Minutes by Sam Leidy, KF3G.
Attendees (15 hams):
Gary Wilson, K2GW - Hamilton Square, NJ
David Bamford, W0DAB - New York, NY
Lenny Wintfield, W2BVH - Cranford, NJ
Sam Leidy, KF3G - Havertown, PA
Tony Canuso, N2ATB - Cherry Hill, NJ
Mario Dianori, N2AK - Medford, NJ
Ted Groke, W2TAG - Tabernacle, NJ
Ray Sills, K2ULR - Warrington, PA
Jim Disco, K2SZ - Barnegat, NJ
Brian Boccardi, N2MPM - North Brunswick, NJ
Vojtech Bubnick, AB2ZA - Plainsboro, NJ
Richard Bitzer, WB2ZKW - Flemington, NJ
Tom Bagdas, NU2I - Hamilton, NJ
Craig Lahullier, AB2PB - Carlstadt, NJ
John "Jack" Acacia, KB3OXW - Morrisville, PA
Meeting notes:
W0DAB - David, technical artist, 4 years into amateur radio, and first visit to NJQRP. Built a Rock-Mite for QRP and less possible interference.
K2ULR - Raymond expects to experiment this summer with some end-fed and half-wave antennas and mentioned his positive experiences with the Buddipole antenna. Raymond may bring in a tuner, for show and tell, at a future meeting.
K2GW - Gary, interjected the use of Buddipole usage by the U.S. Military Special Forces. 80m and 60m is possible, with the addition of wires. A disadvantage is the need to access the tap points to change bands.
K2SZ - James honored the group with a work of art (photo), a "WD8DAS Two Tube Tuna Tin Transmitter" , utilizing 5763 and 6C4 tubes, and accompanying external PI network [in QST: Jan. 2003 (vol. 88, No. 01) pgs. 39-42]. James also passed around his modular receiver for LF / VHF including its enclosure [See "A Modular Receiver for Exploring the LF/VLF Bands" - QST: Nov. 2008 (vol. 92, no. 11 pgs. 36-39, and QST: Dec. 2008 (vol. 92, no. 12) pgs. 33-37].
W2BVH - Lenny brought in his excellently etched and populated 28 MHz to 220 MHz Transverter Transmitter printed circuit board, PCB (photo). He also explained about his trials and successes using 'blue' transparency paper to create PCBs.
W2TAG - Ted, recently purchased a SX-101, a 160 through 10 meter receiver, which needs work, and is in the processing of obtaining parts to resurrect that boat anchor. He also ordered a parts kit for a SX-99, of K2BL (Carol Hutkin of Voorhees, NJ), which has been sitting in his basement for a couple of years.
WB2ZKW - Richard is investigating ways to install a dipole and/or end-fed long wire with appropriate lightning protection as well as inside grounding.
N2MPM - Brian is assisting N2UI, Tom, in the assembly of an Elecraft KX1 Transceiver . Winding the small coils is proving difficult. He also mentioned the process of broadcast tower and equipment grounding. Brian operates 5 to 10 W (QRP) into an antenna that is to be replaced (soon), and is active with APRS (Automatic Position Reporting System). Brian also provided the URL of the Decal Paper web site mentioned by Vojtech as a source for decal making printer sheets.
AB2ZA - Vojtech, is still working on his ATS-3B 6 Band CW / Data Transceiver ; and has controller noise problems. Looking into ground connections. Vojtech also provided insight to using Decal Paper to create printed circuit boards.
N2ATB - Francis demonstrated his DV Dongle [see QST review "DV Dongle D-STAR Adapter" - QST: February 2009 (vol. 93, no. 02) pgs. 47-49] by establishing displaying the related D-STAR Repeater Directory web page and contacting a Scot mobiling about, in Scotland! The audio quality was excellent. The contact was made via an wireless [WiFi] connection between Francis' portable PC and the Red Cross Center, through an internet connection, to a local repeater (which rebroadcasts the conversation) - which was then linked, via the internet connection, to a Scotland repeater (which rebroadcasts the conversation), and conversed with the gentleman mobiling about, using an Icom transceiver.
N2AK - Mario, participated in the Vintage Radio Contest , after 11 months of preparation. One tool he built for the contest was a hand held VFO, for zeroing in on frequency on side band; allowing him to go though numerous combinations of receivers and transmitters. Mario has since downloaded, but not installed, various versions of Linux, to learn about it. He has also borrowed a SoftRock-40 Software Defined Radio (SDR) receiver and has been using Rocky and WinRAD software.
Another attendee, no callsign or name was mentioned, provided his experiences with the magicJack VOIP device. He also mentioned purchasing a Cricut cutting machine, from Michaels, for possible printed circuit board production.
Additions/corrections welcome!
Respectfully submitted, 73,
Sam Leidy, KF3G
See you all at the next meeting! (See the NJQRP Event Calendar for the full set of meeting dates.)
Last updated: March 25, 2009