Tag Archives: Kits

Activities, Education and Training, Featured, General, Newsletter, On The Air, Youth Activities

Interest and Excitement Around HamXposition Is Building

Interest and Excitement around HamXposition @ Boxboro are building! The event will take place on September 6th – 8th in Boxboro, Massachusettes. You can learn more about HamXposition here.

The Nashua Area Radio Society will be hosting several activities and displays at HamXposition this year. Our planned activities include:

  • NEW! Ham Bootcamp Program – a hands-on activity to help folks get on the air and build their stations
  • Our Ham Expo Display featuring information and hands-on activities you can do with Amateur Radio
  • A Kit Building Activity featuring a choice of two different kits
  • Multiple Get On The Air Stations including an HF Remote GOTA station and an on-site Satellite GOTA station
  • A Special Event Station using the N1T Callsign
  • NEW! Radio Programming Station – Get your FM HT programmed with a custom repeater list for your location
  • Two Forum Presentations by Nashua Area Radio Society Members

The ARRL and the HamXposition team have been helping us to promote our activities. You can see what the ARRL is saying about our plans in their recent posting – Dayton Hamvention Radio Club of the Year to Hold Ham Bootcamp at New England Convention.

You can learn more about HamXposition and our activities there at the HamXpostion website.

Ham Bootcamp

A First HF Contact at Ham Bootcamp

We have created a program that we call Ham Bootcamp to help recently licensed and upgraded hams to get on the air. We are making this program available to up to 100 HamXpostion attendees on a first-come-first-served basis.

Our Bootcamp program will run from 9 am to noon on Saturday, September 7th in the Federal Room. Bootcamp will feature tracks for both Technician and General class license holders. It is also a great place for folks who are not yet licensed to learn more about Amateur Radio and how to get on the air.

Our Bootcamp program will include:

  • How to make a contact and join a repeater net
  • Putting together an HF station
  • Radio, antenna, and feed line choices
  • Getting started with FT8 and digital modes
  • Exchanging QSL cards
  • Learning Morse code
  • Tips on upgrading
  • Introduction to ham radio kit building
  • Handheld radio programming tutorials

Ham Bootcamp is free.  Participants will receive discount certificates for a kit build at the show and for purchase of Ham Radio Gear from Ham Radio Outlet.

You can learn more about Ham Bootcamp on the HamXposition website and on our website.

Ham Expo Display and Kit Building Activity

HamXposition - High Altitude Balloon Display
High Altitude Balloon Display

Our Ham Radio Expo will feature a total of 10 hands-on exhibits about activities that you can do with Amateur Radio. Our display will include:

  • Information on Licensing and Ham Radio Skill-Building Activities
  • Ham Radio Communications via Satellites and the ISS
  • High-Altitude Balloons carrying Amateur Radio
  • Radio Direction Finding (Fox Hunting)
  • DXing and HF Station Construction
  • Portable Operating
  • Field Day and Emergency Communications
  • Ham Radio Kits and Computers
  • Learning and using Morse Code
  • and more!
70 cm Ground Plan Antenna
70 cm Ground Plan Antenna

Our kit building activity will feature a choice of two kits that you can build at HamXposition. In addition to the popular Morse Tutor kit, will also have a 70 cm Ground Plane Antenna kit available at the show.

HamXposition Kit Builderand Mentor
Kit Builder and Mentor at HamXposition

We will have tools and mentors available to help you build your kit at HamXposition.

You can learn more about our Ham Expo Display on the HamXposition website and on our website.

GOTA Stations and N1T Special Event

HamXposition - HF GOTA Station N1T
HF Remote GOTA Station – Visitor Operating the N1T Special Event Station

Our Remote HF GOTA Station will be back again this year. Visitors can use it to make HF contacts around the world. You can also help to operate our N1T Special Event Station. This is a great way to learn about DXing and speak with other Hams in the USA and around the world!

HamXposition - Satellite Station Operated by Burns WB1FJ
Computer Controlled Satellite Station at HamXposition

We will also have a Computer-Controlled Satellite Station on-site.  The station will feature the new Icom IC-9700! It will also use an automated antenna system to track satellites in space. Visitors can use the station to learn about satellite communications and to talk to other Hams through a satellite in space.

Get Your HT Programmed At HamXposition

Kenwood TH-D74 HT
Kenwood TH-D74 HT

We will be offering an HT programming service at HamXposition. Programming software and cables will be available to program the following popular FM HTs:

  • Icom – ID-31A and ID-51 Models
  • Kenwood – TH-D72 and TH-D74
  • Yaesu – FT60, FT65, and FT70
  • BaoFeng – UV-5R and BF-F8HP
  • TDXOne – TD-Q8

We will help you to create and load a custom list of repeaters into your HT that are available near your home QTH.

