[W8MWA] Good Workshop Session - Sunday Oct 19

[Bob West]

We had a good day. 

We met, thanks to Bill WR8S, in the Press Box at the Stadium.
It was a chilly day but plenty of sunshine. The crows were cleaning up 
the popcorn etc from Saturday's football game.

Attending were
Robin KD8ZOZ
Libby KD8ZMW
Mike KD8ZMV
Rachel (still working on it)
Bill WR8S
and
Bob WA8YCD.

We started out watching the birds going crazy over the field. They probably do half the
job of cleaning up! There were a LOT of crows. Noisy critters, too!

Mike connected everything to set up a full HF/VHF all-mode station. He connected
a TS-2000, Astron Power Supply, SP-23 Speaker, SW-2000 SWR meter and MFJ Dummy Load.
The digital side was a Tigertronics SignaLink USB into a Compaq Laptiop.

We had the other station set up as well, and Bill used the Icom IC-7000 (also with SignaLink USB)
to monitor some 20m digital signals. We listened to some RTTY and PSK-31, including an EI5 Station.
There was some sort of digital contest going on so there were plenty of signals to examine.

Libby and Rachel got some time using a Fluke DVM. We tried out the Ohmmeter mode, and they found
out they could test continuity. This will be handy when we build some Coax Jumpers next session.

They also found the MYSTERY DIPOLE. It was a pre-made (not be me!) dipole that was in one of my
Field Day boxes. I didn't remember it, and suggested they determine what frequency it was intended.
They measured the length and did the calculation and decided it was for somewhere around 10 MHz.
They noticed that was close to the 30M amateur band.

Robin brought in her Baofeng HT. It is a UV-82, which is a little different than the UV-5R we've been 
programming. CHIRP knew the radio so we were able to display her existing channels, save them to 
a file, and make some corrections.  So, I got to learn some new things. too!!

All-in-all it was a good session, and I think folks had some fun. 

NEXT TIME: Coax jumpers. I have a little bit of RG-213 and some PL-259s ready to go.
I also found my box of Anderson Powerpoles and the Mighty Andy-Crimper so we can try that too.
We might also try some roll-up J-poles.

I've been poking at some folks around town to get them to think of something cool to come and talk
about. Remember, this is not like a formal club meeting, it's just some folks hanging around, so whatever
it is, doesn't have to be as formal as if it were a club program, We don't have a projector. or even a whiteboard!

I'm hoping in the coming weeks we can keep it going and get some of the other folks around town
to come out and show us what they've been doing. I know we have some DXers and Contesters in town,
and a couple of folks who are on VHF/UHF weak signal operations. Satellite, IRLP,. Echolink, FSTV, Fox Hunting,
and NTS Traffic are all topics we could use some experienced hams to demonstrate.

Anybody around here looking into EME???

With all the stuff that's out there, the internet, phone apps and stuff, and the excellent books that are
already in place like Gordo's books and the ARRL License Manuals, I'm trying to segue from the traditional
"how to get a license?" class to a hands-on, participatory "what can you do once you HAVE a license?" workshop. 
We're still around to answer questions about on the exam prep, but most folks who are the least bit self-motivated have everything they need already. 

This workshop is for everyone. No club business. It's totally independent of any club and therefore open
to anyone with any interest, either in learning about some aspect of ham radio or sharing what they've 
been doing with the newer hams.

Let's keep the Elmering spirit alive, and get our new hams busy in what interests them.

73,
Bob WA8YCD
 


Cheers,
...Bob West WA8YCD

 “There’s no point being grown-up if you can’t be childish sometimes.”  
                                                                                – Doctor Who
                                                                                                                                           (Tom Baker, The Fourth Doctor)
 		 	   		  
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