FARS Meeting Programs

FARS Meeting Programs - 2023 [2022] [2023] [2024]

FARS meetings take place on the 4th Friday of each month, except for no meeting in April (Banquet), and meetings on a different Friday in June (Field Day), November (Thanksgiving), and December (Christmas). See the calendar for specific dates.

Meeting Schedule

7:00PM - General socializing. Meet and Greet.
7:30PM - Introductions, Announcements.
7:45PM - The evening's program.
8:45PM - FARS business. Announcements. Raffle.

After the program, and FARS business, we hold a prize raffle and the “Wish You Were Here” drawing for all the cash in the jar!

COVID-19 Safety:
Recommendations for the safety of our attendees:

Participants are encouraged to have a current COVID-19 vaccination before attending an in-person activity.
Participants may want to wear face masks at our meetings and events.
Participants may want to maintain social distancing.
Participants should not attend an in-person activity if they are feeling ill, or are at particular risk.

FARS Mini Flea Market:
We now offer a mini flea market at our monthly meetings where members may offer items for sale. Here is how to participate:

The market table is set up shortly after the meeting room doors are opened.
Sellers should place their items neatly on the market table.
Sellers may include a small sign of prices, or place price labels on your items. Include your name and call sign.
Sellers should watch their items and wait for buyers.
Buyers can make offers for items and negotiate with the seller.
When a deal is made, transact your business, collect your item/money directly with the other party.

Visitors are welcome to attend our regular meetings. (directions)
Covington School, 205 Covington Road, Los Altos, CA.

Friday June 16, 2023 - Membership Meeting

[K6YA]

To be Announced

K6YA

This month’s meeting is scheduled to convene at Covington. COVID-19 Precautions apply. This meeting is also available on-line via Zoom.

Bio

K6YA is the Club radio call sign for the Foothills Amateur Radio Society. The current trustee for K6YA is KA6MZE. This picture is of the Field Day 2007 set up crew.

Raffle

Other:

We will be raffling off prizes at this meeting:

* Indicates prizes awarded.

Friday July 28, 2023 - Membership Meeting

[K6YA]

To be Announced

K6YA

This month’s meeting is scheduled to convene at Covington. COVID-19 Precautions apply. This meeting is also available on-line via Zoom.

Bio

K6YA is the Club radio call sign for the Foothills Amateur Radio Society. The current trustee for K6YA is KA6MZE. This picture is of the Field Day 2007 set up crew.

Raffle

Other:

We will be raffling off prizes at this meeting:

* Indicates prizes awarded.

Friday August 25, 2023 - Membership Meeting

[K6YA]

To be Announced

K6YA

This month’s meeting is scheduled to convene at Covington. COVID-19 Precautions apply. This meeting is also available on-line via Zoom.

Bio

K6YA is the Club radio call sign for the Foothills Amateur Radio Society. The current trustee for K6YA is KA6MZE. This picture is of the Field Day 2007 set up crew.

Raffle

Other:

We will be raffling off prizes at this meeting:

* Indicates prizes awarded.

Friday September 22, 2023 - Membership Meeting

[K6YA]

FARS Annual Amateur Radio Home Brew Contest

K6YA

This month’s meeting is scheduled to convene at Covington. COVID-19 Precautions apply. This meeting is also available on-line via Zoom.

This meeting is about you. Yes you, our members and guests. Our Annual Amateur Radio Homebrew Contest is a opportunity to show off a project that you have worked on in the past year. Each participant has a few minutes to show and explain his project to our audience and has a chance to win one of our four prizes:

Bio

K6YA is the Club radio call sign for the Foothills Amateur Radio Society. The current trustee for K6YA is KA6MZE. This picture is of the Field Day 2007 set up crew.

Raffle

Other:

We will be raffling off prizes at this meeting:

* Indicates prizes awarded.

Friday October 27, 2023 - Membership Meeting

[K6YA]

Program to be Announced

K6YA

This month’s meeting is scheduled to convene at Covington. COVID-19 Precautions apply. This meeting is also available on-line via Zoom.

Bio

K6YA is the Club radio call sign for the Foothills Amateur Radio Society. The current trustee for K6YA is KA6MZE. This picture is of the Field Day 2007 set up crew.

