Monday, September 21, 2026

21 September 2026

 

UVARC Maker Net — September 21, 2026

Net control: K0WLY (Carl), Saratoga Springs Frequency: 146.78 | Opened: 6:58 PM | Closed: 7:44 PM local time

Check-Ins

11 stations checked in tonight:

Callsign Name City
K0WLY Carl Cowley Saratoga Springs
KC7XE Stanley Dye Pleasant Grove
KK7RRW Wade Shearer Lehi
AJ7KY Kyle Butt Pleasant Grove
KM7HET Kalin Ekker Hanksville
KJ7FKT Justin Steele Las Vegas
KM7CDK John Todd Eagle Mountain
N7BEB Bruce Bray Salt Lake City
KM7BLA Spencer Ellis Salt Lake City
KD7RR Randy Rollins American Fork
KI7GGG Nick Capener Lehi   

Bench Reports & Traffic

K0WLY (Carl) — No design or build work this week; sick for the first half, then catching up the rest. Hosted a small group build Saturday evening at his place for the K0WLY CW Keyer boards — a few makers came together to build and talk radio.

  
Bruce - N7BEB (left) Dave - W7OM (right)

KC7XE (Stanley) — Finished another end-fed halfwave antenna, adapted from a spooled antenna design. Redesigned and 3D-printed an improved spool — trimmed unnecessary bulk for a cleaner build. It's a 40-meter end-fed with a crank-wound spool, a counterpoise attachment point, and a built-in 49:1 unun, all in a compact package. Field-tested on a trip with good results.

KK7RRW (Wade) — Nothing built this week but spent several days helping KK7RRU design an HF station: scoping antenna options, measuring available yard space, and discussing mast and mounting options. Landed on a solid plan — now just a matter of pulling the trigger.

AJ7KY (Kyle) — No report.

KM7HET (Kalin) — No report.

KJ7FKT (Justin) — Checking in, no traffic.

KM7CDK (John) — Working through 6-meter band fundamentals, comparing an end-fed wire (with tuner) against a mobile vertical (borrowed from a friend). Trying to understand propagation and get into the Farnsworth repeater on 6m, without success so far. Also troubleshooting a solar-powered Meshtastic node (ESP32-based, 3000 mAh battery) that isn't holding charge through cloudy stretches.

N7BEB (Bruce) — Checked in; reported later in the net (see discussion below).

KM7BLA (Spencer) — Checked in to say hello, no report.

KD7RR (Randy) — Late check-in, no report — just enjoying listening in.

KI7GGG (Nick) — Late check-in, no report.

KN0JI (Noji) — Late check-in, no report.

Group Discussion Highlights

  • 6-meter repeater access: Wade (KK7RRW) confirmed the Farnsworth repeater is active and that he hits it reliably every Friday night, and shared offset/tone info. Bruce (N7BEB) described success working 6m with both a J-pole and a "flower pot" vertical raised to about 20 feet.
  • Mesh node power comparison: Extended discussion comparing the NRF52840 (Nordic chip) vs. ESP32-based nodes/Heltec V4 boards. Consensus: Nordic-chip nodes are far more power-efficient, running multiple days on a 3000 mAh battery, while ESP32/Heltec V4 nodes often die within a day.
  • Antenna connectors: KN0JI asked about the antenna connectors on an NRF52840-based board; the group identified them as U.FL (Hirose) connectors.


Program Announcement

Carl announced plans to add a monthly Zoom call alongside the weekly radio net, inspired by the Vienna Wireless Society's Maker subgroup (~20 members), which Bruce is also part of. Bruce offered to share a link to that group's approach, describing how video calls let members show builds live and get real-time troubleshooting help.

Magic Smoke Award

No submissions this week.

Net closed at 7:44 PM local time. Write-ups, links, or photos to accompany reports can be sent to k0wly.ham@gmail.com for inclusion on the blog (uvarcmakernet.blogspot.com). Join the discussion on the UVARC Slack, #maker-net channel.


After the net, K0WLY followed up with KN0JI about what he is using for his Meshcore repeater. This is the information:

This is what I am using:
Radio:
Antenna:
Antenna Cable:
Battery:
Solar Panel:
Enclosure:
Breather vent:
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Monday, September 14, 2026

14 September 2026

 

Net Overview

  • Net Control: Carl (K0WLY) transmitting from Saratoga Springs.

