Homebrew Group
 Updated 2008-07-22

                                In a hurry !!, then just click on the following headings to jump to that information

Would you like to come to the Dural events, but need to use Public Transport, details HERE
Meeting details

Go to HERE for dates and times our next meetings.

     We have access to a range of test and calibration equipment, if you need to check or test a bit of gear, send Peter VK2EMU at  vk2emu@wia.org.au an email and he will arrange the appropriate equipment. Do you have an idea for our "Technical" presentations ?? perhaps something you would like to learn a bit more about, likewise send an email to Peter.

Next meeting at Parramatta - 5th August
     Details still being worked out, but by all means bring along or discuss your latest project, quite often there are "freebies" such as pcb's or parts for all to partake of (last month there were some push switches and SMD components). In fact if you need a few BC847's (SMD), 820R (1206 SMD resistors) or a few DPDT "Isostat" type push button switches (just the mechs, you need to mount them and get a button from, say, Altronics) for your project let us know and "we" will bring in a few for you.

Next meeting at Dural - Sunday 27th July
    Details still being worked out, however please let us know if there is something you would like a "demo" on, or if you need the use of some test gear (at the meeting) to check or calibrate a piece of gear. Peter VK2EMU (the Group's co-ordinator) would like to hear any sugestions vk2emu@wia.org.au  will find him.

 
News and Reports
Update -  Homebrew Group meeting at Dural - 25th May 2008

     A great day, well attended and thanks to all who came, those who did not, perhaps we will see you next time.

     Peter VK2EMU kicked off the meeting with the show-n-tell section, where Mark VK2XOF "introduced" us to the new Dural 23cm Beacon Unit he is currently building, this encouraged much discussion on microwave construction and cabling of signals.
    Graham VK2GRA showed us his "flexible antennas" made out of lengths of retractable measuring tape, he is working on a variation with laminated sections similar to Military manpack radio antennas. He also mentioned a web link to a US Military Antenna manual he had located in the public domain (email vk2tox@wia.org.au if you would like details).
    Peter VK2TPM showed us his variation of the Drew VK3XU's RF Inductance meter and detailed it's use in his experiments with RF Filters, he also showed us his latest project a AD9851 DDS chip controlled by an 8 pin AVR microcontroller.
   Peter VK2EMU detailed his trials in getting 28/40 pin daughter boards working for the PIC Programmer he built recently (a Silicon Chip Mag project) and that he had found good results with the "WinPIC" software recommended for the newer project in last months SC.
     In between making us all movie stars (he was videoing the proceedings), John VK2ASU showed us his latest HF receiver project utilizing an MC3361 all-in-one chip but most interestingly he has mounted the project on the remains of the innards of an old digital clock and used the existing tuning cap and dial drive mechanism/pointer to obtain a vernier drive for the cap. He also had a "crystal lattice filtered superhet" project using the same chip and CB xtals (used at their fundamental freq of around 9MHz) for the LO, the VFO used a 5.5MHz ceramic resonator. Just to top it off he also showed us an AM (Broadcast band) killer filter based on an item in the 2000 ARRL Handbook.
    Then Stephen VK2BLQ showed us his "HRO" solid state receiver, so named because it utilized the dial and a section of the tuning gang out of an old HRO radio set. This receiver although built into a nice "period" wooden case with antique knobs etc was definatly "state of the art" solid state, even including provision for DRM reception. For the "techos" amongst us, it is a 80-40m receiver using the HRO VFO mixed with 24MHz xtal oscillator to produce 28MHz, then either divide by 4 (40M) or 8 (80m) through a Taylor mixer plus an audio phase shift network to remove the images. Along with is beaut set was an external speaker built into a very "retro" wooden case. Great stuff Stephen, amazing what you can do in the packaging department with some chipboard, a router and layers of varnish. Stephen also brought along a homebrew QRP RF Power meter which Mark checked out later.
     Alan VK2ZAY was very quiet although I did notice he had Mark check out his tiny RF Power meter adapter later in the happenings.