Raffle

Other:

We will be raffling off prizes at this meeting:

* Indicates prizes awarded.

Friday November 17, 2023 - Membership Meeting

[K6YA]

Program to be Announced

K6YA

This month’s meeting is scheduled to convene at Covington. COVID-19 Precautions apply. This meeting is also available on-line via Zoom.

This meeting is one week earlier than usual. It has been scheduled for the 3rd Friday instead of the usual 4th Friday of the month due to Thanksgiving. Be sure to put the correct date on the calendar.

Bio

K6YA is the Club radio call sign for the Foothills Amateur Radio Society. The current trustee for K6YA is KA6MZE. This picture is of the Field Day 2007 set up crew.

Raffle

Other:

We will be raffling off prizes at this meeting:

* Indicates prizes awarded.

Friday December 15, 2023 - Membership Meeting

[K6YA]

Program to be Announced

K6YA

This month’s meeting is scheduled to convene at Covington. COVID-19 Precautions apply. This meeting is also available on-line via Zoom.

This meeting is one week earlier than usual. It has been scheduled for the 3rd Friday instead of the usual 4th Friday of the month due to Christmas. Be sure to put the correct date on the calendar.

Bio

K6YA is the Club radio call sign for the Foothills Amateur Radio Society. The current trustee for K6YA is KA6MZE. This picture is of the Field Day 2007 set up crew.

Raffle

Other:

We will be raffling off prizes at this meeting:

* Indicates prizes awarded.

Previous Programs - 2023 [2021] [2023] [2023]

Friday January 27, 2023 - Membership Meeting

[WB6IQN]

Raffle (L-R):
Mike, KM6WP (1st,4th)
Elise, KI6PUO (5th)
James, K6JPS (3rd)

Not Shown:
Vipin, KN6YEZ (2nd)

Single Sideband Modulation Techniques

Ed Fong, WB6IQN

This month’s meeting convened at Covington. COVID-19 Precautions applied. This meeting was available on-line via Zoom. Mini Flea Market at this meeting.

As a related follow-on to Jeff Anderson’s talk last November on his homebrew HF direct sampling digital transceiver, Ed Fong WB6IQN explains the “phase method” of single-sideband (SSB) generation and detection clearly with a minimum of complex mathematics. This type of SSB generation is used in modern SDR transceivers, including Elecraft, Flex Radio, Icom, Kenwood, Yasesu, and others.

Single-sideband (SSB) appeared in Amateur Radio in the 1950’s. Early equipment generated SSB by using very narrow filters. The method was used in transmitters made by Collins, Swan, Heathkit, Kenwood, Icom, Yaesu, and others. Historically, an AM signal was generated with DSB (double side band) with carrier. The carrier could be rejected with some clever circuitry but the filtering of the adjacent sideband was typically achieved with sharp, narrow analog filters such as crystal filters or mechanical filters pioneered by Collins.

However, analog filters are expensive. With the advent of integrated circuits, signals can be processed digitally, and expensive nalog filters are no longer needed. New methods of SSB modulation and demodulation have lower size, weight, and cost. Come and see how the magic is achieved in the new generation of SSB radios.

Appropriately, the main raffle prize is an uSDX+ all mode HF transceiver which uses the very technique described in Ed's talk.

Bio

Ed Fong, WB6IQN, is the owner of Ed’s Antennas https://edsantennas.weebly.com. He is the inventor of the patented DBJ-1, DBJ-2, and TBJ-1 antennas which are extremely popular among ham and commercial communicators.

More than 12,000 of these antennas have been sold to hams, commercial users, and agencies. Ed's antennas have been featured in QST (March 2017, February 2003 and March 2007), CQ (Summer 2012), ARRL Antenna Compendium Vol 8, and ARRL VHF/UHF Antenna Classics.

Ed is a FARS director. He is on the faculty of UC Santa Cruz Silicon Valley, where he teaches RF Wireless Communications and I/O Design Fundamentals.

Before that he was with UC Berkeley and taught RF Wireless from 1998 to 2011. Ed previously spoke to FARS on ground-independent vertical antennas (August 2019) and DMR radio (April 2018).

