From wang!elf.wang.com!ucsd.edu!info-hams-relay Wed Mar 27 04:40:15 1991 remote from tosspot Received: by tosspot (1.64/waf) via UUCP; Wed, 27 Mar 91 08:25:13 EST for lee Received: from somewhere by elf.wang.com id aa03810; Wed, 27 Mar 91 4:40:13 GMT Received: from ucsd.edu by relay1.UU.NET with SMTP (5.61/UUNET-shadow-mx) id AA10853; Tue, 26 Mar 91 18:58:08 -0500 Received: by ucsd.edu; id AA11842 sendmail 5.64/UCSD-2.1-sun Tue, 26 Mar 91 11:46:39 -0800 for brian Received: by ucsd.edu; id AA11762 sendmail 5.64/UCSD-2.1-sun Tue, 26 Mar 91 11:46:09 -0800 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oc -odb -oQ/var/spool/lqueue -oi -finfo-hams-relay info-hams-list Message-Id: <9103261946.AA11762@ucsd.edu> Date: Tue, 26 Mar 91 11:46:04 PST From: Info-Hams Mailing List and Newsgroup Reply-To: Info-Hams@ucsd.edu Subject: Info-Hams Digest V91 #241 To: Info-Hams@ucsd.edu Info-Hams Digest Tue, 26 Mar 91 Volume 91 : Issue 241 Today's Topics: (none) 73 Awards Airports for Hamvention. anybody out there ever fixed a tv Apartment & Heath HW-9 QRP CW xcvr? Can you really learn code from tapes? CT logging program First No-code Tech? Freebanders (2 msgs) Ham-Policy Digest ICOM AG-25 and AG-35 PREAMPS Modifying CB Radio reading odd components The Bands are DEAD VHF/UHF antenna design [a mathematical approach] WB4HRH Icom Controller Program We've Moved to New Groups Send Replies or notes for publication to: Send subscription requests to: Problems you can't solve otherwise to brian@ucsd.edu. Archives of past issues of the Info-Hams Digest are available (by FTP only) from UCSD.Edu in directory "mailarchives/info-hams". We trust that readers are intelligent enough to realize that all text herein consists of personal comments and does not represent the official policies or positions of any party. Your mileage may vary. So there. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 26 Mar 91 15:33:04 GMT From: news-mail-gateway@ucsd.edu Subject: (none) To: info-hams@ucsd.edu add ham-policy ------------------------------ Date: 26 Mar 91 14:59:52 GMT From: news-mail-gateway@ucsd.edu Subject: 73 Awards To: info-hams@ucsd.edu I recently sent an application for a 73 Magazine award to KE7C at an address in Oak Harbor, Washington taken from the RSGB Amateur Radio Awards Book. This has been returned unclaimed with the message 'He never picks these letters up - tell all hams' on the envelope. Does anyone know the correct address to send applications for 73 awards to ? David Heale, G6HGE. ------------------------------ Date: 26 Mar 91 14:25:00 GMT From: news-mail-gateway@ucsd.edu Subject: Airports for Hamvention. To: info-hams@ucsd.edu Howdy all, If you're flying yourself in for the Hamvention, your best bet is Dayton International. Tie down at either Stevens or Aviation Sales (I'd prefer Stevens for personnal reasons). Getting a rental car is somewhat easy, and last year, I believe, we ran busses from the General Motors plant nearby. This is the closest airport I can think of. Other airports are Springfield, a longer drive and much fewer amenities beyond the large runway and multiple approaches. Greene County, as above w/o the large runway. Dayton General South, maybe my second choice if they ever get the runway lights to work. There's always Wright Patterson AFB, but if you don't already have landing rights this is not an option. Dayton Approach and Tower are a good, professional organization. Good luck and listen for us pilots on 146.94. Bob, N5GNA ------------------------------ Date: 26 Mar 91 15:27:21 GMT From: sbi!pivot-nj!canada!jerrys@uunet.uu.net Subject: anybody out there ever fixed a tv To: info-hams@ucsd.edu In article , lrk@k5qwb.UUCP (Lyn R. Kennedy) writes: > jerrys@canada.sbi.com (Jerry Simonowits) writes: > > > I've got a relatively new b&w portable tv. For some reason, whenever > > I turn the set on now, the sound comes on way up there in loudness. There > > My Panasonic does this when the power fails. If you have push buttons > to set the volume, it probably expects to be plugged in all the time. > If it is, then you may have a problem with something that should be > getting power when the set is off. If it was truly 'portable' and > uses the push button volume control, there may be a battery that you > need to replace. > > > --------- > lrk@k5qwb.UUCP lrk%k5qwb@kf5iw.UUCP > 73, utacfd.utarl.edu!letni!rwsys!kf5iw!k5qwb!lrk > Lyn Kennedy K5QWB @ N5LDD.