Programs
After the short business portion of our monthly meetings we offer a program each month. Some programs (when available) are listed here for your reference.
For more information or to suggest a topic please contact our Program Chair via email at:
program [at] frrl.org.
Upcoming Programs:
Past Programs:
Introduction to Allstar
By KC9SEB – Paul Mitchell
Digital Hotspots
By KC9SEB – Paul Mitchell
HamClock
By KC9SEB - Paul Mitchell
Digital Mobile (DMR) Fundamentals
&
Chicagoland Control Center
Patrick J. Brod - KB9ANL
ECHOLINK
&
ALLSTARLINK
By Curt Sauer
Introduction to APRSby Terry Todd W9AUV
August 13, 2019 - OK, I Just Got My License
by Harry Jones K9DXA
by Dan Taddi, W9STS
Learn how to:Configure the Zumspot to work with DMR RadioSet up the hot spot channel in a DMR RadioIncludes time for a DMR demo and a Q/A periodSlides from the program are posted here. (Thanks Dan)
April 2017: "So I got my license....Now what do I do?" Presented by Harry-K9DXA
Harry's presentation is available on the right.
September 2016: Dan, W9YKK, gave a presentation on station grounding and lightning protection.
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Program_N9XU_2016-07-13.pdf Size : 589.285 Kb Type : pdf |
May 2016: Jack Hudson-W9MU gave his presentation on DXing.
Jack shared his experiences and vast knowledge on the subject of DXing, HF Propagation, Contesting, getting those rare contacts and more.
Above photos by Chris, KC9BKS
Above photos by Jason, NX9Y
April 2016: Presentation/power point on EMP/IEMI "Threats and Concerns" by Michael Caruso.
Hello FRRL! This excerpt is from an email sent to W9HI from April's program presenter, Mike Caruso. I think a lot of you will find this addition to the program very interesting! "I'm very pleased to let you know that I have asked John Jackson and Terry Donat (W9EYZ FCC Amateur Radio License) to join the EMP Presentation on April 12th. Both John and Terry are colleagues in the InfraGard EMP Special Interest Group (SIG)
https://www.sfbay-infragard.org/Documents/EMP_guidance.pdf
InfraGard is a partnership between the FBI and the private sector. It is an association of persons who represent businesses, academic institutions, state and local law enforcement agencies, and other participants dedicated to sharing information and intelligence to prevent hostile acts against the U.S.
I've asked them to make a short presentation to explain the importance of the private radio operators to the InfraGard EMP SIG and the opportunities to join the organization."
Thanks for reading and see you all at the meeting!
Jason-NX9Y
March 2016 - Operating the IL QSO Party - by Harry, K9DXA
Harry gave a presentation on his experience operating from a three county point in the latest Illinois QSO Party.
His presentation slides are here.
February 2016 - Arduino Made Friendly - by Mike, K9FE
2/9/2016
This month Mike, K9FE, presented a program about using the Arduino. He showed us some samples of using the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) and various versions of the Arduino board and accessories.
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Arduino Made Friendly.pdf Size : 661.367 Kb Type : pdf |
Photos by Chris, KC9BKS,
Presentation slides by Mike, K9FE.
Hello all,
Wanted to inform the membership that there has been a change in the program for the January program. Harry's program on the IL QSO party has been moved to March. Instead we will be presented to by the Kane County Coroner. His presentation will be on the correct status of their communication capabilities, their communication needs (communications between different branches of public services) and how hams could play a part in that communication in case of a large scale incident.
This program was arranged by Don, WA9FZE.
This month Dick presented a program via Skype from his home shack in WA. This month's program is Sending ICS Message Forms using MT63 Sound Card Mode. Please see the presentation slides.
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ICS form MT63 Presentation v1 090814 a.pdf Size : 702.647 Kb Type : pdf |
October 2014 Program - Presented by Denny, W9HI
This month Denny showed us what it takes to be the Field Day Chairperson. It was a great behind the scenes view of setting up, running, closing down, and the data gathering for the club's Field Day operations. As the club is looking for next year's Field Day chairperson, Denny offered his support and assistance to the next volunteer to take his place.
