As our local Hamfest is coming up soon, and the person who has been running it for years wants to resign from the position, it has got me thinking about what it actually takes to run a swap / hamfest.
I got to thinking about all the swaps I’ve been to and how sometimes I’m afraid to buy a radio or equipment, because I don’t know if it works or not. As a kid I would carry a backpack for goodies I bought and also a 12v 7ah battery to power test radios. I found a few radios or items that they claimed worked, but wouldn’t even power up, its a good thing I didn’t buy them.
What if clubs offered a free “Equipment Test Table” ? This could benefit both buyers and sellers, by proving that the used equipment works. Here is what I would like to see at a table.
110v outlets / surge strip
12volt – 30 amp power supply
including power pole, banana jacks, standard mobile connectors & alligator clips.
Dummy Load for HF & VHF
Basic antenna for HF receive (ex. 40/20 dipole)
Basic antenna for VHF/UHF receive
Multimeter
Watt Meter
Most clubs could easily find this equipment to be loaned for the day. It could be watched at the raffle ticket table easily. This would be enough to test most radio related items found at a swap, and would make buyers feel a lot better about spending their hard earned money.
I will be bringing this idea up to our club and will offer to loan my equipment for the cause for our swap. I hope other clubs will do the same.
I am planning on deploying a few more APRS digipeaters in the Mid-Michigan area.
I hope to be able to fit everything inside a 12 x 12 x 6″ outdoor weatherproof box, for each site. The only external connections will be 110v power and antenna. I still have do do all the wiring and solder up some connectors, but this will give an idea of how it will look inside.
Contents:
110v outlet
12v 3amp power supply
12v 7ah battery
MFJ-1207C TNC
Vertex FTM-2011 commercial VHF mobile
Wiring for power / data
I hope to get some much smaller TNC’s like the Byonics TinyTrack4 for some future kits.
I am not sure which site this will be installed at, but I will update my website with the new location and installation pics, when done.
Since I’m not big into HF and I have a Yaesu FT-747GX radio just sitting here collecting dust, I figured I would put it to use. I haven’t touched it since I removed it to take to our club’s Field Day site in 2011. I just placed it back on my desk and forgot about it, so I had to search for the power cord and jumper coax to go to my filter and coax switch.
I installed K1JT’s WSPR software on a Win XP computer and wired up the audio line out from the radio to the line in on the PC. After tweeking some settings in the software, I was receiving WSPR beacons from all over the place. I figure I might as well put it to good use in RX mode, to help other people know how the band propagation is.
Currently I only have it set up to my 10/11M Antron 99 vertical antenna, only 10′ off the ground and partially blocked by my house. It is mounted on my kid’s trampoline for now, until it gets warmer and I get install it either back in my tree at 40′ off the ground or on a tripod on my garage roof. It feeds to the radio with about 50′ of RG-8 coax.
I plan to leave this running on either 10 or 20 meter bands, and leave it on 24/7.
Here is a presentation I made for or Ham Radio club meeting.
This presentation shows a few radio related apps for Android and iPhones.
It is available for public use. It is in Open Office .odp format.
I found a TV antenna amplifier in a junk box that I had forgotten I bought back a while ago at a garage sale. I think I paid $1 for it. I needed a amplifier for some scanners that I plan to use for online feeds. I don’t want a bunch of antennas up, so amplifying the signal and splitting it works best for me.
I opened up the unit and changed the Input connector from the standard “F” to a SO-239 to accept a PL-259, the most common connector type I use for antennas. I also changed the Output connector to a BNC, which most of my scanners use.
This is a project I worked on a while ago, but never finished it due to time. I will update my site or this post when I get it working how I want.
This code is free to use and edit, as long as the credit to me is left at the top. Thanks.
I don’t remember if I ever got the band to save, so that might not be working.
You should expect to edit or add to the “void BandSetup()” section.
You can also hard-code the band to a relay setting.
I never got around to setting up outputs for the relays, but that should be simple to add.
/* HF Band Detecting Auto Antenna Switch
Designed by
KC8GRQ - Mark Rodgers
*/
#include <LiquidCrystal.h>
LiquidCrystal lcd(8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13);
#define A 2
#define B 3
#define C 4
#define D 5
#define Select 6
#define Next 7
int AntennaPort = '1';
int Band = '0';
void setup()
{
pinMode(A, INPUT);
pinMode(B, INPUT);
pinMode(C, INPUT);
pinMode(D, INPUT);
pinMode(Select, INPUT);
pinMode(Next, INPUT);
// digitalWrite(Select, LOW);
// digitalWrite(Next, LOW);
lcd.begin(20, 4);
// Print a message to the LCD.
