Get more features for your dollar with our

REP-200 REPEATER
LOW NOISE RECEIVER PREAMPS SYNTHESIZED FM
EXCITER & RECEIVER MODULES
--
..:.
We recently introduced new vhf fm
exciters and receivers which do not
require channel cry st als.
NOW. .. uhf modules are atso available!
WWV RECEIVER
R301 VHF Receiver: various bands 139-174MHz',
216-226 MHz,
Kit (ham bond' 0"1\') . . onry $139 (TCXO option $40)
Wlredltested .. $209
tooooee TCXO)
R304 UHF Receiver : various
bands 400-470 MHz .
Kit (44()'4SOham bond onl\')
inCI TCXO ...$179
wsecaesier. $209
EXCITERS:
RECEIVERS:
Very sensit ive - 0,1 5jJV,
Superb selecti vity, >100 dB down at t12 kHz. best
available anywhere. flutter-proof squelch, For 4654,
72-76. 140-175. or 216-225 MHz kit $129, wIt $189
R144 RCVR. Like Rl00. for 2M. with helical
resonator in front end,,..... ,.... ,.....,., kit $159, wit $219
R451 FM RCVR, for 420475 MHz Similar to R100
above. kit $129, wit $189.
R901 FM RCVR. 902-928MHz ..,...... $159, wit $219
FM EXCITERS: zwoutput. continuous duty,
TA51: for 6M, 2M, 220 MHz .... kit $99, wit $169
TA451: for 420-475 MHz, ,.., ki t $99, wit $169
TA901: fOr 902928 MHz, (O,SW out) wit $1 69
VHF & UHF POWER AMPLI FIERS.
Output levels from 10Wto 1DOW ,..,St arti ng at $99
FM RECEIVERS:
Exciters and Receivers provide high quality nbfm and
f5k operation Features ind ude:
Dip switch frequency selection.
Exceptional modulation for voice and CfCss.
Very l ow noise synthesizer for repeater service.
Direct fm for data up to 9600 baud.
TCXO for tight frequency accuracy in wide
range of environmental conditions.
Next day shipping. No walt for crystals.
Get time & freq uency checks
without buyi ng multi band hi
rcvr. Hear solar actiVity reports
affecting radio propagation.
Vary sensitive and setecti ve
crystal controlled superhet. dedicated to listening to WNV
on 10 MHz. Performance rivals the most expensive rcvrs
RWWV Rcvr kit, PCB only , , $59
RWWV Rcvr kit willi cau. splIr. &12Vdc adaplef ..." $89
RWNV Rcvr wlt incabt 'MtIl 1\ adaptaf .... ..."" $129
-,.,.. ...
;;
.. .,.
A sensitive and selective
professional grade receiver to
monitor cri tical NOAA weather
broadcasts. Good reception
even at distances of 70 miles or
more wrth surtable antenna, No
comparison with ordinary consumer radiosl
Automatic mode provides storm watch, alerting you by
unmutin9 receiver and providing an output to trip remote
equtpmant when an alert tone is broadcast Crystal
contrOlled for accuracy: all 7 channels (162,40 to 162.55)
Buy just the receiver pee module in kit formor buy the klt
with an attractive metal cabinet AC power adapter, and
built-in speaker Aiso available factory wired and tested
RWX Rcvr kit. PCB only , .".. " "." ". ".. ".. " ".. ".. " " $19
RWX Rtvf kit with cabinet, spaakar, &ACadapter $99
RWX Revr wir8d!tested incabinet with speaker&adapter $1 39
LNG-( ) GAAs FET PREAMP
STlL.L ONL.Y $S9, wiredltested
Make your friends sick with
envy! Work stations they don't
even know are c ere
Install one allhe antenna and
overcome coax losses
Available for 28-30.46-56. 137152, 152172.210-
230. 400-470, and 800-960 MHz bands.
Convert vhf and uhf signals
to & from 10M
Even if you don't have a 10M rig. you can pick up
very good used xmtrs & rcvrs for next to nothing
Receiving converters (shown above) available for
various segments of 6M, 2M, 220. and 432 MHz.
Rcvg Conv Kits from $49, wired/tested units only $99
Transmitting converters
for 2M, 432 MHz,
Kits only $89 vhf or $99 Uhf,
Power ampli fiers up to
50Woutput
Join the fun. Get strl kln9
Images direetly Irom the
weather ntetlltes!
A very sensitive wideband tm
receiver optimi zed l or NOAA
APT & Russian Meteor wu ther fax on the 137MHzband.
Designed fromthe start for optimum sateilrte reception: not
just an scanner with a sbortec-out IF Mer!
Covers ailS satellite channels. Scanner circurt & recorder
control allow you to automatically capture signals as
satellites pass ovemead, even while away from home
RU9 Receiver Kit less case ..... .. $159
R139 Receiver Kit with case and AC power adapter $1 89
R139 Receiver wit in case with AC power adapter .$239
Internal PC Demodulator Board & Imalli ng Software $289
Turnstile Antenna " " """ " ",$119
Weather Satellite Handbook " " "" "" $20
NOneed to spend thousands on
new t ransceivers for each band!
LNW( ) ECONOMY PREAMP
ONL.Y $241klt
Miniature MOSFET Preamp
Solder terminals allow easy
connection inside radios,
Available for 35-55. 55-90. 90-120. 120-150,
150-200, 200-270, ana 400- 500 MHz bands.
kit still only $1095
factory assembled still only $1295
W-!>\, 14.1- 174. 213233. 420-475 MHl. (902928 MHl S100hlly hiQM'.)
_ FCC .y,,", ocuplod lor oom",.""..1"'ice .. 150 &450 M.... t>-o"",.,
Amicrcprocesscr-cenfroned repeal er with full auto-
patch and many versatiledtmf remotecontrol rea-
tures at less than you might pay for a bare bones
repeater or controller alone!
Digital Vo ice Recorder Option. Al lows message up
to 20 sec, to be remotely recorded off the ai r. Play
back at user request by DTMF command, or as a
periodical voice id, or both. Great for mClking c lub
announcementsl ... .. only $100.
REP-200C Economy Repeater. Reat-vclce 10. no
ctmt or avtopatcn ... .. ,.. ,..... ,. Kit only $795. w&t $1195,
REp200N Repeater. Without controller so you can
use your own. ..,..Kit onl y $695, w&t $995.
Hamtronics has the world's most
complete li ne of modules for
making repeaters. In add ition t o
exciters, pa'e, and receivers, we
offer the following controllers.
COR-3, Inexpensive. f lexible COR module with timers,
courtesy beep. audio mixer. ........"", only $49Ikit, $79 wit.
CWIO. Traditional diode matrix 10'er..... "" ... kit only $59.
CWI02. Eprom-controlled rrrer...."only $541kit, $79 wit.
OVR1. Record your own voice Up to 20 sec. For voice id
or playing club announcements... " " ......,, $59Ikit. $99 wit.
COR.... Complete COR and CWIOall on one board, 10 in
eprern. Low power CMOS onl y $99Ikit, $149 wi t.
COR-6. COR with real-voce re. Low power CMOS. non-
vcetue memory. " ,.......,kit only $99. wit only $149.
COR-5. controller with autopatch reverse ap, phone
remote contrOl, lots of DTMF conlrol functions. all on one
board. as used in REP-200 Repeater. " '" $379 wit.
AP-3. Repeater autopatc:h, reverse autoparcn. phone line
remote control, Use wrth TD-2... " ,...... "" ........ .",,, kit $89.
TO-2, Four-digit DTMF decoder/controller Five latching
on-off functions, tol l call restrictor. .." ,........ " " kit $79.
TO-4. OTMF controller as above except one on-off function
and no toll call restrictor. Can also use for selective calling:
mute speaker until someone pages you , ,ki t $49.
Access all your favorite
closed repeaters!
Encodes all standard CTCSS
tones wrth crystal accuracy and
convenient DIP swrtc:h selection,
Comprehensive manual also shows how you can set up
a front panel switc:h to selecttones lor several repeaters
Decoder can he used to mute receive audio and is
optimized for installalion in repeaters to prOVide closed
access, High pass filter gets rid of annoying buzz in
receiver. 0 New low prices!
TO.5 CTCSS EncoderlOecoder Krt ." ..........now only $29
TO-5 CTCSSEncoderlDecoder Wiredltested $49
Radio City,
Inc.
1-800-426-2891
Local (612) 786' 4415 fAX \612) 786'651 J
2663 Counly Road I.
Mounds VIeW, MN 55112
Universa
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1-800-431-3939
louI(614) 8Sfro FAX (614) 866m9
6830 Americana Pkwy"
Reynoldsburg. Ohio 43068
KJI
Electronics, Inc.
1-913-239-4389
66 Skytop Road
Cedar Grove. NJ 07009
Austin Amateur
Radio Supply
1-800-423-2604
Lotal (512) 4$4- FAX {S1 21 45" 3069
5325 North 1-35
Austin . Tens 78723
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RS-12N
Separate \IOIt and Nnp meters
RS-2OM 16 20 5 x 9 x 10.,., 18
RS-35M 25 35 5 x 11 x 11 n
RS-SOM 31 50 6 x 13lA, x 11 -46
AS-10M 57 10 6 x 1311. X 12', 48
MODEL RS-35M
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35
50
7
10
15
22
MODEl
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to Full Load
C..II..... ICS Slll llNI 5'1,,11'
DI I,I", II IA_,I) II x Wx D WI. [lh.1
@13.8VOC @10VOC @5VOC @13.8V
9 5 2 12
16 9 4 20
V5-35M 25 15 1 35
V5-SOM :l7 22 10 50
YS-11lM 67 34 16 10
Variabll rack mount power supplies
VRM-35N 25
VRM-50W 37 MODEL VS-35M
VS-M AND VRM-M SERIES
RS-S SERIES
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RS-7S
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AS125
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10
12
20
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THETEAM
EI Supremo" sc unoer
Wayne Green W2NSD/ l
Associate Publ iaher
F. I. Marion
Associate Technical Editor
larry Antonuk WB9RAT
Nit ty Gr itty Stuff
J. Clayton Burnen
Pri sci lla Gauvi n
Joyce Sawt elle
JUNE 1999
ISSUE 1464
A m a t e u r
Radio Today
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DEPARTMENTS
KB7NO
W5ACM
KOOV
Contr ibuting Culpr its
B,II Brown WB8ELK
Mike Bryce WB8VGE
Joseph E, Carr K41PV
Michael Geier KB1UM
Jim Gray Wl XUf7
Jack Heller KB7NO
Chuck Houghton WB6IGP
Dr. Marc Leavey WA3.o..JR
Artdy MacAJbsl er W5ACM
Dave Miller NZ9E
Joe Moell KOOV
Steve Nowak KE6YNI5
Carole Perry WB2MGP
Advert isi ng Sales
Frances Hyvarinen
Roger Smith
603 924-0058
8<)0.2747373
Fax. 603-9248613
FEATURES
10 Regens for the Millennium - KA9GDl
Pa/11: A newlook atan old friend.
17 Three-Element Circular Ouad for 10m - K8lHQ
For under $65!
21 From the Ukraine: A Radio Amateur's Story - UY5DJ
Pat1 2: amp? Why not?
26 Easy Antenna Reference-VK2AT
Pari 2: More options.
28 Screwy Mobile Antenna Mods - WB4RNO
Fine-tune that screwdriver-type with these helpful tips.
30 Operating Crystals on the Fifth Overtone - N2DCH
Sounds kinda NewAge, but it'ssomething an hams should
know.
WB6IGP 40
4.
62
54
52
42
45
6
W2NSOI1 4
48
KE8YN!4 47
W1Xun 60
WB8VGE 50

63
Above & Beyond
Ad Index
Barter 'n' Buy
Calendar
The Digital Port
Hamsats
Homing In
Lettees
Nevet" Say Die
w2nsd @aof.com
New Products
On the Go
Propagation
aRP
aRX
Radio Bookshop

design73@aol .com
Circulati on
Linda Coughlan
Data Ent ry & Other Stufl
Christine Auber1
Norman Marion
Business Office
EOtCI'iaI Ao:M!rtlsWlg OroJlatm
seeooece. Product Reviews
73 Amateur Radio Today MagaZine
70 Hancock Rd
Peterborough NH 03458 1107
6039240058
Fax: 603 924-8613
33 My Old Kentucky (Satellite) Home - KA9SOF
... where lofty aspirations met some down-to-earth concerns.
35 Telescoping PVC Mast - KB7WOS
Getting it up in awkwardplaces.
37 Euthanasia Keyer Project - KC3ZQ
Quick andpainless.
Web Page
www.wuyncgreen.ccrn
ENTER OUR
CONTEST!
- sec page 56
Reprints: $3 per arncie
Back issues: $5 each
Printed in the USA
f
ManUSCri Pt s: Contributions l or
POSSIble publicatH)ll are most
welcome. W61 do tne bestwe can k>
retlnl anyItw1g you rQ.'eSl t:u we
assume no lor loss
or damage. Paymer1 Ia" submined
artces wil be made alter P\klhCalion.
Please submit both a disk and a
hard copy 01 your art ce [IBM (ok)
Of Mac (preferred) Ionnats), carefully
checked drawings and schematics,
and the dearest, best focused and
Ii;trtEd photos you can manage. 'How
to'M1\e br r,; !J.IdeIines are avaiable
on US OblefIS, please
rdIde )UU" scca seeow rumor
'M\tI Slbntted manJSO'lltS sowe can
submit d to kmw 'M"o.
On the cover: How'd you like this in your yard? Article begins on page 35. We are always looking
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73 Amat eur Radi o Today (ISSN 1052- 2522) i s published monthly by 73 Magazine, 70 N202. Pet erborough NH
03458,1107. The entire cont ent s 0 1999 by 73 Magazine, No part of t hi s publi cation Marchbe reproduced
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NEUER SRY DIE
Wayne Green W2NSOIl
Kids Killing Kids you read Nancy Appleton's
Lick. The Sugar Habit yet?
Of course we blame the Sugar. too can be mood alter-
kids . And thei r parents. We ing. Maybe you remember
blame the arcade and home the "Twinkle Defense" used
video killer games. We blame in the murder of the San Fran-
TV and the movies. We cisco mayor. "Sugar made me
blame comic books. And we do it. "
try to stop it with laws and It' s easy to blame guns or
metal detectors. making go- videos. but there can be many
ing to school like going contributing factors. so savvy
through an airport security parents will do their best to
gate. Every day, several times keep their children away
aday. from as many of the bad in-
So what' s going on? And are fl uences as they can. Children
there any answers as to how to can learn to love good music
prevent these tragedies? Of even before they are born.
course, or I wouldn' t have Read The Prenatal Class-
brought it up. room, which I ha ve revi ewed
Actually. I' ve written about for you.
these things before, but you My mother read to me from
weren' t paying enough atrcn- the earliest days I can remcm-
tion. ber. so I' ve always enjoyed
First, remember what I' ve readi ng.
explained about what rock mu- Then there ' s my review of
sic does to plants as compared the Li ehc nnan book on light
to classical music? Rock stunts and the research showing
and dwarfs them. And do you how much improved kids'
remember about the rests with grades arc and how they get
mice where Ihe test had to be along so much bcuer with
stopped after a couple weeks each other when there arc fun
because those exposed to rock spectrum lights in their class-
were killing each other? I'm rooms.
not even talking about the lyr- Copper can cause psy-
ics in some rock and rap music, chotic behavior. Most schools
which glorify brutality. ha ve water softeni ng systems
Then there arc the mood- which leach copper from the
altering e ffects of aspartame water pipes for the kids to
(NutrdSweet). which make some drink.
people fat and others very Anot her problem for kids
depressed. has been the side effects of
I' ve reviewed Dr. Rapp's immunizat ion shots. There
book. The Impossible Child, are several exposes of this
which explains how allergi es medical scam, but the best is
can trigger all kinds of ter- the one by Dr. Walene James,
rible behavior. depression, at - which I've reviewed for you.
lention deficit disorder, and I haven' t done a report on
hyperactivity. the damage our American
I've also written a lot about milk supply is doing, but I
the damage and mood-alter- will . Between many people
ing effects of fluorides in our being allergic to cow' s milk,
drinki ng water. plus the antibiotics and growth
Then there' s sugar. Have bormones it now contains,
4 73Amateur Radio Today June 1999
this is significantly adding to
chi ldren's behavior problems.
Kids need every break they
can gel, not medi cation like
Ritalin to control their behav-
ior. They' re sent to school af-
ter a breakfast of sugar-
coated frosti es with rBST-
laced mi lk. plus some white
toast and jam. Animals fed
some of our popular breakfast
cereals die of starvation.
Sugar
It' s frustrating. I can' t get
you to stop eating sugar. I
can't even get you to stop
feedi ng it to your kids. I can' t
gel you to read books about
sugar, like Nancy Appleton' s
Lick The Sugar Habit ($6), or
Duffy's Sugar Blues ($6 ).
They' ve reprinted a book I've
been looking for by Dr.
Weston Price, one of the pio-
neer researchers in the sugar
vs. health field - Nutrition
and Physical Degeneration.
The data is 60 years old and
as relevant now as then.
Sugar is a poison.
Did you know that on the
average we are eating more
sugar in a week than our an-
cestors a couple hundred years
ago did in a year? And it ' s do-
ing a job on us. Sugar is as
addict ive, and as poisonous,
as nicotine.
Tests with school children
have shown that a can of soda
pop ( 10 teaspoons of sugar)
results in behavior problems.
School s thai have el iminated
sugar from their lunches have
produced remarkable gains in
grades, with much less fight -
ing and destructiveness.
Our Schools Suck
Okay, okay. I' ve been harp-
ing on this for a long time -
so what have you, personally,
done to help change things?
Did you take your eyes off
the sports pages long enough
10 read about the recent inter-
national tests where Ameri -
can kids pl aced j ust about
dead last in math and sci-
ence? And we used to be at
the top. Or about the tests
Massachusetts gave their pr0-
specuve teachers? Almost 60%
failed the admittedly very el -
ementary test!
I won't bore you with the
statistics, but they are appall-
ing.
The top scoring countries
in math are, as you might ex-
pect. the Asian tigers - Sing-
apore, Korea, Japan, and
Hong Kong. The Czech Re-
publ ic placed third in science.
We have a long way to go if
we want to fix the problem.
Under the "l eadership" of the
NEA union our ed schools
arc awful. I tried to get you to
read about the m when I re-
viewed Rita Kramer' s book,
Ed School Follies. See page 8
of my Secret Guide to Wis-
dom. Thomas Sowell exposes
the mess in hi s Inside Amen-
can Education. You undoubt-
edly saved $ 10 by not send-
ing for Dumbing Us Down by
John Gatto. I' ve repri nted
three fascinating talks by
Gatto which arc avai lable via
the Radio Bookshop for $5.
I' ve been getting wonderful
letters from parents thanking
me for making these reprints
available .
I'd like to see the NEA
towed out to sea and dumped,
along wit h the other garbage.
I' d li ke to see our schools op-
crati ng 50 weeks of the year,
with youngsters allowed to
take the subjects that interest
them when they want. I'd like
10 sec the responsibility for
learning put on the stude nts
and their parents, but with our
schools making the courses
available. No tests. No grades.
Learn what you want, when
you want. I' d like to see
courses advertised and pro-
moted li ke any ot her product.
and the students convinced to
take them on the basis of the
Continued on page 57
SEY
Decode al lIlat gilberish' Ths is
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Contin ue d on page 62
series. Enough to make me j eal-
ous of what's available for my
HTs.
I know you' ve seen them. I
have seen them in the mall s, and
while skii ng and hiking. I' ve
even seen a fam i ly outfi tted
ing a ye llow se t of them whi le I
was standing on li ne at Kennedy
Airport. (And ma ny f amili es
don 't go 10 Disney without Th em
. .. - ed. )
I' ve been a ham si nce
My first HT was an IC-
02AT. I' ve had a few other HTs
since the n. But you know what ?
I went out and purchased a se t
of these FRS radios for use with
my friends ',',' hen hiking or trav-
e li ng in separate c ars . I lake
the m to t he mal l. I usc t he m
,
when I bike with a frie nd.
Let me make somethi ng per-
fec tly d ear: I a l ways ha ve a
dual-band HT wi t h me , But,
. .
since my companions may not
he hams. I keep a se t of FRS
radios in t he trunk of my car.
They are convenient, cost-effec-
ti ve , rugged, work we ll , and
meet the need. They work "up
to 2 mil es" on a good day.
So what are we miss ing here ?
The public (non-ham commu-
nit y) has hecome radio-acti ve.
They are buyi ng and using the se
things ! They are getting used to
pressing a Push-To-Talk button
and communicati ng wit h some-
one e lse. On an HT ! On UHF!
Usi ng CTCSS! With about the
same power many ham HTs put
out '
BUI they call onlv talk up to 2
miles on a good day! The FRS
docs not allow the usc of auxil-
iary antennas (the unit s ' anten-
nas are fi xed), or the use of
repeaters.
What kind of excitement do
you think could be generated i f
the public were educated to the
fact that instead of being limi ted
to 2 mi les. they could commu-
nicate 20. 000,000+ miles?
Now. before I get a zill ion let-
ters questioning how a UHF HT
ca n communicate t wenty mil-
lion miles, I did a ve ry quick
estimat ion of all the listed re-
Alan Glasser NY2G, Brook-
1)'11 NY. The consumer maga-
zines' advertisement headli nes
read, a nd the tel e vi sion shop-
ping shows say, " You can talk
i n the mal l. 011 the slope. on the
t r a il, and ac ross the p a rk. "
" Fami l y and f rie nds stay to -
gethcr cven when they' re apart."
" Talk f rom car to car." "Whil e
ridi ng your bi ke ," " No cell
phone fees," " Free!" "Up to 2
miles ' range." " 14 channe ls and
3Hpri vacy codes:' " Reac h out
and touch someone:'
If you ha ven't fi gured i t out
yet, I am quoting from adver-
tisements touting the benefits of
the small ha nd-held t wo- way
radios that are used i n t he Fam-
il y Radio Ser vice (FRS). The
Fami ly Radio Se rvi ce is a li -
cense- f ree, sho rt range , low
power, two- way radi o service
that was established by the FCC
back i n 1996 spec ifica ll y for
fami ly and indi vidual recre-
ational usc . These radios oper-
ate on a 14-ehannel freq ue ncy
range from Cha nne l I belna
,
462.5625 MHz to Channel 14
being 467 .7 125 MHz (s peci fi-
c a t ion s f ro m my Mot orola
Talkabout ).
Most of the radi os have " In-
terference Eli minator Codes: '
Continuous Tone-Coded Squelch
System (CTCSS as we hams
know it), or Private Li ne (PUM
as Motorola mig ht have you
know i t).
Many of the radios have ad-
vanced feature s such as hands-
f ree VOX, headsets, recharging
accessories, and carrying acces-
like ha ving a second language
and be ing able to communi cate
with those special people who
also know this fast disappearing
language. Interesti ngly e noug h,
most of the pu nctuation remains
the same. Our que stion mark
was INT and his e nd of QSO as
SK was al ways VA to us. which
comes out of the same end of
the horn.
So to all and any potential
CW ops out there, re -read that
art icl e. It is f ull of good practi -
cal advice. DITDAH DlT DAH
DIT - DAH DI T DAH . ..
Number 6 on your Feedback card
From the Ham Shack
LETTERS
Hank Landsber gWB6MEU,
Sier r a Madre CA. Regarding
the news item thai appeared on
page 6 of your February issue.
please be advised thai the infor-
mati on in this item, as it relates
to me. is incorrect and outdated.
Contrary 10 the articl e: ( I) I was
NOT arrested: (2) I was NOT
ci ted: and (3) eve n according 10
an FCC spokes person. my ama-
teur license was NOT "in jeop-
ardy. " This ma ile r has been
resolved. and my Adv ance d
Class ticket is intact.
Our apologies to Honk. As we
noted at the time, the item in
question originally appeared ill
The ARRL Lett er. - ed.
Dean E. Hale KF7CR, Eu-
gene OR. On a re turn trip from
India, 1 transited through San
Franci sco airport. In the North
Te rmina l Conlice tor Gall ery
(mostly United ni ghts), there is
a display (ca lled "On the Ai r" )
of radios from the ' 20s through
'60s, There is utso a displ ay of
m icrophones a nd some ex-
ample s of broadcast band re-
ceivers of nota ble aes theti c
design or funct ion. It is a great
place to spend an hour or two.
Actuall y, I was fru strat ed that I
had a layover ins uffic ient to see
everyt hing.
I ran into a retired nun who
saw one of the old radios fro m
the ' 40s. She confessed to me
that whe n she was a c hild. she
used the li ght from the hack of
a tube radio to read by after it
was time fo r lights out.
The ex hibit runs through July
1999. It' s well worth the vi sit!
Thanks for laking the lime 10
share, n ean .. , - ed.
tor in the infantry in Europe in
WWIl . and eventually radio
chief. I spent many hundreds of
hours at the code table in Camp
Wheeler, Georgia. and then at all
advanced radio and code course
at Fort Benning. We were taught
that t he sending was really done
with the wri st (as the ar ticle
clearl y points out) and we had
to practice holding the key knob
in our right hand and pushi ng
the wri st wi th the lef t so Vi C
would ge t th e feel of i t.
Strangely e nough, it c an he
done. Eventually, I passed 20
words per mi nut e and I still
proudly have my certificate to
prove it. But the next step, 25
WPM, e luded me. I could copy
behi nd as you had to do, but the
army insisted that every letter he
printed the GI way, and I ne ver
coul d get my printing f ast
enough for 25.
The re we re t wo sets of
rhythm practi ce (having nothing
to do with birth control - (he
salt peter in the coffee took care
o f tha t ). We would s end
BENNING and B7FG4 . I t
he lped to get the rhythm of code
down, a lmost lik e music.
The idea behind the sending
was for everyone to have the
same f i s t so t he Ge rman s
wouldn' t be able to tell whi ch
unit was sending, Of course, in
very litt le lime we always knew
who was a ll the key at the ot her
end. be it the drag on the dah on
Roge r or six dits when a ll he
needed was fi vc.
And then. afte r all that won-
derful code table practice and
using the wrist to send, when we
got into the fie ld in combat con-
ditions, guess what? Right. We
used a leg key clamped onto the
thigh and never did anythi ng
Jules E. Blitz W3YZE, Bal- r norc than slap it to send mcs-
tlmore :MD, 1 rea lly e nj oyed sages. Try sitting in a crowded
Bob Shrader' s article on " Keys j eep and sending with your wrist
to Good Code" (March) . May I using a leg key .. . forget it.
add my two cents'? I have been a ham now for 45
As a regimenta l radio opera- years and still enj oy CWo It ' s
6 73 Amateur Radio Today J une 1999
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ARRL License
Restructure Relili' Filed
NewTechnology
for the Amateur Bands
Many amateurs are concerned about the fu-
ture of our hobby. I think that lack of interest on
thepart of persons whowould otherwise become
licensed is the basis of this concern. Two major
reasons for tt us uninteresl, in my opinion, arethe
lack of time and energy. Together with the stigma
of ancient technology, theseprovide asufficiently
high-energy barrier to the learni ng 01code.
The Intemel , perceived as a modem technol-
ogy, provides ameans to satisfytheurge tocom-
municate and makes it easy to reach across Ihe
globe.
I teel that new technology is required to at-
tract more people to our hobby. A new, digital,
What impact such a restructuring might have
on amateur radio is hardto say, but it would defi
nitely make any spectrum above 50 MHz-and
possibly some in the shortwave region-rnore
vulnerable to reallocation andauction. Thismay
wen be the main reason that the ARRL is press-
ing so hard for thepassage of its Amateur Radio
Spectrum Protection Act. This, as a way 01en-
suri ng that hams have a place to operate no
mailer what happens to the mission and the
structure of the FCC.
FCC Chairman Kennard prefers a two-t iered
approach to restructuring the Commission. He
says that part of the plan could be implemented
by the FCC itself, but requires congressional
action first. II's not dear that anymeasuretoover-
haul the FCCcould pass Congress and be signed
into law.
Meanwhile, Kennard has taken on another
challenge, that of convincing the public that his
agency is not about to begin regulating the
Internet.
The Federal Communications Commission
was bombarded with E-mait from computer us-
ers feari ng government regulati on. OnThursday,
March 11th, Kennard tried to dispel that notion,
stating that as long as he is chairman, the Fed-
eral Communications Commission Will not regu-
late the lntemet.
The FCC last month conduded that dial-up
calls 10 Ihe Internet are interstate conmunca-
nons and are subj ect to federal jurisdiction.
Internet dial-up connections are now treated as
local calls. The FCChas said thisdecision merely
resolves a dispute amongphone companies over
howto compensate each other for Internet con-
nections and how to cl arify the role of state and
federal regulators. Theagency said the decision
will not affect connectors to the Internet or how
much th ey are charged for the call.
Consumer groups and others believe that the
action could lead to higher Internet access
charges in the future, but Kennard says that the
FCChas no intention of making computer users
pay long-distance lees for dial-up access.
Thnx 10 the FCC and 10 Newsune, Bill
Pasternak WA6ITF, editor.
Contin ued 0 11 [l ag e 38
FCC Mission?
restructuring proposals that would reduce the
number of license classes from six to four by
eliminati ngthe NoviceandTech Plustickets; pro-
vi de 5 WPM and 12 WPM Morse code lesting
uers: and permit Technician operators 10 use
Morse code on the current General Class CW
bands.
Thel eague'splan would alsoretarm IheNov-
ce/tecn Plus CWallocations among the remain-
ing license classes and revise both wrillen and
Morse exam requirements to make them more
relevant andmore comprehensive. In general the
League's reply comments reiterated its initial
comments filed last December 1.
The ARRL said four license classes provided
a manageable gap between license classes to
encourage upgrading. "Looking at themailer this
way, four license classes isagood plan. andthree
license classes is not," the League said. Under
its plan, Novice and Tech Plus licensees would
be automatically upgraded to General.
The League found an ally in CO Communica-
tions comments on refarming Ihe NovicefTech
Plus CW allocati ons among the remai ning
classes for additional phone bands. COcalled d
-me correct approach."
Thnx to the ARRL Lett er. courtesy of Peoria
Area ARC's March 1999 SaMbits.
Atop federal legislator has called for the FCC
to get out of the regulatory business and to
concentrate on making money for the federal
government.
Louisiana Republican BillyTauzinsays thai the
FCC needs to be revamped to have a competi-
tive rather than regulatory mission. Tauzin is the
chairman of the House Committee on Telecom-
munications. On Friday. March 12th. he told re-
porters that he hopes 10 have a bill drafted by
this month detailing the changes in the FCC's
mission and structure that Congress would like
to see implemented.
Tauzin says that he doesn't have many spe-
cifics and is open to suggestions. He and ot her
RepublicansinCongress have criticizedtheFCC
for actingtoo regulatorily. This is particularlytrue
in areas such as the implementation of a 1996
law freeing cabie. local and long-distance com-
panies to gel into each other's business.
Meanwhile. FCC Chairman Bill Kennard says
that he is very interested in wooing with coo-
gressiol'lallawmakers to help the agency run et-
fectively into the21s1 century. Kennard says that
he will present an upcoming concressonattere-
communications hearing with a bluepnnt for re-
structuring me agency that would be open to
publiccomment. Hesays that bythefall hewould
like to have a final plan in place.