#NTX.TX.US > P.O. Box 5133, Ovilla, TX, USA 75154 > > -------- "We have met the enemy and they are us." Pogo ----------------- Sorry, but this is an "old style" small b&w tv with controls that rotate to change the channel and to (in one switch) turn the tv on/off and control the sound ------------------------------ Date: 26 Mar 91 17:39:27 GMT From: sdd.hp.com!wuarchive!uwm.edu!linac!att!news.cs.indiana.edu!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!lisboa!banko@ucsd.edu Subject: Apartment & Heath HW-9 QRP CW xcvr? To: info-hams@ucsd.edu I am interested in getting an inexpensive HF transceiver set up in my apartment, and am looking for advice. CW-only is fine... I just want a radio handy for listening & operating practice. I have been looking at the Heathkit HW-9, which is a $250, 5W CW-only transciever kit, which has power supply, antenna match, SWR, etc. for a total package cost of $400. I would then just string a wire in the apartment, and give it a go. Does anybody have experience with this radio? Will I be able to talk to anybody outside a few miles with this proposed setup? I would also appreciate other suggestions for a similar type of setup. (Kit building isn't much of an issue. I have lots of experience with a soldering iron, etc., and I also built a Heathkit Voltmeter once which turned out to be lots more work than I expected it to be, so I think I know what I might expect. (I spent a few weeks last summer soldering a 3000 point board, too.)) Thanks. Brad Banko KB8CNE/KT (just passed my tech a few weeks ago!) -- ============================================================== Brad Banko, Theoretical Biophysics, Beckman Institute Dept of Physics, University of Illinois--Urbana-Champaign banko@lisboa.ks.uiuc.edu, (217)-244-1851, 328-4932 ------------------------------ Date: 26 Mar 91 14:50:21 GMT From: usc!samsung!spool.mu.edu!news.nd.edu!mentor.cc.purdue.edu!mace.cc.purdue.edu!dil@ucsd.edu Subject: Can you really learn code from tapes? To: info-hams@ucsd.edu In article <1991Mar26.042459.13988@sq.sq.com>, rph@sq.sq.com (Pontus Hedman (VE3RPH)) writes: > I learned code simply by listening to Real QSOs by Real Hams (and W1AW) on > There are many advantages with this method: > > 1. You learn how to copy Real Code as sent by Real People. > 2. The content is guaranteed to be more interesting than tapes. > 3. You learn the ways of hamdom, prosigns, etc. Alas, I have found that this is very good advice. After touting the virtues of computer code programs, I have run into an interesting wall: I can copy garbage, but not intelligence. I have found that I am almost 100% efficient at copying the random groups from Morse Tutor at 13 wpm, but I am terrible at copying QSO. I think it comes from the fact that random groups aren't interesting to listen to, so the brain takes them one character at a time. OTOH, QSO's have content which is absorbed and interpreted. It's a slightly different mental process. So while I am still a big fan on Morse Tutor, be sure to include some real communications, and avoid the rut I've found myself in. -- Perry G. Ramsey Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences dil@mace.cc.purdue.edu Purdue University, W. Lafayette, IN USA perryr@vm.cc.purdue.edu *** IMAGINE YOUR LOGO HERE ****** Ten thousand low-lifes a day read this space. ------------------------------ Date: 26 Mar 91 19:02:13 GMT From: news-mail-gateway@ucsd.edu Subject: CT logging program To: info-hams@ucsd.edu I've seen many references to the contest logging program "CT" by K1EA but I've never seen any indication of where to get it. I suppose I could drop K1EA a note, but there must be a 'public' source. Any suggestions? 