MS Walk – Roselle, IL – Sunday May 5th 2019
A number of SARC club members volunteered their time and skills on Sunday May 5th 2019, by providing valuable communication support for the 2019 MS Charity walk held in Roselle, IL.
We have an excellent opportunity to build our own J pole antennas for minimum cost using a machine shop owned by club member. He has volunteered the use of his company’s facilities to machine and assemble J pole antennas out of heavy duty aluminum. This is a deal you can’t pass up. Even if you do not have an immediate need for a new antenna it would be beneficial to build one now at this extremely low cost and keep it in reserve for that day when yours blows down or ends up under a tree branch.
Cost of material: $20.00
Everyone has their own method of mounting a J pole so we ask that you bring a mounting bracket such as a muffler clamp or U bolt. Holes can be drilled in the base of the J pole for a two inch mount of your choice. Also, the J pole will have a 1/2 inch hole for the mounting of a PL 259/ SO 239 connector. If you have a PL 259 connector, bring it with you or plan to add it later.
The entire build process should take a couple of hours and after the build, we can purchase our own lunch and have it delivered to the shop which would make a great Saturday morning.
This is an excellent opportunity for the members of SARC to build a quality J pole antenna at a minimum cost and I am sure you will want to take advantage of this offer.
Full details on SARC-All, available to club members.
Saturday April 27th, 2019 saw the last Construction Project meeting of the 2018/2019 winter period, and what a turnout!
Over 25 members and non-members alike braved the April snow showers and showed up at the Schaumburg Tennis Club, to enjoy conversations about ham radio, the projects people have been working on, and everything else under the sun!
Continue reading “Final Construction Project Meeting of Winter 2018/2019”
From the President,
As I write this, I am looking out at a snowstorm. We are days away from May and it is snowing like January. A week prior, I was in Florida and the high temperature was 63 degrees with a low around 49. Climate change or Maunder Minimum? But I digress, it is cold and snowy, and I have this urge to go outside and put up an antenna. In fact, when I was in Florida, I was working on my dad’s 5 band vertical. When I was there last August, we were getting intermittent high SWR readings. I tightened all of the counterpoise connections and the problem was solved. We ended up with roughly 1:3-1 on all bands. Eight months later, were getting SWR readings of between 4:1 on 120 MHz to 9:1 on 40 meters. All connections were tight, secure and sealed with no corrosion. Since there was no intermittency, my first test was to check the continuity of the coax. It was indicating a dead short. There is about 150 feet of coax that is mostly buried.
I will most likely ask around about this at the next meeting. Not having the time, patience, or equipment to cut the connectors and test the coax I will ask for troubleshooting expertise at the meeting. But that is what is so nice about this club, I can come to a meeting with any question and get an answer or two. That is what makes this club so good.
See you at the next meeting.
Geoff Stevens
KA9QGH