Ham Radio Numbers
Declining
L
_
QRH.
The numbers for 1998 are in, the trend is
downward and the outlook is not very good for
the future of amateur radio. This is the gist of
recently rel eased FCC ligures on the number of
amateur radiooperators licensed bytheagency.
and if the figures hold. 1998 will have been the
first year of actual decl ine in the total number 01
Uniled Stales radio amateurs in the past two
decades.
A year ago. there was a total of 719.331 li-
censed radi o amateurs listed in the FCC's data-
base. Twelve months later, that figure has
dropped to 718,241 . ThaI'sa dropof 1090 hams,
or a 0.2% annual rate of attrition, and while it
might not seem very significant, 1090 is more
hams lost inthe United States than are licensed
in some other nations.
Looking at the percentage rates gives even
more reason for alarm. Since 1992. when the
annual 9rowth rat e was a healthy 8.4% a year,
the trend has been steadily downward. In 1993.
it had dropped to 7.3%. By 1994, to 6. 7%. 1996
had the most dramatic drop, to aminuscule 0.8%
growth, and now. in 1999, we are into negative
numbers.
And negative numbers meanthat the ham ra-
diobands are more vul nerabletoattack fromthe
corporate raiders in the telecommunications in-
dustry. These are people who envision millions
of doll ars of prol it by evicting hams from the
bands above 50 MHz, and having that valuable
spectrumreallocated to their use.
It al so means that the govemment itself might
begin to think in terms of the millions or billions
of dollars that it might gamer by auctioning off
some of our bands. Finally, on another level it
means that there will be less interest by compa-
nies inintroducing newequipment. As any manu-
facturer will tell you, it makes no sense to put
money into research for new products for a mar-
ket that may soon die off.
Thnx to W5 YI Report repri nted in The Cherry
Juice, newsl eller of the Cherryland (Traverse City
MI) ARC, February 1999.
The ARRL has suggested that its plan to re-
structure amateur radio licensing represents the
best compromise among the many that have
been brought forth. Inreplycomments filed Janu-
ary 15 wi th the FCC, the League held firm to its
8 73 Amateur Radio Today June 1999
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Regens for the Millennium
Part 1: A lI ew look at all oldfriend.
AI Cikas KA9GDL
412 Radford Drive
Sherman IL 62684
/"wloA. These boa t anchors wili be yourflea-"It./tVt sourceJOTparts such: ttl" those ill Photo B.
10 73 Amateur Radio rcasv June 1999
T
hey come and go, these strange
little devices. Every fe w years
sees a resurgence of interest in
a simple concept known as the regen-
erative receiver. If you have ever played
with one you know the)' produce a
unique kind of fun. If you have never
done so. you arc in for a treat. In this
fi rst of a two-part seri es. we'Il Iook at
the construction side of these receivers.
where 10 obtain parts. how to bui ld
them. ami how to make improvements.
Next lime. we 'll dig a little deeper into
the frequency selection side of things
and ex ami ne cus tom-bui lt coil s for
e xtended spectrum coverage.
The regenerative receiver is perhaps
the easiest path to amateur and short-
wave radio reception short of a crystal
set or TRF recei ver. the o nly less-
complicated de vices known. Rcgcns
arc very easy to build and require no
alignment. When you fini sh construc-
tion. you power them up and they
work-nicely. They do take some get-
ting used to. though. Typically. they
perform at their peak for some four or
fi ve hours after sunset. Daytime recep-
tion is nearly impossible. And tuning
one requires a line ba lance of several
control s. whi ch takes some operating
experience to develop. Once set. a regen
wi ll provide many hours of simple
enjoyment.
During the past 60 years. thousands
of hams urul SWLs have gotten thei r
start with one of these units. By the
early 1960s. the ci rcu it had go ne
through an evolution that culminated
in such classic commerci al rigs as Al-
lied Radi o's "Ocean Hopper: ' "Space
Spanner: ' and "Span Master: ' each
successively a bi t more sophisticated.
Companies such as Lafayette Radio
offered their competitive "Explore-
Aire," as di d many other copy-cat
fi rms . Today. these units arc scarce,
but work-alike units can be easily rep-
licated. even to the point of improve-
ments the original designers never
considered. Designs from previous
decades were co vered in an excellent
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470 II
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"0U11'UT
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.05 or .1~
A little history will be helpful here.
Back in the "tube days," commercial
regenerative recei vers were usually
built as cheaply as possible. Thei r so-
called power supplies were a j oke, and
very dangerous. Often, a high-imped-
ance, 2000 n headphone was all they
would power. No one ever dreamed of
feeding them to an outboard ampli fi er
or tape recorder, and you didn't dare
ground them!
In those days. regens often consisted
of two tubes: a regenerati ve detector
(12AT6) and an audio amplifier
100 12SWC
4182KO .......
6C4
.001.
.02 "
ANlINNA
11lJMME'
s- 50pF '-......_ ....._--'
,.,..,
nNNG
eN'
RroEN
IO Kll
article printed in the Fall 1995 issue of
Communications Quan erly magazine.
Though many solid-Slate versions
continue to be developed, the best
overall success can be found wit h
simple tube-type ci rcuitry. Reason:
The tubes match impedances of the
long-wi re antenna and home-brew
coils more readily than do 2N2222s or
FETs. Also, tubes of the types needed
are plentiful and nearly as cheap as
transistors. Many of the parts required
for a tube rig are sitting around j ust
waiti ng for a taker, often even for free.
Fig. J. Basic regenerative receiver concept.
73 Amateur Radio Today . June 1999 11
cost and si mplicity. We begin by look-
mg at hamfcsts , flea markets. thrift
shops and garage sales for the part s we
need . You won' t just walk into Radi o
ShackHI and buy them. The good news,
of course. is that you probably won' t
have to look very far, or pay ve ry
much.
First , try to locate an old "five- tulle"
table radio. which will contai n most of
the parts you' lI need. The five tulles
were as follows : 35W4. 5OCS, 12AV6.
12RA6. and 12BE6. Because we are
interested in upgrading the rege n de-
sign. you won' t he using any of the
tubes. hut the tube sockets. tuning ca-
pacitor. and many of the compone nts
,vill provide a great start toward your
home- brew receiver. Other similar de-
vices such as intercom or PA units .
phone oscillators. or CB transceivers
that date fro m about forty years ago
will provide most of the audi o stage
components .
Our regenerati ve detector stage will
be simplified. because in those days a
fe w of the unused tube pins were
grounded. Here we ",'ill usc si mple
tunes that do not contain extra cle-
ments . The socket and a few sal vaged
resi stors arc al l wc"Il require. The
powe r supply will call for a trans-
former wi th a six -volt filament wi nd-
ing and a B+ windi ng of 125 to 250
volts. Any value is li ne. although most
transforme rs will produce about 150
volts. These can he found in o ld trans-
ccivcrs such as the Hcuthkit t'" " Lunch
Boxes." or can be taken from old un-
wanted test equipment such as capacitor
checkers. \ 'TVMs, or signal generators.
At any given hamfest. there arc tons of
this stuff available. ofte n pri ced at five
doll ars or less, usuall y much less. This
is what you want. One of these units
should also provide a suitable c hassis
(and cabinet) for your receiver. After
sift ing through four or fi ve hamfests
(at most ), you should have all the part s
you' H need to proceed. If not. check
with other hams to see if they have any
sti ll-missi ng items in their j unk boxes.
Since the tubes we will be using
have base diagram d ifferences, the cir-
cuit wi ll need to be completely rewired.
This means the salvaeed tube sockets
. -
must he completely unsoldered . The
p
>470 n
lW
,c,
470KO
rn
?
lMn
NOTE,
OK TO SUB5111UTE 1/2 12A17
FOR EACH NEW 6C4
,- -
,
,
,
,
,
,
100 - 125 VDC B. I
'-. ,f-
dangerous to ground. The manufactur-
crs recommended using an isolation
transformer. but that was not usuall y
done.
Today we can Improve thi ngs
greatly. and even though the desi gn it-
self is decades o ld. these units still per-
form very well consideri ng their low
c
>220K
47-82Kn
':::
);

6(4 6(4 p
G '.- to , -

,
:!:: '
.1 : >lOOK lOOK
t ao - 7l) voc
.. I ..
p
G --
----

c
/;7 : '".,. 271<
!' " lW lW
,
,
, m
L __
ADDED CIRCUITRY
6C4
TO Ol
TI CKlER T
ORCUrr m
Fig. 2 .\Iodifi carioll f or 11101"(' audio drive 10 power a speaker.
12 73 Amareur Radio Today. June 1999
(5OC5). A third "tube" was a 35W4
power rectifier. which did nothing for
reception. Bad then. all the tube fi la-
ments were strung together in seri es
and powered direct ly hy the: 11 0 VAC
house current. Thai same house cur-
rem was rectified into the B+ DC by
the 35W4. This is what made the regen
I
Cathode Grid Screen Plate Heater
SAQ5 2 1 S 5 3, 4
1/2 SAWB S 7 B 9 4,5
SVS' B 5 4 3 2. 7
I
t 6F6, 6K6, 12A6 may also be tried
-----.J
Tahte 1. Audio OI/(PII1.
I
_.
Cathode Grid Plate Heater
SC4 7 S 5 3, 4
1I26AW8 1 2 3 4,5
1/2 12An 3 2 1 4.5,9
11/2 12AT7 B 7 S 4, 5.9
I SC5 Octal' B 5 3 2. 7
(ground pins 5&S) 2 1 7 3, 4
' Older-style tube
Table 1. Detector/added a!ufio,
n"
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1/2
6AW8 p
,
circuit itself. though. is very forgi ving.
Parts can be placed where desired and
wires do not need to he short . This is a
big help if using a prepunchcd chassis.
with existing holes. It also makes it a
good beginner's project. before you
tackle that commercial transceiver kit.
Parts can he located anywhere, though
the project should be di vided into three
separate sections: the regenerative de-
rector stage. the audio stage. and the
power supply. For the detector, start
with a 6C4 tube and socket. For the au-
di o amplifier. a 6AQ5 works very
nicely. These two stages will power an
8 Q headset quite well. Later. we'll ex-
pand the circuit to allow these same
tubes to power a small a-inch speaker
(Fig. 2), then we 'll shrink it down to a
single tube for a more compact unit,
QRP-" yle (Fig. 3).
The circuit shown in Fig. 1 hol ds the
basi c design. The detector is coupled
through a .05 or. 1 IlF capac itor to the
audio stage. This junction is important,
as we will be breaking it to insert more
amplification later. Note that the 6C4
has three connections aside from the
filaments: the cathode, the grid, and
the pl ate. Table 1 shows which pins on
the socket to wire, as well as the fila-
me nt pins which light the tube. Also
given in Table 1 is data for othc r tubes
that work equally well, but you need to
know which tube is available bef ore
you wire the circuit.
Table 2 gives similar data for the au-
dio stage. and adds the required screen
grid. We've already selected the 6AQ5
as our tube o f choice, largel y because
you may have already di scovered one
in the chassis you salvaged for this
project. If not, they arc cheap and
pl entiful nonetheless. The power sup-
ply can be done two ways: It can be
Continued on page 14
Fig. 3. needed for a single-
tube version.
73 Amateur Radio Today June 1999 13
(You can even go so far as to make in-
terchangeable plug-in detector stages
on separate plates of al uminum if you
like to experiment; the audio stage and
power supply remain as they were.)
Fig. 3 takes the origi nal design (Fig.
1) in the other direction: Here we
squeeze the entire receiver into j ust
one tube, yet it perfonns exactly as
well as its two-tube predecessor. For
this design we usc a more advanced
lure, the 6AW8, which essentially
combines one 6C4 and one 6AQ5 in
the same glass enclosure. Oddly
enough, thi s also gives us more
choices in expanding our project. We
can combine the 6AW8 with either a
6C4 or a 12AT7 for a more substantial
receiver on basically the same chassis
space. It is useful to note here that the
6C4 and 6AQ5 tubes use seven-pin
tube sockets while the 12ATI and
6AW8 tube s require nine-pi n sockets.
Available chassis space wi11 largely he
the deciding factor, as will your per-
sonal expertise. No other component
changes are necessary.
Once any of the basic designs has
been successfully built and operated, it
is easy to conti nue to refine and ex-
periment I should mention that the re-
sistor and capaci tor values (bias)
shown in the design work very well re-
gardless of the tube complement. The
.- .,
Photo D. Here. a real rOcean Hopper" is flanked by two workalikes (each containing
built-in PS).
built onto the same chassis as the re-
cei ver, or separated into its own enclo-
sure to power other projects (or other
regens) as well.
Fig. 2 suggests a method of expand-
ing your receiver once you have it
working. Either a single 6C4 can be
used to provide enough extra amplifi-
cation to dri ve a small speaker, or two
6C4 stages can be added for even bet-
ter performance. Now we can make a
few new choices. A 12ATI tube has
two 6C4s inside of it. Both can be used
for additional audio amplification, or
one side can be used as the regcnera-
tive detector! This concept gives quite
a bit of latitude in decision making.
Since both stages are identical , one can
be deleted or converted to a detector.
Regens for the Millennium
continuedJrom page 13
Photo C. A real "Ocean Hopper" (left)
sits beside one of the author s "replicas. "

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Continued on page 16
can be used for main tuning-this will
simpli fy the design. These capaci tors
are someti mes found in transmitters,
CB sets, or test equipment. If a multi-
section capacitor is used, wire only the
section with the most plates.
The antenna trimmer must have
both sides isolated from ground, as it is
in series with the antenna and the tun-
ing ci rcui t. Use plastic or mount on a
terminal strip. Most suitable antenna
capacitors require a screwdri ver to ad-
j ust, as opposed to a knob. This is pan
of the fun of a regen!
If plug-in coils arc used, never
change coils with the power on.
Photo E. The one-tube version is laid out
in Pig. J. No front panel, all parts on the
chassis, remote PSt
Photo F. Underside of the one-tube.
reader could continue ( 0 refine the de-
sign with other values, but perfor-
mance will largely remain unchanged.
As I stated, the basic design is very
forgiving. so anything goes.
Nor arc all the refinements electri-
cal. In expanding upon the author ' s
original Allied Radio "Ocean Hopper"
replica design, a number of cosmetic
changes were attempted as well. As
shown in the photographs. each suc-
cessive design took. on a look of its
very own.
Here arc some of my recommenda-
tions for parts placement:
Locate the tuning capacitor on the
top of the chassis, centered. and with the
bandsprcad capacitor directly below if
possible. Keep the coi l and regenerati ve
detector tube close to one another, to one
side of the tuning capacitors.
Locate the audio tube and audio
transformer as far away as possible
from the detector components. If a
power supply is to be included on the
same chassis, as opposed to a separate
unit , di vide the chassis roughly into
thirds, and give each stage about the
same amount of space once the tuning
and bandspread capacitors are placed.
A single-section variable capacitor
+
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Operation
The tuning process is a fine balance
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made. The antenna trimmer is. tuned for
max and only needs readjustmenl if
Fig. 4. Power supply circuit.
Regens for the Millennium
conunuedfro m page 15
A front panel is optional, and all
parts can be mounted on the chassis.
you change coils or move the main
tuning capacitor between opposite
ends of its range. The regen control is
deli cate, and mastery of the regen
knob only comes with practice.
Set the main tuning capacitor (0 a re-
gion that seems active and use the
bandsprcad capacitor to fine-tune the
signal. Once the controls are balanced,
you will enjoy hours of listening. As a
bonus, the circui t can even process the
stronger CW and SSB signals on the
amateur bands. By the way, these re-
ceivers occasionally suffer "bad days"
of reception, where they seemingly do
f-- --------- - --- -., not work at all. Just a few days later,
propagation changes and reception can
be nearly "wall to wall" across the
dial. Keep that in mind.
Reprints of manuals for the original
"Ocean Hopper," "Space Spanner,"
and "Span Master" radios arc available
from Hi-Manuals, PO Box 802, Coun-
cil BlulTs IA 51502. Parts are where
you find them. Your first shortwave
coil can be wound from #20 wire on a
I -inch or 1- 1/4-inch form. Usc a turns
for the tickl er winding and 9 or 10
turns for the tune winding. This will
place you in approximatel y the 5- 10
MHz portion of the shortwave spec-
trum. Be sure to wind boLh coils in the
same directi on- starting at the bottom
of the coil, wind in a clockwise direc-
tion as you move upward, as viewed
from the top of the coi J.
If plug-in coil forms and a socket are
available. you can experiment with
winding other coils for wider cover-
age. Next lime we will do j ust that . We
will take an in-depth look at the secrets
of successful coil-winding, not just for
regenerative radios, hut for nearly any
other proj ect (such as a matching QRP
transmitter) you may desire. fa
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16 73 Amafeur Radio Today . June 1999
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service as a communicator. plus theB
years of being licensed as K81HQ
(with a huge number of operating
hours on the bands). tend to give me
common knowledge beyond the phony
smoke and mirrors or political agenda
folks. I endorse the circular quad.
If co ntemplation of extending the
number of clements beyond four is
rolling around in your mind. experi -
ence has taught me that real gain is j ust
not there unless yagi elements arc used
beyond the four circular clements. One
of the side effects of thi s will be higher
noise level s. corona discharge (wind
effect s), and lowering the usable band-
width. which is especially important
on len meters (also 2m- 70cm). For
those who wish to construct one of
Fig. I. Spacing diagram for the circular
quad.
73 Amateur Radio Today June 1999 17
This quad has been constructed and
sized for and and
has been used for se veral years at this
QTH. It has bee n modeled and plotted
usi ng several two meter repeaters in
the area. a couple of which are of the
250 feet above ground and better vari-
ety. Signal strength readings were
made on a Kenwood TS-no ( 144 +
440 MHz) transce iver S-meter. The len
meter version was likewise plotted us
ing a Kenwood T5-430-5 transceiver
Scmeter using roth ten meter Cari b-
bean repeaters and European and Afri -
can DX station signals. On the ten
meter quad. these signal strengt hs (for-
ward/back/side) were compared with an
80 meter dipole broadside in the same
direction as reference. Signal strength at
times was less than S- I and unread-
able; immediate switch to the ten
meter quad result ed in an S-9 strength.
As for the usc of circles instead of
the cl assic square or diamond or delt a
shapes. there arc many Ph.D.-type
mathematical- and computer-derived
reports of compari son wi th all of these
shapes as well as yagi designs. The
circle will always outperform these
other types on weak DX condit ions.
That controve rsy will probably always
go on. but my 36 years of mil ita ry
N
()\Ii that ten meters is comins
back a.... ai n after a seven yea;
e
rest. renewed interest by DX
stations is again making the band ex-
citing. Although a typical trapped 10-
15-20 yagi beam is OK. an inexpensive
ten-met er-only antenna is much less
expensive and a real weekend do-it-
yoursel f project.
What is being shown here is the abi l-
ity of the novice. wi th limited technical
expertise. to put together a worl d-class 9
dB (over a dipole) gai n antenna for un-
der $65. In today's expensive world.
this is a real eye opener.
All of the components are readily
available from the local hardware or
home improvement store. Tools amount
to the ki nd of tools that every home
owner must have to maintain his in-
vestment-s-the ranch! These too ls arc a
hack saw, screwdriver. adj ustable
wrench (or equivalent). and. of course.
a drill with a couple of bits. If you
want to make things look pretty. then
maybe a crosscut file would help.
Now. this project is not for the critics
to bash or go into a Ph.D. thesis on-

It S Just common sense construc uon
and tested results. Please. no experts
need to criticize: Just go on purchasing
those expensive commercial yagis.
[0 the boom, the use of al uminum
plates and stainless V-bolts is recom-
mended. The addi tional couple of stain-
less bolts and nuts to secure the boom
and mast to the pl ate for guaranteed
non-slip is we ll worth the two dollars.
Climbing towers is not my idea of fun.

Now that we have spent time and

money purchasing and bringing home
thc plumbing and construction compo-
nents, let 's put together a nice looking
quad antenna system. It must be noted
that the general practice is to install a
gamma match system to match the an-
tenna array and coax impedances and to
establish a balanced loading condition. I
found that on the circular clement

Parts list
I
Qty. Description
I
4 1.5' PVC-DWVdrain pipe 10 fl.
,
3 1.5" PVC-DWVcouplings
12 0.5" CPVC water pipe 10 ft.
I
9
0.5' CPVC water pipe
couplings
3
0.5' CPVC water pi pe T-
couplings
1
1-5/8' galv. steel tubing 10 ft.
(fence rai l)
110ft.
#14 or #12 AWG bare copper
wire
3
4' x 8" galv. steel perforated
plate (decks)
12
#6-1/2 stainless steel sheet
metal screws
3
1.5' steel If -belts, long
(PVC-to-boom)
6
#1/4 x 3" galv. steel bolls
(end cross member)
12
#1/4 nuts (use on itemabove,
double nut)
1 can ea. PVC cleaner, PVC/CPVCglue
Optional
1
10' x 10' alumi numplate
(0.25' thick)
2 1.5' galv. steel u-borts (Short)
2 2' qalv. steel u-tons (short)
2 #1 /4 x 2' gal v. steel bolts/nuts
i.
1-7/8' x 5 ft. gal v. steel mast
{fence pole}
Table 1. Parts list.
the electrical (not physical) hal f wave-
length at this frequency. Cables such
as RG21 3. RG8. RG58, etc., which
have a solid poly internal covering
(i.e., between the center conductor and
shielded braid), have a VF of about
67% . The other types that have a foam
insu lati on generall y have a VF of
about 79%. Whether you use 52 ohm
or 75 ohm impedance types makes
very little di ffere nce. In fact , a 75 ohm
characterist ic impedance more closely
matches the circular loop impedance
This is not a critical item. For those
few di ehard old-timers who ins ist on
minimum loss at 28 MHz and insi st on
using 300 or 450 ohm twinlead with a
4: I bal un or antenna tuner, you have
been around long enough to know how
to deal wit h that type of transmission
line.
Once you have determined that the
tower is 22 feet tall or higher, then you
can determine the physical length of
the coax for proper operation (i.e., odd
multiple of one-half wavelengths x VF
,
at the lowest frequency that the cable
is goi ng to be used one-even at 1.8
MHz if you are remote ly switching it to
a 160 meter system). Also make sure, for
propagati on and safety reasons, that the
shield of the coax is grounded at the
base of the tower.
Now we can begin wit h the con-
struc tion of the antenna system. The
hill of materials shown in Ta ble 1 will
he needed to make a good healt hy an-
tenna that has been proven to go
through ice, snow, and 80 mph wi nds
safely. The main reason is that it is ex-
tremely light in weight and very flex-
ibl e. The rotor system will also benelit
with this type of antenna system. One
warni ng given is that the pl astic should
not be painted with anything. For an
example, should black pri mer be used,
su mmer sunshine wi ll raise the tem-
perat ure above the 200
0
F level and
disaster will set in!
The source of a lO-foot boom is any
place that sells chai n link fence. This is
a top rail made to telescope into an-
other, so 20 feet or so of boom is pos-
sible. The optional 5-foot mast is in
case your present mast docs not extend
5 teet above the tower. If you need a
mechanical system to connect the mast
\
1112" PVC
CPVC
T-eOUPlJNG
1I2"CPVC
>
#14 COPPER
ZTURNS
I ,
,--
#14 COPPER
I """

va-PVC PIPE
/
liZ" PVCPIPE
/
-
--
--
SIUCONE
CAULK ~ ; o / . SOLDER
5O-Z39 - lUG
112" PVC
COUPlJNG""
U-60LT
NOTE:
SHORTWI RES
IFDESjRED
DIRECTOR AND REfLECTOR
DRIVEN ELEMENT
Fig. 2. Tee connections for the driven and
parasitic clements.
these for two meters, it might be noted
that it wi ll be three wavelengths on
7Ocm- lherefore you get additional
gain on 70cm along with the large
bandwidth gains.
The objective of thi s art icle is to pro-
vide detai led instruction on how to
purchase components locally, cash-
and-carry sty le, and put together an in-
expens ive high gain ante nna system
that does not requi re tuning, expensive
meters, and gadgets to make it work.
Your coax length should he an odd
mult ipl e of one-half wavele ngt hs at
the lowest frequency you expect lO op-
erate. Make sure you include the VF
( velocity factor) when fi guri ng this
length . Approximately 18 feet is nne-
hal f wavelengt h on 28.4 Ml-lz. Now
multiply the VF with t his length to get
Fig. 3. Element 1I/OIIIIting derails.
18 73 Amateur Radio Today June 1999
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STIEl PlATE
quads in particular, the driven element
must he broken at the fccdpoint to get
it to comply with standard gamma match
systems. After putting on the gamma
match, a good match was accomplished.
However. for unknown reasons the re-
ceived signal was diminished consid-
erably with the use of AC coupling vs.
DC coupling (no gamma) . So for sim-
pli city and performance sake, a direct
coupling unbalanced termination was
made that resulted in excellent perfor-
mance. Do what works!
First, make the dri ven cleme nt. It is
heing cut for approximately 28.4 MHz
center. This results in about 35 feet of
total length. Take four of the CPVC
pipes and cut off the ends to achieve a
length of 8 feet 9 inches, which equals
a circumference of 35 feet. Cut a 36
foot length of copper wire and begin
inserting into the end of the first sec-
tion of pipe. Whcn it reaches the end,
clean the surface of the CPVC pipe
and a coupling. Then appl y glue and
couple. Ensure that these pipes are ly-
ing on a relatively flat surface. Con-
tinue to insert the copper wire one
section at a time. When all four sec-
tions arc put together, use aT-coupling
CPVC to complete the loop, e ns uri ng
that the ends of the copper wire arc
drawn through the holes in the Tt-cou-
piing. See the drawing. Now insert an
50-239 or N coax receptacle. This is
done with one copper wi re to a solder
Fig. 4. Cross member and boom mounting
details.
Plwto ..t.. circular quad is { III impressive sight.
Connn ued on page 25
4 x 9 ft. 2 in. pipes
(36.5 It.) - +4%
4 x 8 ft . 9 in, pipes
(35.0 It.) - 0%
Elements
Driven
Ref lector
Cross Members I
Director 4 x 8 It, 4 in. pipes I
(33.5 ft .) - 4%
Driven 11 n. 0 in. I
Director 10 ft. 6 in. I
Table 2.
Refl ector 11 It . 6 in. I
gi ve best resul ts as a reflector clement.
Aaain. cut off a 38- foot piece of cop-
-
per wire and insert and assemble the
reflector as was done wi th the driven
clement. Ensure that the Ttconncctor is
faci ng outward from the loop so that it
wi ll face the ground whe n hoisted into
positi on. Before glui ng this connector,
make sure each end of the copper wi re
comes through the opening, Take each
end and wind around the outside o f the
CPVC tubing as per the deta il dra w-
ing. i.e. . two loops. and c ut. This will
ensure that nothi ng had happens when
everything is hoi sted into position.
Again. the length of the copper wire is
not super critical. Allow the opening
on the T-conncctor to remain open (do
not close wi th caulkj-c-condensaticn
must he able to vent from the tubing.
Next is the director clement. Con-
str uct it as the reflector el ement. Cut
fou r C PVC pi pes to a le ngth o f Rfee t
4 inches each. This will result in a
33.5 foot ci rcumfere nce. again 49i
shorter then the driven cle ment. Thi s
will be mounted about 4 feet in fron t
of the dri ven element. which relates
to a 0.) 1 lambda spac ing. Terminate
th e coppe r \v ire as was done on the
reflector cl ement.
Now thut we have the c le ments
made. we must insert the horizontal
cross members for boom mount ing.
These cross members arc made of
PVC-DWV 1.5" plastic pi pe. Take one
of the pipes and c ut the fo llowi ng
pieces: reflector. 18 inches (II feet 6
I : J SWR after tunin g over the entire
10 meter hand ( 28. 1 through 29.7
MHz). Quads are low Q resonators and
therefore have wide bandwidth.
While the dri ven clement is stabiliz-
ing. work on the di rector and reflector
clements ca n he done. Starting with
the reflector clement. the next four
CPVC pipes can he c ut to 9 feet 2
inches. which relates to approximately
36.5 feet in c irc umfere nce or upproxi-
mately 4'7(' larger than the dri ven cle-
ment. Note that the spacing on the
boom will he 6 feet. resulting in a 0. 17
lambda. This space h,IS been shown to
lug attached to a screw on the fla nge of
the receptacl e and the other wire :;' 0 1-
dcrcd to the center terminal. Nnw push
into the Tcoupling opening utter up-
plying some d ear silicone caulk. Let it
set overni ght to ensure setup of the
caulk. The next day. connect the coax
to the cl crueru and test it with low
power for SWR and frequency center-
ing. Usable bandwidth should he in ex-
cess of 400 kH/.. with a 1.3: I or less
SWR risi ng up to 1. 7:1 for approxi-
marcl y 800 kH/. Most modern tra ns-
ceivers require the use of an ante nna
tuner: therefore the a nte nna will give a
Plw((J /I. Closer riell' of h('tlllI and elements.
20 73 Amateur Radio tcoev June 1999
Number 2' on your FHdbM: I< cd
From the Ukraine:
A Radio Amateur's Story
Part 2: Water- cooled amp? Why not i!
Vladimir Skrypnik UY5DJ
Pravdinska. 58
Kharkiv 107
310107 Ukraine
[uySdj @UY0LL.ampr.org]
[uy5dj@yahoo.com]
M
y teenage interest in amateur
radio hel ped me make the
ri ght choice for a professi on.
In 1966. I became a first-year student
at the Kharkiv Institute of Radioclec-
tromcs.
I was very surprised to di scover that
there was nei ther an amateur radio
cl ub nor a station there . After short in-
vestigation. I learned that a formal li-
ce nse and cluh ca llsign. UT5KDS. had
been issued. However. there was nci-
ther a room nor equipment for the ra-
dio station. I took the initiative and
contacted the Instit ute 's aut horities.
and it worked! Within a few months.
we were given a rather large room on
the top floor. It was an archives room.
a nd the re we re no wi ndows. But we
young hams were dclightcd-c-espc-
cially to he so cl ose to the roof for our
antennas! We applied our youthful en-
ergies. a nd in a short time we made our
station a real ity. The authori ties. and
some of the faculty. gave us some old
but unused equipment. The best gift of
all was a mili tarv HF receiver: it cov-

