Our guest speaker for the March 14th meeting will be Dr. Ed Fong (WB6IQN). As many of you may know, he is the inventor of the DBJ-1 and DBJ-2 antenna that was featured in the February 2003 and March 2007 QST. His most recent antenna was the TBJ-1 ¨C a triband base antenna that was published in March 2017 QST. His DBJ-1 is a highly effective dual band VHF/UHF base station antenna and the DBJ-2 is the portable roll-up version. The DBJ-2 won the QST Plaque of the Month Award. Both of these antennas are featured in the ARRL VHF Antenna Handbook and also in the ARRL Antenna Classic Handbook. There are over 40,000 of these antennas in use today. About half are used by hams and the other half by government and commercial agencies. Dr. Fong has extensive knowledge of RF design and teaches at UC-Santa Cruz. His students learn about antenna theory in a hands-on approach by building them.
My first VHF-UHF antenna (I called it a DBJ-1+) was custom made so that it was capable of handling 250 watts. I ordered it in August of 2016, just after completing my three Amateur License tests at the end of July and had bought a used Yaesu FT 857D (HF and VHF-UHF but no 220Mhz) from a ham in Queens, New York. Ed questioned me about needing such a high power-handling capability as most mobile transceivers only output about 50 watts. However, I had just purchased a linear amplifier off of eBay and wanted to ensure that the new antenna could handle the load. Ed told me that the proceeds of this antenna go to his graduate students at UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz ¨C Silicon Valley.? They help with the construction and also get experience in tuning a dual band antenna which is an art in itself. I was so impressed with the antenna, I ordered one for my son, Jim N6VC, who had just completed his ¡°re-licensing¡± after letting his old one lapse for 25 years. Since Jim lives in San Jose, Ed said that Jim could come by and pick it up and not pay shipping fees. Also Ed gave him the PVC pipe for free.
In September of 2018 I became active in emergency communications and wanted to assemble a ¡°go-bag¡± with a handheld unit, extra batteries, etc. and decided to add a dual-band VHF-UHF portable antenna. I contacted Ed again and purchased a DBJ-2 kit, with a 6-ft extension and a BNC to PL259 adapter. Later that month I bought a Retevis 70-watt monoband 220 MHz mobile transceiver and needed to add that band but didn¡¯t want to install two antennas on the roof. I contacted Ed again and bought his TBJ-1 triband antenna, as described in the March QST issue which called it a Triband Base Antenna.? His students at UC Santa Cruz ¨C Silicon Valley built the antenna, fully enclosed in the 6-ft ?- inch 200 psi PVC pipe with a SO-239 connector. I installed it on my roof on top of a 15-ft mast, inserted into a 5-ft tripod.
In April of 2021 I contacted Ed once again and asked to purchase another TBJ-1 triband antenna, this time for Field Day and ACS/ARES event use. I keep it at-the-ready with a sectional fiberglass mast and tripod and most recently used it at the Ventura Marathon (February 22, 2025), shown below with me and Dana KG6WXE in our volunteer gear.
In September of 2018 I became active in emergency communications and wanted to assemble a ¡°go-bag¡± with a handheld unit, extra batteries, etc. and decided to add a dual-band VHF-UHF portable antenna. I contacted Ed again and purchased a DBJ-2 kit, with a 6-ft extension and a BNC to PL259 adapter. Later that month I bought a Retevis 70-watt monoband 220 MHz mobile transceiver and needed to add that band but didn¡¯t want to install two antennas on the roof. I contacted Ed again and bought his TBJ-1 triband antenna, as described in the March QST issue which called it a Triband Base Antenna.? His students at UC Santa Cruz ¨C Silicon Valley built the antenna, fully enclosed in the 6-ft ?- inch 200 psi PVC pipe with a SO-239 connector. I installed it on my roof on top of a 15-ft mast, inserted into a 5-ft tripod.
In April of 2021 I contacted Ed once again and asked to purchase another TBJ-1 triband antenna, this time for Field Day and ACS/ARES event use. I keep it at-the-ready with a sectional fiberglass mast and tripod and most recently used it at the Ventura Marathon (February 22, 2025), shown below with me and Dana KG6WXE in our volunteer gear.
Biography - Ed Fong was first licensed in 1968 as WN6IQN.? He later upgraded to Extra Class (with full 20 WPM CW) with his present call of WB6IQN. He obtained the BSEE and MSEE degrees from the Univ. of California at Berkeley and his Ph.D. from the Univ. of San Francisco.? A Life Senior Member of the IEEE, he has 13 patents and over 50 published papers and books in the area of communications and integrated circuit design.? Presently, he is employed by the University of California (previously at Berkeley and presently at Santa Cruz- Silicon Valley) as an instructor teaching graduate classes in RF design, antenna design and High-Speed interface design.? During his 40-year career he has worked for Motorola, National Semiconductor, Phillips Semiconductor and Advanced Micro Devices.? ?
See you all at the Friday March 14th club meeting at the Grace Lutheran Church 6190 Telephone Rd. Ventura CA 93003 where Dr. Ed Fong WB6IQN, will present ¡°Dual Band Antenna Talk¡±. Please bring your ideas, energy and questions!
73,
Robert Shank KM6RSS Vice President, VCARC
Robert Shank KM6RSS