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Ham Radio Workbench Podcast Episodes

Field Radio Workbench

7/31/2018

1 Comment

 
Picture
Get geared up for field operating and setting up your field workbench with John Jacobs W7DBO from the Field Radio Podcast.  In segment 1, John outlines his method for organizing and planning your field radio adventures. In segment 2 we list essential tools, parts, and test gear you need for light weight trail ops and full scale Field Day deployments.  We wrap up the show with an introduction to the Powerfilm Lightsaver MAX portable battery and solar panel.

Our Website - http://www.hamradioworkbench.com/
Follow us on Twitter - https://twitter.com/hamworkbench
Contact us for feedback and ideas - http://hamradioworkbench.com/contact
Connect with us on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/hamradioworkbench/

Save $100 on the Digilent Analog Discovery 2 Package by using code “HamRadioWorkbench2018” in your cart prior to checkout - https://store.digilentinc.com/ham-radio-workbench-bundle/

John Jacobs W7DBO
Field Radio Podcast
Comms To Go
Field Radio Podcast on YouTube


Segment 1 - Plan your Event

Mission First Gear Second
Identify what you want to accomplish and select gear to match
What is your goal?
  • Day trip vs overnighter?
  • Hotel vs camping vs backpacking?
  • Travel focus or radio focus?

Field Expediency
Doing work in advance selecting gear to maximize time on air versus time setting up / breaking down

Field Tested Gear: Load out in living room, then load out in back yard, then load out in local park, then once gear is tested, attempt the big trip. Field test in your driveway or at the park first.

Personal prep / Safety First:
Personal Emergency Preparations, travel itinerary, weather observations, red flag warnings.

4 Goals:
  • Get On The Air
  • Stay On The Air
  • Be An Effective Communicator
  • Have Fun

Gear Must Be:
  • Modular
  • Tested
  • Portable
  • Understood

Segment 2 - Field Workbench
Light weight radio events – SOTA, travel, casual operating, emergency prep
Have a common simplex frequency
Review the wilderness protocol
Simplex frequencies:
  • 146.52  <-- primary
  • 446.0
  • 223.5
  • 52.525
  • 1294.5
Times to Monitor
  • 07:00 - 07:05
  • 10:00 - 10:05
  • 13:00 - 13:05
  • 16:00 - 16:05
EDC – Every Day Carry bag
  • Leatherman / Gerber multi-tool
  • Pocket knife
  • Multi bit reversible screwdriver
  • Flashlight
  • Duct tape, electrical tape, gaffer’s tape wrapped on a credit card
  • 5v USB external battery and cell phone cable
  • Radio, antenna, battery pack,
  • Lighter
  • Survival tin
  • Cash
  • Micro first aid kit
  • Pen / pencil / notepad
Goals
  • Minimalist set of gear – small, lightweight
  • Easily carry in a backpack
  • Fix common problems – fix connections, cut stuff / fix stuff
Tools
  • Multi tool – Full size Leatherman or Squirt ES4
  • Pocket knife – Swiss army, Victronix, Gerber, etc.
Parts
  • Wago wire nuts
  • 2’ Solid wire
  • Gaffers tape – small roll
  • Fuses if your radio has fuses
Other stuff
  • Head lamp
  • Mini volt meter
TOP TAKE-AWAYS
  • Practice setting up your gear and see what tools you use.
  • Look at your gear and imagine what could break.  Figure out what you need to fix it.
  • Focus on the weakest items.  Cables, connectors, batteries, wires, adapters.

Big radio events – Field Day, Contesting, Public service events
TIP:  Get a good cheap tool kit at Home Depot – HDX tool set $20.
TIP:  Get a bunch of cheap tools at Harbor Freight for the club.

