[VHFcontesting] Midwest VHF/UHF Society Noise Sources at Hamvention

[Tom Holmes]

OK, this is a shameless plug. If it is too shameless, I'm am sure the
moderators will take appropriate action. I will not be offended or cry or
resign from these lists if they feel this announcement is out of line. If
they do pass this along, my thanks to them for their support.

 

The Midwest VHF/UHF Society (MVUS), located in SW Ohio, will have a small
number of VHF noise sources available at the Dayton Hamvention next weekend.
These are the result of a club project to learn more about noise
measurements and raise a few bucks for the club to pursue other projects. 

 

These units are designed to provide a stable ENR with input voltages ranging
from 9 to 30 VDC. Also, they come with the fabled ENR table, having been
measured against a calibrated HP 346A on an HP 8970S NF system. Physically,
they are configured much like the HP 346x series sources, with a female BNC
for the pulsed input, and a female SMA on the output. The copper case
provides shielding from those noise sources you don't want to measure. 

 

12VDC operation allows taking these along when roving to test your rig when
something just isn't right. Or take it up the tower with a 9V battery to
test your remote mounted converter.

 

An ENR table will be provided along with a graph of ENR vs. Frequency.
Usable frequency range is 50 MHz to 3 GHz for the VHF models we will have at
the show. We will take orders for the microwave version, which is usable to
at least 11 GHz. The ENR table includes not only the standard ordinate
frequencies (10 MHz, 1 GHz, 2 GHz.) but also many common ham band
frequencies as well.

 

The VHF model is $45 at Dayton, $50 afterwards (shipping costs, you know),
and the microwave model can be ordered at the show for delivery within 30
days. The microwave version is $90 (including shipping in the US) due to the
cost of the 'genuine' Noise/COM beam lead diode. 

 

Recent MVUS projects include a 23 cm beacon at 1700' ASL here in Dayton,
microwave beacons on various bands at the Hamvention site, and providing
some of the test signals for the ARRL Frequency Measurement Test (OK, that's
an HF thing, but some of you are into Cs and Rb frequency standards and know
why this is important to microwavers too).

 

We will be in booth SA332. Please let me know off list if you want to order
one of these, or pick one up at Hamvention. My email is N8ZM at ARRL.NET.

 

Thanks and I hope to see many of you in Dayton next weekend!

 

Tom Holmes, N8ZM

Tipp City, OH

EM79