From wang!elf.wang.com!ucsd.edu!info-hams-relay Wed Apr 10 14:50:38 1991 remote from tosspot Received: by tosspot (1.64/waf) via UUCP; Wed, 10 Apr 91 21:37:03 EST for lee Received: from somewhere by elf.wang.com id aa23211; Wed, 10 Apr 91 14:50:37 GMT Received: from ucsd.edu by relay1.UU.NET with SMTP (5.61/UUNET-shadow-mx) id AA17141; Wed, 10 Apr 91 10:12:01 -0400 Received: by ucsd.edu; id AA24526 sendmail 5.64/UCSD-2.1-sun Wed, 10 Apr 91 04:30:59 -0700 for nixbur!schroeder.pad Received: by ucsd.edu; id AA24503 sendmail 5.64/UCSD-2.1-sun Wed, 10 Apr 91 04:30:48 -0700 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oc -odb -oQ/var/spool/lqueue -oi -finfo-hams-relay info-hams-list Message-Id: <9104101130.AA24503@ucsd.edu> Date: Wed, 10 Apr 91 04:30:46 PDT From: Info-Hams Mailing List and Newsgroup Reply-To: Info-Hams@ucsd.edu Subject: Info-Hams Digest V91 #285 To: Info-Hams@ucsd.edu Info-Hams Digest Wed, 10 Apr 91 Volume 91 : Issue 285 Today's Topics: "Stray Voltage" on 60 Minutes Address of J73TW Feed lines HEATH Radios Keyers Licensing Philosophy? (2 msgs) No-Code Testing Questions Shuttle Packet No-Show To all European Readers of Info-Hams TRF Receiver (2 msgs) 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: 9 Apr 91 22:31:44 GMT From: sdd.hp.com!mips!crisp@ucsd.edu Subject: "Stray Voltage" on 60 Minutes To: info-hams@ucsd.edu In article <202@malta.sbi.com> kevinr@malta.sbi.com (Kevin Redden) writes: >In article <9104081906.AA22031@ucsd.edu>, wmartin@stl-06sima.army.mil (Will Martin) writes: >> There was a 60 Minutes segment the night of Sunday, 7 April, that dealt >> with the problems caused to several dairy farmers by a power-company- >> caused condition called "stray voltage". >> ..... They used the "stray voltage" term roughly >> equivalently to saying "evil vapors" or some other archaic phrase to >> describe the cause of sickness. > >I tuned in in the middle of the segment, so I missed any expalation that >may have been given. I too found their use of the term "stray voltage" >to be archaic, however, they did show literature produced by the power >utilities for farmers that used this same term. This tended to show that >the power companies used the same toerm to identify a real condition. > >If anyone knows what this is, please post. I would suggest that the problem is as was described by a previous poster; That the local neutral lines rise above true ground due to shoddy grounding. What wasn't explained was why the problem is so bad around areas where power lines run. I'll take a guess as to what the mechanism is. Maybe I am right, maybe I am wrong, But what the hay, it's only Internet! The high tension long rang power distribution lines generally have very high voltages and very high currents when compared to normal residential distribution lines. Voltages in the 250KV range are common as are currents in the 1000 KA range. Clearly there are significant electric and magnetic fields surrounding these lines. Many farms have their pastures fenced by barbed wire which is an electrical conductor. I would suspect that the magnetic fields surrounding the lines link the fencing and induces currents to flow in the fencing. These currents wind up being sunk to ground which will raise the local ground potential. Depending on where the neutral line is tied, this can result in the local grounds being several volts away from the true ground. One theory anyway! -- Richard Crisp crisp@mips.com MIPS Computer Systems !decwrl!mips!crisp 928 Arques MS 5-07 (408) 524-7250 Sunnyvale, Ca 94086 ------------------------------ Date: 10 Apr 91 00:07:19 GMT From: stanford.edu!neon.Stanford.EDU!neon.stanford.edu!hatzakis@decwrl.dec.com Subject: To: info-hams@ucsd.edu Looking for a good mobile HF radio that is goo dwith engine noise for a trip cross country... Can anyone give me suggestions on\ what type of rig to buy, where to buy (used, that is) on a student budget, ie., few hundred dollars. Or if you have one to sell .. ? ------------------------------ Date: 9 Apr 91 23:32:40 GMT From: sun-barr!newstop!west!stan@ames.arpa Subject: Address of J73TW To: info-hams@ucsd.edu Would some kind soul please e-mail the address of J73TW ? Thanks. 