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?

  • Field Day 2025 – It’s Coming this Saturday!

    RWK Field Day is this Saturday (June 27) and will again be at the Richardson Emergency Operations Center (EOC) (Plano Rd & Lookout Drive).

    What Is Field Day?

    Field Day is the largest amateur radio operating event of the year.  If previous years are any indication, there will be 30,000 to 40,000 hams on the air during the 24 hour period.  Field Day is basically a nationwide Emergency Preparedness exercise, so some think it’s not a “traditional Field Day” if we are not in a field, but there’s a reason that the rules have a specific operator class (F) for Emergency Operations Centers – the rules encourage us to be familiar with that facility in case we need to use it for real!  Plus. there’s just too many reasons to have it here (namely lots of parking and air conditioning – it is June in Texas after all).

    Setup and Get-On-The-Air

    Antenna and outside setup will be on Friday at 9am (let me know if you want to help with antenna setup) and inside setup with a limited group will start at 10:30am on Saturday (bring donuts if you want to help!).  Setup is a lot more efficient with a limited group so please ask in advance if you want to be included.

    We should have one station ready to go on the air about 11-11:30am. Field Day rules allow a “Get On The Air” (GOTA) station to operate as soon as it is ready, up until the formal start of Field Day (1pm CDST), so that’s roughly 2 hours for GOTA, which is targeted towards new hams. GOTA stations can use their own callsigns too, so they don’t have to learn to send a different callsign. We will use the GOTA station for Technicians to experience HF for maybe the first time prior to the start of Field Day.  If you want to try your hand at operating the GOTA station, be there at 11:30am

    Parking and Sign-In

    Field Day begins at 1pm (1800 UTC), so please show up any time after 12pm if you want to operate or observe.

    Please park in the side parking lot or the strip next to the entrance gate.  Please do not drive over any coax or other cables in the lot, and avoid any area with antennas or equipment.  Please do not drive or go past/behind the EOC – that’s for the Fire Department and they won’t like it.

    Please enter through the main lobby (and not through any side doors).  There will be a sign-in sheet for Field Day 2025.  Please sign in.  If you don’t see it, please ask.  Also (and I can’t believe that I have to say this), please wear your RWK nametag and introduce yourself to people you don’t know.

    Field Day Operating

    My goals for this year’s Field Day are to get as many people on the air as possible – even if it’s only for 15-30 minutes. We want everyone (especially if you are a Technician or don’t have a home HF station) to be able to make some Field Day QSOs – if nothing else so you will want to upgrade your license.

    When Field Day starts at 1pm, we should have 3 stations on the air: CW (de NN5T, N4CD and gang), Digital/FT-8, and SSB. Each of the stations will have opportunity for multiple operators, as well as loggers. If you want to operate, just show up, sign up, and we will fit you in. Like previous years it will be from a wait-list queue on the dry board next to each station.  If you want to operate, please sign up on the queue.  You may be asked to do a shift at logging prior to operating.  If there are people waiting in the queue, your operating period will be limited to 30 minutes, after which you can sign up again.

    You can try your hand at multiple modes if you want. We will have multiple bands just like last year (40M, 20M, 15/10M, and 6M), but only one station per band so we don’t have to deal with antenna conflicts and interference.

    We will be operating at the EOC for 8 hours on Saturday June 27 (plus a little bit extra – more on that in a bit). Why not a full 24 hours? Two reasons: 1) It’s always hard to fill the overnight operator shifts, which just puts pressure on the hardcore operators to slog it out overnight for hours at a time – which for most is not fun, and 2) Respect for our EOC hosts. With the recent ARRL FD rules change, you can still operate overnight and Sunday at your home station with your own callsign (Class 1D) and submit your logs and tag RWK to add to our score.

    After our EOC Operating Period is over at 9pm, you are encouraged to finish Field Day from your home station.  You may operate 1D (single operator, commercial power) or any other allowed class, using your own callsign.  At the end of Field Day, when you submit your individual station Field Day entry, you are encouraged to tag “Richardson Wireless Klub” as your affiliated club.  You will get your full Field Day entry and RWK will also get credit for your points.  Last year, we had 22 people submit individual logs and tag RWK and our combined score was impressive!

