NJ-QRP Meeting: Saturday, September 30

We had a wonderful monthly meeting yesterday at our new regular spot at the Red Cross Center of Princeton. More than 25 guys showed up, with many bringing along their projects for show 'n tell. And man, did we hear some good "tell" from some of them.

- Mark Phillips G7LTT gave a wonderful overview of his GPS-based timekeeping and frequency standard project.

- Richard Bitzer, WB2ZKW described some of his analog/RF projects that he's been working on over the years (class E amp, opto-communicator system, and an interesting study platform of crystal Q).

- Brian Riley N1BQ was one of our honored guests-from-afar (visiting family in the area), and he provided an overview of the very cool BASIC Stamp-like components that he's been providing to all us QRPers lately. Joe N2CX was pretty excited with the little PICAXE board the Brian showed ... I'll bet we soon see a Quickie on this from Joe ;-)

- Dave Ottenberg WA2DJN described his "Saltwater Dummy Load", to the amazement of everyone in the room. Whatta way to get a perfect 1:1 SWR on a dummy load! :-)

- Jim Dicso K2SZ followed up from his project discussion last week with some actual printed models and measured plots showing performance of his tri-vertical beaming capability. It indeed works just as he described last time. (And he used his Micro908 Antenna Analyst to effectively show the SWR performance.)

- George N2APB overviewed two of his current projects: the AMRAD Active Antenna, and the PIC-A-STAR transceiver. Some good homebrew components are being used for this high-performance rig (custom aluminum case from Byers Chassis Kits, and a very cool homebrew rotary encoder using a heavy shaft-mounted flyweel for a great "feel" to the dial.)

A good handful of members also attended our "pre-meeting" at the local Denny's restaurant for some delicious pancakes and QRP discussion before the meeting. What a great way to start off the day!

We'll get some pictures onto the website soon. Thanks to those who attended - see you all next month!

73, Joe, N2CX 
    and George, N2APB 

PS: Thanks to Brian for brining along the LCD projector - it helped lots in presenting some of the project material.

PPS: Attendees: John AA2BN, Lenny W2BVH, Marc N2UO, Bryan AA3WM, Joe N2CX, Charles W3DEA, Dave WA2DJN, Richard WB2ZKW, Jim K2SZ, Jon W2MC, Mario N2AK, Ted W2TAG, Neil KC2KY, Brian N1BQ, John KE3S, Hank K3PM, Denis AB2BD, Robert KC2GKG, Gerry N2GJ, Mark G7LTT, Al WA1CZG, Allan WA3OWT, Mike KB3HMR, Kip KB2EGI, and George N2APB.

Last Modified: Friday, October 6, 2006