KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

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Dayton 2016: Purchases (of lack thereof)

Posted: 28 May 2016 06:06 AM PDT
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Last year, I made a significant purchase at Dayton—my 150 MHz Siglent
oscilloscope. This year, I didnt really buy anything,Â*though not for lack
of trying. I was looking for two things: a hex beam and a GPS-disciplined,
10 MHz oscillator.

I was disappointed and kind of surprised that there were only two hex beam
manufacturers the Vibroplex, that sells Spider Beams, and RadioWavs.Â*I
also wanted to get a look at the K4KIO, NA4RR, and SP7IDX hex beams, as
theyve all gotten such good reviews on the hex-beam mailing list. Based on
the reviews there, Ill probably go with either the K4KIO or the NA4RR
antenna.

I was also looking for a 10 MHz, GPS-disciplined oscillator. It would be
really nice to have an accurate frequency source in my shack, and I
actually had a good use for one a couple of weeks ago when Thom, W8TAM,
brought over a couple of Chinese frequency counters hed purchased.Â*I didnt
find one there, but not finding one wasnt as surprising as not finding more
hex beams.
The Leo Bodnar GPS disciplined oscillator, sold in the US by Force12.

There are quite a few options. Force12 has started selling a
GPS-disciplined oscillator (GPSDO) made in the U.K. It looks like a nice
unit, but it costs $226. There are some used Trimble Thunderbolt units
available on eBay for about $150. And if you Google GPS disciplined
oscillator youll find a number of homebrew solutions. I may opt for the
easy thing here and purchase the unit from Force12.

If you have an opinion on either hex beams or GPSDOs, please feel free to
weigh in here or e-mail me directly.

Aside from that, I was able to find a Bencher BY-1 in the flea market for
$50. It doesnt look like its been used for quite a while, and the plug was
wired backwards (i.e. the tip was connected to the dahÂ*contact, not the
ditÂ*contact), so Im not sure how much it was ever used. This evening, I
rewired the plug and adjusted the contacts, so its ready for the next user.

I also purchased the book, Getting Started with Amateur Satellites, by Bob
Gould, WA4SXM, Â*published by AMSAT. Oddly enough, this book isnt yet listed
for sale in the AMSAT store, but I imagine that if you contact them, theyll
sell you a copy. The cost is $20.

The bookÂ*purchase was triggered by my befuddlement at the ARROW Antenna
booth. I wanted to buy an antenna to try to work some satellites, but they
offer about a dozen different hand-heldÂ*antennas for satellite work, and I
just didnt know what to get. They were really busy, too, and I didnt feel
like waiting around, so that I could ask them some questions. Perhaps after
reading theÂ*book and perusing the ARROW website, which has a number of
instructional articles and videos, Ill be able to figure out what to get.

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