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The 50 MHz and Up Group is an educational and public service amateur radio organization centered in the San Francisco Bay area. The group is interested in developing and utilizing communications on frequencies from 50MHz up through light-waves. The group is open to any related topics that might be of interest to members, such as: technology, design, construction, operation, public service, contesting and antennas. Learn more . . .
Contact
For questions about this group or about programs and activities, please contact the 2018 President, Steve Shyvers (N6KLD): steve.shyvers (at) gmail [dot] com
2018 dues and member information must be updated
If you do not have any changes at all in your contact information, then simply send an email with a sentance to Jeffrey Pawlan satating that nothing has changed. Please use jpawlan@yahoo.com
To send a memberform with your updated information or to join, please go to the Membership tab of this website.
Dues are $10 for a year, $15 for two years. This can be brought to a meeting or sent to the new Treasurer:
Oliver Barrett
1111 Pecos Way
Sunnyvale CA 94089
Make your check payable to 50MHz and Up Group of N. Calif Inc
November 2018 Meeting Announcement
Our meeting location has changed
We no longer have access to the TI meeting facilities for our 50MHz and Up Group.
Our next meeting of the 50MHz and Up Group of N. Calif will be on Thursday, Nov. 1 beginning at 7:00pm. Note that this meeting will be in a community room of the Sports Basement located at 1177 Kern Ave, Sunnyvale. This is off of Lawrence and approximately across from St Johns. The meeting which will begin at 7pm and we must exit the building at 9pm.
Our agenda will include (but not limited to):
- Presentation by Mike, K6ML, about his kit-built "mcHF" QRP transceiver from M0NKA in the UK. Mike has built this unit as an IF rig, and he has made a number of custom modifications.
- Report from Oliver, KB6BA, about MUD2018 and the W0EOM award presentation.
- Roundtable discussion. I hope to hear news and ideas about microwave activity, plans, etc. Several of the group are currently building or upgrading EME rigs, including EME rover capability. Lots of activity going on right now to prepare for the 2019 contest season.
Minutes of the Oct. 2018 meeting
Steve Shyvers (N6KLD) called the meeting to order at 7:08pm.
The meeting started with announcements.
Current Announcements:
MUD 2019 will be in Dallas, TX. For more information see http://www.microwaveupdate.org/New Business:
Proposal to show and demonstrate microwave rigs at Pacificon.
After some discussion the consensus was to setup a portable 10 GHz rig or two near the ATV booth in the main hallway. Paul Zanders and others indicated they would be willing to be around the rig when they were free, and answer questions.
50MHz and Up Group 2019 Meeting Location / Schedule:
Thursdays are unavailable at the Sports Basement for the first half of the 2019.
The January meeting will be on the second Tuesday to avoid January 1st. For February through June 2019, the meeting night will move to Tuesday (7-9 PM). For July the second Tuesday will be requested. For August through December 2019, the first Tuesday will be requested.
How to increase participation in microwave building and operation?
How to honor Will’s contribution to microwave?
Several ideas have been proposed. One is to obtain a club station license. This would provide a call sign for multiple operators to use one loaner rigs during contests. This provides operating advantage per ARRL microwave contest rules. The group had a club station license that expired in 2007, with little or no use.
A second idea is for the group to obtain the call W0EOM as a vanity call sign for the club station, as a tribute to Will Jensby. This would need Will's family's permission.
Getting the club station license and vanity call sign involves effort, knowledge, and some risk. It requires an individual to act as the trustee for the station license. It also requires two separate applications to FCC, one for the club license, and one for the vanity call. It could cause the IRS to review the Group's non-profit status.
These ideas prompted considerable discussion. After the discussion Steve Shyvers asked for a motion to proceed. Brian Kline (WA6QDP) moved that the group not proceed with the club license idea. The motion was seconded, and passed 10 for, and 3 against.
Holiday gift of appreciation for Sports Basement.
Steve Shyvers suggested that we should give something to Sports Basement in appreciation of their providing the meeting location. A discussion of options and the merits of the idea followed. Brian Kline (WA6QDP) moved that the group not proceed with the holiday gift idea. The motion was seconded, and passed 6 for, and 3 against.
50 MHz and Up Group Holiday Dinner
Request for location ideas, preferred dates, day of the week, etc.
Should we hold the meeting in lieu of the regular meeting?
