Archive for the ‘microwave radio’ Tag
SAN DIEGO, Calif., March 19, 2015 — Microwave Update (MUD), the paramount international conference on Amateur Radio experimentation above 1,000MHz, will take place from Thursday, October 15 to Sunday, October 18, 2015 at the Crowne Plaza San Diego.
MUD 2015 will include technical programs, a banquet and the opportunity to network with fellow microwave ham radio enthusiasts from around the world. This year’s event is sponsored jointly by the San Bernardino Microwave Society (SBMS) and the Microwave Group of San Diego (MGSD).
Special hotel rates are available to MUD 2015 attendees. Be sure to mention the Microwave Update 2015 when making hotel reservations.
Call for Papers and Presentations
MUD is a great opportunity to share your ideas by presenting and writing papers. If you are interested in writing and/or presenting a topic for the 2015 MUD, send an e-mail message to mud2015-presentations@ham-radio.com with an abstract or a general idea. This will help the conference planning and scheduling team organize the event.
Presentation and paper guidelines are posted at
http://www.ham-radio.com/sbms/mud2015/mud2015_call_for_Papers.pdf
The deadline for proceedings submissions is September 1 and deadline for presentations is September 25.
For more information and the latest updates on MUD 2015, go to:
http://www.ham-radio.com/sbms/mud2015/
Hotel Information
The hotel is taking reservations now, so take advantage of the discount rate. Remember to ask for the Microwave Update (MUD) special rate.
Crowne Plaza San Diego
2270 Hotel Circle North
San Diego, CA 92108 USA
Phone: +1-888-233-9527
http://www.ihg.com/crowneplaza/hotels/us/en/san-diego/sancp/hoteldetail
About the San Bernardino Microwave Society
The SBMS, founded in 1955, is a non-profit technical organization and Amateur Radio club and dedicated to the advancement of communications above 1,000MHz. Affiliated with the ARRL, the SBMS membership includes over 90 Amateurs from Hawaii and Alaska to the East Coast and beyond. Meetings are held the first Thursday of each month at 7 pm at the American Legion Hall, 1024 Main St., Corona, CA. For more SBMS information, go to http://www.ham-radio.com/sbms/
About the Microwave Group of San Diego (MGSD)
The MGSD is an informal association of Radio Amateurs interested in the frequencies above 1000 MHz. A net is held on the air each Monday night, except the third Monday of the month, on the Palomar Amateur Radio Club Repeater, 146.730 (-0.600), (tone 107.2) at 9:00 PM. For more MGSD information, go to
http://www.ham-radio.com/sbms/sd/mgsd.htm
The call for Bay Area Makers is open now. The deadline is Sunday Feb 15.
What’s a Maker? Take a look at what a lot of us are doing in The Maker Movement.
But if you think this idea is new, read this post about re-inventing the wheel. In this case, the wheel is the definition of “Maker.”
More info on the 2015 Bay Area Maker Faire. . .
Just to whet your appetite about the upcoming Maker Faire – take a look at a Drone’s Eye View of Maker Faire 2014!
Search for “Makers” and “Maker Faire” on this site to see some of my previous projects and participation at Maker Faire.
Immediately after the San Bernardino Microwave Society (SBMS) Tune-Up Party at the Fairview Park in Costa Mesa, the annual summer BBQ was held at the QTH of Dennis, W6DQ.
As usual, the food was great, and Dennis did a great job at the BBQ. It is nice to be a guest at a BBQ every now and then….
Probably the best thing I enjoy at these events is catching up with the club members and see what projects they are working on.
Anyone interested in young people education has probably heard of the Maker movement and the Maker Faire. Or, at least, they may have seen a copy of Make: magazine on the newsstands. Many educators understand the connection between science and technology education and how this Maker movement can be used to make learning fun.
Well, I have to say this is a lot of successful marketing hype – since so many people worldwide think this is a new and wonderful phenomenon. Here’s some news for everyone: This is not a new idea. Amateur radio operators (“hams”) have been among the original Makers since the early 20th century.
In case you have not heard about Makers, here is a brief description: The Maker movement is about making something rather than buying something, fixing it rather than throwing it away, pre-cycling or recycling instead of throwing it away and modifying something to make it work better or different.
This “making” refers to anything you can think of, from clothing and costumes and computers to bicycles and cars and aircraft. And for ham radio operators – it’s making or modifying radio communications equipment.
A Personal Passion and Mission
Since ham radio has been and continues to be one of my passions, I want to make sure people understand that today’s ham radio is not an outdated, dying hobby that no one uses any more. It is not necessarily a hobby for old retired engineers talking to strangers from their basements and closets. The Amateur Radio Service is much more chic and many of us are using today’s technology and applying it to ham radio activities. And as a science and an educational tool, ham radio has a lot to offer.