Well !! then we got to the serious part of the meeting.

    Peter VK2EMU introduced us to the "Technical" part of the meeting by detailing the basics of RF loads and metering. Mark VK2XOF having set up a HF Transceiver and measuring equipment proceeded to test and check the calibration of members power meters, dummy loads and VSWR equipment. During all this peter passed around an opened up commercial VSWR meter for people to see the construction details of the sampling head in the meter. In the process "we" discovered something wrong with Peter's you beaut Bird RF Dummy Load, luckily Mark had another one so things continued, we then moved on to VHF and microwave equipment. A few guys brought in homebrew power meters and dummy loads which were also tested, we also checked out the HF and VHF response of various CB type VSWR meters. The ones using micro strip construction were surprisingly useful at 2m.

    While all this was going on a few smaller groups started up their own discussion of various matters. Les VK2KYJ detailed a range of carbon resistors he had found in which a range of values between 150 and 250 ohms were 1:1 VSWR to past 1GHZ, this let to a discussion on the merits of SMD and "leaded: resistors with regards usefulness at RF. Another group were discussing front ends for PIC based frequency counters, yet another were planning some PCB photo etching, another on AVR programming. All the while Erik VK2MAN had a laptop and a GPS receiver set up and displaying local maps and GPS information.

    OH!! by the way both Alan VK2ZAY and Peter VK2TPM both run excellent websites/blogs of their own with lots of useful info and projects. Check HERE for details.

    Don't know how we get through so much stuff in such a short period of time, but we do, so as usual a very interesting meeting and certainly something for everyone, see you next time, either at Dural or at or Macca's meeting.

NOTE: will post a few photos next week when John loads his video onto a CD.
 
Update -  Homebrew Group meeting at Dural - 30th March 2008

      Great weather at Dural last Sunday and a very informative talk by Mark VK2TOX on Switch Mode Power Supplies of the sort normally seen in Ham shacks. He also covered "SAFE" testing and servicing of this equipment. Much discussion from the floor on various aspects of this subject including component ratings, circuit layouts and personal experiences of those attending.

     Followed by an interesting show-n-tell session where peter VK2EMU showed us his latest project a solid state variable high voltage supply (see the 5th Jan update for a the "work in progress" version), Alan VK2ZAY had some postage stamp sized new circuits he was trying out.  Peter VK2TPM brought along his latest DDS project, a kit from the US which generates 0 to 60MHz and uses a magic little joy-stick control to select and change the menu items shown on the inbuilt LCD display. Your scribe brought along a QRP Power Meter (meter head only) he "picked-up" at Wyong and described his plans to build a small dummy load (also "picked-up" at Wyong) into the box in time for our next meeting where he hopes to check its calibration. Mike VK2KPM is in the process of building up a "Soft-Rock" transceiver kit from the US, hopefully he will have it ready for a demo at our next meeting.
 
Update -  Homebrew Group meeting at McDonalds Nth Parramatta - 5th Jan 2008

     A very good turn up with some new visitors and a good active meeting. Enthusiastic chat amongst members and visitors on their latest projects. Alan VK2ZAY and John VK2ASU chatted about Alan's latest 30m Autodyne receiver whilst your scribe used his laptop to show the video from Alan's website www.vk2zay.net  on the project.  Mark VK2XOF helped a group of guys examining a vintage vale chassis that one of the members is renovating. Peter VK2EMU brought in his latest project, a solid state variable HV PSU (0 to 350VDC) very nicely "boxed" up in a recycled PC case. Sorry Peter, I took the photo before you got all your tools out of the enclosure.
        Stephen VK2BLQ in another group were discussing various digital circuits including an interesting RF generator using a HC4046 VCO chip. A visitor John VK2WEO brought in his version of the recent "AR" metal bender. The bender was examined in detail as most of us are or are planning to build some version of this very handy project.


