Am I Getting Out? Simple Ways for Assessing The Effectiveness of Your Station

Speaker: Anthony Luscre, K8ZT

Abstract:
This session will explore multiple methods for evaluating your radio effectiveness, including Other hams, Beacons, Reverse Beacon Network, and Online Tunable Software Defined Receivers (SDRs).

About our speaker:

First licensed in 1981 as KA8NRC, Anthony has been a QRP operator from his very first QSO (no one told him Novices should not start with a 2-watt QRP rig). Changed callsign to K8ZT in June 2000 after updating to Extra Class.

Anthony is active in a variety of Amateur Radio activities, but his favorite activity is operating! Between contesting, DXing, rag chewing, satellites, etc., CW, Phone, or Digital, his QRP contacts now top 108,000. First drawn to contesting by his love of working DX, he has consistently finished in the top ten of various major contests and finished first in the World and US in both CQ Worldwide Phone and CW QRP categories multiple times. As a bonus, his QRP DXCC total recently topped the 328 mark, and he has completed 11-band WAS.

Recently retired, Anthony’s professional background includes 20 years as a Medical Technologist working in Clinical Microbiology and private computer consulting, and 20 years as a Computer Technology Coordinator/Technology Director (most recently as a Technology Integration Specialist for 30 school districts). His retirement activities include volunteering as a Trainman on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad.

Anthony lives with his wife Linda, KA8ODP, near Akron, Ohio. His station is definitely not a super contesting station. His small suburban lot is cramped with a modest array of antennas, proving that you can be competitive in contests without acres of aluminum if you choose your entry category carefully.

Anthony currently serves as ARRL Ohio Section Youth Coordinator. He enjoys sharing his Amateur Radio interests with others by maintaining a website k8zt.com, writing articles for a variety of publications, including CQ Magazine (column “Ham Radio Explorer”), DX Engineering blog “On All Bands” and developing an online course “Introduction to Contesting” for the ARRL. In addition to frequent in-person club presentations pre-COVID, starting during the pandemic, he has done over 300 club presentations and classes virtually in multiple states and countries.

Note: The meeting location is 309 Alplaus Ave, Alplaus, NY, and the building is at the corner of Alplaus Avenue and Bruce Drive. Please park in the paved lot adjacent to this building. Do not park in the restricted area in front of the building that houses the fire trucks. We will meet in the Multipurpose Room (entrance is on the North side of this building).

Field Day 2023 and Annual Business Meeting

Speakers: Tim Long W2UI and James MacMurray N2UZQ

Abstract:
The June meeting is our Field Day 2023 and annual business meeting, including our annual election of Board Members and Officers.

Officers and Board of Directors Nominations for 2023-2024 are:

President: Skip Evans W2YJL
Vice President: Dean Poeth, II, K8TM
Secretary: Jim Stewart K2PK
Treasurer: Tim Long W2UI
Board member: John Clement, NM2R
Board member: Paul Siemers, WY2F
Board member: Bob Saltzman, WB2ARK
Board member: Jim Silva WA2JMS

Please plan to attend this meeting.

About our speakers:

Tim Long got his start in amateur radio in 1961 when he passed his Novice exam given by his scoutmaster WA2FFJ and received call WN2KHQ. That call sign became WB2KHQ, then WA4DXR, then WB2SPN, and now W2UI. Tim is a VE and has served SARA in various positions including many years as Secretary, two stints as Vice President, two tours as President, and countless years as Treasurer (dues cheerfully accepted). Tim holds BSEE and MSCS degrees and is now retired after a career with Bechtel Marine Propulsion Corp. in West Milton. Besides ham radio antenna work and Field Day, Tim enjoys golf.

James MacMurray was born in 1972 and grew up in Scotia. James was licensed in 1993 and received his Extra while going to college for Data Communications. He is a VE, a past president of SARA, current treasurer for SMARA, Assistant Emergency Coordinator for Schenectady County ARES, and Assistant Section Manager for Eastern NY. He has served as a Director for SARA for the past 6 years and served SMARA as a past President, Vice President, and Treasurer. Currently James is a full time Employee Retirement Examiner 3 for the State of New York Office of the State Comptroller. James has interests in VHF/UHF weak signal, HF phone, and HF Digital contesting.

Note: The meeting location is 309 Alplaus Ave, Alplaus, NY, and the building is at the corner of Alplaus Avenue and Bruce Drive. Please park in the paved lot adjacent to this building. Do not park in the restricted area in front of the building that houses the fire trucks. We will meet in the Multipurpose Room (entrance is on the North side of this building).

An Introduction to Working with Surface Mount Devices

Speaker: Dean Poeth II, K8TM

Abstract:
This presentation will be an introduction to working with surface mount devices (SMDs). Topics will include the advantages of SMDs over traditional through-hole technology. There will also be a discussion of the tools needed to successfully build circuits with SMDs, including some that the enthusiast can make themselves. Methods of building circuits will include both hand soldering and reflow soldering techniques.

