Zero Beat 03 2015

See the web page for a detailed map to the police precinct meeting place

Topic

The meeting topic will be a demonstration of the HP 8935 test set along with a very brief discussion of the HP89XX series of test sets. There will be a demonstration of several common measurements like return loss and swept loss and common spectrum analyzer measurements. There will be discussion of the significance of these measurements and why you need them. If a couple of you will bring an HT with an adapter to BNC we can take some measurements to further demonstrate how the HP8935 unit works.

FreeFest

FreeFest is 100% committed at this time. We have been asked to and approved to host the Delta Division Convention this year and have accepted. We will have some type of “Dutch Treat” social function on Friday Night and are currently working on it now. All will be invited but we will obviously have to have a head count for planning. We will keep you posted.

Tickets for pre-sell should be ready at the meeting. The object of the pre-sell is to get them to folks who won’t be at the hamfest. You are welcome to buy them yourself but the goal is to help LeBonheur by getting to folks who aren’t at the hamfest – like work associates and relatives. Please take some tickets and help sell them. When you tell folks it is for LeBonheur and 100% of the ticket sales go to LeBonheur most folks are eager to buy at least a few.

Repeaters

Yaesu has a promotion to sell the new digital Fusion dual Band repeater to organizations and clubs for $500. Since this repeater can operate either in analog or digital mode, only a fool would not buy one at this price. We are not fools so the club bought one. Best guess is that we will get it around May 1. We are formulating strategy of where and how we will use it. Obviously an internet connection would be a major plus so we are including this in our thinking. It is obvious that Yaesu is doing this to get units out into the market in a hurry. In their technical white paper they also mention that they will be coming out with amateur C4FM TDMA units. This is DMR and it is already an international standard. When APCO P25 phase II goes into effect in 2017 C4FM TDMA is the system that currently meets the standard and will probably end up being the dominant mode.

Ham Web Cast Tuesday night at 8pm Central time

Live webcast of Amateur Radio Roundtable on w5kub.com every Tuesday night at 8:00 PM central. (0200 UTC Wednesdays). A password is not required to join. Just use your call sign and click join.

This show covers many aspects of ham radio and we have special guests attend. We are also looking for some hams locally that would like to be on the webcast and do a show and tell. During the last half of the show, we will provide a link that the viewers can click on and actually be on the webcast if they have a camera. We call that part the roundtable and it is very informal. Drop in to say hello or stay awhile and talk to the others that are attending via remote.