HamXposition Forum Presentations

HamXposition - Forum Presentation by Dan AC1EN
NARS Forum Presentation, Dan AC1EN Presenting

It has been a very active year for the Nashua Area Radio Society. We will be sharing some of the fun in two Forum Presentations at HamXposition:

A Recent Local School ISS Crew Contact
Time/Place: 1 pm in the Cotillion Room

The Nashua Area Radio Society worked with the Hudson (NH) Memorial School to plan for and execute and ISS crew contact this past year. Join us for an overview of this project including information about what goes into planning, preparation, and execution. The presentation will feature a video of the students talking with astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor abroad the ISS. The talk will highlight the STEM learning aspects of the project.

The Journey to 2019 Club of the Year
Time/Place: 2 pm in the Cotillion Room

The Nashua Area Radio Society was recently honored as the Dayton Hamvention (R) 2019 Club of the Year for its work in bringing new people into the Amateur Radio service and providing mentoring and STEM learning opportunities for young and old. Members will discuss some of the programs that NARS has created to help folks enter the Amateur Radio service, build their skills, and have fun with Amateur Radio.

Reaching Out To Hams Across New England

HamXposition Program Info - Training and Skills Development
HamXpostion Program Info – Amateur Radio Licensing and Skills Development Opportunities

The Nashua Area Radio Society is continuing to expand the reach of our Licensing and Training programs to as many Hams as possible. Our hands-on weekend License Training classes for Technician, General, and Extra class licenses are already quite popular with folks outside of our area.

We are also making our training video content and our popular Q&A forums available to Hams outside of New Hampshire and Massachusetts. These materials are available via our Internet Subscriptions. Look for more information about what we can provide in the HamXposition program and visit us at www.n1fd.org/hamradiofun to learn more as well.

We hope to see you at HamXpostion!

Fred, AB1OC

Antennas, CW and QRP, Education and Training, Featured, General, Homebrewing, Newsletter, On The Air, Space, Youth Activities

Plans for HamXposition @ Boxboro 2019 – We Need Your Help

The Nashua Area Society will be part of the fun at HamXposition @ Boxboro again this year. We will be adding some new things this year as well as providing the Ham Radio Expo display that we did last year. Our contributions will include:

  • An expanded Ham Expo Display
  • Ham Bootcamp – a new activity for prospective and recently licensed Technician and General Class Hams
  • An Expanded Kit Building Activity
  • Several Forum Presentations featuring some of our recent projects and NARS Activities leading to our recognition as Club Of The Year

We will need a lot of help from NARS members to make our contribution to HamXposition successful. More on this later in this article.

Ham Radio Expo Display

HamXposition @ Boxboro
Ham Expo Display

Our Ham Expo display will cover many activities that you can do with Amateur Radio. Our display will also include three GOTA stations:

  • A Computer Controlled Satellite GOTA
  • A Remotely Controlled High-Power HF GOTA
  • A Repeater GOTA

We will also be adding a radio programming clinic where you can get your HT programmed at the show.

Ham Expo Layout

The diagram above shows the planned layout for our Ham Expo display. It will cover the entire back wall of the main exhibit hall in the vendor area and will include the Satellite GOTA station in the bar area as we did last year.

Ham Bootcamp

HamXposition @ Boxboro
Ham Bootcamp Activity

Ham Bootcamp is a new activity this year. Ham Bootcamp is a hands-on activity for folks interested in getting a Ham Radio License and folks who have gotten their Technician or General Class License and would like so help to get on the air or to upgrade their station to take advantage of their new General Class privileges. Our planned activities are outlined in the chart above. Most will be hands-on in small groups of 10 or less so we can answer questions and demonstrate how to have fun with Ham Radio. Ham Bootcamp will take place from 9 am to noon on Saturday and will accommodate up to 100 HamXposition attendees on a first-come-first-served basis.  We will also provide a $5 discount coupon to all Ham Bootcampers to use toward one of the kits that are included in our kit building activity at HamXposition.

Kit Building Plans

HamXposition @ Boxboro
Morse Tutor Kit

The popular Morse Tutor kit will be back again this year and we’ll have folks on hand as well equipment so that folks can build their kit and get it working at the show. You can find more about our Morse Tutor kit here.