73, stan,kb6rqz stan.galonski@West.Sun.COM ------------------------------ Date: 9 Apr 91 16:51:51 GMT From: sdd.hp.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uwm.edu!lll-winken!aunro!aupair.cs.athabascau.ca!lyndon@ucsd.edu Subject: Feed lines To: info-hams@ucsd.edu gary@ke4zv.UUCP (Gary Coffman) writes: >If you are running any reasonable amount of power, you *will* cross couple >enough into the CATV system to make TV viewers very unhappy with you. You >should feed the cables through *separate* pieces of metal conduit where >they run side by side. I don't know about that. Why not do a run of RG-214, or some other doubly shielded cable? If it'll keep RF out of the repeater input from 600 KHz away, it should do the trick over a 24 MHz split. I assume he's running a low pass filter as well ... -- Lyndon Nerenberg VE6BBM / Computing Services / Athabasca University atha!cs.athabascau.ca!lyndon || lyndon@cs.athabascau.ca Packet: ve6bbm@ve6bbm.ab.can.noam The only thing open about OSF is their mouth. --Chuck Musciano ------------------------------ Date: 10 Apr 91 02:08:40 GMT From: swrinde!mips!cs.uoregon.edu!milton!sumax!halcyon!raoul@ucsd.edu Subject: HEATH Radios To: info-hams@ucsd.edu Anyone wonder why Heath is out of the Ham Biz? I'm getting an HW9- It is supposed to be the best QRP rig available. Has anyone else out there built one? Reply here or via Packet Jeff Benedict KB7AIL@VE7VBB.#VIC.BC.CAN.NA -- halcyon!raoul@seattleu.edu The 23:00 News and Mail Service - +1 206 292 9048 - Seattle, WA USA +++ A Waffle Iron, Model 1.64 +++ ------------------------------ Date: 9 Apr 91 19:43:47 GMT From: swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!csc.ti.com!ti-csl!tilde.csc.ti.com!axis!sqa.dsg.ti.com!edh@ucsd.edu Subject: Keyers To: info-hams@ucsd.edu I started to order the board and parts for the Super CMOS keyer as described in the QST article, but then Heathkit put their keyer on sale. Since it has most of the features of the Super CMOS, and has built-in capacitance key paddles (and I've built several other Heath projects) I ordered it. It has a simple two push button command to switch left vs. right also! Or you can wire it that way if you chose. It is my first experience with iambic keying, but then again I don't have to many bad habits to break. My wife is have a tougher time, as she keeps a)trying to move the fixed touch paddles and b)treating the keyer like a side-swiper instead of iambic! So far I really like this keyer, even the capacitance paddles (which some people don't like). If I ever develop a yen for external (moveable) paddles, the connection jack is already there waiting. Maybe my brain is reversed, but so far I'm finding almost as easy to key (at my slow speed) left or right handed without reversing the paddles. We'll see how long that lasts! 73 --- -- Ed Humphries Texas Instruments, Inc. 512-250-6894 N5RCK Internet ed.humphries@hub.dsg.ti.com -. ..... .-. -.-. -.- Packet N5RCK@NA4M ------------------------------ Date: 9 Apr 91 20:07:54 GMT From: swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!csc.ti.com!ti-csl!tilde.csc.ti.com!axis!sqa.dsg.ti.com!edh@ucsd.edu Subject: Licensing Philosophy? To: info-hams@ucsd.edu In article <9104091411.AA05137@trout.nosc.mil> mertes@stl-07sima.army.mil (Ed Mertes) writes: > >I guess the law must have changed since I built my Heathkit CB Tranceivers You guess correctly. Also, back then, YOU had to have a license to operate a C.B. AND, the design was type-accepted. >to the transmitter using an included light bulb for a dummy load. Please don't do this today! You'd be amazed at the propagation out of a light bulb! > >Did Heathkit create thousands of Federal Law Breakers back then? Are they >still selling CB kits? No. Heath has not sold CB kits for quite a while. Sigh. Times change, I have no certain knowledge, but it looks like they may be backing out of the ham marketplace (again). Anyone have proof one way or the other? 