    Other Activities

    In addition to actual FD operating, we are planning (*subject to change):

        Foxhunt-palooza – our own KE5GDB will have several micro-foxes hidden in the area (similar to what he did last year).  Bring your HT and whatever portable foxhunt setup you want and find all the foxes.

        Coax Jumper Build – We want you to know the correct way to create your own coax jumpers using crimp connectors, so we will be holding an informal jumper build so you can build your own 5 foot coax jumpers.  We will supply a short length of coax, two crimp connectors, and heat-shrink for only $10 and we will have all the tools that you need.  Hopefully this will give you the confidence to make your own home coax runs.

        (maybe a couple of other surprises TBD – Stay Tuned)

    Field Day Pizza

    It wouldn’t be RWK Field Day without pizza and salad.  We should have our usual Pizza dinner at 5:30-6pm for everyone that has been operating, logging, observing and otherwise helping.

    Towards the end of our 8 hours, we will also need some help cleaning up and packing up all the equipment back where it goes (and making sure the EOC is just as we found it).

    Questions?

    If you have questions, we will have a “Introduction to Field Day” QRV Tech event on the Tuesday before Field Day (Tuesday June 24 at 7pm). 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. We did this the last few years and people seemed to learn a lot.

    Once again, the goal is for everyone to have fun and get to do something that you wouldn’t normally do – be that work HF (if you’re a Tech), work CW (if you didn’t have to learn it for your license), work FT-8 (if you’re new to digital modes), or just learn to operate in a fast-paced “contest” environment.

    ARRL Field Day website: http://www.arrl.org/field-day

    We look forward to seeing you on Tuesday for QRV Tech and this Saturday for Field Day 2025!

  • 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.

    We look forward to seeing you on Tuesday!

    Event Details:

    Join Zoom Meeting

    Topic: QRV Tech

    Time: Third Tuesday 07:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

    https://zoom.us/j/93467541992?pwd=RjJqWkFPd0VjeSt2U21QL2hKc0QwZz09

    Meeting ID: 934 6754 199
    Passcode: 307016

    Meeting Recording

    – – – – – – –

    Session Resources

  • 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 Details

    Topic: QRV Tech

    Time: Third Tuesday 07:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

    Join Zoom Meeting

    https://zoom.us/j/93467541992?pwd=RjJqWkFPd0VjeSt2U21QL2hKc0QwZz09

    Meeting ID: 934 6754 1992

    Passcode: 307016

    Meeting Recording

    – – – – – – –

    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!)

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

    Meeting Details

    Topic: QRV Tech

    Time: Third Tuesday 07:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

    Join Zoom Meeting

    https://zoom.us/j/93467541992?pwd=RjJqWkFPd0VjeSt2U21QL2hKc0QwZz09

    Meeting ID: 934 6754 1992

    Passcode: 307016

    Meeting Recording

    – – – – – – –

    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 – 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.

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

    Meeting Details

    Topic: QRV Tech

    Time: Third Tuesday 07:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

    Join Zoom Meeting

    https://zoom.us/j/93467541992?pwd=RjJqWkFPd0VjeSt2U21QL2hKc0QwZz09

    Meeting ID: 934 6754 1992

    Passcode: 307016

    Meeting Recording

    – – – – – – –

    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 – February 2025 – A Short Discussion of Coax

    It’s an unseen but critical component in every ham’s station – coax. But do you know how to select and handle coax, and why it matters? And how do you install and maintain coax? We won’t go into excessive detail but we will give you things to think about and investigate further.

    If you can’t make the session, we will have it posted on the K5RWK website shortly after the presentation – but as you probably know, it’s always easier to ask questions live with all the experts available.  We look forward to seeing you then!

    Meeting Details

    Topic: QRV Tech

    Time: Third Tuesday 07:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

    Join Zoom Meeting

    https://zoom.us/j/93467541992?pwd=RjJqWkFPd0VjeSt2U21QL2hKc0QwZz09

    Meeting ID: 934 6754 1992

    Passcode: 307016

    – – – – – – –

    Session Resources

    ARRL has several resources on Lightning Protection: http://www.arrl.org/lightning-protection

    If you are interested in the “gold standard” guide for grounding and bonding for radio installations, search online for the “Motorola R56 Manual” (the 2005 edition is over 500 pages!) (it’s findable on the internet but it’s copyrighted so we’re not linking it here)

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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