     Peter then had a chat with us on arrangements for our display at Wyong, by then it was about time to call it a night and head home.
 
Update -  Dural Trash and Treasure and Homebrew Group meeting 27th Jan 2008

     I guess the Holiday season kept the numbers down a bit earlier in the day, but a good day weather wise, lots of interesting "stuff" looking for good homes.
     Because of the smaller numbers we kicked off the Homebrew meeting a bit earlier than normal (around 12:30) with visitors introducing themselves and members showing off their latest projects. We had by then adjourned to the air conditioned comfort of the VK2WI shack. Then followed an excellent demonstration by Stephen VK2BLQ on his "DRM" converter (details in the next edition of the Newsletter) connected between the natty Jaycar AM/FM receiver (with the IF output) and his PC loaded up with "Dream" software package. He had a number of pre-recorder HF sessions on his PC which he used to demonstrate the application. Plenty of interest shown by all who attended, members added their own experiences to the demo, including suggestions on alternate frequencies on which they had heard DRM transmissions.. Before and after the demo we had a number of discussions on subjects ranging from electronic brake testing through to antennas.
 
Update -  Homebrew Meeting at McDonalds North Parramatta 6th November

      An excellent evening, perhaps a little quieter than normal but interesting projects. Stephen VK2BLQ and Peter VK2TPM must have been on the same "wavelength" as for different reasons they had both constructed a "PK31" style PC to Radio interface. Stephen's was nicely laid out (as usual) in a small metal box, he had also cannibalized a mouse PS2 cable for connection to his radio, whilst Peter had miniaturized his into a tiny plastic box with wander leads instead of sockets on the box. Alan VK2ZAY brought in a micro-miniature "lightening detector", don't know how he builds things that small, must have incredible eyesight, or maybe a small shack.
      Peter VK2EMU brought in a complete (broken down) 6m J-Pole he had just built and tested, he demonstrated the construction technique. Did you know that will careful application a 25mm Wood Speed Bit, you know those flat things, goes through aluminum like a knife through butter !!. But need to be very careful, use a drill press on low speed, secure the thing you are drilling and use a bit of WD40 ® or kerosene for lubrication. I understand Peter will be bringing kits of this antenna to the Field Day.
     Think I mentioned last time that Peter VK2TPM had built up a UV LED exposure box based on an Elector magazine project. he had managed to source his LEDs overseas at a good price, but a bit rich for my blood so I had managed to source some UV Flouresant Tubes at a local electrical wholesaler and am going to build an exposure box based on the recent Silicon Chip magazine project. Have all the bits now just have to sort out what I am going to build it in.
     We had a couple of new visitors and a few faces we haven't seen for a while, rest of us just chatted and absorbed the ideas

 
Update -  Homebrew Meeting at McDonalds North Parramatta 2nd October .

     OOPs!!, I was late sending out a reminder for this meeting, possibly why only 10 instead of the usual 20 or so attended. But an interesting evening anyway. Ashley brought in some UHF gear he is modifying, Max some interesting books he had "picked up" at Sundays T&T event. John detailed his adventures with Osc blocks for the QRP Club in VK5, leave him to write up the details in a forthcoming issue of their monthly magazine "Lo-Key", just say he has discovered a very interesting way to open up the blocks. We all had a bit of a natter about our technical meeting last Sunday and the projects presented. Peter detailed a very handy PLL sig generator appearing in the October issue of QST. Although Stephen was not there we discussed various mods to his latest Xtal Calibrator which appears in the new edition of the Homebrew Newsletter.
 
Update -  Technical meeting at Dural on Sunday 30 September.

   About 30 members and visitors braved the heat and the wind to attend a very interesting meeting. Alan VK2ZAY took lots of pictures, some of which are shown here, he will be reporting on the more technical matters presented on his own website at http://www.vk2zay.net , so will just show some quick photos of the items presented.

