Soldering in Gorham
Roger
Pience, N1XP, teaches hands-on soldering workshop by
Tim Watson, KB1HNZ
After
the January meeting was "snowed out," we began discussing what was
going to be the topic of the monnth, which was soldering, and before we
knew it, everyone present at the next informal session at Dunkin Donuts
received "homework." Roger Pience N1XP, who was scheduled to give a
soldering demonstration at the next meeting handed out printed circuit
boards (about 2"X2"), along with a strip of resistors, and our
assignment was to solder the resistors in the correct locations. This
might sound like a piece of cake, but the smallness of the boards and
the components made it quite tricky.
Charlie W1CPS, sporting his glasses, while Roger N1XP looks on
When we arrived at the meeting, proudly showing off our circuit boards
- some that were pretty well done, and others that were globs of molten
plastic - we all at least had an idea of the task at hand.
Roger began by going over some of the equipment required, and explained
what
soldering tips, flux, and solder works best in certain applications,
then he demonstrated proper techniques. From there, many of us gave it
a try for ourselves, using the equipment he brought in.
"The current trend might be towards smaller and smaller," said Thom
Watson W1WMG. "but these electronic manufacturers should really give
more consideration to us do-it-yourselfers and make something you can
work on without magnifying equiptment." Thom was no doubt
refering to the magnifying spectacles that Charlie Shepard W1CPS, was
wearing most of the evening. This new statement in fashion was
practically a necessity, considering the size of the circuit board and
components we were trying to solder.
Roger did bring in some other pieces to experiment with, which
thankfully were a bit larger and easier to work on, (since the
resistors could be seen with the naked eye).
Later in the evening, Charlie W1CPS, and Rory McEwen KB1PLY, took the
opportunity to build a copper pipe 2 meter J-pole, which Rory was
planning on using during the 2 meter contest. This was a different type
of soldering, involving a torch, which Charlie handled expertly. The
only downside was that it caused a little bit of of smoke, requiring us
to turn on the exhaust fans over the stoves - just to keep the
sprinklers from going off!
All in all we had a great time, and hopefully learned a few things as
well. Thanks Roger!
Ham Radio Finally
Jumps on the Maker Bandwagon ARRL Unveils its DIY Campaign by Dan Romanchik,
KB6NU
Over
three years ago, I wrote that amateur radio should do more to associate
itself with the Maker, or "do it yourself" (DIY) movement
(www.kb6nu.com/lets-get-on-the-maker-bandwagon/) Well, it
finally
looks like it is going to do just that
Just
before the first of the year, the ARRL unveiled its DIY campaign. It
mostly consists of the video below, but there’s also a flier
designed to be a hand-out to go along with the video. A PowerPoint
presentation and speaker’s notes also are available, as well as ‘Ask
Why I DIY with Ham Radio’ buttons.
CQ
magazine is also jumping on the bandwagon. They
recently annnounced that they will run a quarterly “Maker” column,
written by Matt Stultz, KB3TAN. Stultz is the founder of
“HackPittsburgh,” a “hackerspace” or community workshop for makers in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He has been a ham since 2009 and has
integrated amateur radio into many of HackPittsburgh’s activities.
Stultz’s
first column, titled “We Are Makers,” will appear in the March issue of
CQ. It provides a general introduction to the maker/hacker community
for hams, as well as a description of a high-altitude balloon project
that brought the two groups together in Pittsburgh.
QSL Corner
These
days there's LoTW and other ways of verifying a radio contact, but
nothing quite beats a paper QSL that's traveled half way around the
world, with a picture of the operator or their home town, or their
equipment, and a hand written note on the back. The club station,
WS1SM, has been very active this past year and these recent QSL cards
are from our JOTA event back in October.
To view
other cards received, visit the QSL
gallery on our webpage.
CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING
X7
Cushcraft "Big Thunder" antenna for 20-15-10 meters. Call Gilbert
Bineua K1LMJ for pricing and details, at 207-839-4783, or contact him
by email at: [email protected]
Maine
State Convention - March 23rd and 24th at the Ramada Inn and
Convention Center in Lewiston, ME. Visit: http://www.w1npp.org
for more details.
_________________________
Framingham ARC Spring Flea Market and Exams
- Sunday, March 25th. Visit: http://www.fara.org/flea
for more details.
If you
have any items for trade, contact one of our members to have it listed
here. Send an email to: [email protected] with a brief
description and contact information.
If
you offer any ham radio related services, for example, if you repair
meters or radios, build your own transmitters, make QSL cards to order,
or rebuild microphones, you may list these services here.
If
there are any items you may be looking for, use this space to get the
word out. Just send an email to [email protected], or mention it at
an upcoming meeting.
All
advertisements are listed for FREE. Advertising shall pertain to
products and services which are related to amateur radio. No
advertisement may use more than 40 words. Please send a description of
items for sale, wants, or services to Thom Watson at [email protected],
or bring it to an upcoming meeting of the Wireless Society of Southern
Maine. All ads will be printed one time, unless renewed.