Raffle

Other:

We will be raffling off prizes at this meeting:

Choice of one of:
- * uSDX+ QRP HF Transceiver Covers 160-6 meters – SSB, CW, digital QRP transceiver. 5 watts CW – 10 watt SSB. Built in CW decoder, full DSP noise reduction. Complete with 3000 MaH LiOn battery, AC adapter/charger, Speaker/microphone
- Radioddity QB25 Mobile Same as the QYT 7900SD. 4-bands; 25/10 watts; 200 memories; 0.25 uV sensitivity; covers: 2m/136-174MHz, 210-230 MHz, 70cm/400-520 MHz; speaker-mic with key pad entry; CTSS and DCS coding. USB programming cable and software
- Astron SS-30M Power Supply 12 Volt 30 Ampere Switching Power Supply
Choice of one of:
- ATS-20 All Mode Receiver AM/FM/SSB/CW 100KHz-30 MHz - FM Stereo Receiver
- * Tiny Spectrum Analyzer Frequency 100KHz-350MHz, resolution 2.5KHz-640KHz. Bandpass filters for 2.6KHz-640KHz. Built in calibrated Signal generator from 100KHz-960MHz. Complete with cables, telescopic antenna, and LiOn battery
- NEW Nano Vector Network Analyzer (VNA) 2-port network analyzer with SMA connectors, broad frequency coverage 50 kHz to 3.0 GHz, measures S11, S22, S21 and S12, includes calibration kit. Updated version. Best color display
* BaoFeng UV-5R x3 Tri Band VHF/UHF HT, 136-174MHz VHF, 220-240MHz VHF, 420-520MHz, 1/4W TX
* Alien Tape As seen on TV! 10-ft roll, in sealable, reusable storage bag. Two-sided tape, advanced nano-grip technology sticks to any surface without adhesives, releases cleanly leaving no sticky residue, just remove and rinse and reuse, holds 18 lbs, works on glass, tile, stone, brick, wood and other non-painted surfaces. Great for preventing furniture and rugs from sliding, holding phones and radios while driving, or decorating for the holidays. Better than refrigerator magnets and clips for attaching notes to refrigerator doors – “Post-It-Note” convenience for photos.
* Digital Multimeter

uSDX+ QRP HF Xcvr 160-6 meters – SSB (10W), CW (5W), digital QRP transceiver. CW decoder, DSP noise reduction

Radioddity QB25 Mobile Quad band (144/220/440 MHz) 25W mini mobile transceiver

Astron SS-30M Power Supply 12 Volt 30 Ampere Switching Power Supply

ATS-20 All Mode Receiver AM/FM/SSB/CW 100KHz-30 MHz - FM Stereo Receiver

Tiny Spectrum Analyzer Frequency 100KHz-960MHz, resolution 2.5KHz-640KHz

NEW Nano Vector Network Analyzer (VNA) 2-port network analyzer w/ SMA connectors, covers 50 kHz to 3.0 GHz

BaoFeng UV-5R x3 Tri Band VHF/UHF HT

Alien Tape 10-ft roll, two-sided tape for mounting without adhesive. Removable without marking

Digital Multimeter

* Indicates prizes awarded.

Friday February 24, 2023 - Membership Meeting

[K6OIK]

Raffle (L-R):
Mike, KN6QI (1st,4th)
Bob, WB2URF (2nd)
Ed, WB6IQN (2nd)
Chris, W6COV (3rd)

Advanced Antenna Modeling Tips, Tricks, and Techniques

Steve Stearns, K6OIK

This month’s meeting is scheduled to convene at Covington. COVID-19 Precautions apply. This meeting is also available on-line via Zoom.

Suppose you want to include insulated wire or a tree or two in your antenna model. Suppose you want the modeling software to give you an accurate result. Steve Stearns, K6OIK, discusses advanced antenna modeling tips, tricks, and techniques. He summarizes low-cost or free antenna modeling programs that radio amateurs can use, ranking them by accuracy and limitations. Next, he shows three different methods to model insulated wires. Finally, he shows how dielectric objects, such as trees, may be modeled with thin-wire codes.

Bio

HF phone: Golden Bear Amateur Radio Net, 3,975 kHz LSB at 1900 Pacific time daily.

E-Mail: k6oik AT arrl.net

Articles: /docs/k6oik

Steve Stearns, K6OIK, started in ham radio while in high school at the height of the Heathkit era. He holds an FCC Amateur Extra and a commercial General Radio Operator license with Radar endorsement. He previously held Novice, Technician, and 1st Class Radiotelephone licenses.

