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. 

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

Antenna

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

Audio Recording of this week's UVARC Maker Net

Transcript of this week's UVARC Maker Net

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 - The community for Open Hardware

thingiverse.com

Printables.com

RADIOAMATEUR models for 3D printer  | 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

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

Audio Recording of this week's UVARC Maker Net

Transcript of this week's UVARC Maker Net Transcript is auto generated by Audacity

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.

Audio Recording of this week's UVARC Maker Net

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

03 August 2026

 

03 August 2026  Maker Net  Summary

Title: UVARC Maker Net Recap

Net Host: NV9N

Net Open Time: 19:00 Local Time

Website / Resources: uvarcmakernet.blogspot.com | UVARC Slack (#MakerNet) 

Check-ins: NV9N (Andrew), KM7ATW (Jacksong), KC7XE (Stanley), K7SJC (Sherman), KN0JI (Noji), AJ7KY (Kyle), AD7VW (Daniel), KM7BLA (Spencer), KB7UMV (Gary) all checked in over the course of the net.

Bench Reports:

• KM7ATW - Prank device. IR sensor. Funny sounds when he sat down.
• KC7XE - QRP radio kit. New firware. Tracking down bugs. MAGIC SMOKE AWARD WINNER 
• K7SJC - Jeff. Helped son move. Gifted samsung tv. Last year demonstrated hamclock on a rpi to display all the time. 
• KN0JI - This Thursday night. Monthly club meeting. State section HOA initiative. CC&Rs. Government could encroach on your ability to put up antennas. ARRL fighting that. This will let us know what is happening in UTAH. The speaker is ill, hopefully well.  Noji is working on 160 meter antenna.  4-5 kits to give away to the makers. 40m board, qrp pixie cw, not populated, 2 meter offset attenuator for fox hunt (partly built), a tuner kit. Son that is a ham that would like to join a maker net but not interested in checking in. Wants ideas on what to make software for.
• KM7BLA - Magic Smoke Runner up (Funny story): Sale on kits on Amazon. Cheap packtenna knock off. $35 sale. Built it about a month ago. Used it camping and it worked great. Used it for the 10 and 6 meter nets. Tried on the 6 meter net in a vertical configuration. For the life of me I couldn't get it to tune. Kept trying things, checked connections, made. Turns out you have to connect the antenna to the radio to get them to work . 
• KB7UMV - new end fed 80m wire

Magic Smoke Award:  KC7XE - End fed half wave antenna, pulling it out of a tree. Pulling it out of the tree but it got snagged. Pulled and pulled, At some point the wire broke loose 26ga. The wire broke near the far end. The force on the wire had stretched it 3 feet longer (40m  resonant - 20m half wave). It was no longer resonant on the frequency, it was closer to 60 meters resonant.

Net Closed:  19:43 Local Time

No audio recording was made, so there is also no transcript of this week's net.

27 July 2026

27 July 2026  Maker Net  Summary

Title: UVARC Maker Net Recap

Net Host: K0WLY

Net Open Time: 19:00 Local Time

Website / Resources: uvarcmakernet.blogspot.com | UVARC Slack (#MakerNet) 

Check-ins: NV9N (Andrew), N7RW, KK7RRW (Wade, Lehi), N7BEB (Bruce, Salt Lake City), KM7BLA (Spencer, Salt Lake City), KM7CSJ (Colin), K7SJC (Sherman), KM7GQN (Doug), K0WLY (Carl), KM0JI (Norm), KB0YD (Boyd, Highland), and KI7SJC (Jeff, Orem) all checked in over the course of the net.

Bench Reports:

• Carl (K0WLY): Light week — mostly out of town, ordered some parts, and accidentally fried the data lines on a USB-A port by jamming a USB-C plug into it.
• Andrew (NV9N): Modified a Yaesu FT3D handheld and an FTM-300 mobile rig with MARS-cap mods to open up out-of-band transmit (GMRS/FRS). Has been running two Creality printers (an Ender 5 Pro and newer Ender 3) non-stop making Gridfinity storage boxes for his bench. Also wrote a "POTA Hunter" program that watches WSJT-X's frequency and cross-references the POTA app to flag hunted stations automatically.
• Wade (KK7RRW): Reprogrammed all radios to a new frequency set and raved about switching everything over to Anderson Powerpole connectors, including a distribution block on the bench and a 3D-printed USB Powerpole adapter used while camping.

