RADIOACTIVITIES Newsletter of the Argonne Amateur Radio Club
Volume XLI, Number 2	February, 2000

It will run on a DOS computer, or in a DOS window under Win 95/98. It uses complex algebra and several impedance formulae to easily calculate the input resistance and reactance, and SWR, for a transmission line connected to a load of known resistance and reactance. It also will calculate the length of a Q-section, and will tell you the total line loss.

You only need to tell it the frequency, line type (e.g., RG8), and load (antenna) resistance and reactance. It does all of the work for you, and makes "What if?" exercises a real pleasure.

I can e-mail you the files (TLINE.EXE — 38K, plus the 5K readme), or in zipped form (TLINE.ZIP — 28K, including the readme file). And the price is right: free! E-mail me at k9czb@arrl.net.

In December, I was told that they would be operating a VHF net, using the WCARLRepeater, located at St. Joseph Hospital in Joliet over midnight on New Years Eve.

They did not anticipate any problems, but this would be a test for a new endeavor that they have planned, using ham radio operators as an emergency radio network in case of local or regional disasters.

They apparently had remembered that during the Plainfield tornado some years ago, that for several days, the only communications available were the local hams. Even the media reporters were surprised when their cell phones didn’t work because the cell towers lost power.

The Net opened about 10 p.m., and about 40 hams checked in from all over Will County. The net was recessed, and we were told to begin monitoring the frequency at 11:45.Net Control came back on at that time, and a few additional stations checked in.

Then we waited. And waited. Midnight came and went. No one reported anything out of the ordinary. Some local fireworks and gunshots, but that happens every New Years Eve.

At 00:45 the net was closed and the repeater was put back to normal operation. Net Control said that he would monitor for another hour or so, just in case anything came up.

That morning, I heard a broadcast report that the Illinois ESDA had reports from all 102 Counties of Illinois by 00:30, and no one had reported anything out of the ordinary. I was pleased to know that I was a part of that system.

On January 4^th, I received a letter thanking me for my help, and promising to be kept up to date on further operations of this sort.

I currently possess a Advanced class ticket and am boning up on the code to take Element 4A, (the 20WPM code test). If I can make it in time I will get my Extra ticket the way that it has been done for all of my 20 years as a ham. It may seem a little strange to some but I would rather "earn" my way to a goal than have the requirements lessened so that I can reach them. You get used to having something a certain way and it doesn’t seem right to have it changed just before you get there.

On another note. I have listened to our repeater quite a bit lately and have noticed a not so good habit creeping up on some of us. The "time out" timer is getting quite a workout lately and it seems that this just shouldn’t be. I always thought that it should rarely (like hen’s teeth) be tripped in any normal operations but have heard it tripped many times in one night alone. We’ll wear the thing out in no time. We shouldn’t do that though. Right?

67% of the full members and 58% of the associate members have signed up for 2000. There will be an X on your mailing label if you haven’t signed up for 2000 and there should be another 2000 membership application form included with this newsletter. For those who have not signed up for 2000 by the publication time of the March newsletter, this will be your last newsletter.

The March newsletter will contain a membership list sorted by call and a rerun of the access codes for the repeater. The membership list will consist of the names of the members who have signed up for 2000 at the time that I print the list, which will be about February 22.

There was the guy who returned a rental video a day late, and was fined nearly $100,000 because the computer thought it was due on January 2, 1900. And what about those folks who spent thousands of dollars on emergency supplies? Look for some good deals on second-hand generators for Field Day 2000.

And there were other disruptions. We had dear friends who cut a holiday visit short for fear that gasoline hoarding during the waning days of 1999 would make it difficult for them to get back to their home in Colorado. That didn’t happen, either.

But there is one event that will happen in 2000 that will spell the end of the world, as we know it. On 12/30/99, the FCC issued its long-awaited Report and Order in the 1998 Biennial Regulatory Review of Part 97, more commonly known as license restructuring. The bottom line is that starting April 15, 2000, there will be three license classes, Technician, General, and Amateur Extra. And a single Morse code requirement 5 WPM! This is blatantly unfair to existing Generals and Extras who already have passed their 13 and 20 WPM Morse tests. It minimizes our Morse heritage, and it severs an important bond with our past and with each other. It is hoped by some that this will result in more hams, but at what cost to the hobby? Dumbing down our noble avocation may well do it irreparable damage.

