HAM/Howard Community College/Fall 2011/550 BH^2/Weekly Reports

Link to 550_BH^2 team page.

Week 1
We debated the merits of either boosting the power and range of a wireless router or building a radio transceiver from scratch. It was decided that the building of a transceiver was more in line with the description of the HAM project. With our project goal in mind, we assigned tasks to each other including looking into the laws and regulations governing radio transmissions, designs/schematics of transceivers and antennae, and the overall science of HAM radios.

Week 2
We brought back information stating that a license is required to send live transmissions on specific frequencies that are "open" to HAM radio operators and that Radio Shack is no longer the place to go if you want to find electronic parts such as transistors and wiring. (Alternative locations?) We also discovered several locations that hosted designs for both antennae and transceiver. We experimented on a pair of walkie talkies that were disassembled during class to get a look at the inner workers. Pictures were taken and posted on Flckr.

We attempted to augment the power supply to the walkie talkies by using an external power supply. This worked for a few minutes before we increased the voltage too much and a loud popping noise was heard from one of the units and it stopped working. Attempting the same with the other unit did not have the same effect. So was this just one bad unit or a random power surge?

Week 3
The Columbia Amateur Radio Association (CARA) was hosting a festival on Sunday, October 2nd and Mr. Forrester was convinced to give points to people that attended or assisted in setting up the event. Several members of CARA including the VP, Dave Prestel were present to provide knowledge of HAM radio and to give tests for those seeking a FCC license. A foxhole radio (FHR) was built at home and tested but unfortunately did not appear to work as it was intended. A possible fault with the ground wire? Or perhaps just the inherent difficulty in getting an FHR to work?