He studied electrical engineering at California State University Fullerton, the University of Southern California, and Stanford, specializing in electromagnetic theory, communication, engineering and signal processing.

Steve was Chief Technologist for TRW Firestorm Wireless Communication Products (now part of Northrop Grumman Electromagnetic Systems Laboratory), where he led the development of digital array signal processing technology for smart antennas, commercial wireless, and government communication systems.

Steve served as assistant director of ARRL Pacific Division under Jim Maxwell W6CF, and is vice-president of the Foothills Amateur Radio Society. He holds ten U.S. patents and has over 50 professional publications. Steve has received numerous awards for professional and community volunteer activities.

Raffle

Other:

We will be raffling off prizes at this meeting:

Choice of one of:
- uSDX+ QRP HF Transceiver Covers 160-6 meters – SSB, CW, digital QRP transceiver. 5 watts CW – 10 watt SSB. Built in CW decoder, full DSP noise reduction. Complete with 3000 MaH LiOn battery, AC adapter/charger, Speaker/microphone
- Radioddity QB25 Mobile Quad Band (144/220/440 MHz) 25W mini mobile transceiver w/ 50W antenna
- * Astron SS-30M Power Supply 12 Volt 30 Ampere Switching Power Supply
Choice of one of:
- * ATS-20 All Mode Receiver AM/FM/SSB/CW 100KHz-30 MHz - FM Stereo Receiver
- * Tiny Spectrum Analyzer Frequency 100KHz-350MHz, resolution 2.5KHz-640KHz. Bandpass filters for 2.6KHz-640KHz. Built in calibrated Signal generator from 100KHz-960MHz. Complete with cables, telescopic antenna, and LiOn battery
- Nano Vector Network Analyzer (VNA) 2-port network analyzer with SMA connectors, broad frequency coverage 50 kHz to 900 MHz, measures S11, S22, S21 and S12, includes calibration kit (SMA open, short and 50-ohm). Use it to measure filters, tune duplexers, match antennas, and more
* BaoFeng UV-3R Dual Band VHF/UHF HT
* Non-stick Silicone Rescue tape fuses to itself with no glue
Daiwa CS-201A Antenna Switch DC-600MHz, two position, so-259 connectors

uSDX+ QRP HF Xcvr 160-6 meters – SSB (10W), CW (5W), digital QRP transceiver. CW decoder, DSP noise reduction

Radioddity QB25 Mobile Quad band 25W mini mobile transceiver w/ antenna

Astron SS-30M Power Supply 12 Volt 30 Ampere Switching Power Supply

ATS-20 All Mode Receiver AM/FM/SSB/CW 100KHz-30 MHz - FM Stereo Receiver

Tiny Spectrum Analyzer Frequency 100KHz-960MHz, resolution 2.5KHz-640KHz

Nano Vector Network Analyzer (VNA) 2-port network analyzer w/ SMA connectors, covers 50 kHz to 900 MHz

BaoFeng UV-3R Dual Band VHF/UHF HT

Non-stick Silicone Rescue tape fuses to itself with no glue

Daiwa CS-201A Antenna Switch DC-600MHz

* Indicates prizes awarded.

Friday March 24, 2023 - Membership Meeting

[K9LA]

Raffle (L-R):
Jose, AJ0SE (1st)
Bill, AG6AJ (2nd)
Chris, W6COV (3rd)

Update on Solar Cycle 25 and Ionospheric Conditions for HF Radio Propagation

Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA

This month’s meeting is scheduled to convene at Covington. COVID-19 Precautions apply. This meeting is also available on-line via Zoom.

Solar Cycle 25 is well underway. Carl returns to review Cycle 25 with the latest data and predictions. He talks about 10-meter long path and perhaps some 6-meter topics.

Carl's presentation is available on-line.

Bio

Carl Luetzelschwab K9LA is a long-time Amateur Radio operator, DXer, electrical engineer, writer, and HamSCI member. He curates a tremendous amount of propagation and radio science information at his website, https://k9la.us.

He was first licensed as a Novice in October 1961 with the call WN9AVT. He is a frequent writer and contributor to Amateur Radio magazines on the topic of radio propagation and contesting. His interest in propagation dates to his college days at Purdue University (BSEE 1969, MSEE 1972).