For good or ill, this action will forever change the character of ham radio.

I had just purchased my first brand new television and was setting it up. This tv is so sophisticated that it sets up the channels by scanning all the channels and putting all the active ones to memory. Being automatically set to the cable band it started on its merry way from channel one on up. It went through the VHF channels and memorized those but sailed right through channels 20, 26, 32, 38, 44, 50, 56, but stopped on channel 60.

This made me apprehensive that there was something wrong with the set. I checked again to make sure that there was only one antenna connection instead of two (one for VHF and one for UHF) like TVs used to have. Then I realized that what I was seeing on the screen was not a commercial television station!!

It was a REAL, LIVE, COLOR PICTURE of a ham shack with the ham himself sitting in the center of the picture!! Checking the channel setup menu on the TV I realized that I had it was on Cable instead of Broadcast. So I was watching cable channel 60 over the air instead of from a cable.

Hmm, what frequency is that? A quick look in the operating manual and I find that it is 439.25 MHz. 70cms! Ok, why don’t I hear him too?

The picture I was getting was fairly clear with just a small amount of noise on the screen so I should also be able to hear what is going on. He identified his picture with a homemade sign showing his call, name and location. As I thought, he is in the same town as me.

The next day I look up his call and find out that his QTH is only a quarter mile or so from where I live. No wonder I could see his picture so well. I send him a e-mail and he replies that what I was watching that night was on 439.25MHz but that the sound was carried over a 2 meter frequency of 144.34. He also informed me that he was running about 100 watts of video and a high gain antenna array that at the time was not pointing directly at me.

I was HOOKED! I have to do that! But wait a minute, I say to myself, isn’t that an expensive mode to get into? Funds are a FINITE thing. I’m not a congressman spending someone else’ money. Well, I will just have to find out what it will take to put together a ATV station. But I already have a start on the equipment list. My new TV!! After all it will be necessary.

Next time: What equipment is needed to operate ATV. Some special considerations concerning ATV and more.

Adams says that a Technician class syllabus already has been drafted and approved. The various QPC members have been keeping in touch by telephone and e-mail since the FCC announced the restructuring rules December 30.

"We will go back over the newly configured pools, refining them and updating in a methodical manner with the order to be decided by the NCVEC when next in session," Adams said this week. He said the revised question pools would follow the established format.

Technician, General, and Amateur Extra class licenses. Novice and Advanced licensees will retain current operating privileges and may renew indefinitely. Applicants desiring HF privileges will only have to pass a 5 WPM Morse code test. Current Amateur Radio study materials remain valid at least until the new rules become effective in April.

The new licensing regime has four examination elements: Element 1, the 5 WPM Morse code test; Element 2, a 35-question Technician test; Element 3, a 35-question General test, and Element 4, a 50-question Amateur Extra test.

Frequently Asked Questions on restructuring are available at http://www.arrl.org/news/restructuring/faq.html. A copy of the entire Report and Order (FCC 99-412) is available at http://www.arrl.org/announce/regulatory/wt98-143ro.pdf or at http://www.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/1999/db991230/fcc99412.txt.

"Most were Advanced class hams seeking testing on Element 4B," he said. "We tested 24,with four of them failing."

One woman who showed up hoping to file an upgrade application prior to the April 15 implementation date. "When I started to check her in, I found that she had a current Tech Plus license and license copies proving she had been licensed [as a Technician] on March21, 1987," he said.

The woman wanted to prove her eligibility to become a General after April 15 but have it on record now. Freitas advised the applicant to return to a VE session after April 15, present her documentary proof, and have the VE team process her General upgrade application then.

Freitas also says he encountered a lot of confusion among some hams about what happens after April 15. "Technicians, in some cases, are misinformed." he said. "Some think that a Tech Plus license can be upgraded to General without further testing, and some think that a (no-code) Technician can do the same," he said. (Wrong on both counts — Ed.) — Emmett Freitas, AE6Z

Club Breakfast (Always the 2nd Sat of the Month) 8:30 AM at The Ol’ Country Buffet - 75th St. then North turnoff West of Lemont Rd. Club Patches and Caps with patches on, $8.00 - see me, Bill, W9AVE. They will be available at the meal. Thanks to Fred, WB9VUT for making these possible.