Earlier this month, I made a detailed presentation about Modern Diversity Reception at BayCon 2020, an online ham conference. Watch the video!
The Bay-Net Amateur Radio Club operates analog and digital repeater systems covering the San Francisco bay area in California. I was invited to make a presentation about Modern Diversity Reception at their annual BayCon radio conference on February 5th.
You can see my 25 minute presentation or watch the entire conference proceedings streamed here.
I would encourage you to check out a few of the BayCon 2022 presentation. Some really good stuff, including an Introduction to Node Red, a new appliance for operating FM satellites, and Radio Propagation Mapping. I was honored to be in such company.
In my presentation, I focus on the three main value propositions derived from Modern Diversity Reception. These are mitigating multi-path fading, beamforming and local RFI cancellation. I think you will also find the video demonstration of these features amazing.
For me, the best part about putting together presentations is being forced to really understand the topic. You also need to think about how to explain complex topics to an audience with a wide range of experiences, skills and interests.
Modern Diversity Reception and more Online
During BayCon, Mark Smith, N6NTS did a wonderful presentation of his Satellite Optimized Amateur Radio (SOAR) project. I was fascinated to see how he combined some VHF/UHF modules with a microcontroller to build a small appliance for FM satellite operations. You will enjoy how he takes you through the entire design, prototype and fabrication process.
Other presentations focused on Node Red, Propagation and Terrain Mapping and Vince VE6LK discussed how to assemble a go kit for portable operation.
I encourage any ham clubs to share their members presentations with videos, rather than just “one night stands”. If you can’t figure out how to make and post a quality video, find yourself a teenager to provide advice.
Great info John! Thanks for your presentation.
This is a great presentation, John. Thank you. I’m setting up a diversity system and just getting started and have a few questions:
1. I assume the noise cancellation and beamforming sweet spots rarely coincide. Is there a way to manage this?
2. Is there an optimum distance/directional antenna placement for HF?
3. Do you find it better to use dual loops rather than a loop combined with, say, a TX/RX antenna?
4. I’ve read that it is best to position loops as far away as possible from the house. What’s your view on this?
Really good questions my friend. I will dedicate a future blog post to answering them.