September 2014 Program - By Mike, K9FE
Mike gave us a program on Digital modes and easy ways to set it up. He discussed computer to radio interface options, software available, antenna suggestions and more.
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Digital Made Easy.pdf Size : 484.715 Kb Type : pdf |
This month Bill stepped in as the new Program Chairman. Thank you Dick for many years of awesome programs.
He described his approach to the program char position. He is looking for members to step up and share what they do or like as a program. Bill said he will coordinate and help with your presentation but he needs all of our help.
Please contact Bill with any ideas you might have for a program. I'm sure he's getting getting volunteers. Will you be one of the first?
A few FRRL members have been experimenting with remote control of their ham stations. I had earlier demonstrated Chrome Remote Desktop because it integrated audio with remote control. I have been recently using TeamViewer on an iPad. I have been doing a lot of additional research and I will certainly educate everyone at the April meeting. Because we now have good WiFi Internet in the meeting room, I will be able to do live demonstrations as well.
73, Dick AH6EZ
The March program will be about what I call the Amateur Radio Intranet. Others call it HSMM or the Hinternet.
I will be describing activity around the country and how it is being used. I will relate to how it might be used in Kane County for creating an emergency network. Prepare to have me mesh with your mind...
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_Amateur Radio Intranet - FRRL March 2014 v2.pdf Size : 2364.013 Kb Type : pdf |
I have been researching the AutoEZ program that automates EZ-NEC antenna modeling and decided that it was a little bit too complex to present at a meeting.
I have decided instead to show one of two videos, depending on the time available, as well as audience interest. The first one is the new ARRL at 100 video which is 25 minutes long. The other is about DXpedition Operating and is 43 minutes long.
73, Dick AH6EZ
January 2014 Program - by Dick, AH6EZ:
The January program by Dick was on applications using Raspberry Pi including IRLP and Echolink.
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Raspberry Pi IRLP Echolink Jan 2014.pdf Size : 6167.45 Kb Type : pdf |
November 2013 Program - by Dick, AH6EZ:
This month's program by Dick was about his personal experience prepairing for and working the IL QSO Party from a remote location at the corner of three countes.
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IL QSO Party 2013 compressed.pdf Size : 3147.772 Kb Type : pdf |
September 2013 Program - by Dick, AH6EZ:
I know that several FRRL members have recently purchased Chinese made dual band handheld radios. They are REALLY cheap (I meant to say inexpensive) but they work. I have to admit that when trying to come up with a birthday present for myself, when I already have everything, was tough this year. I decided to get a red radio for me and a blue radio for Becky. I may have limited time or ability to put together a really technical program but I figured I might be able to lean on the shared experiences of other members who may have other radios than the Baofeng radios I bought or have had a Baofeng longer than I have. For price of a dinner for two, you can have a pretty functional radio, desktop charger, and a earphone/microphone with a remote PTT.
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Sept 2013 - Baofeng HT.pdf Size : 4590.167 Kb Type : pdf |
August 2013 - by Dick, AH6EZ
Dick gave a presentation on Off-Center Fed Dipole antennas.
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OCF Dipole August 2013.pdf Size : 1358.55 Kb Type : pdf |
July 2013 Program - by Harry, K9DXA
Harry, K9DXA, gave a preview presentation that he will give at the Hamfest. The subject is QRP radio. Harry talked about the advantages and fun of working QRP. He discussed using different modes and equipment available. It was an excellent presentation.
If you missed it be sure to see his presentation at the Hamfest on 7/14/2013.
Dick, AH6EZ gave a review of the club trip to Dayton.
Denny, W9HI also talked further about Field Day 2013 at the June Meeting.
May 2013 Program - by Dick, AH6EZ:
Considering that the FCC is considering some changes to make all radio services consistent for compliance with RF Exposure limits and procedures, I thought it would be a good time to relearn about RF safety and how to evaluate your station for RF safety per the existing FCC rules. That will be the topic for the May FRRL meeting. Just in time for Dayton where we are surrounded by RF from a thousand transmitters.
