Teamspeak Instructions

Every Tuesday evening at 8pm Eastern (0100z) N2APB and N2CX co-host a live audio conferencing session called “Chat With The Designers". Often joined by designers of other projects as well (e.g., W8NUE, AD7JT, N1RX, OH2NLT and KD5TFD), we gather around this technical watering hole to discuss various topics that are of interest to us, as well as to others in attendance. Whether you seek information about your latest project on the bench, or wish to listen in on the various designers discussing some new chip or product/kit solution they are currently working on, this is the place to be.

For a little more than an hour, or as long as the discussion is lively, N2APB and N2CX run the session in "net control"-like fashion, guiding the discussion and passing the mic in an orderly way among all participants. Augmented by a very useful "text chat window", everyone is able to post text comments, links and other information when the urge strikes. We record the audio from each session, as well as save the text chat window great reference later on.

Most weekly sessions concern a technical topic that we advertise in advance, and we host this on the QRP Homebrewer channel. Once a month the session is devoted to be more of an "online club gathering" discussion that perhaps has a more general and wider appeal, and we use the NJQRP channel for this one.

We’re using “Teamspeak 3” (TS3), an Internet-based multi-client audio conferencing system. The TS2 server has been used quite successfully for many years by the HPSDR group, and now an upgraded TS3 is available to run on just about every operating system ... Windows, Mac, Linux, and even the mobile platforms like Android and even IOS 5 (Apple)! It's free, presents no spam or “friend” sign-ups, and is easily downloadable and configurable. See our Teamspeak Instructions page for getting onto TS3.

Once you install the client onto your computer, launch the client and connect to the TS3 server, click on either the QRP Homebrewing or NJQRP channel, and you will a list of all the people that are signed in, as well as your own name and callsign. A little button lights up when one presses the “PTT switch” (a key you set up on your keyboard for when you wish to talk) and you then hear that person speak. You reply by doing the same when you see that nobody else’s PTT light is on. Pretty easy and really enjoyable to use.

NEXT SESSION (Feb 21): "Spice Up YouR Circuits! A Homebrewer's Overview of Circuit Simulation" ...

Previous Sessions:

Feb 14	Schematic Capture and PCB Layout	Tools and techniques used to get a design from the napkin stage to having a pcb on the bench
Jan 31	Homebrew Battery Chargers	Considerations and cautions in buying, building and using the right kind of chargers.
Jan 24	Grounding 101	Different approaches, techniques, tool, products and benefits of doing a good job at grounding.
Jan 17	What is the BEST Antenna?	Discussion of the most common antennas, their relative benefits and drawbacks
Jan 10	LPF Design mini-tutorial, Part 3	Measuring the filter and comparing to expected results
Jan 3	LPF Design mini-tutorial, Part 2	Designing the filter, selecting components and building the circuit
Dec 27	LPF Design mini-tutorial, Part 1	Overview of the Low Pass Filter, specifying the important design goals and parameters
Dec 20	Best QRP References	The online sites, books, publications, magazines, people, ...
Dec 13	Favorite Parts & Kit Suppliers	Where do you get your parts from? Best deals? Best service? Best kits?
Dec 6	Best Kits	What are the best kits on your bench? Most useful? Best bang for the buck?
Nov 29	Technology Round Robin	What technology floats your boat? Microcontroller? PMO or DDS? SMT or thru-hole?
Nov 22	RF Power Measurement for QRPers	What techniques, products and parts are around for us homebrewing QRPs to use?