285 TechConnect Radio Club -- NAØTC

The 285 TechConnect Radio Club meets on the 1st Saturday of every month, at 10AM. Exceptions are in July due to Field Day, November for the Fall TechFest, and December for the club Holiday Luncheon.

We usually hold our meetings at the Intercanyon Fire Department Station #3 on US-285 about 8.5 miles southwest of C-470 and US-285 intersection, just before Windy Point on the north side of the highway. The address is 8445 South US 285, Morrison, CO 80465.

Occasionally, due to conflicts, we need to move the meeting location. We will publish updates on the main page of this website as early as possible in the event the meeting has moved. You can also tune in to the Tuesday night Technet for any club announcements.

Presentation materials, when available, will be published in our Documents area.

• January 6th:
  • Annual Elections
  • Club business discussion: TechFest, Meeting Location
  • Larry – KØNA will demonstrate hot air soldering and de-solder techniques.
• February 3rd: Receiver Sensitivity and S-meters by Bill – NØCU
• March 3rd: The CARBBN Mesh Network, by Jeremiah – NØKMO
• April 7th: Bill – NØCU will talk about receiver front-end protection (PDF), and Larry – KØNA will tell us all about the latest improvements to his station
• May 5th: Annual club anniversary party and show'n'tell. We'll have pizza and soda from JJ Madwell's. Please bring your amateur radio projects, or anything else of interest to the hobby to show off and discuss. Here are some photos from this year's party. Bill - NØCU talked about skin effect and conductance on flat conductors, and Larry - KØNA talked about S parameters and return loss.
• June 2nd:
  • We will have a video and discussion about new receiver technology that may be the next major break through in receiver architecture. We will also discuss receiver specifications and when they are important. Your next new radio may not be a classic superheterodyne!
  • Smoke or no smoke? Will running a KW through some RG58 coax with a 3:1 SWR create smoke?
• July - No Meeting, due to Field Day
• August 4th: WTØDX – Bill Thomas will give a presentation on The New Digital Modes FT8 and MSK144. He will also discuss using MSK144 for 2 & 6 meter meteor scatter communications.
• September 1st:
  • The topic for the meeting will be Smith charts. The plan is to create a crude Smith chart using our basic knowledge of transmission lines to understand how the chart works. Then using real charts and software solve problems. Finally, test the solutions using a vector network analyzer. The process should give us a better understanding of what goes on in the complex world of transmission lines.
  • Smoke or No Smoke: To improve the efficiency of a magnetic loop antenna the diameter of the tubbing use to make the loop is doubled. The capacitor for the original antenna was just adequate. Smoke or no smoke?
• October 6th:
  • Our speaker will be Phil Atwater – KIØGL, who will talk on his work to reduce common mode currents on open line. After the meeting he will have an open house at his station which is less than a mile from Station 3 on the same road as the meeting. You can get a preview of some of his home brew equipment on his QRZ page. Slides: Reducing Common-Mode Feedline Current (PowerPoint)
  • Frank, KØFEI will have a QRP portable station up on FT8 for show and tell.
  • Larry KØNA will have his new budget friendly 200 MHz storage scope for show and tell.
  • We will have report on the final preparations for the Tech Fest.
  • Smoke or No Smoke? A 10K 15 watt bleeder resistor failed in an old radio. A 15 K 10 watt resistor was found in the junk box. Smoke or no smoke? Any hazards one needs to be aware of?
• November 3rd: Fall Techfest
• December 1st: Holiday Lunch