W5AWS Dual-Band Slim-Jim Antenna

Hearing good quality communications from a station using an N9TAX Labs (https://n9taxlabs.com/) Slim-Jim Dual-Band antenna for 2 m & 70 cm during a TARC Net, and considering the good words said about the antenna by Jack, W5JHC, and Mark, WA5MA, I decided to acquire and test one myself, the Slim-Jim being relatively inexpensive. Another aspect of this test was to prove that erecting the antenna is easy and can be done anywhere that the antenna can be hung from one end. Read more about my experience here.

THE PRESIDENT’S CORNER

Here we are… The end of the year and it’s been an awesome year! We started out the year having our monthly meetings on the air and finally over the summer we started to meet again in person in the Keplinger Hall parking lot…not indoors, but better than what we’ve had to do for the last year and a half. At that first parking lot meeting we got to see the TARC Comm Trailer. It’s a work in progress, but it sure looks good and it’s very functional. We used it for the bike rides, Field Day, Route 66 on […]

Tape Measure VHF/UHF Yagi Antenna

Content & photos from our friends at W5NOR.com One of the most fun amateur antenna projects is a PVC measuring tape antenna. The flexible measuring tapes make it easy to transport, and the PVC comes apart to make it even easier to carry. This type of antenna works well for direction finding in games like a fox hunt or when you need just a little more gain to hit the repeater. This design is an adaptation of the wb2hol tape measure project. Joe’s site has many details regarding the derivation, pattern, and gain properties of this antenna. Materials Needed 6′ WI-FI […]

USB Straight Key Adapter – W5AWS

Having discovered that the X Window based Morse tutor program, xcwcp, is capable of interpreting keyed CW that it receives, I wanted to use a straight key instead of the computer mouse or keyboard. Also, I wanted to avoid needing to learn how to write a device driver to receive input from the straight key through the USB port, then find out how to get xcwcp to recognize the new input device. Read the whole article by downloading the pdf.

Tulsa Amateur Radio Club Christmas Party

QST, QST, QST,…The Tulsa Amateur Radio Club Christmas party is back! The date is December 21st at 6 PM. Location is the Golden Corral at 71st and Mingo. If you were at the last club meeting you saw the gifts that Bart, N5TWB has made available for the raffle drawing. There will also be a dirty HAM Santa drawing as well. It should be a great time, lots of fun and good food. See you there! Mark WA5MA

Call Sign Change / User Name Change / Help

I get this question from time to time or I see a new account come through for a member already in the system. So here are some helpful pointers to update your information on the site! If your issue falls under the below items just shoot the webmaster@w5ias.com an email letting them know what you need done. Most things are easier for me to change than for you to have to fumble through them. Some things I will help coordinate a connection with someone on the staff that can help. Call sign/vanity change Email address change Membership expiration wrong General […]

W5AWS Mobile Dual-band Antennas

In this document, I look at using portable transceivers in the home environment where establishing a permanent shack isn’t possible or necessarily desirable. I prefer to make-do with what I’ve got, which enables me to get going almost anywhere, avoiding permanent installation. To read the whole document click this link.

Nov 11 NTS Net

We had 9 check-ins, passed one piece of traffic.  As I took the traffic and AE5ME did find me after the net (he was driving in from out of town during the net), I passed the message on to him after the Tulsa ARES net ended.  He will then send via WinLink toward the Dallas Local Net representative who will deliver the message on-air probably on the early net in Dallas on Friday evening.  Had that opportunity not been available, I would have taken the message to the 7290 Traffic net, which I join weekly on 7290 LSB from 10am […]