LARC Clubhouse (4420 NW 41st St, Lincoln)

DXing and DX-peditions

Presentation by Greg Brown, KTØK

Since the beginning of Amateur Radio, operators have been fascinated with breaking barriers. As early as 1900, “Amateur Electricians”, as they were then called, were fairly obsessed with communicating over long distances via wireless.

With improved understanding and technology, the entire world is now easily accessible to average ham stations, so many hams have now set another goal: contacting every country in the world! DX-peditions are an integral part of that quest, because many “countries” (DX entities) have few, if any, ham radio operators. Some have no operators, others have no people! Few of us will actually be able to go on a DX-pedition to activate one of these rare entities, but all of have a chance of having a successful QSO with them.

Sometimes the odds are low, but we can improve those odds with good operating practices and techniques. Join us for all the secrets of successful DX-ing!

LARC Clubhouse (4420 NW 41st St, Lincoln)

Introduction to VNA’s

The subject for the August meeting is an introduction to VNA’s, or Vector Network Analyzers. I will be talking about the uses of a VNA for amateur radio, a little bit about setup and calibration, and how to interface with the computer. A VNA is a very complex piece of test equipment that has many uses beyond what we would use as amateur radio operators. It has many engineering applications. As a bonus, I will be giving away a VNA at the end of the meeting.

LARC Clubhouse (4420 NW 41st St, Lincoln)

RT Systems will hold a live Zoom session to detail its radio programming software. The highly acclaimed software is available for most amateur radios. More info is available at https://www.rtsystemsinc.com/.