ercd all amateur hands and it was III
complete working condi t ion.
I should mention hen: that in the late
60s. in the former USSR. most amu-
tc urs stil l used se parate receivers a nd
transmitters. And in most cases. trans-
miners were homemade. During this
lime. I acquired a n old German three-
stage CW transmi tter. a rel ic of WWII.
It was a rather big and heavy metal
bo x containi ng a few tubes of unusual
and strange con...truction. Unfortunately.
I was unable to lind direct replaccmems
or even substitutes. I completel y rebuilt
this unit into a power amplifier. and
ended up using only the big cabinet
and heavy-duly RF powe r part s. Later
on we made an exciter. and put up a
few longwirc antennas.
After all of our preparat ions. our st u-
dent amate ur radio club fi nall y got on
the air. It was September IlJ67. The
c lub station soon became the center of
activity for new hams e nteri ng the In-
stitute each year. and for a 101of new-
comers who also wa nted to become
in volved wi th the magic world of
shortwaves.
But the Morse code harrier stopped
the m. I needed to do somethi ng to hel p
them ove rcome this barrier.
I soon es tablished a Morse training
class . Thi s complicated my already
busy st udent life. I had all of the nor-
mal duties and responsi bilities of a stu-
dent - lectures to atte nd and laboratory
exerci ses to do-c-except that I no
longer had free t ime ! Whilc other stu-
dents enj oyed their free time. I had 10
ru n eithe r to the top floor or to the
basement to conduct Morse classes. I
conducted two- hour Morse classes twice
per week. and it produced results. Soon
there were more and more active CW
operators ofUT5 KDS taking their fi rst
ste ps on their journey to become ama-
te ur radio operators. Most of this ac-
tivity was on the 7 MHz ba nd. because
there were e nough stations there opcr-
aring rat her slowly. And this hand was
open every day in any season.
Let me take a ste p backward and
reminisce for a moment . In the spring-
t ime of 1967. I had rece ntly learned
Morse code. a nd I made my fi rst CW
QSOs on 28 MHz at my home st at ion.
UB5EA). I now wanted to get a higher-
category license. and I would need
more HF practice. During my summer
vacat ion in 1967. I we nt to Oblast's
73 Amateur Radio Today June 1999 21
/'11010 A. Yt lllllg students at club station UK5L\ P ill /1) 73. Author 's younger sister
Natasha UB5LEZ is listening 0 11 tilt' band. At aliter, vatentin Mykitt'liko UB5LEQ. \\'110
could hart' ""mI'll that he u'O/IM become (/ famous operator f rom the Arene and All tarc -
rica. eventually owning I I callsigns recognized around the world.' At /til is Alexander
Goncharov; 11011' RA3ZZ but -IKIZZjrom ..\ mon:r;ca.
radio cluh, UB5KBB. While there, I
asked to make a couple of CW QSOs
on HF bands.
The chief allowed me to work under
his contro l on 40 meters. With trem-
bling heart and fing ers. I sent my first
CQ there. I got an answer from the op-
crator. Mis ha. Oil the Crimean pcnin-
sula in the southern Ukraine. After
some ordinary conversation. now pus-
sible wit h my knowledge of Morse
code, I was pleased and satisfi ed with
this first QSO on real HF wit h real
QR.\ l. This QSO remains in my memory
after all these long years.
But let me return to the students' ra-
dio club ...
In the fall of 1968. we met the new
operators enteri ng as first-year stu-
dents. I'm sure you can appreciate how
surprised I was to meet one of t he new
students: It was Mi sha. the same op-
erator with whom I made my Erst
QSO on VB5KBB! As an operator. he
was rat her experienced and it was easy
to work wit h him. Misha made hun-
dreds of QSOs and participated in
many USSR contests. and he was an
act ive DX hunter.
Once the wi nter examination ses-
sions of 1969 were over. we watched
22 73 Amateur Radio tcaev June 1999
c
::::;: .....
::::::;:::::::: ,
::::::: :::::::::::!I
.. ". :.... " .. ,.,
L ,', _ ""' '' " ,"" "' " "
-- ' '''''
for OX openings on 10 meters. It was a
time of good solar activity, and during.
February there were beautiful days
with propagati on from Nort h America.
There were terrifi c signals for a couple
hours every afternoon. and after each
CQ or QRZ. we got a real pileup.
There \vere so ma ny stat ions from the
USA calling us. it was reall y hard to
operate. Misha and I rotated every
hour, and still we we re very tired- but
we were rea lly happy to feci that
pleasant tiredness. It was a new experi-
ence to be in a role of DX. After sev-
eral evenings. we fou nd that it was
better to operate while monitori ng the
ba nd together, with two pairs of head-
phones. Almost 30 years have passed.
but I st ill remember those impressive
openings on ten meters.
Unusual QSOs
Vi ctor Polchanincv UT5TG, a fac-
ulty engi neer and one of UT5KDS' s
operators. went on the Institute' s 1969
Antarctica expedition. The facu lty
were conducting scientifi c research in
the upper atmosphere, and Victor's as-
signment was to take care of the mea-
surement equipment. The expedition
was headquartered at Molodezhnaya,
at that time one of newest of the
USSR' s scient ifi c bases.
The equipment worked properl y,
leaving Victor with plenty of time to
organize a ham shack there.
Perhaps an explanation is required
here: In past years, not every expedi -
tion had an amateur radio operator in-
cluded in thc expedi tionary crew, and
there were no fixed amateur radio po-
sit ions on the bases. Even the callsign,
UAI KAE. was a communi ty one. and
required a licensed amateur radio op-
erator. Most radio communications
were conduc ted usi ng the standard
communicat ions center. Sometimes
amate urs would set up their own sta-
t ions by using equipment brought from
home. This allowed them to operate
from their own work si te or living
quarters. The callsign V A I KAE was
reserved for the Russian Antarct ica
"capital:' Mirny base. At the Mole-
dezhnaya base. UT5TG used a slightly
modified calls ign. VAl KAFJI . Opera-
tion using your home or other special
callsign was prohibited.
Victor rebuilt an old. surplus scien-
tifi c HF radar antenna for 28 MHz op-
erat ion. The landscape would not
permit him to install higher and longer
antennas for the lower bands. You
must remember that Antarct ica is an
icy continent . and there are no trees or
high buildings. Victor also built a
power amp to provide a couple hun-
dred waus. and he was now ready to
operate CW on ten met ers. But. in
spite o f the best equipment. radio fre-
quency communication ultimately de-
pends on wave propagation. From here
in the Ukraine, it seemed like it could
be accompl ished very eas ily, because
duri ng the fall of 1969 and winter of
1970 there were frequent openings
from UB5 to PY, LV, ex, YV, and so
on. But. in fact, those ionospheric re-
fracti ons were good only for the
middle lati tudes, and absolutel y differ-
ent for pol ar regions. This is true for
both the north and south polar areas.
I spent a couple of months at
UT5KDS moni tori ng ten meters, when
the hand was open to South America.
But QSOs with UA I KAFJ I were very
sel dom, and after several attempts. we
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m an annual Field Day contest. But
they didn't operate CW at all , and they
asked me and Misha to join them. We
agreed. This would gi ve me a chance
to observe and participate in a VHF
event. It would also provide experi-
ence with other kinds of amateur
equipment and new operating tech-
niques, and an opportunity to share our
CW skills.
Once again, let me take a step back-
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In the fonner USSR, during those
years there was only one Field Day per
year, exclusi vely on VHF and UHF.
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not have an SSB exciter, and Morse
code mode was all that was available.
Most of time, after our lessons and
laboratory work, we students would
spend several hours on 40 and 20
meters. These were our favorite bands.
Our first experience with VHF was
due to the enthusiasm of Vadim
Shevchenko UB5BUK. He worked as
an assistant in one of the faculty labo-
ratories. Vadim told us stories about 2
meter operation, but we weren't very
interested because it seemed to us like
very short distances were covered in a
very complicated way. Vadim and hi s
fellow VHF enthus iasts planned to be
,......-- MikeMaster --,
agreed with Victor to check only one
frequency, 28.560 kHz, every Tuesday
and Friday at 5 p.m. This was a good
time, because the working day was over,
and Victor' s strong signal would not in-
terfere with scientific measurements.
I was so surprised when this sched-
ule began to work! After several at-
tempts, I found that I could hear hi s
weak CW signal regardless of band con-
ditions. However, signals were 539-559
during most of time, and the narrow
bandwidth signals were excellent to
read. The most significant thing about
this was that it was repeated every day
at the appointed schedule. The only
exceptions were when something in-
terrupted Victor 's normal lite there in
Antarctica, or mine there at my QTH.
When the summer season of 1970
came, the band was qui et and seemed
almost dead. Only domestic or short-
ski p signals were heard, but nonethe-
less our weekly skeds were unusually
stable. Twice per week, for several
months, we had CW contacts with Vic-
tor. We exchanged amateur news, and
often he received regards from hi s
family. Even the chief of the faculty
was quite surprised at how fast and re-
liably we were connected with Antarc-
tica via amateur radio. Many times he
visited our radio shack to watch the
skcd in operation while the band con-
ditions were otherwise very poor.
We were all very surprised by the
nature of this phenomenon, and its u n ~
usual propagation. Thirty years have
passed, and I'm still seeking an expla-
nati on , Perhaps we amateurs experi-
enced thi s anomalous phenomenon for
the first time. To our understanding, it
was propagation along the line of the
Earth's magnetic field. Perhaps sci-
ence can now explain the true nature
of this wave link between two points,
one in the northern hemisphere and the
other in the southern one, connected
by almost the same meridian, But we
ham radio operators were happy and
proud to have experienced such a pre-
viously unknown matter.
The operators of UT5KDS in 1970
were oriented exclusivel y to CW op-
eration on shortwave. We simply did
Field Day 1970
converters transferred wea k signals
from 144 MHz to some portion of the
HF spectrum.
The most memorable piece of equip-
ment was the power amplifier. I rc-
member well this original construction
design by Xick Zinchcnko UB5GNZ.
As shown in Fig. 1. it employed a ce-
ramic triode in grounded grid configu-
ration wit h a quarter wavelengt h
output coaxial resonator. Ou ter and in-
ner conductors were made or copper
tubing. Flanges were provided at the
ends. and a thin Teflon film insulator
was used to make a VHF shortening
capacitor on the end opposite the triode
end or the resonator.
Physically, the resonator 's length was
shorter then a quarter wave length. It
allowed usc of a tuning capac itor in
the form of a metal di sk placed ncur
the anode end. RF energy was taken
from the coupling loop ncar the clo-,cd
end of the resonator. We also used an
external coaxial relay to change the an-
tenna from the recei ver to tn.msmiucr;
The input parts of the power amp
were not so interesti ng and arc not
shown in the fi gure. The mo.. t unique
part of thi s construction was the water
cooling system for the tulle. The inner
resonator 's conductor was made in the
Icrt u of a cavity. It used part of a stain-
less stee l pi pe to del iver cooli ng water
to the source of heat ing- the plate
end. The choice of materi al was made
to ensure poor thermal conductivi ty of
the pi pe. and to provide convectional
fl ow of the distilled water in the reso-
nator. Hot water moved up to a short
piece of pipe at the righ t upper comer.
lt used an external glass wat er tank for
cooling: the water, The tank and reso-
nator were connected by two pieces of
rubber medi cal tubing. Al so. the ai r
bubbles disappeared in this tank to al-
low the normal convection fl ow. To-
day, looking back. it was an overly
complicated system. hut it was passi ve
and quite effective . The water was also
under high DC potential, and of
course. it was dangerous. But this solu-
ti on for cooling the tube plate is, to my
knowledge. unique in amateur practice.
This PA delivered 50 W or RF power
and. in combination with a long yugi
an tenna and good operating si te. it
, =<:
"'"'
-
First of all . we install ed the big yel-
low tent for our operating position.
Then we began assembling a big an-
tenna for the 2 meter hand. It was a 15-
cl ement-long yagi wi th a 3O- foot-tall
mast. All of us left our other duties and
concentrated our energies on erecting
this antenna. Three of us were in the
center near the mast. and the rest were
holding the supporti ng guy wires.
Once the mast was in the vertical posi-
tion. one of our crew wired the ends
of the guys to the anchors already
hammered into the soil.
We were all dressed as though on an
outing at the beach. It was a nice op-
portunity to expose our pal e indoors
bodies to the sunbeams. Suddenly, our
attention was attracted by the shouting
of UB5BUK. He was j umping like a
dancer and making a terri lie noise. But
we couldn"t understand what was hap-
.....enina. He was clutchina the auv wire
~ ~ e ~
to support the antenna mast and could
not let It loose. The reason for the
noi se and wi ld jumping was a small
hee. The buckwheat plants in that place
were tall and waist-deep. And one bee
worki ng at the flowers had stung him
just between the legs ...
At last everythi ng was arranged. and
we were prepared to start the contes t.
Equipment was swit ched on. It was al-
most all home-built. except for the rc-
cciver. whi ch was an old military one.
I have to emphasize that everything
was completely tube-type equipment.
Semiconductors were almost not
present there-only rectifiers in the
power supplies. We used separate rc-
ccivcrs and crys tal-cont rul led s ingle-
frequency transmitters. Low-noi se
COOONG
o o
llISlUED WATEIl:l
FiK. I. UB5GNZ :f water-cooled amp.
24 73Amateur Radio Today . June 1999
countryside. tryi ng to occupy a place
atop the high hills and at reasonable
di stances from other participants. The
usual practice was to use an ordinary
home cull sign and add "Jp.' . There was
another large group of participants op-
erating from the ir homes. They were in
another category and earned fewer
points per Q50. During the contest.
then: were three periods of 6 hours:
one session each for 1..I...L 432. and
1296 ~ 1 1 1 _ CW and phone (AM) modes
were all owed. with repeati ng QSOs
with the same parti cipants after one
hour. Our team was ori ented mostly on
the 2 meter hand, but we also had one
set of equi pment for 432 I\ UV.
The Institute aut horities helped me
with transport. and we loaded a whole
lorry wi th numerous bags and boxes
contai ning rather heavy equipmen t-
includin.. a tall mast and huec untcn- e _
nas. We transported this cargo to the
position we had selected. II was 60 krn
nort h of Kharkiv and close to the Rus-
sian border. Our site was the highest
point in the area. It was marked by an
ol d wooden triangle sign at the top of a
small artificial hi ll. II looked like a
green island in a center of a huge field
of fl owering buckwheat . Then: were
no trees nearby, and we had a mcc
view to the hori zon in any di rection. It
was a beau tifu l sunny summer day,
and the whole field was white with
buckwheat blossoms. In this country,
this IS one of the favori te plants of
bees. It baits them wi th deli ghtful fra-
grance and sweet nectar. The air around
had a beautiful honey smell. We. mostly
indoors people. were vel)' impressed by
this wonderful. clear day.
.... coecctoe
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slots and bolts wi ll keep the coupling
of the element locked into place.
Now drill holes to accommodate the
Ll-bolts per the detail drawing, ensur-
ing that the U- bolt is centered. Next,
drill holes into the center of the galva-
nized plates and insert pipe, bolt. and
plate together. Now drill very small
hol es through the plate and PVC pipe
so as to allow a stainless steel sheet
metal screw to anchor the plate to the
pipe.
Now the clement is ready for mount-
ing onto the boom. When all the ele-
ments are done, mounting on the boom
may take place. I recommend that thi s
be done at ground level. Once the ele-
ments arc mounted to the boom, again
dri ll small holes at the end of the plates
as before and attach two stainles s steel
screws through the plate and into the
galvanized steel boom. Once assembly
is completed. connect the coax and test
with low power RF. SWR will be 2: I
or a little more while on the ground.
The 1.1 : I or better will be seen once
the antenna is aloft.
This antenna system did not require
very many hours of construction time
nor a lot of bucks to obtain 9 dB gain
over a dipole system. The OX will
hear you very respectfully with just
100 watts . Good OX! fa
Three-Element Circular Quad
continuedJrom page 20
provided the possibility of good results
in the contest.
The details of the contest itself arc
not really important. However, our most
significant objective was to contact
someone from the northerly direction-
someone in Russia.
Most of the accessible Field Day
contesters were from the southeastern
Ukraine, because this area contai ned
highly developed industry and larger
concentrations of radio amateurs. No
one had ever worked our northern
neighbor country previously on 2
meters, but we knew that Russian ama-
teurs were also pointing their antennas
toward us. Our task was to face one
anot her pattem-to-pattcm at j ust the
right time. After several attempts, I
found weak CW signals from Russia.
As I recall, it was UA3KYB. We had a
nice QSO. and after one hour repeated
again. It gave us some very good
points for the contest . But, most of all.
I'm still proud that it was a truly his-
torical moment: the first QSO between
Ukraine and Russia on 2 meters had be-
came a real ity. It was in June 1970 . . .
Note: The names of all fellows men-
tioned here are real , but some callsigns
were changed later several times. The
club station for our students became
UK5LAP and this new callsign took its
place in thousands of amateur logs all
over the world.
I would like to express my grati tude to
my friend David Evison MDE, for
reading and preliminarily editi ng (in a
language sense) this article. II
inches) total ; dri ven. 12 inches ( I I feet
oinches) total; and director, six inches
(10 feet 6 inches) total.
Take these pieces and glue to each
additional 100foOL pipe to make the re-
quired lengths. Now take a hack saw
and cut 0. 5"-widc, 2"-deep cuts in the
pipe as per the dra wing. Pliers can be
used to remove the excess to clear the
slots. Now place the cross member
into each loop. Drill holes into the cross
members to accommodate the 1/4" x 3"
bolts as per the detail drawing. These
NumbN26 on Y"'" FHdtnlclr Cllrd
Easy Antenna Reference
Part 2: More options.
Keith Woodward VK2AT
19 Dolphin Ave.
Taree NSW 2430
Australia
zontal (or thereabouts). The length
may be calculated hy di viding 234 by
the frequency of operation in mega-
hertz. The answer is in feet. As always,
he generous and make the antenna too
long- then prune to resonance. Make
the largest amount possihle vertical
and then put the remainder in a hori-
zontal position. If this is not possible.
one support all owing a sloper (diago-
nal) erection will still give fair results.
Should you suffer from lad: of real
estate, then the folded "T ' confi gura-
tion may be your solution. I suggest
that this antenna he made from slotted
300-ohm ribbon. The hori zontal sec-
tion of the " T ' may be calculated from
P
an I of this article (February
1999) covered some quid: and
cas)' basics 10 enable you to
make some simple decisions. Here.
\I,.'C' II 10 01.: at some more options.
To round off the simple approach.
let' s consider the antennas in Figs, I
and 2. An easy-to-construct antenna is
the folded quarter-wave. This antenna
is a vari ation of a ground-plane un-
tenna and works nest with a good
ground- plane or resonant radials.
Theoretically. it should exhibit a feed
impedance of 39 ohms and may be fed
with 50-ohm coaxial cable. An antenna
tuner will most likel y be required.
The antenna consists of a quarter-
wave length of heavy-dut y wire with an
insulated support at the point where
the wire changes from vertical to hori-
TOTALLENGTH IN ITET = 234 / flMHzJ

AHeetl =270 I ftMHz)

BHeet] = (270 x Vfll ftMHz)
A

I
2701f
MH
, . the answer agai n being 111
feet. Each end is shorted, and the cen-
ter of one side opened to join the ri b-
bon feeder. Calculate the feeder length
by multiplying 270 by the velocity fac-
tor and dividing the answer by the op-
erating frequency In megahertz. A
typical velocity factor for this type of
ribbon is about 0.82. Thi s is claimed to
give an approximate 50-ohm reedpoint.
Expect to use an antenna tuner for best
results.
For the higher frequency hands. an-
other wire antenna that radiates vert i-
cally with broad bidirectional lobes is
illustrated in Fig. 3. It is simple to feed
with 50-ohm coaxial cable. and with a
gain of 3 dB over a ground-plane. it
gives good results over a fi xed beam
area.
This docs not at all exhaust the con-
figurati ons of simple wi re antennas.
112
""" \
B
j 114
/
114
Fif{, 1. Folded quarrer-wm'e amel1ll11.
26 73 Amateur Radio Today. June 1999
Fig. 2. " T" a ll1('/1II0.
Fig. 3. Phased verticals.
1056 mm
5018 nun
5282 mm
4855mm
2641 mm 3538mm
6504 mm
6722mm
7076 mm
1415 mm
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Go to K, word St:arch & Tv in: botron
ClRCl. E 42 ONREADER SERVlC!: caRD
reducing the fccdpoint impedance to
approxi matel y 50 ohms. A: 28.4 MHz,
such an array would be about 100 feel
long and approxi mately twelve-and-a-
half feet high.
Finally, for those amateurs who like
to challenge the elements {li terally)
and have the room, Fig. 8 shows de-
tails of the extended flat-top beam. It
may be built wi th or without direct ors,
which are spaced at about one tenth of
a wavelength (see dimension 1..5 in
Table 1). Best resul ts may be obtained
using open-wire feeder and an antenna
tuner. If a quarter-wave shoncd stub is
used. the system could be matched to a
coaxial cable transmission line. fa
Table 1. (See Fig. 8.) A broadband, high-
gain antenna sometimes referred to as a
"Lazy H. .. Note that tunedf eeders connect
to the points marked F.
folded dipole is for VHFIUHF, made
of aluminum tubing. and self-support-
ing, somewhat such as used in a TV
antenna. The length dimension applies
to the overall length of the unspl it clc-
ment from the midpoi nt of one end
j umper to the midpoint of the other
end jumper. This is illustrated in Fig.
4. The impedance of the folded dipole
(half-wave) is four times that of a
single half-wave dipole in the same
surroundings, such as supports or ad-
ditional el ements. It is assumed that
the upper and lower elements of the
folded dipole are the same di ameter.
An easy-to-remember method of
calculating the length of a folded di-
pole is to divide 5555 by the operating
frequency in megahertz. The answer is
in inches, e.g. 5555/147.4 equals
37.6865 inches, or 37-5/8 inches. The
big factor in favor of folded di poles is
their wide bandwidt h of operation-
hence the reason for their use in many
TV antennas.
A useful, simple antenna is the quad.
As illustrated in Fig. 5, it may be fed to
give vertical or horizontal polari zati on.
The total length of wire used to make a
quad may be calculated by dividing
1005 by the frequency in megahertz to
give the answer in feel. In metric, di-
vide 306,324 by the frequency in I
megahertz to give the answer in milli-
meters. The quad exhibits approxi-
matel y 100-1 25 ohms impedance.
which varies with supports, height.
and surrounding objects. It has an ap-
proximate gain of 1.5 dB over a di pole
and a lower angle of radiation. A close
match to 50-ohm coaxial feeder may
be obtained by using an electrical
quarter-wavelength of 75-ohm coaxial
cable between the feedpoint and the
50-ohm feeder.
The dual-quad configuration, Fig, 6,
gives a bidi recti onal pattern with a rea-
sonable gain of approximately 3-4.5
dBd. The horizontall y polari zed con-
figuration produces a good low angle
of radiation. The size of this configura-
tion may limit it to the upper frequency
bands. In Fig. 7, another dual-quad con-
figuration is shown. Some enterprising
amateur might like to parallel two of
these in the hori zontal plane, both in-
creasing the bidi rectional gain and
. 60 n
VERTlCAl
1
"
HORIZONTAl
l 4 14
---------_. ._---------
Having promised to pass on informa-
tion about quad antenna configura-
tions. I will endeavor to do so after the
following brief interlude.
One question I have often heard is.
"How do you measure the clements of
a folded dipole'!" Assume that the
----------- -----------
;1 120 n
"
L
,
0 0 0:0
Fig. H. Extended flat-top beam, with gain
ofapproximately 10-11 dHd.
Fig. 7. Other quad combination suggestions.
Fig. 6. Dual-quad configuration.
Fig. 5. Polarization of quad antemuJS.
bau d on orientation offeedpoint.
Fig. 4. Folded dipole measurement.
Numb 28 on y,",' F..dbllcll c ~ r t
Screwy Mobile Antenna Mods
Fine-tune that screwdriver-type with these helpfil l tips.
Jack M. Glandon WB4RNO
4905 James si.
Huntsville AL 35811
[mglandon@worldnet ,att.net]
I usc a motor-tunable screwdriver-
type mobile antenna for HF
mobil ing. ~ y mobile antenna is an
Hl oo High Sierra" model that actu-
ally \Ivas a girl from Denni s Peacock
WB..JKEA.
0
After installing the antenna on the
left rear of my 1993 Camry, the initial
test of the H-I OO indicated that the
best VSWR obtainable anywhere frurn
80 through 10 meters was 3.0: I. re-
gardlcss of the locati on of the lap on
the bifilar-wound matching transformer,
Also. the location of the DC power leads
for the motor affected performance of
the antenna.
The DC power leads affected antenna
performance because the leads were
Freq. R X VSWR
(MHz) (Dbms) (Ohms)
P )
I
3.831 16 4 3.3
I
7.1 34 15 3 3.5
I
14.07 37 2 1.3
I
I
21.0 49 4 1.0
I
29.5 48 2 1.0
Table I . ,\IeelsIIre1/1t ' II15 with matching
transf ormer removed.
28 73 Amateur Radio Today June 1999
coupled at RF frequencies to the antenna
through the antenna motor. At the point
of exit from the antenna mast 140IJH in-
ductors were placed in series with each
DC lead to decouple the antenna,
With the matching trans former re
moved. the antenna could be matched
to 50-ohm coax by swi tching in dis-
crete capacitors for each band. How-
ever, switching bands required not
only tuning the antenna. but abo stop-
pi ng the automobil e and swi tchi ng in
the appropriate capaci tor at the an-
o
tenna base for the band of intended
usc. A fixe d. broadbandcd matching
circuit was needed that covered 80
through 10 meters , My solut ion was
the circuit descri bed below.
With the matchi ng transformer re-
moved. the antenna measurements
shoevn in Table 1 we re made with my
MFJ-259B.
Unfort unately. the MFJ-259B docs
not read the sign of the X component.
However, the react!ve component is
believed to he very near zero at the an-
tenna because the antenna impedances
were measured through 1.5 feet of
coax. If a load of 15 + jO were mea-
sured through 1.5 fee t of 50- ohm coax,
the measured impedance at 7.2 MHz
would be 15.1 7 + j ot .03.
The 130 and 40 meter impedances re-
quired transformi ng approximately 15
ohms to 50 ohms. However. the 20-
meter hand and above impedances di d
not require any transformation to ob-
tai n a 1.3: I VSWR mat ch.
Two L sections were chose n to trans-
for m 15 ohms to 50 ohms at 80
through 40 meters in order that a lower
Q per section could be used. resulting
in greater bandwidth .
High pass L sections were chosen
over complementary L sections (wit h
the loss of some bandwidth at 80 and
I
Cl C2
2,,?!, pf 1200 pF
-l
Rlow . :
L2
Rhigh
lonl) 11
kooxl
O.91 1JH l66IJH
Fig. J. High p" .u L matching circuit. CJ:
1\1'0 J200 pF 500 V sill-a mica capacitors
ill parallel, C2: J200 pF 500 V silver mica
capacitor. L/ : ./ 3/4 t/lrm #20 wire, close-
wound Oil / -1// 6-iflCh o.d., 2-illdl-lo/l8
PVC pipe. L2: 6-3/4 turtl S #20 wire close-
wound OIl the opposite end of the PVC
pipe from 1./ .
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Therefore. two independent equations
yield: I + + = 50115. Solving
for Q. Q = 0. 9.
The first L section comprising CI
and LI transforms as follows:
Equivalent R seen across LI is R
low (I + QI') = 15( 1.81) = 27.15
ohms. X CI is selected to result in the
appropriate Q of 0.9. Q I = Xcl R low,
0.9 = X
c
ll 5. XCI = -13.5.
Equi valent Xc across LI is X
CI
( 1 +
I/Q I'l , - 13.5( 1 + 1.23) = -30. 16. The
magnitude of XLI = equi valent Xc' XLI
= +30. 16.
The second L section comprisi ng C2
and L2 transforms as follows:
Equivalent R seen across L2 is R
transformed x ( I+Q2
2
) , 27.15(1.8 1) =
49. 17 ohms.
X
C2
is selected to result in the appro-
priate Q of 0.9. Q2 = XdR trans-
fcrrned, 0.9 = Xd27.1 5, X
o
= -24.45.
Equivalent Xc across L2 is X
c 2
(1 +
IIQ2' ), -24.45( I + 1.23) = -54.64.
The magnitude of Xu = equi valent
XC' XLI = +54.64.
Component val ues were selected at
the geometric mean frequency be-
tween 3.8 and 7.3 MH7. or 5.26 MHz.
F is the square root of (3.8 x 7.3) so
that the network would transform at
3.8 MHz equall y as well as at 7.2
MHz. Decreasing the value of C I will
favor 7.2 MHz at the expense of 3.8
MHz. In like fashion, rai sing the value
CI will improve the VSWR at 3.8
MHz at the expense of7.2 MHz.
C = 1/( 2nFX
c)
and L = X
L
/(2nF).
Therefore. CI = 224 1 pF; L1 = 0.9 1
llH; C2 =1237 pF; and L2 =1.6611H.
For the actual component values
used. see Fig. 1. The measured results
after installi ng the L matching ci rcuit
at the base of the ante nna were as
shown in Tabl e 2.
Tony Faucher AC4TK was also hav-
ing trouble getting hi s 500-watt
Ameri tron" amplifier to work into his
later model HS- 1500 High Sierra"
antenna. because the amplifier is sct at
the factory to shut down if the load
presents a VSWR of greater than 2: I
with SOD watts out put. Therefore. Tony
elected to try the above-described
matchi ng ci rcui t. Tony obtained the
Continued on page 32
Xes 's "cP
-ll--v"v'v'-
-
..
Fig. Z. Series/parallel equivalent circuit.
Q = Kcs/Rs, Rp = Rs( J + Xcp = Xcs( J
+ 110' ).
Freq. R X VSWR
(MHz) (Ohms) (Ohms) (:1)
3.8 52 0 1.0
7.0 50 IS 1.3
14.2 42 3 1.1
21 .4 49 0 1.0
29.6 48 8 1.1
I
Tabk 2. Measurements with L matching
unit ell base ofantenna.
Freq. VSWR
3.5 1,4:1
3.8 1.3:,
4.0 1.2:1
7.0 1.2:1
7.3 1.2; 1
14.0 1.2:1
14.3 1.2:1
I
21.0 1.2:1
21.45 1.2:1
Table 3. AC4TK measurements with 500 W
into matching unit.
40 meters) so that the matching circuit
would act as a high pass circuit and al-
low the transmitter to "sec" the actual
antenna impedance without transfor-
mation at 20 meters and above. The
circuit is shown in Fig. 1.
The formul as used here are algebraic
variations of the fundamental series to
parallel equivalent ci rcuit transfonna-
lions as shown in Fig. 2. The mi nimum
Q that is required for the 15:50 imped-
ance transformation is 0.9 per L sec-
tion. The transformation in the first L
section is 15(1 + = Rt, and the see-
ond L section IS RI(I
+ Q' ) = 50.
Operating Crystals
on the Fifth Overtone
SOli/ Ids kinda Nell' Age, but it 's something all hams should know.
John Pivnichny N2DCH
3824 Pembrooke Lane
Vestal NY 13850
A better circuit
Fig. 1. Tuning typical circuit,
FREOUENCY
TUNING
Al . . . ---- ./
Referri ng to Fig. 3. we see a feed-
back-type osci llator circuit wit h the
crystal connected between two low-
impedance emitters. The tank circuit in
can be found somewhere between the
starting and stopping points where the
circuit will restart oscillating when
power is removed and reapplied. This
poi nt has to be found by trial and error.
since tuning for maximum output will
not get you to the proper point. Over-
all, this start ing situation is not a very
satisfactory solution for ei ther home-
brew or commercial equipment.
initially tuned to a frequency of about
50 kf-lz below fi ve times the funda-
mental frequency of the crystal. For
example. if XI is a 10 Ml l z series-type
fundamental crystal then assume LC is
tuned to resonate at 49.950 A...
expected. thi s is 100 low and the circuit
does not osci llate. Now, start luni ng to
a hi gher frequency by slowly decreas-
ing the val ue of C (or L). You wi ll
reach a point where the ci rcuit sud-
den ly starts oscillati ng wi th an output
level AI. shown in Fig. 2. The exact
output frequency depends on the
crystal' s fift h overtonc and not the tank
tuning: that is. the crys tal is in control.
For the example above. it was mea-
sured as 49.976 Ml-lz.
As the tank circuit is tuned even
higher in frequency. the output level
increases quite rapidl y until at some
point the circuit suddenly stops oscil-
lati ng. For the fifth overtone, the start-
ing and stopping points arc dose
together. mak ing the tuning qui te criti -
cal. Worse. if the power is removed
and reappl ied. the circuit may not re-
start oscillating unless the tank is fi rst
dctuned below the starting frequency
and again slowly increased above the
starting point. If you are lucky. a poi nt Fig. I. Typical orertol/t' oscillator circuit,
30 73 Amateur Radio Today . June 1999
Assume the lank circuit of Fig. I is

all crystals. whether

constructed for overtone ser-
vice or not. can he made ( 0
osci llate on approx imately odd mu I
tiplcs (I f their fundamental frequency.
For many years the ci rcuit shown in
Fig. I has been used in handbooks. We
arc led to believe that by luning: the
tank ci rcuit in the collec tor [ 0 three.
five. seven. or nine limes the crystal
frequency. the crystal is made [ 0 osci l-
late on one of its odd overtones. And it
works line for the third overt one. hut
not so well for the fi ft h overtone. I' ve
never succeeded in getti ng it to work
on the seventh overtone. or higher.
when usi ng: fundamental-t ype crystals.
So what ' s the problem?
1v"I TIdl CIt highIor ham eatl IlW'lItl'lI .... action ooIot and
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r. ""_
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Photo A. Circuit board with oscillator,
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n_
.n

GET

THE
.

....,'.-
ATV
..
"'"

BUG!
Fig. 3. Improved Qvertone circuit.
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314 South 9th Street
Richmond, IN 4737-4
Voice AX 765 962-3509
But what ' s the frequency?
the collector of the common base ci r-
cuit prevents osci lIation at other than
the desired overtone. Thi s circuit
works reliably on the fifth overtone.
Note the very different tuning curve
in Fig. 4. The abrupt starti ng and stop-
ping points are gone, and maximum
output occurs as a hroad peak centered
at the overtone frequency. As before.
the exact output frequency is deter-
mined by the crystal and not the lank
circuit tuning.
When tuned to the correct peak fre-
qucncy, thi s ci rcuit generates about
one milliwatt of power. However. it is
best to avoid drawi ng power directly
from the circuit. An emitter follower
circuit attached to the relatively low-
impedance poi nt A (see Fig. 3) pre-
sents a minimal load, yet provides an
output for driving 50 n or lower-value
loads. A practica l emitter follower cir-
cuit is shown in Fig. 5. Note the details
for winding the RFtransformer using a
ferrite core.
II
.... '"

2N3904
O.OOSIJF
820
'OK
' OK
r--""'--< . 12V
FREQUENCY
10pf
>--lH--t"
Fig. 4. Tuning ofimproved circuit.
Fig. 5. Practical emitter follower circuit.
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If you're lucky enough ( 0 have a
crystal cut for fifth overtone oscilla-
tion. then the output frequency will he
just what is marked on the crystal
T
0 011JF
" m
3.3K
.J,.
D:L.1'01"
,_ rn""
=<-
0"""
,--
>-i
1
41
Pig. 6. Amplifier with keying circuit.
CIRCLE 160 ON READEASERVCE CIVIO
73Amateur Radio Today June 1999 31
the MFJ-259B yielded an indicated Q-dB
loss from 3.5 through 28.7 MHz.
The calculated and modeled (but nol
measured) voltage stress on the ca-
pacitors is greatest on the smaller ca-
pacitor at the lowest operating fre-
quency. The calculated voltages arc
shown in Table 4.
Therefore, 500 volt capaci tors were
selected.
In addition to the decoupling induc-
tors on the DC lines and the matchi ng
circuit, Tony and I made the three fol
lowing addi tional modifications to our
High Sierra antennas:
1. To tighten the coil to antenna mast
connection, a copper shim made of
flattened 3/g- inch copper water pipe
was pl aced inside the mast collar un-
der the spri ng.
2. A I ohm 10 watt resistor was
swi tchably added in series with the DC
power leads 10 the motor to slow the
coil movement at near resonance.
3. White nylon ties were placed
around the transparent coil covering as
band markers, visi ble through the rear

view mirror.
In closing. 1 would like to thank
Neill Fry K4AYD and Bill Earheart
K4EGC for providing parts and tech-
ni cal assistance for this project, as well
as Larry May K4QZF for inspirational
encouragement. Each of these hams
and others are part of the 3.8325 group
which meets every morning at 8:00 a m.
CST QRM on 3.8325 MHz. 1join the
group on Saturdays and Sundays. and
confess to having a strong compulsion to
sway the topic under di scussion in the
di rection of ante nnas. ID
Power
Peak Freq.
Load
Voltage (MHz)
Antenna
l DO W 67 3.5 tuned 10
3.5
1DOW 176 3.5
Open
circuit
Antenna
SOO W 151 3.5 tuned 10
3.5

394 3.5
Open
ci rcui t
Table 4. Calculated voltage stress on caoaci-
tors.
results in Table 3 when runni ng 500
watt s into the matcher:
The calculated loss of the matching
circuit is believed to be in the orde r of
0. 1 d B when the inductors have Qs of
100. An attempt to measure the loss with
Screwy Mobile Antenna Mods
continued from page 29
Suggested reading:
Circuit construct ion
Solid State Design for the Radio
Amateur by Wes Hayward and Doug
DeMaw, ARRL. Newi ngton cr, 1986.
Radio Components Handbook by Guido
Silva. MFJ Publi shi ng , Starkvil le MS,
1997. 51
A class AB amplifier can be used to
increase the power to mW. It is
also a good place to insert a keying ci r-
cuit for CW, as it will not affect the
frequency. See Fig. 6 for a circuit de-
veloped by Hayward and DeMaw. A
low-pass filter in the output attenuates
harmonics.
St epping up the power
resonances and oscillating frequencies
other than the one intended.
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_III: lnlo.buclt.COOYI
540:8S0&-91'1 (Iu)
hol der (can) . Other crystals wi ll oscil-
late on approximately five times their
fundamental frequency. How approxi-
mate'? The only way to find out is 10
build the circuit and measure the fre-
quency. My mi croprocessor crystal
marked 10 MHz actually oscillates at
49.972590 MHz! That' s with a 10 pF
series capacitor, as shown in Fig. 3.
The frequency can be "pulled" slightly
(about 5 kHz) by varyi ng this series
capacitor from 5 to 20 pF, as shown in
Fig. 6. Do nor attempt 10 increase thi s
capacitor much above 20 pF. Other-
wise the crystal may lose control and
the ci rcuit will become a self-excited
oscillator with the crystal appearing as
a series capacitor (its holder capaci-
tance). The frequency will then be de-
tcrmi ncd by the tank circuit at the
collector of T I. The freque ncy wi ll
now vary considerably as the tuning of
thi s tank circuit is adjusted. That is
fine if you want to build a VfO-bul
then you don' t need a crystal at all!
Some authors have suggested adding
an inductor in parallel wit h the crystal
to cancel out the holder capacitance at
the overtone frequency. This may help
if you need to go to a hi gher series
capaci tor to " pull " your frequency a
liulc lower. But it also introduces an-
other inductor; whi ch can introduce
32 73 Amateur Radio Today . June 1999
The final circuit. including oscilla-
tor, emitter follower, and class AB am-
plifier, is shown in Photo A. All the
components are mounted on the foil
si de of sing le-sided epoxy-gl ass circuit
board. Through holes are drilled and
countersunk for clearance as compo-
nent leads pass through the board. In-
- - --- - - - - --------1 terconnections are made on the back
side using the component leads or ex-
tra wires as needed. The output fre-
quency is easily measured on a
frequency counter. I used the counter
of an MFJ259 SWR Analyzer. Output
level, as shown in Photo B, is mea-
sured with an RF dBm meter. A step
attenuator is also useful for maki ng the
level measurement. Note: The RF dBm
meter and step anenuator are available
in ki t form from Unicorn Electronics,
I Vaney Plaza, Johnson City NY 13790;
(800) 221-9454; [wwwunicorrclex.com].

