RADIOACTIVITIES
Newsletter of the Argonne Amateur Radio Club
Volume XLIII, Number 1 January, 2002

In This Issue...
A long time amateur radio resource is lost • How to build a usable J Pole from cheap parts! • and more!

CLUB MEETING
The January meeting of the AARC will be the 8th of the month, 12 noon in building 212 conference room. The program is not known at this time.

AMATEUR RADIO TRADER CALLS IT QUITS
from ARRL Letter
Amateur Radio Trader magazine is ceasing publication with its second November issue, which went out to subscribers November 20. "This was a difficult but necessary decision, due to the combined effects of the Internet on our print edition (the primary source of our Web content), and the economic climate," said the magazine's editor Barbara Patterson, KF4MVV, in a statement on the Amateur Radio Trader Web site http://www.amradiotrader.com.

"ART is no longer a viable product for us. We are redirecting the company's resources into other areas." Patterson told ARRL that the Amateur Radio Trader Web site also would be discontinued and that subscribers would be reimbursed for any outstanding issues. She said TAP Publishing Company, which owns the twice-monthly listing of classified ads had decided to put its energies into other areas.

Patterson apologized for any inconvenience and said the second November issue of ART would remain posted on the ART Web site through December 9th.

NEW COLLINS RADIO CENTER
Dr. Dave, W3ST writes
"The new Collins Radio Center which is the headquarters for the Collins Radio Association is now officially open for guests and visitors. Contact us at our email address: knepper@lenzlink.net so we can give you specific directions and schedule your visit.

Located near Johnstown, PA, the CRC includes a representative collection of Collins radio equipment, from the 1930's to the present. A 30K-1 transmitter is now being restored and should be on the air this winter. There are other classic and antique radios, tubes, etc. in the museum section as well as a technical library.

The CRC is on the air using the call W3CRA, which stands for the Collins Radio Association. The CRA website is www.collinsra.com and the Association publishes the "Collins Journal," the largest current Collins publication in the world. The CRA Collins nets are on 75 meters each Monday and Wednesday evening at 9 PM EST on a frequency of 3805 Khz and on 160 meters at 8 PM EST on 1900 Khz. Plans call for a 40 and 20 meter net once the Collins Radio Center antenna farm is complete with a new 6-element three band Yagi.

If you are interested in joining the Collins Radio Association, please do so as membership is free — there are no dues. Go to the CRA website to register.

The Collins Forum, which is hosted by the Collins Radio Association will be in Room 2, beginning at 9:30 AM on Friday inside the Hara Arena at the Dayton 2002 Hamvention."

ARGONNE AMATEUR RADIO CLUB
9700 S. Cass Ave.
Bldg. 222 - A253, Argonne IL 60439
—————
PRESIDENT
VICE PRESIDENT
V.P. IDAHO
SECRETARY
TREASURER
DIRECTOR
DIRECTOR
DIRECTOR
DIRECTOR		 Bruce Epperson KA9H
Charles Doose KB9UMF
 
Joe Kilar WB8THV
Dale Travis AG9H
Dennis Kelly K9LJK
Dick Konecny K9IB
Jim Specht W9GBL
Loren Thompson KB9CTJ
—————
e-mail: w9anl@bigfoot.com
http://www.bigfoot.com/~w9anl
   MEMBERSHIP is open to all who are interested in amateur radio. This club is sponsored by Argonne National Laboratory. Employees of ANL or DOE-Chicago are eligible for Full membership. Auxiliary membership is available to non-employees.

W9ANL/R is an open repeater, coordinated on 145.19 MHz (-600 input). The AARC repeater has been in operation on this frequency pair continuously since February 5, 1982.

W9ANL Packet node runs MSYS on 145.09 MHz.

CLUB NETS: 2 meter fm (1) Regular, every Monday evening at 9:00, and (2) the Night Patrol every night at 10:30, both on W9ANL/R. There is an open packet conference on W9ANL packet node every Monday evening at 8:00; type C at the BBS prompt. The Peanut Whistle Net (PWN) every Sunday at 1:30 p.m., and many evenings at 8:30 p.m. on 1932 kHz (cw/am/ssb), QRP.

   RADIOACTIVITIES is published monthly by the Argonne Amateur Radio Club as a nonprofit newsletter intended only for the use of its membership. Material appearing here does not represent the official position of Argonne National Laboratory or the U. S. Department of Energy. Please give credit to the author and to Radioactivities or the Argonne A.R.C., when using original material published here. Deadline for submissions normally is the fifteenth of the preceding month.
EDITOR
EVENTS
SKYWARN ACTIVITIES
PACKET RADIO
OCCASIONAL LAST PG		 Bruce Epperson KA9H
Lew Garrison WB9PGO
Deni Lamoreaux W9DS
Loren Thompson KB9CTJ
Bill Karraker W9AVE
Please send club and editorial correspondence to the above address, or to baepperson@anl.gov. Please include "AARC" in the subject.

