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August, 2003
The meeting was called to order by President Ernie O'Berry, K4OSM, at 7:30 p.m. Present at the meeting were Officers, President Ernie O'Berry, K4OSM, Secretary Jeanette Frantz, KG4DJA, Treasurer Bill Britt, KQ4UJ, and Board Member Tony Blalock, K4OCF. Vice President Johnny Williams, K4ANJ, was not present due to illness. There were 28 members in attendance. A quorum was present.
The membership recited the pledge of allegiance.
The invocation was given by Gene Layerd.
The Minutes of the June General Membership Meeting were read and approved.
The Treasurer's report was read and approved.
Larry Phelps reported on a project for sponsoring amateur communications with the Space Station and with the Space Shuttle in the Marion County School System. At this point in time, Larry has one school, Romeo Elementary, which has expressed interest. Larry has requested that SSRC commit to sponsoring such a program through NASA. Larry pointed out that this is a long-term project.
Upon motion made, seconded and unanimously adopted, the membership agreed to sponsor this program.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
MARS: Bill Britt, Kq4UJ, reported little phone patch activity at the MARS Station.
OLD BUSINESS:
Field Day: Tony Blalock reported on the contacts which SSRC members were able to make during Field Day. Tony also reported on the response from the Scouts to the Field Day Activities, and that he has a class in progress now for the radio merit badges (9 scouts) and a few adults, who are interested on going on to get their amateur licenses.
MERT Meeting: Charles Hensley, KA0OGU, reported on the MERT Meeting held May 31, 2003.
Christmas Parade: Bill Britt, KQ4UJ, reported that the Christmas Parade this year will not be a function of the Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber had indicated that the Parade was to be a large fund-raiser. Instead, a nonprofit organization was formed. The Parade will function in the same manner as in the past, but will not be controlled by the Chamber of Commerce.
Christmas Party: President Ernie O'Berry announced that the VFW did not have the facilities (china, flatware, etc.) to host SSRC's annual Christmas Party. Therefore, the Christmas Party will be held at Brick City Restaurant, in accordance with arrangements previously made by Barbara Million, KE4ZTW.
Program: President Ernie O'Berry, K4OSM, showed a patriotic video presentation prepared by the Facilities Management Secretary. The video was impressive and inspiring.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Jim Richardson, N4HGJ, is now at home and doing well.
Johnny Williams is ill and is expected to undergo heart catheterization, etc. during the coming week.
There being no further business to come before the meeting, the meeting was adjourned at 9:30 p.m.
Jeanette Frantz, KG4DJA, Secretary
MEETING NOTICE
The General Membership Meeting of the Silver Springs Radio Club takes place on the third Monday of each month except December. The Aug 2003 meeting will take place on Monday, Aug. 18, 2003, at 7:30 p.m. All members are urged to attend.
The August meeting of the Board of Directors of Silver Springs Radio Club, Inc. was called to order at 7:30 p.m. by President Ernie O'Berry, K4OSM. Present at the meeting were Officers, President Ernie O'Berry, K4OSM, Vice President Johnny Williams, K4ANJ, Secretary Jeanette Frantz, KG4DJA, and board members Jack Scott, N4NWT, and Tony Blalock, K4OCF, and members Ken Frantz, KF4QID, and Phillip Frantz, KF4QIC. Treasurer Bill Britt, KQ4UJ, is out of town. A quorum was present.
President Ernie O'Berry, K4OSM, reported that the new repeater is now online. The repeater is a GE Master II repeater. Ernie also reported that the TNC for the new repeater cost less than originally anticipated (approximately $100.00 less).
Minutes of the July General Membership Meeting were distributed to the Officers and Board Members. On motion made, seconded and unanimously adopted, reading of the minutes was waived and the minutes were approved as distributed.
The Treasurer's Report was not available.
Tony Blalock, K4OCF, reported on the Scouts electronic merit badge/technician class he is currently conducting at First Methodist Church. Tony further reported on the Jamboree On The Air camporee scheduled for October 17, 18 and 19. The Scouts still do not have a location, and are looking into the Silver River State Park. Tony will continue to report on this event and will coordinate SSRC's effort. Tony will be meeting with Scout officials on August 17, 2003, at 4:00 p.m.
