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Antenna Theory
Craig (AE0WA) passed along the following video for everyone. He and I worked for a while one day to tune an end-fed quarter wave and it seemed like we just kept bending it back to get it where we wanted it to resonate. Way more than we expected. We should have watched this first. It makes a little more sense now.? ? |
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Nixa ARC NARCfest Saturday November 11, 8:00am
The message below is forwarded from James Adkins about their annual Nixa Ham Fest. They’ll have lots of give-aways, several vendors, and many individuals on site selling equipment. James and Dave’s preventions alone are probably worth the trip. All proceeds support the Southwest Missouri Linked Repeater System which is comprised of 13 (maybe 14?) repeaters across Southwest Missouri that are RF linked and have emergency generators. Site locations on our side of the state include Willow Springs, Ben Davis, Rolla, and Taum Sauk. With a good mobile radio and antenna, there aren’t many places between here and Oklahoma you can get into the system. If you have questions, let me know. I always enjoy attending and meeting fellow hams in the region. Occasionally, I arrive early enough to get a bargain!
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Eric, KD0CEN?
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This year's hamfest is only 3 weeks away and we've got a great event planned!? ?We have a larger, newer venue AND 50% more flea market tables this year . . . AND we also have almost 3 times the prizes to give away thanks to some commercial donors.? ?This year we have nearly $3500 in prizes to give away and have prize drawings every 15-20 minutes -
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SDR Play RSP1A SDR receiver, Yaesu FT-70DR dual band analog/Fusion HT, Yaesu FTM200DR dual band analog / Fusion mobile, MFJ-849 digital, backlit HF-440 MHz wattmeter, B-Tech 6X2Pro dual band analog / DMR HT, MeFix 8898 portable solder station & SMD rework kit, Yihua 926 LEDIII 60-Watt soldering station, Ailunce HD-1 dual band analog / DMR HT, (2) autographed Heil Ham Radio handbooks, Heil HB-1 boom mic, Comet SMA-24 HT antenna (given away with Yaesu FT-70DR HT!), (3) Bienno 12v battery systems with chargers - 20a battery kit to be given away with our grand prize . . . a Yaesu FT-891 HF mobile / base station radio, $100 gift certificate from DX engineering, $50 gift certificate for the N3FJP software package, (2) $50 ARRL gift certificates, $25 gift certificate from R&L, and (2) $25 ARRL gift certificates.? ?
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We ONLY have 6 tables left so if you would like a table register online ASAP at?
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This year's fest will be held at the Aldersgate Church located at 460 Aldersgate Dr, Nixa, MO? 65714.? The doors open at 8:00 a.m. Saturday morning for hamfest entry.? IF you reserve a table, we will have people present to help you unload and get settled in on Friday evening between 6:00 and 9:00 p.m. so all you have to do Saturday morning is show up.? For those interested in VE testing, that will begin at 8:30 a.m. and pre-registration is NOT required courtesy of Rob Hulega, W3LGA, and the Nixa ARC VE Team.
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This year's presentations will be at 10:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. - our 10:00 presentation will be by James Adkins, KB0NHX, and be an all inclusive presentation about Springfield's unique Queen City Digital Cluster - a set of (5) digital repeaters that share the same antenna system and can operate all modes simultaneously - DMR, D-Star, Fusion, NXDN and APCO P-25.? If you're mobile within 40 miles of Springfield YOU can work this system!? At 11:30, Dave Burtrum, N0DF, will be giving an awesome presentation about HF Hex Beam antennas - how to construct, benefits, and challenges of use.??
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Lastly, the famous Fatty's Kitchen has been secured to be ON SITE and will have breakfast and lunch available INSIDE the Church and will have free coffee for those attending.
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This year we'll be offering the super ticket again - for $20 you get 20 prize tickets in the drawing. Just tear off and keep your ticket and put the other in the prize bucket.? IF you'd like to hear your name / callsign, you can write that on the ticket you put in the prize bucket as well but it's not necessary.??
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ALL proceeds from the hamfest go to finance repairs, additions and improvements to the Southwest Missouri Linked Repeater System (SMLRS) which will also be home to this year's talk-in.? Locally the talk-in will be on the 147.015+ PL 162.2 Hz or the 147.225+ PL 162.2 Hz? For details on this linked repeater system, check out?
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73 and we hope to see EVERYONE at this year's event!? Please spread the word about this year's fest to everyone you know!
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James Adkins
417-834-5787?(cell)
Amateur Callsign = KB0NHX
GMRS Callsign = WROQ478
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"Raise the standards . . .?? If the people lead, eventually the leaders will follow"
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"Those saying it can't be done should get out of the way of those doing it" - Chinese Proverb
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Re: Great Fox Hunt!