lcd.setCursor(0, 0);
lcd.print("Auto Antenna Switch ");
lcd.setCursor(0, 2);
lcd.print(" KC8GRQ ");
delay(3000);
lcd.clear();
}
void ReadRadio()
{
digitalRead(A);
digitalRead(B);
digitalRead(C);
digitalRead(D);
if (digitalRead(A) == LOW && digitalRead(B) == LOW && digitalRead(C) == LOW && digitalRead(D) == HIGH)
{ lcd.setCursor(0, 0);
lcd.print(" 160 Meters ");
lcd.setCursor(0, 1);
lcd.print(" 1.8 to 2.0 Mhz ");
lcd.print(" Random Legth Wire "); }
else if
(digitalRead(A) == LOW && digitalRead(B) == LOW && digitalRead(C) == HIGH && digitalRead(D) == LOW)
{ lcd.setCursor(0, 0);
lcd.print(" 80 Meters ");
lcd.setCursor(0, 1);
lcd.print(" 3.5 to 4.0 Mhz ");
lcd.print(" G5RV East / West "); }
else if
(digitalRead(A) == HIGH && digitalRead(B) == LOW && digitalRead(C) == HIGH && digitalRead(D) == LOW)
{ lcd.setCursor(0, 0);
lcd.print(" 60 Meters ");
lcd.setCursor(0, 1);
lcd.print(" 5.330 - 5.403 Mhz ");
lcd.print(" G5RV East / West "); }
else if
(digitalRead(A) == LOW && digitalRead(B) == LOW && digitalRead(C) == HIGH && digitalRead(D) == HIGH)
{ lcd.setCursor(0, 0);
lcd.print(" 40 Meters ");
lcd.setCursor(0, 1);
lcd.print(" 7.0 to 7.3 Mhz ");
lcd.print(" G5RV East / West "); }
else if
(digitalRead(A) == LOW && digitalRead(B) == HIGH && digitalRead(C) == LOW && digitalRead(D) == LOW)
{ lcd.setCursor(0, 0);
lcd.print(" 30 Meters ");
lcd.setCursor(0, 1);
lcd.print(" 10.1 to 10.15 Mhz ");
lcd.print(" Triband 3 EL Yagi "); }
else if
(digitalRead(A) == LOW && digitalRead(B) == HIGH && digitalRead(C) == LOW && digitalRead(D) == HIGH)
{ lcd.setCursor(0, 0);
lcd.print(" 20 Meters ");
lcd.setCursor(0, 1);
lcd.print(" 14.0 to 14.35 Mhz ");
lcd.print(" Triband 3 EL Yagi "); }
else if
(digitalRead(A) == LOW && digitalRead(B) == HIGH && digitalRead(C) == HIGH && digitalRead(D) == LOW)
{ lcd.setCursor(0, 0);
lcd.print(" 17 Meters ");
lcd.setCursor(0, 1);
lcd.print("18.068 to 18.168 Mhz");
lcd.print(" Triband 3 EL Yagi "); }
else if
(digitalRead(A) == LOW && digitalRead(B) == HIGH && digitalRead(C) == HIGH && digitalRead(D) == HIGH)
{ lcd.setCursor(0, 0);
lcd.print(" 15 Meters ");
lcd.setCursor(0, 1);
lcd.print(" 21.0 to 21.45 Mhz ");
lcd.print(" Triband 3 EL Yagi "); }
else if
(digitalRead(A) == HIGH && digitalRead(B) == LOW && digitalRead(C) == LOW && digitalRead(D) == LOW)
{ lcd.setCursor(0, 0);
lcd.print(" 12 Meters ");
lcd.setCursor(0, 1);
lcd.print(" 24.89 to 24.99 Mhz ");
lcd.print(" 10 / 12 Vertical "); }
else if
(digitalRead(A) == HIGH && digitalRead(B) == LOW && digitalRead(C) == LOW && digitalRead(D) == HIGH)
{ lcd.setCursor(0, 0);
lcd.print(" 10 Meters ");
lcd.setCursor(0, 1);
lcd.print(" 28.0 to 29.7 Mhz ");
lcd.print(" 10 / 12 Vertical "); }
else
{ lcd.setCursor(0, 0);
lcd.print(" ** ERROR ** ");
lcd.setCursor(0, 1);
lcd.print(" No Radio Data ");
lcd.setCursor(0, 2);
lcd.print(" ");
lcd.setCursor(0, 3);
lcd.print("Check Wiring & Radio"); }
}
void BandSetup()
{
lcd.setCursor(0, 0);
lcd.print(" * Setup Mode * ");
lcd.setCursor(0, 1);
lcd.print("Band: ");
lcd.setCursor(6, 1);
if (Band == '0') { lcd.print("160 Meters"); } else
if (Band == '1') { lcd.print("80 Meters "); } else
if (Band == '2') { lcd.print("60 Meters "); } else
if (Band == '3') { lcd.print("40 Meters "); } else
if (Band == '4') { lcd.print("30 Meters "); } else
if (Band == '5') { lcd.print("20 Meters "); } else
if (Band == '6') { lcd.print("17 Meters "); } else
if (Band == '7') { lcd.print("15 Meters "); } else
if (Band == '8') { lcd.print("12 Meters "); } else
if (Band == '9') { lcd.print("10 Meters "); }
// Scroll Thru The Bands
if (Band > '9') {
Band = '0';
}
if (digitalRead(Next) == HIGH) {
Band++; }
// The band is selected that we want to edit, now set AntennaPort
if (digitalRead(Select) == HIGH) {
lcd.setCursor(0, 2);
lcd.print("Antenna Port # ");
lcd.setCursor(16, 2);
lcd.write(AntennaPort);
// Scroll Thru The Antenna Ports
if (AntennaPort > '4') {
AntennaPort = '1';
}
if (digitalRead(Next) == HIGH) {
AntennaPort++; }
}
// OK, now we have set the Band to the Antenna Port, lets save it.
