Amateur Radio Station W8UM operates from the fourth floor of the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Building, located on the University’s North Campus in Ann Arbor, MI. For those not associated with the University, all club meetings and events are open to the public. However, use of the “shack” is restricted. In addition, the club frequently participates in workshops, contests, other operating events, as well as educational activities for local school and scouting groups.
Station Equipment
The station is currently active on the HF bands on SSB, CW, RTTY, and PSK31, 2m FM, with satellite capabilities on 2m and 70cm. The university station is well-equipped with the following radios:
and several other pieces of modern equipment. The W8UM “shack” also has a complete bench of electronic test equipment and assembly tools to support the club’s many ongoing technical projects.
Antennas
W8UM features a full suite of high performance antennas covering 3.5 MHz to 1.2 GHz. The shortwave bands from 7 MHz to 30 MHz, as well as the 50 MHz band are covered by our SteppIR Urban-Beam at 140 ft above ground level. Wire dipole antennas cover 3.5 MHz to 7 MHz, long-boom Yagis for 144 MHz and 430 MHz top the main W8UM tower, while a Discone at 90 ft covers 30 MHz to 1.2 GHz. The club strives to constantly improve our antenna system and lots of room exists for club members to implement their own antenna designs on our tower and rooftop “antenna farm”.
A dedicated satellite antenna tower supports circularly polarized Yagis for 144 MHz and 430 MHz mounted on an elevation-azimuth positioner. Future plans include the installation of 2.4 GHz and higher frequency reflector antennas and associated electronics to support our Earth-space communications links.
For Further Reading:
Please take a look at our QRZ Page, which you can download below.