K5TRA 144, 432, 902, 1296 and 2304 Station
K5TRA 222 MHz and 10 GHz Station
K5TRA 50 MHz Station (also HF)
Weak Signal Operation
- The World Above 50 MHz- Austin Summerfest 2015 (RMG Forum)
- Fun with Roving- Austin Summerfest 2015 (RMG Forum)
2023 W6JKV - K5AND 6m BBQ - The LAST one!
TechTalk presentation slides - downloadable PDF:
- World Above 50 MHz and HC8 on 6 Meters- Jon Jones, N0JK
- 3Y0J Bovet Island- Mike Crownover Jr, AB5EB
- Open Conversation with K1JT- Joe Taylor, K1JT
- Cycle 25 and 6m Propagation Topics- Carl Luetzelschwab - K9LA
- DXPeditions and FT8 Mode- Lance Collister, W7GJ
- EME on the Microwave Bands- Al Ward, W5LUA
- Coax, Connectors and Waterproofing- Hector Garcia, XE2K
2023 6m BBQ - TechTalk slides not presented due to time
TechTalk slides not presented due to limited time. - downloadable PDF:
- K4 VHF-UHF transverter station interface- Dick Hanson, K5AND
- 50 MHz preamp with internal filters- Tom Apel, K5TRA
K5TRA Antennas
- Linear Arrays- K5TRA (RMG TechTalk)
- 6M Phase Steerable 2x2 Endfire Array- K5TRA - RMG & NTMS meeting 2018 (Belton)
- Circular Collinear Omnidirectional Array- K5TRA - revised 2023
- Helical Collinear Omnidirectional Array- QEX 2011 Nov/Dec
- Offset dish feed calculations- K5TRA analysis
- Antenna Farm- K5TRA [2024] attic antennas & remote amplifiers
- Antenna Farm video- Video tour of K5TRA [2020] attic antennas & remote amplifiers (ZIP of mp4)
Video tour of K5TRA attic antennas & remote amplifiers
Transverters
Beacons
- Texas Beacons
- 10368 MHz Beacon - K5TRA- Roadrunners Microwave Group
- 10368 MHz Beacon - RMG- Roadrunners Microwave Group
- 5760 MHz Beacon- Roadrunners Microwave Group
- 1296 MHz Beacon- Roadrunners Microwave Group
- 144, 432, and 902 MHz Beacons- Roadrunners Microwave Group
- 50 MHz Beacon ver.2- Roadrunners Microwave Group
- 50 MHz Beacon- Guadalupe Valley Radio Club
- 222 MHz Beacon- K5TRA: This was the prototype for the other bands thru 23 CM
Design
- SSB Phasing Method Filters- Allpass (active and passive) and active LPF design
- Coupler level and reflection measurement errors- Directivity and port match related
- Microstrip PA Design - Part I- MRF284 30W 1296 MHz PA design example
- Board Level Impedance Matching- Smith Chart 1296 MHz design example
- Broadband Impedance Matching- Synthesis techniques with examples
- Broadband Transformers- Ruthroff original paper
- Transmission-Line Transformers- Ruthroff, Guanella, etc.
- Transformers and 0°/180° Splitter-Combiners, and Hybrids- good stuff
- Quadrature (90°) Hybrids- input match like magic
- Noise Figure- "cool" stuff
- Reflection Coefficient, Return Loss and VSWR- Smith Chart intro
- TECH LIBRARY- Many more technical papers on all facets of design
- DESIGN AID SOFTWARE- Downloadable applets for RF design by K5TRA
Homebrew
- MA-COM 870 MHz PA mod for 902 MHz weak-signal operation- Homebrew project
- 6m freq.programmable beacon- Homebrew project
- 6m LDMOS FET 20W PA- Homebrew project
- Some new project boards- Homebrew projects
- 23cm & 33cm filter and driver board test results- Homebrew projects
- Programmable LO module - 10 MHz to 1.62 GHz- Homebrew project
- Remote link for SSB transceiver- Homebrew project
- 50 MHz LNA with internal filtering- Homebrew project
- K4 interface for transverters, PAs and antenna switching- Homebrew project
- Remote PA Power Telemetry Over Ethernet- Homebrew project
- Active Speaker Combiner for Mobile Radio Consolidation- Homebrew project
- 222 MHz Harris PA- Homebrew project
- RF Keyed DC Sequencer- Homebrew project
- VHF-UHF Remote Low Noise & Power Amplifiers- Homebrew project
- 902 & 1296 MHz Mitsubishi Power Amplifiers- Homebrew project
- 902 & 1296 MHz Low Noise Preamps- Homebrew project
- 902 & 1296 MHz Remote LNAs- Homebrew project
- 902 & 1296 MHz Remote PA & LNAs- Homebrew project
- 1296 MHz Remote PA & LNA- Homebrew project
- 1296 MHz PreDriver (+31 dBm)- Homebrew project
- Panadapter Interface for Three Transceivers- Homebrew project
- 10 GHz PA Design- Homebrew project (design)
- 10 GHz PA Results- Homebrew project (part-II)
- 10 GHz LNA- Homebrew project
- 10 GHz PA & LNA Construction Tips- Homebrew project (part-III)
- TDR Adapter for Oscilloscope- Homebrew project
Weak Signal Links
K5TRA Station
Weak signal operation from 6M through 2304 MHz and 10 GHz. Shown are two IC-820H transceivers. One is used for 144 MHz and 432 MHz. The other is used as IF radio for 902 MHz and 1296 MHz transverters. Six meter operation (and HF) is provided by an Elecraft K3. The IF radio for the 222 MHz and the 10 GHz transverters is a Yaesu FT2000. All of these transverters have been designed and built from scratch by K5TRA. The latest addition to the station is 2304 MHz. That transverter is a Kuhne (DB6NT) MKU23G2 with a 144 MHz IF. You may also find the link to my "Antenna Farm" interesting.