My Old Kentucky
(Satellite) Home
where lofty aspirations met some down-to-earth concerns.
Ca role Bars ky KA9S0 F
3236 Old Ha rtford Road
Owensboro KY 42303
PJwlo A. Scott KS-I IN and Rich WA1GZYfinish constructing /111 anti ' l lIIa .
73 Amateur Radio Today June 1999 33
P
art of amateur radio fun is in-
dulging in the challe nge of d if-
ferent modes of communication.
After years of enj oying traditional
QSOs on HF bands. two meters, +-l0.
and slow-scan television, my husband
Richard \VA1GZYand 1decided in the
summer of 1996 that it was time to try
satell ite communications.
In selecting the right rig for this. we
dealt only with monetary concerns and
a few judgment call s. We finall y sculed
on the ubiquitous Yacsu FT-736R.
However. our quest 10 send signals
into space really began with antenna
choice and installation. which at fi rst
presented us with seemi ngly insur-
mountable problems. OUf heavily
wooded hack yard and the aesthetic
concerns of nei ghbors (we live in suh-
urbia) limited our existing ante nna
farm 10 a 50-foot Hazer tower ncar the
back of our house topped with a
triband three-clement c ubical quad
that misses the roof only by several
inches when we rotate it ! Also, a Caro-
lina Windom multiband dipo le is
tucked among tree branches.
Tbe most logical approach for adding
satellite-tracking antennas that could he
rotated with ease seemed to he install a-
tion above the quad ' s boom. Before
purchasing antennas, we pored over lit-
erature from the rower' s manufacturer
concerning weight restrictions. Then we
measured the available space between
quad c le ment s and checked t he q uad
antenna r nanufacturcrs specificat ions.
Our prelimi nary \...'ork resulted in or-
deri ng the KLM 435-4OCX for the 440
frequencies and the ~ l 2f\.1-1 4C fo r
two meters . The boom lengths of those
two antennas do not exceed the boom
length o f our quad. and the designs of-
fer reasonable weight as well as some
immunity to the harsh effects of rai n
and snow. One added bonus to the sat-
ell ite a nte nna p lacement i s th at the
circ ular polari ty provides excelle nt
Con lin ued on page 38
K-l-FZY. Scott KS-l-I :'\ . and Ri chard
manned ladders and strapped on safety
belts to steady themse lve s ncar the
lowered quad hoom.
Afte r a wee kend of hard. work. Rich-
ard gave the ante nnas their first tr ia l
run. Once Richard fell assured that the
eq uipme nt was functi oning satis facto-
rily. he e ncouraged me to gi ve it a try. I
tentative ly put on the head phones and
called CQ on OSCAR-/O. A voice
bounced back from North Carolina. I
was operating a bi rd! T he only diffi-
culty I encountered was ma nually tun-
ing the freque ncy ut the proper rate to
keep up with the Doppler shift. That
talent comes with prac tice .
One year later. in August of 1997.
misfo rtune struck nur happy ham
shack and brought all amateur activi -
ties to a hall. A brief but violent storm
toppled the towe r. After six years of
withstanding more se vere weather. t he
tower had see med impervi ous to
Mot her Nature's extreme s. However.
after assessing the damage . including
t'.... isted antennas and shattered Fiber-
gfas" beams. we concluded that the
added weight of the sate llite antennas.
although not exceed ing the manufac-
tu rer ' s recommendations. put a stra in
on the tower in high winds .
We were back to sq uare one . For-
rately centering each element require s
mathematical prec ision. elbow room.
a nd a bi t of patience.
The ~ I l C requires insertion of
seven hori zontal and seve n vertical cl -
ements while the -l- 35-4OCX relies on
two reflectors and 36 directors di vided
between two plane s. \\/e decided that
a digital tape measure would ensure
accurate placement of the elements.
and it proved its \'vorth throughout thi s
phase of the project .
Mount ing the antennas above the
quad boom was a three-man job! Jerry
/' 11010 n. The results ofa brief summer storm in /997.
terrestr ial signa ls for t,vo mClcr170 em
SSB. long-distance FM repealer con-
tacts. a nd ATV (amateur fa st- scan
televi si on).
Bu ilding the a nte nnas was nei ther a
simple nor painless project (Richard
burned hi s left hand whi le soldering by
pi cking up the wrong: e nd of the iron).
but with the hel p of severa l friends and
a quid trip to the emergency room. we
perse vered and were rewarded wi th
out-of-thi s-wor ld QSOs!
We begun the proj ect by famili anz-
ing ourse lves wit h KLM"s instruction
manuals. gathering tools. and arrang-
ing. antenna elements in the proper (If-
der on a table ncar the work area. After
boom assembly. we propped the ends
of the 2M-I-l-C and -l- 35-4OCX booms
on chairs to provide plenty of free
space around the antennas. KLM pro-
vides color-coded pre-tuned elements
that aid in correct placement but accu-
Photo B. Precise meaSllrellll:' lI ts ensure ex-
cellent results.'
Photo C. Jerry K4FZY admires tile project from his birds-eye view.
34 73 Amateur Radio Today. June 1999
Number 35 on your Feoobaclf card
Telescoping PVC Mast
Getting it lip in awkward places.
Darwin K. Ogden KB7WOS
790 West 800 South
Richfi eld UT 84701
[d.ogden@j uno.com]
Continued on page 36
Fig. 1. Lengths. Fig. 2. The pipes.
73 Amateur Radio Today June 1999 35
Pipe C has quarter-i nch holes I
drilled at l2-inch locations start ing
fr om the top and ending about two feet
from the bottom. These are to be used
to adj ust the height of pipe C.
Pipe B fits into F and pi pe C fits into
M
y fami ly and I camp a lot,
and good places to hang up
antennas are sometimes hard
to find. I dec ided I needed a mast that
was very portable-c-mcaning it had to
lit in the bed of my full-sized pickup
truck, he at least 20 feet tall whe n
erected, be lightweight, and cost very
little for materi als. Ease of construc-
tion did not enter into my plans- but
as it turned out, this is a very easy to
build mast.
My fi rst thought was to make it out
of metal. bUI having installed my own
sprinkling system, and having built
many antennas with PVC pipe and fit-
tings, my thoughts soon were turned to
PVc. I wanted my mast to come apart
easily, or, in some other way, break
down to eight feet in length. A tele-
scoping mast seemed the easiest solu-
tion for handling and storage.
After dry-fitting and laying the pipe
out on the hardware store floor, I
bought the parts for about $20 and
went home to try putting my new mast
together.
A very important part of the mast is
that the reducer bushings must be en-
larged slightly so the pipe will sli de
through it, I used a drum sander in my
drill press to enlarge both reducer
bushings.
Construction
H in Fig. I on pipe B is a 1/4-inch-
diameter hole dri lled through both
sides of the pipe, 12 inches from the
hottom. This is to hold pipe 13 in place
when it is extended out of pipe A. I put
a three-inch-long quarter-inch bolt
through hole H and hole I in pipe C.
Fig. 2 shows how all the fitt ings and
pipes go toget her. I did not cement the
fittings to the pipe. They have a taper
fi t and will hold very well with a little
pressure. If you cement them they're
stuck forever.
The two-inch coupler G presses
down on the two-i nch pipe A. The
two-i nch to one-and-one-half- inch re-
ducer F, which has been reamed out so
that the one-and-one-half-i nch pipe
will slide through it, fits into the two-
inch coupler G.
The one-and-one- half-i nch coupler
E presses onto the one-and-one- half-
inch pipe B. The one-and-one-half-
inch to one-inch reducer D. which has
been reamed out so that the one-inch
pipe C will slide through it, presses
into the coupler E.

I
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, , .

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0 e
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o I

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B
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I D I
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,
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F
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Photo A. Mas t with lnsta-Fiex two- meter
yag; beam.
WANTED
Fun, easy-to-build projects
for publication in 73.
For more info, write to:
Joyce Sawtelle,
73 Amateur Radio Today,
70 Hancock Road
Peterborough NH 03458.
Reprints
of
73 Magadlle articles
Only $3.00 Em: h!
Ca ll
Pay TV and Sat('lIite DeSl:nllllhli"ll ;Wtftf has latest
cable and salellile fixes. schematics. bullet hlockerx.
cuh..'s. etc 1'3)' TV Series Vol. I- t O (100 p;Lg,,, j
559.95. Hacki ull. Satellite TV Video $29.95.
MUlll hlv Newsletter SlI bsnipt ioll ....'ith weh access.
$3--1.95. Evel)t hi llll. listf'd ahove 599.95 tchoose hard
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Lakeland, FL 33813-2181
941-646-2564. COD's are OK. Add $6.
ClRCLE.}(, READER SERVlCF CARD
36 73 Amateur Radio tcaev June 1999
Telescoping PVC Mast
continuedjrom page 35
D. Thi s all sl ides together to make a
nice eight- foot-long collapsed mast.
To extend it to 20 feel. pull C out to the
bottom quarter-i nch hole and insert a
bolt through the hole. Let it rest on D.
Pu ll B out to the quarter-inch hole H,
stic k a bolt through the hole and let it
res t on F. I use three nyl on ropes as
guys; I loop them over C and let them
slide down to rest on D. Alternatively,
they could be made to attach closer to
the top of C.
Modifications
Another modi fi cation I made later was
to place a one-inch wooden dowel inside
pipe C for extra strength when support-
ing heavier antennas . The next modifica-
tion was to get a one-inch coupler, sand
it down so that it would slide inside pipe
B, and set it on the bottom of pipe C, to
take the slop out of the two pipes. Pipe B
in pipe A is a good fit by itself.
---- -
Parts List
Oty. Description
1 7' 4" length 2-inch-diameter
5/40 PVC pipe
1 7' 6" length 1-1/2-inch-
diameter 5/40 PVC pipe
1 8' length 1-inch-diameter 5/40
PVC pipe
1 z-Inch coupler
1 1-1/2-inch coupler
1 1-inch coupler
1 2i nch to 1-1/2-inch reducer
bushi ng
1 1-1/2-inch to t -lnch reducer
bushing
2 1/4-inch bolts, each 3 inches
long
1 z-lnch cap for bottom of pipe A
Miscellaneous: Nylonr rope for guys;
t -lnch-dlameter wooden dowel for
extra strength
Table 1. Parts list for the telescoping PVC
mas t.
Photo 8. Mast with t wo-meter and 70 cm
top-fed, out-of -phase. phased vertical all-
tenll a. Design by Nicar A. Mullani KG/...'A!.
[ram "Tap-Fed. Out-oj-Pliase, Phased-
Vert icals (TOP) A II/l'IlIlIl. " published ill
March 1997\ 73 Amateur Rad io Today.
I also have a two-i nch cap for the
bott om ofpi pe A. I sanded it out a little
so that it will not fit too lightly ami it
can be take n off. I put the cap on when
that mast is placed on the ground, and
take it off if I want to install the mast
on the two-inch-ball trailer hitch of my
pickup tr uck (or the one on the back of
my camp trailer).
Of course, my favorite antenna to set
on top of the mast is the "lnsta- Flex
Two- Meter Yagi Beam" I designed,
whic h was publi shed in the Apri l 1997
iss ue of 73 AII/ateur Radio Today (see
Photo A ). My PVC mast has also sup-
ported a I t j-mctcr dipole made of sur-
plus military whips . The latest
antennas to grace the lap of my mast
have been Nizar A. Mu llani K0NM's
desi gn. They're called the "Top-Ped.
Out-of- Phase, Phased-Verti cals (TOP)
Antenna," and were explained in the
March 1997 issue of 73. I have made
hot h a two-mete r and a 440 version of
the "TOP" ; they are easy to make and
work well. (Photo H). N. H. Check 01/1
Ni::.ar \ a rticle-s-it \" I'el)-' inrerestillg fa
AD SALES CALL NORMAN
at
800-677-8838
Euthanasia Keyer Project
Quick and painless.
David Cripe KC3ZQ
RR 2 Box 263
Camp Point IL 62320
H
ere is a quid keycr project
that provides clean. iambic
keying for YOUf ri g. It uses
only three common ICs and can he
breadboarded in an evening. It opcr-
ates from 3 to 15 volts. consumes well
less than a mill iamp of current, has a
speed control . and its dots, dashes and
SP UI..'CS are self-completing. You can't
ask. for more than that !
The circuit is centered on U3, a
CMOS 555 t imer used as a pulse gen-
erator. (i f a regular 555 is used. the
speed control resistor must he changed
to 5 k. with a corresponding increase in
,
'"
-
.,.

."
.' .

f.

_J

' .
-
.,.

r
p..
,.

-
..
r
. '
1
0
-
r'

-
.,.
1
,..

Fig. 1. Schematic.
73 Amateur Radio Today June 1999 37
I
,
PARTS LIST
1
i R1-4, 7-1 1 100 k
I
, R5
100 k linear pot
I I
I R6 220 k
I
IR12 10 k
I
~ C1 -3, 5
0.01 ~ F 25 V
ceramic
C4,6
1 ~ F 16 V
elect rolytic
10 1-4 l N91 4
I
I
2N2222 or I
IQ1
equivalent
I
U1
4066 quad
analog switch
U2
4013 dual f lip-
!
fl op
U3
LMC555 CMOS
timer
- -
Table J. Pam list.
power consumption.) The pulse genera-
tor is activated by the closure of either
the dot or dash switch. and. continues
until the termination of the space at the
end of the last character generated.
The pulse stream from the 555 en-
ters V IA. a 40 13 fl ip- flop. where the
frequency is divided in half. so that a
stream of dots will he separated by
spaces of the same width a.. the dots.
The "Q" output of this gate drives the
gate of Q I. a 2N2222 transistor that
keys the tra nsmitter.
The length of the pulse generated by
the 555 controls the length of the dot.
dash or spuce signal. Normally. U3
produces pulses approximately 150 mil-
liseconds in lengt h. But when the an-
ode of either D3 or D-+ is held hi gh. the
pulse length of V3 is shortened to a
nomi nal 50 milliseconds. This short-
pulse condition occurs whe n either a
dot or space is being prod uced.
Iambic operation (alternati ng dot s
and dashes) occurs when both dot and
dash switches arc pressed. In this con-
dition. VI B dri ves the anode of D4 al-
ternately high and low wi th each
successive pulse fro m V IA, causing
each keyed pu lse to be alternately 50
38 73 Amateur RadiO Today June 1999
or 150 milli seconds In length-the
ideal one-to-three ratio for dot-to-dash
we ighting.
For the values shown here. the keycr
wi ll operate at nominally 12 W P ~
The speed control pet allows the key-
ing rate to be adj ust ed fro m roughly 8
to 25 WP:VI. If a higher or lower key-
ing rate is desired. adj ust the va lue of
C4 up or down according ly-larger
values result in slower keying.
The entire circuit can be constructed
on a few square inches of pcrfboard.
und installed into a spare corner of
your QRP ri g. Alternately. you can in-
stall it int o a dead computer mouse, us-
ing the mouse buttons for the kcyer
paddles. Use your imagination-and
enjoy buildi ng this proj ect! fa
My Old Kentucky (Satellite) Home
conunucd frcca page 34
tu natel y. our homeowner' s insurance
covered the damage. and Richard and
Scott were soon in the midst of con-
structing a new tower and antennas.
Today, the new cubical quad anti satel-
lite ante nnas continue to provide en-
j cyablc QSOs. but to prevent further
catastrophes. we now lower the anten-
nas whe never there' s a possi bility of
storms.
Some of the older amateur satellites
are fac ing thei r ultimate demise as
they approach the earth's atmosphere,
and working those satell ites while they
an: sti ll operable brings the privi lege
of loggi ng contacts on birds that wi ll
soon be j ust a fond memory.
Newer satellites make up for this
loss by orbi ting the earth wit h varying
"footprints" or signal coverage on land.
provi di ng unusual opport unities for
QSOs. Other satellites arc in the plan-
ning or construction stages. Each gen-
eration of amateur radio satelli tes
reflects the latest technol ogy. helping
to establ ish radio amateurs firml y in
the ranks of producers of reliable
space communications.
However. for the majority of hams
who do not have the technical apti-
tudes or opportu nities needed for satel-
lite design and construction, the real
challenge lies in building tracking an-
tcnnas tha t work within the terres trial
rest rictions or back yards . That. anti
picking up the correct end of the sol-
dering iron! fa
QRH
contilluedJrom pHfj(' 8
keyboard-to-keyboard mode. PSK31. could pro-
vide an attractive alternative to CWoThis tech-
nol ogy provides the abi lit y t o have
keyboard-to-keyboardasos wi th anarrow band-
width and robust noi se immunity on all bands. It
does require some typing skill.
For anybody who might be interested in learn-
ing about this mode of operation, information
about it can be found at [http://aintel.bi. ehu.esl
psk31 .html].
Thnx to Ron Waxman W9KNB. in The North
Shore (MA) Radio Club's Transmitter, March 9,
1999.
New DXCC Entity _
Eff ective October 1. 1999. Palestine will be
added 10 the DXCC List. E4 will be the recog-
nized prefix. Contacts made with E4 stations af-
ter February 1, 1999, will count lor thisnewDXCC
entity. Under the DXCC rules, contact s with the
deleted enti ty of Palestine made prior to June
30, 1968, will not count for DXCC credit. The ITU
allocated thecallsign prefix E410r use by Pal es-
tine in Operational Bulletin No. 685 issued Feb-
ruary 1, 1999.
Thnx to the Cherry Juice. newsletter of the
Cherryland {Traverse City Mil ARC, February
1999.
Code Saves Destroyer!
I was a Navy CTM ordered to the destroyer
USSWilliamM. Wood (DD-715), in the summer
of 1973. It wasTAD(Temporary Additional Duty)
from my duty station of Rota, Spain, and I was
the only CT on board for the three months. All of
my equipment on the ship was in an air-eondi-
tioned "van" (an aluminum-skinned equipment
shelter) lucked away in the old DASH hangar,
and my job was to maintain the gear in working
order, doing PMs and repairs when needed.
The Wood was so crowded that some of the
crew was hoi -racking in the berthi ng spaces. I
discovered there were bunks welded threehigh
on the front starboard side of the hangar. so I
made the hangar my home. However, the DASH
hangar wasn't really meant to be a living space.
The only access I had into the rest of the ship
was through a watertight door in the Iront bulk
head of the hangar. across the open ASROC
deck and through another watertight door into
the passageway leading totheship's radio room.
During storms I rigged a line Irom the hangar
across theopen deck so I wouldn't get knocked
overboard when I went belowfor chow!
Say you saw it in 73!
ONY Tool
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and that military forces sent to stop them had
proved powerless.
The program's producer said the radio station
was inundated withcallsfrom hundreds of panick-
ingpeopledemanding to knowwhat was goingon.
The 7a.m. warning proved worthlessbecause
not everyone is listening 10 the radio that earty.
Some callerssaid theyhadfledtheir workplaces.
Others with health problems complained thai their
health had cetercratec on news of the Martian
invasion.
Oneofthe organizers ofthe broaetast said,"One
hoodred years after the inventionof the radio, there
aresliD people who will beIieYe anything: .
AI thisgoestoprovethai evensixty years later,
some people in radio just never seem to learn.
Tnx and a ' run lor your to a -News.
courtesy of Newsline, Bill Pasternak WA61ll.
editor. a
to the Russians. It was a good thing that we had
that language in common! The destroyer cirded
us a few times. saw the impending doom, and
went charging off directly toward the freighter,
zigzagging back and forth across her path until
someone on the bridge finally changed course
to go past us instead 01through us! The Russian
tin can stayed with us that night until we got our
boilers back up.
During the cold-war years a 101of unpleasant
things happened between our two navies, but I
always think of that Russian destroyer crew
guarding us when we were in trouble, regard-
less of the flags we sailed under.
By Glenn W. Pladsen. Thnx to the Balanced
Modulator. newstener of the North Florida Ama-
teur Radio Society. February 1999, from the U.S.
Naval ClYptological VeteransAssn., via WB2FGL.
Originally printedin the World Wireless Beacon.
Anyooe elseout there haveanyhamming"war
stories;-ed. 1------------ ---
A pair of Swiss scientists say that it may be
possibl eto growparts for future high speedcom-
puters because 01 their discovery that DNA is
actually an efficient semiconductor. As a result,
Hans-Wemer Fink and Christian Schoenenberger
of the University of Basel say that DNA might
someday be usedto replace wires incomputers.
chips, and transi stors.
The two scientists have been working on this
research for several years. The results of Ihei r
study suggest that DNA conduds electricity as
well as any other known semiconductor. Theysay
that il DNA strands could be genetically engi-
neered with a switch to tum the current !lowing
through them on and off, they could be used to
buildextremely tiny electrical devices thai arethe
basic building blocks of computers and other
electrooic devices.
Thnx to Mir Sholom Science News, via
Newsline, Bill Pasternak WA61TF. editor.
War of the Worlds
Call it lite imitating art last year. When a Por-
tuguese radio station decided to repeat Orson
Welles' famous Warof the Worlds broadcast, the
results were predictable. Graham Kemp VK4BB
of Q-News reported on the Martians taking on
Lisbon:
.. . On Friday, October 30th, radio station
Antena 3, in Lisbon, celebrated the 60th anni-
versary of the Orson Welles radio drama War of
tt1e Worlds by rebroadcasting it duri ng the morn-
ing show.
Theori ginal Welles script was used andtrans-
lated info Pcnuguese. Thestation issued awarn-
ing at 7 a.m., announcing their intent ion to
broadcast the radio play. But when the play be-
gan an hour later at 8 e.m.. panic erupted.
The station broadcast the landing of a UFOat
Palmela, andthe bulletins said thai the Mart ians
had set off inthe direction of thecapital (lisbon)
DNA Conducts Electricity_
The equipment I maintained was mostly a lot
ot receivers, so, usually spent my days SWUng
(short-wave listening), tuned to the ham bands,
or copying various Rny signals. The ship's Op-
erations Officer was also a ham and one of the
lewpeople on board with a security clearance to
be inthe We got on the air a fewtimes in
the ham bands using one of the ship's URC-32
HFtransceivers.
Theship spent most of that summer goingtrom
one Mediterranean port to another, showing the
U.S. Navy presence. I was having a heck of a
good time!
TheUSS Woodwas anolddestroyer and was
always having problems of one kind or another.
Wewere usually on water hours" in thehot sum-
mer since the fresh-water evaporators could
barely keep up with the needs of the ship's boi l-
ers, never mind supplying daily showers for the
crew!
Atime came when we were to participate in a
big NATO exercise in theeastern Mediterranean
and the USS Wood was designated as a ' ted
guy." Our missionwas to shadow the NATOtask
force, hiding and pretendingto be a shipfrom an
enemy navy. When the exercise started, all the
other U.S. ships sailed off into the sunset and
left us behind.
As luck would have it, at that very moment
something went wrong down in theengine room
and they "salted the boners," contaminating the
fresh water with sea water. We were dead in the
water in a major shipping lane and it was late
afternoon. Restoring normal power to the ship
was now eight or ten hours away.
This class of destroyers had two emergency
generatOfS on board, SO we should have had
electrical power for navigation lights and com-
munications. However, onegenerator was down
for critical parts (I heard it was a beari ng), and
the other one wouldn't start! There we were, a
U.S. Navy destroyer adriftina shippi ng lanewith
no power, lights, or radios, and no oneexpecting
us to be anywhere soon.
Things started gettingalittle strangeon board.
Withno ventilation in below-deck spaces and no
jobs to do, everyonecame up and start ed hang-
ing around on the weather decks. The reefers
were warmi ng up, so cases and cases ot ice
cream in Dixie cups were being passed up tor
the crew to eat. 11 was a race to eat thembefore
everything menedt Theempties were tossed over
the side, andpretty soon theshipwassurrounded
by a ten-foot wide bel t of floating Oixie cups, pa-
per lids, and little wooden spoons. It was quite a
sight.
Wen, there was one other vessel in the area
that day. It was theever present Soviet ship that
shadowed our fleet for real. The Russian de-
stroyer hadinitially sailed off with the task force,
but they must have been curious about the lone
tincanstayi ng behind, because they came back
10 check us out. At about the same time, some-
one using the 2O-power big-eyes on the flying
bridge spotted a big, bigfreighter on the horizon
heading our way. directly at us.
Our signal men had some battery-powered
flashing lanterns and started "talking" in Morse
73 Amateur Radio Today" June 1999 39
Mi crowave power meters:
Operat ion and t esting
NumbM 40 on yotII' F..,cl".k card
RBDUE I} Bf'IDND
VHF and Above Operation
C. l. Houghton WB61GP
San Diego Microwave Group
6345 Badger Lake Ave.
San Diego CA 92119
E-mail: [clhoughOpacbell.netj
~ t powe r meters available
10the amateur arc from Hewlett
Packard or General Mi crowave.
We ll , we have covered t he It seems that these two work-
powe r meier and its thermistor horses we re used in greater
detector head. the most popular quanti ty (at least in my area of
detector used today. There haw t he US) than o ther types o f
been many di scussions ahout power merers. In Cali fornia. I
trying to determine what is the have observed ma ny HP-431
best test eq uipment for what powe r meter s a t swapmcets.
bargain price. Consideri ng the along with t he ir counterparts,
sheer number o f de vi ces o ut the General Microwave meters.
there in surplus. the thermistor The only thing sticky in pick-
RF power head and its associ- ing up a meter is the availabil-
ated mete r seem 10 take the top ity of the c ritical cornponcms.
slots for reasonably good buys the thermis tor powe r detector
in surplus when compared wi th head and attaching cable.
other types of instrument s. Here the General Microwave
Ycs. t here arc ot her types of meters seem to ha ve the edge,
meters besides thermistor RF as l o ts o f heads came wi th
power met ers. That' s the topic cabl es at tached pe rma nentl y.
of' uus month's column.conri nu- Lois o f t hese RF heads have
ing on a fe w facets of powe r appeared at swapmeets but i t
meters and their auri burcs. seems that most arc defective.
Mosl all o f us ha ve alone having bee n blown by subiec-
time or another come upon a Lion of the sensi tive thermi stor
difficult measurement to he po we r mei e r head to much
made wit h a power rueter. This greater RF power.thereby smok-
is usua ll y the case when the ing the device.
readings requ i re t he lowe s t Why you arc gene rally less
scales of the thermistor power like ly 10 find a good General
meter 10 be employed. It seems Micro wave head seems 10 be
Ihat at least someumes t he thcr- related to their sheer size - they
rrustor becomcs obsunme abour arc bi gger than the HP hcads.T
gi vl ug up a t rue reading at t hese don't know what the reason is,
low sca le powe r levcts. Usua lly hut only project a simple answe r
ir's nOI a hi g probl em. hut to support what I hav-e obscrved.
trouble or questions arise about Thai observation seems to sup-
the aecural.:Y of readings taken pori the HP thermistor head as
when the power leve l is qui te more pre val ent and t herefore
low - say. in the 20 or so dB easier 10 obtain in surplus. Sure
range. there are indeed defective power
:-00 matte r which man u- met er heads in the HP surplus
fuc turer's thermistor meter you .n swapmcets. so everything still
usc. Ihey all seem to dri ft at needs to he tesled with a simple
these low powe r meaSUTCment ohmmeler lest to sec if il is alive.
!iCttings. What is going on and The IwO Ihermislors should
what ca n be done 10 impro\"C mea..sure ahoUl 2 to 3 k ohms and
measuremenl capability'! Finil. should be malched in resislance
let' s sce whal is most like ly to hetween eac h other 10 less Ihan
he obtained in surplus. 10% differenl.: c. The HP power
40 73 Amateur Radio Today J une 1999
meter req uire s t he m to be
matched 10 balance the bridge
circ uit internal to t he power
meter. Most cords required 10
connect the RF head to the meier
have always tested good. Usu-
all y the cords are about 3 fee l
long ; while other longe r ones
exist, they requi re some speci a l
atte ntion for ca li brat ion to a
power meter normall y used wit h
a three foot cord.
OK now vou have recei ved

a n Hp 431 po we r me te r a nd
cable RF head and connected
e verythi ng a ll together and have
started calibrating the unit. Cali-
hration consists of zeroing the
power me ter Oil the zero dBrange
with the coarse and fine balance
control. and then slight ly unha l-
ancing with the fine bal ance
control to read slightly up-scale.
Switch to the null range a nd ad-
j ust the null capacitor for mini-
mum meter reading. Go back
and balance wi th the fine bal-
ance cont rol to zero meter read-
ing. and yo u' re done. Power can
be read on any scale.
If you have an HP-432 power
meter the procedure is quite
similar. e xce pt that there is only
a coarse me ier balance 10 be
adj usted to the zero meier read-
ing. Going to other ranges to
ma ke measu re me nts. if t he
meter is off zero adjust . activate
the "set" toggle switch on the
meter face and the meter will au-
tomatica lly be adiusted 10 ze ro.
Well. not so. you say. ha ving
done this se vera l times. wa iled.
and still ..een the meter seem to
climb up-scale in meier readings
while you just sal there with no
RF applied. What is going on'!
Do I have a drif'ty. defec ti ve
meter'? That's the topic of this
mo nth' s co l umn. 10 answer
quest io ns se nt i n by reade rs
about their power met ers and
about j ust this exact scenario of
drifting power meter readings.
es peci all y on the lower power
meter mng,es .
The anal ysis is such Lhal the
meter bchaves al the leTO dB
range and slighl ly poorer on Ihe
minus 10 dB range and gelSen...,
worse on Ihe minus 20 dBm
range. Well . is this a defel.: tive
meIer to be replaced? What is
goi ng on 10 ma ke Ihe meter so
unstable? Le t' s look i nt o t he
meter' s operation and !iCC how
the thcrrnistors allow RF power
to he measured and di splayed on
the analog meier of the power
meter.
Thermistors arc heat sensitive
devices and. as t he name im-
plies. arc act ually temperature
controlled resi stors . In ot her
words. they respond 10 minute
c hanges in temperature to cause
a bridge circuit to be upset. Thi s
upset or imbalance caused by
components cha nging their re-
ststance is how the power meter
works . The thermistor is in one
leg of a bridge balance circuit
and the meier is in the other leg.
When one le g unbalances . i t
ca uses the ot her leg 10 react. The
cha nge is indicat ed on t he ana-
log meier and shows how unbal-
anced it is . The more the powcr
unu is applied to one side, the
more t he me ie r swi ng on the
other bridge lead and thu.. the
indication of more RF powe r as
a whole test !iC1.
In practice. RF is applied to
O1\e ther mistor while the second
thermistor in the power me ter
head ( not exposed to RF heat-
ing) i.. supposed 10 balance e x-
ternal healing effec ts ( room
temperature changes) to develop
a true RF power reading. The
second the rmi stor is used to
sta bil ize sma ll temper ature
c hanges to make RF readings
more accurate.
On the upper mete r scales.
this is quite true and very sensi-
tive. But when you go to t he
lower limits. the thermi stors are
not ahle 10 control minor tem-
perature changes a nd reta in a
zero meier readi ng. If you don't
believe me, calibrate the mete r
and set it to the minus 20 dB
range on zero and touch the RF
head with your (warm) hand.
The meier will go steadi ly up-
scale as the thermistors c ha nge
their resistance. reacl ing 10 Ihe
tcmpera!Ure change from your
hand. It' s not RF, hut body heat.
Simple drafts of air in a ga-
rage or home environme nt will
do Ihe same Ihing wi th slightly
lo nger lime consl a nls. How,
the n. do you make low power
Tlgertronlcs.lnc. 400 D,lIly In. PO. Box 5210 Grants Pass. OR 97527
73 Amateur Radio Today Ju ne 1999 41
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My recommendations made
concerning diode detector power
meter heads would seem to ex-
tend to produc ts from other
manufacturers of power meters,
not j ust the one I happen to have
in my shack. The Pacific Mea-
surements crystal power meter
was picked up through surpl us,
and as such just happened to be
the first one of its type I was able
to locate.
The wi nds of surplus blow hot
and cold for all ki nds of instru-
ments. I hope you arc able to
take advantage of using a crys-
tal detector power meter, with
its greater dynamic measurement
range in comparison withconven-
tional thermistor power meters.
Well, that's it for this month.
If you have any questions on this
month' s topic or re lated sub-
j ects, please feel free to drop me
a line (please send an SASE), or
still bette r ye t, send me an E-
mail note for a fast response at
[clhough@pacbe ll.net] . 73,
Chuck WB6IGP. fiI
Model TM_I
$89..2S
While some components might
be special, almost all the parts
can be obtained. So my main
advice is to protect the power
meter crystal detector from all
acci dental overloads: in othe r
words, reserve it for test s that
cannot damage the crystal detec-
tor. If you must, usc artcnuators
to protect the meter at all costs.
That's the mai n reason I re-
serve the crystal detector for low
level tes ts rather t han use a 30
dB attenuator and measure 10
watts of power from a TWT
amplifier. Should the ancnuator
let go and go bad, there goes the
crystal detector and the power
meter, wi thout a re pai r part.
Should t he HP power meter be
subjected to the same scenario
of destruction at high mel tdown
proport ions (the TWT ampli -
fie r), t here are spare power
me ter heads avail able i n my
shack. I would recommend the
same to you should you have the
opportunity of acquiring spare
equipment for " that day."
meter's sensi tive ci rcuitry. RF in
this case does not heat the ther-
mistor to c hange its resistance.
The diode de tector meter pro-
duces so much ofan improvement
in dynamic range that I can use
the meter to eval uate fil ters and
other devices requiring very low
levels. Things like a filter that
is not in adj ustment exhibit very
high loss and, even when dri ven
with a +10 dBm from a signal
generator, lo sses can exceed
50 dB whe n out of resonance.
The crystal detector seems to
be qui te an improvement over
thermis tors. The Pacific Mea-
surements power meter with di -
ode detector has made a great
impression on me i n many
ways. First, by extendi ng lower
sensitivi ty better t han 30 dB
over that which can be obtained
with the thermi stor mounts. Sec-
ond, the frequency response is
greatly improved and seems to
be qui te a wide range, from 10
MHz or so to IS GHz. Tests at
24 GHz are unconfirmed, as 1
have nothing to veri fy t hem
with, but it still sees 24 GHz
energy and gives me a readi ng
that seems somewhat down in
level but still very workable. (I
do not have any 24 GHz source
that can be used to veri fy results
at this freque ncy.)
Have I gone overboard to the
point at which I use only the crys-
tal detector RF power meter? No,
for several reasons. The HP-432
power meier is the workhorse
meter in my shack and will re-
main so for quite some time. his
sensitive for most all work repairs
and adjustments made on my
bench, and if for some rea"011 it
goes kaput 1 have spare meters
and power meter heads in order
to quickly get back into the busi-
ness at hand. I would cry losing
an HP power meter head, but
there are spares.
With regard to the Pacific
Measurements crystal power
meter, 1 would really cry if 1
ble w thi s unit up. 1do not have
spare crystal detector heads. The
other stuff comprising t he power
meter circuitry can be repaired,
as it is discre te ci rc uitry. It
would not be easy, but it is pos-
s ible to repai r most all of i t.
meter readings that are acc u-
rate? Well, calibrate your me ter
and take a quick measurement,
then tenni natc the test and see
how muc h t he meter is now
uncali brated - the n make a
quicker test or make a judgment
call on the results.
Can t he measu remen t be
made with better accuracy? You
bet it can, but not with standard
thermistor mount devices. The
power meter principle can be
used, but the method is changed.
What you do is remove the ther-
mistor-type mctcrfrom very low
power measurements and re-
place it with a crystal de tector-
type power meter.
In my shack, I have an old sur-
plus Pacific Measurement" crys-
tal detector power meter. So far
this is the only crystal detector
power meter that 1have seen for
a reasonable price on the surplus
market. Sure, I have seen others
offered for sale, but 1was not will
ing to pay the asking price.
I was lucky in that a local surplus
dealer had this meter and it came
with the detector attached. Not
only was the price reasonable, but
testing the meter showed that it
seemed to be functional. A little
contact cleaner sprayed into the
pots and switches for better
electrical contacts reclai med a
very effective meter.
This meter has a partic ular
quirk in that it requires a warm-
up for internal circuitry of etour
2 to 5 minutes, during which time
it's useless to try to usc the meter
- it just wants to self-bal ance or
go through some process that 1am
not familiar with (I do not have a
manual). After this periodof time,
the crystal detector can be at-
tached to an onboard 30 MHz RF
very accurate test source at zero
dEm for meter calibration. This
source is also switchable to rru-

nus 20 dBm to balance the meter

using these two test levels.
After that, the meter is accurate
down to nearly minus 70 dBm
and does not drift even whe n
handled (body heat), as heat
docs not affect the results of the
power meter head. Why? Be-
cause this responds to detected
RF being rectified in the diode
and its reading presented to the
subsystems 10 demonstrate fu-
ture satellite technology a nd
conduct various high-technol -
ogy experiments. As the primary
contractor, Boeing integrated
the sub-payloads and developed
the overall design. The solar-cell
pa nels deliver 2200 watts of
power and the data transfer rate
from the sate llite to Earth can
run up to five megabits per sec-
ond, more t han t wice tha t of
current comparcbte sate llites.
The nine major e xperiments
onhoard ARGOS address more
than 30 research objccti vcs. in-
cluding sensor technology tests
for the International Space Station
(ISS), three ultraviolet imagi ng
experiments. and an X-ray sensor
system to observe X-ray pulsars.
Other devices include a high-
tempe rat ure super-conducti ng
At t hree tons, the ARGOS
sa tell ite carries nine separate
ARGOS
(now known as SUNSAT-OS-
CAR-35), Orstcd. and ARGOS
rode a Boeing Della II 7920-10.
It is the c-urrent standard for a
medium capaci ty e xpendable
launch vehicle. The basic struc-
ture is manufactured in Hunti ng-
ton Beach, California. The engine
i s an RS-27A built by the
Rockctdync Divis ion of Boeing
in Canoga Park, California. This
engine uses a combination of liq-
uid oxygen and RP-l (kerosene).
and has a liftoff thrust of 200, 000
foot pounds. Final assembly for
Del ta rockets is in Pueblo. Colo-
rado. The Delta launch team at
Vandenberg AFH handles launch
coordi nation and operations.