  • Purpose: Bridging traditional ham radio home-brewing with modern maker culture.

Check-Ins
  • K0WLY (Carl, Saratoga Springs)
  • W7OM (Michael, Mona, Utah)
  • K7SJC (Jeff, Orem)
  • AJ7KY (Kyle, Pleasant Grove)
  • KM7CSR (Mike, Pleasant Grove)
  • KM7BLA (Spencer, Holiday)
  • N7BEB (Bruce, SLC)
  • K7BFY (Robert, Cedar Valley, Late check-in)
Announcements:
  • There is a CW practice gear build scheduled for this coming Saturday evening (coordinated during the BYU football game).
  • A new "Builds" section has been added to the UVARC Slack channel under files, where members can list and collaborate on projects.
  • Blog notes and audio files will be posted on the UVARC Maker Net Blog.
Bench Reports & Projects

  • Jeff (K7SJC): Working on installing a phase-two whole-house surge protector inside his breaker panel (costing around $45 on eBay) after seeing a friend's routers get fried by a lightning storm.

  • Michael (W7OM): Built a Pebble mini HF QRP radio kit (20 meters, 5 watts, costing about $50). Noted that it's beginner-friendly, though he encountered a minor issue with the power switch.

  • Carl (K0WLY): Started a multi-radio switcher project designed to let a user connect up to six different main radio units to a single microphone and foot pedal with auto-switching and volume-level memory. He also worked on keyer firmware updates for the upcoming Saturday build.
  • Kyle (KJ7SJC): Worked on a 20-meter portable setup and a battery pack for his QMX radio. He recommended using fine sandpaper rather than trying to burn off the enamel with heat when prepping magnet wire for soldering joints.

General Discussion
  • POTA Bands and QMX Transceiver Versions
    • Band Selection Considerations: Carl (K0WLI) brought up a question about which frequency range version to choose for the QMX transceiver kit (available in options like 80–20m, 60–15m, and 20–10m) when planning for Portable On The Air (POTA) operations.
    • Community Feedback: Participants noted that 20 meters and 40 meters are generally the most active and reliable bands for POTA. While 80 meters works, it requires much longer antenna runs, making the mid-range options (such as 60–15m) or the 20–10m bands very popular for portable, simple-wire setups.
      • 6-Meter Interest: Carl noted the temptation of the QMX Plus version for its 6-meter capability, which would allow him to join the club's 6-meter net since his current G90 radio does not cover 6 meters.

  • Keyer Modes (Mode A vs. Mode B)
    • Paddle Behavior: The group dove into a discussion about electronic keyer paddle settings. N7BEB mentioned starting with Mode B because it is slightly more common, though some operators prefer or switch back to Mode A.
    • The Technical Difference: The conversation highlighted how the two modes handle squeeze-keying behavior upon releasing the paddles—specifically how elements finish transmitting if the squeeze is released early.

Magic Smoke Award

  • Bruce (N7BEB): Tried updating mesh nodes via Bluetooth from too far away, which caused a response drop and requires him to climb up on the roof to fix it.

Net Closure

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Monday, September 7, 2026

07 September 2026

 UVARC Maker Net Summary

Meeting Details

  • Date & Time: Monday at 7:00 PM – 7:27 PM MDT

  • Net Control Station (NCS): Carl (K0WLY), transmitting from Saratoga Springs

Attendance & Check-ins

  • Carl (K0WLY) – Net Control, Saratoga Springs

  • Jeff (K7SJC) – Orem

  • Robert (KE7KTQ) – Saratoga Springs

  • Spencer (KM7BLA) – Holladay

  • Maison (KO6JIT) - Orem

  • Randy (KD7RR) - American Fork

  • Ray (WA7ITZ) - Salt Lake City


Bench Reports & Project Updates

  • Carl (K0WLY):

    • MeshCore Solar Repeater: Completed build and setup for a MeshCore repeater unit equipped with a solar power rig; operational and ready for outdoor installation.

