I know a lot of you thought we would never get thenewsletter page out of the construction phase.  We are still looking for someone who would be willing to tackle being editor of theNorthwest Ohio Amateur Radio Clubs Newsletter page on our web site. You would be responsible for the content of the newsletter, encourageing and reminding your fellow hams to write articles ofinterest for the clubs newsletter and determining what might be intersting to the Amateur Radio Community.

We encourage everyone to join the WB8ULC Yahoo Groups forum.

Joe KD8AKY has done a wonderfull job of establishing a yahoo group that is dedicated to uniting all of the area clubs with the NW-ORCA yahoo group.

If you have any questions about amateur radio, orour club, including our email newsletter, please feel free to point your browser to our clubs website at http://www.nwoarc.info

KB6NU The CW GEEK

Build Something!

A couple of years ago, a group of us were talking on the club
repeater, and the talk got around to building stuff. One of the guys
said, "You cant really build anything anymore." I almost fell out of
my chair. That's simply not true. Heathkit may be just a fond memory,
but there are still many companies out there selling kits that are not
only fun to build, but are useful additions to the ham shack.

Here are a couple of sources:

* Elecraft (www.elecraft.com). In my mind, Elecraft has become the
premiere ham radio kit company, if not the premiere ham radio company,
period. The new K3, for example, outperforms just about anything on
the market by many accounts. Personally, I have built the KX-1, which
is a real blast to operate from a park bench or to take on vacation. I
also have and use the W1 wattmeter.

* TenTec (radio.tentec.com/kits). While perhaps known more for their
ready-made rigs, they also sell a line of single-band transceivers and
receiver kits.

* QRP Kits (www.qrpkits.com). QRPKits.Com sells kits that were
originally projects of the Northern California QRP Club. My current
General Class students are going to build the DC40A kit ($40) as an
exercise in building and as a way to learn about how radios work.

Below are some other companies whose kits have good reputations, but
with which I have no personal experience:
* Small Wonder Labs (www.smallwonderlabs.com)
* Wilderness Radio (www.fix.net/~jparker/wild.html)
* Milestone Technologies (www.mtechnologies.com)
* Almost All Digital Electronics (www.aade.com/index.html) 
* FAR Circuits (www.farcircuits.net) 
* Jackson Harbor (home.att.net/~jacksonharbor/ham.htm)
* QRPme (www.qrpme.com/)
* Linear Amp UK (www.linamp.co.uk)

QRP clubs are also a good source of cool kits. The problem with QRP
clubs is that they order parts only for a very short run of kits. Once
they sell out, the kits are no longer available. Even so, here are
some clubs that are worth checking out:
* American QRP Club (www.amqrp.org)
* Four State QRP Club (4sqrp.com/kits/kits.htm)
* NORTEX (www.kk5na.com/nortex.htm)

Ready to rock and roll? Here are a couple websites that you might
want to check out before you dive in:

* Electronic Construction from A to Z
(www.mtechnologies.com/building/atoz.htm). This site includes a page
that lists all the tools you'll need to become a successful kit
builder.

* Crystal Sets to Sideband: A Guide to Building an Amateur Radio
Station (www.qsl.net/k3pd/book.html). This site not only discusses kit
building, but also radio theory.

* The Art of Kit Building
(ww2.netnitco.net/users/wt9w/kit%20building.html)

I hope that I've whetted your appetite for building a kit or two.
They're a lot of fun to build, and you really do get a rush from
operating a radio or using a piece of test equipment that you built
yourself.

What have you built lately? Let Dan know. Email him at
cwgeek@kb6nu.com.