RADIOACTIVITIES Newsletter of the Argonne Amateur Radio Club
Volume XLII, Number 4	April, 2001

A rules change as of this year allows a 300-point bonus for Field Day stations demonstrating three modes of operation. This so-called “non-traditional mode” bonus would apply to AM operations during the event scheduled for June 23^rd and 24^th.

AM is enjoying a resurgence in popularity as people discover the pleasure of its warm sound and the storytelling, relaxed nature of QSOs in the mode. Older, vacuum-tube gear also lends itself more readily to repair and restoration. An increasing number of hams are finding satisfaction from being able to work on their radios and experiment with such equipment.

The Collins Collectors Association is the most recent national organization shifting its attention to include AM activity on the shortwave ham bands.

Testifying to the mode’s popularity, the CCA’s newly organized “First Wednesday AM Night” drew more than a hundred check-ins in February, and about 150 stations in March.

Although stations with any brand of gear are welcome to take part, the CCA hopes to encourage people who’ve been collecting the “senior” Collins models to actually use those receivers and transmitters on the air.

The event, on 75m, is established with an East Coast anchor who takes that region’s check-ins for the first hour, 0100-0200Z.

Participants give brief rundowns of their gear, and briefly tell the attraction AM holds for them.

At 0200Z, a midwestern region anchor takes the event and encourages additional checkins and storytelling.

The westward-rolling event then shifts to a Rocky Mountain region anchor and finally, a West Coast host, allowing good reception of all possible stations, regardless of whether they’re running a lower-power Collins 32V2 transmitter, or a grand 20V2, or 30K.

The next CCA First Wednesday AM Night is scheduled for April 4^th, 2001.

Regards, Paul/WA3VJB Annapolis

DETAILS ON AM ACTIVITY, RESTORATION TIPS, AND PICTURES OF VINTAGE STATIONS ARE AT THE WEB PAGE NOTED WITH THIS FEATURE STORY. PLEASE      VISIT!

Just if the rain didn’t show up for Field Day I will be happy. We had enough last year to do for several years to come. And speaking of Field Day keep the dates of June 23^rd and 24^th open on your calendar to participate in the AARC FD effort. Don’t miss the fun to be had while enjoying the good company of your fellow club members. If you have a special way that you can contribute to the FD effort don’t hesitate to contact a club officer either on the Monday night net, via email, regular post or on the landline. I cannot stress how important it is that we all get out there and put in our part.

The incident in the Caribbean occurred some 3200 km east-southeast of a similar pirate attack nearly a year ago. In that incident, armed marauders shot young Willem van Tuijl from the Netherlands, who was sailing with his parents.

According to Coast Guard Lt Jose Diaz, KP3J, of the Rescue Coordination Center in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the 44-foot ketch Lorna, of Swedish registry, was enroute to Trinidad and Tobago when pirates attacked some three nautical miles offshore. Altheden was shot once in the abdomen.

The pirates destroyed the VHF radio, so Miren activated an emergency locator transmitter (ELT). The San Juan Rescue Coordination Center received ELT “hits” from the Lorna and notified Venezuelan authorities.

Word arrived at Miami Coast Guard some 90 minutes later from the Maritime Mobile Service Net’s Mike Pilgrim, K5MP, of a distress call from a woman on the Lorna on 14.300 MHz. Miami Coast Guard forwarded the information to the San Juan rescue center. Diaz tuned to 14.300, where Bobby Graves, KB5HAV, Dave Dalziel, N4ICE, and Jim Hirschman, K4TCV — a physician who had assisted in the van Tuijl pirate attack last year — already had activated an emergency net. An amateur in Trinidad, Eric Mackie, 9Z4CP, also assisted in communications.

Among those standing by on frequency were Ed Petzolt, K1LNC, in Florida, and Hector Godoy, HR3HGB, in Honduras, both of whom were instrumental in the van Tuijl rescue operation a year ago. The amateurs on 20 meters were able to calm the woman, and Hirschman provided medical counseling.

Diaz got permission from Venezuela to allow a vessel from Trinidad to assist, and a Venezuelan Navy vessel arrived on scene simultaneously with a Trinidad Coast Guard fast boat, with medical personnel. Trinidad medical personnel and crew took control of the sailboat from the shaken and exhausted Miren.

High seas made it too risky to move the victim. Instead, the Swedish sailboat continued on to Trinidad escorted by the Venezuelan Navy vessel and the Trinidad CG cutter.