    • SDR Auto-Mute Switch: Built an updated circuit board designed to mute speaker output on an SDR during transmitter key-up (following a concept previously discussed on the 76ers net).



    • CW Keyer Board: Completed minor revisions on a custom CW keyer PCB design and placed an order for boards.

    • UVARC Slack Community Tools: Set up new resources on the UVARC Slack workspace, including sign-up sheets in the files section for group build projects and a shared repository for reference documents (including an introductory MeshCore overview).

Crowdsourcing & Group Discussion

  • MeshCore Community Resources:

    • Jeff (K7SJC) noted downloading Carl's MeshCore overview document from the #maker Slack channel to learn more about mesh networking roles and gear setups.

    • Robert (KE7KTQ) verified access to the UVARC Slack channel files section.

  • Off-Grid & Emergency Power Solutions:

    • Robert (KE7KTQ) detailed his current off-grid power build consisting of four 200 Ah batteries paired with solar panels and asked the group for their off-grid shack configurations.

    • Jeff (K7SJC) shared his portable setup utilizing two Tenergy 300 Ah LiFePO4 power cells paired with a fold-out "briefcase" solar panel to extend runtime during field/airbrushing operations.

    • Spencer (KM7BLA) detailed his shack backup power system running two 100W solar panels into a 100 Ah LiFePO4 battery, which powers his QRP rigs and VHF station year-round with occasional shore-power top-offs during winter months.

Net Closure

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Friday, September 4, 2026

31 August 2026

 UVARC Maker Net Recap — August 31, 2026

Wade (KK7RRW) had to fill in for me (K0WLY) as I had other commitments. I appreciate him filling in for me! Wade wasn't able to get a recording of the net, so this is all we have for the blog this week:

We had 5 normal check-ins and 2 late checking. There were 2 bench reports and 1 magic smoke award.

Here’s who participated:

KE7KTQ  9/1/2026 1:01
AJ7KY  9/1/2026 1:02   Bench report
KK7IKB  9/1/2026 1:02
K7SJC  9/1/2026 1:02   Bench report
KM7EKD  9/1/2026 1:03
KD7RR   9/1/2026 1:17
KM7BLA  9/1/2026 1:18

No smoke, but K7SJC shared a story about a time an antenna he was installing fell and hit his forehead and left a scar. 

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Monday, August 24, 2026

24 August 2026

 UVARC Maker Net Recap — August 24, 2026

Three months in on 146.780 MHz, and Monday night's net turned into a bit of a milestone check-in on top of the usual bench reports. Here's the rundown.

Check-ins:

K0WLY         CARL     Saratoga Springs
KK7RRW   Wade     LEHI
KK7UCF   JANA      ALPINE
K7JC         JOHN     Lake Forest Park
K2CES         Clyde      Alpine
KN0JI         NOJI       OREM
K7GSR         Greg       Riverton
N7BEB         BRUCE   SLC
KK7FON   MATT      OREM
K7SJC         Jeff          Orem
AJ7KY         Kyle         Pleasant Grove
KK7IKB         DAVE       SPANISH FORK

Bench Reports

Carl (K0WLY) got a mesh node fully built and running this week — complete with a 3D-printed case — and is already logging roughly 350 contacts stretching from southern Utah up into Wyoming on MeshCore. He also leveled up his CW Keyer: it can already play back an audio file through the keyer for decode practice, and now has an outboard sidetone path so you can monitor exactly what's being sent to the radio, plus phone-triggered canned messages like "CQ CQ CQ" and your callsign.

I used the following parts, though I could have probably done it for less money if I had known what I was doing:
Battery  
Heltec Radio Module
The case was download from MakerWorld and 3D printed.

Jana (KK7UCF) spent time up on Mount Timpanogos and is on the hunt for a 3D-printed NanoVNA probe holder spotted at a recent club meeting — turns out **Jeff (K7SJC)** made it and offered to share where to get one.

Jeff (K7SJC) didn't get any bench time in this week — with his wife eyeing a move to a condo, he's three books deep on stealth, apartment-friendly antennas instead.

