ECI-QRP Meetings

October 16, 2004

The word for this day was "Brrrrrrrr". When I walked into the library to get things ready to roll for the third meeting of the ECI-QRPers, it was breezy, cold, and drizzling rain. The temperature was about 47 degrees F on the outside, but it was cozy and warm inside the meeting room. There was just no telling who might brave the cold and show up despite this preview of winter weather to come!

L-R: Jason, N9AVG - Don, WA9TGT - Paul, N9PF
Tony, KB9YIG - Tom, WB9GQB - Ned, W8VFM
Tim, WB9NLZ - Rich, WB9LPU

Before I arrived at the library, I talked with Tim Stabler, WB9NLZ who was driving down from Valparaiso, Indiana on the local FM repeater. This would be Tim's first meeting with us and I was glad to hear that he could find the library in Muncie. As it turned out, we had four first timers at this gathering. In addition to Tim, there was Jason Davis, N9AVG (Muncie), Paul Fisher, N9PF (Yorktown), and Tom Bonsett, WB9GQB from Indianapolis. Tom found the ECI-QRP Web site while doing a little Googling and noticed that our meeting was TODAY. It was a pleasure to have him with us, and hopefully we will see him again soon.

Before beginning the meeting, a little setup was required. WA9TGT brought enough cookies, donuts, soda pop and coffee to supply a small army. In addition to that, we had a pot of hot, spicy apple cider that provided all the fragrance needed to remind us that it was Autumn.

Tony Parks, KB9YIG had the toughest job today ... he had to lug a lot of equipment to Muncie, get it all setup and working and THEN he had to deliver the main presentation. While he was getting ready, the rest of us spent a pretty casual half-hour or so renewing friendships with some while getting acquainted with others. Apparently RF isn't required for a good rag chew with this crowd. :-)

I was very pleased (but not quite as surprised this time) when our good friend Ned Newlin, W8VFM arrived from Sand Creek, Michigan. I suppose that he had the longest commute of the day although WB9NLZ's trek from Valparaiso was a pretty good drive as well. Anyway that you look at it, six hours of driving and four hours of QRPing is bound to wear a person out so we hope they both have recovered by now.

The Software Defined Radio Presentation

KB9YIG shared with us his experience with the FlexRadio Systems SDR-1000, a software defined radio for the masses. With a piece of wire for an antenna tacked up along the wall, we were receiving signals from the moment that Tony turned the radio on. The SDR-1000 is a box with three pre-made circuit boards which make up the basic radio, and a fourth is a relatively new RF Expansion Board (RFE) that enhances the performance of the SDR-1000 transceiver. The new board provides a low noise preamplifier, nine 5th order ham band filters, spare user configured filter bank, enhanced 1W PEP PA driver, 28MHz transverter IF takeoff, 10dB selectable attenuator, impulse response generator and control signals for future options.

That gear is coupled to the PC using the parallel port along with audio-in and audio-out lines of the PC soundcard. Tony explained that this is an experimental project--the software is refined almost weekly. In recent days, the development platform has moved from Visual Basic to Microsoft's C# (C-sharp) programming language. The use of a compiled language vs. an interpreted one has no doubt boosted the software performance. Indeed, Tony showed us the real-time band scope and it was impressive to watch. All functions of the "radio" are handled via the software interface.

Perhaps most impressive is the receiver performance specs claimed by FlexRadio--a minimum discernable signal of -141dBm (at 14.2Mhz with 500Hz bandwidth and 26dB of gain). That makes the SDR-1000 one of the most sensitive receivers available to amateur radio operators.

Having a chance to see and hear it in operation, it's little wonder that the FlexRadio user list is a virtual "who's who" of ham radio technical elites. We all enjoyed the presentation and KB9YIG did a great job with it. Thanks for all your hard work in setting it up and sharing it with us Tony!

Time For One More Cup

When Tony's presentation was complete, we had time for another cup of coffee and then spent some more time getting to know each other a little better. And speaking of another cup of coffee, Richard Meiss, WB9LPU brought along his infamous PaddleMug ... a clever device that allows an operator to have his coffee and send CW with it too! WB9LPU's CW keys and paddle creations are always a crowd favorite wherever he goes--and that's no exception whenever he joins us. You can take a look at a small collection of his work from this link. Contact Richard via email if you're interested in purchasing any of his unique and special creations.

Just before wrapping things up, we distributed a few door prizes that included CD's, project enclosures, and a nice set of Sony earbuds that were donated by an anonymous member who couldn't attend. And if all that wasn't enough, Tim Stabler, WB9NLZ graciously gave away a box load of SK amp and volt meters complete with test leads and enclosures. We all appreciated that very much, thanks Tim! Now I'll bet you wished you would have joined us, eh? :-)

That concluded our third QRP gathering of the year. In December, we're planning a family Christmas dinner event at a local restaurant and we would be delighted if you would plan on joining us--and be sure to bring your spouse. More information about that event will appear on the main Web page in November. Keep an eye out for it!

73 de Jeff, KE9V
ECI-QRP #005

June 12, 2004

We scheduled the 2nd gathering of East Central Indiana QRPers for Saturday, June 12, 2004. That date was chosen to try and steer clear of the ARRL Field Day event. Believe it or not, some XYL's don't appreciate ham radio events taking up consecutive weekends. Given that, we didn't have high expectations for a good turnout. Boy, were we ever surprised!