This presentation is taken, in part, from a course Dean teaches at Clarkson University, where he is an adjunct associate professor in the graduate school.

About our speaker:
Dean Poeth, K8TM, has been a licensed amateur radio operator since 1974 and a licensed broadcast engineer since 1977. He has published articles in QST and CQ magazine on surface mount devices.

Dean obtained his B.S. in Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering from Ohio State, and his MS and PhD in Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering from Penn State University.

His entire family enjoys amateur radio, including his wife Opal (KB3ATP), his son Dean (KD2WLO), and his daughter Anna (KD2YYA).

Note: The meeting location is 309 Alplaus Ave, Alplaus, NY, and the building is at the corner of Alplaus Avenue and Bruce Drive. Please park in the paved lot adjacent to this building. Do not park in the restricted area in front of the building that houses the fire trucks. We will meet in the Multipurpose Room (entrance is on the North side of this building).

Light Interaction and Human Health/Circadian Rhythm

Speaker: James Murphy

Abstract:
Artificial lighting was one of the foundational businesses that started GE, and the evolution from incandescent to fluorescent to LED-based lighting has improved the energy efficiency of lighting products dramatically. Additionally, new LED-based lighting applications such as the backlight for displays (smart phones, monitors, laptops, tablets, TVs) are becoming more ubiquitous every year. This talk moves beyond energy efficiency of artificial lighting/displays to discuss how human health and circadian rhythm may be influenced by light.

About our speaker:
Jim Murphy received his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of Colorado at Boulder under the supervision of Professor Arthur Nozik conducting research on the synthesis and characterization of semiconductor nanocrystals for solar cell applications.

He spent 2006 as a postdoctoral researcher at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory conducting femtosecond, time-resolved spectroscopy studies on nanocrystalline films. He was then hired as a Research Scientist by OSRAM Sylvania Inc., where he spent the next 3 years working on phosphor development and at the Towanda, PA facility as it transitioned to become Global Tungsten and Powders Corp.

For the past thirteen years he has worked at GE Global Research Center on various programs, mostly relating to energy efficient LED lighting and display applications as well as scintillator development/medical imaging. He has over 80 patent applications and publications in the field of inorganic luminescent materials.

Jim graduated in 1996 with a B.A. in Chemistry from Franklin and Marshall College and spent a few years teaching high school chemistry and serving as a wrestling coach before attending graduate school .

Note: The meeting location is 309 Alplaus Ave, Alplaus, NY, and the building is at the corner of Alplaus Avenue and Bruce Drive. Please park in the paved lot adjacent to this building. Do not park in the restricted area in front of the building that houses the fire trucks. We will meet in the Multipurpose Room (entrance is on the North side of this building).

RF Safety for Amateur Radio Operators

Speaker: Bob Olsen, WA7WWP

Abstract:
Bob will cover the FCC requirements for determining which amateur stations need to be evaluated for RF exposure and if needed how an evaluation can be conducted.

Bob will also discuss and demonstrate RF Exposure Calculators available to amateurs and the theory behind them. Bob will emphasize some of the difficulties and point out that most calculations overpredict the exposure. He will discuss the RF Exposure standards used by the FCC and add some information about the origin of these standards.

About our speaker:
Robert G. Olsen received his B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Rutgers University 1968 and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Colorado, Boulder, CO in 1970 and 1974, respectively.

Bob has been a member of the electrical engineering faculty at Washington State University since 1973 and holds the rank of Emeritus Professor. During his tenure at WSU, he has been an NSF Faculty Fellow at GTE Laboratories in Waltham, MA, a visiting scientist at ABB Corporate Research in Västerås, Sweden and at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) in Palo Alto, CA ,and a Visiting Professor at the Technical University of Denmark.

Bob’s research interests span all aspects of electromagnetics issues in power transmission. He has approximately 100 publications in refereed journals and approximately 150 conference publications/presentations. He is also one of the authors of the AC Transmission Line Reference Book – 200 kV and Above, which is published by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), and the author of the recently published two-volume book, High Voltage Overhead Transmission Line Electromagnetics.

He is a Fellow of the IEEE, an Honorary Life member of the IEEE Electromagnetic Compatibility Society, and has served as chair of the IEEE Power Engineering Society AC Fields and Corona Effects Working Groups. In addition, he is past Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Electromagnetic Compatibility and Radio Science.

He was first licensed in 1961 as WA2QPX in Westwood NJ. Since 1974, he has been licensed as Amateur Extra Class WA7WWP. His recent activity has been HF (mostly 20 meters) CW and digital, plus a small amount of 2 meter activity.

He currently lives in Pullman, WA.

Note: The meeting location is 309 Alplaus Ave, Alplaus, NY, and the building is at the corner of Alplaus Avenue and Bruce Drive. Please park in the paved lot adjacent to this building. Do not park in the restricted area in front of the building that houses the fire trucks. We will meet in the Multipurpose Room (entrance is on the North side of this building).