Oracle Editor, Jeanette Frantz, KG4DJA, reported that several members had contacted her concerning the Oracle, either requesting to be "put back on the mailing list". Concern was expressed by the Editor that the decision not to mail out the newsletter to the membership is likely to result in a loss of contact with those members. Jeanette reported that several members previously attending every meeting had not been in attendance at membership meetings since May. After discussion by the Board, upon motion made, seconded and unanimously adopted, the Board determined that for the current year, the Oracle should be mailed to those members on the previous mailing list. Whether the Oracle will be mailed out next year will depend on establishment of a budget in November.
There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m.
Jeanette Frantz, KG4DJA, Secretary
For a complete listing of Hamfests in Florida, please visit the Florida Ham Website at its new location, bellsouthpwp.net/k/b/kb4vol
WISHING YOU A
SPEEDY RECOVERY!
Johnny Williams, K4ANJ, has been quite ill, having undergone heart catheterization. We all wish you a speedy recovery.
| AEA CP-1 Computer Interface | $ 50.00 | ||
| Ameritron 2.5 KW QSK T/R Switch | $200.00 | ||
| Amidon W2FMI 2:1 Balun | $ 30.00 | ||
| Astatic D-104 Microphone | $ 50.00 | ||
| Bearcat III xtal scanner& | $ 1.00 | ||
| Drake TV3300 Low by-pass filter (2), each | $ 5.00 | ||
| Heathkit HM2102 SWR meter | $ 20.00 | ||
| Heathkit HM102 SWR meter | $ 20.00 | ||
| Heathkit HW2036 2m XCVR | $ 20.00 | ||
| Heathkit AM-2 SWR meter | $ 20.00 | ||
| Heil Hand Mic | $100.00 | ||
| Johnson 250/20 Low by-pass filter | $ 5.00 | ||
| MFJ 16010 Tuner | $ 20.00 | ||
| Misc/Unknown External VFO(not working) | $ 1.00 | ||
| Mis/Unknown Low Pass Filters | $ 10.00 | ||
| Misc/Unknown Practice Code Oscillators | $ 5.00 | ||
| Radio Shack HTX-245 2m/70cm HT | $100.00 | ||
| Realistic Pro 2020 Scanner (not working) | $ 20.00 | ||
| Redi-Kilowatt Electronic Keyer | $ 50.00 | ||
| Ten Tec Power Mite QRP rig | $ 20.00 | ||
| Yaesu FT-747GX HF XCVR | $400.00 | ||
| Yaesu FT-212RH 2m mobile | $100.00 | ||
Anyone interested in any of this equipment should contact Jack Scott, N4NWT at 622-4447; Bill Britt, KQ4UJ at 694-1605, or Station Manager, Ken Frantz, KF4QID, at 489-0571.
Azden PCS-2800 10 Watt FM 10M Transceiver12Vdc $75 or best offer. Equipment operational.
Any one of following receivers; National NC-183D
National HRO-7; Hammerlund Super Pro SP-400 (w/ps).
B and W tuner (manual included) $100.00
MFJ Pacesetter keyer (with manual) $ 75.00
Midland 2-meter (with manual) $ 50.00
NBC Power Supply $ 25.00
Also, another power supply, mobile mounts, assorted speakers. Make an offer! (Kenwood items are from original owner).
MFJ 784B Tunable/Programmable DSP filter--new in box $125.00; MFJ 202B RF Noise bridge $ 25.00; Radio Shack DSP Filter #21-543--new in box $ 15.00
Precision E200C Signal Generator, 90 Khz-88 Mhz w/400 hz mod. $25.00. All of the equipment is operational with manuals. Also, I have a Brother MFC 4350 Printer/Fax/Copier which has some lightning damage- repairable(?) with a new toner cartridge which I will give away for the cost of a toner TN250 for my new Fax, aar4dn@juno.com.
SSRC'S ANNUAL CHRISTMAS BANQUET AND AWARDS PRESENTATION
DATE:Saturday, December 13, 2003
EVENT:SSRC Christmas Party
PLACE:Brick City Restaurant
9231 Southeast Maricamp Road
MENU:Prime Rib or Cordon Bleu
TIME:6:30 p.m.
COST:$17.00 each person
Be sure to mark your calendar and sign up early.