Clyde (K2CES) had a big week: dishes duty complete, and he sat beside his wife as she passed her Amateur Extra exam with flying colors — while he passed his own General upgrade the same day. He also held down the fort with the dog while she was up at Emerald Lake with an emergency response/search-and-rescue team.

Noji (KN0JI) didn't have a report this week but checked in to say hi — he's neck-deep in projects, most notably helping his son with the ARDF (direction-finding) project.

Greg (K7GSR) built a fast command-line callsign lookup tool to help identify partial callsigns heard on HF — cached the whole database locally for near-instant lookups, refreshed every couple of weeks. Built it with an AI coding assistant for about a dollar in compute cost.

Bruce (N7BEB) is building a fold-up Moxon-style directional antenna for 2m, aimed at portable use with a 2m CW QRP fox-hunt project, and picked up an M5Stack Tab5 to try as a pan adapter with his QRP rig. He's also running Meshtastic on channel 51 (per the 801 Labs group's testing) and seeing several hundred nodes from Ogden to Spanish Fork and up toward Logan — he's weighing switching a node over to MeshCore, which Carl confirmed is what he's running.

Kyle (AJ7KY) tuned up an end-fed half-wave antenna with his NanoVNA and got it working well, along with wrestling some drone motor troubles.

Three Months In: Why We're Here

Carl marked the net's third month on the air by asking everyone why they show up, what they expected, and where they'd like to see it go. The answers were a nice reminder of what this net is about: people come for the build talk instead of just check-ins and traffic, for the 3D-printing show-and-tell, for a local Utah crew to bounce project ideas off of, and — for more than a few — just to listen, learn, and be inspired by what everyone else is tinkering with. A few takeaways for the road ahead: more publicity (maybe a spot on UVARC's official net schedule) to pull in folks beyond Utah and Salt Lake counties, and real interest in an in-person maker meetup for builds and presentations.

Carl's already acting on that: he's got 25 CW Keyer boards ready to go (SMD components pre-populated, just through-hole soldering left) and three irons on hand for a group build session, plus another QRP Labs QMX+ group build in the works.

New Project Idea: Taming Solar Inverter Noise

Wade (KK7RRW) is dealing with heavy HF interference from his solar inverter at full output and is looking into toroid's and filtering options. Carl suggested borrowing a spectrum analyzer from within the group to pin down exactly which frequencies are affected — a good first step toward designing the right filter.



Magic Smoke Award

This week's award goes to KN0JI

 whose fox transmitter's 9V battery connector got twisted and shorted while he was adjusting a wire — resulting in a burned-up connector and a solid puff of smoke. Certificate incoming!

Housekeeping

KN0JI has added the Maker Net to UARC's official net schedule, per Bruce's suggestion last week — so it's now easier for new folks to find us. (And for the record: KN0JI is UARC's newsletter/chief editor, not secretary — Carl stands corrected.)

---

Got write-ups, links, or photos to go with your report? Send them to k0wly.ham@gmail.com and they'll be added here. Join the conversation on the UVARC Slack **#makernet** channel, and catch the full audio on this blog. See you next Monday at 146.780!

73 and happy making — K0WLY


Jeff Cold put this information together after the meeting. Thanks Jeff, this is great information!

The Orem Library has a Makerspace on the ground floor.  It's staffed from 9-9 Mon-Sat.  My wife works there part-time:  Denise Cold.  There are four 3-D printers.  You can bring your own filament or use theirs sold by the gram.  You don't have to wait for it to print.  They will call you when it's done.  You don't have to create your own design.  There are many items out in the Thingiverse or HAM Radio 3-D to just download and print.  Questions?  Call them directly at 801-229-7277.  You do need an Orem Library card and be at least 18 or have someone who is at least 18 with you.  Don't live in Orem?  You can get a card with a nonresident fee of $100/year or $50 for 6 months.  Their printers are not exhausted so they cannot print using ASA, Polycarbonate (PC), Nylon, and materials blended with carbon fiber or metal. (edited) 
thingiverse.com
Thingiverse - The community for Open Hardware
thingiverse.com
Printables.com
Explore collection of radioamateur designs that are perfect for your 3D printer. Download and 3D print STL models tagged with radioamateur.
Printables.com
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Monday, August 17, 2026

17 August 2026

 

UVARC Maker Net Recap — August 17, 2026

Another solid Monday night on 146.780 MHz! Here's what the homebrewing crew got into this week.

