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Articles on Amateur Radio


The following articles are collected from various speakers who have presented talks at FARS meetings. They included here as a public service to the amateur radio community. Copyright is retained by the author unless stated otherwise in the article. FARS has permission to publish these articles on its web site. Permission to use articles for personal use is granted. Contact the author for permission for other uses.

WSPR - Weak Signal Propagation Reporter [1.3 MB]

Presented to FARS
Adrian Motamedi, K3ADM
January 26, 2023
[uploaded 1/26/2024]

Grow An Antenna ... From Seeds! [7.6 MB]

October 27, 2023
Steve Stearns K6OIK
[uploaded 10/29/2023]

Cycle 25, 10m Long Path, 6m F2, Are the Bands Open Now? [2.5MB]

Presented to FARS via Zoom
March 24, 2023
Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA
[uploaded 3/25/2023]

Amateur Potpourri [3.5 MB]

Presented to Palo Alto Amateur Radio Association (PAARA)
July 7, 2023
[First presented to FARS October 28, 2022]
Steve Stearns, K6OIK

Cycle 25 Real-Time Assessment of Propagation HF Air Mobile [2.2 MB]

Presented to FARS via Zoom
April 22, 2022
Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA
[uploaded 4/23/2022]

Amateur Radio Resources that Save Space [3.7 MB]

Presented at FARS
February 25, 2022 [prior edition on July 22, 2016]
Steve Stearns, K6OIK
[updated Feb. 2022]

Universal Equivalent Circuits for All Antennas APS and MTT-S [7.9 MB]

Presented at ARRL Pacificon Antenna Seminar
Oct 15, 2021
Steve Stearns, K6OIK
[updated 1/19/2022]

The Shape of Antennas Yet to Come [3.6 MB]

Presented to FARS in person and on-line via Zoom
Dec 17, 2021
Steve Stearns, K6OIK
[updated 12/20/2021]

Urban RFI and Ham Radio [18.0 MB]

Presented to FARS via Zoom
Nov 19, 2021
Kenneth Wyatt
[uploaded 11/21/2021]

NanoVNA: A Small And Cheap Vector Network Analyzer [1 MB]

on-line presentation to FARS
Luca Younes, KN6HBW
July 23, 2021

ABSTRACT: NanoVNAs might seem like poorly engineered gimmicks when compared to name brand analyzers like RigExperts, but if you take the time to learn their quirks, nanoVNAs become quite useful. Luca Younes, KN6HBW, covers basic VNA terminology and theory, nanoVNA variants, usage instructions for common tasks like antenna analysis, filter or frequency analysis, and nanoVNA specific theory (like design). He may also briefly discuss nanoVNAs sister product, the tinySA.

HF Antenna Design for Best Performance [10 MB]

on-line presentation to FARS
Tom Schiller, N6BT
February 26, 2021

ABSTRACT: Tom talks about HF antenna design, including optimization of takeoff angle with different types of ground and radial systems, and pattern measurement. Tom talks about how to evaluate particular antennas for particular situations, like limited space, and how to get the best performance. He also covers a number of things that affect performance such as layout, materials and compromises.

DIY APRS WiFi iGate, Tracker and Weather Station [35 MB]

on-line presentation to FARS
Nimit Hongyim, K6XOX
November 20, 2020

ABSTRACT: Designing and building an APRS WiFi iGate Tracker Weather Station.

HOBBIES Introduction and Summary [5.6 MB]

QEX Magazine
Nov/Dec 2020
Steve Stearns, K6OIK

Repeaters to Go… Wild [12 MB]

on-line presentation to FARS
Steve Sergeant, KC6ZKT
October 23, 2020

ABSTRACT: Designing and building a repeater system to be used in wilderness areas.

Phones, Fires and Failures [22 MB]

on-line presentation to FARS
Alan Thompson, W6WN & Bob Hess, W1RH
July 24, 2020

ABSTRACT: The wildfire that destroyed the town of Paradise in northern California exposed the limitations of the cellular telephone network and the internet for providing reliable communication of emergency information to the public. Loss of power, destruction of equipment, and overtaxing the remaining service made the system non-functional.

QucsStudio Simulator [640 KB]

on-line presentation to FARS
Adrian Motamedi, K3ADM
March 27, 2020

Dipole Basics [5.8 MB]

Steve Stearns, K6OIK
October, 2019

Locating and Killing Receiver Interference [1.1 MB]

presentation to FARS
Gary Johnson, NA6O
December 13, 2019

Batteries 101 [8.0 MB]

presentation to FARS
Rachel Kinoshita, KK6DAC
April 27, 2019

Antennas: The Story from Physics to Computational Electromagnetics [7.4 MB]

Steve Stearns, K6OIK
October, 2018

3D Printed Antennas for Amateur Radio [27 MB]

Michelle Thompson, W5NYV
December 15, 2017

Antenna Modeling for Radio Amateurs [8.1 MB]

Steve Stearns, K6OIK
October, 2017

Directional Antennas [7.8 MB]

Paul Zander, AA6PZ
March 24, 2017

VHF/UHF Propagation Planning for Amateur Radio Repeaters [4.0 MB]

Steve Stearns, K6OIK
January 28, 2017

Weird Waves [1.5 MB]

Steve Stearns, K6OIK
2015

The Joy of Matching: Multi-Frequency, Broadband, Reflectionless, and Active Non-Foster Match Network Design [14 MB]

Steve Stearns, K6OIK
2015

A Transmission Line Power Paradox and Its Resolution [2.5 MB]

Steve Stearns, K6OIK
2014

Bode, Chu, Fano, Wheeler - Antenna Q and Match Bandwidth [2.5 MB]

Steve Stearns, K6OIK
2013

Transmission Line Filters: Beyond Stubs and Traps [4.0 MB]

Steve Stearns, K6OIK
2012

Conjugate Match Myths [1.3 MB]

Steve Stearns, K6OIK
2011

Magnetic Loop Antennas [1.0 MB]

Eric Norris, WD6DBM
2011

Facts about SWR and Loss [1.7 MB]

Steve Stearns, K6OIK
2011

APRS via the ISS [1.0 MB]

presented at Am-Tech Day
Peter Chow, AF6DS
March 1, 2008

Article on FARS Field Day [2.1 MB]

from 100 Watts Magazine a Thai HAM radio magazine
Nimit Hongyim, KI6JLD
2007

New Results on Antenna Impedance Models and Matching [6.2 MB]

Steve Stearns, K6OIK
2007

HF Digital Modes [418 KB]

Mikel Lechner, KN6QI
2007

All About the Discone Antenna, QEX, Jan-Feb-2007 [6.2 MB]

Steve Stearns, K6OIK
2007

Amateur Television (ATV) real TV, not cellphone cam [200 KB]

Michael Wright, K6MFW
2006

The DBJ-2: A Portable VHF-UHF Roll-up J-pole Antenna [200 KB]

Edison Fong, WB6IQN
2005

Antenna Impedance Models - Old and New [6.2 MB]

Steve Stearns, K6OIK
2004

Clarification of how to Wire PowerPoles

Paul Zander, AA6PZ
2004

Simplified Alinco DJ-S11 programming instructions

Arvid Hammer, WA6UUT
2003

Mysteries of the Smith Chart: Transmission Lines, Impedance Matching, and Little Known Facts [2.2 MB]

Steve Stearns, K6OIK
2002



Last updated Sunday, 28-Jan-2024 17:40:17 PST