Editorial
by Bruce A. Epperson, KA9H
As of the time that I write this (later December) it is not yet all that cold and there has been less than an inch of snow that has come down. But that still does not stop me from thinking that this is just not the time to be out of doors fooling around with antennae and such. Those frozen fingers just hurt too much, especially when they stop having any feeling at all in them. Can you say frostbite? January is just too good for that condition.

So it is in the shack that I spend more time. And when I do that it is time to do that maintenance that has been waiting, or it is time to get to that rig with the special repair needs, or it is on to building those 1282 Mc preamps that I have wanted so long.

This winter I also will be making some antennas for the higher bands, especially for 903 and 1296. They are small enough with their six and eight foot booms and tiny elements to be taken up and down my narrow basement stairs without a great deal of trouble.

Also on the agenda are a couple of two meter and 70cm J Pole verticals for some friends who need to get into their local repeaters but for whom commercial antennas are out of reach. Cheap to make and easy on the wallet they are just the ticket. See the article on page 3 for more details on how to build one for yourself.

The treasurer's computer:
by Dale Travis AG9H
Members: East 36; West 4; Associate 86; Newsletter 9; Retired 31
Balances: Checking $5551.39; Cash $0.00; ANL fund = $0.00
Distributed as: Club $1456.08; Equipment $1064.95; Repeater $1906.10; Packet $1124.26
For the period November 19, 2001 thru December 15, 2001:
Income: Dues $196.00; Club $154.98; Eqp $28.74 Rptr $41.16; Pkt $2.89; ANL $0.00
Expenses: Club $68.00; Eqp $0.00; Rptr $12.00; Pkt $0.00

38% of the full members and 48% of the associate members have signed up for 2002. There should be another 2002 membership application form included with this newsletter if you have not already signed up. If there is an X in the lower right corner of the mailing label, you have not paid for 2002 according to my records. The upper right corner of the mailing label is your AARC paid-through year.

Board Meeting Minutes
by Joe Kilar, WB9THV
December 11, 2001
Attendees:
Bruce Epperson (KA9H) President,
Joe Kilar (WB9THV) Secretary,
Dale Travis (AG9H) Treasurer
Chuck Doose (KB9UMF) Director,
Jim Specht (W9GBL) Director.

Christmas Party: The club Christmas Party was held on December 8 at Old Country Buffet. Bruce reported that 43 attended and had a good time.

Club Membership: Last month Dale and Joe had presented an analysis of membership numbers. In summary, they reported that membership peaked in 1993. We lost 30% since then, with a 20% loss (2/3rds of the total) occurring in the last 3 years. Full membership is down the most as a percentage. We discussed ways of finding the cause(s) and turning this trend around. Joe and a member who wrote a comment on his application both suggested a survey. We decided to survey current full members and people who had recently dropped their full membership. Joe will draft a survey, e-mail it to the board members, finalize it based on comments received, and then mail it via interoffice mail. We might also survey a cross-section or perhaps all of the remaining membership — we would decide this later. We will also consider increasing publicity by submitting fliers for the bulletin boards and news items to the Argonne News.

Election of Officers: Joe reported that about 15 completed ballots had been received in the club mailbox so far. Since the deadline for returning the ballots is December 12, the balloting will be compiled later in the week and the results submitted to the board members and newsletter editor at that time.

Meeting Dates: Due to the New Year's holiday, the January regular club meeting will be held on January 8 and the board meeting on January 15.

THE J POLE ANTENNA, INEXPENSIVE AND EASY TO BUILD.
I recently had the dubious honor of being volunteered to help a fellow ham set up his first station. It was easy locating a good used 2 meter mobile rig and power supply the budget would allow for without much problem but the antenna to turned out to be a little bit more of a challenge. Because of the relatively remote location a mobile antenna wouldn't do. I thought about the situation for a while and came up with the conclusion that some sort of omni-directional antenna would do the job but it would have to be low buck. Then I remembered a website that gave the dimensions for a two meter J Pole that would do the job and come in ok with the budget as well.

The diagram for building a J Pole for two meters is just below and comes to these page courtesy of the K4ABT, Buck Rogers website at www.packetradio.com.


As you can see from the diagram it is an easy antenna to build. The only caution that I will echo from K4ABT's website is to be careful when operating either the propane torch or large soldering iron. Don't burn anything up or down and for goodness sake don't burn yourself. Take all precautions PLEASE!

After getting that situation all squared away I went back to my own station to see what was next on the "To Do" list. One of things that was becoming bothersome was the inability to hear more than a few of the checkin stations in the DuPage club 6 meter net. The 5-element yagi was fine for talking to people in one direction but I knew I was going to wear out my rotator if I kept operating the way I was. So I needed an omni to hear everybody on the net and at the same time be vertical like everyone else. Two birds with one stone eh? I thought back to the 2 meter J Pole I had built and it hit me. Why not one for 6 meters as well? After a quick session with pad and pencil (the only computer that I can carry in my pocket and doesn't need batteries) I determined it was feasible.