73, Bert W0RSB bert@rsvl.unisys.com ------------------------------ Date: 25 Mar 91 14:11:01 GMT From: hayward@gargoyle.uchicago.edu Subject: First No-code Tech? To: info-hams@ucsd.edu In article andreap@ms.uky.edu (Peach) writes: :A month or so ago I helped administer the novice written to a lady :(a ham's wife) who went on to take the No-code Tech. written option :a few days later. I do not know if she is the first but she was :certainly one of the first. (edited) :She was getting licensed so that she could talk :to her husband -- not because she loves radio. There are other :business, GMRS, etc. services better suited for persons who are :looking for a personal communications system. : :If amateur radio is to survive it must attract people who join :because they are genuinely interested in radio. Not looking for :a portable telephone or wanting to be able to keep tabs on their :spouse. As an important mode of communication, code has been :outmoded. However, in our efforts to move forward and keep up :with technology, we must be careful to attract people motivated :to join our number for the right reasons. : I cannot buy this. I don't believe there are "right reasons" to become a ham; nor do I believe that her *initial* reason for becoming a ham -- to talk to her husband -- is a wrong reason. I would like to believe that, with more than 500,000 operators now, ham radio is big enough to have places for people doing lots of different things. Also, I will wager that, once she is on the air, she will talk to many more people than just her husband. As long as someone is not conducting business on the air, let's not judge people on what we believe to be their reasons for getting into ham radio. Let's welcome them, and, if possible, broaden their interests by exposing them to all that ham radio has to offer. Peter -- Peter B. Hayward University of Maine WX9T ------------------------------ Date: 26 Mar 91 16:15:35 GMT From: ogicse!plains!enders%plains.NoDak.edu@ucsd.edu Subject: Freebanders To: info-hams@ucsd.edu A little careful listening will reveal that these people not only inhabit the range 27.4 - 28.0 (or so! :^) MHz, but also from the bottom edge of the CB band (26.725???) down to around 25 MHz. Has anyone noticed these intruders in the 12m band yet? Seems to me that not only is the low end (if not the whole) of 10m is endangered by these individuals, but also the high end of 12m as well. IMHO, the only way to keep these people out is ACTIVITY! Those who suggest high speed packet in the 28.000 to 28.100 MHz range may have a good idea. Maybe packet based propagation beacons that fire off every 15 sec or so :-). CW could also be an effective deterent, if you moved say 2KHz off their zero beat and had a nice QSO. Maybe start an impromptu intruder 'persuasion' net to plop a couple of QSO's down in the offender's passband. We would be within the law here as stations operating illegaly in any band (commercial, amateur, military, etc.) are NOT protected from interference by legitimate users. I also think that a well behaved, coordinated effort to disuade the freebanders from venturing into our bands could not be cited as malicious interference. The freebanders won't go away of their own accord. The FCC won't/can't get them off the air. This is not just a US phenomenon, but truly a global one. There are enough stations operating in the freeband from enough different places to make WAC almost a given. I believe that one could almost make DXCC on free- band contacts. I've seen enough freebanders with impressive QSL collections to see that this is a problem that NOBODY wants, or is able to do anything about. =============================================================================== Todd Enders - WD0BCI ARPA: enders@plains.nodak.edu Computer Center UUCP: ...!uunet!plains!enders Minot State University or: ...!hplabs!hp-lsd!plains!enders Minot, ND 58701 Bitnet: enders@plains "The present would be full of all possible futures, if the past had not already projected a pattern upon it" - Andre' Gide =============================================================================== ------------------------------ Date: 26 Mar 91 18:36:46 GMT From: deccrl!news.crl.dec.com!shlump.nac.dec.com!ryn.mro4.dec.com!ultnix.enet.dec.com!taber@decwrl.dec.com Subject: Freebanders To: info-hams@ucsd.edu In article <9183@plains.NoDak.edu>, enders@plains.NoDak.edu (Todd Enders - WD0BCI ) writes: |> [...] Maybe start an impromptu intruder |>'persuasion' net to plop a couple of QSO's down in the offender's passband. |>We would be within the law here as stations operating illegaly in any band |>(commercial, amateur, military, etc.) are NOT protected from interference |>by legitimate users. I also think that a well behaved, coordinated effort |>to disuade the freebanders from venturing into our bands could not be cited |>as malicious interference. I'd be careful about how far you try to take it. You'll disuade the people who want