Christmas CAKE Ingredients

If all present (Frank AG6QK, Peter K6UNO, Ward AE6TY, Kerry K3RRY, Glen KG0T, Eric KK6IZY, Ron W6WO) were dried fruit we would have made a very rich CAKE indeed. Our kitchen was a group of very comfortable chairs at Santa Cruz’s own Downton Abbey.

Kerry brought a most interesting item in the form of a 16 channel logic analyzer in a compact flat package. He showed how the associated software would display various modes of the data on a PC. For more details visit the makers site at Saleac.com.

Glen showed more progress with his microcomputer development platform and Kerry brought along a LED display that he reports has more than usual brilliance.

Eric is one of our RV travelers and he spoke eloquently on various topics, including the installation of cameras, Un-interruptible Power Supplies inrush currents as much as 130 A, power drain and battery life. Eric has become our resident flashlight expert and showed his latest with a Titanium case. Where to go beyond Titanium Eric ???

Ron brought a mystery item that was instantly recognized by Kerry as a power line filter. This is a well made Radio Shack product with an L/ C network used for a decade as an RFI protection for Ron’s TV. Recently it developed a very curious intermittent failure which has not been completely resolved. Several theories were suggested. Peter mentioned failure modes in mylar capacitors, Ward suggested checking the condition of AC power plug surfaces. There is a 300K resistor across the incoming AC hot and neutral leads with no evident problem. Ward explained the purpose of this resistor is to bleed of any charge on the capacitors as a safety measure.

We very seldom have a CAKE meeting without a discussion on antennas, transmission lines and baluns. At this session Ron showed the results of comparing a vertical and a horizontal dipole using the calibrated display of the Anan Panadapter. If you are interested in receiving a copy of this experiment by email contact Ron.

A dearly missed friend at our CAKE sessions is Jimmy Koger N1IPP. He now lives near Boston and is attempting to create a similar group there. He was informed that the word CAKE is protected speech but we can quote him our license fee.

Mark your calendars for our Next CAKE session will be on January 16th located at the main branch of the SCRZ library. 224 Church St.

Best wishes to all and thank you so much for your support.

Ron W6WO