Contact Barbara Million, KE4ZTW,
694-5744
Thanks for installing the new repeater! It sounds terrific! Comments have been heard far and wide about how the repeater is sounding.
Again, Thank You, ERNIE!
Most modern transceivers cover nine bands, some ten bands, and at least two cover eleven! But the average amateur limits him/herself to either putting up a triband yagi and being content with operation on only three bands, and/or a multiband vertical to include the WARC bands and putting up with limited bandwidth operation on the lower frequencies. Bye time one's done buying all of that "educated" aluminum (and a tower and rotor for the beam) the wallet is well over $1,000 lighter. Such is the cost of modern antenna technology!
I seriously question whether all of that investment in an antenna farm is really worth it for the average ham. Sure, it probably is for the serious ("World Class") Contester or Dxer, but for the rest of us, I think it's financial overkill. When I first got on the air, nearly 50 years ago, most hams were having thousands of wonderful hours of operating enjoyment, and working plenty of DX without having had to spend half a month's pay (or more!) For antennas. And it's still being done today by some, as witnessed to by the number of G5RV and similar type antennas one hears being used on the bands. While some may find this hard to believe, wire antennas do work. And, when homemade, are very inexpensive. Even if one goes first class and buys pre-assembled, packaged wire antennas the cost is approximately one-tenth (or less) than that of the average triband beam . . . and that single wire antenna will operate on any band that your transceiver will, if you use a transmatch. The addition of a transmatch will also allow you to operate on any frequency in any band and have the rig always looking into a very low SWR. No worries about setting element dimensions for CW, midband or SSB portions for a particular band. Just turn a knob or two on the transmatch and watch the reflected power drop to near zero (or nearly so) Watts. It's a nice feeling and a smart way to operate.
Let's continue on the subject of cost for a moment. Truth #1, copper wire is far less expensive than aluminum tubing. Rule #1, shop the ham flea markets for such things as insulators, ladder line (or windowed twinlead) and good-quality (strong and UV resistant) rope (for antenna tie-offs and support). What kind of wire are we talking about? Copperweld or stranded copper wire should be used for coaxial-fed wire antennas. Firstly, because it can better support the weight of the coax and secondly, becaue of detuning due to length change). Coaxially-fed antennas are generally single-band affairs (although a 40M dipole works very nicely on 15M as well) and the SWR limitations of coax are such that the antenna should be dimensionally stable. It should not stretch with time and weather.
The case of a multiband wire antenna fed with ladder line (or windowed twinlead) is quite a different story. The antenna dimensions are not all that critical (any reactance introduced by gradual lengthening of the antenna with time can easily be dealt with by twisting those knobs on the transmatch). Solid copper house wire (the larger the diameter, the better - look for #10 or #12 guage) is fine for this type of antenna and can be obtained in quantity (500-foot spools), for example) in any home-improvement outlet store and some hardware stores, for less than you would imagine. You can make a great many antennas (and their replacements, too) from a 500- foot spool of wire. Think about it. Leaving the plastic insulation on the wire when you make your antenna protects the copper form the effects of weathering. Good ceramic insulators are fairly cheap too, especially if one carefully shops the ham flea markets for them. And 450-Ohm window line is about one-eighth the cost, per unit length, of coaxial cable. By the way, that 450-Ohm figure is quite nominal. I purchased a 500-foot roll of "450-Ohm window line" at the Dayton Hamvention some years ago and at home carefully measured and calculated the impedance; it worked out to be 444-Ohms. Close enough. It really doesn't matter much with tuned feeders!
And now a word about transmatches. As far as I'm concerned there should be (at least) one in every shack. It should be installed in the coaxial line segment between the SWR (or power) meter and the antenna. Besides affording the opportunity to keep the rig's output seeing 50-Ohms, the transmatch provides harmonic attenuation, and lessens the possibility of front-end overload or intermodulation distortion from very strong out-of-band signals. Most available transmatches these days are single-ended affairs, and provided balanced output through an internal 1:4 voltage balun. True balanced output transmatch designs are available for homebrewers in the amateur handbooks. Flea market shoppers can look for Johnson Matchboxes; the smaller of which (the so-called "275 Watt" unit) will handle up to about 750 Watts of output power on CW and SSB. For higher power outputs the so-called "kilowatt" Matchbox will handle up to about 3 KW on CW and SSB. Another balanced-output commercial transmatch is the old Harvey Wells Z-Match, if you can find one! If problems are encountered when using balanced feedline output from a conventional transmatch (with its internal voltage balun), it's usually a good idea to switch the unit into single-ended output mode and use an external 1:4 current balun. Current baluns are available from The Radio Works and others. Check the ads in the ham magazines. The current baluns force the currents in each side of the line to be equal (or nearly so).
