Category Archives: Activities

Nashua Area Radio Society activities. Included is Field Day, our Annual Picnic, Tech Nights, On The Air Activations and much more.

Activities, General, Newsletter

2018 Club Meeting Retrospective

Regular Club Meetings

The Nashua Area Radio Society (NARS) meets every first Tuesday except in August when there is no meeting. (Note that months where the first Tuesday falls on a holiday the two monthly meetings may be pushed out a week.) The monthly regular meetings typically feature a speaker from outside the club that brings something interesting from the ham radio community, the world of science and technology, or local interest. There is also a January Show-and-Tell meeting, and the Field Day planning and retrospective meetings held in June and July.
Here is a quick run-down of the presentations made to NARS over the last year.

February

Global Ionosphere Radio Observatory
Dr. Ivan Galkin, University of Massachusetts Lowell
We use the ionosphere for HF communications, but did you know that changes to the ionosphere can also affect GPS systems? Dr. Galkin described his groups work creating a system of Ionosonde stations to measure the ionosphere. And all this is done just up the road at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell.

March

Theory and Repair of Astron Power Supplies
George Allison, K1IG
Linear power supplies will eventually fail, but they can be repaired easily if you have a little know-how. George Allison walked through the design and theory of these devices and showed how easy it can be to get a dead unit back on the air.

April

The Current State of the D-Star Evolution
Terry Stader, KA8SCP
The proliferation of digital radio hotspots using Raspberry Pi and Arduino computers has been astounding. Terry Stader walked through some of the advancements of the D-Star ecosystem and other digital radio platforms.

May

MIT Haystack Observatory
Phil Erickson, W1PJE
One of the nation’s premier observatories is located just miles from Nashua. Phil Erickson gave us a virtual tour of the facilities.

September

BITX and µBitX Transceivers
Andy Stewart, KB1OIQ
Ashhar Farhan, VU2ESE, created a very low-cost transceiver that could be constructed by anybody in his native India with commonly sourced parts. The designs became an instant sensation in the QRP radio community. (Farhan was recently inducted into the QRP Hall of Fame.) Andy Stewart gave us a good overview of the BITX and µBITX technologies and even showed us some extensions for the radio to support visually-impaired operators.

October

Working the ISS and Satellites
Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC
Here at the bottom of the solar cycle it is good to broaden your experiences. Fred Kemmerer gave an excellent overview of the basics of satellite communication, including working the International Space Station.

November

Nashua Emergency Coordinator
Justin Kates, KB3JUV
Communications is an important part of any emergency situation planning. Justin Kates briefed club members on the planning and preparation Nashua makes for any emergencies.

December

Plane Tracking with ADS-B
Thomas Kavanaugh, KC1ELF
Most aircraft are now fitted with a system called ADS-B, part of the new system of anticollision technologies. Data is broadcast by each aircraft on 1090 MHz and that data can be received and decoded by a simple ground station you can build on a computer as simple as a Raspberry Pi. Thomas Kavanaugh gave the club an overview of this technology.

Tech Nights

NARS holds a second meeting of the month a week after the club’s regular meeting. “Tech Night” is a chance for club members to exchange ideas and share their knowledge and experiences. Many of these meetings are captured in video and archived on the NARS website https://www.n1fd.org You can access the video collection here https://www.n1fd.org/video-collection/ Remember that you must be logged into the website to have access to these web pages and materials.

January

Building a Mobile HF Station
Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC
Video available

February

Kit building night
Paddlestick touch keyer by K1EL

March

Antenna Modeling I
B. Scott Andersen, NE1RD
Video available

April

Basic Kit Building Techniques
Steven Elliott, K1EL
Video available

May

Portable Operating and Gear
Video available

June

All About Field Day
Video available

July

Raspberry Pi and Ham Radio
Anita Kemmerer, AB1QB and Jamey Finchum, AC1DC
Video available

August

WSJT-X
Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC
Video available

September

DMR Radios and Programming
Bill Barber, NE1B
Video available

October

Frequency Measurement Challenge
George Allison, K1IG
Video available

November

Remote Operation
Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC

December

RTL-SDR workshop
B. Scott Andersen, NE1RD
Club members were encouraged to bring their SDR solutions to the meeting and either seek help from other club members or provide help to those seeking to get their systems running. There were many newly working SDR systems at the end of the evening.

NARS 2018 Meeting Topics

DateMeetingTopicPresenter
JanuaryRegularShow-and-TellClub members
JanuaryTech NightBuilding a Mobile HF StationFred Kemmerer, AB1OC
FebruaryRegularGlobal Ionosphere Radio ObservatoryDr. Ivan Galkin, UMass Lowell
FebruaryTech NightKit Build: Paddlestick Touch KeyerClub members
MarchRegularTheory and Repair of Astron Linear Power SuppliesGeorge Allison, K1IG
MarchTech NightAntenna ModelingB. Scott Andersen, NE1RD
AprilRegularD-Star + Bishop Guertin Robotics teamTerry Stader, KA1SCP, and students from Bishop Guertin High School
AprilTech NightKitsSteven Elliott, K1EL
MayRegularMIT Haystack ObservatoryPhil Erickson, W1PJE
MayTech NightShow and TellClub members
JuneRegularField Day Planning MeetingClub members
JuneTech NightField Day Skill BuilderClub members
JulyRegularField Day RetrospectiveClub members
JulyTech NightRaspberry Pi and Ham RadioAnita Kemmerer, AB1QB, and Jamey Finchum, AC1DC
AugustRegular** No meeting this month **
August Tech NightWSJT-X and FT-8Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC
September RegularBitX40Andy Stewart, KB1OIQ
September Tech NightDMR Radios and ProgrammingBill Barber, NE1B
OctoberRegularISS and SatellitesFred Kemmerer, AB1OC
OctoberTechFrequency Measurement Challenge: Ideas and StrategiesGeorge Allison, K1IG
NovemberRegularNashua Emergency CoordinatorJustin Kates, KB3JUV
NovemberTech NightRemote OperationFred Kemmerer, AB1OC
DecemberRegularPlane Tracking with ADS-BThomas Kavanaugh, KC1ELF
DecemberTech NightRTL-SDR WorkshopClub members
Activities, Featured, General, Newsletter, On The Air, Youth Activities