  From left to right are John VK2ASU, Stephen VK2BLQ and Peter VK2EMU showing off their versions of the 80 Challenge transmitter. Yes it was quite windy, is why John is hanging on to his hat. Followed on the right by Mark VCK2XOF and his beaut test equipment whilst he tests a range of RF filters and cavities brought in by members. Another member showed off his MP3 amplifier and Stephen, who has obviously had a busy time since the last meeting, showed his homebrew mobile HF dipole and  Xtal calibrator. He also showed us a way to fit a knob to a CD disk and label the surface to produce a very neat dial for radios or test equipment, more details in the next issue of the Homebrew Newsletter.
 
Update 3rd June 2007 -  reminder of our Parramatta meeting this Tuesday 5th June.

     The next Radio Homebrew and Experimenters Group meeting will this coming Tuesday evening. This is the monthly get together of those interested in playing around with what goes on inside radios or even just the insides of radios!

     For those who are old the hobby and are looking for something to revitalize their interest, then homebrewing and experimenting can offer a new and interesting challenge. For those who are new to the hobby and are looking for some area to specialize in, then homebrewing your own equipment can be a very rewarding experience.

    At the monthly get togethers there is no set structure or format. It is just a series of free flowing discussions between small groups of amateurs who are all interested in the same thing. From those who just tinker occasionally for a hobby to those who design and build electronics for a living, the experience varies but the enjoyment does not. So if you have a question that needs to be answered then bring it along, or if you are just keen to discover a new aspect of the hobby of amateur radio, then come along.

    The meetings are held at McDonalds North Parramatta (cnr Church St and Victoria Rd) upstairs in the children's party room. Most members get there about half part six or a quarter to seven and get something to eat first then retire upstairs for a couple of hours of chat.

Hope to see you there.

Peter O'Connell VK2EMU
Coordinator Radio Homebrew and Experimenters Group
 
Update 3rd June 2007 - Homebrew Group at the Dural mini Field Day meeting Sunday 27th May.

     At the Radio Experimenters and Homebrew Group meeting last Sunday, things did not go as planned, our apologizes to those who were expecting the advertised events, attended and brought along gear specially. The co-ordinator of the Group, Peter VK2EMU was taken ill (some lurgy his kids brought home from school) and at very short notice he could not attend. So our intended “Stepper Motor” demonstration and “show and tell” events fell by the wayside. It just goes to show how much Peter does in the background for our events.

     Anyway, fortunately Tony VK2ZLT came with his Satellite TV gear and gave an excellent demonstration of the Free-To-Air signal available in the Sydney area. At least one visitor who had arrived in a camper van was very interested in fitting a dish to his van and wondering how he would set up the antenna as he traveled around the state.

     Another group under the guidance of John VK2ASU and Stephen VK2BLQ set up in the grass clearing. Remember a few meetings ago under Peter’s guidance we built a HF Vertical using 4x3 timber building wire and a length of aluminum angle, well Stephen had built up a much more compact version of it utilizing a CB whip atop a loading coil wound on a piece of PVC pipe. With help from John's new VK5 Antenna Analyzer, he was field testing it, apparently he was not happy with it and reckons he needs to rework the loading coil. However, Stephen got on the air somehow with his new 80 metre “Challenge” transmitter, which worked very well.

These two events kept most of the Homebrew members and visitors busy during the afternoon.

     Peter is busy building and programming a stepper motor interface to accompany the motors and hardware to be recovered from the pile of printers and Faxs at Dural. I expect he will present this information at our next Dural meeting on Sunday the 29th of July.

This report was from Brian VK2TOX
 
Update 15th May 2007  - "Stepper Motors" at next Dural Homebrew meeting Sunday 27th May.

       On Sunday the 27th of May the radio Homebrew and Experimenters Group will be holding another meeting at the ARNSW Dural Transmitter site.

      The meeting will start with the usual "show and tell" presentation by members of the audience where they get up and demonstrate some piece of equipment that they have built, fixed or modified, or just an experiment that they have done. These "show and tell" segments are normally only a few minutes long.