Check-ins:

K0WLY     CARL     Saratoga Springs
AJ7KY     Kyle     Pleasant Grove
KB7VRU     BRIAN     Lehi
KM7CSR    Mike      PLEASANT GROVE
K7SJC     Jeff      Orem
N7BEB     BRUCE    SLC
KM7BLA    Spencer     Salt Lake City
KN0JI     NOJI         OREM
KK7RRW    Wade         LEHI
WA7ITZ     RAY       SALT LAKE CITY

Bench Reports

Kyle (AJ7KY) shared a bench report about a new antenna mast he purchased. Extra details posted on Slack for anyone who wants to dig in further. Pulled from slack channel:  "It extends to 24 ft. They also sell a 30 ft version. It's fairly sturdy for weighing 2lbs 12oz. It's 4'7" closed, so it's too big to put into a backpack."


Carl (K0WLY) had a rough-but-productive week: a radio repair went sideways when a protective mod damaged the very channel he'd just fixed, so he swapped the parts into a spare unit instead — that one's now living in his vehicle. On the upside, his SOLIDWORKS for Makers license is back online, the enclosure for his CW Keyer (CWK) project is finished, and new firmware features are in progress.

Spencer (KM7BLA) has been 3D printing MOLLE panels and connectors in PETG for his vehicle. Verdict: PETG prints fast but doesn't hold up to sun/heat — panels warped. He's eyeing ASA as a more heat-resistant alternative; newer nylon filaments (printable on machines like the Bambu A1) also came up as a possible fix.

QRP Labs QMX Group Build

Kyle (AJ7KY) is organizing a group build of the QRP Labs QMX/QMX+, a compact 5–10W portable HF transceiver, with experienced builders on hand to help with the tricky parts. The next session is Saturday, August 29 at 11:00 AM at Kyle's place — look up AJ7KY on QRZ for the address. More builds are planned for September/October.

Separately, Jeff (K7SJC) finished up a small QRP DIY CW kit and will be giving it away at the next club meeting.

SMD Soldering Presentation Coming to UVARC

Jeff (K7SJC), fresh off giving a surface-mount soldering presentation to the Mecklenburg Amateur Radio Society, is bringing the same show-and-tell session to UVARC — hot air stations, binocular microscopes, ceramic tweezers, and his Hakko iron included. No equipment needed from attendees, just curiosity.

DIY Direction Finding: A Homebrew ARDF System

The highlight of the night was KN0JI's update on a direction-finding project his son has been building — a low-cost (potentially near-zero-cost) alternative to commercial Doppler DF gear. The concept: distributed receiving stations (Baofengs hooked to laptops via programming cables in early tests) feed signal-strength and location data into a custom app that triangulates the transmitter in near real time.

Early tests with a 15 mW "fox" transmitter nailed the location almost instantly, with later versions narrowing accuracy to about a 15×15 ft area — and down to roughly 3×3 ft using mobile radios (a Kenwood TM-710A and Yaesu FT-8800R). Bruce (N7BEB) dug into the physics with KN0JI, confirming the system leans on RSSI plus antenna, elevation, and location data, and pointed out that with enough participating stations the math can solve for a transmitter's location without needing per-station calibration at all.

The practical pitch: if interference shows up on a repeater or net frequency, participants fire up their radios and the app, and the group gets a fix within seconds — no dedicated DF hardware required. There's early talk of extending the concept onto mesh networking so it doesn't depend on internet-connected laptops.

Mesh Networking Article — Coming in October

KN0JI is writing an article on setting up MeshCore from scratch, tying in lessons from the ARDF project. It's targeted for the October issue, since Maker Net feature articles run on even-numbered months (nothing planned for September). Bruce (N7BEB) mentioned a Salt Lake City group doing mesh propagation testing that's worth a look for anyone interested, and noted Meshtastic seems to be giving way to MeshCore. If you're into mesh, the conversation is continuing on the UVARC Slack.

Magic Smoke Award

This week's award goes to net control himself — Carl (K0WLY) — for turning a working radio channel into a non-working one mid-repair. No one else reported anything worse!