Diaz credited amateurs with doing “a tremendous job” in helping to keep Miren calm and to relay information for the US Coast Guard to her and for maintaining order on frequency.

“This is what it is all about,” Diaz said. “Stay always ready, that others may live.”

Pilgrim called the afternoon rescue “one of the most rewarding experiences I have had during my 45 years on ham radio”.

Listen for “CQ MAC” and send your call sign at your speed. The net will QRS to match the speed of the slowest op. FISTS members are free to exchange numbers with other participants. Net control is Philip, K9PL.

For more information, send e-mail to mac@qsl.net or visit the MAC Web site, http://www.qsl.net/mac.

“This was using the PUA43 mode with their DAP-10 transceivers and transverters,” said Bob Larkin, W7PUA. This marked their first attempt at using the 5W level for a QSO.

The DSP-10 was a QST construction project by Larkin that appeared in three parts in the September, October, and November 1999 issues of QST.

The antennas for the QRP contact consisted of 10 and 12-foot TVRO type dishes. Details are available at Larkin’s web site, http://www.proaxis.com/~boblark/dsp10.htm.

If you or someone you know would like to take an examination, and don’t want to wait for the next hamfest, give me a call. My name is Deni at 630-986-0061. We can probably work something out to match our schedules.

The Live-Wire Group, and Amateur Radio organization in the USA, recorded the first “Liquid Antenna” to “Liquid Antenna” QSO today. Liquid antennas are a new concept developed on the Live-Wire Group and are currently being experimented with by the group’s members.

The QSO took place on St. Patrick’s Day, Saturday March 17, 2001, 1719 Zulu on SSB at 18,157.50mHz. The participating stations were WH2AAT in Orange Park, Florida and N9ZRT in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Both stations were operating on 10 foot tall by 2 inch wide “columns of ionic fluid” [In this case, concentrated saltwater]. Also participating in the QSO was W8ZU in Glen Rock, Pennsylvania who was using a conventional antenna.

Two Live-Wire Group members, N7PPF and KJ6AP, witnessed the QSO from their stations in Riverside, California and Vancouver, Washington, respectively.

Members of the Live-Wire Group have been experimenting with the Ionic Fluid Antennas [IFAs] for over six months and there have been excellent reports on the antenna’s performance. In most cases the liquid antennas are operated in the vertical position. The RF is fed into the base of the antenna through several three-inch long copper probes that are exposed to the conductive liquid.

Live-Wire members continue to experiment with this new antenna concept in various forms including liquid dipoles and “pump-able to resonant length” verticals.

The Live-Wire Group exists those Amateur Radio operators who enjoy experimenting with creative and simple antennas using “Yankee Ingenuity” often in portable-outdoor settings. There is no membership fee. The Live-Wire Group can be accessed via the Internet at http://www.wireservices.com/livewire.htm.

(hey Bob, “Take It Easy”, did you read about this “NEW” antenna?) - ed.

By C. Ennit Meiwiegh

“No, sir, I haven’t,” replied the bartender.

The boss replied, “Good, then you fire her!”

Two confirmed bachelors were sitting and talking. Their conversation drifted from one subject to another and finally to cooking.

“I got a cookbook once,” said the first, “but I could never do anything with it.”

“Too much fancy cooking in it, eh?” asked the second.

“You said it. Every one of the recipes began the same way — ’Take a clean dish and...’”

A woman accompanied her husband to the doctor’s office. After his checkup, the doctor called the wife into his office alone. He said, “Your husband is suffering from a very severe disease, combined with horrible stress. If you don’t do the following, your husband will surely die:

”Each morning, fix him a healthy breakfast. Be pleasant and make sure he’s in a good mood. For lunch make him a nutritious meal he can take to work. And for dinner prepare an especially nice meal for him.

Don’t burden him with chores, as this could further his stress. Don’t discuss your problems with him it will only make his stress worse. Try to relax your husband in the evening by wearing lingerie and giving him plenty of back rubs.

Encourage him to watch some type of team sporting event on TV. And, most importantly, make love with your husband several times a week and satisfy his every whim.

“If you can do this for the next 10 months to a year, I think your husband will regain his health completely.”

On the way home, the husband asked his wife, “What did the doctor say?”

“You’re gonna die,” she replied.

The club breakfast will be at the Olde Country Buffet (located at the intersection of Lemont Road and 75^th Street) on the 14^th of the month at 8:30 a.m. Come one, come all and meet the people behind the voices.