Technical Mentoring & Elmering Net
Technical Topics and Advice for New Hams
Thursdays from 8:00 to 9:00 PM on the SBARC Hub linked repeaters.
The Technical Mentoring and Elmering Net is dedicated to teaching. We discuss technical topics related to ham radio at ALL levels of expertise, with very special emphasis on helping any new ham any way we can. Remember you are an expert in your field of endeavor, so its no shame if you are just a beginner in ham radio. In fact, a great question for the net is “ WHAT are you guys talking about?”
There is no “lecture topic”, meaning that we are completely question-based, so its great if you have a list of questions ready. We take check-ins at the beginning, and throughout the net, so you can join (and leave) anytime you want to. Usually we discuss some technical topic for awhile, then leave breaks for people to jump in with a different question. Often several very expert hams are on, with possibly some listening ready to help with something they know, or to answer up to net control asking “who wants to answer that question?” The net is very informal and friendly, and also helps any new ham with even non-technical ham radio questions, like correct operating procedure, etc.
You’ll find recordings of the net in the SBARC Audio Archives.
Net controllers, see the TM&E Net preamble and script wiki.
There were some interesting discussions on last night’s net including K6HMD Eric’s issue he’s been experiencing with his iCom IC-7600 transceiver. It seems that Eric was attempting to set up FM split mode operations to access the K6TZ 6 meter repeater when he began seeing unexplained signals every 100 Khz at the same amplitude on the rigs spectrum analyzer. Even changing bands didn’t help. After a fair amount of troubleshooting Eric finally opted to reset the rig to factory specifications and the problem was solved, no more weird signals. Shackmaster Dave (K6HWN) offered a very plausible cause for the anomaly, while Eric was trying to set up split mode operations he may have pushed a button on the rig enabling the crystal calibrator. The calibrator would emit signals at specific intervals to calibrate the rigs frequency output by. Eric’s perusal of the operating manual didn’t offer up any information about a crystal calibrator being on-board the rig so he’ll contact the manufacturer. Tune in to the next Technical Mentoring and Elmering Net and hopefully learn the answer to this puzzle!
Other discussions involved HF noise and troubleshooting, automatic gain control and signal to noise ratios.
All club members and visitors are encouraged to check in to the Technical Mentoring and Elmering Net each week and join in with questions and /or answers to and contribute the edification of new and experienced hams alike.
Dave K6HWN conducted a great discussion on station grounding. Steve KI6HGH provided a lot of technical information as did Theo KK6YYZ who is a licensed electrician.
You can read more about the Technical Mentoring and Elmering Net here.
Listen in next week on Thursday at 8:00pm for another great discussion.
