Traditionally, the January meeting features the homebrew projects members have been working on during the past year.
Gary, W1GRY, brought his 40 and 20 meter QRP kits. Gary did a great job with the construction of his kits. He cited a resurgence of kit building and noted the higher quality and reliability of newer kits.
Spi, K1CWZ, also showed us a QRP kit, but his had an additional modification. Spi added a frequency counter which announces the operating frequency in Morse Code.
John, WS1E, displayed his woodworking skills. John’s project was a custom-fit, walnut console which holds his IC-706MKII and TM-621 on top of the transmission hump of his new 1999 GMC Pick-up.
Matthew, N1ZYY, showed us his work in progress. Matthew is working on a 6 meter transverter kit. The transverter operates with a 20 meter IF and requires 5 watts in for 8 watts out, and works on all modes.
Colleen, N1HAJ, warmed up the group with her beautiful quilt. She says that she’s new to quilting, but from the looks of this 4- panel hand & machine made sample, she could pass for and old pro... Well maybe not so old! Nice job Colleen.
Rich, W1HZN, described a clip-board mount for his IC-706. Rich took a standard clip-board, turned it upside down and mounted the control head, speaker, and mic clip on the top half. The lower half which still contained the spring clip was left available for holding notes and such.
Bob, KD1AW, showed us a homebrew cavity amplifier for 1.2GHz. The amp utilizes a 3CX100 tube, and provides 20 dB gain, or about 1 watt in and 100 watts out! Bob really put his machining skills to work for this one! This thing looks like a piece of art! Keep up the good work Bob.
73 de Chris, K1SI