Tag Archives: Tech Night

Antennas, Education and Training, Featured, General

Get ready for Antenna Modeling

Antenna Modeling
EZNEC Example

The March Tech Night (March 13, 2018) will have an introduction to antenna modeling by me, Scott, NE1RD. I’ll begin by going through some antenna theory and then proceed on to the NEC-2 software and its popular front ends EZNEC and CocoaNEC. (Both the evaluation/demo version of EZNEC, and the Macintosh-based CocoaNEC are free.) LINUX users should consider getting Andy (KB1OIQ) Stewart’s Andy’s Ham Radio Linux suite. The main concepts you’ll learn will apply equally well to any of these programs.

Please download the antenna modeling software for your platform,  and download the slides for this presentation from the Tech Night web page. The slides have a lot of detail on them, and it will be much easier to see the subtleties on your own screen.

So, bring your laptop with software and slides, and we’ll have you modeling antennas by the end of the evening. See you there!

Scott, NE1RD

CW and QRP, General, Homebrewing

February Tech Nite – Kit Build

Our February Tech Nite was a kit build.  Our special guest, Steve Elliott, K1EL brought the kits for purchase by members and provided elmering.   Most of us built his PS2B keyer kit.

Completed Keyer

We had close to 20 kit builders and elmers and many of us completed the kit by the end of the evening.  Others completed their kits at home.    We all had a great time at the kit build.  Thanks to our Programs Chair, Scott, NE1RD for organizing a great kit build!

Here are some pictures of the members who built kits during the kit built.

Tech Night Kit Build

Activities, Education and Training, Featured, General, Newsletter

2018 Tech Night Survey Results

The results are in for the Tech Night program survey. We had 18 respondents and several volunteers to help with presentations.

In order to produce a meaningful ranking, a weight was given to votes for High, Medium, and Low. High was assigned a value of 10. Medium was assigned a value of 3. Low was assigned a value of zero. The score for each idea was then tallied, and the table sorted by score. Anything with a score below 95 was considered uninteresting at this time. Note that future surveys may have these very same ideas, and new members (or even old members) may rate the ideas higher later. Just because an idea didn’t get scheduled this year doesn’t mean it is off the table for next year.

I’m happy to say that five of the ideas that ranked highest have already been scheduled. We are also doing an Antenna Modeling program two nights, and a two-night kit build event in January and February to round out the package. As for the other popular ideas, we’ll be seeking out presenters for these in the coming weeks and months.

Here is a list of the ideas that made the cut:

Here are the remaining issues ranked, and a few more that were suggested during the survey.

Our hope is to bring interesting speakers and ideas to Tech Night. If you have ideas for program topics, or if you’d like to present at a Tech Night, please contact me.

Scott, NE1RD

Radio Amateurs Developing Skills Worldwide