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Re: Intruder on 438.125 MHz
Thanks Greg, and fascinating. We have a number of fox hunting aficionados in the club -- anyone want to pick this up?
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We had a similar situation a couple of years ago that Jim Langsted KC0RPS had a hand in locating. I believe that one had something to do with a radio that had a stuck PTT and the owner didn't even know the rig was on. This one sounds a lot more difficult and nefarious to track down!
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Calling all fox hunters... 8-)
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73,
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Mark
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--------------------- Mark Ehr | K0EHR President, 285 Tech Connect Radio Club Littleton, Colorado k0ehr@... Check out my ham radio blog: |
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February 1, 2025 club meeting recap and presentation materials are available (remote operating)
Hi all,
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FYI I have posted the deck and recording from Saturday's club meeting, which covered the basics of remote operating, provided a demo of the club remote station and we also helped a couple folks get their machines connected to the remote station.?
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Don't forget that we have a weekly net most Tuesdays on the 145.145 repeater at 7pm; feel free to bring your ham-related questions and answers!?
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The March club meeting is going to be another good one. We're going to cover skills for building your own DIY electronics projects and kits, including a demo of surface mount soldering and using a CNC machine to make your own PC boards by Larry Weinstein K0NA. If you have any ideas or demos that you'd like to include int the session, let me know. Potential topics could include best practices around soldering/desoldering, winding toroids, 3D printing cases and other components, good sources for kits, etc etc.?
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Also a reminder that the $15 annual club membership dues were due on January 1. We now accept Zelle as well as cash and checks, and for new members, I've also created an online membership form (no more mailing forms!). We're also getting to close accepting PayPal and Venmo. Details are on the club website:
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73,
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Mark
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--------------------- Mark Ehr | K0EHR President, 285 Tech Connect Radio Club Littleton, Colorado k0ehr@... Check out my ham radio blog: |
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January 4, 2025 club meeting recap and presentation materials
Hi all,
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For those of you that missed today's club meeting, here's a recap:
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1. We now have an online new member registration form, and club dues (which are now due) can now be paid via Zelle as well as cash and check. PayPal and Venmo are also in the works and will be available soon. Full details on how to sign up and/or pay via Zelle are available here:
2. Club elections were held and myself, Jim Moravec and Mark Hasseman were all re-elected by unanimous vote.?
3. I provided an update on TechFest 2024 results: the club made a profit of nearly $600 - 14x last year - and as a result our club coffers are looking very good.
4. We are still waiting on the remote station tower to be installed; in the meantime the club station is still available to all active club members. We will be doing a full demo of the station at the February meeting, which will also include remote operation and a hands-on workshop for folks that want to bring their computers to get up and running on the remote station.
5. Rob Steenburgh AD0IU provided an awesome overview of "Summits of Solar Cycle 25 on the Air" which included an update on forecasts for the remainder of cycle 25 and some awesome advice on operating HF before, during, and after solar events. The presentation deck and recording are available on the club website:
6. We are also planning on having a club table at the upcoming NCARC hamfest on Saturday January 18th in Loveland. If any club members are planning on attending, we'd love some help staffing the club table so that the rest of us get a chance to peruse the fest as well. Details here:
7. We're also pulling together an informal Winter Field Day 2025 (January 25th) get together, weather permitting. Probably at Chatfield State Park. Further details coming soon!
8. And a reminder that we could really use additional folks to join our TechNet on Tuesdays at 7pm on the 145.145 repeater. Please join us and bring your ham radio related questions, topics, or projects. The more the merrier!
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We had a very well attended meeting today, with around 30 folks attending. Thanks to all of our awesome members and I hope to see you at the next club meeting on Feb 1!
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--------------------- Mark Ehr | K0EHR President, 285 Tech Connect Radio Club Littleton, Colorado k0ehr@... Check out my ham radio blog: |
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Re: Coax recommendations?
Good deal! That should work fine for you.? Happy new year to you also! 73, Mark? ------------------------------------------------ Mark Ehr Littleton, Colorado mark@... +1.303.618.5825 ------------------------------------------------ On Fri, Dec 27, 2024 at 2:09?PM Ashley Roach | KF0RVU via <aroach=[email protected]> wrote:
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--------------------- Mark Ehr | K0EHR President, 285 Tech Connect Radio Club Littleton, Colorado k0ehr@... Check out my ham radio blog: |
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LongChat - a new QRP digital "chirp" mode!
Hi all,
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I just posted about LongChat, which is a new digital mode that allows keyboard-to-keyboard chats using extremely low power--as low as 45 microwatts! It only supports three radios at present (IC-7300, IC-705, FT-991A) but can work on virtually any frequency and mode. Check out my blog, which includes links to download the software and to other blogs/videos, here:
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I'm going to play with this over the holidays and will keep you all posted on how it works!
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73,
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Mark
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--------------------- Mark Ehr | K0EHR President, 285 Tech Connect Radio Club Littleton, Colorado k0ehr@... Check out my ham radio blog: |
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Re: Coax recommendations?
Hi Ashley, what type of antenna are you looking to connect it to, eg HF vs VHF/UHF??
I use RG-8U for both of my antennas and it¡¯s great but a little harder to work with as it¡¯s fairly thick and rigid. When I first started I used RG-8X which worked fine in my use case as I¡¯m only running about 30 feet. A 50-foot run of 8X would be fine for HF but you¡¯d wind up with some losses at higher frequencies eg VHF/UHF. Don¡¯t use RG-58 for anything except very short runs.?
I hope this helps!
