Amateur Radio Station W8UM operates from the fourth floor of the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Building, (4436 EECS) located on the University’s North Campus in Ann Arbor, MI. W8UM is available for the use by club members 24 hours-a-day, year-round. In addition, the club frequently participates in workshops, contests, other operating events, as well as educational activities for local school and scouting groups.
- See W8UM Station Documentation for equipment operation and procedures.
Station Equipment
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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 a
- Yaesu FT-5000 200W HF transceiver with a ACOM-2000A 2 kW HF amplifier
- FLEX-6400 with a Ameritron AL-82 2k kW HF amplifier
- Kenwood TS-590 HF/50 MHz 100W all-mode transceiver
- TenTec ORION II all-mode HF Transceiver
- Collins KWM-2 HF transceiver with a Collins 30-L 1000W HF Amplifier
- Kenwood TS-2000 HF/VHF/UHF all-mode transceiver with an Ameritron ALS-600 600W HF Amplifier
- Icom IC-910H satellite VHF/UHF transceiver
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.
W8UM/R 2m Repeater
The W8UM/R repeater is a highly reliable and capable 2m FM repeater, accessible throughout much of southeastern lower Michigan. The repeater is open for public use, and operates on 145.230 MHz (output) with a -600 kHz shift and a 100 Hz PL. The repeater’s transmit and receive antennas are located on top of Weiser Hall on the University’s Central Campus.
- Check out the repeater coverage page for Jon KG6K’s W8UM coverage maps
W8UM/R is also connected to the Echolink network; Echolink is activated whenever a control operator is available and always on Sunday evening from 8:00-8:30 PM for our weekly net.
The repeater is operated in partnership with the RADAR group with special thanks to Dan N8DJP, Dan W2PUT, and Mark WD8DPA.
For Further Reading:
Please take a look at our QRZ Page, which you can download below.