Introduction
The NDSU Amateur Radio Society was started by the late Ernie Anderson (WØRRW) in 1948. Over the years club has served as a
station away from home for many college students and as a doorway into the hobby for many others. Members
with interests in operating, working with equipment, and both have participated in many activities including building
a working repeater, hosting and attending hamfests, and putting on the old North Dakota QSO Party.
Equipment
Our HF station consists of a Yaseau FT-840 with a 3-element, triband Yagi at 50 feet for 10-15-20 and a 160 M
dipole at the same height for 40-80-160. We also have a Yaesu FT-480R and several Yagi antennas for the VHF bands. All
of our antennas our located about 500 feet from our shack, connected to the station with a single long run of hardline which
was donated by Cablecom of Fargo. The location of the shack used to be located in the Electrical
Engineering building, and it is now located in the basement of the Mechanical Engineering building, Dolve 3A. When the
Electrical Engineering building was constructed, it was built with amateur radio in mind. A designated room was built,
along with heavy metal plates in the roof to mount the towers for the antennas.
(The Electrical Engineering building roof was re-worked during the summer of 2003,
but the antenna support structure was left intact.)
Due to space limitations,
the shack was relocated in the early 1990's. We are very greatful to have a place to operate.
Advisor
Our advisor is Dr. David Farden (AAØZU), professor in the Electrical and
Computer Engineering department at NDSU. Dr. Farden
is a graduate of NDSU, and teaches classes such as Signals and Systems (ECE 343) and Communications (ECE 443).
Dr. Farden's small Saturn automobile houses an interesting homebrewed antenna and a
100W HF rig. If you think this antenna looks pecular now, come back next week, it seems to change weekly. :) To learn
more about Dr. Farden, you can visit his homepage at
http://venus.ece.ndsu.nodak.edu/~farden/.
Repeater
We currently have a 2 meter repeater with antenna located on the top of the
ex KDSU FM broadcasting antenna, which is on top of Ladd Hall.
For the existing ham operator or the scanner listener, the frequency is 147.090 + .
The antenna is a 5/8 wave vertical, which is
driven by on old Johnson commercial radio and controlled by a PIC microcontroller programmed and constructed by
a former club member, Chris Walth, N0OXI. The performance of the repeater is mediocre
with its mere 20 watt output,
which achieves a dependable 15-20 mile radius.
We hope to "tweak" the system in the future.
(This unit has been rebuilt and is on the air from a temporary location
for testing purposes.)
Becoming A Member
Membership fee is $10 a year -- a bargain, considering the equipment access and
support you receive with the club.
Dues help to support equipment maintenance and parts for ongoing projects.
Constitution
The present version of the Constitution (pdf or html)
of the Club was ratified on May 3, 2006.
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