eBuild-A-Thon and BBQ

On Saturday I held the first "eBuild-A-Thon and BBQ" in my shop, two local HAMs were present to build and chat about their HAM projects.

Brendan N0BML worked on his ALT DC supply/charger of his Blackberry. He is planning for a transmitter, receiver kit or other project for the future.

Brendan - N0BML

Roger K7RXV and I worked with the FDSP antenna program to plan my FDSP antenna for 30m, I have the parts but could not find the optimum configuration - thanks to Roger, I now have something to build for QRSS, WSPR, and PropNet.

Roger - K7RXV

To get things started for the "eBuild-A-Thon and BBQ", we plan to meet at my shop, on the third Saturday of each month at 10AM, - with more expected attendance we will plan as required.

My sister, Carolyn, did a great job of food prep and making sure we were fed. My son, Chip, cooked the Burgers and Bratwurst - Thanks Carolyn and Chip!

Initial Post

I decided to start a blog of my station activities, somewhat of a blog or notes to and for myself.

My current on the air projects include:

• MEPT QRSS Grabber, via ARGO
  
• WSPR
• PropNet

All of these are running on the computer at the same time, driving the mic input of a ICOM-730 and the antenna is a 1/4 wave 30m Vertical.

My plan is to put up a Field Day Special (FDSP) antenna on 30m, with a 30 degree heading to try to work into Europe. I have purchased the 300 ohm feed line but I am having trouble using the "fdsp.exe" program to find an optom cut and size of the antenna.