Find on this site... Site Index  ·Classes ·Exams ·Clubs ·Hamfests ·Addresses    Search site:    Call sign search:   ARRL Member Login... Username:   Password:    Register    Forgot userid/password?  Quick Links... ·Join or Renew ·Catalog & Store ·ARRL Courses ·Classifieds ·Getting Started

Operating Activities Licensing News/Bulletins Services Education Public Service Support Donate to ARRL ARRL Info Text-only

Current Feature Articles   Jul 05 The Amateur Amateur: Please Answer the Following Question   Jul 04 Youth@HamRadio.Fun: Another Field Day in the Books   Jul 03 Surfin': ATVing Digitally and APRSing Successfully   Jul 01 ARRL In Action: What Have We Been Up to Lately?   Jul 01 It Seems to Us: Support HR 2160!   Jun 28 Dropping in on Field Day   Jun 27 Amateur Radio Quiz: Parting Words   Jun 26 Surfin': Finding Missing Sunspots   Jun 26 The Amateur Radio Crossword Puzzler   Jun 25 Doubling Up on Field Day ARRL Products: VHF/UHF/Microwave (More) Microwave Projects 2 -- More innovative projects: transverters and transmitters, preamplifiers, power amplifiers, filters, and more. ARRL's VHF/UHF Antenna Classics -- Practical designs and construction details from the pages of QST. Microwave Projects -- Complete designs and ideas for the microwave experimenter: signal sources, transverters, power amplifiers, test equipment and more. VHF/UHF Handbook--Second Edition -- THE guide to theory and practice in the VHF and UHF bands TravelPlus CD-ROM with BONUS Repeater Directory (pocket-sized) -- Now Shipping! -- Locate repeaters along your travel route. Detailed maps and current repeater data.

Previous: The Amateur Radio Crossword Puzzler

Next: The K7RA Solar Update

Folks still like to build stuff, so this week, we visit more Web sites that facilitate the homebrewers.

Fox Delta Amateur Radio Projects & Kits documents the various homebrew projects of VU2FD.

In response to the previous installment of Surfin', I received additional information about Web sites related to homebrewing that I will share with you this week.

Dinesh Gajjar, VU2FD, wrote, "Recent news on the ARRL Web site regarding `homebrewing is back' is very interesting. I am a homebrewer and have made many projects and give PCBs and kits to amateurs worldwide. Kindly visit my homebrewing Web site, Fox Delta Amateur Radio Projects & Kits."

I visited Dinesh's Web site and found a wide variety of projects, from an LCD RF power meter based on a PIC to a crystal radio built by Dinesh's daughter, Nina. Each project is well documented with schematics, parts lists, PCB layouts, downloadable software and such.

Paul Laing, VK2YIL, e-mailed, "I was looking for free PCB making software and found, to my surprise, two very good looking General Public License (GPL) versions: FreePCB and Kicad." Add Paul's finds to the PCB software I wrote about here in 2004, specifically on August 27, September 10 and September 24.

Dan Brown, N8YSZ, wrote, "This isn't directly ham radio related, but seems very much in the spirit of homebrewing: Instructables: step-by-step collaboration. Surely the ham radio community has plenty of projects which could be added!"

Instructables is brought to you by squid-labs.com, which makes a lot of stuff for business and pleasure. For a long time they looked for a convenient system for documenting their how-to projects and the things they make, but it didn't exist. So, they developed their own system and the Instructables Web site is the result of their work.

Until next time, keep on surfin'.

Editor's note: Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU, dedicates this installment of Surfin' to his mother, Loris E. Horzepa, the person most responsible for getting him into the writing business. To communicate with Stan, send e-mail or add comments to his blog.

Previous: The Amateur Radio Crossword Puzzler

Next: The K7RA Solar Update