Amateur Radio Committee Meeting - 07.15.14
Attendance
- Pat Hykkonen
- Dan Hoover
- Daniel Jackson
- Benjamin Groves
- Art
- Chuck Poindexter (KE5HGQ)
Proposed Events
- Discussion of previous meeting (in March)
- (@Pat) How did the Field Day go with DARC?
- Unfortunate that day way the high-water mark of the DMS move
- Pat's Report:
- Went well, although there was only 1 DMS member there (Pat)
- 4 clubs on site
- There were 120 people signed in on roster (add maybe 20 more)
- We have an invite to go back next year
- Put it on calendar now
- Not as hot as it has been in a past
- Introductions / any projects that people want to share
- DJ
- Has a RTL SDR to show off
- Controlling software in Linux
- It is possible :D
- Dan
- Dan is working on a APRS digipeter made from a Raspberry Pi
- (<$100)
- Early tests show positive
- Social handshakes all around
- Changing of KD5MS address with the FCC to the new Dallas Makerspace location
- 1825 Monetary Lane, Suite 104 // Carrollton, TX 75006
- Requires committee vote and record of event (here)
- Unanimously approved by the attending members of the Amateur Radio Committee
- Pat needs these meeting notes and the general meeting notes for Dallas Makerspace in order to file paperwork
- New Amateur Radio Club setup
- We have the office at the back of the warehouse, shared with milling committee
- Milling committee will house a computer, Haas simulator and books
- Office environment, can be more easily policed for clutter
- Thoughts on antenna mounting?
- Our roof access is not as limiting as we previously thought
- In least, we should be able to set up a mast like we did at old DMS
- There is apparently a hole in the wall nearby that was for a satellite dish
- Note we are near the power distribution for DMS and relative closeness to the Haas mill
- Wall mount?
- Magnetic Loop antenna?
- DJ mentioned positive results with his
- An HF Antenna will need to be in the air
- Look more into roof access
- As the temperatures start cooling down
- Wall mount is possible
- Saddle Mount dipole is optimal
- 4' above the roof's surface
- $120 - $250
- Make our own antenna?
- Committee unanimously agrees to design and build our own antenna
- Spec and plan now on the Mailing List
- Ben to check around for specifics of roof (should not be a problem)
- Ben will make Wiki page for documentation in the near future
- Offset center-fed dipole antenna in consideration
- Spec out 80-10m antenna
- J-pole antenna for VHF / UHF
- Electrical / Industrial Noise
- Transformer outside of the building
- Haas Mill, Bridgeport Mill and CNC router noise
- Even though we should be clear we need to test our location for EMF noise and safety
- There is ability to implement countermeasures to counterbalance
- Amateur radio masts in DMS storage
- Now we are in the new space we can have some better context for their use
- 4x 10' sections of mast
- Not standard
- Meant to be portable
- Can be used with a design of mounting plate
- Will our new solutions not need them, in which case they are clutter?
- All in all, we will probably abandon them
- Final decision of what to do with them deferred to the outcome of the antenna design meetings
- Propose getting rid of them / scrapping for metal?
- Haul out to next hamfest for handoff (as opposed to scrapping)
- Alternatively and in the same spirit, we can check with the local ham community
Upcoming Activities
- Amateur Radio Technician class
- One more session beginning July 28th
- This has been approved for Board of Directors educational honorarium, bringing $600 into committee funds
- Best spent on radio setup in new space
- Amateur Radio General class
- Following almost immediately after in September
Future Activity Discussion
- Previous mentions:
- Program your radio night
- Hack your own RTLSDR seminar
- Build a cheap general SDR receiver
- Make cheapest APRS receiver out of RTLSDR?
- Antenna build
- Planned, see above
- HF antenna setup
- Planned, see above
- Balloon Launch
- DMS APRS digipeater
- Build a dedicated KD5MS SDR