Photo B. SUNSAT and some of the crl'It' at the Universitv of

Stellentoscn ill South Africa, (This and succeeding photos cour-
tesy of SA AMS"AT. )
The Delta II launcher
Amateur-radio satel lites have
,I long history with flights from
vandenberg and De lta rockers.
OSCAR-I (Orbiti ng Sate lli te
Carry ing Amateur Radio) was
the first hamsat to reach orbit
from Vandenberg. The rocket
was a Thor Agena and the date
was December 12. 1961. Aus-
tralis-OSCAR-5 was the fi rst
hamsat o n a De lta roc ket.
Launch was from Vandenberg
on January 23. 1970.
While most rece nt hamsats
have been carried to orbit on
Ariane vehicles, SUNSAT- I
Andy MacAllister W5ACM
14714 Knights Way Drive
Houston TX 77083
Amateur Radio Via Satellites
On February 23, 1999. at 2:29
a.m. Paci fic St andard time. a
Boeing Delta II rocket fl aw-
lessly lifted three satellites into
a 450-lUlUtkal -mile-high orbit
from Vandenberg Ai r Force
Base. The primary payload was
the o.Ouu -pound P9 1- 1 Ad-
vanced Research and Global
Observation Satelli te (AKGOS)
for the U.S. Air Force. Second-
ary payloads i nc1uded the Orstcd
satellite fo r Den mar k and
SUNSAT- I for Sout h Africa.
The l aunch was origi nal ly
scheduled for curly January. but
weather and mechanical prob-
lems caused at least 10 delays.
HRMSRTS
Numbflr 42 on your Feedback card
Photo A. (50 -35 ) headed for orbit from
vandenberg AFH with ARGOS ( USAF) and Orsted ( Del/mark)
oil/ward a Hoeing Delta l/ rocket 011 February 23. / 999. (771011I
Baur photo ria Boeiug.]
42 73 Amateur Radio Today June 1999
Fig. J. SUNSAT / (SUNSAT-OSCAR-35) in its operational COI1-
figuration with gravity gradient bacnn deployed. (This and other
figures courtesy of SA AMSAT )
Pig. 1. View of the instrumentation 0/1 the :.ellilhlwilltiflg f ace of
SUNSAT I .
-
-
designed for inclusion in t he
SUNSAT spaccfrnme. They in-
clude a sa tellite sound and tem-
perature device from the George
Cumpbc f l Tec hnica l Hi g h
Sc hool in Durban. South Afri ca:
a radiation damage sensing ex-
periment from the Rheni shGirl s
Hi gh School in Srcllcnbosch: a
dust pani cle detection unit from
the Cape To wn Pe ninsula
Technicon: a materi al exposure
.-. -

Photo E. A top \iew ofthe SUNSATspacecraft reveals several de-

vices and instruments, including a star camera (from center]: a white
CPS patch amt'II1m (right), and the tubular sections of(II/ 8-foot-long
gravity grodit1It boomin its pre-release state [center]:
Se ve ral ex per i me nts we re
cntiflc and Industrial Research to
develop a three-color (green. red,
and infrared) camera system that
has a resolution of about 50 fee t
from an altitude of 450 mi les. A
similar camera is ill development
for use on the hamsat KITSAT-3
from South Korea,
roo.< ""1 Ill< till
ttLl! WIlli' I

WlliJI (
Other experiments
SUNSAT beginnings
The SUNSAT program de-
fined the satellite's primary pay-
load a"i a lo w-co st. high-
resolution imaging system to
take photographs of South Af-
rica. The goal is to analyze the
spectral content of images sent
from SUNSAT to determine the
type and densit y of gro und veg-
etati on. The Uni versity o f
Stetleubosc h worked with the
South Afri can Counci l for Sci-
The primary payload
Orsted was designed (0 study
the generation of Earth' s mag-
neti c and e lec trical f ield s.
NASA-suppli ed compone nts
include a GPS receiver and a
magnetometer. The satellite is
appropriately named after Ha ns
Chri stian Oersted ( 1777-1 85 1).
He was a professor of physics
a t t he University of Copen-
hagen. Nearly ISO years ago. he
was the first 10 note that a com-
pass needle is deflected when a
current is applied to a nearby
wire.
In 1989 . a t a conference
hostel! by the Universt ry o f
Sretlenbosch i n South Africa. a
proposal was made to build a nd
launch a sate llite. The suggested
program name was KLEINSAT
(klein is the Afrikaans word fo r
small). After nearly a year and
a half of work defini ng the pm-
gram and att ract ing industry
sponsors. an advisory board was
set up and an official program
began under the name SUNSAT
in Ju ne. 1991.
Prof. Garth Milne ZR I AFH
was named as Proj ect Leade r
and Hans van de Groenendaa l
ZS5AKV. representing AMSAT-
SA (The Radio Amateur Satd-
li te Co r po r a t io n of Sout h
Afri ca) and t he South Afri can
Radio League, was named to the
advisory board. The name SU:-;-
SAT is d eri ved from Ste t-
lenboscb UNiversi ty SATe llite,
Partne rs in the program include
Alcatcl Alt ech Telecoms. Si-
emens and Plesscy SA and the
Founda tion for Researc h and
De ve lopment.
experime nt. an arc-jet thruster
rocket anti a Glohal Positioning
System (GPS) recctver. ARGOS
has a three-year design life.
ORSTED
1'110(0 D. III the lab at the
UIlII"en;,)" of Steilenbosch,
SUNSAT gets a fi t check 11,;,11
the Pay/mid Adapter AsSt'mbly
(PAM and associated liard-
w"re,
/ '11010 Co Dirk sterwe and
Kobus I\estill/;:el/ installing
the Payloa d Adapter Auembly
(PAAJ 011 SU,VSAT.
Bot h Orsted and 50-35 are
very sma ll satelli tes compared
with ARGOS. Eac h we ig hs
j ust a hit more than IO() pounds.
They were mounted below and
(0 the s ides o f th e ARGOS
Payl oad Attach Fining and re-
leased from the second stage
booster about 50 min utes after
ARGOS.
73 Amateur Radio Today June 1999 43
....-.- "0_ .. ... ....
,-- ...... ..
Nearl y 50 students at the- Uni-
vers ity of St cllcnho..cb ha ve
earned the ir Master of Electri -
ca l Enginee ring Degrees as a
res ult of working on the SUN-
SAT proj ect. Effort s are- a lready
unde rway to conti nue t he SUN-
What's next
For t hei r historic contac t. t he-
satelli te was confi gured for ana-
log input on two meters and
output on 70 em. similar to the
mode that is e n-
joye-d by ma ny 011 AMRAD-
OSCAR-17. Now thai 5035 is
in orbit a nd ope ra tional. the
SU;-'; SAT advisory committee
wi ll work 10 finali ze a schedule
for the satellite's experiments
and communications systems.
Conturucd 0 11 pU!Je 45
when the satelli te is ove r Africa.
Amateur rad io ope ra tors and
sc hoo l groups will need to reo
quest high-powcr opcruuon over
thei r areas for speci fic e xperi-
ment !'> o r events . E-mai l to
(hans@inte kom.co.l a ) should
.... 00.: .
SO-35"s A. I uplinks arc a lso
programmabl e for 11.5 kHz
steps. but the primary frcqucn-
t ics incl ude 1-' 5.8:25. 1-' 5.850.
145.t}(KI. 1-' 5.950. 43ft.3{K). and
436.250 :\1Hz.
On March 14t h. j ust a few
wee ks a fte r la unc h. Ga rt h
ZR I AFH i n Stellenboscf and
Ha ns ZS5 AKY i n Hillc re s t
made a voice ccruact via SO-35.
This was an e xci ti ng moment
for bot h. since the- y had been
worki ng to gel buil t
and into orbit for ne-arly a d... -cadc.
t' hoto F. Zaal1ied Cossun of the Peninsula Tecnnicon clu-cks out
his particle impact detecrars 011 SUNSAT
...._.. .
Fig. 3. Exploded r iel\" of the structural coujiguratiou of SUNSAT I
(5035).
ei ght seconds and then tra nsmits
what it has heard and recorded
duri ng t he next e ight-second
cycle. The operation is repeated
as long as the unit is activated .
Thi s rudimentary system was
developed to allow very simple
ground sta tions access to the
sate llite. It is hoped t hat school
ham stations will be able to eas-
ily usc this resource to promote
space science education.
50-35 downli nk freq uencies
include 1-15.815. -I36.3lXl , and
43ft .150 Duri ng the fi rst
days afte r launch, t he 436.250
freque ncy was used for
1200-baud telemetry downl ink .
Due to the flexibi lity of the
system. nearby frequencies can
he programmed into t he satel-
li te in 12.5 kHz inc re me nt s .
Power output for the downlinks
can he ser to one or four wa tts
on two me ters and 1.5 or 10
wens on 70 ern. The low power
setti ngs will be in effec t over
rue.. t of the world, whil e the
high-power settings will he used
New in this thi rd edit ion boo k are world fre-
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The parrot re peale r listens for
The ham gear
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NASA provided a GPS Turbo-
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laser tracking rct ro reflecto r.
The laser refl ector system can
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satellite hy measuring the tran-
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44 73 Amateur Radio Today J une 1999
Radio Direction Finding
HOM'N6 'N
Harbor high jinks
ho lding a medi ca l monitor
transmitter in her gloved hands.
I asked her to take the battery
out of it. She did and the prob-
lem we nt away. Out of c urios-
ity. I a... ked what the patie nt was
in for. She looked at the chart
and ..aid, ' AIDS and hepati tis:
We all i mmed ia te ly took s i x
ste ps back wards."
quality scanners. handheld.. and
yag!s. and some other tricks.
I' ve fou nd a lot of sources in
tight areas wi thout a directional
antenna. just by using a whip
and tightening the squelch. We
hat! to chase some interference
in Terminal I of Los Angel es
Ai rport on the day after Thanks-
giving, starting with the yagis.
anal yzers and other big stuff. I
s ud de nly r eal ized t ha t we
loo ked (0 0 much like the bomb In hi s off hou rs. Ray works
squad and people were start ing wit h other OCRACES members
10 noti ce . So I went out at lunch 10 solve problems that
and bought an inexpensive scun- nave much less visibility, hUI aTC
ne r with a rubber " hip. That j ust as troublesome 10 those af-
was enough to eventually sniff fected hy t hem. La...t fall. these
out the interference, I d
grungebust e rs ncccc e\'e ry-
"1 have a good working rcla- thing in thei r bag of tricks to lind
tionship with J im Zoulek and the source of a n interfe re nce
the other Lo s Angeles FCC problem at the Hamor Pat rol sta-
folks. They have been very rc- li on ill Newport Beach. A strung.
sponsi vc when I need access . ' I
conunuous signa was present on
somewhere. Occasionally, they two impon am communicat ions
have he lped wi th ROE The y freq uencies near -l5
look up fi le histories and Ire- The signal had a ...trong flOHI.
qucuclcs for u... . hut much of the hu n : to it. To them. it sounded
time the emit ters are unli censed like a video carrier. It was also
a nd nobody b responsible for ra ther unstable i n fre quency,
them. l .ook whe re computers occupying a 2 MHI swat h of
arc goi ng, their clock s are get- spectrum. Harbor Pat rol radios
ung closc to -trxr Mtt z.J've sccn do no t use s ub a ud i ble tone
interference from laptops tear- sq uelch. so the interference kept
ing up 800 .MHz radios. Cable the receivers unsqccl c hcd and
TV channel frequencies are get- covered many incoming signals.
ting higher and leakage is wors- W6RYS wa s firs t to dri ve
enlng as cable systems get older. around the harbor vici ni ty to do
Wire le..s an: teari ng up some basic liste ning on a week-
the 800 band: ' day. Ea rly on. he fo und what
Many times, t he o ffe nding appeared to he a stronger ver-
transmitters arc either fully li- sion of t he interference a fe w
ccnsed o r o pe ra ti ng le gall y mi le s. northwest, near a large
wit hin f CC Pan 15 speciflca-
ti ons. Ray continued. " A nurn- report . the hospital became the
her of yea r s ago. we had a first suspect.
security system on hi gh band at Ro bert Barri s KD61FZ
a racetr ack tha t was being (OCRACES Direct ion Finding
ripped up by so me bi g AC- Coordi na tor) and J i m Carter
modulat ed ca rrie r. It look us WB6HAG each passed through
about a half day to find it at a the Newport Hamo r area several
hospi ta l a quart er mi le away. times on the followi ng weekend.
Because I gOI a cop to come using scanners and other rcceiv-
over, the hospital' s person in crs to lry to pick up eit her stg-
charge was very interested. naL No luck - The interference
"He too k us. up to a n ICU was not audible. wh ere did it go?
wa rd, where we tracked it to the Perhaps the interference was from
door o f one parieru' s room. Its a device that only operated dur-
windo w faced the racetrack . lug the week. That reinforced the
Because there was an isolat ion hospi tal hypothesis.
sign on the dour. the nurse we nt All t his was dispelled by a
in by herself. She ca me o ut visi t on Monday to the Harbor
73 Amateur Radio Today June 1999 45
Numb 45 on yow FHdb/Jck CIlrd
faster you' ll be able to solve the
problems when they occur.
RACES to t he rescue
County o f Orange RACES in
California bas more t ha n its
share of good transmi tter hu nt -
ers wi th lois of e xperie nce. One
of them is Chief Radi o Offi cer
Ray Grimes W6RYS. As a Senior
Staff Engineer for Motorola. he
is often ca lled upon to identify
interference to his compa ny 's
communica tions products and
sy stems .
..l troubleshoot problems tha t
are high visibility: ' Ray told me.
" If we' ve got a big police de-
panmcnt with communications
trouble, or if a big ut ility comes
to Motoro la needing hel p, or if
it's a life-threate ning matter be-
cause a radio system is compro-
mi sed, I get the call, The com-
pany has been very good at let-
ting me deal with t hings l ike
this. On rare occasion.. I have
bee n pulled off to places like
New York: '
What gear does a professional
use?
" I have an IFR service moni-
tor and spectrum anal yzer that I
carry a long : " W6RYS ex-
plained. :' It fit s under an airline
scat and can demodulate most
modes, so I lake it e verywhere.
I also have a couple of hi gh-
ac.za]. In addi tion to timely up-
dates on SO-35, both sites offer
a number of exce llent links to
re l a ted bams at pages . T he
SUNSAT pa ge a lso provides
li nk s to the PIJl 1 ARGOS,
Orsted a nd SUNSAT media kit
trom Boeing. J
Grungebusters
When I first got my ham Ii-
censc a s a p re - tee n b a by .
boome r, just a bout t he o nly
sources of RF in my town of
12,000 souls were one AM ra-
dio station, a dozen ham opera-
tors, and a growing number of
Cbcrs. Oh. yes: The pol ice and
lire departments had a fe w ra-
dios. 100. At an ever-increasing
rat e, others discovered the use-
fulness of radio communica-
tions - ot hers such as the Post
Office. securi ty companies, and
utilit y fleet dispatchers. Then
came pagi ng. ce ll phone s ,
trunkcd radio systems, medica l
telemetry Family Radio Service,
and so on,
Nowadays, the et her is full of
voice, da ta. image.., tclecom-
munds. pos ition reports , a nd
alarms. II see ms as if some ne w
use fo r the spect rum is an-
nounced every day, And then
there arc the de vices thai aren't
supposed to radiale RF, hUI do,
such as computers, arc ing door-
bell transformers.fi sh lank heat-
ers, and even light bulbs,
If you have n't e xperienced
interference to your ham opera-
tions from one of these sources,
you're really lucky. You can' t
expec t your luck to last. The more
you know about radio direction
finding (RDn tec hni ques. the
Joe Moell P,E. KCl OV
P. O. Box 2508
Fullerton CA 92837
{Homil'lQin@aol.comJ
[hnp:llmembers. aol .comJ
hominginl)
HRMSRTS
continued f rom page 44
SAT program with SUr-.; SAT-2
and beyond.
You can lind out more about
SO-35 via the following Internet
websites: Ihnp:/Iwww,amsat.
org] and Ihtl p:/Isunsat. ee.sull .
PhotoA, Transmitters cvervwtieret \t'ith all the communications sites
like this ol/e. plus RF-ell1irril1g devices ill almost a ery home and
business. it s 110 wonder That unintentional interference is a growing
problem.
Patrol bui lding, at which t ime scopc und a varletyofhaud- hctd
W6RY$ and KD61FL were in- radi o s a nd a ttc nua to r s , t he
formed that the noise had been OCRACES RDF le a rn went
nonstop al1 weeke nd. it through many possibiliti es and
turn ed out." Roher! comme nted. turned otf a lot of equi pment. yet
"this should have been all excel- the problem persisted. The as-
lent cl ue tfuu the noi se source soruncm o f digi tal and radio
was either c lose to the station or gear in the room that a lso radi -
in side it. hut li ke ma ny suc h utcd noi se in the sli me pan of
obse rvations. it only became the spec trum made it impossible
obvious later: ' 10 home in on the problem sig-
All t hree hu nters spent a fair nal. Every piece of wire seemed
amount of lime that afternoon to be awash in thi s widehuud 45
both inside and outs ide the Har- RF.
bor Pa trol bui ldi ng, trying 10 The scope showed very pecu-
further characte rize the signal. liar mod ulati on. Whil e t he re
determine if the source was in- wa s cl early a 60 Hz compone nt
side or outside, and lind out if to itthat W<l S audible, t he signal
switchi ng o ff a ny part ic ul ar a lso contai ned very high Ire-
plcce ofcquiprucnt a tfcctcd rhe qucncy " spi ky" ene rgy a nd
offendi ng signal. asymmetry of modulation. Was
Tryi ng to nail down a signal it video? Corrupt ed AC power?
source inside an active conuuu- Computer noi se?
nl cutl ous ce nte r ca n be very The team next went outs ide
challenging. Usi ng scarmcrv. a to ha ve a listen in the area sur-
spectrum anal yzer. a Tektronix ro undi ng the a ntenna towe r.
46 73 Amateur Radio Today . June 1999
Atop the garage adjoining the
main building, Ray and Robert
had no problem picking up the
signal on their hand-held radios.
That made them suspect that the
signal source wa s outdoors, hut
there was sti ll t he possi bi lity
that it was inside the building
and radiat ing out through the
coax feeds going up to the tower
next 10 the garage.
Furt her sniffing led them to
t he other e nd of the bui lding,
where t he signa l was stronger.
There on the rooftop was a long
run o f coa x c o nnec ted 10 a
d o ck s ide sec u r i t y camera .
Video, 60 HL, long cable run
ncar the antenna tower - it all
seemed III make perfect sense.
They asked when t he camera
had been installed, and were told
a month ago, which correl ated
wit h the start of the reported in-
terference. Wi t h big grins on
thei r faces, they asked for the
camera to he turned off. The ir
gri ns va nished j us t as quickly
when t he noise persisted on t he
console radios.
The team mulled over the idea
of powe ri ng down t he whole
building for a few seconds to
make a fast " inside or outs ide"
determination. but this was rc-
jeered as impractical. In hind-
sight. considering how we ll the
signal propagated through all the
cabling, it might not have yielded
the right answer anyway.
T he n c ame the ne ws tha t
would add a fe w more hours in
the hot sun. Another Harbor Pa-
trot station down t he coast re-
ported hearing the same ki nd of
interference. Aha ! The source
had to be fair ly strong and lo-
cated so mewhere t hat coul d
reach both Newport Beach and
Dana Poi nt !
With radi os. maps. a nd a 45
whi p o n t he trunk li d.
W6RYS and KD61FZ SCi off on
the biggest wild goose chase of
the day. Afte r a complete round
tri p on Pacifi c Coast Highway
to Dana Point and back, they
realized that the Dana Point re-
port had be en a red he rring.
What e ver t he Dana Point sta-
ti on heard might ha ve ha d a
60 Hz buzz to it. but there was
cert ainly no signal source be-
tween the two sites that could
he the c ulprit. And the second
station had no where near the
leve l that Newport Beach
di d.
Now it was getting late in t he
day and the team needed some
resu lt s fast . Ret urning to the
Newport Harbor station. the)'
went hack 10 the " nearby signa l
source" hypot hesis. To If)' to get
a better handle on the behavior
of the signal. t hey connected t he
IFR spectrum anal yzer direct ly
to the 45 whip antenna.
Wit h Ray dri ving a nd Robert
kee ping the IFR from tipping
over in the fro nt seat, they can-
vassed the area immediate ly sur-
roundi ng the stat ion.
There were plenty of distinct
signals from 39 to 50 with
all the hallmarks of the intcrfcr-
cnce source. such as 60 HLbuzz.
widcband. steady strength. Up-
hil l from the harbor station. one
residence seemed to have t he
highest radiated strengt h of all
the emissions in the -15
region. Upon contacting the oc-
c upant and mak i ng i ntroduc-
tions. a sweep of the home was
conducted. zeroi ng in on a ne w
digi tal cable 00, . It wa s gi ving
off the 45.674 signa l that
the team had picked up with t he
anal vzcr in the street.
T his signal wa s coming from
every run of coax from the side-
wa lk a ll the wa y t hrough the
house. The resident i ndicated
that he had used this new digi-
ta l cable service for about a
month, roughly coinci dent with
the onset of noise at the harbor
station. Considering t hat active
attenuation was needed in the
last :!O feet of sniffi ng to t he
cable box. wi th about 50 dB of
aucnuauon. it seemed cl ear that
this was a red hot suspec t.
The RDF ream began to be-
lie ve thut either this residence or
the entire cable TV system in the
area could he responsible for the
It was conjectured that
digita l cable signals mi ght in-
deed carry the distinctive 60 HI,
buzz due to video's frame rare.
and yet not resemble conven-
tional video modulation because
of the di gital e ncoding.
Mobile. Portable and Emergency Operation
ON THE 60
Steve Nowak KE8YN/4
1011 Peacock Ave. NE
Palm Bay Fl 32907-1 371
[ke8yn@juno.com!
Y2K thoughts
Although the people in high
technology have been anticipat-
ing the effects of the Y2K bug
for over a decade. it now is the
sluff of whi ch headlines are
made. Everyone seems 10 be
aware that some computers will
misinterpret the dale after De-
ccmber 3 1. 1999, to be January
I. 1900, rather than the year
2000. Some companies have
undertaken massive efforts to
correct this problem, whi le oth-
ers have pushed the problem
behind other more interes ting
projects.
In case you' ve been on a
DXpcdi tion for the last year, this
problem is due to the fact that
hack in the days when computer
memory was extremely expen-
sive. one of the goals of wri ting
computer code was 10 abbrevi-
ate wherever possible. For this
reason, years were encoded as
two digits only, At the time. pro-
grammers never expected that
the programs they wrot e in the
' 60 s (make tha t th e 1960s )
would be around at the tum of
the century. Not only arc the
programs still around, but they
have been translated from one
computer language to others .
Eve n if the original source code
st i ll e xis ted (a nd it usuall y
doesn't), it would be almo st
impossibl e to rewr ite. Wi th the
original code lost , it is an even
bigger challenge .
The problem is complicated
by the fact that some computer
programs, even if corrected . can
he corrupted by interac tion ....-ith
programs that have not been
corrected. There are also many
"embedded" chi ps. which are
the computer chips that are pan
of man)' appli ances, automo-
biles. etc. While.' many do not
track years. and won ' t he af-
fected. others do and wil l. Some
feel that the embedded chips in
the power grid that controls our
household electric power may
create a problem. There may
also be problems with micro-
computers cont roll i ng traffi c
signals and some aspects of the
communications system,
In any case, there is truly a
bipolar reaction to the expected
event. Some people expect no
probl ems, while others ha ve
deve loped a fear level that is
difficult to explain. To some.
this ri vals or exceeds the fear of
nuel ear war in the 1950s, Just
as a small cadre of people at that
time huilt fallout shelte rs and
stocked them with food and sup-
plies and predicted dire consc-
quenccs. some today have taken
a si milar position, Generators
are being sold at a record rate,
I'll bet that ve ry few people who
have purchased generators have
ca lc u lated how muc h fu e l
they' ll need to purchase, store
and treat with preservatives in
order to operate the generator
for more tha n a fe w hours .
People are stashing away food
such as MRE.s. Those of us who
have had the pri vilege of exist-
ing on these know that the ini-
tials arc often assigned to words
much less complimentary than
"meal: ready to cat." I recently
heard on the news that the com-
pani es which make wood stoves
for the Ami sh have been so ld out
for quite some time. The same
story menti oned an individual
who purchased a ton of wheal. I
wonder if he or she has fi gured
out what to do with a ton of dry
wheat.
Where on the continuum be-
tween normalcy and pandemo-
nium will the eve nt lie? :-00 one.'
knows. I believe that it is pru-
dent to prepare for the event. but
to do so in a realistic manner. I
respect fi re. but do not have an
unreasonable fear. I own smoke
detectors and fi re exti nguishers
although I do not panic at the
sight of fire. Li ke fire. I respect
the potenti al for unexpec ted oc-
currence. I expect that between
today and December 31, 1999.
there wi ll be at least one poten-
tial eme rgency event such as a
severe stor m. hrush fi res or a
search and rescue requirement
that will impact me personally.
I also plan on some inconve-
niences when the cloc k t urns
past midni ght next New Year ' s
Eve. This column can act as a
forum for ideas over the next
few months 10 discuss and re-
,.. iew the po ssible impl ications
of the Y2K eventuality and how
to deal wit h them. Mayne like
the long awaited appearance of
Halley' s Comet it wi ll he a mild
event. but then agai n it may be
significant.
What are the priorities that we
should ~ I I bel ieve in XYLs
and harmonic s f i r st (t ha t 's
women and chi ldre n fi rst. for
you new to the hobby). The first
concern eac h of us must have is
for o ur families. There arc a
number of basic issues that can
be handl ed easil y, The firs t rul e
of survival is for water. Water
can he easily stored in gallon
containers such as mil k j ugs.
Water stored in late December
should he potable just in case the
water treatment facilit y in your
area e xpe rie nc es d iffi cult y.
Conr mued all page .'50
The next day, Howard New-
ton N6WOW went to the scene
and performed a far more thor-
ough on- foot sniffing expedi-
ti on , coveri ng bot h t he im-
mediate area of the Harbor Pa-
trol bui lding as well as dockside.
There he discovered a battery
charger connected to a j et ski.
covered by a tarp. At clo se
range, the 45 MHz interference
was i ncredi bly strong, Could it
be that simple'?
Yes. it vanished the instant the
charger was unpl ugged. The
owner indicated that he " plumb
forgot" about that charge r under
there. With that simple step. the
Harbor Patrol radios were inter-
ference-free once agai n.
As KD6IFZ told me on the
phone afterwards. ..It was like any
other difficult transmitter hunt.
You ruck your brain all along, but
once you fi nd out what it is, ev-
eryt h ing suddenly makes sense."
Thanks to Robert, Ray. Ji m.
Howard and the other f -hunrcrs
of Orange County RACES for
this story, which was originally
detai led by KD6IFZ in NelColl -
trot. the organization' s monthly
newsl etter.
Another kind of snooping The syste m, called Mobil -
Trak , is no w o pe rati onal ill
There was a lot of reader inter- Toronto. Phoeni x. and some ar-
est in the new system for auto- cas of the Los Angeles mctropo-
maucatly surveying in-car radio
lis. Installation is progressing in
li s tening th at I described in
a dozen other places. incl uding
"Homing ln" for July 1998. Some
. d e l . h Mia mi . Seaulc. Kansas Ci ty.
were excite , (" an get a JO
there?" ) Others thought it to he a Nashvill e, Minneapoli s and Pitts-
bit snuopy. (""Cuokies for radio?"} burgh. You can read more about
No worries , The roadside ra- ir onthe Web, follo....i ng a link you
d lo de tectors compu te ho w will lind at the Homing In site.
many dri vers are li stening to My site also has the latest on the
Rush tal k and how many arc 1999 ARDF Championships and
singing along with Garth . hu t the Burrowing Owl Project. so
they make no distinct ion as to check it out if you haven't surfed
which car is t uned to which star, by for a while.'. Fa
73 Amateur Radio toaey June 1999 47
Num"- 4. on your FHdMeI< u rrJ
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73 Amateur Radio Today June 1999 49
Low Power Operation
QRP
MiChael Bryce WB8VGE
Sunlight Energy Systems
955 Manchester Ave. $W
North lawrence OH 44666
(prosolar@sssnel. coml
Most of us like 10 build our
own gear. If you happen to en-
j oy designing radi os. [hen you
more [han likely have laid out
your own PC boards. In the past,
I've usedjust about every me thod
I came upon. Without a doubt.
the easiest way [ 0 Jay out a PC
board is with a computer. But. if
theboard isasimpleone, youcan
still use one of these methods.
Several months ago, we talked
about using mailing [li be ls and
marki ng pens. They' re OK if
you only want one board. Ifyou
want to make more tha n one PC
hoard at a time. then you must
usc the photo etching method.
In a nutshell. you make a nega-
ti ve (or positi ve depending on
your chemistry being used) and
expose the negative 10 a photo-
sensitive board. When the pho-
tosensitive coaling is exp osed 10
UV light, and then developed.
it turns in a rather tough resis t.
T here arc a few steps needed
to produce a PC board using the
photo resi st met hod. The first
one is generating the artwork.
Years ago, and I do mean years
ago, you could make your own
artwork using a product ca lled
" Bis hop graphics: ' Basica lly,
they were stamped out black
crepe paper with a sticky side.
You appli ed the gra phic you
wanted, say a I-t-pin DIP, onto
a sheet of )'1)'lar. You then eon-
nectcd the various pads and pins
using the tape strips. You as-
semhled your PC board hy CUl-
t ing and placing a ll the pads,
Ie pins and ot her mounts as
needed . You could get t he
Bishop graphics in all sorts of
di fferent outlines. They came in
0.300 spaci ng DIP outlines, TO-
92, m -220 transistor outlines, a"
well as j ust about anything you
could think of. When you were
done with the artwork. you had a
graphics house produce a one-to-
one negative. This negati ve was
then used to "bum the board: '
The act ua l proc ess va ries
from chemistry to chemistry, hut
the basic idea is as follows.
You mounted the photosenst-
ti VI.' hoard in a frame. Thi s frame
consisted of a sheet of glass and
some clamps. The one I had was
homemade and reminded me of
a book. One edge was on a
hinge. You opened up the frame,
put in the boa rd and then the
negative. You cl osed the frame
and the sponge backing kept
everythi ng tight. You then ex-
posed the hoard to a source of
UV light. I used a UV sunlight
lamp. These were al so called
tanning lamps. Kind ofexpensive,
and somewhat hard to obtai n.
Dependi ng on the chemistry, it
took fro m one minute to 15 min-
utcs under the UV light. After
the e xposure time was up, you
developed t he hoa rd . AI t his
lime, you can clearl y see th e
photo resist on the copper hoard.
The board is then etched in your
favorite c hemical. The rest of
the process is the same as any
other PC board application:
drilling holes. stuffi ng the hoard
and then troubl eshooting why it
won't work when you' re done.
This is the biggest drawback
usi ng the Bi shop graphic s. If
you have made a goof. you must
redo the entire process from step
one. And unless yo u have a
darkroom fo r making your own
negat i ves, it can start gell ing
expensive. The n there is the cost
of the Bi shop graphics t hem-
selves. They're not cheap a nd
they can only he used once.
I did find one reall y slick way
of making a PC board using
Bi shop graphics and the artwork
fro m a magazine. If you place
the Mylar sheet over the top of
the artwork in a magazi ne, you
can trace out t he layout with the
Bishop gra phics. It' s very time
consumi ng, but if the hoard is
simple, you can ma ke an exact
c opy of the board from the
magazine!
Lat er on, the popular transfer
film allowed you 10 make a copy
of a magazine page with a plain
paper copier and then iron the
result onto the copper board.
Now vou know, I have never

