NEXT RST CLUB MEETINGS

July 8, 2025, at the Golden Corral
(4380 E 22nd St, Tucson, AZ)
—Board of Directors Meeting
from 5:45 to 6:30 PM
—General Membership Meeting
from 6:45 to 8:00 PM
(Meet-and-greet starts at 6:00 PM)

We have a presentation that you do not want to miss!

Microwave Radio for Hams by Joel Wilhite KD6W.

The microwave ham bands will always and forever be coveted by commercial interests, after all, it’s “public spectrum” meaning we grant power to the government to control it by licensing it, commercially or otherwise. Ham radio operators have for many years worked to build up resources to make use of these frequencies and until just recently, was all based on home brew solutions. And still for some, the microwave bands are mysterious and hard to get into. For others, it’s a challenge and or a goal to strive for. Microwave is where weak signal really comes from and only a few have ever truly experienced it. Yes, there is weak signals everywhere, including HF but HF propagation doesn’t bounce off airplanes, mountains and planets like microwave frequencies do. And this is the big clue as to why commercial interests are always trying to petition the FCC for “our” spectrum and why everybody, new and old, should be interested in building up their skills and resources to operate on these bands.

A note about our speaker, Joel KD6W was first licensed in 1984 while attending DeVry University in Phoenix as KA7TXV. Later he went on to serve in the NAVY and help build and operate NAVY MARS station NNN0CKK aboard the USS Missouri. After moving to Silicon Valley for work, he became more radio active and joined several local ham clubs while working in the broadcast television industry. Joel joined and is a current member of the 50-MHz&Up Group (Northern California) where he learned more about getting on and operating in the microwave bands. Joel is very active in microwave bands all the way up to 122 GHz and has won several awards in the 10 GHz and Up contest in years past. He is also this years chair for Microwave Update, or MUD for short, being hosted this year here in Tucson at the Casino Del Sol on October 17-18. For more details on the conference, please point your browser to microwaveupdate.org for more information.

I am sure Joel will be talking about some of the commercial interests that are after the amateur radio allocations.

The raffle prizes this month will include one or two or three 12-volt, 20-amp LiFePO4 batteries with chargers. I’m waiting on the Amazon guy to deliver. More on prizes in a later email.

73 . . . Joe K3TYE
President Ex Officio