One tool I used in the fox hunt Saturday was my TinySA. It’s a spectrum analyzer about the size of a NanoVNA if you’re familiar with those. In the attached picture, I’m monitoring a chunk of spectrum from 130mhz to 160mhz, Which would place the 144.300 mhz fox signal near the middle. Notice the strong signal… -23.7 dBm at 144.68mhz. This is my portable radio set at 1 watt, transmitting from the other end of the couch. If the signal is that strong, you’re pretty close.
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Re: Great Fox Hunt!
Ditto! Had a great time playing hound dog! looking forward to another mike On Sat, Oct 14, 2023, 7:21 PM Eric Presser - KD0CEN <eric.presser@...> wrote:
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Great Fox Hunt!
JJ already mentioned as much on Facebook, but we had a great time with our foxhunt today! JJ and Mike beat me to the park by a little bit and the three of us (plus my 15 year old son) all ended up in the same spot looking for a well hidden transmitter. (Kudos Sierena) I’m not sure how long the 3 of us trampled the weeds in the same area, but we knew we had to be right on top of it….. and we were! Not sure how we didn’t step on it!?
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Fox Hunt Details
Fox Hunt Details
Saturday October 14th at 2:00pm? Fox will be hidden inside the city limits of West Plains. It will be transmitting on 145.300mhz. As demonstrated at the meeting Tuesday night, the audio tone will transmit for approximately 15 seconds, followed by our club call sign identifier. After approximately 45 seconds of silence, the transmitter will start again. So around 15 seconds of transmitting every minute. It doesn’t sound like much, but lasts longer than you might expect. Check-in with Sierena (KF0LQB) on the 444.425+ (110.9) repeater sometime prior to the 2:00pm start time so we have an idea of how many hunters are participating. Sierena is our “Hunt Master” for this hunt and will announce on the repeater when she has activated the fox. Start the hunt from wherever you want once the announcement has been made. Sierena will be within a close proximity of the fox, so she’ll know when it’s been located. Once the fox has been located, try not to give away its location so that others can continue the search. We can coordinate via radio on the repeater channel, but we might meet up once you’re done hunting at Galloway Park. This will allow me to gloat as the 1st place hunter, and give you an opportunity to congratulate me! A small gift card to the spring dipper will be awarded to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. This event should be fun and the weather should be great! If you know someone that is unlicensed or might enjoy participating… maybe a child or grandchild… load them up and get them involved!! It might be a great opportunity to raise up some more hams!! Looking forward to a great day! Eric, KD0CEN |
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Re: Fox Hunt October 14th
Cooler weather must mean it’s Fox Hunting season, right? Next Saturday October 14 at 2pm, we’ll be fox hunting in West Plains. We’ll start at Galloway Park. Please plan on joining in the fun and inviting someone to come with you.?
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Also, our Monthly meeting is this Tuesday the 10th, and this will be our first meeting at 6pm, so don’t be late!!? |
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Fox Hunt October 14th
We will be having a fox hunt October 14th at 2pm in West Plains. The fox will be transmitting at 145.300mhz for those wishing to fine tune their precision antennas. We will iron out any remaining details at the meeting next week (October 10, 6pm) and be sure to post them. We hope everyone can join in the fun with us!!? ? |
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Next Meeting, Farmers Market, Repeater Update
Our next club meeting will be next Tuesday September 12th, 7:00pm at the Howell County EOC. We’ll be discussing fox hunts and hopefully putting one on the calendar. I asked everyone at last month’s meeting to bring their fox hunt equipment, so I hope everyone has given some thought to building an antenna or at least what they might use. If not, come and see what everyone else is engineering!? We will be doing our next farmers market public relations event on September 23rd. This will be the 4th Saturday in September instead of the 3rd that we normally set up. This is due to an event that will be taking place at the church that will cause an issue for us to set up when we normally would.? Work on the new UHF repeater continues. We were recently granted a frequency of 444.425 MHz by the Missouri Repeater Council, the tone will be 110.9hz. Bill, KF0BFD and I built a stand off bracket for the antenna a couple weeks ago, so that’s ready to go. Mike, KD0AIZ has been coordinating the installation of the antenna, which we hope to be completed in the next couple weeks. I have tuned the duplexer, and mounted it in a box that will house the duplexer and repeater, and purchased the cables to connect it all together. Next, we start gathering parts to make the UHF links at both 2 meter repeaters. Exciting things are happening and we hope everyone will get involved! ? |
Eric Presser - KD?CEN
Mike Coldiron - N0MIC