive of allowed dimensions and heights for amateur radio antennas with new standards that are more reasonably accommodating and amateur-friendly. By lifting the previous restrictions, the revised ordinance greatly improves the ability of local amateurs to provide emergency and public service communications to the benefit of all citizens of Ruidoso and neighboring communities.

August 9, 2008
SBARC was the proud recipient today of a grant from the Joan Dale and R.D. Hubbard Foundation. The club will use this money to implement necessary hardware upgrades to its repeater system. As a result, these improvements will significantly enhance our emergency communications capabilities in the Ruidoso area. For more information please see our press release document (PDF format). We wish to thank the Hubbard Foundation for their very generous support.

July 21, 2008
The annual club meeting was held today. All incumbent officers were re-elected to another year. Congratulations to WØZW, K5OI, and K5JWE on their third consecutive year each in office. See the posted meeting minutes on the Download Page for more details .

December 20, 2007
SBARC is very pleased to announce that an Albuquerque ham, Boit Brannen, N1BDR has made a significant donation of hardware to the club. The club sincerely thanks Boit for his generosity. There will be many good uses for this equipment in its new home!

November 5, 2007
The official results for the ARRL 2007 Field Day were released today. For the 2nd year in a row SBARC was number ONE in the state of New Mexico in category 2A! Congratulations to all FD participants for an outstanding effort.

September 28, 2007
SBARC now has its own Packet Radio Node which became fully operational today. This system allows reliable wireless digital communications in the area independent of the Internet. The BUCK node provides excellent coverage of south-central New Mexico from its location on Buck Mountain, north of Ruidoso, NM. For more information, please see the Club Packet Node page.

September 15, 2007
The long-awaited Camelot Repeater became operational today. This accomplishment was the result of a team effort by club members who contributed their time, materials, and energy. This repeater would not have been possible without the cooperation of the Village of Ruidoso, which graciously allowed the club to locate it on municipal property. For more information, please see the Club Repeater page.

August 24, 2007
In an IRS determination today, SBARC was found to be a Federal income tax exempt organization under section 501(c)(3) of the IRS Code. Contributions to SBARC are now tax deductible. The club is extremely pleased to have this recognition of it's charitable status. For more information, please see the About SBARC page or contact any officer for details.

July 18, 2007
The annual club meeting was held today. All incumbent officers were re-elected to another term. See the posted meeting minutes for more details.

February 28, 2007
SBARC achieved a major milestone today in its repeater relocation project by obtaining permission from the Village of Ruidoso (NM) to site the club's machine on municipal property. The approved site is a city water tank providing excellent visibility east and west along US Highway 70. As the major transportation route into and out of Ruidoso, the improved coverage along Hwy 70 will be welcomed by mobile hams and also significantly contribute to local emergency preparedness. The Village councilors voted unanimously to approve the club's request during its regular council meeting.

January 25, 2007
Following a vote of the membership, SBARC will apply for 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. Achieving this status will help the club further its goals of public service and emergency communications readiness. Our application will be submitted as soon as reasonably possible.

November 8, 2006
The club announces the formation of the Lincoln County 2 Meter Net! This informal net will meet every Wednesday on the SBARC 146.92 MHz repeater at 8:30 PM local time. All licensed amateurs are welcome to check in. Please join us!

November 2, 2006
The official ARRL results for Field Day 2006 indicate SBARC was number ONE in the state of New Mexico in category 2A! Congratulations to all FD participants! An excellent showing for the club.

October 21, 2006
The results of the membership survey about the KR5NM repeater are now available. A six-page summary of the results in pdf format is available to view or download from the Club Repeater page. Thanks to all those members who participated in the survey.

July 27, 2006
The SBARC Repeater Committee was created today! James, W5ZIT, is committee chairman. His capable committee members include Rick - K5RIC, Jim - K5JWE, Joe - K5FBK, and Terry - W5TWY. This group is charged with (a) documenting the repeater hardware and its configuration, (b) training more SBARC members to become qualified to maintain the repeater, and (c) performing on-going repair and recommending system improvements. Our thanks to this group for its important contribution to the club!

July 18, 2006
The annual club meeting and election of officers was held today. Preceding the meeting a pot luck dinner was enjoyed by all in attendance. The club wishes to thank Phil N6ZZ, for all his contributions as outgoing president. New officers elected were WØZW, president, K5JWE, vice president, and K5OI, secretary/treasurer.

June 25, 2006
SBARC participated in the annual ARRL Field Day event. A total of 16 members joined in the fun. We operated category 2A and made 586 QSOs for a total score of 3,462. A new feature for this Field Day was a club pot luck dinner held at the FD site. This proved to be very popular with the members and will return to FD 2007!