     The main part of the meeting will be a presentation about STEPPER MOTORS and how to use them and more importantly where to get them for nothing! Unlike normal electric motors which spin continually once electricity is applied, stepper motors simply step from one position to another. Stepper motors can be controlled to rotate either forwards or backwards, and to stop at a particular position. Stepper motors can be used to position antennas and also to turn variable capacitors or inductors. It is possible to build a remotely controlled Antenna Coupling Unit that sits at the base of the antenna with the control unit in the shack. Stepper motors can also be used to tune cavities and wave guides.

      A simple controller unit will be demonstrated and a variety of different stepper motors will also be shown.

      So here is an opportunity for anyone interested in finding out how stepper motors work and how you could use them.

     As well as the normal meeting, the Radio Homebrew and Experimenters Group will be mounting a display of various items built by members of the group. This display will be part of the 50th anniversary celebrations for the ARNSW Dural transmitter site.

     If you are interested in building or fixing your own radio or electronic equipment or just experimenting, then come along and join the group. Hope to see you all there.

Peter O'Connell VK2EMU - Coordinator of the Radio Homebrew and Experimenters Group
 

Update 9th April 2007 - Last Tuesday April 3rd the Radio Homebrew and Experimenters Group had their monthly meeting at McDonalds Nth Parramatta. As usual a good turn up of members and visitors. Alan VK2ZAY and Peter VK2EMU brought along their 80m Challenge projects, others discussed the progress of their own version of this project. Stephen VK2BLQ showed us a completed chassis he had cut and bent at our recent Dural meeting and discussed ways of finishing off aluminum panels. With a little help from John VK2ASU, Ted VK2RTF has the LCD on his Antenna Analyzer talking to him but still not 100%. All the others in groups discussing various issues from sourcing components to an automatic ident and timeout project for Dural.

       See you on the air Tuesday week the 17th April for the Radio Homebrew and Experimenters Group 2m net on the Dural repeater 147MHz at 7:30pm under the able management of John VK2ASU. Visitors welcome.
 
Update 27th March2007  - Great day "Metal Bashing" with Stephen VK2BLQ at Dural on Sunday 25th March
     Despite the rather undecided weather we had a great day, thanks to Stephen VK2BLQ's presentation of tools, materials and techniques involved in making up metal panels and chassis.
       
      He started of his presentation just outside the VK2WI radio shack but the sky blackened and down came the rain. So we gathered up all his "stuff" and took it into the VK2WI building, made ourselves comfortable and absorbed the very interesting information presented by Stephen. He demonstrated different ways of making holes with various tools including an IEC socket cutter. He then marked out an front panel and matching chassis, detailing the pitfalls and techniques. Using his own homebrew bender attached to a collapsible saw-horse he then bent up the metal. He then discussed various ways to finish off the projects. Many of us chipped in during the presentation to include our own experiences and ideas.
     Above are some photos courtesy of John VK2ASU and Peter Marks showing us initially set up outside, the center photo is of Stephens excellent homebrew bender made from ordinary angle iron and a couple of hinges, next is him actually bending a chassis. The bender handles are fairly short so needs plenty of "Stephen-power" to operate. An article in the upcoming Homebrew Newsletter will cover this day in more detail.
     Very good photos of recent Radio Experimenters and Homebrew Group meetings, also of the ARNSW VK2WI site at Dural - Courtesy of Peter Marks VK2TPM  http://web.mac.com/petermarxy/iWeb/Site/HomeBrew.html
 