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73,
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Mark
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--------------------- Mark Ehr | K0EHR President, 285 Tech Connect Radio Club Littleton, Colorado k0ehr@... Check out my ham radio blog: |
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¡°WSJT-X Improved¡± ready for testing
Hi all,
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I just came across this¡Uwe DG2YCB, one of the original developers of WSJT-X (along with Joe Taylor and others) has published a ¡°WSJT-X Improved¡± version on Sourceforge. It¡¯s still in development but ready for testing. One of the coolest features is the ability to send text messages through the interface, kind of like what you can do with JTAlert, except built right into the WSJT-X code base, among other improvements. I haven¡¯t tried it yet, but will soon!
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73,
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Mark
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--------------------- Mark Ehr | K0EHR President, 285 Tech Connect Radio Club Littleton, Colorado k0ehr@... Check out my ham radio blog: |
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Re: New portable from Yaesu, the FTX-1F
Nice! Let me know how you like it....might be time to trade in the IC-705....
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--------------------- Mark Ehr | K0EHR President, 285 Tech Connect Radio Club Littleton, Colorado k0ehr@... Check out my ham radio blog: |
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All TechFest 2024 videos and slides have been posted!
Hi all,
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Thanks to Zoom, which made the process of recording, editing and publishing the TechFest videos much easier than in the past, I've been able to get them all posted to the website, along with the accompanying slides where applicable.?
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Here's the link:
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Thanks again to everyone that helped to make this year's event a success!
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73,
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Mark
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--------------------- Mark Ehr | K0EHR President, 285 Tech Connect Radio Club Littleton, Colorado k0ehr@... Check out my ham radio blog: |
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Want a free 50-foot tower? Have some nimble friends that can climb? It's free for the taking....(Denver area)
I received this message the other day from a ham that's helping with his brother Bob's (KC0QF (SK)) estate:
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"I'm Ron - AF7A - in Peoria, AZ.? ? Two months ago my older brother Bob - KC0QF - became a silent key. He lived in Denver. His widow wants to get rid of his tower and antenna for free. It's about 50 ft. high, comes with a strong gin pole, a working HAM-M rotator and is topped with a Hygain Classic-33 (3 element triband) and a 8 element 2 mtr antenna. The tower is anchored against the eaves of the house. The tower is easy to climb but it's pretty mandatory to have a safety belt on when up there.
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Do you or anyone in the Denver area want this whole thing? It will take at least 4 strong (and young!) guys to take it apart. I was recently there for Bob's memorial and brought his HF station to Arizona. All that's left is the outside tower & Antenna.? Let me know if you can help and I'll give you the contact info. Thanks
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Ron Blessin - AF7A
623-248-7418
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--------------------- Mark Ehr | K0EHR President, 285 Tech Connect Radio Club Littleton, Colorado k0ehr@... Check out my ham radio blog: |
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Another fantastic TechFest is in the books and other news!
Hi all,
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Thanks again to everyone who pitched in to help make TechFest 2024 a smashing success. I counted at least 40 attendees this year and we had 5 fabulous presenters. A special thanks go out to (in no particular order): Larry Fagan, food and beverage guru, Craig Wilson, Bridge Church liaison, John Stevens, A/V tech, Mark Hasseman, registrar and money guy, Mark Edwards, remote station guru and demoer, and the dozen or so other folks that showed up to help with setup and breakdown. I'm really pleased at how the entire event ran and the amount of audience participation showed that the topics were of interest and the speakers were engaging.
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Rob Sherwood NC0B presenting at TechFest 2024 on new HF receivers and providing his deep knowledge on how the various rigs compare
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I'm also very happy that all of the recordings came out great and I've already started posting them to the club website ().
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An especially warm welcome to all of the new members that recently joined our hardy band of ham radio nerds! Please feel free to reach out to me directly if you have any questions about the club, and please spread the word! My contact info is below.?
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And everyone, please don't forget to join our weekly TechNet, hosted by Robb Sutter most Tuesdays at 7pm on the CRA 145.145 repeater (-600 KHz offset, 107.2 tone). And if anyone has thought about hosting a net, we're looking for folks to host a couple upcoming TechNets--let me or Robb know if you're interested.
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And a HUGE special thanks to our awesome presenters: Willem Schreuder AC0KQ, Rob Sherwood NC0B, Stan Trout WB2SHR, Steve Brightman KI5ENW, and Jim Moravec N0COT and his team of incredibly talented students. I couldn't have asked for a better group of presenters!
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Also, a quick reminder that we have a couple of club committee spots open. We're looking for someone to lead the events committee as Tony Montoya will be stepping down at the end of the year (after many years of service--thanks Tony!). We also need someone to manage our website, PR and social media. I'm currently taking over both of those jobs in addition to planning TechFest 2025, so any help would be much appreciated.?
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Lastly, don't forget about our holiday luncheon, coming up on Saturday December 7 at 11am. Location is the (the food is better than the name might imply!), (roughly 285 and Wadsworth). I hope to see everyone there!
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73,
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Mark
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Mark Ehr | K0EHR President, 285 Tech Connect Radio Club Littleton, Colorado k0ehr@... Check out my ham radio blog: |
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SOTA/POTA activation report: Santa Fe Mountain/Arapaho National Forest
Hi all,
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I finally got around to doing a SOTA (and attempted POTA) activation yesterday on Santa Fe Mountain (W0C/FR-042) and I wrote up a trip report on my blog here:
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73,
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Mark
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--------------------- Mark Ehr | K0EHR President, 285 Tech Connect Radio Club Littleton, Colorado k0ehr@... Check out my ham radio blog: |
Mark Ehr | K0EHR
Andrew Pollart | N0MFQ