Tech Corner
The Hand-Crafted Keys of W6BUX
Gurbux Singh, W6BUX, hand-crafted this in his garage:
Club member Gurbux Singh, W6BUX, has been ragchewing and contesting via CW for well over half a century, and knows what he likes in a key.
Not satisfied with what’s available off-the-shelf, he has used his impressive skills to draft his own — most recently, a straight key, and before that an iambic model. Both use repelling magnets rather than springs to open the contacts. He likes this technology so much that he also rebuilt his Kent key to use magnets.
Oh, by the way, Gurbux uses only fairly basic tools, no fancy milling machines, to craft these beautiful keys.
Understanding Antennas for The Non-Technical Ham
It’s been said that in ham radio, “For every dollar you spend on a radio, you should spend two dollars on your antenna.” That’s because you can do more to improve your signal strength with a better antenna than you can by increasing your power.
Jim Abercrombie, N4JA (SK), wrote “Understanding Antennas for the Non-Technical Ham” in 2005 to help hams get a basic understanding of antennas — how they work, the different kinds of antennas you can use, how to pick the best one for your needs, and how you can build your own. Alex Auerbach, K6AUR, updated Jim’s document to reflect recent advances.
This PDF is 78 pages long, and well worth reading for anyone new to the hobby or for more experienced hams who want a refresher on this important topic.
Click to download Jim’s article.
Robin Midgett, K4IDC, points out that on pages 20-21 of the PDF, “the text describes positive and negative values of reactance, stating: ‘Inductive reactance is a negative number and capacitive reactance is a positive number.’ This is reversed; capacitive reactance is negative, and inductive reactance is positive.” Apparently, says Robin, the author has his signs reversed.
PAPA Technical Roundtable
Join the PAPA Technical Roundtable at 8 pm PDT Thursdays. Each week the Roundtable focuses on a current technical topic, with additional supporting materials available online. The net takes Check-ins for Questions following the presentation.
Cross Mode Net
The PAPA System Technical Round Table is held on the analog repeater system. Check in via PAPA analog, select PAPA D-STAR repeaters, HotSpots, IRLP or EchoLink as follows:
- PAPA analog repeaters: Just key up!
- PAPA D-STAR repeaters: The Roundtable will be held on D1 Oat, D3 Santiago, D10 Palomar, D11 Otay, D15 Woodson and D16 Palm Springs repeaters. these repeaters will be linked to XRF012A for the net.
- HotSpots, DV Dongles, etc: Link to XRF012A
- IRLP: Link to the Western Reflector 9255
- Echolink: Link to the *PAPA* conference server
Join in Thursdays at 8:00pm on the PAPA analog & D-STAR repeaters.