April Interface 2012

This is a reminder that the Interface for the first Tuesday in April will be a Build it/fix it night.

For those with crimpers, soldering irons, and other tools that can be shared among other HAMS for the night, please bring them.

[Wade] has placed the order for power poles and wire. If your goal for the night is to build the cables for certification or an adapter such as http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPHjpdHqP9Y please contact him to make sure he has what you need and you know the price.

If you have power poles that need recrimped/resoldered/repaired or other things that you’ve been putting off for the right motivation to get them fixed, bring them along :).

Other projects which can be brought in include:

A Quarter wave ground plane emergency antenna (this version doesn’t fold up, but can be easily made and stored in a box) http://www.hamuniverse.com/2metergp.html

An inline voltmeter – I understand that Wade Starks has a limitted number left, not enough for the whole group, so if you’re interested in one, contact him offline wcstarks@gmail.com. Think of it as your gas gauge in the car that lets you know the amount of charge left on your battery so you know when to unplug or switch before you destroy your battery by draining it too far.

Soundcard TNC Adapters – I recommend either the Rascal (1st choice available from www.buxcomm.com , they have released a new version which solves some of the issues with the old case), or the Unified Microsystems SCI-6 kit (www.unifiedmicro.com). I’ll have an example of the older Rascal and the Unified Microsystems adapters at the interface. Keep in mind that it will take some time for delivery if ordering, so order soon.

The copper j-pole http://www.dxzone.com/cgi-bin/dir/jump2.cgi?ID=9284 – We built this at build-it-night last year. Required is a 10 foot section of copper pipe, a copper “Tee” connector, a copper elbow connector, 2 caps, and the so-239 connector for connecting in the wire. I’ll have the soldering torch and pipe cutter if anyone wants to attempt one of these.

The tape measure yagi – Plans at http://www.ccars.org/Projects/TapeYagi/index.htm – We had a couple of successful builds on this one for last years fox hunt. I have the tape measure that several people can still use to create one, but you’ll need to bring your own PVC.

Please respond with what you would like to make this next Tuesday and I’ll try and have a seperate station set up for like minded individuals.

Jeremy
ke7dlt@ucares.org