been able to gel thai to work for
me! Try as I may, I ne ver got a
usable PC board from the ironing
hoard.
I ment ione d se veral times
about t he chemistry used. You
could get either a posi tive act-
ing or negative acting che mis-
try. By far t he most popular is
the negati ve acting c hemistry. If
you used the negative c hemis-
try, you needed a negat ive to
produce a board. Thi s required
one more step, and usually a trip
to the local graphics house to
produce the negat i ve.
You could get posit i ve acting
chemistry. As the name implies.
you only needed to produce a
positi ve image t hai would be
used to produce your PC board.
By e liminating one step in t he
process. you reduced t he t ime
needed to make a board. And.
you di d not ha ve to hecome
fr i e nds wit h the guy a t the
gra phics house. On the ot her
hand. the positive act ing chcm-
istry was a bit harder to work
with. And to make matters evert
mo re hai ry, po vitivc act ing
chemi stry cost about fifty percent
more than the negat ive acting
chemistry.
That leaves us with the best
of PC hoard layout. That' s us-
ing a computer. My first auempt
a t a compute r-des igned PC
board was with a program called
ON TH f Go
conlinue d J rom page 47
met dish you crave, but it will
meet your dai ly ca loric intake.
If you have a grill with a side
Don't forget that they arc de pen- burner you can heat the ca nned
dent upon electrical power to foods, hut make sure your tank
function. Plan on 3 gallons of is full and you have at least one
wate r per person per day for spare. (And don't run your gri ll
drinking purposes. inside, of course.)
Next is food. Canned food If you take prescription drugs,
that does not require heating is lay in a month's supply. If the
a rel ati vely eas)' solut ion. but pharmacy ' s computer has a
don't forge t t hat you'll need to proble m, refills may not he
have a can opener that doesn' t available. Finally, if you don 't
require e lectricit y, Cold pork Ii ve in the sunny South , he at
and beans may not he the gour- may he an issue. A fireplace is
50 73 Amateur Radio Today June 1999
of no real be nefi t if you lack
fi re wood.
Finally there is communica-
t ions . The fi rst issue i s 10 be
able to re cei ve c ommunica-
ti on.. about what is happening
in the rest of t he world . A
s imple transistor radi o wi th a
supply o f batt eri es or an a lte r-
nati ve powe r source will fi ll
thi s need nice ly. Second i s the
ability to communica te with
othe rs. That will be the basis
of the next co lumn.
Am I preparing? Yes. Am I
worried? Not rea lly. We' rc hams,
after all, and have dea lt with tor-
nadocs, 1100ds, blizzards, hurri -
canes and every other surprise that
nature has thrown at us. I don't
think a computer bug can com-
pare with what Motter Naturecan
throw our way.
Le t' s use th is column as a
clearinghouse for information
you think is important for the
Y2K e xpe rie nce. Send your
ideas to the E-mai l address at the
top of the column or by snail-
mail to my horne. fa
"Smartwork." It was a very ex-
pensive program at t he time.
about $ 1200 for the basic pack-
age. and worked only on t he
IBM XT computer. That' s how
far back it was! This program
produced a one-to-one or IWo-
to-one output thai you primed
on a dot matri x printer. You took
t hi s artwork to the graphics
house to produce a negati ve.
You processed the PC boanJ in the
usual way after you "burned' the
board. However, this time ifyou
made a mistake, you could easily
fix the screwupon the computer,
Of course, you still had to make a
new negati ve and once again bum
the board. But the entire process
was speeded up. You could move
a pador a line in a matter of sec-
onds instead of bours using the
old Bishop graphics.
That was then. This is now.
Today. there arc many programs
t hat allow you 10 make a PC
board from your computer. You
can ge l software for the Wi ntel
machines as well as the Appl e
Macintosh computer. And even
though all the programs allow
you to generate a printed output.
now you can produce a color
pri ntout thanks to the low cost
of the inkjet pri nters.
And if you don' t wa nt to
make a negati ve and bum your
own board, you can produce the
Gerber fil es and have someone
else make your boards. Having
the capaci ty to make the Gerber
fil es and t he NC drill files your-
self, you simply upload them to
a board house. In a few days, PC
boards! Now, you don't get thi s
for nothing, and the process can
be expens ive, but if you need
double-si ded PC boards wi th
pl ated-through hol es i n two
days, it's thconly game in town.
Of course, if you wanted to
make yo ur o wn negati ve, a
quick cl ick of the mouse would
produce a laser pri ntout of your
board. You could then burn your
board and process i t as usual.
Chelsea Clock
Clockmakers since 1897
The c hoice of The Coast
Guard Foundation.
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4- Dial
Right now, the only game in
town for PC board layout is a
computer. There are dozens of
program!"> that perfor m th is
functi on. Ne xt ti me, we will
look at laying out a PC board
Beautif ully hand-polished.
Stamped b ra ss c a se and
bezel.
Curved glass crystal.
Wall or bulkhead mounting.
Made so well the y l ast from
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Order thi s month and save
$20!
Your price $75
Omega Sales
P.O. Box 376
Jaffrey NH 03452
1-800-4677237
using a computer. I 'll also
h ave s o me names and ad -
dresses for PC board houses
t hat wi ll do limi ted runs of PC
hoards, as well as hoard houses
fo r proto t ypes. fa
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73 Amateur Radio Today J une 1999 51
N"","- 52 on your FfI1bacl< Ulrd
THE DIGITRL PORT
The report s sound very com- I have made frequent mention
petting. The hardware needed is of the e xcellent SSTV program
al ready in many ham shacks: a ChromaPIX, and I hear e xce l-
computer wit h a 16- bi t sound lena reports from users. The pro-
ca rd and a n HF radio tha t i s gram, as many of you are aware,
stable. It is necessary to build is a wmdows-bascd one that uti-
cables from the sound card to the lizcs the sound card - th us
radio. Those of you who have e liminating the need for addi-
worked with the ChromaPIX tional hardware to send and re-
SSTV program are already there. cel ve images over the air with
The othe r essential to get up OSP filtering.
and running contai ns that " F ' Rec ently, Jim an-
word popul ar among hams (t he nounced hl s latest Windows-
one you can on the ai r): free ! sound c ard offe ring. If you go
Yes, the soft ware is free for the 10 the ChromaPIX Weh page,
download from Ibttp .z/aintcl.bl. you will li nd. in addition to the
chu.es/psksl. tuml} . SSTV programs, a rundown on
The t ruth i s, I have down- ChromaSound. You may down-
loaded the Wi ndows versi on of load thi s program (a lillie over
the soft ware, but ha-ven't got 3 megabytes), e xecute it, direct
into the test mode as yet. ( t hink the sound from the output of
that if RlTY exci tes you, you your rig to the sound card on
will want to gel to this wi thout your computer. and start enjoying
delay. The zipped program is the marvels of DSP filtering via
sma ll enough to put on a floppy the output of your sound cant
at around a megabyte. You wi ll It is a beta program, looks
find extensive, we ll writte n help we l l fi nished, and is the prod-
files . I printed a lill ie over forty uct of a lot of work - I t hink
pages of the m and it looks like you will enjoy it. It is already
an easy mode to get up and run- confi gured for regular sideband
ning according to all I read audio with selectable options
about it. I will have it going in for you to point-and-click for
52 73 Amateur Radio Today June 1999
Jack Heller KB7NO
P.O. Box 1792
Carson City NV 89702 1792
Uheller@sierra.netl
There are some ne w items of
interest to those who read this
column. Recently. there was a
bit of mail concerning the need
for more on RlTY. I won't lay
claim to ha ving covered all the
soft ware and hardware combi-
nations. hut there is some thi ng
very unique t hat isn' t by any
stretch of the imagi nation pure
RTTY.
In fact. at least one opinion
!>aYs it may be the replacement.
The new mode is PSK3 1. I have
observed hams who have been
developing i t for quite some
time. and I admi t I didn't fu lly
unde rstand or appreciate j ust
what they were up to.
You may have most
of the stuff already
the next few weeks and let you
know what 1see.
The advantages of the mode
sound a lmost too good to be
true. First and mo...t significa nt
is the width of the signa l. When
you have everythi ng ca librated
properly, it is about 31 Hz wide
- fabulous! They say it is so
narrow, you wi ll east Iytune past
a signal. weak or otherwise, if
you move too quickly. That re-
minds me: On the Web site, you
will find a demo of the sound
you are looki ng fo r. It i s de-
scribed as a warble. but I fe lt it
was closer to a pure tone with a
slight waver. I think that is due
to the narrow bandwidth.
New DSP program for
your sound card
indi vidual situations. The screen
db-pl ay incl udes a spectrum ana-
lyzer so you c an " see what you
arc hearing." I like that concept.
I find that my listening abilit ies
do not always translate directly
10 the proper knobs to turn 0 11
the a udi o fi lter.
Once agai n I must beg inahil-
ity to give a complete cvalua-
ucn, a s I ha ve not put t he
program to t he real test. So
many toys, so litt le time.
lfi t weren't for you observant
readers. I would get away with
almost anything. Perhaps it pays
to get ofT track once in a while;
at tcast seve ral pieces of Ecmail
have served to awaken my senses.
A welcome wakeup ca ll came
via E- mail from Jason KC8ERI.
who commented on a statement
I re cently made a bout the
Internet spirit ing away the po-
rcnual hams among our younger
set. I was pleased to make the
acquai ntance of what I will term
a we ll bal anced t e-year-okt
mentality.
Jason has bee n us ing both
ham radio and the Internet 10
further hi s education in this high
tech world. He didn't simply get
a ham li cense and make the
rounds of the FM repeaters. Ja-
son got into pack et radio and
notes the comparison of speed
between packet and the Internet.
He offers the opinion that some-
time in the future he Intends to
fi nd a way 10 not only improve
on speed but 10 add graphic con-
tent to packet communication. In
other words. he is going to make
a contribution to ham radi o.
This is the kind of people we
must attract to our Tanks. I got
the impression that he is active
in a local club and that the club
me mbers have found ways to
stimulate hi s interest. This is one
gung-ho young man who will
succeed at what ever he desires.
I am sure.
Def ining " di git al "
I rcccived an interesting piece
of E-mail from Kla us DL4KCK
concerning some of the subjects
of thi s column. He makes a vali d
comment that one of the modes
discussed here is nor reall y digi -
tal. He refers to SSTV, and says
we may stretc h the definition for
certai n program-hardware com-
binati ons such as those using the
sound card in the computer.
There is certainly no intention
of pulling the wool over any-
one's eyes to make them think
t hat a ll modes di scussed arc
pure "anything." They are sim-
ply exci ting ham radi o modes.
and ( like to sec more hams hav-
ing fun. If I e rr on the side of
hringing useful infonnati on to
my re aders. so be it. skin is
thick enough to take the flack.
No offense intended. Kl aus is a
well grounded ham, wi th e xpe-
rience int he field as we ll as writ-
ing abilities. He lists himsel f as
" 2nd editor TV-AMATEUR: '
And there is no argument from
thi s end.
Missi ng info
Another piece of Ecmai l from
Thad KF2PL awakened me to
the fact there wac a piece of info
mi ssi ng in the URL chart. Be-
licvc it or not, Thad was read-
ing: an article from t he Jul y ' 97
issue i n which I commented
about the XPWare progr.ll1l for
the PK-23nmX. He wanted to
know where to lind it.
It can be exasperating using
a search engine to fi nd some-
thing you know is out there. I
lind listings disappearing t ha t
we re ea....i ly located a year ago.
So that tine pi ece of shareware
is listed i n t he chan starti ng this
month. You wi ll fi nd the pro-
gram available with a substan-
tial tri al period upon download.
MFJ software?
Another reader. J.P. KA3RWP,
sent a request to locate some
software that made me aware of
a void in our aftcrmarkcr soft
ware for Correct me i f
l'm wrong, bur I could fi nd only
one listing for a program for the
MFJ 127R multimodc. Perhaps
it is diffi cult to write for.
I found an old listing fro m
severa l years back that wa s. at
that t ime, in the Hamner library
on Compu'Scrvc. It no longe r
exis ted. and a sea rch o n t he
Internet for thai soft ware tile
proved frui tless. Another search
listening to the relays quickl y Max explained first thai the ordered for a few dollars from
rattling away while thi s selec- base-loaded antenna I had de- SOIllCOne else who had apparently
tion and sampling process takes vised was highly i neffici ent done the experimenting.
place. Whcn the rel ays shut up. when compared with a center- What does it all mean'! We are
t which takes a very short lime, loaded one. He also chastised never done experi menting in
the ITl'MChi s made. me a bit for not speaking highly ham radio. Just look at thi s
of the "screwdriver" cont inuous mo nt h ' s col u mn. We have
I
Off track
tuning mobi le antenna. as he has to uched on a new ve rsion of
The learning process takes a
had a lot of good luck wi th such KITY (PSK31 - I hope that
apparatuses. I will not argue reference to RITY doesn't of-
familiar tum as I receive cum-
with either point. fend ), a sound card DSP Iilter,
mcnts from you folks. I did rc-
The reason for the base-load some ant enna ideas that were
cei vc one negati ve comment:
confi g urat io n wa s. cost. The news at le as t to me. plus
that is understandable because
ot her methods mentioned ap- glimpses at innovative hams and
the antenna proj ect seems a little
peered to be Impractical at the their creations .
far-fetched for a column t hat
outset. Max tells me that he has There is so much 10 t hi s
should be focused on d igi tal
been more invent ive than I and hobby that is up-to-the-mi nute
communication - even if t he
ha s ma naged to home-brew and cutting-edge that I wonde r
goal is mobi le/portabl e digital
screwdriver antennas on a very what ho lds people back from
modes.
low-buck budget. I am goi ng to wanting to try it all .
However, the re was a very
have to spend a little time and If you have questions or com-
educational E-mail from Max get the detail s from him. That ments about this column. E-mail
KOolTV. who gave tilt" a lot of would be a wort hwhile proj ect. me at [jheller @sie rra.netl and!
insight into mobile antenna en- I took a look, just for curiosity, or CompuServe [72130,1 352J. I
gtnccring. That was a pa ri of hi s 0 11 the Internet with a search for will gladly share what I know
livelihood through his worki ng "screwdri ver antenna." and found or find a resource for you. For
years . a Web site where plans could be now. 73. Jack KB7NO. FlJ
Current We b Addre sse s
Source for: Web address (URL)
HF serial modem plans + software http://www.acces sone.com/- tmayhanlindex.htm
PCFlexnet communications free programs
httpJ/dl Otd.atmo.m-darmstaot.dez- f1exnetlindex
.hlml
Tom Sai ler's info on PCFlexnet http://www.i fe.ee. ethz.ch/-sailer/pcf/
SV2AGWfree Wi n9S programs httpJlwww.lorthnet grlsv2agw/
BayCom - German s ite http://www.baycom.deI
Pasokon SSTV programs & hardware httpJ/www.ullranel.com/-sstvllile.hlml
Wi npack shareware for Windows http://www.duckles.demon.co. uklhamlwp.htm
New Mode - Free DL http://aintel.bi.ehu.es/psk31.html
Baycom 1.5 and Manual.zi p in English
http://www.cs .wvu.edul- acmlgopherISoftware
AJaycoml
Source for BayPac BP-2M htlpJ/WWW,tigertronics.comi
Tucson Amateur Packet Radio - where packet
http://www.tapr.org
started - new modes on the way
TNC to radio wiring help htlpJ/prairie.lakes.oomi- medcalllztxlwi rel
Chroma PIX& W95SSTV http://www.siliconpi xels .comI
Timewave DSP & termer AEA prod htlp:l/www.ti mewave.com
International Visual Communication Association -
htlp://www.mindspring.comz-sstv/
a non-profit organization dedicated to SSTV
XPWare - TNC software with sample DL http://www.goodnel.oomI-Qlohnson!
Small computer boards . various kits http:ltwww.ldgelect ronics.oom
Table J. Current \\'eb addresses. tf you ellCOlmtera problem with a Europe an address. the netv..ork is
oft en atfault, Try again later.
found a UK Web site for Venus
Software at [hllp:/Iwww. venu:-.
ww.demo n .co . uk/ ve ncaram
htm]. There is a program called
Skyridcr avail abl e there. Tha
was all I found, and passed the
address on to J .P. If someone
knows o f other soft ware o u
there, please let me know.
The mobile antenna art icl e
has continued to provoke COIll-
menrs. It has been a great ex-
periment. at this end at least. I
have learned a lot. It is success-
ful to a point. For a time, I
thought I had a piece of magic
growing on the side of the "C-
hicle because it would load on
olO. 20, and 15 with no change
at the antenna .
It wasn't magic. There is an
explanation. The ant enna itsel f
resonates on 20 meters and that
is it. However. wi th the 20+ feel
of coax connected to it. the an-
tenna appears to resonate. at the
transmitter end o f the coax on
the other two ba nds. I wi ll, at
some point in my life, determine
if I can. hy varying thi s length,
accomplish a better match and!
or cause a match on some othe r
hand.
Another revealing part of thi s
proj ect was the use of the LDG
Electronics (see chart) antenna
tuner. I mentioned previou sly
that I would get one of these ki ts
to see if I could minimi ze t he
ti me o f loading t he antenna
whil e the vehicl e is in moti on
and keep the eyes where they
belong (on the road ). The LOG
tuner is a marvel. It contains a
proces:;,or with a sophisticated
program that can determine t he
proper inductance and capaci-
tance comhination in j ust a few
seconds when gi ven a load that
looks anything like an antenna.
The processor selects among
17 relays. energizes the ones
that appear correct. resamples
the SWR, tweaks as necessary,
and di splays via lighted LEDs
where the match stands at any
given moment. It also allows for
manual changes if you wish (0
reduce the SWR to ge t closer
than the " less than 2: I" the pro-
cessor accepts. The fun part is
Antenna update
73 Amateur Radio TOday June 1999 53
CRLENORR
Listings are free of charge as space permits. Please send us
your Calendar item two months in advance of the issue you
want it to appear in. For example, if you want it to appear in
the OCtober issue, we should receive it by July 3 1. Provide a
clear. concise summary of the essential details about your
Calendar event.
DUNELLEN, NJ The Raritan
Valley Radi o Cl ub, l nc., wi ll
present a hamfest on June tsm,
7 a.m.- 2 p.m., at Columbia Park
in Dunellen, near the intersections
of Route 529 and 28. Sellers can
set up at 6 a.m. Admi ssion $5.
Spaces $5 each. Offici al excc
and WAS veri fication. Talk-in on
146.025/ .625 and 146.520
si mplex. Contact Bob Pearson
WB2CVL, ( 732) 846-2056; or Fred
WernerKB2HZO. (732) 968-7789
before 8p.m.
JUNE 19
MIDLAND, MI The 23rd Annual
Hamtest. sponsored by the
Midland ARC, will be held at the
Gerstacker Fair Center at the
Mid land County Fai rgrounds in
Midland . The show features am-
ateur electronics and equipment,
both new and used. VE exams.
and door prizes. Doors open 10 the
public 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Setup is at
6:30 a.m. Admissi on i s $4 ,
advance reserved tabl es 56 each
plus admission; walk-in tables, if
avai lable, $10 pl us admi ssion.
Tr unk sal es $5 per spot plus
admi ssi on. Talk-i n re peat er
W8KEA, 147.00(+ ) . For more
in/ormati on. write wi th an SASE
to M.A. R. C. Hamfest, P.O. Box
1049, Midland MI48641 I049. Or
call Del Lafevor at (517) 636-5097
MARMORA, ONTARIO, CANADA
The 1999 East ern Ontario
Hamfest and Comput er Flea
Market will be hel d Sat., June
19t h, 9 a .m.- 2 p.m. at the
Mar mora Area Curli ng Club,
Crawford Drive, Marmora. Mar-
mora is located about 40 mil es
east of Petertorcuqh on Highway
7 (theTrans Canada Highway) and
about 30 mil es north of Belleville,
Ontario, on Hasting County Road
14 (formerly Highway 14). Talk-in
will be on 146.520 MHz. Contact
Paul VE3UUMat (6 13) 472-3449;
Pete VA3PGB at (6 13) 473-1171;
or E-mail [rhobson@bfvl.igs. net].
See t he Web page at ( www.
redden.on.caI- tcarcltricnty. htm].
Bob VE6BLD. 5540 54th Ave.
Lacombe. Alberta, Canada T4L
1L6. Tel. (403) 7823438evenings.
E-mail [kingel@telusplanet.net} or
[ ve6bl d@rac.ca] . Or E-mai l
CA R.L. at [carf@qsl.netj. Visit the
home page at [http://qsl. netlcarV
]. Bill VE6WMG, at (403) 749-
2063, i s also avai labl e to rel ay
more info about thi s event.
JUNE 18, 19, 20
Akron. Enter from Rte. 43, one
mile south of Rte. 224. Admission
54 in advance or $5 at the door.
One ticket admits ham, spouse
and chi ldren. Flea market spaces
$ 10 each or $8 in advance.
Vendors (pavi lion) $8 in advance
or $10 the day of the hamfest.
Make checks payable t o t he
Goodyear ARC and men with an
SASE to David R. White. 719
Notre Dame, Cuyahoga Falls OH
44221. VE exams available. For
more info call Dave Whiteat (330)
928 7625 or E-mail [rj taylor@
akron.infi.net]. Talk-in on 146.985
or 146.520. Park rul es: no pets,
no firearms . no pornographic
material s.
WHEATON, IL The Six Meter
Cl ub of Chicago, lnc. , will hold its
42nd Annual ARRL- sponsored
Hamtest at the DuPage County
Fai rground s. 201 5 Manchest er
Road [north of Roosevelt Road
(Route. 38), east of County Farm
Road], in Wheaton. Free parking.
No extra charge for space in the
outdoor flea market. Tickets are $5
in advance, for attendees over age
12, $6 al the gate. Advance tickets
are available from Joseph Gut-
wein WA9RIJ, 7109 Blackburn
Ave., Downers Grove It 60516. or
from any cl ub member. Corn -
merc rat tables, a-rt. w/11 0V $15
each. Indoor fl ea market tables,
a-t t.. no electric, $ 12 each .
Overnight RV parking, includes
electrical hookup, $10 each. Send
an SASE wi th check or m.o .
payable to Six Meter Club of
Chicago, and mai l to 7109
BlackbumAve. Downers Grove IL
60516, I'lO later than May 30th. For
i nfo rmation call t he 24 hour
rntoune. (708) 442-4961 . Bui ld-
ings are open to the public at 8
a.m, VE exams 9 a.m. - 11 a.m..
call the InfoLine to pre-register for
testing. Handicapped parking at
the east gate. General parking at
the west gate. Sell ers, use east
gate . Absol utel y no alcoholic
beverages permitted. All sellers
responsible for cleanup of their
spaces.
RED DEER, ALBERTA, CANADA
The Central Alberta Hadio League
(CA R.L. ) wi ll host its 29th Annual
Pi cni c and Hamt est at t he
Burbank Campsi te l ocat ed
approximately 8 km NE of Red
Deer. Talkin on 147.150 (+600) or
146.520 simplex. For info contact
sponsori ng t he 33rd ann ual
"Knoxvill e Hamfest and El ec-
tronics Flea Market" on June 13th
at the National Guard Armory.
3330 Sutherland Ave., in Knox-
vill e. Open to the public 9 a.m.-4
p.m. Admission $5. 8-ft. tables will
be suppli ed for $15 each. AC
power also available. Free dealer
passes will be provided for all
desi gnated workers. Free bever-
ages avai l abl e f or all insi de
dealers. Access ' tor dealers and
other i ndoor participants starts
Sat., June 12th, 12 noon--8 p.m.
ET. Access also availabl e on the
day of t he hamfest , starti ng at
6 a.m. ET. Free parking and
handicap access. Free outdoor
tailgate space with each pai d
admission. VE exams begin at
2 p.m. registrati on must be
completed before 1:30 p.m. Test
fee is $6.45, payable to WCARS!
VEC, exact cash or check, please.
There will be a clinic showing how
to use new technology ham radio
equipment . A free product liter-
at ure and product promotional
items area will also be featured.
Forums are bei ng planned to
di scuss ham radio in the next
century, public service activities,
computer architecture, new FCC
regulations, DX, et c. Exhibits will
feature new technol ogy equip.
ment, satelli te communications
and emergency communication
equi pment. Talk-i n on W4BBB
147.30(+). 224.50(-), 444.575{+).
For general info and reservations.
contact David Bower K4PZT, PO.
Box 50514. Knoxville TN 37950
0514. Tel. (423) 974-5064 (w) or
(423) 670-1503(h). E-mai/ [rack@
korrnet. orgj. For updated info
check the Web page at [http://
lo't'WW. korme!. org/rack].
JUNE1 3
SUFFIELD, OH The 32nd Annual
Hamfest and Family Picnic will be
sponsored 8 a.m.-4 p.m. by the
Goodyear ARC at the Goodyear
KNOXVILLE, TN The Radi o Wingfoot Lake Park, located near
Amat eur Cl ub of Knoxvi ll e is Suffiel d OH, to miles east of
54 73 Amateur Radio Today June 1999
INDEPENDENCE, KY The North-
em Kentucky ARC will hold their
"HamO-Rama '99" on Sun., June
13th at the Summit View Middle
School in Independence KY. From
1-75 go easl on 1-275 10 Exit 80
(Covi ngton/ lndependence-KY
17). South on KY 17 (t owards
Independence) 5-1/4 miles. For
more in/o or reservati ons, contact
N8JMV c/o NKARC. P. O. Box
1062, CovingtonKY41012; orcall
(5 13) 797-7252 in the evening.
Indoor exhi bit area l or major
vendors. Extensi ve outside Ilea
market with setup at 6 a. m.
General admission begi ns at 8
a.m. Admission 54 in advance, $5
at the gat e. Chi ldren under 14
admitted free. Rea market spaces
$2 each (tables not furnished).
Indoor vendor space $15 per table
provided. Talk-in on 147.255(+)
and 147.375(+) rot rs .
BETHPAGE, NY The Long Island
Mobile ARC. 01l evittown NY, will
sponsor the Long Island Hamfair,
Sun., June 13th, 8:30a, m.-2 p.m.
at Briarcliffe College. 1055Stewart
Ave" in Bethpage. General ad-
mission $6, children and sweet-
hearts f ree , Free parking for
buyers. Vendors: All spaces $15
each, each space admits one
person. Parking in assigned
spaces. This event will feature
amateur radio equipment. com-
puters. CB equipment, TV, and a
VHF tone-up clinic where you can
get yo ur ri g checked . Ham
equipment dealers and ARRL info
will also be availabl e. Talk-in on
W2VL 146.85 rptr. (1 36.5 PL). For
more info call the LlMARC 24
hour infO/ine, (5 16) 52CJ.9311. E-
mail [hamfest@/imarc.org]. Richie
Selzer N2WJL is the Hamfest
Chairman. See the Web site at
[http://www./imarc.org].
RONDOUT, IL The l ake County
SUGAR GROVE, Il The Fox Il RACES will operate W9R,
River Radio l eague will hol d thei r 1400l - 2300l June 12th, com-
Annual Hamfest at Waubonsee memorati ng the 75th anniversary
Community Coll ege, Rte. 47 at 01 the Great Ro ndo ut Tra i n
Hart er Rd., Sugar Grove Il (5 Robbery. Opera ti on wil l be on
miles NW of Aurora). Doors open 146.490 simplex; 7.283, 14.283
Sun. at 8 a.m with setup Sat. at 7 and 28.383 phone; 7.037, 14.037
p.m.. and Sun., 6 a.m-a a.m. VE and 28.037 CWo A commem-
exams at 10 a.m. Bring origi nal oranve certificate sui tabl e for
license, copy 01 license, and photo frami ng i s avail able from Lake
10 . Tal k- i n on 147.210(+) Pl County RACES, 1303 N. MiI -
73 Amateur Radio Today June 1999 55
(W), (517) 689-3477 (h); or E-mail
[lafevordel@801. com].
JUNE 20
CAMBRIDGE, MA The MIT Elec-
tronics Research Society. the MIT
Radio Society, and the Harvard
Wireless Cl ub will hold a tailgate
electronics, computer, and am-
ateur radio flea market 9 a.m.-2
p.m. at Albany and Main Sis. in
Cambridge. Admission $4. Free
off-street parking. Fully handi-
capped accessible. Sellers $10
per space at t he gate, 59 in
advance, includes 1 admi ssion.
Set up at 7 a.m. Covered tai lgate
area available for all sell ers. For
space reservati ons or further info
can (617) 2533776. Mail advance
reservations before June 5th to
W1GSL, PO. Box 397082 MI TBR,
Cambridge MA 02139-7082. Talk-
in on 146.52 and 449.725/444.725
Pl 2A W1XM rptr.
MONROE, MI The Monroe County
Radio Communications Assn. will
hold its annual ~ o n r o Hamfest"
7:30 a.m.-l p.m. at the Monroe
County Fairgrounds, 2 miles west
of Monroe on M-50. Setup starts
at6 a.m. Indoor tables $15 for first
8-ft. table and 1 ticket; $10 for each
additional table. Trunk sales $6 per
8-ft. space. Overnight camping
$15. Fr ee parki ng. Tal k-in on
146.72. Admission $6 in advance
(i ncludes two st ubs fo r t he
drawing), $6 at the door, with one
stub. Contact Fred VanDaele
KA8EBI, 4 Carl Drive, Monroe MI
48162. Tel. (734) 242-9487 after
5p.m.
JULY 4
BRESSLER, PA The W3UU 27th
Annual Fire Cracker Harri sburg
RAC Hamf est and Computer
Show will be held Sun ., July 4th,
at Emerick Cibort Park in Bressler
(near SteeltonlHarrisburg PA).
Setup at 6 a.m General admission
at 8 a.m. No lood or beverage
sales permuted by vendors or
tenqaters. All vendors must have
a PA Sales Tax Permit and musl
collect the sales tax. Donation $5.
XYl , Yl and kids f ree. Persons
entering the park before 8 a.m. will
be charged a minimum of (1)
tailgat ing space or minimum 01(1)
table! Tai lgating $5 per space.
Make your table reservat ions
early. Tabl es under roof wi th
el ectrici ty $15 each for the fi rst
three tables; addi tional tables $12
each if paid belore June 15th.
After June 15th all tables are $18
each. Tal k-in on 146.16/.76 MHz
and 146.52 MHz simplex. For
hamlest info call ( 717) 939-4825.
For table reservati ons, contact
Richard Bordner W3NJB, 2501
South 2nd St., SteeltonPA 17113.
E-mail [n3nj b @aol.com}. Send an
SASE for a map, lodging, and
restaurant into. VE exams at the
Fri endshi p Fi re Hall at 9 a.m.
Fol low the hamfesl signs, on Hwy.
441, to the square. At the square
take the y to the left onto Main
SI. , as if going to the hamfesl. Go
0.7 mi le tothe Friendship Fire Hall
on the right at the corner of Mai n
and Center. Just walk in. Space is
li mited. Items re quired : your
original FCC li cense (if licensed)
and a copy of the li cense; any
original CSCEs and a copy; two
(2) forms of 10 (at least one photo
10) showi ng your full name and
address; and a check or money
order in the amount of $6.45 made
out to ARRUVEC.
JULY 10
PETOSKEY, MI The Straits Area
ARC' s 23rd Annual Swap & Shop
will be hel d Sat. , July 10l h, at
Emmet Co. Fairgrounds in Pet-
oskey on U.S. 31, 2 blocks west
of 131, 8 a.m.- l p.m. Talk-in on
146.68(-). Admittance $3 at the
door. Tables $5, splits OK. VE
exams at the American Red Cross
Bldg. at 1 p.m. For test ing lnfo.,
contact Tom W8/ZS, (616) 539-
8459; or Dirk KG8JK (6 16) 348-
5043, [kg8jk@qsl.net]. For testing
info, contact Floyd KG8CS, (6 16)
5265503.
JULY 11
PITISBURGH, PA The North
Hills ARC wi ll hold its 14th annual
Hamlest July 11th, 8 a.m.-3 p.m.
at the Northland Public Library,
300 Cumberland Rd ., approx -
imately 10 mi les north of Pi tts-
burgh on Route 19 North. From
Pittsburgh take Exit 18 on Rte. 279
to McKnight Hd., north to left on
Cumberland Rd. From 1-79 Exit 22
take Rte. 910 east to Rte. 19,
south to Cumberland Rd. From PA
Turnpi ke Exil 3 take Hte. 19 south
through Wexford on Rte. 19, turn
left onto Cumberland Rd. at the
Sunoco. Tal k-in and check-ins will
be on 149.09 W2EXW, the North
Hill s ARC rptr. Free admission.
Free parking. One free automobi le-
sized space per tanceter. each
additional space $5. The hamtest
is handi capped/wheel chair ac-
cessible. Contact Rey Whanger
W3BIS, 120 Cove Run Road,
Cheswick PA USA. Tel. (4 12) 828-
9383. E-maif {w3bis @freewwwebj ,
or check the Web site at [http://
nharc.pgh.pa.us).
VALLEY FORGE, PA The Mid-
Atl antic ARC will host a Haml est
at Kimberton Fire Company Fair
Grounds, Rte. 113, south of the
intersection with Rte. 23, on July
11th, starting at 7 a.m. indoor-
outdoor space availabl e. Indoor
tables with elecfr . 1-4 $10 each;
5 or more $8 each , not including
admissi on. Tail gat i ng $5, no
reserved tai lgate space. Admis-
sion $5. Talk-in on 146.835(-) and
443.80(+) CTCSS 131.8. Com-
puler and el ectronic hobbyists are
welcome. Contact MARC, P.O.
Box 352, Villanova PA 19085; or
call Bill Owen W3KRB at (6 10)
32S.3995. E-mail {wb3joe @marc-
rado.cxgt The Web SIte is at {http://
www. merc-reato.orq/nemtest.
html] .
J ULY 18
CAMBRIDGE, MA A tailgat e
El ect roni cs , Comput er, and
Amateur Radio Flea Market will be
held Sun., July tam.9 a.m.-2 p.m.
at Al bany and Mai n Sts. i n
Cambridge. Admission $4. Free
off-street parking. FUll y handi-
capped accessible. Sellers $10
per space at t he gate , $9 i n
advance-includes 1 admission.
Setup i s at 7 a.m. For space
reservati ons or further inlo call
(617) 253-3776. Mai l advance
reservati ons before Jul y 5th to
W1GSL, P.D. Box 397082 MIT
BR., Cambridge MA 02 139-7082.
This event will be held rain or
shi ne. Covered ta i lgate area
available for all sellers. Talk-in on
146.52 and 449.725/444.725 PL
2A, W1XM rptr. Sponsored by the
MI T Radi o Society and the
Harvard Wireless Club.
103.5/107.2. Contact James Von
Olnhausen N9UZC, cia FRRL,
PO. Box 673, Batavia fL 60510.
Tel. (630) 879-3042; or E-mail to
[n9uzc@amsat.org]. The Web site
is at (http://www.frrl.orglhamfest.
html ] . The Fox Ri ver Radi o
League is cel ebrati ng 75
continuous years as an amat eur
radio club. There wi ll be special
anniversary promotions at the
namtest.
VAN WERT, OH The Van Wert,
Ohio, ARC's 121hAnnual Van Wert
Hamlest will be held at Van Wert
County Fairg rounds, US Rte. 127
South , 8 a. m.- 3 p.rn. Radi os,
computers, software, electronic
parts, newand used. Indoor tables
and outdoor t runk sal es. Free
parking. Overni ght $10. Ti ckets
$5. Talk-in on 146.85(-). For table
reservations, send an SASE with
your name and address to Van
Weft ARC, P.O. Box 602, Van
Weft OH 45891 -0602; Tel. (419)
238-1877; or E-mail Bob WD8LPY
at [bamesrf @bright.netj ; Web site
is [http.ilwww. brighl.netlbdmesrf/
w8fy.html] . 8-ft. tables $10 each
(includes one free ticket). Trunk
sales: 12-ft. x 1-ft. area, $5 plus
ticket. VE exams : Must pre-
register by July 11th. Contact Bob
High KA8/AF, 12838 Tomlinson
Rd., Rockford OH 45882. Tel.
(419) 795-5763.
SPECIAL EVENTS, ETC.
WORKED ALL PARISHES
BATON ROUGE, LA The Baton
Rouge ARC cont inues to offer the
Worked All Parishes award l or
hams who can show confirmation
of contacts with att 64 l oui siana
parishes on or after September 1,
1996. For further information,
send SASE to L. Wayne Gordon
K5EOA, Baton Rouge Amateur
Radio Club, PO Box 4004, Baton
Rouge LA 70821.
JUNE1 2
DEAR READERS, I .) 1I0w did you get this copy of 7J ? 13.) Approximately how much "ill you spend i n (he
_ dealer _ borrow second momhc of 1999'!
I need your help! I reall y ap-
_ ol her _ l'IOl hi ng _ 5 1-100 _ 5 101-500
predate your sending in your
2.) Hew many omer people read this copy?
_ 5501-1000 _ SIOOI.. :! OOO _ S:!()()()+
feedback cards. Now. l' d like 10 _ non(' _ 0 ", _ t..... o _ three or mure
14.) Approximately how much will you spend on ham
know some thi ng about your
gear in 200n?
harnshack habits.
.1 ) What other ham magazines do you subs cribe [ 0 ',1
_ nothi ng _ $ 1- 100 _ $ [0 1500
Return thi s survey and take
_ QST -CQ J 'QiVHF _ Worldradiu
_ $50 1- I(JOO _ $ [0012000 _ $:! ooo+
part in 7.rs rnndom drawing of
_ other
, II the survey respon ses
".
-t) What is your li cense ci a'!
15.) I would l i ke to see moread. in 73 un the followi ng:
ceived by 31. 1999.
_ So\1.:e _ Tech _ Tech Pl us
_ :\(\'1",> towers _ rotON
The winner will receive 100
_General _ Advanced _ El tra
_ HT, po.....cr supplies/amps _ mobi k ops
cash and a Life Subscription 10
_ antenna tune rs _ nil es
73 (oka)'. so you're al ready a 5.1Ho.... old are you'!
_ mel ers/l eMequi p. _ >copn _ di ..crete part s,
"lifer" - gi n ' your "prize" to _ under 20 _ 11-30 _ 31--W _ 41-50
_ li ghtni ng/surge protectors _ ham sofI .... are
_ cumpul er hard.... are _surplu\ equip. _ ki t..
your grandchi l d).
_51-60 _ 61-70 _ C:\ ahed
_ code course.. _ ..... i re/cable _ repeal er cps
l ' m al so giving away 50 sur-
6. ) What are your favorite hamming acnvi ucsanodes
_ books _ ham magazines
prises to the people who _ eumpltler magazi nes _ QRP _ ATV/SSTV
respond. wcn annOUIK"C the
(check all that apply)?
_ tube s/t ube equip. _ fi lters _ l ocal deal er
big winner's name i n our Sep-
_ C\'i _ SSR _ QRP _ RTTY
products and specials _ station accessories
_ SSTV _ FSTV _ IW Fi ng _ packet
temher '99 issue. So. please an-
_ RTTY _ packet _ olher
_ mlcro.... aves _ Illonnbounce _ halmats
swcr the questions and return
_ repealt'rs _ eonlt'sti ng _ cl ub activities
them to me at: _ DXi ng _ certi fi cate hunting _ \:i l building
16.) Refer to our ad index on page4'1 . Please name your
TopTen advemsers ;-.oOT Ll5TED THERE thai you
_ lUhe equipmenl -Original design & ccnseuction
.... oul d li ke to see in 71:
Wayne Green W2SSD/1
_ mod, _ 0"",'
I 6
73 Amateur Radi o Today
7_) Do youusc a computer 10 conj unction .....i th hauuni ng?
70 Hancock Road
2. 7
Peterborough 1'\ H 03-l-58
_ no (i f 00. go 10 101
J 8
8. ) If so. do you use it for:
-
FAX to (6()Jj Y24-8613
E-mai l : design73@:lOl.col1l
_ operati ng info _ chat and BBS ,
9
_ other
T hanks,
5 10.
-
9.) I f so, i .. il a:
_ PC _ Mac _ deskl op _ Iapl op
17.) I mi!!hl buy somethi ng f rom the-, ... 3 compamev i f I

