The Richardson Wireless Klub > QRV Tech – Education Series

QRV Tech – Education Series

Shawn KI5PXG is kicking off an new Education Series for RWK – We’re calling it “QRV Tech” (h/t to Don KG5CK). It will be (mostly) monthly, usually on the third week of the month (check the calendar). We will start out on Zoom but we have plans to get together in person when there is a “build” type project.

The goal for this series is primarily education – teaching something new to those that are interested – but we plan on building things too (as part of the learning). We realize that not everyone will be interested in each subject (which is why we’re not making them presentations for General Meetings) – we’re aiming for 10-20 people or so each session.

Our topics will range from test equipment to microcontrollers to SDRs to antennas. This series is something that we’ve wanted to do for a long time. We hope that you enjoy and learn! QRV Tech?

  • QRV Tech – September 2025 – JS8Call

    One of the biggest complaints about the popular FT-8/FT-4 digital modes is that the exchange is short and fixed, and there’s no way to add to the QSO. What if I told you that there was a mode that used the same weak-signal technology as FT-8/4 but you could send whatever you want to the other party? For as long as you want? Well, join us tonight to learn about JS8Call!

    Meeting Recording

    Click the image to view the recording

    Session Resources

    JS8Call software: http://js8call.com/

  • QRV Tech – August 2025 – GOES Satellite Reception and Decoding

    During tomorrow night’s QRV session, we will learn about NOAA’s GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite) satellite system and how you can decode its transmissions for yourself.  We will talk about what GOES is, how the data is channelized and transmitted, how you can setup your own ground station for receiving the data, and the software needed to parse the data into beautiful pictures of planet Earth.  I’ll be focusing primarily on my setup, but there will be others on the call who have made their own ground stations who can also share tips and tricks on how they setup their systems.

    We look forward to seeing you on Zoom tomorrow evening!

    Meeting Recording

    Click the image to view the recording

    Session Resources

    Link to my Google Drive with presentation, demo video, text file with links, and the images I collected during the 2 hours I had the system hooked up (directory structure is what comes directly from the satellite).

  • QRV Tech – June 2025 – All You Need to Know about RWK Field Day

    We’re moving QRV Tech for this month to next week!

    Please join RWK on Tuesday June 24th for this month’s QRV Tech. 

    Coming up at the end of June is Field Day 2025.  Field Day is amateur radio’s biggest event of the year, and hams new and old look forward to it every year.  At this QRV Tech session, you will find out what exactly is “Field Day” and how it got to be ham radio’s biggest annual event.  You will also learn how you can participate with RWK at Field Day 2025 and what you need if you want to participate on your own.  If you’re a new ham (or even if you’re old), you won’t want to miss this annual ham radio event.

    Meeting Recording

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    Session Resources

    Read the history of RWK Field Day here. Thanks to Tim Bratton K5RA for doing the research.

  • QRV Tech – May 2025 – How To Participate In The Balloon Launch

    We’re taking advantage of the launch delay of our High-Altitude Balloon (now planned for May 31st) to again go over what’s on the balloon and how you can participate, either in person or from your shack.

    We look forward to seeing you on Tuesday for the May 2025 QRV Tech!

    Meeting Recording

    Click the image to view the recording

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    Session Resources

  • QRV Tech – April 2025 – Linear Amplifiers

    Larry KI5UXC is going to talk about (and possibly demonstrate) the benefits of adding some power to your signal by using a linear amplifier. While there have been some advances in linear amplifiers recently (especially in solid state amplifiers), using an older tube-based amp is not as easy as plugging it in. You need to know how to tune it properly, how to use it with various types of antennas, how to power it, and how to properly hook it to your radio (so you don’t blow anything up!)

    Meeting Recording

    Click on the image to view the recording

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    Session Resources

  • QRV Tech – March 2025 – Build & Configure a DigiPi

    For the RWK March 2025 General Meeting, we had Craig KM6LYW on to show off his DigiPi software, which combines most Ham Radio digital modes into a single, compact, easy-to-use, Raspberry Pi-based solution. For QRV Tech this month, we thought that we would show you how easy it is to actually build and get one of these on the air.

    If you would like to play along with us in real time, you will need the following:
    – A Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W (available from MicroCenter)
    – A MicroSD card (anything over 8GB is fine). You can use the cheap MicroCenter SD cards to test but you’ll probably want a better SD card for permanent use
    – A MicroUSB Raspberry Pi power supply (probably a wall wart for the build process – you can figure out how to power it from a battery later)
    – A MicroUSB to USB adapter (if you have a radio that has a built-in USB interface) or something like a DigiRig adapter (if your radio has no built-in Audio)
    – A WiFi enabled computer or tablet that you can use to connect to and use the DigiPi
    – You will also need a computer that can write to a MicroSD card to load the DigiPi software (most laptops have built-in SD card slots)
    – If you want the (optional) Raspberry Pi 1.3” Display, you can get it from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08F9VD2GZ

    All of this should be available at MicroCenter (except for the DigiRig).

    We will provide the DigiPi image to you for download during the QRV Tech session. Craig KM6LYW has agreed to let us bypass his normal Patreon process.

    Meeting Recording

    Click on the image to play the recording

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    Session Resources

    If you want to read ahead, here’s a youtube of the install process from M0FXB:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ukQ53OeNeI

QRV Tech Meeting Location

These sessions will primarily be on Zoom, but we will have physical meetings for hands-on or build projects. Please check each session for details on the location.

Upcoming Events

Past Meetings

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