L-R: Ned, W8VFM - Larry, WA9OAO - Gary, KB9ZUV
Don, WA9TGT - Jeff, KB9ZUR - John, W9MIU
Rich, WB9LPU - Noel, N9CJT - Tony, KB9YIG - Neal, KB9RXE

This time we met at the Maring-Hunt Branch library and enjoyed a beautiful meeting room. I am just knocked out that such a fine facility can be scheduled for events like this at no cost. Although we didn't use it, there was a full compliment of audio-visual equipment. There was plenty of comfortable seating and lots of nice tables and we did make use of the small kitchen for coffee, soft drinks and cookies.

They Came From Far & Wide

The room was scheduled for 1pm to 4pm but by noon I heard Noel Taylor, N9CJT and his XYL Barb, N9DZX on the local repeater. They were driving up from Columbus, Indiana and verifying directions. I was happy to hear that since it meant I wouldn't be the only one there.

Arriving 30 minutes early to get things set up, I was surprised to see Rich Meiss, WB9LPU and his XYL, Lin waiting in the parking lot. They had made the drive from Speedway, Indiana.

John Strain, W9MIU was a welcome sight from Richmond, Indiana. He arrived about the same time as Neal Thomison, KB9RXE from Cicero, Indiana. Then Tony Parks, KB9YIG from Springport, Indiana walked in carrying a large box of goodies, including the AT-2 that everyone crowded to see.

I mentioned to someone that Ned Newlin, W8VFM might be making the drive down from Sand Hook, Michigan when a voice behind me said, "I am here!". I can't believe that Ned made the three hour plus drive to join us, but we were all glad that he did.

What to Look at First?

There was just so much to see ... one fellow said that he "saw more today than he saw at the Dayton Hamvention." In no particular order we saw: a bicycle equipped with a fully functional FT-817 and a set of CW paddles strapped to it, an AT Sprint-II, a KX1, two homebrewed XTAL controlled QRP transmitters and the SDR-1000 software defined radio. There were several beautiful WB9LPU paddles to play with (sorry for the drool on them Rich) and of course, there was a magnetic loop antenna connected to an IC-703.

Magentic Loop Antenna Presentation

Jeff Imel, KB9ZUR told us all about his experiments with magentic loop antennas. Everyone in attendance got a copy of his presentation and you can grab a copy of the same here.

Jeff Imel, KB9ZUR explains his construction
of the magentic loop antenna. Wonder if I can
get another cookie without anyone noticing?

After the presentation, there was just enough time to draw a few door prizes. Three QRP-ARCI coffee mugs, Ron Stark's new book--'HOW TO ACHIEVE 20 WPM CW With No Effort On Your Part', two rolls of copper tubing suitable for building loop antennas, a QRP-L archive CD and a few other small goodies were sent along.

Three hours passed too quickly and it was soon time to close up shop until the next time. I'm pretty certain that everyone had a good time. You can usually tell how things like this have gone by how fast folks beat a path to the exit, and on this day, we all loitered around hoping that it wouldn't end too soon.

Good friends, good fellowship, and lots of QRP fun mixed together on a Saturday afternoon in East Central Indiana sure made for a nice day.

I'd like to thank all the ECI-QRPers who made the trip to Muncie for this gathering. Ned, Noel, Barb, Rich, Lin, John, Neal, Tony -- you guys know who you are -- it was our pleasure to have you join us in Muncie, and I hope we see you back here for the next one. Thanks!

To the local QRPers, thanks for all you do to make these events as much fun as they are. Donnie, Jeff Imel, Gary, and Larry -- it's always a pleasure to get to spend time with you too. And Larry, thanks a bunch for going out of your way to bring your bicycle mobile along again -- Ned Newlin, W8VFM was going to have a hard time convincing his wife that it was worth the drive if he came back without a picture of your bike! HI HI

See you all at the next gathering sometime in September. Watch the Web site for further announcements.

73 de Jeff, KE9V
ECI-QRP #005

April 17, 2004

Saturday April 17, 2004 was the date for the very first meeting of several East Central Indiana QRPers in Muncie, Indiana. There was no way to know just how many amateur radio enthusiasts would show up--it was a sunny and warm afternoon that had most folks working in the yard or just enjoying the 78 degF weather. But that didn't keep eight hearty souls from getting together to chew the rag.

L-R: Jack, N9TG - Gerald, WA9AGG - Gary, KB9ZUV
Jeff, KB9ZUR - Don, WA9TGT - Jon, KB9RPX - Larry, WA9OAO

There was a lot to see; an Elecraft K2, Red Hot 20, a Rock Mite, and even a crystal controlled hombrew transmitter built in 1973. There was a bicycle mobile complete with a Yaesu FT-817, auto-tuner and a Hamstick antenna. We enjoyed coffee, soda pop and several door prizes (thanks Donnie). See what all you missed by staying home?

From the response, I don't think there's any doubt that we will have another meeting in the not-too-distant future. Discussions included alternate meeting locations, an ECI QRP Field Day effort, at least one if not two group outings this summer, and then a group kitbuilding project when the weather turns cold later this year.