A Timely Showcase
The Bay Area Maker Faire is at the end of May each year. Sponsored by Make magazine, the Maker Faire website describes this event as, “A two-day, family-friendly festival of invention, creativity and resourcefulness and a celebration of the Maker movement.”
When you actually get there, you may describe it as a giant playground for everyone where science, art, food, clothing, bicycles, fire, machines, lasers, steam, electricity and music all crunch together into one giant gathering. And I can insert ham radio into this cornucopia of educational fun.
In 2012, my ham radio friend Dennis Kidder had some free passes to the Bay Area Maker Faire. Since the tickets were a great bargain, we had to make the all-day drive to the Silicon Valley to see this thing. We had such a great experience that year we decided to create our own display to show off our ham radio projects. Besides, we got to meet Grant Imahara from the Discovery Channel show “Myth Busters,” and a famous female hacker named Jeri Ellsworth. Adam Savage, also from the Myth Busters show, is the Maker Faire emcee.
Amazingly, Maker booths are free. Considering how much commercial exhibitors pay for booth space, electricity, water, compressed air and cleaning for tradeshow booths, this is an incredible deal.
For 2014, my Maker Faire theme, “Not Your Grandpa’s Ham Radio!” continues for the third consecutive year. Our displays include a wide range of experiments, demonstrations and practical wireless communications equipment using a mixture of traditional and the most modern techniques. Here are some examples of our projects from previous Maker Faire events…
Ramsay Electronics KH6WZ laser communicator
W6DQ – Dennis 10 GHz transmitter-receiver with software defined radio (SDR)
79 GHz transmitter-receiver system by Tony KC6QHP
Antenna positioning system by Brian W6BY
See more stories on my LinkedIn pages. . .
University of California, Davis Engineering Project at Maker Faire Bay Area 2014
This radar system operates at 2GHz (S-band). The Arduino stack consists of a radio front end, controlled by an Ardunio Uno and signal processing is performed using an Arduino Due. A Bluetooth link moves the data from the radar system to the notebook computer, where the radar information can be seen using a “waterfall” visual display.
The DART lab is located in Kemper Hall on the UC Davis campus and is led by Dr. Xiaoguang “Leo” Liu, pictured at left. Daniel (center) and David on the right demonstrated the 2GHz radar system to the Maker Faire visitors. For more information on the UC Davis Engineering programs, visit
The Davis Adaptive RF Technology (DART) Lab
UC Davis College of Engineering Electrical and Computer Engineering
2014 UC Davis Picnic Day
Not Your Grandpa’s Ham Radio
Maker Faire Bay Area 2014
Not Your Grandpa’s Ham Radio
Dennis W6DQ displayed his Flex 1500 software defined radio with 10 GHz and 24 GHz transverters. There were many questions about SDRs and many visitors were surprised to learn ham radio operators have this technology. But this is another example of what radio hams are using these days. The system Dennis showed is actually three systems in one: The SDR, which is being used as the “intermediate system,” and transverters (transmitter-receiver-converters) for 10 GHz and 24 GHz microwave ham radio. The posters briefly explain the transverter system:
The SDR is a Flex-1500, made by FlexRadio Systems
The 2014 Bay Area Maker Faire is now history.
One of the Maker Faire team members, Brian Yee, W6BY, was not able to join us – we are all hoping Brian recovers quickly from his injury.
Dennis Kidder, W6DQ and Marty Woll, N6VI (ARRL Southwestern Division Vice Director) – along with several University of California, Davis engineering students and their faculty advisor, Professor Leo Liu, displayed and demonstrated their projects to the Maker Faire crowd. Estimated attendance: 120,000.
Here’s a two minute “drones eye view” of the Maker Faire 2014
Highlights during setup day included meeting Anouk Wipprecht, the fashion designer; Tenaya Hurst, the Arduino Woman; and the paella dinner, sponsored by Liquid Wrench.
This year, I included a handout of frequently asked questions about Amateur Radio, and it turned out to be useful. However, we quickly ran out of copies, so I am pasting the text here:
What Are We Doing at Maker Faire 2014
Not Your Grandpa’s Ham Radio
Thank you for your interest in our Maker Faire display. We are radio communications experimenters using the microwave Amateur Radio (ham) frequencies.
Who are we?
We are licensed Amateur radio operators (“hams”).
Is this like CB?
Yes and no. Ham radio is similar to CB because we use two-way radios to talk to each other, but hams can communicate using Morse code and computers in addition to voice, and we even have our own satellites. Ham radio requires a license issued by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the USA.