Carl had a 41-year career as an RF design engineer with Motorola and later with Raytheon (formerly Magnavox), where he designed solid-state RF power amplifiers. He retired in October 2013 to pursue Amateur Radio full time.

He has been on DXpeditions (YK9A, OJ0, and many trips to ZF as ZF2LA and ZF2YL) with his wife Vicky, AE9YL. He is on the Top of the Honor Roll (worked all current DXCC entities). He has 160-Meter DXCC and needs four zones on 80-Meters for 5BWAZ.

Raffle

Other:

We will be raffling off prizes at this meeting:

Choice of one of:
- * uSDX+ QRP HF Transceiver Covers 160-6 meters – SSB, CW, digital QRP transceiver. 5 watts CW – 10 watt SSB. Built in CW decoder, full DSP noise reduction. Complete with 3000 MaH LiOn battery, AC adapter/charger, Speaker/microphone
- Radioddity GD-73A HT world’s smallest full featured DMR/analog UHF transceiver. Palm size 2600mAH battery, charging cable, belt clip, earpiece - 2 watts output – 1024 memories 1 watt audio output - comes complete programmed to Bay Area code plug (Ed Fong’s version)
- Radioddity QB25 Mobile Same as the QYT 7900SD. 4-bands; 25/10 watts; 200 memories; 0.25 uV sensitivity; covers: 2m/136-174MHz, 210-230 MHz, 70cm/400-520 MHz; speaker-mic with key pad entry; CTSS and DCS coding. USB programming cable and software
Choice of one of:
- ATS-20 All Mode Receiver AM/FM/SSB/CW 100KHz-30 MHz - FM Stereo Receiver
- * Tiny Spectrum Analyzer Frequency 100KHz-350MHz, resolution 2.5KHz-640KHz. Bandpass filters for 2.6KHz-640KHz. Built in calibrated Signal generator from 100KHz-960MHz. Complete with cables, telescopic antenna, and LiOn battery
- NEW Nano Vector Network Analyzer (VNA) 2-port network analyzer with SMA connectors, broad frequency coverage 50 kHz to 3.0 GHz, measures S11, S22, S21 and S12, includes calibration kit. Updated version. Best color display
* Non-stick Silicone Rescue tape fuses to itself with no glue
LiOn 4AH USB Power Bank charges via USB and solar, built-in LED Flashlight, with USB charging cable and separate compass
Voyager utility bag 12-inch nylon bag for tools or as a go kit, Military grade nylon. Will last a lifetime. Fully water proof

uSDX+ QRP HF Xcvr 160-6 meters – SSB (10W), CW (5W), digital QRP transceiver. CW decoder, DSP noise reduction

Radioddity GD-73A HT smallest full featured DMR/analog UHF transceiver w/ 2600mAH battery, 2W RF out, 1024 memories

Radioddity QB25 Mobile Quad band (144/220/440 MHz) 25W mini mobile transceiver

ATS-20 All Mode Receiver AM/FM/SSB/CW 100KHz-30 MHz - FM Stereo Receiver

Tiny Spectrum Analyzer Frequency 100KHz-960MHz, resolution 2.5KHz-640KHz

NEW Nano Vector Network Analyzer (VNA) 2-port network analyzer w/ SMA connectors, covers 50 kHz to 3.0 GHz

Non-stick Silicone Rescue tape fuses to itself with no glue

LiOn 4AH USB Power Bank w/ solar charger, LED flashlight

Voyager utility bag 12-inch nylon bag for tools or as a go kit

* Indicates prizes awarded.

Friday April 28, 2023 - FARS Banquet

[Prof. Tom Lee]

Early Spark Gap Transmitters

Prof. Tom Lee
FARS Banquet 2023

The banquet is held at:

Reservations are required.

Bio

Tom Lee paid his way through MIT by working at places like Frank Kent's TV and Radio Service and Hughes Aircraft. His 1989 doctoral thesis at MIT described the world's first CMOS radio. He has been at Stanford University since 1994, helped design PLLs for several microprocessors from DEC and AMD, and has founded or co-founded several companies.

