RADIOACTIVITIES Newsletter of the Argonne Amateur Radio Club
Volume XLI, Number 9	September, 2000

It will be September the 12^th, 7p.m. Building 212, Room C157.

The subject will be APRS and the speaker will be Randy Zabel, N9NWA. Randy is the President of the DuPage ARC.

Don’t be concerned about getting in to the lab. The entire membership roster will be presented to the security people so that all that will be required is your drivers license at the gate.

The Commission adopted the proposed schedule of fees on June 30. (FY 2000 began last September; the fees are paid in arrears.) The FCC said it anticipates 8000 applications for vanity call signs during FY 2000.

The change does not affect the ham radio equipment program, which Wohlers has been administering for nearly 20 years. For more information, contact Seabury & Smith, 847-493-4581, 800-900-9772, or visit http://www.wohlers.com. - Seabury & Smith

But then something happens that makes me stop, think and adjust my attitude. Recently I have had one of these experiences. One of those things that “restores ones’ faith in mankind”.

You see I am a technically active ham (meaning that I build, adjust, and repair any radio gear I am capable of) and that means that I require certain pieces of test and measurement equipment. Besides personal contacts and browsing hamfests one of the sources of this gear is the Internet. Places like QRZ.com and ebay.

Well, I successfully bid on a grid dip meter, sent the seller a check, and he sent the little dipper. Deal complete with both parties happy.

Another week went by and I had used the dip meter several times. What a little joy Heathkit made. Then in the mailbox is another package from the seller of the dip meter. I think to myself, “He didn’t forget any parts of the dip meter, did he mistakenly send me someone elses package?”

I open up the package and find a nicely executed piece of homebrew gear along with a letter and some reprints from a ARRL VHF manual on how to build and operate the piece.

I sat stunned for a period of time reading the letter. It turns out that the gentleman from whom I had bought the dipper thought it and the VHF impedance bridge he had made should remain together.

The words generous and thoughtful resonated loudly in my mind at the thought that this fellow ham, who knows me only as a name/call and address, would take the time to send me a piece of his personally handmade equipment. And all at “no charge”. The only thing that he asked was that if I found it useful to “put in a plug with Santa Claus for him”. Least I could do for him!

Net Manager Jerry Herman, N3BDW, said Monday that although Debby was just a tropical storm, it was forecast to become a hurricane, and he wanted the Net to get a leg up in gathering information from participating stations in the affected areas. Participating Hurricane Watch Net members pass weather-related information via W4EHW to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

As it turned out, Debby did gain Category 1 hurricane status the following day, with winds topping out at around 70 MPH with higher gusts. The storm’s pace attracted the attention of Southern Florida amateurs, who began gearing up for possible disaster duty. Southern Florida SM Phyllisan West, KA4FZI, said Wednesday that hams there were in a “wait-and-see attitude,” although Debby had been downgraded to a tropical storm by then with only a slight chance of regaining hurricane status. West said that county emergency coordinators were working closely with local emergency operations centers to monitor preparations and be available as needed.

Debby was downgraded to a tropical storm as it cleared the northern coast of Hispaniola. Reports received from the islands that the storm has passed indicate little or no damage from the storm.

By week’s end, Debby was continuing to diminish in strength and the Hurricane Watch Net discontinued operations after about 40 hours of operation. “Debby was certainly unusual in that we were in operation forsome time while it was a tropical storm, but the proximity to the islands and forecast intensity warranted that,” said HWN Manager Herman.

Herman thanked Net members — and especially the newcomers — for their performance in the Net’s first activation of the 2000 hurricane season.

W4EHW at the National Hurricane Center, which handles HWN reports during severe weather, also shut down Thursday. “Our sincere thanks to all of our dedicated W4EHW Operators, some who took time off work to keep W4EHW on the air,” Assistant Amateur Radio Coordinator Julio Ripoll, WD4JR, said. “Your time and dedication to public service and humanitarian ideals is what makes Amateur Radio much more than just a hobby. Without you, W4EHW would just be a bunch of wires, boxes with lights and a lot of silence.”

