I recently purchased a very inexpensive RF Signal Generator from the Amazon website. Although the price shown here is $40, I paid $29 a couple of weeks ago for it. For the price, it is probably a worthwhile device to have on your bench. However, I don’t recommend purchasing this unit since for a few…
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Shielded Coax for an Antenna?
At the October meeting of the Cascades Amateur Radio Society, Wesley Cardone (N8QM) gave a presentation on the Siglent 1032X Function Generator. One of the things presented was the capability to use the device as a transmitter. But this is where the problem developed. In demonstrating this capability, Wes used 50 Ohm BNC connector instrumentation…
How Do You Calibrate Your HF Rig’s S-meter?
Few people realize this but S-meters on most transceivers are not calibrated to reflect accurate readings. But did you know that most rig’s S-meters are easily adjusted for an accurate calibration. But even if you for whatever reason don’t wish to monkey around with your rig, you can at least find out what your S-meter…
Ham In A Day
Attention: Future Amateur Radio Operators Do you think you might enjoy Amateur (HAM) Radio? Does a 6-to-8-week course deter you from getting a license? How about a “HAM radio license in a Day”? The Cascades Amateur Radio Society (CARS) will be hosting a “Ham in a Day” Technician Class session on Saturday, Jan 08, 2022….
Link to DMR 101 Presentation
If you missed this presentation at the club meeting or just couldn’t get enough, the link below will get you the PDF of my DMR presentation! https://drive.google.com/file/d/19JRYN57beuQPX5mBDgr5MY_Wwm8hBohy Let me know if you have any questions! 73 KD8LCF
Proposed Guidelines for Nets
At the September meeting KD8LCF proposed a set of guidelines for the administration of nets on the 146.88 repeater. As the club, and the repeater trustee are responsible to the FCC for the operation of the repeater, the following guidelines for nets are proposed: If a club member wants to start a new, regularly-scheduled net,…
Proposed Change to the Time for Start of Thursday Evening Net
At the September meeting WD8PMD proposed that we change the starting time of the Thursday net to 8:00pm local. The proposed date for this change is the first Thursday net of November, or November 4th. The motion was seconded and there was discussion. The motion was tabled for the next meeting with the intent to…
Friday Dinners with Show-and-Tell
Many members of the Cascades Amateur Radio Society meet for dinner each Friday evening at the Alpha Coney restaurant at the Jackson Crossing Mall. At these fun get-togethers, often there is show-and-tell. This last Friday (September 3, 2021) was no exception. Mike (WB8ICN) brought some home-brew circuit cards that he had recently fabricated. This was…
What is Input Impedance, Anyhow
As amateur radio operators we typically look at any input impedance specification and think 50 Ohms. But what is 50 Ohms? Buried within the whole topic of input impedance is a “characteristic impedance.” At this point we typically lose amateurs thinking we are moving into rocket science. But this stuff is really simple as you…