Amateur Radio Society at Tech

Foxhunt and Antenna Design Competition, Spring 2013

Micah Daniel — Wed, 15 May 2013 01:19:11 +0000

This semester, we had an amazing Foxhunt and Antenna Design Competition, seeing 6 antennas entered in the competition and 4 teams for the foxhunt with a total of seventeen people in attendance. The day began at 11am with the judging of the antennas by Dr. Thomas Trost, a retired professor from our own Texas Tech University. The entrants with their antennas are shown below along with information from each antenna.

(all antennas were measured 28 ft from a beacon transmitting at 434MHz with a gain reference of 2.2 dBi, and all measurements are from the antenna’s performance at the target frequency of 434MHz)

Return Loss, dB: 3
Figure of Merit, dB: 11
Gain, dBi: 16.22 (winner)

Return Loss, dB: 5
Figure of Merit, dB: 9
Gain, dBi: 12.85

Return Loss, dB: 6
Figure of Merit, dB: -10
Gain, dBi: -6.54

Return Loss, dB: 17
Figure of Merit, dB: 12 (winner)
Gain, dBi: 14.29

Return Loss, dB: 30 (winner)
Figure of Merit, dB: 12 (winner)
Gain, dBi: 14.20

Return Loss, dB: 9
Figure of Merit, dB: 9
Gain, dBi: 11.78

Foxhunt

After a quick lunch, the four competing teams gathered at the EE building for our Foxhunt. The Fox, or rather the radio beacon, was set to transmit at 434 MHz, cycling between a 1 kHz sine wave output, a morse code transmission (identifying the beacon per FCC regulation), and a standby mode. After about thirty-five minutes, the team comprised of Wayne Cox (KF5NMN), Justin Aggus (KF5NUN), and Micah Daniel (KF5VEK) were the first to find the fox.

The winners:

More fun during the hunt:

Announcement: Forming Teams for the Fox Hunt

Micah Daniel — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 17:15:06 +0000

If you are intending on being part of the fox hunt, we request that you e-mail our president (travis.r.lee@ttu.edu) with your intentions and who is on your team.

Also, to be eligible for the $20 for building your antenna, please bring your receipts to Joshua Wilk and we will reimburse you.

Have fun and happy building.

General Meeting: April 18th, 2013

Micah Daniel — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 17:30:16 +0000

ARSAT will hold a general meeting on April 18th, 2013 at 5:30 PM in ECE 226.

Two presentations will be given during this meeting. The first, given by Dr. Thomas Trost, will concern the judging criteria of the antenna design contest and how to best design your antenna for each category. The second, given by Dr. Michael Helm, will be a quick discussion about FCC regulations concerning HAM radio. People seeking to take any FCC testing are advised to attend.

At the end, there will be a quick powerpoint crash course for the FCC licence exam given by Micah Daniel.

Fox Hunt and Antenna Design Contest Rules 2013

Micah Daniel — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 01:19:49 +0000

As a reminder, the Fox Hunt and Antenna Design Contest will be held on Saturday April 27, 2013 at 11:00 AM. At 11, we will begin testing each submitted antenna in the five fields listed below. Afterwards, we will break for a group lunch at one of the local restaurants and resume with the Fox Hunt.

Antenna requirements:

Must operate at 434 MHz
Coax cable connector must be a BNC
Must be homemade

Competition Fields:

Input return loss
Received Signal Power
Backwards Received Signal Power
Backwards Signal Rejection
Standing Wave Radio

To enter, you must form a team of 3-4 members and inform Travis Lee that your team wishes to enter the competition. Members are encouraged to form their own teams and begin work immediately. Multiple antennas may be submitted to the design contest, but each team will be asked to use only one during the fox hunt in the spirit of fairness.

We also encourage you to watch this video of a presentation given by Dr. Helm on designing antennas from the last fox hunt.

Good Luck and happy building.

ARSAT Revival!

Joshua Hoose — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 23:21:02 +0000

After a short hiatus, ARSAT is again active. We have had a few general meetings, elected new officers, and have our first event, a radio foxhunt, planned for Saturday, April 27th, 2013. Before this, we will have an antenna contest at 11:00, then lunch before the foxhunt begins.

The foxhunt will take place on the Texas Tech campus, and will consist of groups of 3 to 4 people, trying to find the radio “fox”

More information will be coming soon!

-Joshua Hoose

General meeting: Amateur radio high altitude ballooning info session Fri Dec 2 at 5:30pm

Jonathan Bender — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 03:37:51 +0000

A presentation will be given covering all basic aspects of amateur radio high altitude ballooning, in preparation for payload creation and a launch in the spring. Topics include lift vehicle configuration, payload contents, flight path prediction, and balloon launch, tracking, and recovery. Everyone is invited, and those who attend will be better prepared to function in a chase crew for the spring launch.

The meeting will be in Electrical Engineering 217 (Seacat room) on Friday, December 2nd at 5:30pm.

This is a professional points opportunity for those in project labs (1 point). You can also become a member for $5, which is an additional professional point. Refreshments will be provided. See facebook.com/k5ttu for pictures from past launches and more info.

First general meeting of the semester tomorrow, Wednesday Sept 28 at 5:30pm

Jonathan Bender — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 17:19:42 +0000

Gerry Grant (WB5R), chairman of the board for the Lubbock Amateur Radio Club, will give a presentation on introductory topics in amateur radio. Previous talks have included topics like communication with the International Space Station and moon bounce (EME).

There will be free refreshments, professional points, and general camaraderie. We will also briefly introduce what ARSAT is for new students and talk about upcoming events.

A new semester and repeater progress

Jonathan Bender — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 02:41:56 +0000

Thanks to everyone who stopped by our table at the Engineering Kick-Off last week, and to Casey, Chong, Dr. Helm, and Mr. Naugher for holding down the tent. For those who couldn’t make it, we have a good membership base this semester, and are looking at several possible avenues for club activities.

We have several officer openings this semester; Secretary, Vice President, and SORC Representative. Contact

if you are interested.

We plan on having our first general meeting in the next few weeks, so be sure to ‘Like’ our Facebook page, facebook.com/k5ttu.

K5TTU has also been registered on Echolink, and we are exploring a remote-link setup to the Coleman repeater, so keep an ear on 444.1, as it may go live as part of a Echolink network soon.

Spring 2011 Antenna Design Contest and Fox Hunt

Jonathan Bender — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 03:01:47 +0000

It’s that time of the semester again… time for the Spring 2011 Antenna Design Contest and Fox Hunt! This semester it will be held on Saturday, April 30th in the same location as the fall, just south of the ECE building. It will be in the afternoon on Demo Day, so those who had projects in the morning can attend, whether entering an antenna or just observing and then participating in the fox hunt. Those who are going to enter an antenna should sign up on the sheet on Dr. Michael Helm’s office door (EE 210, by Seacat) as soon as possible. See the event page for more details, and keep checking the Facebook page for updates!

The K5TTU repeater is back on the air!

Jonathan Bender — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 02:55:09 +0000

After a brief hiatus and some hardware changes, the repeater located on top of Coleman Hall is now operational. It is transmitting at roughly 40W, 444.1+ PL 146.2. How to set your radio to use the repeater:

Radio receive: 444.1 MHz
Radio transmit: 449.1 MHz
Radio access tone: 146.2 Hz

The repeater is in the UHF ’70cm’ band (420-450 MHz), which is accessible for all license levels. Initial reports indicate the signal reaches most of Lubbock county, and there have been several contacts made with pilots in the area as well. If you make any contacts on K5TTU, let us know on the Facebook page.