Goals
  • If anything breaks you can fix it
  • Balance between being well prepared and going light and easy.
Mechanical tools
  • Screwdrivers, pliers, wire cutters, socket set, wrenches, hammer, pry bar
  • Allen wrenchs, hex drivers, wire strippers, tape measure, box cutter,
  • Xacto knife and spare blades, scissors,
Electronic tools
  • Power pole crimping tool
  • Coax connector crimping tool with die for N, UHF and BNC connectors
  • Lug crimp tool
  • Butane soldering iron
  • DC AA batt soldering iron
  • Jet lighter
  • Helping hands or small vice
  • Head lamp and LED desk lamp
Consummables
  • Electrical tape – Scotch 33
  • Rescue tape
  • Zip ties
  • Shrink wrap
  • Solder and solder wick
  • Paracord
Parts
  • Spare coax connectors
  • Coax adapters
  • Crimp lugs
  • Fuses
  • Various resistors, caps,
  • Power Pole connectors
  • Wago wire nuts
  • Audio adapters – ¼ to 3.5mm
  • Wire
  • Various stranded and solid
  • Buss wire (solid)
  • Batteries – AA and AAA
  • Various screws, nuts washers
Test equipment
  • Antenna analyzer
  • 12 VDC power monitor with power poles
  • VOM – you are not  making precise measurements – cheap is OK.  You are mostly measuring voltages or resistance.
  • TIP:  Harbor freight $5 VOM.  Get 2.
  • Coax jumpers
  • Aligator clip jumper wires
General TiPs
  • Look at your radios.  Assume any cable or connector can and will break.  
  • Have spares for all breakable components
  • Organize your stuff in modules
  • Mechanical tools and parts
  • Electronic radio tools and parts
  • Electronic test equipment
Cases
  • DeWalt stackable drawers
  • Heavy duty tool bags
​
PowerFilm Solar Lightsaver MAX
Portable battery and flexible solar panel
  • Battery: 18000mAh 66 Wh
  • LiPo batteries are 3.7v so the capacity is 4.8 Ah
  • Solar panel guess is about 10 watts
  • Input: USB-C (3A), 12V (2A)
  • Output: Dual USB-A (2.5A), 12V (5A peak)
  • Weight: 1.5 lbs Size: Rolled: 13.5” x 2.5” Unrolled: 34.5” x 13.5”
  • Solar Charge: 6-8 hours full sun
  • Wall Charge: 3-4 hours (12V) 6-7 hours (USB-C) 8-10 hours (USB)
  • Battery state indicator is a row of LEDs.
  • Built in flash light LED on the end

Cables Included:
  • USB-A to USB-C Cable
  • 12V Input Charging Cable
  • 12V Output Cable

Runs the KX2 fine.  No charge controller noise detected on initial trial.


1 Comment

4-Port Coax Relay Project Design

7/17/2018

4 Comments

 
Picture
George KJ6VU takes us through a thorough deep dive of the design of the 4-Port Coax Relay Project.  We talk about the five major sections of the project - RF circuit switching with relays, control via PIC Microcontroller, the power supply, the user interface, and serial communications.  Each section provides a reference design that could be leveraged in other projects.

Pick up the 4-Port Coax Relay Project Partial Kit from our store - https://www.hamradioworkbench.com/store/p6/4-Port_Coax_Relay_Partial_Kit.html

Our Website - http://www.hamradioworkbench.com/
Follow us on Twitter - https://twitter.com/hamworkbench
Contact us for feedback and ideas - http://hamradioworkbench.com/contact
Connect with us on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/hamradioworkbench/

Save $100 on the Digilent Analog Discovery 2 Package by using code “HamRadioWorkbench2018” in your cart prior to checkout - https://store.digilentinc.com/ham-radio-workbench-bundle/

$130 Ham Radio Notebook? - Microcenter Winbook TW110 - http://www.microcenter.com/product/496689/TW110_116_Laptop_Computer_-_Black

Windows 10 64 bit Drivers for the Microcenter Winbook TW110 are from the Medion Akoya e222x series - https://www.medion.com/gb/service/_lightbox/treiber.php?msn=30023301&prod=MEDION%20AKOYA%20E2228T%20(MD%2061050)%20A-UK

Raspberry Pi B 3/3+ USB Boot Timeout 2 or 5 seconds - https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=209416#p1313554

Microcenter Inland MLC SSDs - http://www.microcenter.com/search/search_results.aspx?Ntt=inland+ssd

Stuart KB1HQS Portable Gear Loadout YouTube Video Series - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3PF-f4-AUo&list=PLP-XG_VNrkF5ra0ptG0DGtbcBp53sUOii