Update 11th March2007  - "Metal Bashing" at next Dural Homebrew meeting Sunday 25th March.
          In two weeks time on Sunday 25th March there will be another meeting of the Radio Homebrew and Experimenters Group at Dural. At this meeting there will be a presentation by Stephen Lowing VK2BLQ. Stephen is well known among those who regularly attend the homebrew meetings because of his beautifully crafted projects. These projects are often in boxes that he has made himself from plain pieces of aluminum.  The presentation will be all about metal bashing, or how to turn a plain piece of aluminum into a beautiful and functional box for that special project. Those who attended one of the meetings at the old Parramatta premises may remember the home made sheet metal bender that Stephen demonstrated. 
         Topics to be covered include deciding what type of material to use for the box, marking out the material and cutting and bending. It will also cover how to make holes in sheet metal. 
         Finishing the box is just as important as the other processes. So if you have ever wanted to know how to make a box for that special project then this is the meeting to come to. 
       As well as Stephen's presentation, there will also be the usual show and tell segment where those attending can show others what they have been working on.  There may even be some of the entries for the 80m AM transmitter challenge shown as works in progress. 
       The meeting is for anyone who is interested in homebrewing their own radio or test equipment or just experimenting. 
       The meeting as usual is held at the Dural transmitter site which is at 63 Quarry Road Dural. The meeting will start at about 2pm, after the Trash and Treasure. During the lunch break there will be the usual sausage-ina-sanger and cold drinks for a friend of the family price along with free tea, coffee and biscuits in the radio shack. 

Peter O’Connell VK2EMU, Coordinator Radio Homebrew and Experimenters Group
 

Update 5th March2007  - Balun Kit Instructions available.
      This year the Radio Homebrew and Experimenters Group mounted a display in the main covered area of the Central Coast Field Day at Wyong. At that display a number of people picked up their Balun Kits, the instruction paperwork is now available. This is the current 1:1 HF "Choke" Balun. Please contact the Group via the ARNSW office for a copy of these instructions or you can download it from the Newsletter area at the bottom of this page.
      We are still reworking our original 4:1 Balun Kit and will have it available shortly. For those who viewed John VK2ASU's "RF Inductance meter" at Wyong, instructions and a kit of parts will be available shortly.
 

Update 5th March 2007  - reminder of our Parramatta meeting this Tuesday 6th March.
       Next Tuesday 6th March there will be a meeting of the Radio Homebrew and Experimenters Group. This will be one of the informal meetings where those interested in homebrewing and experimenting with radio and test equipment meet and have a chat. We expect that much of the discussion will revolve around what they bought or missed out on at Wyong, and what they will do with it.
       There will also be discussion regarding the Homebrew “80m Challenge” to build a transmitter, crystal locked on 80 metres with an output power of 20 Watt or more. Some members of the group are expected to bring their partly completed projects on the night.
       The Group meet in the upstairs party room at McDonalds North Parramatta on the corner of Church Street and Victoria Road, just behind the Jaycar store. Members of the group generally arrive a little before 7pm to get something to eat and the meeting winds up about 9pm, so it will not be a late night.
       The group is open to all members of Amateur Radio New South Wales who are interested in our aims of homebrewing their own equipment or just experimenting. For those not members of ARNSW come along anyway and consider joining. 

Hope to see you there this Tuesday evening.
Peter O’Connell VK2EMU, Coordinator Radio Homebrew and Experimenters Group
 
Update 19th March 2007 - Homebrew Group at the Wyong Field Day 18th February.
 A very early start by an enthusiastic group of members got the tables setup, the sign in place and the various projects laid out on the tables. Quick check to make sure all the paperwork was in place and the "customers" started arriving around 8:30am. Very busy day with at least four or five members manning the tables till around 3pm when we packed up and headed home, exhausted.
A great deal of interest was shown by visitors in not only the projects but membership of the Homebrew Group itself. A huge pile of sample Newsletters and Group Information sheets were handed out along with ARNSW membership Application forms.
We had an excellent and varied display of Homebrew Projects from Peter VK2EMU's "ina-PC-PSU-Box" projects and High Voltage Tester, Les VK2KYJ's AVR controlled Auto Antenna Tuner and Morse Generator, John VK2ASU's QRP gear and test equipment.
A very successful day and great plans for next years event.
 