Several companies are currently marketing what they call the "universal antenna," which is a dipole between 134-feet and 136-feet long (I dold you the length wasn't particularly critical) fed with 100-feet of 450-Ohm window line. Prices are under $40. A good buy. But even so, with careful shopping around for parts and doing it yourself, you can have the same antenna for one-quarter the price (or less). This is true for the G5RV, inverted-vee, windom, delta loop, loop skywire, or whatever. They are all commercially-available models.
As I alluded to in the beginning of this article, a great deal of DX was worked through the years before we entered the "era of fancy antennas" we're in now. And simple antennas are still being used, and enjoyed, by a goodly number of amateurs. In the winter 1998/1999 months I worked DXCC (actually a total of 115 countries) on 10M, using only 12 Watts and a G5RV inverted-vee with the apex at 60 feet. So, I know, first hand, that a beam is not absolutely necessary "to work anything". Also, the wire antennas are much more "neighbor-friendly" than massive configurations of steel and aluminum.
So at least try a wire antenna, for a change. I think you'll be very surprised at the way it works and come to appreciate its other virtues as well.
Al LaPlaca, W2WW
That is the question! Much discussion has occurred during the past several months. Do you want the Oracle mailed to you, or are you happy to have it emailed? Your Board of Directors wants to know the answer to this question. The questions we would like you to answer are: (PLEASE ANSWER BY CHECKING THE BOXES BELOW). Please detach this questionnaire and give to The Oracle Editor at the next meeting.
Suggestions for articles in the Oracle:
Click here to get a printable formCLUB MEETINGS are the third Monday of each month 7:30 PM at Green Clover Hall in the Marion County Government Complex on Southeast 25th Avenue. Coffee & Doughnuts are available.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS meetings are the first Monday of each month, 7:30 PM at Marion County Facilities Management Office..
K4GSO, club station, Green Clover Hall, is available to all members. Phone number is 620-7210. Contact Ken, KF4QID at 489-0571.
MARS, club station located at 161 Oak Circle, Silver Springs Shores. Phone number is 680-1528. Contact Bill KQ4UJ, at 694-1605.
LICENSE TESTING, on the second Monday of each odd number month, except July, 7:30 PM at Green Clover Hall. Call Jack Scott at 622-4447.
RADIO NETS are conducted over the club repeater, K4GSO, on 146.610 MHz (-600).
LADIES AUXILIARY. Sunshine - Provides flowers and get-well cards for members or members' family. Also orders SSRC logo shirts and caps, Barbara Million, KE4ZTW, 694-5744.
NOTE: For change of address or corrections (with SSRC) contact the Membership Chairman.
SSRC NET, every Tuesday at 7:30 (local time). Contact Jeanette at (352) 489-0571.
| President | Ernie O'Berry, K4OSM 732-0374 |
| V. President | John O. Williams, K4ANJ 685-2028 |
| Secretary | Jeanette Frantz, KG4DJA 489-0571 |
| Treasurer | Bill Britt, KQ4UJ 694-1605 |
| Trustee | Bill Britt, KQ4UJ 694-1605 |
| Board Member | Walt Schuler, WA2LWR 236-1982 |
| Board Member | Jack Scott, N4NWT 622-4447 |
| Board Member | Tony Blalock, K4OCF 622-4960 |
| Oracle Editor | Jeanette Frantz, KG4DJA 489-0571 |
| Oracle_editor@prodigy.net | |
| Membership | Ken Frantz, KF4QID489-0571 |
| Ladies' Auxiliary, | Barbara Million, KE4ZTW 694-5744 |
| Email: funyet2@earthlink.net |
Silver Springs Radio Club Website:
http://www.qsl.net/ssrc/
Ocala Radio Amateur's Candid Letter of Enlightenment
SILVER SPRINGS RADIO CLUB
P.O. BOX 787
SILVER SPRINGS, FL 34489
August 2003