FW: Learn the key building blocks of radio!

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Joe Decuir

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Nov 12, 2021, 1:08:46 PM11/12/21
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This is interesting.

I propose to present material on how radios work to the club.

Perhaps the first would be basic electronics: transistors and amplifiers.

Should I go farther back and start with circuit theory?

 

Joe Decuir, KF7BMD

Issaquah Amateur Radio Club, W7BI.com

Issaquah CERT 0015, Zone 14

E: jde...@ieee.org

E: jde...@uw.edu

M: 425-985-1562

From: ARRL <mark...@arrl.org>
Sent: Friday, November 12, 2021 9:11 AM
To: joe.d...@gmail.com
Subject: Learn the key building blocks of radio!

 

Radio is all around us — but many of us don’t know how it works

 

 

 

Basic Radio: Understanding the Key Building Blocks

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Retail $32.95 / Member Price $29.95

 

 

ARRL's Introduction to Radio Receiver Kit

Looking to try your hand at project building? This introduction to radio receiver kit is a great place to start. Build it yourself or use it as an activity with youth, new hams, scouts, and radio clubs. Perfect weekend activity.

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ARRL is the national membership association for Amateur Radio operators in the US. We have a library of books, software, online content, and many other licensing, operating, and lifelong learning resources.

 

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Mihai Manolache

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Nov 13, 2021, 8:06:21 AM11/13/21
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I would like to make a plan for presentation. I have also couple of ideas we might to explore. 
Would you please share your plan? I'd like to see where to fit couple of ideas. 

73, 
Mihai (W4MHI) 



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Joe Decuir

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Nov 13, 2021, 10:36:09 AM11/13/21
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Previously, I have covered:

  • Bluetooth
  • Microcontrollers
  • FPGA
  • PCB design
  • SDR

 

Basically, we are a club of radio amateurs.  We should ask ourselves: what technical issues would interest them?

In response to previous talks, I bought a pair of Mobilinkd devices..

I want to install and test Winlink for HF and VHF.

Bob wants to know how OFDM (orthogonal frequency division modulation) works.

I  have work to do to prepared that.

I ordered this radio book from ARRL, and another book on basic electronics.

We get tested on the later in our HAM licensing exams.

 

IMO, we should be poling our membership for what issues they would like to learn about.

 

Thanks for paying attention,

 

Joe Decuir, KF7BMD

Issaquah Amateur Radio Club, W7BI.com

Issaquah CERT 0015, Zone 14

E: jde...@ieee.org

E: jde...@uw.edu

M: 425-985-1562

 

John MacDuff

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Nov 14, 2021, 2:10:31 AM11/14/21
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I also have a program on RF Exposure Analysis I would like to present. This details a process of analyzing your personal setup to show you meet the FCC requirements. I presented it at the last BEARS meeting. For most of us it really isn't as scary as it sounds.

John KA7TTY

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/issaquah-arc/618fb84b.1c69fb81.670e8.0e60%40mx.google.com.

Joe Decuir

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Nov 14, 2021, 10:37:36 AM11/14/21
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Terrific!

Rod Johnson

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Nov 14, 2021, 11:58:48 AM11/14/21
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John,
  That sounds like a great idea for a program.  Awareness of that RF Exposure limit is something of which is in fact a now current requirement.
 



Mihai Manolache

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Nov 14, 2021, 12:50:24 PM11/14/21
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John, 
My preference for January would be to get information about this subject. I think is very important to know the new regulations. 

Rod Johnson

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Nov 14, 2021, 1:36:48 PM11/14/21
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If John has a program ready on RF Safety, that sounds great to me.
  I  believe I was scheduled to give a short talk and video display of a bunch of older ham radio gear in January, but I am very willing to slide that to a later date.  I have a lot of 'stuff' to organize and move to make space to do that, so more time would be just fine with me.
  Rod J
 



Rod Johnson

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Nov 14, 2021, 3:52:01 PM11/14/21
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Joe stated:
I have space to set up a 24” vertical antenna; I also have a portable HF antenna.
I am sure glad Joe has space to set up a 24" vertical antenna Thinking face<grin>
  We all know what you mean, but I could not laugh at that typo.
  Some have HOA constraints, and some have 'other half' or 'better half'  constraints; but there is nearly always some way to get an RF signal out, although it might not be as strong as desired, or even on the band desired.
 


