Meeting

Minutes from April 30 Meeting

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Radio club meeting 4-30-15

5 members in attendance:  Kirk Crawford, Don Hall, Ryan Noguchi, Jason Bayonne, and Teresa Moore

Antenna Test report:  Last week we set up the Crank IR and Buddipole antennas and got some experience with tuning them.  The Crank IR is pretty easy; the Buddipole has to be adjusted manually.  It took a while to figure out how to use the SWR meter in the trailer as it is not a design anyone was familiar with.  We heard a couple people on 20 and 15 meters, but the bands were not very active.  We did not make any contacts.  We plan to do another test on Wednesday, May 6.  Ryan volunteered to go to the D8 shack to see if he could hear us.

On May 19, the club will be manning a booth at the Aerospace Career Development Day.  Our plan is to set up the KX3 and the Buddipole and just see what we can hear, and talk to people about the club.  We have to be there between 11:30 and 1:30, and will probably have to be there early to set up.  We need volunteers to help with the booth.  You don’t have to stay the whole time.

June 27-28 is Field Day.  We discussed some plans.  We will use the trailer rig, the KX3 + amp, and Teresa’s personal HF rig for three HF stations.  We can use the Buddipole, CrankIR, and a club dipole on Teresa’s portable mast for these stations.  We will need to either guy the antennas or use weight sacks to put on the tripod legs of the two club portable antennas.  Don volunteered to look into weight sacks.  For the VHF stations, Kirk found some better whips than the current little tiny ones on top of the trailer.  Jason and Kirk will move the trailer out of the tent so we can test these VHF whips.  We can move extension cables, the awning, and anything else we may need from the shacks and into the trailer before Field Day.  We will plan several lunchtime trailer events over the next couple months to get the trailer ready.  We need to space the VHF radios farther apart so there is room for multiple people to work them.  We can get extra points for advertising (put a notice in the newspaper, invite representatives to see our site, etc.).  If you are interested in volunteering to help with the advertising campaign, please contact Kirk.  

Don gave a report on the cross-band repeater project.  He has identified the Kenwood TMV71A 144/440 dual band radio as the best candidate.  The plan would be to mount it on a cart so it is portable and not necessarily tied to the trailer.  He will be doing more research on an antenna, portable mast, cart, and battery that can last at least 8 hours.  Next month he will have a list of parts/prices for us to consider.

Our ultimate goal is to be able to contact Colorado Springs and Chantilly from the trailer.  However, we’re not there yet.  As an interim measure, after Field Day we would like to set up a regular sched with the radio clubs at COS and Chantilly from the D8 shack.  If anyone wants to volunteer to lead that project, please contact Kirk.

Teresa

Shack, Uncategorized

HF Radio Test

Last week, we had an HF Radio test of the newly refurbished HF Radio in the Emergency Communications Trailer.  We used the whip antenna that is attached to the trailer.  We were not able to get the whip straight up and down and it was inside the fabric tent.  We were able to hear stations as far away as Texas on 20 meters, but we were not able to make contact with anyone.

We are planning another Test of the HF rig on Wednesday the 22nd of April at 11:30 AM.  If you want to help out please join us at the trailer. (West of A6.)  We will test it with the buddipole and Crack IR antennas to see if they help out.

 

-Kirk

Field Day, Meeting, Shack

March 2015 Ham Radio Club Meeting

Ham Radio Club Meeting 3-26-15, held in A3/2226

MP3 File of the meeting:

Audio Player

Kirk did a slideshow presentation covering various topics, including the new D1 shack, the trailer, and planning for Field Day.

D1 shack:  the D1 shack is now operational, located in D1/640.  It’s on a bench in Teresa’s lab, so see her for access.  The antenna does not have as much range as the one on D8 as Kirk (who checks in on his way to work) cannot check in from as far away as he used to be able to.  We can try raising it a bit to see if that helps.

Trailer progress:  The HF radio is now back after being sent out for repairs.  The plan is to check it out using the HF whip on the trailer.  The security and maintenance radio will be installed in the trailer soon.  We do need to spend some time in the trailer before Field Day so we can space the radios out as they are too close together for comfortable operation of both at once.  A redeployed monitor has been put in the trailer for the packet system.

