I got my cap! Where's the AR SIG?

@Team_Electronics

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Nice hat!

I havenā€™t seen anything about the Amateur Radio SIG since a reorganization meeting last year. I havenā€™t been to the new Electronics space in months so I donā€™t know if the feedlines were run to the roof, antennas reconstructed, power supply and yellow panel reinstalled, or if there is even a corner for amateur radio.

I looked at the wiki and I am still listed as being in charge of the SIG, but that hasnā€™t been the case for over a year - really longer than that.

I plan to go by DMS this weekend (8/10/19 or 8/11/19) to see if I can pick up the thread and get back involved. Iā€™m happy to meet anyone there. I have the regular ā€œHams ā€˜n Eggsā€ breakfast at the Whataburger near Old Denton and the PGBT (by the Walmart) Saturday morning and Metrocrest Amateur Radio Society (MARS) Radio Play Day at the Carrollton Public Library - Josey Ranch but can come by later in the day or on Sunday.

Kevin

I put the title up more to stir up interest than as a real question. Yes, there is a desk with some radio equipment. @richmeyer is working the feedline project. He is also looking to set up a DMS Volunteer Examiner group to administer testing. @yehuda613 has been doing some Technician classes.

Not sure about the AR SIG. Appears to me that someone needs to grab the reins and charge ahead. Go for it!

Iā€™m in Colorado for a few weeks but look forward to meeting you when I get back.

I have repeatedly reminded/requested that the AR SIG have mtngs to decide what they want to do.
There are as many opinions/wants/interests/etc. as there are members.
Start having some mtngs and work it out.
I already have to many feet in the various dysfunctional ā€œgroupsā€ across DMS.
Prefer not to have to moderate this.
Bottom line - Yā€™all gonna make it happen

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We can run just about any digital mode, certainly FLDIGI and WSTJ-X, off of a raspberry pi 3b or better. The antenna we had was pretty good when it wasnā€™t blown over or the tuner was having a headache. A random wire would be a nice and easy addition.

Donā€™t see why we canā€™t run a long wire on the roof.
Keep in mind we have high tension pwr lines that run parallel to the front of the bldg.

Canā€™t say what landlord would consider ok, but a Hexbeam could be mounted n the middle of the roof, and be pretty invisible from the street. Decent performance too.

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Before the expansion process went through its big kerfulle and the headaches from that as well as some family and medical stuff made me step back for a bit. The plan was we would be setting up the bench by the window in electronics and running our grounding needs through the wall in the plumbing closet and then we were supposed to get a 4" conduit through the roof with waterproof boxes on either end for routing the coax etc. I seem to recall hearing @richmeyer say that was still the case since then, but maybe he can let us know if that is something still in the works or not.

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Nothing official really, just a member and an extra class license holder, I tried organizing a few SIG meetings at the end of last year. The first time a bunch of people came. After that it was like two or three. Then the politics started getting rough and some personal issues ate my spring and summer.

Iā€™ve only made it up there a handful of times since then. I did stop by for a few hours last week and poked at my ĀµBITX Digital Shack in a Box Project, and am hip deep in another Electronics project so Iā€™m looking to get more involved again.

I think the thing with the closet was that there is an existing penetration in the wall there that we could run our grounds outside through rather than running them to the pipes in there. I suppose if the nice roof opening isnā€™t in the works anymore we could route coax the same way.

There is a ladder access at one end if the building. I believe it is locked. Not sure who would have the key. I wouldnā€™t mind going up there, but I think the roof might not like my quarter ton butt walking around up there.

We donā€™t mess with ANYTHING plumbing wise in that closet. Itā€™s the fire sprinkler system closet, not regular plumbing.

That said, the holes in the side of the building are a bit oversize. I think we can get some ground strap thru there and into the electronics area. Rich said he could get us a map of the outdoor plumbing and pipes and such. With that in hand, we can drive some ground rods. I have an electric jackhammer with the ground rod attachment. No kidding - under 2 minutes for an 8 foot ground rod. We can install several.

The hold up right now is getting the conduits installed to the roof. Until we have that, there is no point in proceeding.

Once we do, weā€™ll have a few high quality coax runs from the bench area up to the roof box. We can potentially install several antennas and switch among them.

I for one want one completely without a tuner on the roof. I know the tuner we have is supposed to be a good one, but it sure has had a lot of problems. A fall-back no tune antenna of some sort would be a good thing to have. Long wire, full wave loop. Maybe a mag loop.

Note that I will have zero time for this until October. Be happy to help then.

73ā€™s de K5SLR.

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Rich is leading the charge. Heā€™s been on vacation for the last two weeks but he should have just gotten back. If yā€™all are serious, organize a meeting after the 26th and Rich and I will be there to speak from the pulpit on conduits.

We need the SIG to select an initial antenna design to run past the landlord. Something small and simple. Once itā€™s up and theyā€™ve moved on, we can add to it later. The conduits themselves will be oversized.

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Sounds like the ball is rolling! Let me know if I can help with anything at all. I will be available for certain any day until the end of August.

ELab pc is windows7/8.
Would not recommend plugging your usb into this machine.
Needs a full rebuild and update to win 10.
Currently thereā€™s no network connections in the 102 front area.
There is wifi.

I would be glad to donate a 3.1 series apple Mac Pro that is running linux with 12G ram. Itā€™s a really good machine that I was using in my shack until recently. I also have a broadband SCG folded dipole HF antenna, 5/8-wave 2M/440 base antenna, and various accessories like wattmeters to donate. Iā€™m eager to get something happening in the space but it doesnā€™t seem to be clear who can push the feedline/conduit issue through to completion. Thanks, K5JCJ.

Unless something has changed recently, the emcom network in Austin is based upon Broadband Hamnet. Mesh networking on 2.4 GHz and 5GHz.

Weā€™ve talked about installing one or more nodes for that as well, or the alternative AREDN system ( which is more active in our area at present. )

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In case anyone missed it, see -

I was referring to the microwave systems.

I have no idea what youā€™re talking about with UHF nodes. Packet on 70cm ?

From what I can see, packet is pretty much dead, outside of APRS.

Sounds like a good use for an RFID interlock.

Or just lock up the microphones.

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Except digital modes. Weā€™ll have to do something about that too.