to talk, but then you'll get the idiots who just want to get a little attention. If there was a coordinated effort to stomp freebanders, then it would become a sport to freeband and see how many hams you can stir up. It might even encourage freebanders to move into other ham bands for even more fun. (Of course, you'd never spot them on 20....) -- >>>==>PStJTT Patrick St. Joseph Teahan Taber, KC1TD If I was authorized to speak for my employer, I'd be too important to waste my time on this crap.... ------------------------------ Date: 26 Mar 91 13:52:00 GMT From: news-mail-gateway@ucsd.edu Subject: Ham-Policy Digest To: info-hams@ucsd.edu > Sorry about the deluge of digests; I just fixed the gateway and we had 10 > days worth of traffic to catch up on. Things should tame out now. Just like seeing an old friend return. Thanks. > with the ham-radio group being split into several groups, primarily splitting > off a "policy" group for the discussion of things like no-code, license > classes, rules and regulations, etc. > > That newsgroup is now available as a separate digest from ucsd, the ham-policy > digest. You may subscribe, as always, by sending mail to listserv@ucsd.edu. What is the "official" name of the ham-policy digest to use in subscription mail to the listserv? steve - W3GRG ------------------------------ Date: 25 Mar 91 16:15:36 GMT From: hpl-opus!hpspdra!henryb@hplabs.hpl.hp.com Subject: ICOM AG-25 and AG-35 PREAMPS To: info-hams@ucsd.edu I recently acquired a new ICOM masthead preamp but found that the "instructions" (they are so brief as to barely qualify for that title) don't tell me what I need to know about it to use it. Probably I'd have to buy a "Service manual" to get the schematic :-( The "instructions" tell me the preamp is powered by the co-ax and draws 200mA and I should connect it to my ICOM rig without any D.C. block such as a duplexer in between. It does NOT tell me how to use the amplifier with any other configuration, and I've no desire to blow it up finding out. Can anyone help? What I need to know is: How many volts and what polarity to power it with. Does it R.F. sense or do I need to switch the D.C. as I switch over between receive and transmit? If I need to switch power on and off what delays should I introduce? Can I operate QSK (Amtor etc)? If you can email I'd appreciate it and will summarise for the net, as my news server sometimes runs out of disk space. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Henry Black (G4NOC,KK6JR) +1 415 857 6655 henryb@hpspd.HP.COM KK6JR@W6PW-3 Purely my views (unless HP can make money out of them). ------------------------------ Date: 25 Mar 91 15:25:09 GMT From: usc!jarthur!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!sdd.hp.com!wuarchive!emory!wa4mei!ke4zv!gary@ucsd.edu Subject: Modifying CB Radio To: info-hams@ucsd.edu In article <46085@ut-emx.uucp> kipper@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Kip Ingram) writes: >band. Of course, I'll have to figure out how to align the thing at that >frequency, and how to hook up a key, but hey, what's a hobby for if it's >not having fun? Keying is easy, key the PTT line available at the mic connector. If you like FAST CW you'll want to get a little fancier because the TR relay will take quite a beating. You can install a TR switch on the PTT line and key the buffer amp that follows the crystalplexer (that's what this proto-synthesyser design is called). The real problem is supplying a BFO for the receiver so you can hear CW as something other than hissss..thump. You'll need to make an oscillator that is 800 hertz offset from the receiver IF frequency. That's not hard. And find a point to inject it into the IF that won't overload the receiver. Usually a few turns of hookup wire near one of the IF transformers will do the trick. Gary KE4ZV ------------------------------ Date: 26 Mar 91 16:35:24 GMT From: news-mail-gateway@ucsd.edu Subject: reading odd components To: info-hams@ucsd.edu The question was asked about determining enamled wire size by measuring the lineal distance occupied by "X" number of turns. Copper wire size is most easily determined by measuring the diameter with a micrometer. Wire tables are available in most handbooks. However, in answer to the original question, the following table indicates the wire size based upon the number of turns