Field Day planning:  Field Day is June 27-28 this year.  We will be in parking lot of V1 again this year as that worked out well last year.  We need to start thinking about what equipment we want to use.  It would be good to have a portable tower and antenna for each band being worked (2m, 220, 440, HF, packet).  People bringing personal radios should bring lots of coax.  Single sideband would be better than FM for VHF bands if we can find the equipment.  We need to find out what equipment we have available (Teresa will ask Joe about the HF antenna we bought last year) and start gathering and testing it.  One thing we need to be sure to bring is a portable SWR meter.  ACTION ITEM:  make sure we get wheels put on the generator.

Portable repeater project:  Don will look into a radio that has cross-band capability for the trailer.

Safety and Security day:  we need to keep this on our radar as we want to have a club presence this year.  We’re not sure of the date yet.

Meeting

February 2015 HAM Club Meeting

Audio
Audio Player

(Audio of the meeting)

The meeting began at 11:30 AM on February 26, 2015 in D8 1006A.  Five members were in attendance:

  • Teresa Moore (AG6OD)
  • Victor Lin (KK6RZO)
  • Don Hall (KK6DCX)
  • Kirk Crawford (KG6MTE)
  • Ryan Noguchi (AI6DO)


The radio equipment that was purchased for the D1 shack has arrived and has been installed.  The Radio has been tested and can reach the El Segundo Repeater.  The simplex portion of the system will be tested after this meeting.  Teresa will try out here new roll as the NCO tomorrow.  If club members would like to try out the radio setup, contact Teresa Moore for access. 

We discussed possible meeting topics for future meetings.  I will research a tree mounted dipole system I plan to use for  my home, and will present that at some point.

Teresa’s husband knows about digital modes may come in and present.

We also agree we should check  out the field day equipment we have to make sure we know how to set it up and use it before field day comes along. Hopefully we can do this in either March or April.

I also took an action item to contact Jason to inquire about the  HF Radio Status for the trailer.

Teresa will study the cross-band repeater mode of her new radio, and we plan to try it out in order to test it’s use for a possible future CERT exercise.

We gave recommendations to Victor Lin on possible VHF radios to buy as his first radio. The conclusion was to try the inexpensive Baofeng radio available on Amazon for ~$30.

The meeting was adjourned at about 12:20 and we went up to the D8 Shack for a little tour.

 

Shack

Ordering New Components of D1 Shack

The club is now ordering new components to make up a D1 Shack.  Here is what we are getting:

  • Kenwood TMV71A
    Kenwood TV71A
    Kenwood TV71A

     

  • Astron RS 20M Power Supply 
  • Comet GP-6 Antenna 


This should be installed soon and then Teresa in D1 can help conduct the morning net.

Meeting

February Meeting moved to D8/1006A

1 Comment

We will be having our February meeting in D8/1006A at 11:30 AM.   This was discussed at our last meeting so that we might have more D8 people show up and learn about becoming Net Control Operator for the morning net.  We will also discuss other issues.

 

73,

 

Kirk Crawford

KG6MTE

Uncategorized

Hello world!

I am changing the website to a wordpress blog.  I will be adding content from the old website over the next few weeks.  If you are an AEA Amateur Radio Club member, send me an email and I can set up an account for you so you can comment on the various posts here.

 

Best Regards,

 

Kirk Crawford

KG6MTE

AEA Amateur Radio Club President

 

Meeting

January 2015 Meeting Notes

Aerospace Ham Radio Club

Meeting Notes – January 29, 2015

 

Present at meeting:

Name Call Sign
Donald Hall KK6DCX
Joe Barger N6KK
Teresa Moore AG60D
Phil Martzen KK6PSA
Joseph Pham AB6TK
Victor Lin (studying for license)


 

Discussions:

  • Victor talked with Joe about membership, dues, etc.
  • Portable Ham antennas
  • Need for morning NCO (control operator)
    • Group discussed need for NCO
    • Discussed possibility of having next meeting in D8, to make attendance by employees working in D8 more convenient, hopefully to identify future NCO
    • Teresa mentioned she could do morning NCO, but lacks a ham shack at her location (D1)
      • Group discussed feasibility of purchasing needed equipment to set up in D1
        • Joe stated he thought we could easily afford equipment to set up in D1 for morning net operations
        • Teresa will check on opportunities for installing an antenna at D1
      • Phil mentioned he needs to acquire a handheld
        • Group discussed some inexpensive handhelds that are available

 

Meeting

December 2014 Christmas Party

December 11, 2014 AEA Amateur Radio Club Meeting Minutes

Merry Christmas!