73 - -- Ed Humphries Texas Instruments, Inc. 512-250-6894 N5RCK Internet ed.humphries@hub.dsg.ti.com -. ..... .-. -.-. -.- Packet N5RCK@NA4M ------------------------------ Date: 10 Apr 91 03:37:06 GMT From: swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!unix.cis.pitt.edu!dsinc!wells!k3tx@ucsd.edu Subject: Licensing Philosophy? To: info-hams@ucsd.edu What's this about needing a 2nd class phone license to work on a CB rig? I lost my phone licenses a few years ago (1st phone) and ended up with a General Certificate which means plain nothing. There are no more phone licenses in USA. There is the commercial CW license - 3, 2, 1, required for some maritime operations. As for CB =- who cares? Esp. FCC. They just hope it will die a natural death and fade away. K3TX ------------------------------ Date: 8 Apr 91 21:34:43 GMT From: hpda!hpcupt1!hprnd!jblake@hplabs.hpl.hp.com Subject: No-Code Testing Questions To: info-hams@ucsd.edu In rec.ham-radio, swood@vela.acs.oakland.edu ( EVENSONG) writes: Alright, now that the no-code is here, I have a lot of people asking me to get them tested. I have gotten all my VE goodies from the ARRL more than a year ago, and I am at a loss to the how-to's of the no-code. Is the no code tech restricted to VE's, or can Generals and above (two in number) give the test (seeing that it is a new 'entry level' license)?? If VE's are required to give the test, than how do you make one up? I am to understand that the questions are from a combined pool of Novice and Tech questions, but how do you know which ones to use to make up the 55 question total? I was at a VE exam session yesterday. For the no-code-tech applicants, the VE's were administering Elements 2 and 3A. A couple of brave individuals decided to attempt Element 1A also, and passed. To my understanding, both groups (code, no-code) will receive the same licenses, i.e. TECHNICIAN. The only difference will be that the ones who passed 1A will have a CSCE that will so indicate, and they will have Novice HF privileges in addition to Technician VHF and above privileges. -John ***************************************************************************** John Blake, KC6ORN Email: jblake@hprnd.rose.hp.com Hewlett Packard Co., M.S. R3SI 8000 Foothills Blvd. Phone: (916) 785-4337 Roseville, CA 95678 ***************************************************************************** ------------------------------ Date: 9 Apr 91 22:12:50 GMT From: news-mail-gateway@ucsd.edu Subject: Shuttle Packet No-Show To: info-hams@ucsd.edu I read N6SJD's message about shuttle SSTV with interest. I've been wondering what the !@#$ happened to the shuttle packet stuff. I listened for a few orbits Saturday and Sunday -- not a peep on any of the frequencies. On Saturday I heard voice on 145.59 that sounded like them, and was Doppler-shifted like the real thing, but nary a packet. Then I got smarter and read the shuttle activity schedule. I found "Unscheduled SSTV and Packet Activity" scheduled for four orbits Monday morning. Aha, you silly fool, shame on you for wasting your time. So I gave up a few hours sleep and tried again on a couple of orbits Monday morning. Nothing but white noise and a few other crazies sending connect messages on the uplink. I was listening on my Oscar 13 setup, with KLM beam, az and el rotators, low-noise preamp, and all that stuff. I have to admit I was too embarasssed to complain for fear I had still managed to screw up and use the wrong frequency or set the clock back instead of forward or something else stupid. Maybe that still was the case. However, I think I can fairly safely conclude that the much hyped shuttle packet was a no-show. Does anyone know why?. The EVA Monday was in progress during that time. Did that preclude packet? I'm not gonna complain too loudly because I only lost a few hours sleep. But I do resent all the trees that died, all the bits on all the BBS disks that are only good for the bit bucket, all the wasted