-----Original Message-----
From: Joe Decuir <joe.d...@gmail.com>
To: 'Bob Otis' <rmo...@comcast.net>; 'Mihai Manolache (yahoo)' <w4...@yahoo.com>; 'Rod Johnson (aol)' <we...@aol.com>; 'John MacDuff (dhuibh.net)' <joh...@dhuibh.net>
Sent: Sun, Nov 14, 2021 12:18 pm
Subject: RE: [IARC] FW: Learn the key building blocks of radio!

This is great!
 
I have the same basic interest: EMCOMM.
Differences (vs Bob):
  • I own a lakeside house without HOA constraints
  • I have space to set up a 24” vertical antenna; I also have a portable HF antenna
  • I already understand the electronics well; I teach it at UW part time
  • I have electronic tools: scopes, generators, DC supplies, logic analyzers, etc
  • My financial budget is larger, but my time budget is smaller
 
I strongly support the focus on practical guidance to club members:
  • What matters for things like EMCOMM
  • How to acquire the equipment, including antennas
  • How to successfully configure and operate the equipment
  • How and when to test it all – e.g. drills
 
Meantime, left to my own devices, I will eventually:
  • Install WinLink, w/Mobilinkd units (2)
  • Test WinLink on VHF and on HF
  • Prepare presentation(s) as needed/requested
 
Joe Decuir, KF7BMD
Issaquah Amateur Radio Club, W7BI.com
Issaquah CERT 0015, Zone 14
 
From: Bob Otis <rmo...@comcast.net>
Sent: Sunday, November 14, 2021 11:45 AM
To: Mihai Manolache (yahoo) <w4...@yahoo.com>; Joe Decuir (gmail) <joe.d...@gmail.com>; Rod Johnson (aol) <we...@aol.com>; John MacDuff (dhuibh.net) <joh...@dhuibh.net>
Subject: RE: [IARC] FW: Learn the key building blocks of radio!
 
Hi all,
 
This is a long diatribe, but I used it to organize my thoughts, and didn’t want to bore the club.  Thought you might be interested in the history and context for topics.
 
I started out about 5 years ago with a 8W Baofeng HT with a Diamond whip and absolutely no experience (lots of mic fright).  My main objective was to be able to listen and talk in case of an emergency (basic EmComm - EQ, Fire, etc.) over a wide area around Issaquah.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t communicate on the Fire Repeater because no matter what I did, I couldn’t get a clear transmission.  After a lot of experimentation, Google searches, YouTube videos, talking with elmers and time (ESVET), I finally solved the problem with a 50W Yaesu 8900 and a half-wave Diamond Antenna in the attic (I am down to 10W now).  It remains my go-to for talking on the Fire Repeater and it works reliably on simplex to Snoqualmie Valley and Seattle.  This solved my first objective, and could be a topic for newcomers to the club – how do you put together an effective communication set-up for EmComm.  It is not easy, and might take more than one club meeting to cover the scope, especially with the new Issaquah emergency manager at the helm.
 
Once that was taken care of, new objectives arose.  The first was some 5th Saturday drills that focused on the 220 and 10m bands.  This led to  acquiring a couple of new radios for 220 and HF.  As expected, it required a reasonably substantial investment, but that’s OK.  Second, at the same time, a desire to be able to send an email to my sister in Utah on RF got me interested in Winlink (another EmComm thing). 
 
After acquiring 220 radios and an Icom 7100 for HF, Winlink took precedence.  This led to further, although much less, investment in a TNC, both hardware (Mobilinkd) and software (SoundModem).  Again, after a lot of ESVET, I was able to successfully and routinely send emails using packet Winlink.  I didn’t invest in a SignalLink, Mobilinkd does everything I need for packet.  Eventually Vara FM loomed on the horizon, so after more ESVET, that became a successful and routine process.  Now, it is Vara HF, and I am in the middle of the ESVET process.  Stay tuned.  For the club, we have had an introduction to Winlink and a discussion on Vara, but it might be worthwhile to have something that discusses how to get it working for those who want to do Winlink, but haven’t been able to make it work.  If this happens, it would happen much later in the year.
 
