Category: Meetings

Our thanks to Allen Wolff, KC7O for once again sharing his expertise with SPARC. At our September 6 meeting, Allen spoke about building a 2m J-Pole antenna. He explained the pros and cons of various plans available on the Internet and how he settled on a design that balances performance with simplicity.  We also had a quick refresher on soldering, an essential skill for antenna building. Allen will lend us his story sticks — boards marked to show the proper lengths of copper pipe in the antenna design — when we hold a club build later this year.

If you are interested in building a J-Pole for 2m operation, contact us before September 29. We plan to have a group build over two sessions in October. As Allen discussed, making your own antenna from scratch is a great way to learn about radio physics — and you get a shiny “copper cactus” to show off.

SPARC thanks Allen Wolff, KC7O for the entertaining and informative presentation on soldering that he delivered at our June 7 meeting. Allen has over forty-five years of experience in aerospace manufacturing operations and quality management. He has worked on the Apollo lander, military communications, missile guidance systems, spacecraft deployment, satellites, and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems.

Due to copyright issues, we can’t distribute Allen’s slides, but below is a list of references Allen consulted while creating his presentation.  Use these links to brush up on your soldering skills now as we prepare for our next club activity, creating an antenna for use in a radio “go box.” As Bob, WB6YJJ said in his recent club email, “Antenna connectors are tricky to solder, so come and learn the CORRECT way from an expert.”

Wikipedia on soldering
Crimping vs. Soldering
Instructables on soldering tips and tricks
Hakko brand wick
Science Buddies primer
Adafruit guide to common solder problems
Death by “tin whiskers”