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Ring that school bell!
21 January 2015 | by Our second Technician License class started last evening. This time, instead of being open to just the "public", this one is primarily intended for the Clark, NJ CERT Team. Drew W2OU, Marv K2VHW and yours truly met with, introduced ourselves to, and began the process of instructing 15 potential new Hams.
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It's always fun and exciting to be with a group of people who show genuine interest in Amateur Radio, as was the case last night. All of these folks showed enthusiasm and curiosity and an eagerness to learn.
We will become "buddies" over the course of the next seven Tuesday evenings, and hopefully after that, we will add more people to the ranks of Amateur Radio.
And if the teaching gig isn't enough, I was thinking of home brewing a magnetic loop this winter. My line of thinking is that I could build one for let's say 40-10 Meters. From what I understand they're not huge. Then, when it gets really frosty in the basement, I could just set the loop up on the main floor and operate temporarily from the dining room table or something like that. Just a thought, though, as funds are kinda tight. I have some spare coax (enough for a loop), and I think the only expense at this point would be the tuning capacitor. It doesn't need to be one of those expensive vacuum jobs, so maybe I can find something reasonable on eBay.
My inspiration for this has been Greg, N4KGL. I've been following his posts on Google+ and through his blog. He seems to be having so much success with his loop that it seems like a worthwhile endeavor. That, and the fact that I feel like building something.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Larry Makoski, W2LJ, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Jersey, USA. Contact him at [email protected].It's always fun and exciting to be with a group of people who show genuine interest in Amateur Radio, as was the case last night. All of these folks showed enthusiasm and curiosity and an eagerness to learn.
That's Marv K2VHW on the left and W2LJ on the right.
Notice the coffee cup - gotta have cup of coffee before class, after a long day at work!
Notice the coffee cup - gotta have cup of coffee before class, after a long day at work!
We will become "buddies" over the course of the next seven Tuesday evenings, and hopefully after that, we will add more people to the ranks of Amateur Radio.
And if the teaching gig isn't enough, I was thinking of home brewing a magnetic loop this winter. My line of thinking is that I could build one for let's say 40-10 Meters. From what I understand they're not huge. Then, when it gets really frosty in the basement, I could just set the loop up on the main floor and operate temporarily from the dining room table or something like that. Just a thought, though, as funds are kinda tight. I have some spare coax (enough for a loop), and I think the only expense at this point would be the tuning capacitor. It doesn't need to be one of those expensive vacuum jobs, so maybe I can find something reasonable on eBay.
My inspiration for this has been Greg, N4KGL. I've been following his posts on Google+ and through his blog. He seems to be having so much success with his loop that it seems like a worthwhile endeavor. That, and the fact that I feel like building something.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
2 Responses to “Ring that school bell!”
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- Matt W1MST, Managing Editor
I love your postings. You are such an interesting, capable writer. And I hope you’ll give us a blow-by-blow description of your look antenna. Including where to find critical parts and pieces.
I’m in Monroe, Louisiana and QRP with a Flex 1500, Ten Tec Argonaut V, and Yaesu FT-817ND. QRO stuff too: Ten Tec Jupiter & ALS-600 amo ubto S9v vertical. Take care and thanks for all the help and inspiuration you give to so man. Randy
Larry,
Good luck with the loop. I have built 3 this winter including one with remote tuning. I found that most of the components are available at Home Depot. I have been getting really good results using 5/8 inch cable tv hardline (free from the cable guy). I have built one for 100 watt operation but most are QRP (5 to 15 Watts). The manually-tuned ones cost about $30 to build. If you want more info or construction tips for newbies I can offer some advice. Once you build the first one the fun of optimizing the loop will take over.
73,
Dave