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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. Lean more . . .
Contact
For questions about this group or about programs and activities, please contact the President, Jeffrey Pawlan, WA6KBL: jpawlan (at) pawlan [dot] com
Announcements
Renewal and annual dues payment by Feb. 1
For those who live within the Bay area, the annual dues for 2012 are now $10. This must be sent via mail to the Treasurer, Will Jensby W0EOM by Feb 1, 2012 or bring to the Feb 2. meeting and hand it to him. Those living outside of the Bay area do not pay dues and as Friends, do not vote. Regardless of whether you are a full Member or you are a Friend, we are required to have a current database.
NEW: If there is no change to any of the information on your last memberform, then simply send an email stating that there is no change. If your address or phone or email has changed, then please do send a memberform. See the Membership link for instructions.
Next meeting:
The Feb. 2 meeting of the 50MHz and Up Group of N Calif will be at the TI (formerly NSC) auditorium beginning at 7pm. Lars, AA6IW will give a presentation on his 24GHz EME system and also on a microwave PLL board he designed
that replaces the commercial board within the surplus PCOM mmwave radios.
NEW: If there is no change to any of the information on your last memberform, then simply send an email stating that there is no change. If your address or phone or email has changed, then please do send a memberform. See the Membership link for instructions.
Jan. Meeting Minutes
by Jim Moss The Jan. 2012 meeting was called to order at 7:10pm by Jeffrey, WA6KBL. There were 13 members present including 5 officers and board members.Elections were held and the following officers and board members were elected unanimously:
President: Jeffrey Pawlan, WA6KBL
Vice President: Mike Lavelle, K6ML
Secretary: Jim Moss, N9JIM
Treasurer: Will Jensby, W0EOM
Board member 1: John Ekiss, AA6HA
Board member 2: Dennis Firchow, K6MGM
Board member 3: Joel Wilhite, KD6W
Annual dues were discussed and everyone decided that we needed to re-instate dues. The amount was discussed at length and 10 out of 12 voted to make the amount $10 per year. This is for members who live in the Bay area. Some wanted higher dues to defray the costs of the picnic and the Microwave Update plans. Instead, people are encouraged to give more than $10 and ask for a 501(c)3 tax deductable donation letter.
Bob Melvin is moving out of the area and he is donating his antenna test range and equipment to the 50MHz and Up Group. Joel Wilhite agreed to pick up the equipment and learn how to operate it. He will be the custodian and store it.
There is a VHF contest on Jan 21 and both our group and the SBMS are holding a Microwave Operation Day at the same time.
The Concord surplus store All Phone has some new microwave equipment in and they will be contacted for an open house for our members.
Jim Moss is the Microwave Update Chairman and he led a discussion of the planning and asked for volunteers for the many positions. These will be posted soon on the Members Only page.
A progress report was given by Jeffrey on the Sunnyvale Onizuka AFB site and 10m dish. The lower 4 acres including the dish will likely be given to the City of Sunnyvale. There will not be anything done until the land title transfer occurs which is expected to be in May or June.
New! Documentation for Harris 10GHz surplus equipment
Mike Lavelle, K6ML and Oliver Barrett, KB6BA have provided us with much of the documentation for the surplus Harris DVM10 Digital Versitility Microwave radio links. Please log into the Members Only page to obtain two PDF files.
Improvement of the Stellex/Endwave YIG Synthesizer
The Stellex/Endwave mini-YIGs along with their phase locked synthesizer board are able to provide you with a stable and relatively low noise X-band signal source. However, they designed it incorrectly and most of the output power of the YIG is needlessly lost.
I have redesigned the sampling circuits so that you will now obtain +12dBm to +13.5dBm output power. It is an easy and inexpensive modification.
Because John Miles, KE5FX did the original work on using these surplus items and there are many links to his webpage, I have put my article along with nine photographs and figures on his webpage. Please click here to go to this page and then scroll down to nearly the bottom of that webpage.
Current Updated Rosters Available to Members
Members may obtain the new updated roasters in several sort orders by logging into the Members Only webpage. It has been updated on Dec. 11, 2011.The presentation by Goran AD6IW on high efficiency amplifiers.
He gave at the 2010 EME conference and also at the 50MHz and Up meeting in Sept. Click here to download it
Report on the Ham Radio Social at the International Microwave Symposium on May 25, 2010 in Anaheim
The report and all photos are now located on a separate page. Please click here to view
Two presentations by Brian Yee W6BY are available for download
A slide presentation on an Introduction to Amateur Radio Microwave Operation is available as a PDF. Click here to download itThe second presentation is located on the Events tab page.
Beacons
Microwave Beacons in operation UPDATED The following beacons are known to be operating as of 06-29-2011:
| Where | Specs |
|---|---|
| Leeson Site, near Mt Thayer, KF6KVG: | 10367.990MHz, 24191.975MHz, 47087.99, 79920MHz, 37deg 10.034min N, 121deg 55.500min W |
| Mt Allison, AD6FP power unknown | 10369.192MHz, 37deg 29.905min N, 121deg 52.206min W |
| Mt Allison, AD6FP power unknown | 24192.01MHz, 37deg 29.905min N, 121deg 52.206min W |
| Mt Allison, WA6QDP power unknown | 47061.017MHz, 37deg 29.905min N, 121deg 52.206min W |
| Mt Vaca, W6ASL: | 10368.325MHz, 38deg 24min 51sec N, 122deg 06min 50sec W |
| The Mt St Helena beacon has been removed | |
| Mt Frazier, N6CA/B DM04MS 1.3w output 8013ft | 10368.3101MHz, 34deg 46min 30sec N, 118deg 58min 09sec W |
| Palos Verdes, N6CA/B DM03TS 1.6w output 1300ft | 10368.300MHz, 33deg 46min 15sec N, 118deg 22min 30sec W. |
| Santiago Peak, KE6JUV DM13FR unknown pwr 5664ft | 10368.330MHz, 33deg 42.690min N, 117deg 32.020min W. |
| Heaps Peak, call? DM14KF unknown pwr 8000ft | 2304.11MHz (drifts 40KHz from 2304.08 to 2304.12) 34deg 14min 2.4sec N, 117deg 8min 25.2sec W |
| San Diego, K6QPV/B DM12MQ 2565ft, +34dBm EIRP horizontally polarized horn toward the LA basin | 24.192040GHz +/- 500 Hz, 32deg 41.8min N, 116deg 56.09min W. |
| San Diego, N6IZW/B DM12MQ 2565ft, omni +39dBm EIRP | 10.368360GHz GPS locked, 32deg 41.8min N, 116deg 56.09min W. |
| San Diego, K6QPV/B DM12MQ 2565ft, omni +44dBm EIRP | 5.760000 GHz GPS Locked, 32deg 41.8min N, 116deg 56.09min W. |
| San Diego, K6QPV/B DM12MQ 2565ft, 16w into a yagi | 1296.3000 GHz, 32deg 41.8min N, 116deg 56.09min W. |