When I next got the chance I went back to the website and took a look and what did I see? A six-meter J Pole all layed out. The plans for the six-meter version are below:


As you can see from the diagram it is an easy antenna to build. The only caution that I will echo from K4ABT's website is to be careful when operating either the propane torch or large soldering iron. Don't burn anything up or down and for goodness sake don't burn yourself. Take all precautions PLEASE!

After getting that situation all squared away I went back to my own station to see what was next on the "To Do" list. One of things that was becoming bothersome was the inability to hear more than a few of the checkin stations in the DuPage club 6 meter net. The 5-element yagi was fine for talking to people in one direction but I knew I was going to wear out my rotator if I kept operating the way I was. So I needed an omni to hear everybody on the net and at the same time be vertical like everyone else. Two birds with one stone eh? I thought back to the 2 meter J Pole I had built and it hit me. Why not one for 6 meters as well? After a quick session with pad and pencil (the only computer that I can carry in my pocket and doesn't need batteries) I determined it was feasible.

When I next got the chance I went back to the website and took a look and what did I see? A six-meter J Pole all layed out. The plans for the six-meter version are below:


If you need an omnidirectional for 6m, 2m, or 70cm and don't want to go to a lot of expense a J Pole just might be the one for you!

Mil's Corner for January
04 KA9PVD Paul Downers Grove, IL
07 KB9DBC Gregg Carol Stream, IL
08 N9WJI Raymond Naperville, IL
09 W9VWS Steve Clarendon Hills, IL
09 W9VCR Vernon Bourbonnais, IL
12 N0GVY Bill Estes Park, CO
14 WA9ZPM Mike Crestwood, IL
21 K9YHH Bill Downers Grove, IL
21 KA9BIO Charles Darien, IL
22 W9CLM Chuck Plainfield, IL
27 N9GF Gus Melrose Park, IL

WANT ADS

FOR SALE: Alliance Model HD73 rotator with Heathkit remote 4 way coax switch.
Telex model CD-45II rotator- NEW! Never used.
Tubes:811A, quantity of 6.
 813, quantity of 2 with sockets.
Homebrew 20 amp, 13.8 volt regulated power supply.
Stowaway deep discharge marine battery. 13.8 volts, 850 marine cranking amps, 180 reserve capacity minutes.
For these items see: Clem Scheibelhut, Phone 708-482-6721.
2 Meter Transceiver Sale

Buy the transceiver and receive at no charge a complete Packet Station (reg./turbo TNC, VDT, Polaroid Screen Mask, etc.)

Phone or email John, W9MVP for details.

Email = w9mvp@arrl.net

Phone = 847-823-8378
FOR SALE: 90-foot Rohn 25 tower. Many accessories, including rotor plate, fold-over base, anti-torque arms, turnbuckles, etc. $250

FOR SALE: Astron RS-70M Power Supply. Separate Amp & Volt meters. 57 amps continuous, 70 amps intermittent. Fold-back current limiting & crowbar overvoltage protection. $175.

Ron Hensel, K9ZE, 630-365-0213 or k9ze@aol.com.

THE ELECTION RESULTS ARE IN!

The ballots have been counted and the new slate of officers will be in place as of the 1st of January. They are as follows:

President:Bruce Epperson, KA9H
Vice President:Chuck Doose, KB9UMF
Secretary:Joe Kilar, WB9THV
Treasurer:Dale Travis, AG9H

We know these people will do well in their postions. Lets give them all the support that we can.

The club breakfast will be the 12th of January at the Old Country Buffet in Downers Grove at the intersection of 75th street and Lemont Road. Come have an eyeball qso with some of those voices out in the ether you speak with!

WHAT WAS HEARD JUST THE OTHER DAY.
(or at least what I can remember anyway.)
by C. Ennit Meiwiegh

Dear Abby:

My husband is a lying cheat. He tells me he loves me, but he has cheated our entire marriage. He is a good provider and has many friends and supporters. They know he is a lying cheat, but they just avoid the issue. He is a hard worker but many of his co-workers are leery of him. Every time he gets caught, he denies it all. Then he admits that he was wrong and begs me to forgive him. This has been going on for so long, everyone knows he is a cheat. I don't know what to do.

Signed,

Frustrated

Dear Frustrated:

You should dump him. Now that you are finally a New York Senator, you don't need him anymore.

Jones goes to see his supervisor in the front office.

"Boss," he says, "we're doing some heavy house-cleaning at home tomorrow, and my wife needs me to help with the attic and the garage, moving and hauling stuff."

"We're short-handed, Jones," the boss replies. "I can't give you the day off."

"Thanks boss," says Jones, "I knew I could count on you."