73, Dick
April 2013 Program - by Dick, AH6EZ:
After helping several of you start to enjoy remote controlling your ham station, I have begun researching and learning about digital voice. The QST article on FreeDV got me started thinking about the topic. There is certainly a lot of mathematics involved in creating good sounding digital voice.We have all heard it on our cellular telephones. The real art comes in making the conversion from analog to digital very spectrum efficient and being tolerant of weak signals, noise, and interference that we have on our ham bands. Having the software open source public domain allows many expert experimenters improve the state of the art while avoiding patent issues.
I hope to be able to provide a simple to understand overview of the subject and a demonstration and audio samples of the FreeDV program.
73, Dick
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FRRL April 2013 program - FreeDV.pdf Size : 1266.609 Kb Type : pdf |
March 2013 Program - by Dick, AH6EZ:
As I mentioned during the February program, if we get on the air, there are several ways to make our hobby more fun or rewarding. Although not required by FCC rules, it is fun to keep a log of our contacts. If we submit our logs to the ARRL Logbook Of The World (LOTW) we can confirm contacts without the cost and delays of postage. If we are trying to Work All States or DX countries, monitoring a DX cluster can help. Maybe we operate digital modes. Maybe we operate contests or want to track satellites.
Ham Radio Deluxe (HRD) is commercial (not free) software that has become feature rich over the years that helps with all of these activities. It is so feature rich, I could not even demonstrate all of them during the February program.
By a unanamous show of hands, there was a great desire for me to demonstrate the DM780 module of HRD for the March meeting. DM780 integrates with the logbook module of HRD to automate identification and logging of digital mode contacts. DM780 can decode and encode many digital modes including CW, RTTY, PSK, Hell, MFSK, MT63, Olivia, and Throb. You can focus on a single QSO or you can monitor multiple simultaneous QSOs and pick out the one you may want to join.
Personally, I do not like DM780 as much as Digipan for PSK or MMTTY for RTTY so I plan to include demonstrations of those free softwares so that you can compare for your own uses. Our FRRL program time slot is from about 8:30 to 9:30 pm and I can't predict what the band conditions will be. Just in case, I hope to be able to locally generate signals on these modes so that you can hear them and we can simulate QSOs.
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AH6EZ Remote Station March 2013.pdf Size : 39.733 Kb Type : pdf |
Dick, AH6EZ, gave us a walk through of many of the features of Ham Radio Deluxe. He showed us many features including log book, DX cluster spots, rig remote control, rotator control, solar reports, and keeping track of your awards. He gave us a demo of a connection to his Software Defined Radio (SDR). He also showed how it can track satellites including horizontal and vertical rotator control and automatically adjusting your radio's frequency for the doppler shift.
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Feb 2012 FRRL Program HRD.pdf Size : 21.571 Kb Type : pdf |
January 2013 Program:
In the January program "Overcoming Fears of SMD Kit Building" Dick, AH6EZ, gave us tips and lessons learned from his project building the JUMA TX500 kit (500 kHz Transmitter) which uses a large percentage of the tiny Surface Mount Devices (SMD).
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January 2013 Program SMD and TX500.pdf Size : 2134.676 Kb Type : pdf |
November 2012 Program:
The November program was be about the historical development of HF receivers, and in particular receiver selectivity. There was a live demonstrations of different receiver types from regenerative to envelope detectors, to BFO and product detectors. Demonstrations included a TenTec 1054 and a Hammarlund HQ110 with a Q multiplier.
October 2012 Program
Harry delivered the battery safety presentation he did at our July Hamfest.
September 2012 Program
The September program was a 30 minute video describing the IOTA (Islands on the Air) program and an IOTA Expedition to the tiny Rockall island 200 miles west of Ireland. Now that the club's Hammarlund HQ110 receiver is repaired, the present plan is to have the October meeting be about receiver selectivity from vintage to modern. Hopefully when you see that next radio at a hamfest, you will know ahead of time what it will sound like on the air. The November meeting may be an introduction and demonstration by N9VV of the TAPR HPSDR radios which now include full transceivers with 100 watts.
July 2012 Program
The program at the July
meeting will be the first of a two-part presentation on the very recent
Nunavut DXpedition from AH6EZ. One will be about Rankin Inlet and the
overall experience, and the second part will discuss the technical and
operational learning points.