saw more ads from themor kne.... more about their
10. ) Approxunatcly ho.... much did you spend on ham
products:
gear i n 199n
I
_ 51 -1 00 _ 5101-500
Your name call _ 55011000 _ 5HXlI :!OOO _ 52001+ ,
-
II .) Approxi mately how much did you spend on ham
J
Street
-
gear in 19'JH?
_ not hi ng _ $1- 100 _ SIOI -5()()
1S.) The thing llike lea, . about 71 is: 0
_ 550 1 1000 _$1001-2000 _ S2(XXl +
crryTStatcfl l P
12.) Approximately how much have you spent in the
19.) The lhing I li ke most about 71 i s:
firs t six months of 1999?
-
_ nOlhi ng _ 51- 100 _ $101-500 --
Tel. 5501-1000 51 001 2000 $2000+
County Dr. Mahlon Loomi s Com-
mittee will operate W2ZZJ on July
18th to commemorate the 173rd
anniversary of the bi rth of Dr.
loomis. the American radio pioneer,
who was born at Oppenheim NY
on July 21st . 1826. Operation will
be hom 1300-2000 UTC on the
General class phone porbon of 75,
40, and 20 meters. and on the
Novice 10 meter phone band. Also
on area 2-meter FM repeat ers.
For a parchment certifica te and
extensive literature, send OSlo
contact number, and a #10 SASE
(55 cents) to George P. Sadlon
W2ZZJ. 5738 St. Hwy. 29A.
Stratford NY 13470 USA tiJ
JULY 18
STRATFORD, NY The Fulton
Canyon is one 01 the oldest and
most mysterious sites in the
southwestern USA. Several ancient
astronomers had recorded their
observati ons for all to see over
1,000 years ago on the walls in
Chaco. OSL and SASE with a #10
envel ope to N5C. Jay Mi ller
WASVvHN. Po. Box6552,A1bfx1uer-
que NM 87197-6552, USA E-mail
[ wa5whn@hotmail. com) for more
i nfo about this Speci al Event
Station; or view the following URL:
[http:// www. swcp.com/-n5zgtl).
Click on the N5C icon.
JUNE 19, 20
JUNE 15-30
GREENVILLE, TX The Sabine
Valley ARAwill operate W5A from
June 15th-June 30th, during Field
Day. OSL to $VARA. Po. Box
8122, Greenville TX 75401.
JUNE 12, 13
waukeeAve.. Libertyville IL 60048.
Check the Web site at [ www.races.
org) for last minute updates.
PORTUGAL DAY OX CONTEST
The Rede dos Emi ssor es
Porl ugueses will sponsor the
Port ugal Day DX Contest on CHACO CANYON, NM Special
phone (SSB) only, on 10 15, 20, Event SlalionN5Cwilt operale Sat.
40 and 80 meters, usi ng t he and Sun. 1600 UTC- 2400 UTC
recommended IARU band plan for from Chaco Culture National His.
Region 1. For more information, tcncet Park NM (grid square
contact REP-Rede dos Emis- DM66ba) in CW,SSB,AMTORand
sores Portugueses. Award'Con- FM, on 2-40 meters OAO and
test Manager. Po. Box 2483, 11 12 OAP, in the NovicefTed\lGeneral
Usboa Codex. Portugal. portions of the bands. Chaco
56 73 Amateur Radio Today June 1999
Die De Die
ties today. Yes. I' ve reviewed
it in my editorials and it' s in
my wi sdom guide.
NeueR SRV ole
continuedJrom puye oJ
benefits and exci tement (hey
provide.
Thi s b pretty much the \\'3) '
the Sudbury Valle)' School in
Framingham (lI. t A ) operates.
and their graduates arc out-
standing. Did you bother 10
read the $9 book about the
school I reviewed in an car-
licr editorial. which is abo re-
viewed in my Guide to W ~
(Jom? I was afraid not. I can
lead you 10 the Fountain of
Youth. but l j ust can't gel you
to drink. Not even a sip.
There' s a 101 more (0 my
school proposals. bUI I' ve
written about them be fore.
The potential is there for us 10
rei nvent our publ ic schools
and make them the very best
in the world.
Unions
It' s been quite some time
since I made a serious effort
to anger union members. ~ I y
apologies.
Thomas Sowell got me go-
ing with this: "The biggest
single obstacle to the im-
provement of American edu-
cat ion b the National Educa-
tion Association, by far the
country's biggest union,"
Unions served an important
purpose when they were
startcd. giving workers some
bargai ning power with em-
ployers. Unfortunately, power
corrupted the unions, just as
it had employers. I won 't go
into a twel ve volume hi story
of union corruption. But I
have seen it first hand in my
own work when I was work-
ing for GE, for WPIX in New
York as a cameraman. and
with the first pri mer I used
for 73. Ha th the stage hands'
and the printers' unions were
so closed that only the sons of
union members could join.
thus keeping wages arti fi cially
high.
Unions have had a power-
ful role in forcing manufac-
turers to move blue-collar
work our of the country. And
they arc the major power be-
hind the escal ation of the
minimum wage (thanks, Ted
Ke nnedy!) - which keeps
kids from gelling low-wage
entry jobs into the workforce.
The NEA keeps endlessly
repeating that the only prob-
lem with the American public
school sys tem is the lack of
money. It would be diffi cult
for the NEA to tell a bigger
lie. There are endless studies
which show that more moncv
has virtually no effect on t h ~
quality of American educa-
ti on . we're already spending
twice as much as ot her coun-
tries whose students outscorc
ours on international tests.
Unfortunately, the :-:F.A' s
lobbying ($) in both state and
national elections has the
Clinton Admini st rati on and
Democrats solidl v backi ne the

throwing of still more money
into the school system. The
cost per pupil has been zoom-
ing upward as fast as the
ki ds' test scores have been
plummeting.
The failure of our school
system isn' t due to lousy par-
ents. TV. or "soci ety," irs due
to the NEA, the bribed
Democrats, and the failure of
the Republicans to touch the
subject with a ten-foot pole.
Phooey o n both your houses.
At a time li ke thi s I sure wish
Perot hadn 't made such an
awful mess of his Reform
Part y.
Col leges
India has a college system
that ' s helping to fill the engi-
neering vacuum created by
our rapidly declini ng Ameri -
can col leges. Maybe you've
read about the Indian Institute
of Technol ogy. If so, you
know that over 30Ck of the ir
graduating cl asses head im-
mediate ly for the US, wi th
most moving to Silicon Val ley.
Our public schools are the
major problem. wi th their not
teaching the math and science
fundamentals that engineers
and techni ci ans need. But our
colleges arc patheticall y out
of touch wi th the current
world, held there by the
power of their entrenched
faculti es, who have been
fighting to prevent change.
I've had first -hand knowledge
of that.
Please read The Fall of the
t vory Tower by Hill sdale Col-
lege president Roche. It's a
scary expose of our uni vcrsi-
who arc buying their first sta-
tions and antennas. Since the
number of Techs upgrading
to HF tickets has dropped off
almost 50% in the last couple
of years. and is proj ected to
The ham industry manuf ac- reach zero by 2006. the HF
turcrs (a nd dealers) are hurt- market is not going to do
ing. Badly. Unfortunately. as much unless we sec some
happened 35 years ago. some. major rule changes. Major.
perhaps many, arc going to go Wit h the Tcchs rightfully
out of business, No. it doesn' t assessi ng the League as the ir
havc to happen - if they enemy. advertising in QST is
keep in step with the times mainly going: to reach the
and don' t try to do business old-timers. most of whom al-
today the way they di d it in ready have all the equipment
the past. h .
t ey re going to need until we
The world of amateur radi o sec some new technologies
in 1999 is different , even devel oping that aren't even
from the way it was in 1997, on the radar screen so far.
j ust a couple years ago. Dif- Techs arc not into contests,
ferent ? You oct. Maybe you so they' re not readi ng CQ
have n' t paid attention to e ither.
what ' s been happening with Gee. I wonder what maga-
the new lice nses and how l ine they're reading'!
they've dropped dramaticall y The ham manufacturers
in the last couple of years . could get the League direc-
I' ve been chronicl ing this in tors to start thi nki ng if they
my editorial s. but I suspect wan ted. If a few started mov-
that few manufacturers have ing their ads from Q57: the
been bothering to read ' em. word wou ld qui ckly get
The worst newcomer drop through to them that it's time
has been in the General -and- to stop reacting and start
up classes, the people who thinking. As our nati onal or-
arc the best candidates for ganization. it is the League ' s
buying HF equi pment, tow- responsibi lity to make sure
crs. rotators. and beams. As that the hobby stays healthy
of last November, 94.5% of and growing - two things it
all new licensees were Techs ! . .n't
\ s .
Worse , the number of these Your membership in the
new Tech licensees is down League and your patronizing
47% in the last two years. of the ir advertisers will guar-
Plot this on some graph paper anrec that nothing changes.
(or on your computer) and Your membershi p is your vote,
you 'll see that if thi s conti n- backed with your money. for
ues as it has for the last two the League not to change.
years, we'll have zero new li- Your patronizing of Q5T ad-
censes being appl ied for vcrtisers is your vote for no
within two years. change.
So where can the industry I watched the cntire ham
tum lor the changes needed to industry of the 1950s and
tum thi .... catastrophe around'? early ' 60s commi t suicide,
Well. our only national orga- supporting the League that
nization is the League , and it was killi ng them. Hall-
seems to he managed by a icraftcrs. National Radio, Gon-
bunch of old men with no vi - set, Barker & Wi lliamson,
sia n of the present. much less Mill en, Hammarlund. Multi-
the future. These arc the Elmac. Central Electronics.
fuddy-duddies you can' t keep Si deband Engineers, Galaxy.
yourself fro m re-electing as World Radio. and so on all
directors. went bankrupt at the hands of
If I were a manufacturer to- the League. Every single rna-
day I'd make damned sure j or ham equipment company
that I had some products of and about 90% of the ham
interest to Techs. since they dealers folded wit hi n a
arc the newcomers to the couple of years. loyally ad-
hobby - and the biggest part venisi ng in Q5T unt il they
of the market is the newcomers we nt out of busi ness.
73 Amateur Radio tooev June 1999 57
Maybe you've noticed that
all of the big companies arc
goi ng internati onal. Many arc
e ven moving their heudquur-
rers to other countries. So
what docs that mean to Joe
Blow from Wi ndy City"
Nothing, if Joe is sel f-ern-
ploycd. but if he ' s a blue or
white collar worker wit h a
big company, it means that
he ' s in competition for his job
with an awful lot of better edu-
cared. higher-skilled workers
in countries with far lower
wages, fewer benefi ts. and
less restricti ve labor laws.
With communications and
shipping costs cont inui ng to
drop, smaller and smaller
companies are outsourci ng
their work in lower wage
count ries.
A few years ago, when my
soft ware company got fair ly
large, I got into serious tal ks
with the Irish government.
They wanted me 10 move my
software development divi -
sion to Irel and and they of-
fered 10 do almost anything it
took to get the j ob.. for Ire-
land. They' d trai n the work-
ers, help pay for the new
building. and give me a ten
year tax break.
When I was a kid it was a
big deal to gel any clot hes
that were not made in the
USA. Imported ! Wow! Now
my shoes were made in
Chi na, my shirt in Mal aysia,
and my pants in Uni ted Arab
Emi rates. I looked at another
shirt and it was made in
South Africa; my new pants
are from Pakistan. My j og-
ging suits are from Bangladesh
and the Dominican Republic,
and my Nike running shoes
from China. :\1y business suit
is from Hong Kong and my
blazer fro m Korea, like my
snow boots, My watch is
from Japan, of course.
II wasn't that many year",
ago thai New Hampshire was
a major shoe manufact urer.
Now all we have are a bunch
of huge old crumbling factory
buildi ngs.
Ala.., our school system.
which was set up on a factory
producti on system 10 tum out
workers for o ur factories, is
still doing j ust that - it' s j ust
Exporting Jobs would he a few non-compli-
ant banks anywhere ill the
world net work. Or is it a
house of cards? Anyway, the
Fed is banking (pardon) on
there being some extra cash
demands from panicky ha nk
customers, so they're print ing
an extra $50 billion. Hmm.
let' s sec, wi th J 50 million
people that's only $150 each.
That' s not going to keep the
ATM machines in busi ness
for long,
II could ..tart to get tight
later thi s year as businesses
that deal in ca.. h ...tart putti ng
some of it aside instead of
banking it. "j u...t in case: '
Some more prudent business-
men will be drawine cu..h
e
from their hu.. ine..ses and
putt ing it aside .
Hmm. what would happen
to our cash supply if peopl e
in ot her countries .. tart worry-
ing abou t their banks and the
value of the ir currency and
start hoarding dollars? Hey,
j ust in case, you know.
If cash gets in short supply
its value will go up, with
some predicti ons of a five or
ten time.. increase . The poten-
tial for this bonanza will help
encourage more people to
hoard cash. Just in case, of
course.
Yes. I know, the bank s have
almost a ll of your money out
in loans and mortgages, so
their cash c ushion is very
thin. If more tha n J% of their
customers want their money,
the bank has to close its doors.
Another house of cards.
Say, have you got some
emergenc y power up and run-
ning for your ham station, or
arc you dependent on the
power grid and gas stations?
When Art Bell asked power
company employees to call in
to his show, a hunch of them
said that their supervisors at
the ir power company were
busy buying home generators
and solar power systems.
Hrn mm.
Business Week had a short
note reporting thai the Gart ner
Group tech think lank says
83',f of the CUITCnt off-the-
shelf sohware may have Y2K
problems. down from 89% a
year ago. Well. now, that S
progress!
Y2K Agai n'!
Allium Energy, is adv ising
some customers to buy thei r
own power generators if they
want to he sure they have
power in 2000. Allium is also
aski ng regulators for a $16. 1
million rate hike to cover the
costs of Y2K computer re-
pairs. Though they' ve been
working di ligently on the
problem, wi th 176,000 pieces
of equipment and 6,000 ve n-
dors and suppliers, it' s now
clear that evervthi na won't he
- -
fi xed in time, so they're
warning their customers.
I SUSpeCI that the only dif-
ference between Alliant and
the rest of the power industry
is thai Alliant is being honest.
We ' ve seen many examples
of how some small problem
in the power grid can shut
down large areas of the grid.
The domino effect. So, with
tho usands to milli ons of em-
bedded chips that need to he
found and replaced, how
ready arc you going to he in
the dead of next wi nter if
your power shuts off for a
few hours, days, or weeks?
Last wi nter, when the worst
ice storm in hi story hit the
Northeast. we lost power for
almost a week, and Vi e were
far more fortunate than thou-
sands of other families. We
moved to a motel 25 miles
away, where they still had
power. We could have bundled
up and surv ived. but if wou ld
have made the event a IOl le.. s
memorable.
How ....'ell prepared are you
to celebrate New Year ' s Eve
thi s year?
Y2K Law Passed
Y2K Bad News
I don' t think anyt hing is
going 10 change, Ol d-timers
will not be able to sto p them-
selves from renewing thei r
League membership. Ama-
teurs will not be able to stop
themselves from parronivi ng
the manufact urers and dealers
who arc the life blood of the
League.
Meanwhile. the youngsters
who we used to be able to re-
cruit have (a) very likely
never heard of amateur radio
and (h), if they have. don' t
see why they should face the
code harri er when the y can
already talk any where in the
world on the Internet for a lot
less money and e ffort . And
without interfere nce or the
nei ghbors complaini ng about
TVI or their ugly lower.
Tell me; When was the la...t
time you saw amateur radio
ment ioned in any of the na-
tional media . Seen anyt hi ng
on T V ~ Amateur radi o is fol-
lowi ng CB into obli vion in
the ma...... consciousness. Hello.
Newington. is anyone home?
The Year 2000 l ntcrmation
and Readi ness Discl osure
Ac t a new law, provides pro-
tection from liabil ity for
statements in Year 2(X}{J
readiness c laims. And that's
even if the statements turn
out to he inacc urate ! That' s
undoubtedl y a big di sappoi nt-
ment to lawyers. some of
whom have been predicting
that Y2K sui ts will tic up the
courts for years and result in
bill ions of dollars in damages
being pai d.
Gee, too hall,
But. on the other hand, the
law seems like a license for
businesses to stop spending
so much money trying 10
solve their Y2K problems.
Oh well. a fe w mont hs from
now we 'll know \\ hethcr
Y1K was the predicted speed
bump in the road or a earns-
rrophe which put the whole
world out of hu.. iness. I CJn
hardly wait. In the meant ime,
I th ink I'll make sure I have
some dependable emergency
power for my rig. Just in
case. Hey, you never know.
Well, where e lse are you
going to keep up wit h the
hand wringing over the inevi-
table "hump in the road" or
"terrible catastrophe"?
Perhaps FDR hit it on the
head when he said, "We have
nothing to fear except fear it-
self: ' But fear can be a IX>W-
erful motiva tor. I know that if
I were living in a city I' d be
stani ne to ect 002\ ' about be-
~ ~
ing near there come New
Year ' s Dav
-.
There' s an increasing aware-
ness that, though many banks
arc Y2Kcompli ant, all it could
The big midwestern utility, take to topple the dominoes
58 73 Amaleur Radio Today . June 1999
:\Iierobroadcasting
isn' t the microcomputers that
arc going to crash at Y2K. it' s
the embedded chips and old
mainframe computers.
We know how to grow
much, much better crops -
using Sonic Bloom. ground
rock "ferti lizer," magnets,
and so on - we j ust haven' t
been gelling the word out to
counter the chemical con-
glomerates selli ng NPK fer-
tilizer and the pesticides the ir
usc makes necessary.
Well, I admit I' ve wri tten
about most of this before, so
stop complaini ng and ge t
busy helping to change the
system which is bleedi ng us
with trade deficits.
A j udge has ordered Free
Radi o Berkeley off the air! I
can understand the FCC' s
need to stem the chaos that
thousands of microbroad-
casters might cause, but
they'd do better to recognize
the need for such a service
and set about organizing it
instead of fight ing it.
These small broadcasters
rarel y are causing interfer-
ence to the commercial FM
stations, and {hey provide an
out let for special interest in-
format ion and entertainme nt
that doesn't have a large
enough constituency to sup-
port a commerci al PM st ation
- which costs hundreds of
thousands to mill ions of dol-
lars 10 establish.
As broadcasting via the
Internet gets more popular,
this will provide an interna-
tional audience for more
ml crobroadcasrcrs. but it' ll
be a while before we' ll he
able to tune in Web broad-
casters on our car radios and
Walkmen.
There are an esti mated
thousand rmcrobroadcasrers
at present, so the FCC has an
expensive road ahead if they
are going to try to shut them
all down. Will Congress en-
dorse the budgeting of several
million dollars to track down
and put these little ent repre-
neurs out of business?
that the factories arc now in
other countries and our gradu-
ates have nowhere to go for
good-payingjobs. The workers
arc pi ling up in the ware-
house as they come off the
public school and college
conveyor belts.
Earthquake?
No, I suspect that rumbli ng
sound we' ve been hearing is
the turni ng of the framers of
the Constitution in their
graves. Ben Franklin, Wash-
ington and the rest of them
never imagined what the gov-
ernment they founded a couple
hundred years ago woul d
evolve into, despite thei r best
efforts in writing the Consti-
tuti on to prevent just what's
happened.
Maybe you saw the 60
Minutes segment on how
much politicians are depend-
ing on focus groups these
days. These groups not only
tell poli tici ans what to think.
but how best to manipulate
the people to go along wit h
their skullduggery. They
pointed out how Cli nton's
handlers consult focus groups
before hi s every speech, and
we the people, hearing the
spin aimed at what they' ve
found we want to hear. be-
lieve what we 're hearing.
Then there are the thou-
sands of paid lobbyist s in
Washington, distributi ng tens
of millions of dollars to the
Congress we elect ed. And
keep right on electing, no
matter how crooked they arc.
The companies and unions
footing the lobbyist bills are
obviously getti ng what they' ve
paid for. ot herwise the money
spigot would get turned off.
I was amazed at the list of
registered lobbyists here in
New Hampshire. They're in
every state capitol. their bags
of money at the ready to in-
fluence legislators.
Did you see the 60 Minutes
segment about how the Forest
Service got the local police to
raid the home of a guy who
had property they wanted?
They claimed they had spot-
ted some marij uana plants
growi ng on his propert y fro m
the air. So the pol ice moved
in, shot the propert y owner.
and confiscated his property.
No, no marij uana was found.
Hmm, interesting. Say, how
arc the Red Sox doing?
Economics I
You haven't been paying
much attention to the trade
de fi ci t. have you? Tsk.
Le t me explain what' s go-
ing on in si mple terms. If
your famil y expenses are
greater than your income,
you're goi ng to have to either
sell all" assets to pay your
bills, borrow money, or go
into debt. The problem with
debt is that your creditors will
only put up with so much of
it. They want their money!
Your income and net worth
li mit how much you can bor-
row.
Nothing new there, but what
vou rnav not have considered

is that the same rul es apply to
any bus iness. and that in-
cludes the business of run-
ni ng towns, states. and eve n
count ries.
A business has to sell prod-
ucts or services to bring in
money. So does a state, and
that means selling product s
outside of the state, not just
moving money around wit hin
the state. Ditto the country.
If the US buys more im-
ported product s than it sells
to other countries . it' s going
to go into debt. We can, 10
some degree. borrow money
to cover our extravagance,
hut creditors do not have un-
limited patience or credulity.
With more and more of our
manufacturing moving to
lower wage. higher educated
work forces in other coun-
tries. we have less and less to
sell . so our trade defici t has
been soaring .
Lower wages? If you were
a manufac turer paying $8 to
SIO or more an hour for
work. would you get inter-
ested in moving your plant to
Mexico. where the average
wage is $1.60 an hour. and
the shipping only takes hours
to the US, with no import
taxes? Or perhaps you 'd start
looking at Chi na, where the
average wage is -ICk an hour
and it takes about three weeks
to ship in the products.
We long ago lost our con-
sumer electronics industry to
Japan. This was no acci dent.
The Japane se Mi nistr y of In-
dustry and Trade (l\lITI ). ap-
plying Demmi ng' s teachi ng
about quali ty, took this hi gh-
profit industry away from us.
And look what they' ve done
to the car market we used to
own! And tool s. cameras, and
so on for many high-profit in-
dustrics.
Our low-profit industries
have moved into dozens of
low-wage countries. Most of
our clothes and shoes are be-
ing made overseas, and that's
a huge industry.
More and more, what we
have to sell is intell ectual
property - movies. CDs,
books, and software. But how
long will we be able to make
money se lling these products
if they arc available for free
via the Internet? And that' s
where things arc headed with
the Web.
Web-distributed hooks can
include j ust about anythi ng
imaginable in graphics, in-
cl uding video. My Dat a-
Di skman let s me read books
which are stored on disks the
size of a 3S not very Il oppy.
How long be fore I'll be able
to dump more books to disks
via the web"
So, how, with the way
things see m to be goi ng, can
the US wor k irs way out of
trade defici ts'! Well , one way
we' re ahead of the rest of the
" w id is in commercial farm-
ing. I' d like 10 sec our school
system improved so we could
again be world leaders in in-
tellectual work - high-tech.
invent ing. and artistic crcutiv-
ity. But if we could improve
the value of our crops. I'll bet
we could agai n have a trade
surplus.
I' m suggesting bigger. bet-
ter tasting, faster growing,
healthi er-to-ear farm produce.
We have the technologies to do
this. but li ke many ot her new
tec hnologies. we' re not bring-
ing them on li ne. Oh. I guess
we did pretty well wit h per-
sonal computers. I ..taned the
first personal computer maga-
zine in 1975, just 2-1 years
ago, and despite the resis-
tance of the then entrenched Ear Plugs
computer industry, our mi-
crocomputers are now ruling
the world. And. mark you. it Contin ued on page 6 1
73 Amateur Radio Today June 1999 S9
June 1999
SUN MON TUE WED THU FRt SAT
1 F 2 F 3 F-G 4 G-F 5 F
I
6 F 7 F 8 F-G 9 G-F 10 FG 11 G F 12 FP
113 PVP 14 P 15 PF 16 P F 17 P F 18 F 19 F-G
20 G 21 G F 22 F P 23 P F 24 F G 25 G F 26F
127 F
28 F 29 FP 30 P
I
o f signals that wil l be strongest signal path. Peak conditions

an hour or two after local sun- occur toward the east around
e
rise and agai n in the late after- mid ni ght and i n other dtrcc-
e
noon and early eveni ng hour s . uons just befor e s unri s e.

