CAKE Notes 1/12/19

It was truly a pleasure to see Glen (KG60T) following his recent medical experience. Both Glen and Kerry (K3RRY) live on “the far side” of town so their efforts to be with us are especially gratifying. Gary (K6PDL) deserves to be recognized as the most consistent CAKE participant.

This was the second meeting at Dharmas and it seems to be “the spot to beat for now”. We can consider alternatives at any time. Some ideas are for a formal presentation at a suitable room, a visit to N6IJ at Ft Ord, a breakfast meeting at the Golf Club adjacent to our repeater, a possible session in Monterey to meet members of their club. All the above are feasible, let Ron (W6WO) know your wishes.

Kerry was asked how his studies were progressing at UCSC and we gather the end goal might be in sight. I hope he will expand on his studies in a future session. Kerry showed a DG8SAQ VNA and it seemed to be very well documented. Ron can vouch for many new insights these instruments can bring. Another fine exhibit was a book on the Smith Chart by its inventor Philip H. Smith.

Cap outlined the many features our HF station at K6BJ has and these are currently under review by himself and others; we can look forward to details. Ron mentioned FT8 contacts on 80m made by Craig N6SBN with 20 Watts and a simple vertical. Complete coverage of the US and, almost beyond belief, a few in Europe. Check Short Skip on the K6BJ website to see the map of his contacts .

There was considerable discussion about upgrades in the microprocessor world (Ron regrets no longer being conversant). From the beginning there has been a contest between advances in computing and communicating and today they are inextricably mixed. There is an academic research center at NYU focused on TerraHz ie mm Wave technology. The Director recently stated that “By 2020 the World will see single chip data transceivers which reliably transfer more than 10GB/s over more than 200 meters”. Clearly such wireless technology will accelerate the “Internetworking of Anything”. Ron recalled advising NYU to study 900MHz propagation within buildings some 40 years ago.

We shared our thoughts on the evolution of land line data communications from 300 bps and acoustically coupled modems to multiple Mbps on humble twisted pair. Understanding the communications science in the recovery of detailed images from the remotest parts of our galaxy, deserves our attention. A Club meeting presentation on this topic anyone ??? Several other subjects came up briefly including IP version 6, global time standards, and parametric amplifiers.

Wishing all readers of these notes the very best for 2019

73 Ron