bandwidth explaining how to set FRACK and DWAIT and FULLDUP OFF. If we say we're gonna do it, guys and gals, then let's do it and not just jerk a bunch of people around. I really feel sorry for anyone at W5RRR who worked on the packet stuff and saw it go unused. To add insult to injury, at one point I tuned across 145.55 and what to my wondering eyes appeared but a storm of packets to and from U2MIR! Can anyone explain what happened? Randy Cole KN6W cole@babette.isi.edu ------- ------------------------------ Date: 10 Apr 91 08:40:00 GMT From: news-mail-gateway@ucsd.edu Subject: To all European Readers of Info-Hams To: info-hams@ucsd.edu Italian Amateur Radio Bands and Subbands Allocation - Update 9-Apr-1991 Band from to MHz Service MaxPWR W Notes 1.830 1.850 shared 100 Zone 9 1.830 to 1.845 only 3.5 3.8 shared 300 7 7.1 exclusive 300 with satellite service 10.10 10.11 shared 300 only A1A F1A 14 14.350 exclusive 300 with satellite service 18.068 18.168 shared 300 with satellite service 21 21.450 exclusive 300 with satellite service 24.89 24.99 shared 300 with satellite service 28 29.7 exclusive 300 with satellite service 50.15125 50.16375 shared 10 only A1A J3E-USB (*) 144 146 exclusive 300 (10) with satellite service 432 434 shared 300 (10) (**) 435 436 exclusive 300 (10) with satellite service 436 438 shared 300 (10) satellite service 1240 1245 shared 300 (10) 1267 1270 shared 50 ERP satellite uplink 1296 1298 shared 50 ERP 2303 2313 shared 300 (10) 2440 2450 exclusive 300 (10) with satellite service 5650 5670 shared 300 (10) with satellite uplink 5760 5770 exclusive 300 (10) 5830 5850 shared 300 (10) with satellite uplink 10.45 G 10.50 G exclusive 300 (10) with satellite service 24.00 G 24.05 G exclusive 300 (10) with satellite service 47.0 G 47.2 G shared 300 (10) with satellite service 75.5 G 76.0 G shared 300 (10) with satellite service 142 G 144 G shared 300 (10) with satellite service 248 G 250 G shared 300 (10) with satellite service ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ NOTES (*) - Use of 6-m band is granted upon request with a duration of 1 year, renewable. Band is very narrow, so only CW & USB are allowed. (**)- Note that 434 to 435 MHz band is NOT assigned to amateurs. Powers in brackets are those allowed to owner of 'special' license (IW#...) ############################################################################## CEPT in Italy Since February 1991, also Italy has the proper laws for application of CEPT recommendation. So Hams from member states can come in Italy with their licence without any other permission, provided that they have the CEPT licence. Class 1 CEPT is equivalent to Italian 'Ordinary' license (IK#...) Class 2 CEPT is equivalent to Italian 'Special' license (IW#...) Suppose that F3XX is owner of a class 1 cept, when he'll come to Italy, he will sign IK/F3XX/P or IK/F3XX/M, depending whether he's Portable or Mobile. Suppose that DL1XY is owner of a class 2 cept, he'll sign IW/DL1XY/P or .../M 'Portable' is any station that is not mounted on a car or vehicle. So if you connect your 220V cord to a socket in your hotel room or in your camping area, you're considered 'Portable', while if you are driving down from Milan to Florence, you're 'Mobile', even though you're using a battery-powered HT. Remember that in Italy field or mobile operation is NOT ALLOWED BELOW 144 MHz. At the present moment I have no information whether 6m is granted also to visiting hams or only to residents. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I hope I've confused you enough! I'm here for any further information or discussion. In any case, you can refer to ARI - via Scarlatti - Milano for any deepest question. Similar band plans for other European states would be very appreciated. 