We held our annual Christmas party at the Proud Bird at 11:30 AM. Nine club members were in attendance:

  • Kirk Crawford KG6MTE
  • Ed Warren K8RD
  • Don Taylor K6DA
  • Don Hall KK6DCX
  • Joseph Pham AB6TK
  • Bernard Yoo KI6NVD
  • Archie Buchanan KD6GWH
  • Joe Barger N6KK
  • Teresa Moore AG6OD


One Non-Club member was there as well.

  • Dustin Laurence KA7FI4 (Spouse of Teresa)

We had a great luncheon at the Proud Bird. We had the buffet this year and we had good food and service in my opinion.

Treasurers report: We got $3000 for the coming fiscal year. We now have $8000 in the bank. Kirk Crawford proposed to purchase antennas and mounting hardware to mount two antennas on the A6 Roof. Cables would run the signals down to the Emergency Operations Trailer. This with a permanent power source could turn the trailer into another viable shack.

The HF radio was removed from it’s rack in the Emergency Operations Trailer during the November meeting. Jason has since brought this radio to the HAM Radio shop to be repaired.

An election for officers was held. No new volunteers were found, and all the existing officers agreed to stay in there posts.

We again discussed the repeater project and confirmed that we will be pursuing a portable cross-band repeater solution for the Emergency Operations Trailer, and we will let David Ping continue with the permanent repeater solution.

We held the raffle and had the following results:

  • $300 Wayne Fenner
  • $200 Kirk Crawford
  • $100 Joe Barger
  • $50 Don Taylor
  • $50 Teresa Moore
  • $50 Archie Buchanan
  • $50 Joe Pham

The winners will get gift cards to the amateur radio supply store of their choice.

EDIT:

K0DI says there is high SWR from the Step IR Antenna in D8.

Meeting

September 2014 Meeting Minutes

September 25, 2014 AEA Amateur Radio Club Meeting Minutes

Seven people were in attendance:

  • Don Putnick NA6Z
  • Ed Warren K8RD
  • Ryan Noguchi AI6DO
  • Joe Barger N6KK
  • Don Hall KK6DCX
  • Teresa Moore AG6OD
  • Kirk Crawford KG6MTE


Treasurers report: We should get $3500 for the coming fiscal year. We did purchase a number of items recently including portable tool sets but there is still a balance of several thousand dollars.

The AEA has said that our dues are too low and that we need to give Aerospace employees a price break on dues compared to other members. The current dues are $12/year. Kirk proposed to amend our bylaws to make the dues $18/year for Aerospace employees, $24/year for non-Aerospace employees, and $12/year for Aerospace retirees. Don Hall seconded. The motion passed.

Kirk will contact Jason to ask about the status of the repair of the HF radio in the trailer.

Don Hall reported that the Christmas party is set for Thursday, December 11 at the Proud Bird. It will be a buffet this year. We agreed on new rules for the holiday raffle. Usually $20 worth of raffle tickets are included in the yearly letter in hopes that people will buy them. We usually have about $300-$350 in ticket sales. We agreed that this year the total budget for the holiday raffle prizes would be $800 and the prizes would be gift certificates to the ham radio store of the winner’s choice in the amounts of $300, $200, $100, and 4X$50. The new rules will be that a single person is only allowed to win one prize. If you win a higher prize then you can choose which prize you want to keep and the other prize is returned to the pool for another drawing.

We again discussed the repeater project and came to the conclusion that the existing project would not really be feasible to put in the trailer as an emergency repeater. It is too big and bulky and requires too much expertise to get to an operational state. We will continue on that project as in the past, and it will stay in A8 and operate on the test pair. We will consider a new emergency portable repeater for the trailer, to be used on the emergency pair. The goal is to allow for communication across campus from the portable trailer assuming no access to any of the equipment in the ham shacks in the buildings and assuming that cell service is down. There was some discussion of a cross-band repeater, and pros and cons were discussed. Don Hall will do some research on modern repeaters and report in a later meeting.

We discussed a “bring a friend” type meeting and decided that it would be a good idea but we could only do it for a meeting where we had a solid presentation lined up that would showcase ham radio for people outside of the hobby.

The next meeting may include the APRS presentation by Bernie and/or the repeater report by Dave.

AEA Amateur Radio Club