Should we hold the Yankee Gift exchange?
After some discussion it was decided to have the holiday dinner at the Big Bear Diner, on El Camino Real, in Sunnyvale, if it could be scheduled. Steve Shyvers volunteered to make the arrangements for the dinner. The target date will be in the first two weeks of December, with Thursday the first choice, and Tuesday the second choice. The consensus was to hold the Yankee Gift exchange for those who wished to participate.
10 GHz and Up contest September weekend retrospective round table. Suggested topics were:
Did we do better this weekend? Locations to avoid next time? What was better? What was the same? What was worse? Contact Coordination. Was Cactus better? Was NC9RS more useful? What tools and aids worked? The participants shared their experiences and observations.
The short summary was the second weekend went much better, for a variety of reasons. The cooler weather being a significant factor. N9JIM spread sheet was useful for long term status information, but not so useful for specific rover stop information, because people did not keep it updated.
Paul Zander moved that the meeting be adjourned, and Chris Veargason, N6JET seconded the motion. The motion passed. The meeting adjourned at 8:55 PM.
New Spreadsheet of all members' band capabilities and activities
Steve, Chris, and Jim have created a spreadsheet of information provided by all interested members and friends. You may update or add your information by contacting any of these three people. This spreadsheet is publically viewable by going to click here
The 2018 Officers and Board Members
- President: Steve Shyvers (N6KLD)
- Vice President: Chris Veargason (N6JET)
- Secretary: Brian Kline (WA6QDP)
- Treasurer: Oliver Barrett (KB6BA)
- Board of directors:
- Art Lange (W6RXQ)
- Larry Zuckerman (K3LZ)
- Lars Karlsson (AA6IW)
Talk given at the Nov 2018 meeting by Mike Lavelle on the mcVx SDR microwave IF exciter
Here are his slides on the mcVx SDR microwave IF exciter plus 3 bonus pages of construction details that were too much for the talk. This includes the RF board mods for common IF to the miniverter. Please click here to view or download. This is a PDF.
Beacons
Microwave Beacons in operation The following beacons are known to be operating as of 04-16-2016:
| Name | Grid | Coords | Freq | Call | Power | Ant | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mt Vaca | CM88wj | 38.415, -122.116 | 10368.325 | W6ASL | +30dBm | 10dBi omni | CW ID |
| Mt Allison | CM97bl | 37.500, -121.872 | 10369.192 10369.225 10368.625 24192.010 47061.017 |
AD6FP/R W6QI/B WA6QDP |
+17dBm +30dBm total out +17dBm +12dBm |
10dBi omni 12dBi omni open WG |
CW ID, drifts ~10 kHz Linear translator: Output is 11-55 kHz above beacon Input 600 kHz below desired output CW ID FM ID, aimed to Los Gatos |
| Mt Leeson | CM97ae | 37.167, -121.924 | 10367.990 24191.975 47087.99 79919.92 |
KF6KVG | +20dBm +20dBm +5dBm -5dBm |
2.5" horn 1.5" horn 1.25" horn 0.6" horn |
FM ID, locked, aimed NW FM ID, locked, aimed NW FM ID, unlocked, aimed NW no ID, locked, aimed NW |
| Bear Mtn. | DM06ir | 37.747, -119.281 | 24191.990 | W6BY/B | +27dBm | 20 slot omni | locked, IDs as DM07IC, will fix |
| Mt Frazier | DM04ms | 34.775, -118.969 | 10368.310 | N6CA/B | +31dBm | 14dBi omni | CW ID, locked |
| Heaps Peak | DM14kf | 34.235, -117.141 | 10368.370 | ? | +?? dBm | ??dBi omni | CW ID |
| Palos Verdes | DM03ts | 33.747, -118.336 | 10368.300 | N6CA/B | +32dBm | 14dBi omni | CW ID, locked |
| Santiago | DM13fr | 33.712, -117.534 | 10368.330 | KE6JUV | +27dBm | 10dBi omni | CW ID, locked |
| San Miguel | DM12mq | 32.697, -116.935 | 5760.000 10368.360 24192.050 |
K6QPV/B N6IZW/B K6QPV/B |
+34dBm +27dBm +34dBm EIRP |
10dBi omni 12dBi omni horn |
- CW ID, locked CW ID, locked, aimed to LA |