131 results for author: Scott Toth


Sunday Night Tech Forum from November 22, 2015 – Stealth Antennas – Listen Now!

If you missed the Tech Forum on November 22, you can still benefit from all of the great advice that was shared about how to get on the air with an antenna that can't be seen!  Click the player above to hear the entire forum.  And as always, join us at 7:30pm on Sunday evenings on the 145.150 W4GSO repeater to ask questions and share knowledge yourself!  You can also join via Echolink by joining node N5ODE. Many thanks to Cameron Conover, AJ4TW, for providing the recording.

Sunday Night Tech Forum from November 1, 2015 – Advice for New Hams – Listen Now!

If you missed the Tech Forum on November 1, you can still benefit from all of the great "new ham" advice that was shared!  Click the player above to hear the entire forum.  And as always, join us at 7:30pm on Sunday evenings on the 145.150 W4GSO repeater to ask questions and share knowledge yourself!  You can also join via Echolink by joining node N5ODE.

Sunday Night Tech Forum from October 25, 2015 – Basic Antennas – Listen Now!

If you missed the Tech Forum this past Sunday night, you can still benefit from all of the basic antenna knowledge that was shared!  Click the player above to hear the entire forum.  And as always, join us at 7:30pm on Sunday evenings on the 145.150 W4GSO repeater to ask questions and share knowledge yourself!  You can also join via Echolink by joining node N5ODE.

GARA is Now a 501(c)(3) Non-profit Organization

Following a lot of legwork by various Board members, GARA has finally received confirmation of 501(c)(3) status!  This means that both dues and donations are now tax-deductible.  We hope this helps you, and the club, find ways to continue to make great things happen for the amateur radio community in Greensboro and beyond.

GARA Open House

This Saturday at 1000 hrs GARA’s is holding its Open House at Hinshaw United Methodist Church, 4501 Gate City Boulevard (High Point Rd), Greensboro. Everyone is invited.  See the Event page for directions. This is the time to show off that special project you have been working on. If you are a new ham or one that has been away from the hobby for a while, this is your chance to get caught up on what is new, and get answers to your questions. GARA’s is trying something different this year. It’s holding its first members only swap meet during the open house. Bring that stuff that has been hanging around in your shack for years, maybe you can ...

Audio Basics for Hams, Part 6 – All About EQ

Now that you have a good grasp on audio routing, it's time to move onto a more subjective topic, but one that will probably be one of interest for most people: equalization.  Equalization is the ability to change the tonality, or sound, of an audio source by adjusting the relative strength of various frequencies.  Before we get into this too deep, there are a couple of things that should be understood first: 1) EQing a sound isn't the only adjustment that can be made to alter how something is perceived by the listener, and 2) there are various ways to adjust EQ without resorting to a piece of equipment to do it. Before we get into those two ...

Audio Basics for Hams, Part 5 – A Few Suggestions, and Signal Routing, Part the Second

If you've hung around all of the previous parts of this series, you're probably starting to understand that getting a handle on audio is a little more complicated than plugging things up and hoping for the best.  Getting things setup properly and working well takes time and experimentation, but it also takes knowledge and patience.  With that in mind, this seems like a good time to take an interlude and make a few suggestions before before we jump into more mixer ideas.  As I mentioned previously, these are my opinions, but they come from a decent bit of experience and a hope that they'll help you make quick progress. If you decide that you ...

Audio Basics for Hams, Part 4 – Signal Routing

While it's perfectly fine to read each article a la carte, if you haven't had a chance to look at the previous articles about audio basics, it would probably behoove you to go take a gander at them when you have a chance.  :)  I'm explaining concepts all the way from the sound you make in the air with your mouth, through the audio mixer, and finally into your radio, so some of the earlier articles will be helpful for you to understand as the ideas progress.  If you haven't been to them thus far, here are the links for your reading pleasure: Audio Basics for Hams, Part 1! Audio Basics for Hams, Part 2 – All About the Pattern Audio Basics ...

Audio Basics for Hams, Part 3 – Signal Chain

If you've read through the first two installments, you're pretty much an expert in microphones now :) .  I think it's time to move up the audio path a little bit and start getting into ways you can route and process your audio.  There's a good bit to this, so no doubt it will take a few more posts to get through it all, but I feel confident that it will be worth it in the long run.  And please keep in mind that this is called "Audio Basics" so I don't intend on going into all of the nitty-gritty details that more advanced engineers might like.  Sorry! A microphone needs to plug into something, right?  If you're anything like me, you love wires ...

W9HPX Presentation on Amateur Radio Digital Voice Modes

Hopefully you didn't miss the GARA meeting this past Monday evening because we were treated to an excellent presentation about the various types of popular digital voice modes by Charlotte Digital Radio Group member Roland Kraatz, W9HPX!  If you weren't able to attend, or even if you were, you'll probably want to review Roland's slide deck since so much information was presented.  Thankfully Roland has provided us with a PDF copy of the slides, and you can download it here: Be sure to join us for the next GARA meeting on Monday, August 24, when our own Chris Thompson, K4HC, will give a presentation on applying for ARRL awards using both paper ...