Thursday, March 11, 2010

Ham Radio Symposium


Information copied from Phil Duggan~ N1EP’s Great Website : http://www.n1ep.com

Mark you calendar now for March 14, 2010. That is when the Ham Radio Symposium will be held in Ellsworth, Maine. Two major themes will be highlighted:

1. 1.Harnessing the Sun to Power Your Shack & Portable Operations
2. 2.Home Brew Projects & Kits

The Maine Solar Energy Association (MESEA) will demonstrate how solar energy and ham radio were meant for each other. Powering the typical ham shack and portable operations such as Field Day and when camping and backpacking will be exhibited. MESEA President Richard Komp writes, “Solar power is such a natural for self-sufficient ham radios [and their operators].”

Symposium organizers also want to highlight some of the fun aspects of our hobby. For many hams, taking a soldering gun in hand and building their own equipment from kits or scratch is a blast. Displays and demonstrations of several kits and home brew projects will be on hand, including QRP transceivers and other electronic marvels.

Other demos and displays will include packet radio, photographic trip to Downeast ham radio’s past, and much more.

The symposium is sponsored by the Ellsworth Amateur Wireless Association and will be held at the Meadow View Apartments Phase IV Dining Hall on Tweedie Lane in Ellsworth from noon to 4:00 pm. No charge for admission. Donations towards EAWA Insurance Fund gladly accepted.

A VE Session will be held in the morning starting at 9:00 AM.

Look for updates, maps and other details at Signals Down East Maine web page at http://www.n1ep.com or call Symposium Coordinator Phil Duggan, N1EP at 546-7028 or via packet radio MBX N1EP-1 on 145.010 Mhz

SYMPOSIUM ADDENDUM:

Internationally known QRP Kit Designer/Dealer Rex Harper, W1R EX will be a featured speaker at the Symposium on March 14.
Rex is well known among America’s QRP community and was a featured speaker at England’s G-QRP.COM Convention in the United Kingdom Last year. (See the 65th Anniversary Issue of CQ Magazine to read about W1REX at the convention)
W1REX maintains www.QRPme.com where he sells many QRP and other electronic project kits. Many of these will be on display and available for purchase at the symposium. Rex will lead a “hands-on” demonstration where participants will construct a project in less than 30 minutes. Transmitters and other projects can be easy and loads of fun to build. Imagine building your own transmitter inside of a pen casing! Sounds like something out of a James Bond movie, but hams can, and do build such fascinating, functioning circuits. Rex will also be donating one of his kits as a door or raffle prize at the symposium.
Rex’s presentation will be one of two main topics at the symposium, the other being a Solar Power for Ham Radio presentation given by the Maine Solar Energy Association (see bulletin below). Other topics and demos will include packet radio by AA1PI/N1MEA, photo display, and more.

Call Hancock County EMCOMM repeater 146.910 neg offset with a pl of 151.4 for talk in.