Now, my biggest issue has become HF.  I have the radio (7100), but the antenna is paramount, especially because I am in an HOA and have constraints.  The ESVET is an order of magnitude higher than the other issues, but, given time, I should be able to come up with a reasonable solution.  But, that’s the fun of ham radio.  For the club, this topic could cover multiple meetings given the huge variety of antennas available – think practicality, portability, efficiency for QRP, simplicity, compactness, and so on.  Given the experience level in the club I think all of these could become elmer topics and could be very beneficial for us newcomers to RF.
 
Bottom line, as radio amateurs, we want to communicate with whom we want.  However, making it work is not an easy task and, thus, becomes a problem.  But, solving these types of problems is what radio amateurs love to do.  So, if we could focus our presentations on solving the problems of our members, I think we could be reasonably successful in offering a wide variety of options for members to ESVET for themselves to solve them.
 
So, what are my problems for which I would like to get options?  Here is a short list and they could be either actual presentations or elmer topics.
  1. Antenna positioning – indoors, attics, outside.  Pros and cons for each.
  2. Antenna complexity – wire, combos, coils, boxes, loops, etc.  Ultimately a focus on the compromises or tradeoff issues between efficiency and available space would be nice.
  3. Antenna weather proofing and coax – what works and what doesn’t
  4. Antenna grounding and ground planes – I am beginning to understand that these are two different things and should be explained to the new hams
  5. For Joe, I would be most interested in a push button relay to turn on or off the connection between two wire elements on a sloper or inverted V dipole antenna that can be used for switching between 20 or 40 meters.  I think Brad Coston would also be interested in this one.  But, Joe, keep it simple 😊. 
 
As mentioned, my main interest is EmComm, and I do plan to put together a program to get the CERTs back up to speed on ham radios which a been dormant during the pandemic.  We have bunch with UV-5Rs and they need to start communicating.  The thing I want to focus on over the long term here is messaging.  I don’t think the club would be all that interested, but for the CERTs, it is probably the most important thing they should know how to do. Stay tuned.
 
Finally, Mihai, Rod, Brad Coston and I have had several excursions to the field for testing various configurations.  I would like to see more of these, probably in the spring to fall timeframe.  Basically, a quarterly or bi-monthly IARC/ICST Field Day.  This is where the rubber meets the road for amateur radio and more is learned from these than anything I can think of.  It would also be a great way to stir interest among new hams and build relationships.
 
I think that is enough for now, but I suggest we have a serious discussion when Mihai returns in January.  Given John in January and Rod in February, I don’t think it would be difficult to put a 2022 program together that would be interesting and fun for all of us
 
73, Bob

Joe Decuir

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Nov 14, 2021, 3:56:40 PM11/14/21
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Yes, I meant 24 foot, not 24 inch…

A 24 inch antenna would be small enough to carry around.

Rubber ducks don’t work well for 80M…

 

Joe

 

From: 'Rod Johnson' via Issaquah Amateur Radio Club <issaqu...@googlegroups.com>

Rod Johnson

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Nov 14, 2021, 4:21:58 PM11/14/21
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Yes, even a 24 foot antenna is narrow-banded on 80 meters.  Like with small magnetic loops, small frequency excursions nearly always require re-tuning for any reasonable efficiency.
  The more an antenna is shortened below it's natural resonant frequency physical length; in general, the more narrow banded it gets, and requires more attention to tuner settings for proper function.
 
  Rod Johnson


Joe Decuir

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Nov 14, 2021, 8:57:28 PM11/14/21
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My DX-flagpole antenna required an antenna tuner in close (~2M) proximity.

There is an adaptor box in the shack, with DC passed through the coax in the 75’ conduit.

The OPEK portable antenna has to be hand adjusted in two ways:

  • Move a jumper for band adjust
  • Tweak the antenna length for fine adjust.
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