Portable Displays
  • 13” 5V/USB FHD Display - https://www.amazon.com/Raspberry-1920X1080-Resolution-Portable-Speakers/dp/B0787RF8YB/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1531780288&sr=8-4&keywords=elecrow+display&dpID=61a49caCo-L&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch
  • 11” 12V FHD Display - https://www.amazon.com/Elecrow-1920X1080-Xbox360-Display-Raspberry/dp/B01NB17E0Z/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1531780288&sr=8-6&keywords=elecrow+display&dpID=51wXe7ZlNuL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch
  • 10” 12V FHD Display - https://www.amazon.com/Elecrow-Raspberry-1920X1080p-Resolution-Speakers/dp/B076GZVCP2/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1531780288&sr=8-7&keywords=elecrow+display&dpID=51vX31Yt0SL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch
  • 11” 5V/USB FHD Display - https://www.ebay.com/itm/11-6Inch-1920x1080-IPS-Portable-Monitor-For-Raspberry-PS3-PS4-XBOX-HDMI-Display/273163427331?hash=item3f99cf1e03%3Ag%3AeGIAAOSw-GBbQvrA&_sacat=0&_nkw=portable+hdmi+display&_from=R40&rt=nc&LH_TitleDesc=0%7C0
  • Multiple Options in 10” and 11” 12V Displays - https://www.ebay.com/itm/10-1-11-6-LED-LCD-Monitor-Portable-HDMI-VGA-Display-Screen-For-Raspberry-Pi-PS4/273148282168?var=&hash=item3f98e80538

EEVBlog Debouncing Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj-Q8FQxHhU&t=4s

​Swordfish basic - http://www.sfcompiler.co.uk/swordfish/
4 Comments

Field Day 2018 Debrief

7/3/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
​George and Jeremy spend time talking about their 2018 ARRL Field Day Experiences.  They discuss their general setups, what worked, what didn’t, and what they would do differently in 2019.

Our Website - http://www.hamradioworkbench.com/

Follow us on Twitter - https://twitter.com/hamworkbench
Contact us for feedback and ideas - http://hamradioworkbench.com/contact
Connect with us on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/hamradioworkbench/

Save $100 on the Digilent Analog Discovery 2 Package by using code “HamRadioWorkbench2018” in your cart prior to checkout - https://store.digilentinc.com/ham-radio-workbench-bundle/

IKEA Office/Workshop Blog Post
  • Bekant Desk - https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S19006323/
  • Alex Add-On Unit - https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20260718/?query=ALEX+Add-on+unit

FD Logging Thought Exercise
  • MQTT - https://www.hivemq.com/blog/mqtt-essentials-part-1-introducing-mqtt
  • Eclipse Mosquitto - https://mosquitto.org/
  • Kubernetes - https://kubernetes.io/
  • Kubernetes on Raspbeery Pi - https://blog.sicara.com/build-own-cloud-kubernetes-raspberry-pi-9e5a98741b49
  • More Kubernetes on Raspberry Pi - https://www.hanselman.com/blog/HowToBuildAKubernetesClusterWithARMRaspberryPiThenRunNETCoreOnOpenFaas.aspx

QUAD Net DMR/DSTAR Bridge - https://www.openquad.net/

Netgear Nighthawk MR1100 Mobile Hotspot - https://www.netgear.com/landings/nighthawk-mr1100-mobile-router/default.aspx

DVSwitch - https://dvswitch.groups.io/g/main/wiki/DMRlink

DVSwitch GitHub - https://github.com/N4IRS

MTR2000 Repeater Interface Board - https://www.motorolasolutions.com/en_us/products/two-way-radios/mototrbo/discontinued/mtr2000.html#tabproductinfo

Hakko FR300 Desoldering Tool - https://www.amazon.com/Hakko-FR300-05-P-Desoldering-Tool/dp/B00KWM69C4

Full QSK / Semi QSK - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QSK_operation_(full_break-in)

Array Solutions Bandpass filters - https://www.arraysolutions.com/filters/bpf-hpf

Pignology HamLog - http://pignology.net/hamlog.html

Ohio Valley Experimenters Club KD8LBS - http://ovec.club/

Bay-Net Club - http://www.bay-net.org/

Elecraft AX-1 - https://va2ss.com/2017/10/19/elecraft-ax1-ultraportable-1720-meter-antenna-system/

SGC Tuners - http://www.sgcworld.com/

Minix PCs - https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=minix

#WBOTA

​Walmart Parking Lots on the Air - http://wmplota.org/
0 Comments

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