The storm dumped a lot of rain over Puerto Rico and other islands in its path. One person on Puerto Rico died when he slipped from his roof while trying to secure his TV antenna from the approaching storm. ARRL Puerto Rico SM Victor Madera, KP4PQ, reports Debby went by without much wind damage. But Madera says the storm left behind some 11 inches of rain, and flooding was expected in Puerto Rico.

Rainfall totals of 4 to 6 inches and as high as 10 to 15 inches over mountainous areas were still associated with Debby by week’s end. The National Weather Service said the rainfall could cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides. Heavy rains affected portions of the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and eastern Cuba.

For more information and storm information updates, visit the Hurricane Watch Net site, http://www.hwn.org.

Designated RM-9807, the petition was filed by Popular Communications Contributing Editor Alan Dixon, N3HOE.

“Dixon’s request is inconsistent with the purpose of the CB Radio Service and could fundamentally alter the nature of the service,” the FCC said in turning town the petition.

The FCC action was adopted August 18. The Order was released August 21.

The FCC said CB operators generally supported the proposal and stated that the present rule was unenforceable. The ARRL commented in opposition to the petition. “The Amateur Radio Service is the proper forum for the desired long-distance communications sought by the Dixon petition,” the League told the FCC.

The National Association of Broadcasters also opposed Dixon’s petition. The NAB said that the restriction was necessary to deter CBers from operating at excessive power levels and that consumers must be protected from illegal CB transmissions that interfere with radio, TV and other consumer electronics.

The FCC agreed with the ARRL and said it did not intend to create a service paralleling the Amateur Service when it authorized the Citizens Radio Service. “Amending the rules to permit long-distance and international communications would undermine the purpose of the CB Radio Service rules and compromise one of the core distinctions between the CB Radio Service and the Amateur Radio Service,” the FCC concluded.

“The analog repeater is turned off, so you will not be heard, and you will interfere with the software upload process,” AO-27 Ground Controller Michael Wyrick, N4USI, said this week in asking for the cooperation of the amateur community. He says ground controllers are working as fast as they can to get AO-27 back in operation.

Wyrick says the AO-27 “easy sat” suffered a software reset on July 31. The satellite contains an FM voice repeater that uplinks on 2 meters and downlinks on 70 cm. A project of AMRAD, it was launched in September 1993.

Wyrick said that uploading the necessary high-level code turned out to not be an easy task, Wyrick explained. “The primary control station used for uploading code was not used for over five years and required days of work to get back on-line,” he said. But when the code was uploaded AO-27, the satellite ran the high-level code only for a few seconds, before rebooting again. Ground controllers were at a loss to explain the second reboot, but Wyrick says they’re looking into several leads, and he asked the amateur community to be patient.

“The best help the community can give is to not flood controllers with e-mail about when is AO-27 going to be back on-line,” Wyrick said. “We are working as fast as satellite passes allow.”

Wyrick says the AO-27 exciter on 435.797 is turned on full-time and operates at low power during uploads.

“So Soon!” The boss was taken aback. “Certainly not. In this company you have to work yourself up.”

“I have!” she insisted. “Look at me, I’m trembling all over.”

The date was July 24, 2000; the location was new (Hinsdale Terrace, 93 St. and Route 83) for the smorgasbord and program. Bill Karraker and I had no idea how many people would attempt to find the place or even show up. Normally we would expect about 65 persons for the evening but today we would be happy to see about 40 in attendance. Tonight the weather was cool and pleasant.

What a pleasant surprise we had! Somewhere between 80 and 88 AARC members, friends, neighbors, and relatives arrived and we suddenly discovered that we were running out of space, tables, and chairs. But we managed to squeeze everyone in.

Each arriving couple brought a delicious dish of food to share and the variety was simply marvelous.

By 8:30 PM we were finished eating and ready for the program: “Ancient Egypt and the Nile”. From all the comments after the show, Anne and I were pleased that it was well received. Our tour of Egypt included visits to eight ancient sites dating back to about 3000 BC. To walk through the temples that were built 5000 years ago without the use of modern machinery, was awesome. Cruising the Nile was a luxurious experience with excellent dining, smooth sailing and each evening filled with enjoyably Entertainment. Modern Cairo has a host of interesting sites including the national museum, historic churches, the citadel, and beautiful mosques. To add to your knowledge of ancient Egypt, an interesting exhibit is now on display at the Art Institute of Chicago.