Update 4th February 2007 - Homebrew Group at Dural on Sunday 28th January

      
         At the Technical Meeting of the Group last Sunday there was an amazing demonstration of Satellite TV reception by Tony VK2ZLT which included setting up and positioning various dishes along with processing the signals with a few different set top boxes.
      
         There is Tony in his "you beaut" shirt along with a number of our members giving him a hand to setup one of the KU Band dishes. The gent sitting down has the right idea, gosh !! it was hot that day, what is it they say about "mad dogs and ???" working in the noonday sun. At least most people attending the site made use of the FREE sunscreen lotion, provided at great expense to the management.

         During the show-and-tell part of the meeting a number of members and visitors showed off their latest projects. To mention just a few, Eric VK2MAN displayed a much modified dual band “flower-pot” antenna , you remember John VK2ZOI demonstrated numerous versions of this antenna a few months ago to the Group.

        Stephen VK2BLQ displayed his latest HF ATU and SWR meter combination all nicely built into a former stereo amplifier cabinet which he just happened to “find”. He also showed off his homebrew CW "paddle" suitably weighted so that it did not wander all over his operating desk and as usual with Stephens projects very well finished, for an electronics person he is a great carpenter. See the picture to the left.
        Stephen also has a 160m SSB Exciter under design/consruction as an experiment in Single Sideband Suppressed Carrier generation using the Phasing method, a 5 watt exciter using no expensive crystal filters merely common, off-the-shelf components is the result. Again it looks like it is mounted in a former stereo amplifier cabinet, where do you find them ?.

         Hardware for homebrew projects is becoming expensive and in some cases hard to locate, we all need to be a bit “creative” when it comes to housing our projects.
         Apologies to the other members who demo'ed their projects, your scribe was busy applying some more sunscreen as he had begun to cook in the sun and missed the other projects. Send me an email via the office with some information and perhaps a photo or diagram and will be happy to add them to this page.
 

Update 30th May, 2006 - Homebrew Group has a page on Yahoo!
     We don't currently have an interactive facility on this web site, somewhere members can post messages, photos and files for use by other members. So we recently activated a Special Interest Group on Yahoo! which is starting to become popular.    
     Now I know that some people have reservations about using such large systems but it really is quite easy.
Simply log on to http://au.groups.yahoo.com/ to check out all the available groups or
Go straight to  http://au.groups.yahoo.com/group/ARNSWHomebrewgroup/ to look around the group site.
     However if you would like to leave a message or upload/download files or photos then you will need to "join" the group. On the "Home" page look for the "Join this Group" in the blue box. You will then be prompted for your Yahoo ID and Password.
    On Yahoo you can have as many user ID's as you need, even if you already have one, why not have one specially for the access to the Homebrew Group, that way when you get email you will know that it came from the Group. Also if you should get spammed or the address is used inappropriately then you just make another one. A few months of inactivity and your old one just drops into a black hole. In fact be careful of this as you need to log on to Yahoo periodically to retain your ID and Password, check the FAQ's, I think it is a couple of months.
    So click on "Sign Up" and fill in the details, the most invasive thing here is whether you are Male or Female and tick the box for a Yahoo email address. For your user ID maybe you could use "yourname_callsign" as in "charlie_vk2xxx" so that the members know who you are and who they are talking to. Even us oldies can "usually" remember our own names and callsign, but that's why some of us wear badges, just in case we do forget. Do fill in the info regarding forgetting your password it is very handy, then go to the last boxes and answer the silly questions.
     This will then form the basis of your Yahoo email address, which you should use for ALL correspondence to and from Yahoo. NOT a good idea to use your normal email address in case it gets trapped by spammers and you get bombarded by junk email.
     Then go back to the "ARNSWHomebrewgroup" and "Join" it, suggest you get all email to/from the Yahoo Group via your Yahoo email address. Personally I "collect" all emails myself rather than have them sent to me, again so that if spammers get into the group or idiots start discussing other strange things, you don't get bombarded. The originator of the group area will check the emails periodically and dump any out of context or inappropriate items.
     So!! try it out and enjoy !!. Make up your own Photo album for PICs of your projects, "Create" a folder for yourself and upload text or Word files, PIC code etc. Some of the "stuff" may be borrowed for content of the pages on this web site too and visa versa.