Got write-ups, links, or photos to go with your report? Send them to k0wly.ham@gmail.com and they'll be added here. Join the conversation on the UVARC Slack #makernet channel, and catch the full audio on this blog. See you next Monday at 146.780!

73 and happy making — K0WLY

Transcript of this week's UVARC Maker Net Transcript is auto generated by Audacity
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Monday, August 10, 2026

10 August 2026

 Check-ins: K0WLY (Carl), K07BUX (Jody, Eagle Mountain), KN0JI (Noji), KK7RW (Wade), AJ7KY (Kyle), KM7CSR (Mike), N7BEB (Bruce), KC7XC (Stan) checked in.

Bench Reports:

  • Carl (K0WLY): Built and 3D-printed a SolidWorks-designed case for his CW Keyer (CWK), though his SolidWorks Maker subscription lapsed mid-project and he had to renew it ($50/year). Also updated the CW Keyer firmware so it can load and play back files at adjustable speed for practice, and is working on adding over-the-air/cable firmware updates so users don't have to compile and flash manually. Separately, diagnosed and is repairing a failed receive channel on his mobile radio, discovering the board has unpopulated protection component footprints the manufacturer left off.

  • Jody (K07BUX): Testing a new 29.5-foot vertical antenna — wire run through the center of a Jackite 10m mast, suspended with a 3D-printed top block, fed with a 9:1 unun and four 18-foot counterpoises. Reported good results in the first 24 hours, including an FT8 contact into Lithuania despite otherwise poor band conditions.
  • N7BEB (Bruce): No major builds, but has a QMX+ kit and started inventorying parts/winding toroids in preparation; may attend a planned group kit-build session (Carl is targeting September or October).

Ideation / Main Discussion — Signal Direction-Finding:
KN0JI raised an idea for building affordable hardware/software to triangulate interference, stuck mics, or problem transmissions, citing two recent real-world incidents in Salt Lake County — a group using ham frequencies as improvised walkie-talkies for hours, and a station stuck on cross-band repeat — that took hours or days to track down. He wants a low-cost (under ~$100) solution accessible to average operators. The group discussed several approaches:

  • KrakenRF/KrakenSDR — purpose-built RF direction-finding hardware (~$750/node), considered too pricey for the goal.
  • Doppler direction-finding nodes — cheaper, needs at least 3 coordinated nodes; can network nodes over IP to auto-triangulate a source, accurate to within feet using phase/timing differences.
  • Classic maritime radio direction finders (RDF) — a member with boating experience described using pre-GPS RDF units with three coordinated stations for triangulation; noted used units show up on eBay/Facebook Marketplace for roughly $25–$100.
  • DIY loop antenna with a NanoVNA — a small tuned loop with a trimmer capacitor gives a directional null useful for tracking signals from multiple locations.
  • Time-of-flight/TDOA multi-antenna systems — a member described using this method professionally (locating buses in a bus yard), noting it requires three antennas and fast enough microcontrollers to measure timing differences.
  • Distributed/crowdsourced network — KC7XC suggested fixed LoRa/Meshtastic-style nodes around the valley each carrying an RDF/Doppler sensor. Carl said he's already been exploring a low-cost, crowdsourced solution (aiming for ~$5–10 per participant, using existing radios plus a dongle) and hinted at revealing more details in a future net.

Magic Smoke Award: No damage/failures reported, though Carl shared a near-miss: low-temperature desoldering solder wire he'd ordered arrived from Amazon melted into a blob (likely from heat in transit) and had to be reordered.

Closing: Net closed at 7:41 PM local time. Carl reminded everyone to send write-ups, links, or photos to k0wly.ham@gmail.com for the blog (uvarcmakernet.blogspot.com) and pointed people to the UVARC Slack's MakerNet channel for ongoing discussion.

Transcript of this week's UVARC Maker Net Transcript is auto generated by Audacity and formatted via Claude AI.
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21 September 2026

  UVARC Maker Net — September 21, 2026 Net control: K0WLY (Carl), Saratoga Springs Frequency: 146.78 | Opened: 6:58 PM | Closed: 7:44 P...

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