Software Defined Radio

Speaker: Mike Walker, VA3MW

Abstract:
Mike will show how today’s HF radio is not only better than yesterday’s super-het radio, but how you get more performance for your dollar. He also will talk about how the new radios ‘scale’ toward the future and not grow old the day you buy it.

About our speaker:
Mike Walker has been an active amateur radio operator since 1974, and loving every minute of it. His interests are repeaters, HF, HF contesting, satellites, and tinkering with EME digital modes and 10 GHz microwave. In addition to being a general aviation pilot, he loves HF station integration and remote HF operation. He currently represents FlexRadio Systems with the Marketing and Education team. He is very well versed in the FlexRadio technology. Technology is truly his hobby.

Note: The meeting location is 309 Alplaus Ave, Alplaus, NY, and the building is at the corner of Alplaus Avenue and Bruce Drive. Please park in the paved lot adjacent to this building. Do not park in the restricted area in front of the building that houses the fire trucks. We will meet in the Multipurpose Room (entrance is on the North side of this building).

Modulation: Sound Card Digital Modes on HF SSB

Speaker: Barry Feierman, K3EUI

Abstract:

Sound card modes: How they look and sound. What can a sound card do that a human voice cannot do in terms of passing information on a radio signal?

Barry will discuss the concept of modulating a 145 MHz RF wave with a 1.5 kHz sound wave. He will transmit a signal first on AM, then on SSB, and finally on FM. Using an SDRPlay receiver with a spectrum analyzer set to 145 MHz, he will display the RF spectrum of these signals.

Barry will demonstrate a variety of popular sound card digital modes, including CW, PSK31, RTTY, Olivia, MFSK, and THOR. Using an SSB transmitter, he will share with NY ops who have an 80m SSB radio and antenna what these modes sound like (assuming propagation from Philly to Schenectady on 80m NVIS).

He will use the internet sound as a backup. Popular apps like FLDIGI and Winlink use these sounds created in a sound card to produce “modes” that transfer information much faster than is possible with a human voice on a phone link. Rates as fast as thousands of bits per second on HF SSB is possible using modern sound cards (getting beyond the present 300 baud speed limit of one carrier on HF bands in the USA).

About our speaker:

Barry was first licensed KN3EUI in 1958 when he was 13 years old and quickly fell in love with CW and 40 meters. After advancing to General one year later and operating on 10m, he was working the world on HF AM and CW. His rig was a Heathkit DX100, so no SSB modes.

Barry’s professional training is in Astrophysics, having worked and studied at Swarthmore College Sproul Observatory, and then further graduate work at Kitt Peak and the University of Arizona. He also worked summers at the Royal Greenwich Observatory (England) and the U.S.Naval Observatory in Washington DC, and then at Flagstaff, Arizona. He spent a sabbatical year and a few summers at Lowell Observatory (Flagstaff, AZ) where he got to have lunch with the man who discovered Pluto at Lowell.

Barry’s teaching career began at Westtown School in West Chester (PA) in 1970, where he taught high school physics, astronomy, and electronics for over forty years. He then spent a year teaching physics at university (West Chester) and Bryn Mawr College.

Barry’s interests in ham radio now include the sound card digital modes, the Nano VNA as a test instrument, and modulation methods on HF SSB and VHF FM using the SDRplay and RSP Spectrum software. He is the net manager of the PaNBEMS net every Sunday morning at 0730 on 3583.0 kHz. He is also active in local county EMCOMM work via ARES/RACES.

Barry is an extra class licensee, and lives in West Chester, PA.

Note: The meeting location is 309 Alplaus Ave, Alplaus, NY, and the building is at the corner of Alplaus Avenue and Bruce Drive. Please park in the paved lot adjacent to this building. Do not park in the restricted area in front of the building that houses the fire trucks. We will meet in the Multi- purpose Room (entrance is on the North side of this building).

December Social Event

Happy Holidays from SARA

Digital Mobile Radio

Speaker: Skip Evans, W2YJL

Abstract:

This talk will cover the following questions:

About our speaker:

Skip graduated from RPI with an EE degree, and trained at KAPL as a nuclear engineer. He has traveled all over the US and Canada to nuclear site installations. Eventually, he transferred to GE Medical Systems. He retired as a specialist in nuclear medicine. Skip has lived in Glenville for 35 years, and has held an amateur radio license for 74 years. Currently, Skip holds an advanced class ticket.

Note: The meeting location is 309 Alplaus Ave, Alplaus, NY, and the building is at the corner of Alplaus Avenue and Bruce Drive. Please park in the paved lot adjacent to this building. Do not park in the restricted area in front of the building that houses the fire trucks. We will meet in the Multi- purpose Room (entrance is on the North side of this building).

Baker Island Dxpedition

Speaker: John Miller, K6MM

Abstract: This will be a video presentation of the 2018 Dxpedition to Baker Island, which lies on the equator, about 1900 miles southwest of Hawaii.

About our speaker:

John Miller has been a ham since 1968 and has participated in seven Dxpeditions. His website, https://www.qrz.com/db/K6MM, shows his lifelong commitment to amateur radio.