RADIOACTIVITIES Newsletter of the Argonne Amateur Radio Club
Volume XLIII, Number 4	April, 2002

According to Hittendebotl these new devices can generate and receive RF from just under 1kHz to over 100GHz. All modes are built in to the devices as one of their standard functions. Power outputs range from 5 watts to several kilowatts depending on the power supply, cooling, and device package.

&%147;These devices will simplify the design of two way radio equipment in the not too near future. They will make it possible to produce a transceiver with a very low parts count and you will need just one!” Hittendebotl said in an interview last wendysday.

These devices are set to be released to distributors April 1.   --.  ---  -  _.  .-  .-.-.-

Several modes were demonstrated to the visitors including slow scan television, morse code, APRS, fast scan television and even fox hunting.

With the exception of the fox hunting all of the exhibits were located in the library of the Pierce Downer Elementary School in Downers Grove. The school had several rooms to visit and each had a different scientific exhibit to see and experience.

The fox hunt was held in the playground of the school with one of the adults hiding the “transmitter in a Altoids tin” and the children moving as a team to find it. They used a h.t. with s meter and small yagi to dope out the direction. They found it a bunch of fun. Especially when we allowed them to hide the “fox” and let us look for it. Only problem was they buried it and I have to admit it took some sharp eyes to find it. And we were so close we could have fallen on top of it!

But first we have asked the people that coordinate repeaters to give us an indication into what frequencie pairs are available. Very important to know what is available in the band.

Next we would have to acquire the receivers, transmitters, controllers, and other equipment that would be necessary. We have to know what it is going to cost us to do this thing before we take that plunge.

I would like to hear from all of you as to what you think.

Field Day: Bruce stated that we cannot use Argonne for our Field Day site this year. We agreed that the site must have public access for up to 20-30 people. Several possible sites were suggested and discussed. Bruce is going to see if the military N.G. site might be a possibility. Chuck will check into the Campground on Bluff Road, the airport and Green Valley as possible locations for Field Day. We need tents, pop-up trailers, and/or campers that day. Bruce and/or Chuck will announce this need in the next newsletter.

Membership Survey: Joe distributed copies of the membership surveys results subsequent to those discussed last month from full members who are currently Lab employees. Joe had so far received 18 responses from current members outside the Lab. Additionally, there were four responses from people within the Lab who had let their memberships lapse within the last few years. Since Joe had just sent the survey to hams outside the Lab who had let their membership expire recently, there were no responses received yet. We discussed the results, particularly suggestions for improvement and reasons why ex-members had dropped out of the club. We decided to immediately start investigating a suggestion proposed by multiple respondents, a 440 MHz repeater (see below). Next month Joe will finalize the results and write up a summary in an article for the May newsletter. We will also continue discussion of some other feasible suggestions that might have merit.

440 MHz Repeater: We decided to start investigating the possibility of having a 440 MHz club repeater. Bruce and Chuck volunteered to initiate this effort. They will begin by first checking that an available repeater frequency pair exists.

Bruce stated that March 21 would be the deadline for April newsletter items.

(Thanks to Chuck, KB9UMF, for taking notes for the first portion of the meeting about Field Day before I could arrive.)

1) Monitor the repeater to become familiar with its operation. Ours has a nose time; when you key it up give it a brief period to come up or the beginning of your transmission will be lost. This is a very popular error. And don’t forget that there is a three minute timer.

2) To initate a contact simply indicate that you are on a frequency. There is no need to identify the repeater or its frequency as the repeater identifies itself and everyone should know what frequency they are listening on.

3) Identify legally: you must identify at the end of a single transmission, series of transmissions or at least every ten minutes during the communication. The keying up of the repeater to see if you are reaching it or if the equipment is working without identifying is illegal!

4) Pause between transmissions!!!!! This allows others the chance to get in and break for an emergency as one example. Timing out the repeater happens but doing it consistently with long winded monologues is uncalled for. One example monitored recently went almost 3 minutes OVER the 3 minute limit!! What if someone needed help? It is usually more fun when everyone feels they are in the conversation and not being broadcast to instead. Keeping your transmissions short and thoughtful will prevent someone with an emergency from not getting the help that they need whether during severe weather or during the commuting times.

5) Don’t break into a contact unless you have something to add or it is a roundtable(net) that expects people to join in. Especially when you do not identify.  (see #3)

6) Repeaters are intended primarily to facilitate mobile operations. Please act accordingly.

7) Remember at ALL times to use common sense and courtesy as there are many listening but not talking at any time on a repeater. The non ham public listens to us on scanners and we would want to present a good image.

We are all sharing the airwaves so lets all start trying to do it in the best way we can so that others will want to join in and enjoy the fun with us! We all make mistakes and we are all still learning no matter the operating experience or license class.           73

For sale:
Model 2190A BK Precision 100 MHz, Dual TimeBase Three Channel Oscilloscope. Little used, original box, original packing, Instruction Manual. B+K Precision’s Guidebook to Oscilloscopes, Oscilloscope Probe Kit PR-37A. Tested on February 16, 2002 and it works. Reasonable Best Offer.

For more information call Jeanne at (815) 436-5636 or email wd9agr@arrl.net.

I’m sure most of us Hams have built a crystal set radio or two. The crystal set is a radio receiver in its most simple form. When we build crystal sets today we usually use a 1N34 or equivalent germanium diode as the detector. The 1N34 is a very good detector it has a low forward voltage drop and its characteristics are very stable. Some of us might even use galena with a cat’s whisker to see what it was like in the good old days. The early wireless telegraphy pioneers sure didn’t have it as well as we do today.

What did wireless experimenters use as a detector before B.F. Miessner invented the cat’s whisker detector in 1910 and before Fleming invented the diode in 1904?

Thanks to John Jenkins for the use of the images noted. John has a wonderful wireless website the URL is listed in the footnotes. The American Museum of Radio, which was started in 1989 by the President Jonathon Winter is now a collaboration of Mr. Winter and Mr. Jenkins and a board of radio historians the URL to the museum is: http://www.antique-radio.org.

I would also like to thank Karin and Arjan from the World of Wireless Website. They have a very good site with a section on early detectors.

02		N9ASC		Bill		South Elgin, IL
03		WA9PUE		Roger		Burr Ridge, IL
05		K9ILX		Bruce		Chicago, IL
05		N9GZX		Richard		Willowbrook, IL
19		WB9WOC		Jerry		Kankakee, IL
19		KA9PMZ		Robert		Dade City, FL
22		N9SXG		Georgiann		Glen Ellyn, IL
30		W9BOD		Wes		Skokie, IL