Group Discussion / Ideation (See transcript link below for full details):

• Interest in getting together for a group kit-build (a "QRP-Labs"-style kit, transcribed as "gearback"), possibly starting first part of August, with a Slack coordinator organizing it; Carl may run a second round in September/October.
• A member shared experience building a WSPR (multi-band "whisper") transmitter kit from an April QST article — programmable to hop 80–10m — and discussed propagation results.
• Discussion of using the Orem Library Maker Lab (which has Bambu 3D printers) as a possible meeting space for builds; confirmed meeting rooms can be reserved there.
• A running list of favorite 3D-printed ham radio accessories: dog-bone antenna insulators, pulleys for raising dipoles/masts, truck cup-holder radio head mounts, mic holders, PVC "Yagi" cross connectors (printed in ASA carbon-fiber composite), a paracord line winder shaped like a "K" instead of an "X," camera-pole antenna mast adapters, NanoVNA terminator holders with a wrist strap (see pic below), an RG8X cable winder, and a rope-launching "rope guide tool" / slingshot-style "wrist rocket" for getting lines into trees.

Magic Smoke Award: No submissions this week.

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

Audio Recording of this week's UVARC Maker Net

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

21 July 2026

 

21 July 2026  Maker Net  Summary

Title: UVARC Maker Net Recap: CW Keyer Updates, QMX Group Build & SMD Desoldering Tips

Net Host: K0WLY

Check-ins / Participants: Carl (K0WLY), Wade (KK7RRW), Stan (KC7XC), Andrew (NV9N), Doug (KM7GNN)

Net Close Time: 19:41 Local Time

Website / Resources: uvarcmakernet.blogspot.com | UVARC Slack (#MakerNet)

🛠️ Bench Reports & Project Updates

• K0WLY (Code Keyer Sidetone Fix): K0WLI resolved a minor bug in his CW Keyer practice unit. The receiving side now plays audio tones properly during head-copy practice. Extra PCB boards from the recent fair are available; ordering with the promo code UvarkMakerNet on his website www.cowlacious.com provides parts at cost.  EDITORS NOTE: This probably won't be up on the site for about a week.

• NV9N (Andrew): Constructed an "ugly antenna" during a meeting and successfully recalibrated his 3D printers to eliminate rough top-layer print issues. Andrew noted that his son loved using the CW paddles at the fair and wants to build a set next.

📻 QMX Rig Group Build Announcement

• 10% Group Discount: Stan (KC7XC) noted that ordering 10 or more QMX kits from QRP Labs qualifies for a 10% group discount.

• Signup Sheet: K0WLY is setting up an online signup spreadsheet on Slack and the blog. A group build night is planned for August or September.

• Location Scouting: K0WLY reaches out to explore potential maker space access at the Orem Public Library.

🔬 Technical Discussion: SMD Desoldering & MARS Mod

• The Challenge: Andrew (NV9N) shared his difficulty removing a tiny resistor for a MARS mod on his Yaesu FT3D HT using standard irons/tweezers.

• Best Practices & Tips:

  • Hot Tweezers vs. Hot Air: Hot tweezers heat both pads simultaneously for instant removal. Small-nozzle hot air rework stations work well when moved in small circles over the component to prevent trace/pad lifting.

  • Resource Recommendation: Check out Mr. SolderFix on YouTube for excellent surface-mount (SMD) soldering and rework tutorials.

🧰 Workbench Test Equipment Roundtable

• Variable Power Supply: KC7XC (Stan) highlighted a clean, current/voltage-regulated bench power supply as his most essential non-multimeter piece of gear.

• Antenna Analyzers / Vector Network Analyzers (VNAs):

• The net discussed the popular NanoVNA-H4 (~$60) for sweeping SWR, measuring coax lengths, and tuning portable/HF antennas (such as the JPC-12 vertical).

• Dedicated units like RigExpert were noted as more streamlined and purpose-built for field tuning.

Audio Recording of this week's UVARC Maker Net

Transcript of this week's UVARC Maker Net Transcript is auto generated by Audacity and formatted via Google Gemini.