Group Builds

One of the great things about having a Club Site is the versatility it gives us for club events. One of the things that we do is to get together and build stuff. Below, you will see some of our more recent group builds.

2024 Group Builds

What an amazing year it has been! We’ve successfully wrapped up four group builds. We extend our gratitude to everyone for their support and involvement in these group builds.


November 9th, 2024

Our most recent group build event was called “Soldering 101,” and it was hosted by John, WG8X. Participants spent a Saturday morning at the club site, where they not only created something to take home but also learned some useful skills along the way.

We all agreed that this should become an annual event. Knowing how to solder is a great skill to have in the shack!


August 13th, 2024

DX Engineering single band Low Power Dipole Kit Antenna Build

We successfully put together and tested the DX Engineering single band Low Power Dipole Antenna. John Myers, WG8X, took the lead on this project. Participants had a great chance to practice their soldering and assembly skills.


John Myers, WG8X, led the session on assembling a roll-up J-pole antenna. The building process took around 2-3 hours. Participants had the chance to work with tools and methods they were not familiar with. They got to use crimpers, heat guns, VNA, and even had the chance to install a BNC connector. We had an absolute blast! Thank you, guys, for taking time out of your busy schedules to join us at PCARS and have a great time


Assembly of a 4:1 hybrid Ruthroff-type balun/choke antenna. The participation fee for this construction was $40, encompassing all expenses except for the antenna wire. The construction procedure lasted approximately 2-3 hours. Brandon, KE8ARB, the instructor, was exceptional, and it appears that the participants were somewhat ready for the challenge, as depicted in the pictures below. The individual responsible for leading this construction was Brandon Mercer, KE8ARB.



2023 Builds

September, 2023 Arduino Programming session
September 2023 Arduino session
On Saturday September 30th, we held a build day focusing on the basics of Arduino. This build was not a programming course. It presented information on making small edits to Arduino programs like changing call signs and other simple parameters. Jim Wilson (AC8NT) also covered some other tools that could be very useful for beginners such as the wokwi.com online simulator, Fritzing (Fritzing.org), and Scratch (scratch.mit.edu).
Arduino Build

Oct 2022 PowerPole Build
October, 2022 Power Pole Build
In October, 2022, we held another group build. This one was for a Power Pole Distribution panel. It sounds like all had a great time.