HF 1:1 "Choke" Balun Kit (see below for instructions)

Peter and Mark then introduced the technical and practical features of their "Choke" or "Current" type balun for matching coax to a dipole. Kits of parts were available for purchase and were quickly snapped up by those attending. This is a very practical project and well tested by Mark at full legal power on VK2WIs transmitting equipment.     

Shown here are the kits of parts for the "Choke" Type Balun and the assembled kit being connected to a wire dipole in readiness to be raised to operating height. This KIT is available through the Homebrew Group.  As this was a 160m dipole the two cables were secured to the box by a couple of cable-ties to reduce the strain on the box terminals. In practice for a permanent installation it might be an idea to actually separate the dipole wires with a strong insulated spacer and then fit the balun box to the ends of the dipole wires. We went through a the interesting but repetitive process of cutting the antenna sections to length. Basically the antenna sections were cut a couple of meters over length. The antenna raised in position and the SWR checked, fairly obviously the resonant frequency was too low, so the ends were lowered and an equal length cut off both ends. The ends were again raised and the SWR checked, this process repeated with ever decreasing lengths removed from the ends until the antenna was resonant at the required frequency. Be careful as attempts to get it "just right" usually result in too much being cut off, if this happens and the antenna is at it's operating height, just drop the ends, solder say one meter of each end and start again till it is right. John VK2ASU was busy with his new digital camera through the day and has provided a great series of photos for use on the web and in our Newsletter.
Homebrew Newsletter
       The Homebrew Group has a regular technical newsletter produced by Brian VK2TOX who is always on the look-out for technical articles for inclusion in the Newsletter pages. If you have a project under way or even completed (is a project ever finished?) please send us some drawings, sketches and some written information so we can pass along your ideas to other Hams and Homebrewers. Especially looking for articles on modifying or renovating a piece of existing Test Equipment or Radio Gear. Don't worry about producing a print ready article, just get the info to Brian and he will get it into print. If you would like to build something and are looking for some technical help, circuit ideas or where you might get the parts from, let us know and we would be glad to help. We have active members who build everything from power supplies to microwave gear
        If you have the info in electronic form then please email it to Brian at WebMaster otherwise just bundle your information off to :

The Editor, Homebrew Group Newsletter at the ARNSW mailing address which you can find HERE

The electronic version (pdf file) of the Newsletter can be downloaded using the links below

Latest issue of the Homebrew Newsletter (Issue No. 9) [February 2008]   UPDATE !!
 

Update February 2008 ......Gosh !! doesn't time fly, sorry been some time since a "decent" sized  Issue, the latest is only a few pages but we got it to print. Here is Issue No. 9, looking at another for the March Trash and Treasure meeting or failing that the May Mini Field Day at Dural. Hopefully the 4:1 Balun Kit and maybe an SWR/Power Meter for either HF or VHF/UHF, also for the Field Day, see how we go.

Printed Information and Introduction to the Group and various projects
Download and print out this file .......... Homebrew Intro and Index 2008-02-17.pdf    UPDATE !!

Homebrew Instructions (note some are for Kits and others for Homebrew Projects)
         Any instructions listed below WILL BE THE LATEST information on any projects which have appeared in an issue of our Newsletter and will include any corrections, modifications or additions to the original project.

HF 1:1 "Choke" Balun Kit .................................... Instructions (28-02-2007) "PDF" File
HF 4:1 Balun Kit .................................................... Available Shortly
HF Inductance Bridge ........................................... Project Sheet (Xtal Osc two terminal version) (8-4-2007) "PDF" File

If you would like to purchase "Kits" or are having trouble locating some parts for one of our projects, please contact the "Homebrew Group" via our office or by email, go to this page for contact information.