Build your own low-cost radio at LARC-7 and more!

 Lamakaan Amateur Radio Club at Hyderabad, India, which I would call the birthplace of popular BITX QRP SSB radio, is hosting the most anticipated event Lamakaan Annual Radio Convention or LARC-7, on 14th and 15th December 2024. LARC is an annual event usually held on the 2nd Saturday and Sunday of December every year. It is a great opportunity for radio amateurs to showcase there experimentation with newer radio techniques, building radios and antennas as well as interacting with fellow hams across the region and the globe. There are plenty of workshops, talks, forums and contests planned for LARC-7.


You can assemble the sBITX version 3, an upconverting superhet with multi-band TX at LARC-7 and the workshop is being conducted by VU2BVB. You have to provide your own monitor, keyboard and mouse while the basic kit for sBITX can be bought at the convention. Another workshop by VU3DX is for you to build a two line LCD display for uBITX v3. Next one is assembling uBITX 6, again by VU3DXA. Workshop for building a low cost end fed half wave antenna for 40m for field day and home use is being conducted by none other than VU2ESE! There is a LEO satellite workshop for beginners by the doyen of satellite operations in this region, VU2AAP. You could build your own CW transmitter from scratch in just 2 hours by attending another workshop by VU2ESE and no experience is needed for this session! Sessions for QO-100 upconverter and amplifier are led by VU2XZ. Pricing for all these kits have been detailed at the LARC-7 website and I found them quite affordable for the average radio amateur in this region.

There are quite a few interesting talks also awaiting your participation. VU2CER will speak on his RF homebrew adventures, VU3LYG will deal with designing PCBs for RF, VU2DPN and VU2FFW will talk on DMR for beginners while VU2EHR will talk on CW for beginners. VU2ESE will talk on sBITX and the brand new zBITX, which is a highly portable radio based on Raspberry Pi Zero for 20W, having CW skimmer and FT8 modes in addition to the regular SSB mode and waterfall display which the sBITX also has. There is another talk by VU2ESE on Raspberry Pico as well. VU3BJW and VU2UKR will detail on automatic LEO satellite tracker and VU2AAP will talk on working LEO satellites. Talk by SWL Arnav Acharya is on homebrew particle accelerator for your shack. I am perplexed on what the role of a particle accelerator is at your shack and will have to wait for LARC-7 to unveil it! VU2SPF will talk on a general purpose VFO for your projects and VU2UCR will detail on Parks on the Air and field operations. Incidentally, VU2UCR is the only Parks on the Air operator whom I have ever heard and worked!

Team AMSAT India forum will be on LEO Satellites present and future. Meetup for building and running repeaters for repeater builders and users will be led by VU2AAP. Forum by VU2OBR will discuss QO 100 operations and best practices for QO 100 operators. Forum for sharing experiences, tips and tricks for emergency communications and field operations will be led by VU2UCR. Makers corner, the homebrewers get together to discuss their projects will be led by VU3VWR and VU2EHR.

If that is not enough, you an array of contests for LARC-7 participants. Fun radio trivia quiz with surprise prizes await you from VU3VWR. Fox hunting the popular radio sport for finding a hidden transmitter is arranged by VU3JBA. How fast can you receive CW and how weak a signal can you copy? That will be tested by VU2EHR and VU2TJ at the CW challenge. There is a homebrew contest for showcasing your homebrew project along with other homebrewers. Homebrew challenge is another contest to build a transmitter with four 2N2222A and bring out maximum power! For youngsters there is a student corner with contests, presentations and challenges. So go ahead and visit the LARC-7 website and be ready with your options in just three weeks! As a disclaimer, I am not an organizer of LARC-7, just a well wisher and the data presented is mostly from the LARC-7 webpage.

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