Short-skip beyond 500 mil es Short-ski p up to 1000 mi te s

-
should be good as well . should occur during daylight
d
hours. and 500- 2300 miles at
30-40 met e rs
night is li kely.
r
n You can expect DX open-
80 meters
d mg s during local eveni ng,
ni ghtt ime, and sunri se hour s, Some short-skip propagation

h limited by high noise levels of 250 mil es or so may occur

,f
due to thunderstorms along the duri ng daylight hours and to

,r
EASTERN UNITED STATES TO:
,.
GMT; 00 oe 00 00 to ra
"
re te eo ea
, ALA. SKA. ao eo

ac eo ac 101 15 10/ 15 ' ARGENTINA 1011 5 ac

a ; AUSTRALIA
"
ts
'""
15120
'.00
40180 co rs
' CANAL ZONE
"
au ac ac eo
"
ac eo ac
'"
rs
s"
ac
"
ao eo ,ENGLAND ao ac
th
!HAWA. II ts ts 15120 ao 4Q180

" INDIA zo ec
JAPA. N so eo
y-
:MEX'CO
"
eo so so ,woo
"'oo
eo ec au to
" ne IPHILIPPINES rs rs ,"',
""
40180
"'OO eo
IPUERTO RI CO
"
so ao ao
.,
"
ao eo zo to
"
'"
RUSSIA (CJS.J ao so eo
SOUTH AFRICA 4Q180 40180 eo eo eo eo ac ao
WEST COAST ,WOO 40180 "'OO '.00
4018or-ceo 40..'80 roao 10120
CENTRAL UNITED STATES TO:
ALASf\A 40/30 eo
ARGENTINA 2Q140
"'''
rs ,"',
AUSTRALIA -s zo
"''' ""
20140 rs
CANAL ZONE ec ec eo eo 00 ac so
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rs
'" " ENGLAND eo ac '000 .o
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ac eo eo
ng
HAWAII is rs eo so
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-o eo eo
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INDIA ac an
JAPAN
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ac co
nn
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40100 eo eo rs
"
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211'40 -s
.PuERTO RICO eo ac eo
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to tc
ys .
,RUSSIA {C-'.S) eo ac
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ec zc
I SOUTH AFRICA 21)140
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WESTERN UNITED STATES TO:
ALASKA ac ac "'00 eo ec
lt h
A.RGENTINA ,"', 15120 ac ao
., .,
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AUSTRALIA
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ts
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eo ao 4(0'80
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CANAL ZONE 10115 15120 .seo
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ENGLAND ac ao
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te ac
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2a140 ao eo ao ion
ec ac
JAPAN so an

40180 ac eo
MEXICO 1000S 150'20

,."
., .,
eo eo tc
PHI LIPPINES rs rs
"
ec eo 411'80 20MO ac
PUERTO RICO 10i15 1:.'20 15/20
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.,
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eo ac -o
RUSS IA (C.I.S,)
" "
"
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SOUTH AFRICA
"
"
EAST COAST

"'00
00 "'00

"'00
""
'000 IOn
(Delta Aquari dsj for about ten
days begi nning July 29th.
Your best time to work HF
ha nd OX will be the 3rd-6th
19th-21st , and the 25th. Th
poorest days arc likely to he th
13th-17th and the 31st . Remai n
ing days will he Fai r or trend
ing between one condition an
another (see calendar).
There wi ll be a partial luna
ec lipse on July 28th, visi ble i
parts ofAntarct ica, southern an
western parts of South America
Ce ntra l America, pans of Nort
America (except north (
Alaska) , the Paci fi c Ocean
Australasia. and eastcm parts \
Asia.
By the way, if you're into
ested in weather and other geo
phys ical phenomena. keep
sharp lookout for "condition
surroundi ng the l Jrb and 26
and semper paratus.
Pla n e note that the band-b
bandforecast and the hand-tit
chart are the same for both Ju
and July.
Band-by-band forecast
10-12 meters
15-17 meters
Reg ul ar no rth- s out h p:
openi ngs and occasional ope
ings toward Europe and Afr
peaking duri ng local altemc
hours can he expected.
Possible short-skip openi
due to sporadic-B ionization 0
10 1300 miles should occur
most days, and to occasiona
longer distances on a few da
June
July
A quick look at the calendar
shows very few Good (G) days
for HF propagation (OX) this
month. "Conditions" on most
days are trendi ng between Good
to Fair (G-F) or Fair to Good
(F-G). The reall y Poor (P) and
Very Poor (VP) days ant icipate
disturbances in Earth's magnetic
fie ld and ionosphere due to so-
lar flare s or other solar phenom-
ena; they are expected from the
1l th to the 14th and again on the
29th and 30th.
OX propagation condi tions
during the day following recov-
ery from a geomagnetic storm
(unsettled to active ionosphere)
are often very. very gOCH.1 - spe-
ci ficall y on June 15th and loth.
and July l st and Znd.
Midsummer days usuall y
show poor DX conditions com-
pared with spring and fall, he-
cause ultraviolet radiation from
the Sun during the peak hours
of dayl ight (nort hern hemi -
sphere tilted toward the Sun)
causes the ionosphere to absorb
instead of reflect (refract) HF
band signals. However, VHF
signals can benefit at such times.
and when HF bands are particu-
larl y poor, 6 and 2 meters could
provide some excell ent OX op-
portunities. (See band- by-band
forccast.)
Jim Gray W1 XU/7
210 E Chateau
Payson AZ 85541
[j impeg @netzone.comj
Number 60 on your FlHdbaclc card
July is never a particularly
good month for OX on the HF
bands due to high signal absorp-
tion levels, and part icularly this
July because we are in the earl y
stages of sunspot cycle 23. in
which the solar nux values re- 20 meters
main di sappointi ngly low. VHF
can be quite good, along with This is likely to be the b
meteo r scalter opporlUni ti cs band for worldwide propagat
60 73 Amateur Radio Today . June 1999
PROPRGRTlON
NeuER SRV DIE
conunueafrom page 59
A clipping from Frank
says that FCC
Chairman Kennard is pushing
for a system that would per-
mit the licens ing of low
power broadcasting stations
which could cover a radius of
two to six: mil es. Hark. what
is thai knocking sound? Good
heavens. it's not the radiator
pipes. it' s the knock of oppor-
tuni ty for any amateurs wi th
initiat ive.
No. I' m not talking about
changing your li ving room
into a broadcasting studio,
rill talking about the lens of
thousands of religious and
other special interest groups
who will want (0 lake advan-
tage of the opportunity to
reach out into thei r communi-
ties with their messages.
They're going to need a 101 of
help in getti ng the equipment
they need. connecting it to-
gether. setting up the anten-
nas, and maintai ning every-
thing. And that could provide
a whole new industry.
Companies like Ramsey
will certai nly be out there
with transmit ters. But there' s
goi ng to be a need for small
operating consoles, "on the
air" signs, and so on. They' re
going to need CD, cart, L P,
and cassette players. and so
on. The more progressive
may want to convert their
dining room int o a studio.
complete with a grand piano,
so they' ll need help in the de-
sign and soundproofi ng of the
room.
My recording studio was
built with no two surfaces
parallel , so there are no reso-
nances. And one wall is made
of doors wit h mirrors on one
side and foam sound-absor-
bent materi al on the ot her so
the ambiance of the room is
adjustable. We're in the digi -
tal sound age , so the studios,
microphones, and everything
in the line has to be as perfect
as possibl e.
Any good studio has to
have a grand pi ano, naturall y.
recording star. Scan
Kirby. tried out a couple
dozen grands at the Boston
Stcinway store before findi ng
a Korean Young Chang piano
that he felt outperformed any-
thing else they had. It has a
fantastic ally brill iant high
end which is cri tically impor-
tanr for the music of Joplin
and Gottschalk.
Whcn the FCC chai rman
says he ' s pushi ng for a new
service. it's time to start lay-
ing plans for laking advan-
tage of what will probably
come. Or you can watch a
hall game.
Healt h News
Yeah, this b supposed to he
a ham radi o magazine, so
why am I annoying you with
all this healt h crap'? Two rea-
sons. First, I seriously doubt
that you are going to find out
about most o f the health stuff
1 write about unless I annoy
you wi th it. Secondly, you are
much more than a subscri ber
to me. When ( find out some-
thing that could make your
life happier, I feci obligated
to do my best 10 let you know
about it. I guess it' s part of a
geneti c fault that makes me
want to share anything which
I particularly enjoy wi th as
many people as I can.
So I keep aft er you to listen
to classical music. To learn to
ski. To try scuba diving . 1 still
remember the day I discov-
ered Beethoven' s Sixth Sym-
phony. ( bought the album.
put it on the record player,
turned up the volume. and
played it endlessly with my
head right next (0 the speaker.
Or the many times while I
was in the navy in San f ran-
cisco thai I played Chabrier's
Espana at the usa on Geary
Street . I still love those
pieces.
Perhaps I'm fee ling a lillie
defensive. I got an Ecmai l
from a chap who bitched
about my despoiling a ham
maga/i nc wi th healt h infor-
mation. Didn't have the guts
10 give hi s call. Fort unately
for my peace of mind, the e n-
couraging letters and E-mai l
are almost all posi tive. Thank
you !
Now. down to the meal. As-
partame. Again. This is im-
portant enough so I' ve put to-
gether a four page pamphlet
on the subject, but the mes-
sage is clear - if you drink
di et drinks or eat foods con-
taining aspartame, a.k .a.
Nutnr Swect. Equal. Spoon-
ful. you can cause yourself
some very serious health
problems.
The recent escalat ion in
multiple sc lerosis cases has
been traced to aspart ame. It
can cause similar symptoms,
but when people stop using
aspartame, the symptoms
gradually go away. Not so
with lupus, which has also
been traced 10 aspart ame.
Stoppi ng does not result in
any improvement - it just
stops the lupus fro m getting
worse.
If you suffer from Ii bromy-
algia symptoms, numbness in
your legs, spasms, shooting
pai ns, headaches, vertigo, diz-
ziness, tinni tis. anxiety at-
tacks, blurred vision, slurred
speech, or memory loss. you
probably have aspartame di s-
ease . It' s also been tied to the
dramatic increase in Alz-
hei mer ' s Disease and Parkin-
son' s. Arc you using that little
blue package for your coffee?
So what' s going on here
that's causing all the troubl e?
When the temperat ure of as-
part ame goes above 86 F (a"
it docs in your stomach). the
wood alcohol in aspartame
converts to formaldehyde and
then 10 Iormic acid. This
causes metabol ic acidosis.
Formic aci d is the poison
used by fire ants. The metha-
nol toxicity mimics multiple
sclerosis.
I should mention that it
al so causes birth defect s.
Yes, aspartame is sup-
ported by the I-U A and AMA.
Of course, that ' s where the
money is. So who can you
I t
? L ." D t "
rus . awyers . oc ors .
Dentists (think amalgam fill-
ings)? Politicians? The po--
lice? The IRS? Cli nton? Ted
Kennedy (hey, tell us about
Mary Jo. Ted')? Any branch
of the government? I don't
ask you to trust me on any-
thing I say, but I do give you
reliable references to back me
up. Turn off that damned TV
and start reading.
You can get copies of my
four page aspartame booklet
to read and give to anyone
you care about. Pl ease help
me gel the word out on this
menace that Monsanto has
unleas hed on us. Send me $1
and an SASE and I' ll send
you three hooklets. That ' ll
get you started. flJ
Back h "ue"
Only S5.00 Each!
Call 800-274-7373
:'\"0 daytime propagation ex-
peered. but some OX and short -
skip propagation should take
at .night in spite of his.!!
stauc norse level s. flit
2.000 miles or so at ni ght, but 160 meters
fl O dayt ime OX will take place
due to signal absorption. Dur-
ing hours or darkness and just
before sunrise, however, OX is
pos sible to some areas of the
world. rr===========
High noi se levels du e to
thunderstorms along the signal
path will limit both short -s kip
and DX communication.
73 Amateur Radio Today June 1999 61
I
July 1999
I
I
SUN MON TUE WED THU FAI SAT
I
1 F 2 FG 3 G
4 G 5 G G 7 G-F F 9 F lO F
1" F
12 f P 13 P 14 P 15 P 16 P 17 P-F
I
116 F-G 19 G 20 G 21 G 22 G-F 23 F 24 F-G
I
25 G 26 GF 27 F 28 F-G 29 G-f 30F J 1 FoP
Numb"r 62 on your F""dbl>Ck card
Barter 'n' Buy
Send Jour ads and payment to : 73 j'IJagazill e, Bar t er ' n'
BUJ, 70 Hancock Rd., Peterborough ~ H ~ S 8 and get set
for the phone calls. The deadli ne for the September 1999 clas-
sified ad sectio n is July 10. 1999.
MAHLON LOOMIS, INVENTOR OF COLLOIDAL SILVER GENERA-
RADIO, by Thomas Appleby (copy- TORI Why buy a "box of batteries"
right 1967). Second printing avail- for huncl reds of dollars?Current regu-
ablefrom JOHAN K.V. SVANHOLM lated. AC powered, fUlly assembled
N3RF, SVANHOLM RESEARCH with #12 AWG silver electrodes,
LABORATORIES, P.O. Box 81, $74.50. Same, but DC powered,
Washington DC 20044. Please send $54.50, Add $2.50 shipping. Thomas
$25.00donationwith$5.00forS&H. Miller, 314 South 9th Street, Rich-
BNB420 mond IN 47374. BNB342
62 73 Amateur Radio Today. June 1999
Clarington OH 43915. Web site for
other products [http://www. asL2000.
com]. BNB100
COLD FUSION! - FUEL CELLI -
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Wanted: ICOM IC-970. Must be in
mint condition, non smoker. Also
looking tor the following ICOM sales
brochures: IC-275, 575, 375 and 970.
Randy Ballard NSWV, (903) 687-
3002. BNB75
TELEGRAPH COLLECTOR'S
PRICE GUIDE: 250 pictures/prices.
$12postpaid, ARTIFAX BOOKS, Box
88, Maynard MA 01754. Telegraph
Museum: [http://wltp.com]. BNB113
think that some interest may be
generated once the public kne w
about it'? I thi nk so .
So, what are we mi ssing here '!
We as the amateu r radio com-
munity, hams, need to take ad-
va ntage of th e FRS commu-
nicat ions frenzy and market to
the public the fact tha t they can
communicate "twenty million
miles" using ham radio.
Cl ubs have to become active
and place li stings in community
newspapers. "Family Radio Ser-
vice = 2 miles. Amateur Radio
Se rvice = 20,000,000 mi los.
Learn how!"
SCt up "public info rma tion
booths" at the local malls.
Place d ub and licensing infor-
mation at local electronics stores.
Get back into the schools and
let the students know about ham
radi o. Expl a in how repeaters
will allow t he m to communicate
with their friends even if they
are at the baseball game,
As individuals, carry some ham
radio promotional material with
you explaining about the hobby.
Pass (his information to famili es
you sec usi ng the FRS. Believe
me, they won't bite you!
Eac h year in recent history, we
have seen the dwind ling of the
number of amateur radio opera-
tors. We have the abil ity to con-
vert many Famil y Radio Service
users to Amateur Radio Service
users.
Let' s do it !
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Science Innovations, PO Box 155,
ASTRON power supply, brand-new
w!warranty, RS20M $99, RS35M
$145, RS50M $209, RS70M $249,
AVT. Call l or other models. (626)
286-0118. BNB411
Wanted: ICOM UX-R96 and UX97
plug-in modules for an ICOM 970.
Randy Ball ard NSWV, (903) 687
3002. BNB175
HEATHKIT COMPANY is selling
photocopies of most Heathkit manu-
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LETTERS
connnued jrom page 6
peaters in t he United States,
took an arbitrary average area of
cove rage, and came up wit h
twenty mill ion miles of three-
di mensiona l coverage.
In the early to mi d-sixties.
many of my high school f rie nds
were on CB radi o a fter school.
They used the ir parents ' radios
to communicate i n a n "after
school" and many times an "all
nightlong" net. Was that the Fam-
ily Radio Service of the sixties'?
Wouldn't it be nice if we in-
troduced the publi c to the fact
that there is a whole other com-
munications ne t work that is
free, uses the same size, shape,
and style of radio they arc using
now, and requires a relat ively
simple test? That they can corn-
rnuntcare almost a nywhere in
the United States and the world?
That they can usc their radio to
communicate when normal com-
munication channels (suc h as land
line or cell phone) are out during
a disaster'! That they can even talk
to the Space Shuttle'!
And wouldn't it be nice if the
public, when learni ng about this
fantastic free ham radio. would
learn that they could even connect
their computers to their radios and
use the computer to communicate
without the need of phone lines'?
And what about all t he other
modes of operation avai lable 10
am ateur radio operators? Do you
METHOD TO LEARN MORSE
CODE FAST AND WITHOUT
HANGUPS Johan N3RF. Send
$1.00 & SASE, SVANHOLM RE-
SEARCH LABORATORIES, P.O.
Box 81, Washington DC20044 USA.
BNB421
aSL CARDS. Basic Styles: Black
and White and Color Picture ceres:
Custom Printed. Send 2 stamps for
samples and literature. RAUM'S,
8617 Orchard Rd. Coopersburg PA
18036. Phone or FAX (215) 679-
7238, BNB519
WANTED: High capacity 12 volt so-
lar panels for repeater. (kk4ww@
fairs.org] or (540) 763-2321 ,
BNB2630
Great New Reference Manual with
over 100 pgs of PIS, transistor, radio,
co-amp, antenna designs, coil wind-
ing tables,etc. See details at [www.ohio.
netz-rtcrmetqndex.hm-] or send Check
or M.O. for $19.95 + $2.00 P&H to
AMY Engineering, 6863 Butlham Rd. ,
Seville OH44273, BNB202
OFjr direction finder and MicroPLl
programmable transmitter (formerly
Agrelo) are now back under new
management' Check exciting new
accessories and upgrades, Order
aniina at Www.swssec.com or call
SWS Security at 410-8794035 (9-5
ET). BNB220
RF TRANSISTORS TUBES
2SC2879, 2SC1971, 2SC1972 ,
MRF247, MRF455, MB8719 ,
2SC1307, 2SC2029, MRF454 ,
2SC3133, 4CX250B , 12DQ6.
6KG6A, etc, WESTGATE, 1 (800)
213-4563. BNB6000
President Clinton probably doesn't
have a copy of Tormet's Electronics
Bonch Reference but you should.
check i t out at [www.ohi o.net/
- rlormet/i ndeK,ht m]-()ver 100
pages of circuits, tables, RF design
information, sources, etc.
Turn your old ham and computer gear into cash now. Sure, you can
wait for a hamlest to try and dump it, but you know you'll get a far
more realistic price if you have it out where 100,000 active ham po-
tential buyers can see it, rather than the few hundred local hams who
come by a flea market table. Check your attic, garage, cellar and
closet shelves and get cash l or your ham and comp uter gear before
it's too old to sell. You know you're not goi ng to use it again, so why
leave it for your widow to throw out? That stuff isn't gelling any
younger!
The 73 Flea Markel, Barter ' n' Buy, costs you peanuts (almost)-
comes to 35 cents a word for indi vidual (noncommercial!) ads and
$1.00 a word for commercial ads. Don't plan on tel ling a long story.
Use abbreviations, cram it in. But be honest. There are plenty of
hams who love to fix things, so if it doesn't work, say so.
Make your list, count the words, including your call , address and phone
number. Include a check or your cred it card number and expiration. If
you're placing a commercial ad, include an addit ional phone number,
separate from your ad.
This is a month ly magazine, not a daily newspaper, so figure acouple
months before the action starts; then be prepared. If you get too many
calls. you priced it low. If you don' t get many calls. too hi gh.
So get busy. Blow the dust off, check everyth ing out, make sure it still
works right and maybe you can help make a ham newcomer or re-
tired old timer happy with that rig you're not using now. Or you might
get busy on your comp uter and put together a list of small gear/parts
to send to those interested?
BNB530
Cash for Colli ns: Buy any Collins
Equipment. Leo KJ6HI. Tel./FAX
(310) 670-6969. [radioeoweanhltnk.
net] BNB425
Radio Bookshop
Radio Bookshop
70 lI ancock Road. Pc:tcrboroug.h. 1\' 11 03-158
I :\' ame Call Phone I
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I Yes! Put me down for a year of 73 for only S25 (a s[ea l l, Canada USS32. I
J
73 Amateur Radio Today . June ' 999 63
Here are ....me urthe book... \\a'"II.e
ha... wrf tten. Some can )'OUr
lift', if you'Hjet them. If the idea of
heing health)', wenhhy and wi ..e is
ofinterest to J Ou, ...tar! read inl.!. Yes,
)OU ca n be all t hat, hut onl,.. when
' 01.1 know the seerets wh ich \h)'ne
has spent a lifetime u ncowtlng.
The xecret Guide to Health: Yes,
there reall y is a secnnro regainmg your
health and adding 30 ro 60 years of
living 10 yoer life . The an swer
is simple, bur il means making some
very difficu lt changes. Will you be
siding the slopes of Aspen with me
whe n you're 90 or doddering around
a nurs ing horne? Or pushing up dai -
sies? /'.'0, I'm 001 selling an}' hea lth
products. S5 (HI
The Secret Gu ide to Wealth: JUSI a'>
with health, you' lI find lhal you have
been bra inwashed by "t he sys tem"
into a patterno f li fe that will keep you
from ever making much money and
having the freedom 10 travel and do
.. hal you want. I explai n how anyone
can gel a dream job with no college.
no resull u!. and even without any ex '
pcricnce. I ex plain how you can gel
someone to happily Il ay you to learn
what you need 10 know to start your
own busi ness. S5 1M)
The Secret Gui de to Wi..dom: This
is a review of around a hundred books
that wi ll help )'OUchange your hfe.
r-.' o, I don't sell these book<;. They' re
on a WillL' rangt" of , ubj el;ts and will
help to make you a \'('1)' imeresli ng
person, Wai(lI )'00 see of the
gems )'o u'\'e miss ed reading. $5 (81
Cold Fu..ion Owniew: This is IXllh
a brief histol)' of cold fu,i on, which I
predict will one of the largest ill-
dustri e.. in the world in Ihe 21..1cen
tury. plus a simple ex ptanalion ofho..'
and .. hy it worb. This ne.. field is
going 10generate a whole nl'W " unch
of bi llionaires, j us l a, ,he personal
computer indu,lry did. S5 (e)
Thl' Uillt'I,'elrificr lIa nd huuk: Thi s
explai ns how 10 " uild or bu y a lill ie
e1eclrica l gadgel thai can hl" lp clea n
Ihe blood of any \'irus. microtle, para-
site. fungus or )ea...l. The Wa'>
dlsco\'ered by scienti>ls a{ the Alben
Ei m tein Co llege of Mcdid ne, pat-
ellted, al1d Ihen hush ed up, It' s curi ng
AIDS. hepa li li s C, and a bunch o f
ot her sc-ri oos ill lkSs.eS, l1Je circuil can
bl' tlui ll for under S20 from ' he in
,truction... in ' he book . $ 10 ( AI
Aftt"r readi ng Ren e' ,
hoo k. NASA Moo/lf'd AIIl f'r;C/I.!
I could fi nd on our Moon
landings, I watched the \'idl"os. looked
caref ully aI Ihe pho lOs. read Ihe
astronaughlS' biognphie" and ' alked
with sOlli e o f my reade rs .. ho worked
for :-J A5 A. This book ci tes 25 good
reasons I hcli eve the wholc Apollo pro-
gram had 10 oc'Cn faked , $5 (0)
:\lankind' lo Ext inction I>redil,-tions:
If an" one of the expens who ha\'e
wrinen books prcdicting a soon- Io-

come catas trophe which wi ll virtually

wipe us all OUI are rig ht. we ' re i n
trouble . In t his book I explain about
the various disaster scenarios, from
Nostradamus. who say s t he po les wi II
soon sh ift, wipi ng out 97% of man-
kind. 10 Sai Baba. who had recent ly
warned his followers to gel out of Ja-
pan and Australia be fore 61h
this ye ar, The worst part of t hese pre-
dict ions is t he accuracy record of
so me o f the expert s. Wil l it be a po le
shift, a new ice age. a massive solar
Fl are, a comet o r asteroid. or even
Y2K? I' m gettin g read)', how about
)OU?S5 f E)
Wayne's Suhmarine Adventures in
WWII , Yes, ! spe nt from 19431 945
on a submari ne, right in Ihe middle
of tht" war wi lh Japan. We a lmost gOI
sunk several limes. and twice I was
in the right place at rigfu t ime 10
save the tloat. What's it really like to
he dep th charged'! And what' s t he
dai ly life aboard a submarine li ke ?
There are some very funny' stories. If
you're near pll"ase visu [tk:
Drum. S5 (5)
Impnl\ing Stale Gover nment : Here
are 24 way's that almost any state gov-
ern me n t l;an l;UI e nor -
mously. while pro\' iding far hcller ser
\'ice' . 1explain how any gOl'emmenl
bureau or depan menl can toe gOllen
to CUI its e\ pe ns,es h" alleast 50% in
Ihree )'ears and do i t coope ra[iwly
and ! exp lain ho.... tly
applyi ng a ne\\! technology, the state
can make i t poss itole 10 provide all
nl"eded service, wi'hou[ hav ing to
le\' )' ml.v taxes .11 Read the book.
ron for your k gislalure. and ll"fs gl"t
tlusy making this counlry work Iikl"
its founders wante, l it to. Don 'tleaw
thi, for "SOlnCOlie else" to do . S:'i (L)
Trawl Uiaries: You can tra \ el amaz-
ingly i ne xpensh'ely - once you know
the ropes, Enj oy ShelT)' and m)' bud-
gl"1 \'isih 10 Europe . and a
bunch o f o ther i ntereSl i ng p lace, .
lI o w a bo ut a fir s' cia" fli gh t to
Munich. a rented Audi. dri ving to visil
Vil' nna. Krakow in Po land (and the
famous sa il mines ). Prague. I:>ac k [0
Munich. and Itk: fiN class flighl honlt:
for two. all for un de r Sl ,ooo, Ye..,
when yo u know huw you can Iravel
inexpell,ivety, and st ill sta)' in fi rst
cl ass hotel s, 55 (T)
Cari h hean
More budget tra\ et stories - .. here I
\'is il lhe hams and scuba. di\'e mosl of
Ihe islands of lhe Caribbean. Li ke the
.. pecia l Liat fare .... hich allo.. ed us to
vis it 11countrie, in 21 days, wilh me
d ivi ng all hut one of t he i sl and, .
Guadeloupe. ..'here Ihe hams kepI me
so busy ... ilh pank s I didn 'l ha v'e time
10 dh e. 55 (U)
Siher Wi re: Wi th 1"'-0 3- in, pieces of
beav y pure si lver .. ire + three 9V bat-
teries you can make a thousand dol-
lars worth of silver colloid. What do
)'OUdo with it? It dot' s whal the ant i-
bioncs do. bUI germs can't adapt to
it- Use nro get rid of gen us on food.
for skin fu ngus, warts. and even 10
drink. Read some books on the uses of
sjlver co lloid it' s like magic, $ 15 (Y)
Classieul l\-l usic (;uide: A lis t of 100
CDs ..'hich wi ll provide you wit h an
outstandi ng ccuecuon of t he finesl
classical music en'r written. This is
wha l you need to hel p you reduce
stress. Classical music 01 1.'>0 raises
youngsters' IQs, hel ps plant s grow
fas ter, and will make you healthier.
Just wait'Il you hear sorre or Oocctalk' s
fabulous music ! S5 ( Zj
ReprintHlDI, F.ditntlal<; (nlln 73.
1 50 of my best oon-ham orlen[c-d
editor ials from be fore 1997. $5 (FI
Grist II : 50 more choice non- ham
editoria ls from before 1997, $5 (G)
1997 [dilorials: 2-10 pages, 216 edt -
tonal, discussing healt h. ideas for
new businesses, exciting new hooks
I' ve discovered, way's to c ure our
country's more serious problems.
ni gh' ROO. the Oklahoma Ci ty bomb-
ing. more Moon and so on.
In three $5 vo lumes , $ 15 (0)
1999 J anAu!': t:ditorials: IRR pages
in 1" 0 S5 ,,'olullles_ BringIng )'ou up
10 dal e, SIO IPI
HanHoHam: 45 of my ham-ori-
ented l"di loria ls. These will hel p you
bone up on ham history, Great , tuff
for hal n cl ub nl" wsletter fil ler, Yes. of
course Ihese are COll lroV"Crsial, S5 ( Q)
5 1 :\Iill ion Salt'S \'idt'O: How to ge n-
erate extra milli on in sa les using PRo
This wi ll be one of the inwst
ment, your bus iness ever made, S43 ( V)
One Hour CW: Us ing thi s sneaky
melhod e \'en you can learn the Morse
Code i n one hour and pass thai dumb
5wpm T 'h-Pl us ham test, 55 . l e W)
Code Tape (TS): Thi s tape witl teach
you the lellers. numbers and pundua
lion you need 10 know i f )'OU are go-
ing on to learn t he code at 13 wpm nr
20 wpm. $5 (T5)
Code Tape (TU): Once you know the
code for the teners (T5) you can go
immediately 10 copying 1.1 wpm code
( using 01)' system). This should only
lake t wo or three days. S5 (T13)
C ud c Tape (T20): Sian righ t out at
20 wpm and master it in a wee kend
for yo ur Extra Class license. $5 (T20)
Code Tape (T 2S) : Same deal. It
does n't take an y longer to handle 25
wpm as it does 13. Or use the ARRL
system & take six ltlomhs.S5 (TIS)
wayne Talk.. at Uil)'ton: Thi s is a 90-
minute tape of t he talk I' d have given
a' the Dayton. i f invited. $5 (WI)
Tal ks a t Tampa: This is the
talk I gave a[ the Tampa Glohal Sci -
ences conference. I cover cold fusion.
ama te ur rad io, he alt h. books yo u
should read, and so on, $5 (\\'2)

""' SA Ameri ca: Ren e
makes an ai r-light case Ihal /,\ASA
faked the Moon landings. This book
wi ll convi nce even you , 525 ( RIJ
Last Ske ptic or Sci ence: T hi s is
Rene' s book where he lie hu nks a
bunch of accept ed scienti fic beliefs c-
suc h as the ice age s. the Earth being
a magnet . the Moon ca usi ng lhe tides,
and etc. $25 ( R2J
Elemental [nef"j!,'" Sub..er iption : I
predict this is going 10 be the largesl
industry in [he world in ahuut 20 30
years, '111ey laughed at me .... hcn I pre-
dicted t he personal cOlllputer growl h
in 1975 , PCs are now the Ihird largo
esl in lhe world, The elt'mcn
tal energy ground floor is ..t ilt .. ide
open. tlut then t hai migh l mean gi\',
ing up watc hing hall gam<; s and talk
shows on the- booh tubl". $30 for six
( EE). A sample is,ue is S10 ,
Thrff ; atto Talks: A pri u .. inning
teacher expla ins .. hal's wrong wilh
Ame-rican >chools and why our kids
are not he ing l"ducated . Why are
Swedish )'oungs ters. who start school
at 7 year, of age. leaving our kids in
Ihe du..!'! Our kids are int l"nt ionall y
bei ng dumiled do.. n b" our school
s)'sll"m - Ihe least effecl i\'e and most
ex pens i \e in [he world, $5 ("' I
. ..... 1Q<Uf"U
TP
305MStandard lowloss
Gold pated So-239I
PL-259connectors. 17' length
304M Same as 305M.
but 13.5' length
Got anew truck? No problem! Thehood or rear
doors are pertect for mountinganantenna. Slide
themount over thelip. tightenthe set screws, am
adjust it to ve rtical. No holes to drill, the mou,nl is
g
rounded and installation takes only afew minute
hoosethe deluxe or standard cableassembly in
the length required.
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Fax: (714) 6307024 www_cometantenna.com
CK-3M5 Deluxe
1T length induding 1T' ot RG-
188MJ for easy entry fromalip
mount without causing water leak,
windnoise or coax damage
CK-3M Del uxe cabl e
same as CK-3M5, but 9'9" total
length
Cable Assemblies far Lip Maunts
Going mobile is easy with COMET product:
and thereare no holes to drilt. Therear
doors on VAN's and SUV's are thepertect
place to mount anantenna. Simply lift or
open the rear door, slide your mount of

choice over the lip, then tighten the set

screws. Soft rubber protects the paint , and
the mount adjusts to vertical. Installation
takes only afew minutes. The mount is
grounded.the antenna is above the roof lim
for thebest performance and is still easily
reached if needed. Complete the system
adding thestandard or deluxe cable
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he GR-5M's smooth
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anattractive stainless
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biggest antennas.
RS-52O Multi-
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COMET!
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B
RS- 0Multi-
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antenna
CO-5M
trunk lipmount. Rubber
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CK-3M5 deluxe cable
avoidIng water
k!aks or cable damage v.ooo
shutting the trunk. GoId-
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connectors.
GR-5M Deluxe trunk tip
(TlOUnl. Rullber coated base
protects the vehicles paint. All
SWiIess steel lIldudes the
CK 3M5 deluxe cable assem-
to ;Mj water IeadslcabIe
damage wl1en shutting the tru . r set serews
hold nsectJrety" place. Two ottset washers adlust the
antenna to vMlcal. Gold-plated so-23M'!.259
connectors.
COMET's newest and most unique truck lip mount,
the CQ-5M. Mounts to any trunk lid and adjusts to
vertical with two offset washers. The mount base
supports even the largest dualband or HFantenna.
AI CO-5M trunk lip mount wi th COMET SBB-2
2M/70cm antenna.
8) Quick-disconnect lever releases the antenna and
connector for long term storage in your trunk, to use
acar wash, or theft prevention.
C) The lowprofile base is the only thing that remains
when the antenna is removed, ready for instant
re-attachment.
R -
NMO Multi-adiJstabie
lip mount up to 60"
antenna RS-720 NMO
accepts an NMO
mount
A
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