per inch: Wire size Turns/inch ------------------ 41 250 40 239 39 215 38 193 37 170 36 155 35 140 34 124 33 110 32 98 31 88 30 80 29 71 28 64 27 57 26 52 25 47 24 42 23 37 22 33 21 30 20 26 19 23 18 21 17 19 16 17 15 15 14 13 13 12 12 10 11 9 10 8 9 7 73 Hugh Wells W6WTU ------------------------------ Date: 25 Mar 91 16:57:13 GMT From: swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!ceres.physics.uiowa.edu!news.iastate.edu!sharkey!lopez!flash@ucsd.edu Subject: The Bands are DEAD To: info-hams@ucsd.edu Long live the bands. Three days ago, I tuned to WWV for the propogation report at 18 min past the hour, and through the flutter I heard "(wubble wuaab conditions wubble wubble unsettled wubba wubba disturwubbla)" I knode we was in trouble. Still that night, I could still hear things. Well it hit rock bottom yesterday. I mean here in the aroural zone (the famous black hole) a scan from 30khz to 30 mhz brought TWO signals that were not computer birdies.... both local AM broadcast stations and NOTHING ELSE...... Is it my imagination or have we had more of these total outages this cycle? I mean SUPER outages where it is totally defunct. I imagine people who do not live at the same lattitude as I do (47degN) probably were able to at least communicate with the famous aroural flutter, but up here, there is NO INONOSPHERE left to work with. Reports tell me that the Northern Lights put on quite a show. Can't see them, as due north of me across the street are about a DOZEN of those horrid orange streetlights on 40 foot stalks (Its a parking lot). It is now day three, 16:38UTC. WWV is inaudible on 15, but you can tell they are in there on 10mhz. WWCR, usually blasting in on 15690 is gone. Surprisingly I CAN hear WRNO on 15420. I copied one gent weakly on the 20 meter band, and he was talking about bad band conditions. He had a southern accent. From what I could determine, he COULD hear people last night (when I had the total outage) but they "sounded funny". Around 0400Z last night, I did try for RNI on 7520. It was Der Sproutling, and he sounded like he was speaking from the other side of the moon. The funny thing is that the meter showed S-9, but the signal was all but inaudible anyway, sounded like it was going through the worlds weirdest echo box. Very underwater sounding. Someone there said "reception conditions had improved" so apparently RNI was using their trusty R-390 to listen to the off air signal. I did not stay with it for the DOUBLE torture. For the complete shortwave junkie, this is hard to take. Ah well, I doug out a murder mystery. Hopefully the bands will return. Maybe its all that nasty styrofoam. Hey, the lefties could be right. Maybe WE killed the bands........ -- =Marquette MI: It's Not the END of the world, but you can see it from here= == Gary Bourgois flash@lopez (rutgers!sharkey!lopez!flash) GWN UPLink == == 3.950 Nationwide Amateur Radio Nightly after 0200z=Learning Channel == =============== WB8EOH = The Eccentric Old Hippie = WB8EOH ================ ------------------------------ Date: 26 Mar 91 18:50:54 GMT From: pa.dec.com!shlump.nac.dec.com!koning.enet.dec.com@decwrl.dec.com Subject: VHF/UHF antenna design [a mathematical approach] To: info-hams@ucsd.edu |> |>I'm looking for a book that describes VHF and UHF antenna designs |>from a mathematical approach. |> |>This is to say that while every other ham book I have read about antenna |>design may be correct, I want to do the math for myself. |> |>It's one thing to know "This antenna has 19dB gain at 444.075 MHz". It |>is another thing to be able to calculate the gain of an antenna that you |>haven't built yet. |> |>Thanks [in advance] for the pointers, |> |> Andy Beals |> The obvious answer is: John Kraus, "Antennas" (John Kraus is W8JK, inventer of the helical antenna, and commonly regarded as the top authority on antennas.) That should give you plenty of math to keep you occupied... paul, ni1d ------------------------------ Date: 26 Mar 91 16:14:57 GMT From: usc!samsung!