How far can you talk?
We can communicate with other ham stations around the corner or across the globe, depending on a variety of factors that affect the way radio waves travel. The equipment we are using here operates on frequencies that generally follow line-of-sight paths. However, through experimentation, we find that signals can be reflected against objects such as buildings, trees, islands and mountains, to extend the range. Using these techniques, we are able to contact other stations hundreds of miles away.
What kind of radios are you using?
No commercially-built, “off-the-shelf” equipment for these frequencies exists, so we must build our own equipment, or modify commercially-made equipment meant for other services, such as cell phone, wireless links and radar systems.
How much does this equipment cost?
Like any other hobby, people spend as much or as little as they can afford. Most people involved in ham radio spend as much as any serious stereo enthusiast, amateur photographer or woodworker.
Where can I get more information?
Wayne Yoshida KH6WZ
http://wayneyoshida-kh6wz.com/
http://www.linkedin.com/in/waynetyoshida
American Radio Relay League (ARRL)
http://www.arrl.org
CQ, and CQ-VHF Magazines
http://www.cq-amateur-radio.com
The 50 MHz and Up Group
Meetings are held on the first Thursday of the month at 7pm at the TI (formerly National Semiconductor) Conference Center, Building E, in Sunnyvale, CA
http://www.50mhzandup.org/
The San Bernardino Microwave Society (SBMS)
Meets on the first Thursday of each month at 7pm at the American Legion Hall, 1024 Main St., Corona, CA
http://www.ham-radio.com/sbms/
The Microwave Group of San Diego
Workshops and informal meetings are held each month on the third Monday at 7pm in La Mesa, CA
http://www.ham-radio.com/sbms/sd/mgsd.htm
Here are some images from setup day, Friday May 16.
. . . More to follow. . .
This is our third consecutive appearance at the Bay Area MF, and continues my theme of showing how some ham radio operators continue the tradition of “teaching, mentoring, making, modifying, repairing and improving” radio and radio-related technology. Read my post about ham radio and the Maker movement.
Today’s ham radio operators have an incredible amount of exotic surplus material that can be converted into everyday use on the ham radio bands. Grandpa certainly never heard of surface-mount technology, talking on homemade 47 GHz transmitter-receiver systems or pocket-sized, satellite navigation systems (GPS). But he sure did mentor, make, modify, repair and improve the equipment in his bedroom radio station…..
Not Your Grandpa’s Ham Radio – Maker Faire 2014 Team
Wayne Yoshida KH6WZ
Dennis Kidder W6DQ
Brian Yee W6BY
Marty Woll N6VI
More information on the Maker Faire Bay area.
Here is a gallery of our booth posters for the 2014 Bay Area Maker Faire. More photos, videos and stories will follow. . . . .
The big show is coming soon. Last year, over 120,000 people attended this science-art-food-engineering-fun-educational event.
This year, my team (Dennis Kidder W6DQ, Brian Yee W6BY and Marty Woll N6VI) will bring their newest ham radio projects to show. We will continue with my original theme called “Not Your Grandpa’s Ham Radio.”
A group of University of California, Davis (UCD) engineering students will join us to demonstrate their experiments and projects. These new engineers are getting a great head-start by doing hands-on, practical experiments and projects that go beyond their lecture and textbook learning.
Read my LinkedIn post to understand my personal passion about amateur radio, Makers, the Maker Faire and education.
UPDATE: Articles on San Diego’s First Maker Faire:
Inventors Show Off DYI Drones, Robots
Maker Faire Celebrates 100 Faires Around the Globe in 2013
Crowd Deluges San Diego’s First Mini Maker Faire: An Xconomy Slide Show
The First San Diego Mini Maker Faire Takes Off!
A Mini Maker Faire makes its debut in San Diego at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. Despite the sometimes heavy rain, most all of the exhibitors (Makers) showed up. San Diego Mini Maker Faire organizers kept the weather forecast updates on a positive note: “…Forecast: 100% Chance of Great Exhibits” – an excellent promotional phrase.
There were around 5,000 tickets purchased, amazing for a first run in inclement weather. Another positive indicator of interest in San Diego area “Making” is the number of Learn to Solder kits that were made during the event – all 350 of the blinky LED boards were built on Saturday.
The San Diego Not Your Grandpa’s Ham Radio team
Dave WA6CGR (San Bernardino Microwave Society – SBMS)
Dennis W6DQ (SBMS)
Jason W6IEE (SBMS)
Kerry N6IZW (San Diego Microwave Group – SDMG and SBMS)
Walt (SBMS)
Wayne KH6WZ (SBMS)
In addition to visitors from our own radio clubs (Rein W6SZ and his XYL, Larry K6HLH and his XYL, Ed W6OYJ, Michelle W5NYV and Paul KB5MU) many other San Diego area hams stopped by. As in previous exhibits, there is a pattern: Those who have a callsign but are not on the air, those who have callsigns and are active on the FM repeaters but not much else.