if (digitalRead(Select) == HIGH) {
lcd.setCursor(0, 3);
lcd.print(" * Settings Saved * "); }
}
void loop()
{
// ReadRadio();
// if (digitalRead(Select) == HIGH) { BandSetup(); }
lcd.setCursor(0, 0);
lcd.print(" * Setup Mode * ");
lcd.setCursor(0, 1);
lcd.print("Band: ");
lcd.setCursor(6, 1);
if (Band == '0') { lcd.print("160 Meters"); } else
if (Band == '1') { lcd.print("80 Meters "); } else
if (Band == '2') { lcd.print("60 Meters "); } else
if (Band == '3') { lcd.print("40 Meters "); } else
if (Band == '4') { lcd.print("30 Meters "); } else
if (Band == '5') { lcd.print("20 Meters "); } else
if (Band == '6') { lcd.print("17 Meters "); } else
if (Band == '7') { lcd.print("15 Meters "); } else
if (Band == '8') { lcd.print("12 Meters "); } else
if (Band == '9') { lcd.print("10 Meters "); }
// Scroll Thru The Bands
if (Band > '9') {
Band = '0';
}
if (digitalRead(Next) == HIGH) {
Band++; }
// The band is selected that we want to edit, now set AntennaPort
if (digitalRead(Select) == HIGH) {
lcd.setCursor(0, 2);
lcd.print("Antenna Port # ");
lcd.setCursor(16, 2);
lcd.write(AntennaPort);
// Scroll Thru The Antenna Ports
if (AntennaPort > '4') {
AntennaPort = '1';
}
if (digitalRead(Next) == HIGH) {
AntennaPort++; }
}
// OK, now we have set the Band to the Antenna Port, lets save it.
if (digitalRead(Select) == HIGH) {
lcd.setCursor(0, 3);
lcd.print(" * Settings Saved * "); }
}
This is the top of a VHF base antenna that got hit by lightning. It was on top of a customer’s 65′ tower. He removed it so I can use the tower for a WIFI repeater. He lost his computer, phones and microwave from the strike. I am going to be replacing & upgrading the old ground wiring and clamps.
I have temporarily set upmy ADS-B plane tracking receiver at home, until I can get it installed at the tower site. Since I only ordered 10′ of coax, I couldnt get it very high, without going to longer coax, but then I would lose a lot of signal. For now, it is mounted on the corner of my house. It has about a 75% view of the sky where it is. So far the results are good, Ive seen up to 27 planes on it. I am sure once its on the tower, it will increase a lot.
I had a spare Motorola Maxtrac 800 Mhz trunking radio (820) that is pretty much obsolete now. I decided to see if I could put it to use, making it work as a P25 digital trunking control channel monitor.
While looking for info on some ADS-B receivers (plane trackers) online, I came across a post on RadioReference.com about a website owner looking to increase coverage of aircraft receivers. He was offering a free receiver setup to people in select areas who can provide reliable 24/7 receive coverage. I sent my info to him requesting a receiver, since I could put it up on one of my WIFI tower sites. I was approved to receive a kit, and about 2 weeks later, I received it (from Finland).
The website is http://www.flightradar24.com/ and is really neat. Compared to the computer software that Ive seen for these receivers, his site goes way beyond the basic 1990′s looking map files. The website is one of the reasons why I wanted to help his site out. I could see that it was far superior than the other sites Ive been on too.
