Saturday, March 24, 2012

SLAMS Breakfast

Our next SLAMS Breakfast will be Sunday April 1 at 8:00am.

Location will again be at Denny's -- Dorsett and I270

Let me know who can make it.

73, John WB9PNU

Monday, March 19, 2012

Main Contests in 2012

First Saturday of every monthMicrowave Activity Day (MAD)
Not a contest but a time to just get on and generate some RF!
January
21-23
2012
2012 ARRL Jan. VHF Sweepstakes
Rules here ... link for 2013 has changed, new link here.
April - May 2012SPRINT VHF+ Contests
Rules here ... link for 2013 has changed, new link here
May
5-6 
2012
SBMS Contest(San Bernardino Microwave Society)
SBMS web site
June
9-11 
2012
2012 ARRL Jun. VHF QSO Party
Rules here ... link for 2013 has changed, new link here
August
4-5
2012
2012 ARRL UHF Contest
(220MHz and Up)
Rules here
August
18-19
2012
2012 ARRL 10GHz+ Contest 1/2
Rules here
September
8-10
2012
2012 ARRL Sept. VHF QSO Party
Rules here
September
15-16
2012
2012 ARRL 10GHz+ Contest 2/2
Rules here
Sept - Oct
2012
SPRINT VHF+ Contests
Rules here



2012 Spring VHF/UHF and Microwave Contests

It's almost that time of the year again. See SPRINT Contest schedule for this Spring:

2.1. - 144 MHz
The 144 MHz Sprint will be from 7 PM until 11 PM local time on Monday, April 9, 2012.

2.2. - 222 MHz
The 222 MHz Sprint will be from 7 PM until 11 PM local time on Tuesday, April 17, 2012.

2.3. - 432 MHz
The 432 MHz Sprint will be from 7 PM until 11 PM local time on Wednesday, April 25, 2012.

2.4. - Microwave (902+)
The Microwave Sprint will be on Saturday, May 5, 2012, from 6 AM until 1 PM local time. This includes all Amateur frequencies above 902 MHz. Please include band data in summaries and logs. NOTE: use of Liaison Frequency is encouraged.

2.5. - 50 MHz
The 50 MHz Sprint will be from 2300Z Saturday, May 12, until 0300Z Sunday, May 13, 2012.

Rules and more details here

73 Herbert
-AF4JF

Sunday, March 18, 2012

More success!





Hello fellow SLAMERS! Jubiation! John and Herbert, good news! The 10 GHz beacon is still working! My 10 GHz transverter was able to pick up the signal! I met with Dave, KB0PE at Graham Road and I-270 but we didn't hear it. We then parked near DePaul Hospital and we found the signal at 144.780 MHz, but the signal was drifting. This is from a cold start and we tracked the signal up until the 10 MHz osc stabilized and we now get the signal at 144.580 MHz. Next we went to MO Route 94 and I-70 and we copied the beacon there with no problems! Yea.

Next I couldn't get the transveter to key, but found out that I really needed to use the ACC port and not the Data port. We jury rigged a patch cable which works, but I need to get a 8 pin mini din plug and make a permanent patch cord.

After I get that then I will need to set the power levels for XMIT and Receive!

A big tnx to Dave, KB0PE for his enthusiasm and assistance!

Progress is being made!

73,

Ron, KO0Z

Photoresist trials and errors

I've been using Datak negative-acting photoresist chemicals (ER-71 photoresist and ER-8 developer) for decades. It seems a few years ago they made some change in the formulation. It's thinner than it used to be. I could do one or two fairly thick applications of it before and it would work well. Now a thick application tends to create pools of the photoresist on the board that dry in darker greenish or yellowish colored swirls that don't develop off the board very well.

I tried applying 3 or 4 very thin coats of the photoresist on my boards. This was better but I've noticed that it ends up kind of thin in places and after being in the etchant bath for a while, the etchant starts to penetrate the photoresist. This required taking the board out of the etchant, washing and drying it gently, trying to go over the weak areas with a Sharpie pen and then continuing the etch.

I noticed particularly last week that a board which was cleaned with a scouring pad like a Scotch-Brite left fairly coarse grooves in the board. The etchant would somehow penetrate into the grooves and leave scratch marks etched into the board. This was particularly critical on some 47 GHz boards I made, where some of the copper lines on the board are only a couple mils wide.

So I decided to use very fine sandpaper to clean the boards prior to coating with the photoresist. I used some 800 grit paper followed by some 1000 and 1500 grit paper.This makes an almost mirrorlike finish on the boards.

This seems to have greatly improved the quality of the boards. I'l let you know more after I've done some more experimentation.

Also, I've been using Coreldraw to create PC board patterns, making a negative of them and printing on clear transparency film. Coreldraw has a feature where it can create a negative of a vector image with the click of a button. I print them "upside-down" so the side of the film with the toner on it is in direct contact with the board for exposure. I found that my laser printer prints true black (RGB 0-0-0) as solid black on the film but anything less than black prints as a fine halftone pattern. I have to go over the whole black area with a Sharpie to darken it up in this case. Looking into why some of my patterns were coming out with this half-tone mesh, I found that for some reason my Coreldraw inversions were inverting true black to true white, but true white was being inverted to CMYK 0-0-0-100. This is NOT true black. I had to go and convert all the "black" in the negatives to RGB 0-0-0. They then printed solid black on the laser printer.

There's probably some setting in the program I haven't found yet that gets around this.  

Zack W9SZ


Thursday, March 15, 2012

Success so far!

Hello fellow SLAMERS! I finished wiring up the data line from the FT-817 for ptt and ran DC to the DEMI transverter. It was now time for the smoke test. I hooked up the box with all the connectors and the fuse and powered it up without the FT-817 and DEMI hooked up. No fuses were blown! Next came the FT-817 on line with similar results and finally the DEMI and they all passed the smoke test. The FT-817 and DEMI came to life and the 10 MHz light indicates lock so it all looks good. I took the rig out to the back yard this afternoon and pointed it 215 degrees towards DePaul Hospital frp, from the QTH in Girard, IL, EM59, but I didn't hear the beacon. Darn, I was really hoping to hear it. Debbie has a 2 story house, so I will take it upstairs either tonight or tomorrow and try hearing the beacon through the bedroom window (it's not tinted as far as I can tell) and maybe I will hear a dit or two! Wish me luck!

73,

Ron, KO0Z

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

10 GHz for KO0Z



Hello fellow SLAMERS from central Illinois in Girard. I've been talking about it and now my words are a reality. I am almost ready to test my 10 GHz transverter and see if it will hear the beacon in EM59. I have just a few more jumpers to make and then the "smoke" test. I'd like to thank the entire SLAMS group for your encouragement, but I'd especially like to thank, Jim C, Jim R, John and Herbert for the additional help with various odds-n-ends.

73,

Ron, KO0Z

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Solar Weather



The Sun seems to be waking up .. several massive CMEs (Coronal Mass Eruption) during couple of days. Look for more details and wonderful pictures here

You cand find some basic info about geomagnetic field activity and solar eruptions in the Propagation section of this Blog site.

73 Herbert
AF4JF

Friday, March 9, 2012

Posting on this Blog

You can post on this new SLAMS blog site under your name. All you need for that is a GMAIL account and an invitation from one of the SLAMS BLOG administrators. Should you be interested, please contact WB9PNU of AF4JF.

73 Herbert
AF4JF