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!trantor.harris-atd.com!x102c.ess.harris.com!blombardi@ucsd.edu Subject: WB4HRH Icom Controller Program To: info-hams@ucsd.edu Does anyone on the net have experience with the WB4HRH controller program for Icom rigs? Anyone know how to contact him? I got it last year at a hamfest, and the author lists it as public domain. I'm finally getting ready to hookup a PC to run my IC-735 and I'm figuring on running this program. It would be good to know of any troublesome bugs in the SW. I'd appreciate hearing from those who have done this with a PC and *any* software. It's always good to have a sanity check before leaping into something like this. Email is probably better, unless there is interest on the net. 73, Bob Bob Lombardi WB4EHS >>>>>>> Internet: blombardi@x102c.ess.harris.com M/S 102-4826, Harris Corp GASD, P.O. Box 94000, Melbourne, FL 32902 Hobbies: ******** on hold thanks to being a gradual student in EE ****** aspiring classical pianist. Professional: electrical engineer. ------------------------------ Date: 26 Mar 91 15:26:34 GMT From: isis!whester@uunet.uu.net Subject: We've Moved to New Groups To: info-hams@ucsd.edu I see there are still some people posting to this group. This group has been moved to a new group... rec.ham-radio --> rec.radio.amateur.misc rec.ham-radio.packet -> rec.radio.amateur.packet rec.ham-radio.swap --> rec.radio.amateur.swap There are also some new groups including: rec.radio.shortwave rec.radio.policy rec.radio.noncom (or something like that for non-commercial radio) Don 't be left alone, come and join us in the new groups. -- Bill Hester, Ham Radio N0LAJ, Denver CO., USA | N0LAJ @ W0LJF.CO.USA.NA Please route replies to: whester@nyx.cs.du.edu or uunet!nyx!whester Public Access Unix @ University of Denver, Denver Colorado USA (no official affiliation with the above university) ------------------------------ Date: 26 Mar 91 17:32:30 GMT From: sdd.hp.com!usc!rpi!luigi@ucsd.edu To: info-hams@ucsd.edu References <8@noe.UUCP>, , <50958e3c.20b6d@apollo.HP.COM> Subject : Re: the Freeband below 10 meters In article <50958e3c.20b6d@apollo.HP.COM> hays@stargaze.UUCP (John Hays) writes: >Maybe we should get unattended automatic packet authorized for 28.000 to >28.100 Mhz. (up to 9600 baud?) --- that would put up a nice gaurd band >to contain the "freebanders" ???? I do believe that you were only joking about the guard band concept, especially since the bottom 100kHz is where DX CW lives. But this can bring us to my point: Many freebanders don't even know what frequency they are really on, I have seen plenty of modified CB rigs with these HI, LO, HI+, HI++ switches added, some freebanders carry around these teensy cards with about 320 frequencies jammed onto a laminated business card. There are freebanders with hams rigs and the like and many of them are quite professional, but a large group of them say "Oh I don't know, I just turn the dial till I hear someone." to work DX and "Well I hang out on Channel 50 to talk local" So I don't get shot or anything, I should say that have never operated freeband, in fact the only CBing I have ever done was 4 watt AM on an unmodified rig with a 1/4-wave whip out of my fathers Truck. I joined ham radio because DX, digital modes (including CW), Microwaves, Contests, and W2SZ (The many monbanders on towers didn't hurt either) If I had my dream come true, the FCC would hire engineers on a commision basis. A team of monitoring stations could sweep into a small city and collect measurements and video tape the whole deal for a few days, they could send evidence in to a judge with the proper authority to give them whatever warrant they need, raid them and collect a percentage of the $1000 fines (Or whatever, I beleive that those wandering around inside the band should be left alone, but those outside the CB band, thats what needs to be fixed. I really don't care about the amps as long as they stay in band) They would only have to hire a few teams who would be mobile, of course they would get the word out quickly, so many stations would shut down by word of mouth. It wouldn't stop the problem, but it sure would reduce some of the out-of-band use. Of course they could just allocate the freeband to Hams for contest use :-) Then again, we could get the 11m SSB DX societies to see the beauty of legitimate operation and convert them to ham radio (unlikely though). Of course I should get to be one of those FCC monitoring teams as the present job market isn't exactly firm. Anyone need a computational mathematician? Luigi Giasi KA1UTU Luigi@rpi.edu ------------------------------ End of Info-Hams Digest ******************************