ARRL Kids Day

The ARRL Kids Day event is coming up on Saturday, January 5th from 1:00 pm – 7:00 pm.  Fred, AB1OC and Anita, AB1QB will have their station open for any youth – regardless of license class or license for that matter –  that would like to participate.

There is a very simple exchange of name, age, location, and favorite color. It’s a relaxed atmosphere and easy way to get on the air if you have your license and haven’t had much of an opportunity.  Even if you don’t have a license you can get on the air with the club call sign and one of our licensed youths as the control operator.  So, bring your friends!

This is a very special event to me as it is one of the first times my daughter, Abby, AB1BY made an HF contact. After this event, she was absolutely hooked on amateur radio! We’re hoping this happens to all the youth that participate!  Abby will be present to help make contacts. We would like to invite any youth, with or without a license, to come and check out what amateur radio has to offer.

Please respond to Jamey, AC1DC at [email protected] if you would like to participate or if you have any questions.

Activities, Antennas, Featured, General, Homebrewing, Newsletter, Station Equipment

Small Software Defined Radios ~ Part 1: Hardware

1 Comment

There are some exciting things going on in the software defined radio (SDR) world. In December (2018) I’ll be doing a Tech Night SDR workshop encouraging everybody to get familiar with these little gems. Use this article as a shopping guide to prepare for that meeting.

The SDR Stick

The workshop will concentrate on the USB stick style SDR. The most popular is probably the RTL-SDR unit based on the DVB-T TV tuner and the RTL2832U chipset. Sure it can be used to decode digital TV, but some innovative soul recognized that it could also be a general purpose receiver with a range of about 25 MHz to 1.5 GHz. Figure 1 shows that USB device along with a kit of handy parts to get started. This is available from Amazon here for about $28.

 

Figure 1. The starter kit for the RTL-SDR

 Figure 2 shows the circuit board inside the little dongle.

 

Figure 2. Inside the RTL-SDR stick

With this and your computer you can have a bunch of fun and learn about pan adapters, SDR tuners, and even watch for aircraft data.

Antennas for the Sticks

The starter kit comes with collapsable whips, a suction cup mount, a small lightweight tripod mount, and feed line. You can do quite a bit with just these parts. If you wanted to use this for a particular purpose (like monitoring aircraft) you can get an antenna specifically for that band or frequency. For example, this antenna is used for doing ADS-B aircraft monitoring. It is available from Amazon here for $8.

 

Figure 3. ADS-B monopole

Then again, you can make your own antennas easily enough for this purpose or others. See another article I wrote Homebrew ADS-B Antenna for Airplane Tracking for more information on that.

It is possible to use an existing antenna as well. The RTL-SDR dongle accepts an SMA type connector. A converter from SMA to BNC can be handy. Amazon has a set of two here for $11. See Figure 4.

Figure 4. SMA to BNC connectors

No Computer? No Problem!

An excellent way to explore these small SDR devices is with an inexpensive Raspberry Pi computer. I recommend getting one of the higher end models of these single board computers with a little extra horsepower. Processing SDR signals takes a lot of CPU power and that generates heat. My first Raspberry Pi unit was underpowered and it overheated within minutes. I’ve switched to a newer and faster model that handles the task easily. And, I’ve put it in a case with a small fan to increase airflow. See Figures 5 and 6.

Figure 5. Raspberry Pi 3 B+ motherboard

Figure 6. Kit with case, power supply, and heat sinks

These two items are available from Amazon. The Raspberry Pi 3 B+ board is $39 here. The kit that includes a case, fan, heatsinks, and power supply can be found here for $16.

Amplifier

A small device called an MMIC is a broadband RF amplifier that can bring signals up 30 dB. One of these is available on Amazon mounted on a board with two SMA connectors (in and out) here for $11. See Figure 7.

Figure 7. MMIC amplifier for RTL-SDR use.

You’ll also need a jumper to go between the amplifier and the SDR. An SMA to SMA jumper (set of 2) is available here for $4.59. See Figure 8.

Figure 8. SMA-SMA jumper

Aircraft Tracking

If you enjoyed the aircraft tracking talk given in the regular meeting by Thomas R Kavanaugh, KC1ELF, then you might be interested in the SDR stick sold by Flight Aware specifically designed for this purpose. It has an amplifier built in, and a filter centered around the ADS-B frequency. It is available here for $20. See Figure 9.

Figure 9. The SDR bundled solution for flight tracking

Smile!

Don’t forget to use the Amazon Smile feature when buying your equipment to support NARS!

Next Time

I’ll cover software options for these SDR sticks in the next installment. I hope you’ll purchase an SDR kit and bring it to the Tech Night meeting in December. It is a workshop intended to help everybody get something running. See you there!

Radio Amateurs Developing Skills Worldwide