Summer Series Shed Workshops #2 - 11 November

Bernard led off on the third shed workshop for 2018 which was on the topic of "Magnetic loop antennas". These antennas are great for getting better signal to noise levels out of typical noisy suburban environments. They are also compact and can be mounted on a boundary fence or building to blend into an urban environment. On transmit they are less sensitive to changes in the surrounding environment (e.g. resonance changes observable on wire antennas with wet weather). Ten members turned out on Sunday 1 July 2018. A summary of his presentation, theory of magnetic loop antennas and instructions for constructing these antennas can be downloaded here: [wpdm_package id='3462']   Bernard can be seen giving a presentation to kick off: Several examples of loop antennas were available for inspection including this multiband loop for 15m through 10m: And a close up of the butterfly tuning capacitor: The feedpoint and feed system: And finally, a mag loop controller box that Bernard has constructed (he has several!): A special price has been worked out for branch members who wish to assemble their own butterfly-style tuning capacitor. This is required if you wish to make a small magnetic loop for receive and transmit.

Mike led off on the second Shed Workshop on Sunday 10 June 2018 from 1pm - 3pm. The topic was "Kitset Transceivers". Mike talked about his experiences in assembling and modifying BITx40s and a µBITx. He drew on resources from his website (http://uBITx.net) that attracts over 16,000 unique visitors each month and is the definitive guide to the µBITx for constructors. Afternoon tea was provided.  

The first shed workshop was held on Sunday 29 April from 1pm - 3pm at Bernard ZL2BD's QTH (1 Winsley Tce, Churton Park) The topic was Antenna Tuners, with Bernard recounting the various design types (Z-match, T-match, Pi match, etc.).