We will be adding a second kit at our kit build – a 70 cm ground plane antenna. This is an antenna that you can build and use to help your HT or base rig get out better on the 70 cm band. We’ll have an analyzer and folks who can help you to tune your antenna for the best operation after you complete your kit.

Forum Presentations

NARS Forum Presentations

The Nashua Area Radio Society has had a pretty amazing year and we will have the opportunity to share some of our experiences at HamXposition via forum presentations. You can see the topics for our planned presentations above.

We Need Your Help

NARS HamXposition Teams

HamXposition is an important undertaking for us and for the northeastern Amateur Radio Community as a whole. We need your help to plan and execute our plans. Please reach out to Dave, Jerry, Scott or myself and join our HamXposition Team. It will be a lot of fun and a rewarding change to give back to the northeastern Amateur Radio Community.

Fred, AB1OC

CW and QRP, Featured, General, Homebrewing, Newsletter

The RockMite Part 3: The Oscillator

In the first RockMite article, I described the receiver of the radio. I identified the place in the receiver that accepted the output of the oscillator (marked B going into pin 6 of the mixer) but skipped describing the actual oscillator. In this article, we’ll examine the oscillator and how it drives both the receiver and the transmitter.

The RockMite Overall

As a reminder, here is the whole schematic for the RockMite.

Schematic for the RockMite transceiver (from QRPMe.com)

Figure 1. The Schematic for the RockMite Transceiver

The part of the schematic we need to analyze for this article is near the word “Transmitter” in the big schematic. I’ve cut it down in the next figure (and removed some of the distracting elements).

Figure 2. The RockMite Oscillator

Colpitts Oscillator

The RockMite has within it a Colpitts oscillator. The transistor Q4 is the amplifier and the two capacitors C10 and C11 form the voltage divider. This design employs a crystal (Y2) that is band-dependent, of course, as are C10, C11, and C12. The output of C12 leads to another layer of transistor amplification that enlarges the voltage swing.

Note point B between R13 and R14. This signal leads to the input of the mixer U1 and serves as the beat frequency oscillator (BFO) that detects the received signal.

Silicon Tuning Diodes

Before I can describe the rest of the circuit I need to introduce a part that I thought was almost magical when I learned about it. The part number for these devices is MVAM109 (in the center of Figure 2). The symbol looks like a cross between a diode and a capacitor. Indeed this is exactly what this part is: a diode and a capacitor combined in a very special way. The varactor (tuning) diode acts like a capacitor, but the capacitance depends on the reverse voltage across the diode. I’ve included a plot from the Motorola data sheet below.

Figure 3. Capacitance versus reverse voltage

You can see that as the reverse voltage goes up the capacitance exhibited by the part goes down. Change the voltage and you change the capacitance. We use this in the part of the circuit described in the next section.

Tuning One of Two Frequencies

The oscillator uses Y2 (a crystal) to help determine the frequency. But, the frequency can be altered by adding or subtracting capacitance. MVAM109 (D6) will be the device that changes the capacitance.

Examine the circuit beginning with Q2 (2N7000). When the transistor is turned on there is a completed circuit between the source and drain (S and D in the diagram). In this case, the source is connected to ground. So, when the transistor is turned on the point in the circuit after D is brought down to zero volts.

Check out R9, a 4.7K Ohm resistor that connects to the drain of Q2, and to a Zener diode D5 (which is also band dependent, as it turns out). The Zener is used as a voltage regulator. Say the Zener is a 3.9-volt model. Since we are connected (through R9) to V+, the voltage at the point where D5 connects to R9 will be limited to 3.9 volts (or whatever the Zener is rated) and R9 is the current limiting resistor. This is assuming the transistor switch Q2 is open (not conducting).

In this situation we have D6 being reverse-biased to the voltage determined by the Zener diode. That much reverse bias will cause the varactor to exhibit some amount of capacitance.

If the switch Q2 is closed (and it conducts) then that point in the circuit is brought down to zero volts and the varactor is no longer reverse biased (or to a voltage below what the D5 part would supply) and we get a completely different capacitance.

The gate of Q2 is controlled by the UI PIC from a line called “Shift”, and it is used to switch between these two frequencies (by turning Q2 on or off). This is how the RockMite offers two different crystal-controlled frequencies with the push of a button.

Next Time

We have already gone through three-quarters of the schematic of the RockMite. Next time, in the last installment, I will walk through the transmitter and the filtering used by the radio.

Links

The RockMite Part 1: The Receiver

The RockMite Part 2: The UI

Scott, NE1RD

Radio Amateurs Developing Skills Worldwide