73 de IK5PVX Pierfrancesco Caci E-mail: FIRE@FIRENZE.INFN.IT (bitnet) 39331::FIRE (decnet) ------------------------------ Date: 9 Apr 91 22:07:44 GMT From: swrinde!mips!cs.uoregon.edu!milton!whit@ucsd.edu Subject: TRF Receiver To: info-hams@ucsd.edu In article <1991Apr9.124118.27031@mlb.semi.harris.com> rps@sunman.mlb.semi.harris.com (Ray Sumperyl) writes: > Can anybody supply me with a schematic for a tube TRF receiver? No such devices have been built by THAT name in most of a century. Any of the '60s vintage Radio Amateur Handbooks, though, will have 'grid-dip meter' construction articles, and a grid dip meter is exactly a TRF receiver (not terribly sensitive, though, as they usually leave out the preamplification). After mid-60's, the grid-dip meters used MOSFETs (what's a 'grid' in a MOSFET?). John Whitmore ------------------------------ Date: 10 Apr 91 05:57:41 GMT From: brian@ucsd.edu Subject: TRF Receiver To: info-hams@ucsd.edu In article <1991Apr9.220744.4049@milton.u.washington.edu> whit@milton.u.washington.edu (John Whitmore) writes: > No such devices have been built by THAT name in most of >a century. I beg to differ, grasshopper. I built a TRF in junior high school, the Philco and Atwater-Kent radios were TRFs for a while, and even old grandpop built them when he was working for Lee DeForest - out of triode valves he built himself, yessindeed. Half a century, maybe. This isn't 2030 yet, not by a long row of trees. - Brian (in old fart mode) ------------------------------ Date: 9 Apr 91 23:54:50 GMT From: news-mail-gateway@ucsd.edu To: info-hams@ucsd.edu References Faunt, N6TQS, 415-688-8269) Subject : keyers (sorta) My great uncle was a telegrapher for the railroad in his youth, in the early part of the century, and while he used his right hand for the bug, he learned to write with his left hand so that he could do both simultaneously. He had a stroke when I was very young, and could not communicate very well, but I've wondered, since I've become a little more knowledgeable, if he could have still sent and received code well. 73, doug ------------------------------ Date: 10 Apr 91 05:46:19 GMT From: swrinde!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!sdd.hp.com!wuarchive!udel!haven!wam.umd.edu!rustyh@ucsd.edu To: info-hams@ucsd.edu References <1991Apr5.144823.2094@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu>, <2701@ke4zv.UUCP>, <1991Apr9.125716.5551@wam.umd.edu> Subject : Re: Antenna Matching Gedanken Experiment In an earlier article I said: >Note that this will generaly be >a much higher resistance than the internal resistance of the device so >that there will not be MAXIMUM power transfer. > I made a bit of a Boo Boo here. The resistance of the device is much HIGHER than the load! (But my argument still holds) I quote from a Motorola Ap Note AN-721: "The internal resistance of the transistor is supposed to be much higher than the load and is normally neglected. In the case of a relatively low internal resistance, the efficiency of the device would decrease by the factor: 1 + (RL/RT) where RL is the load resistance, seen at the collector-emitter terminals, and RT the internal transistor resistance. ......etc [ Here is the Punch Line ] The load value is primarily dictated by the required output power and the peak voltage; it is not matched to the output impedance of the device. ...etc Strictly speaking, impedance matching is accomplished only at the input. Interstage and load matching are more impedance transformations of the device input impedance and of the load into a value RL that depends essentially on the power demanded and the supply voltage. " ------------------------------------------- If your interested in getting a clear understanding of the subject, you should read these Ap-notes. They were in the Motorola RF Device Data Book Volume II. AN-721 "Impedance Matching Networks Applied to RF Power Transistors" by B. Becciolini and AN-282A "Systemizing RF Power Amplifier Design" by Roy Hejhall. Well written and easy to follow. -- Michael Katzmann (VK2BEA/G4NYV/NV3Z) Please email to this address | Broadcast Sports Technology | 2135 Espey Ct. #4 \|/ Crofton MD 21114-2442 (301) 721-5151 ...uunet!opel!vk2bea!michael ------------------------------ End of Info-Hams Digest ******************************