He is an IEEE and Packard Foundation Fellow, and is also the 2011 recipient of the Ho-Am Prize in Engineering (informally known as "The Korean Nobel"). He is a past Director of DARPA's Microsystems Technology Office, and owns between 100 and 200 oscilloscopes, thousands of vacuum tubes and kilograms of obsolete semiconductors. No one, including himself, quite knows why.

Friday May 26, 2023 - Membership Meeting

[KC6ZKT]

Repeaters to Go… Wild!

Steve, KC6ZKT

This month’s meeting is scheduled to convene at Covington. COVID-19 Precautions apply. This meeting is also available on-line via Zoom.

Steve, KC6ZKT, repeats his popular presentation on repeaters, first presented to FARS October 2020. What if you're organizing a backcountry event where there is no communications infrastructure? It's the kind of problem that amateur radio operators are uniquely suited to solve. What if your repeater site is only accessible on foot? Then you need a portable repeater system that can be carried to site in a backpack.

Steve talks about design requirements for highly portable repeaters systems, show and demonstrate two 70-cm systems he has built for public service events (and a third in-progress), and review events where they were used.

Bio

Steve Sergeant, KC6ZKT, is a third-generation ham. Originally licensed Novice class in 1972, his licensed expired, but in 1991 he was granted KC6ZKT as a Technician and has since upgraded to Extra.

Steve has a long career in audio engineering for professional and later consumer audio system integration. He currently works at Dolby Laboratories as an Applications Engineer.

Steve is on the boards of the WVARA and the Nature Sounds Society. He is also a volunteer backpacking instructor for the Sierra Club, who teaches in ultralight techniques, and a Uniformed Volunteer for California State Parks at Henry Coe State Park.

Raffle

Other:

We will be raffling off prizes at this meeting:

Choice of one of:
- * uSDX+ QRP HF Transceiver Covers 160-6 meters – SSB, CW, digital QRP transceiver. 5 watts CW – 10 watt SSB. Built in CW decoder, full DSP noise reduction. Complete with 3000 MaH LiOn battery, AC adapter/charger, Speaker/microphone
- Radioddity GD-73A HT world’s smallest full featured DMR/analog UHF transceiver. Palm size 2600mAH battery, charging cable, belt clip, earpiece - 2 watts output – 1024 memories 1 watt audio output - comes complete programmed to Bay Area code plug (Ed Fong’s version)
- Radioddity QB25 Mobile Quad Band (144/220/440 MHz) 25W mini mobile transceiver w/ 50W antenna
Choice of one of:
- ATS-20 All Mode Receiver AM/FM/SSB/CW 100KHz-30 MHz - FM Stereo Receiver
- Tiny Spectrum Analyzer Frequency 100KHz-350MHz, resolution 2.5KHz-640KHz. Bandpass filters for 2.6KHz-640KHz. Built in calibrated Signal generator from 100KHz-960MHz. Complete with cables, telescopic antenna, and LiOn battery
- * BaoFeng UV-5R x3 Tri Band VHF/UHF HT, 136-174MHz VHF, 220-240MHz VHF, 420-520MHz, 1/4W TX
* Non-stick Silicone Rescue tape fuses to itself with no glue
Voyager utility bag 12-inch nylon bag for tools or as a go kit, Military grade nylon. Will last a lifetime. Fully water proof
* LiOn 18650 Battery with Smart Charger
* Emergency Light Switch

uSDX+ QRP HF Xcvr 160-6 meters – SSB (10W), CW (5W), digital QRP transceiver. CW decoder, DSP noise reduction

Radioddity GD-73A HT smallest full featured DMR/analog UHF transceiver w/ 2600mAH battery, 2W RF out, 1024 memories

Radioddity QB25 Mobile Quad band 25W mini mobile transceiver w/ antenna

ATS-20 All Mode Receiver AM/FM/SSB/CW 100KHz-30 MHz - FM Stereo Receiver

Tiny Spectrum Analyzer Frequency 100KHz-960MHz, resolution 2.5KHz-640KHz

BaoFeng UV-5R x3 Tri Band VHF/UHF HT

Non-stick Silicone Rescue tape fuses to itself with no glue

Voyager utility bag 12-inch nylon bag for tools or as a go kit

LiOn 18650 Battery with Smart Charger

Emergency Light Switch

* Indicates prizes awarded.

[2022] [2023] [2023]