But this is one of the reasons I developed the Maker Faire theme called Not Your Grandpa’s Ham Radio – I want to show something new to licensed (active as well as inactive) hams, and I want to expose those not familiar with ham radio to what some of us are doing with twenty-first century technology in our hobby – we are embracing and doing hands-on experiments with microprocessors/microcontrollers, GPS, micro- and millimeter-wave construction techniques and other exotic radio-related technologies. We are having fun while learning new skills and expertise.
I hope this idea spreads to other active ham radio groups in other locations – surely there are other hams like us who are doing something more interesting than just talking to strangers, friends and family, right? If you are a ham radio operator and are involved in doing something interesting, let me know and we should join forces to help each other increase interest and participation in this concept – since – as most all hams know – being a Maker is certainly not a new idea!
Here are some pictures from the San Diego Mini Maker Faire. I have two videos posted on my YouTube channel: Walt’s Radio Wave Demonstration and The Electric Giraffe
Map showing the KH6WZ APRS beacon location. The location is approximate, I had to simulate the GPS coordinates since signals were blocked in the steel and concrete exhibit hall.
Despite the rain, there was a constant crush of people in, near and around the Not Your Grandpa’s Ham Radio booth at the 2013 San Diego Mini Maker Faire
Not Your Grandpa’s Ham Radio at the San Diego Mini Maker Faire – We were lucky there was a no-show next to us, so we combined the empty space with ours at the end of an aisle – good show!
A visitor (striped shirt and black hat) tries some of the hands-on microwave physics demonstrations made by Walt
Dennis brought his 10 GHz / 24 GHz dual band station with software defined radio and notebook computer. The “waterfall” display is used to visually indicate very weak to very strong signals across the receive band. The digital signal processing in this system can improve signal reception
Two more projects by Dennis – On the left, a transmit/receive sequencer, used to turn on or turn off circuit modules (or functions) in a specific order. To the right is a circuit under construction/proof of concept receive system using direct synthesis.
Jason W6IEE brought his airplane IFF detector. I will get a better description of his display in a later update.
Here’s one of Kerry’s gadgets – a surplus QualComm microwave diode being used to generate a wideband microwave signal. Intended to be used to detect a microwave signal to verify transmitter operation, it can also transmit a signal for voice communication – in this case, to my 10 GHz transverter system shown in the background.
Here are three of my projects. On the far left, is a microwave field strength detector, this is used to demonstrate vertical or horizontal polarization, the KH6WZ unit in the middle is an APRS beacon, transmitting GPS coordinates (this unit generated and transmitted the GPS coordinates used to generate the location on the APRS locator map at the top of this page) and at the far right is my distance record-setting 10 GHz microwave transmitter-receiver system.
Visitor’s to Not Your Grandpa’s Ham Radio at the San Diego event were able to see some vintage 1960s microwave ham radio units – like this “Synplexer” built by Ed Munn W6OYJ. A pair of these units were on display so we could demonstrate full duplex wide band communication on 2.4 GHz (2400 MHz)
Here’s a closer look at the Synplexer
Who’s that?
It’s great to see young ladies get excited about technical things. There’s a San Diego area high school program that includes a robotics class and competition
Quadcopters seem to be trendy with Makers. Maybe this is where Jeffery Bezos got that idea for small package delivery?
MakerPlace – a place where fellow Makers can gather and make, share and borrow tools and ideas to make things. Funny, it sounds like what a good and active ham radio club should be
Russell – the Electric Giraffe at the 2013 San Diego Mini Maker Faire. Russell and its builder Lindsay, are San Diego residents
The Electric Giraffe – This image may give you some idea of Russell’s size – this is the “down” position, with head lowered for crowd interaction
Links to More Information
Amateur Radio General Information
CQ Amateur Radio Magazine
American Radio Relay League (ARRL)
Polaplexer for 2.3GHz (2300 MHz) – a Vintage Microwave Transceiver
Another Polaplexer Article
APRS – Automatic Packet Reporting System -Beacons
Byonics – I Use TinyTrak Beacon Kits
Microwave Ham Radio Clubs in Southern California
San Bernardino Microwave Society (SBMS)
Microwave Group of San Diego / San Diego Microwave Group
San Diego Area Radio Clubs
Go here and search for ham radio clubs in your area
Russell the Electric Giraffe
wayneyoshidakh6wz 
