On weekday mornings there is an inorganic roundtable net that meets at 8 AM on the Washtenaw 145.150 MHz repeater for a 30-minute daily kick-start. It is a fun net to which the amateur community is not only invited but warmly encouraged to attend. Because the repeater reaches not only the whole of Washtenaw County…
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Free Admission Jackson County Fair
Club members who have volunteered to man the Cascades Amateur Radio Society booth at the Jackson County Fair get free admission to the fair. To realize your free admission, present yourself at the north gate of the fair which is on North Street. Give them your name and they will look you up in their…
Transmission Line Analytics Applied to a Mag Mount Antenna
Amateur radio operators often forget that a feedline or transmission line has an effect on the vector impedance of the antenna it serves. If the antenna is resonant (50 + j0 Ohms) for the input frequency, then any length of coax is irrelevant. But if the antenna vector impedance is something else (which it ALWAYS…
Mag Mount Antenna Optimization & Feedline Analytics
The mag mount antenna may possibly be categorized as a commodity in both amateur radio and all hobbyist communications. Its installation is pretty much plug-and-chug except for a slight positioning of the transmitting element by means of a set screw. The user of the mag mount antenna typically uses an SWR meter to position the…
Walter Cronkite Speaks on Amateur Radio
Famed TV news host and former CBS News Anchor speaks for 6 and a half minutes on amateur radio. It’s a really great show! Sadly, it is age restricted so you will have to click on the YouTube button and search for “Walter Cronkite amateur radio.”
Central Michigan Amateur Radio Club Hamfest
The Central Michigan Amateur Radio Club (CMARC) is having their HamFest on Saturday, September 18, 2021. This event will include VE testing (begins at 11AM) and door prizes. Admission is $5 and free for those under 6 years old. Vendor spaces are limited to indoor only (no trunk sales) and fees for spaces begin at…
A Dipole Antenna Build
The dipole antenna is the mainstay of amateur radio. It is simple and easy to understand, yet absolutely full of nuances to be aware of. For the July meeting of the Chelsea Amateur Radio Club (see: WD8IEL.com) our own vice-president, Wes Cardone (N8QM) is giving a presentation on an actual build of a dipole antenna….
Field Day of 2021
Can you count? Can you count to 107? Well, if you cannot count to 107 then you will not be able to comprehend how many contacts the Cascades Amateur Radio Society made on Field Day of 2021. Shown here is our own Dave Foster (W3IGT) working furiously to log more and more contacts. He did…
A Dipole Feedpoint Distance From Ground and Impedance
It is well known that the input impedance of a dipole antenna is largely dependent upon the height of its feed point above the ground plane. In this blog post, we will quantify the dipole input impedance with respect to its height above the ground plane. A dipole antenna is affected by the height of…
Receiver Performance by Bob Sherwood
Our own Dale Cole (K8TS) suggested that we put this video up for club members to view. Here is an interesting YouTube presentation from Bob Sherwood. Bob, if you are not aware, is the leading expert on receiver performance, and especially his results can be used in deciding what radio to buy or consider, depending…