|
SIERRA AMATEUR RADIO CLUB MEETINGS Monday SARC Emergency Net Every Monday 1930 hrs WA6YBN translator 146.64 MHz (-600 kHz) Visitors welcome Apr 1 Board of Officers Meeting First Wednesday Heritage Inn 1715 hrs Apr 8 Membership Meeting Second Wednesday Heritage Inn Flight Deck Room 1930 hrs Program: Mars Pathfinder & NAWC by Mike Herr WA6ARA May 6 Board of Officers Meeting First Wednesday Heritage Inn 1715 hrs May 13 Membership Meeting Second Wednesday Heritage Inn Flight Deck Room 1930 hrs Program: Six Meter Over the Horizon Propagation by Ron Ogren WA6PEV Jun 3 Board of Officers Meeting First Wednesday Heritage Inn 1715 hrs Jun 10 Membership Meeting Second Wednesday Heritage Inn Flight Deck Room 1930 hrs Program: TBA Jun 27-28 Field Day Mike Cash KN6IS 375-4441 |
PUBLIC SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES May 8-9 Rim of the World Auto Rally Call Mike N6PYM or Paula N6OQQ Gibeault at 375-8704 See article May 9-10 Death Valley to Mt. Whitney Bicycle Race Call Elvy Hopkins NØLV at 384-3589 to volunteer for one or both days May 2,3 Northern California ACS Emergency Response Institute Sacramento Calif. Dave Larton 408-778-7265 www.garlic.com/oes/erihome.htm Lloyd Brubaker WA6KZV 375-7245 LICENSE CLASSES AND EXAMS Apr 11 Volunteer License Exam Session Kern County Library, Ridgecrest Branch, Meeting Room, 131 East Las Flores Ave. Written exam 0900 hrs, Code test 1100 hrs Call NØLV 384-3589 May 28 Volunteer License Exam Session Cerro Coso Community College 1800 hrs Novice, Tech & Tech Plus Elements 1A, 2 & 3A only Pre-registration is required Call Bill Maraffio N6PR 446-4165 Jun 13 Volunteer License Exam Session Kern County Library, Ridgecrest Branch, Meeting Room, 131 East Las Flores Ave. Written exam 0900 hrs, Code test 1100 hrs Call NØLV 384-3589 |
FROM THE PRESIDENTS SHACK
by Charlie Hawthorne KE6WQR
Field Day is coming up again. The fourth weekend in June is not far away. The past two years, SARC members have participated in the one put on by the Lake Isabella Club. Now one of our members, Mike Cash KN6IS, is coordinating a Field Day right here in the Indian Wells Valley.
The mention of a Field Day held in Ridgecrest brings out all sorts of comments from the members, both yea and nay, but it appears that it is going to happen this year. So, it is time to put away the doubts and criticisms and pitch in and make it work.
Something like this does not happen because one man says that he will take on the responsibility. It happens because people support him and work to make it happen. Without people to carry out the various parts of an effort, it just dies on the vine. Good things do not just happen; they are planned for and worked toward.
If you can spare any time or resources, please contact Mike and let's work together to make the 1998 SARC Field Day a memorable one.
MEETING PROGRAM
Mars Pathfinder & NAWC Wed. 8 April
NAWC, China Lake was very much
involved with the development of the
Mars Pathfinder spacecraft which
landed on Mars 4 July, 1997. Mike Herr
WA6ARA was deeply involved in
testing, problem solution and hardware
fabrication. Mike will also brief us on
Pathfinder radio resources and future
plans to explore Mars. A Ham
transponder on Mars? Attend the April
meeting for this interesting program.
ARRL 10 GHz AND UP CONTEST
Two local Hams scored high in the
ARRL's 1997, national, 10 GHz and UP
DX Cumulative Contest.
Bill Burns WA6QYR earned 14,816 points for second place overall. He had 86 QSOs with 23 other Hams at distances up to 473 km on 10 GHz and 134 km on 24 GHz. Bill's 473 km, 10 GHz contact was between Heap's Peak and the San Joaquin Valley.
Chuck Swedblom WA6EXV totaled 14,040 points for third place nationally with 102 QSOs to 23 Hams at distances up to 390 km on 10 GHz and 129 km on 24 GHz.
This contest was held on the third weekends of August and September with scores being cumulative. Bill and Chuck were "rovers" on the first weekend moving about the desert setting up at different locations and working some known locations and some targets of opportunity. The second weekend they went to Heap's Peak, above Lake Arrowhead north of San Bernardino, to work "rovers" and operators at other known high elevations.
PUBLIC SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES
Rim of the World Auto Rally 8-9 May
by Paula Gibeault N6OQQ
It is time for the 1998 Rim of the World Pro Rally. This event, organized by Mike N6PYM and Paula N6OQQ Gibeault, is in its fifteenth year and once again promises just about every type of adventure a special event can provide. Pro Rallies are definitely not your tame street rally. These are flat-out, time trial competitions on twisty, cliffy, rocky dirt fire roads.
The majority of amateurs working the rally or tracking the cars get a front row view of the rally racers blasting down dirt roads. Others work net control for their own stage and some get to ride along in the organizers' cars. And then there is the intrepid packet crew who do a beautiful job of sending all scores from the field to headquarters, thereby allowing the rally scores to be final before the cars even get back to the finish.
Rim of the World will take place Friday and Saturday May 8 and 9 starting in Palmdale and running in the Angeles National Forest south of that city. If any of the various positions sound interesting to you, please give Mike and Paula a call at 375-8704 or e-mail them at gibeault@ridgecrest.ca.us All workers receive a very nice T-shirt and a $20 room rebate toward a motel room, each night, if needed. We hope to hear from you.
Death Valley to Mt. Whitney 9-10 May
Now is not too early to begin thinking
about this two day, nationally known
bicycle race from Stovepipe Wells in
Death Valley to Whitney Portals above
Lone Pine. It is an early and long
Saturday and ninety miles from home
on Sunday. There is a free picnic in Lone
Pine on Saturday. Call Elvy Hopkins
NØLV at 384-3589 for information.
RFI PROBLEMS
by Mike Cash KN6IS
"Hi, can't make it to the phone right now, so leave a message". How may times have you heard that annoying message? Well that is not the only thing annoying about the good old answering machine.
For months I have been having RFI problems on the 147.00 MHz repeater output frequency. When I was home I had a constant S-9 noise level on that frequency. When I got over 100 feet from the house the noise was gone. I first thought that the interference was coming from my neighbors house. They have an electric fence. During the power outage in the valley last month I checked again and the noise was still there. What gives? What could be interfering with my radio if no one in the valley has electrical power and there are no generators running in the area?
Several more weeks went by and still no solution. I happen to be talking to Elvy Hopkins NØLV one day and told him about my dilemma. Elvy suggested that I start checking my kids toys that may have batteries or maybe a clock or any other electronic device that has battery backup. So I started checking with my hand held and as I walked around the house the signal is S-9 in the family room and living room. Some how I need to attenuate the signal so I can locate the source. I get a smaller whip antenna, no luck. I get an even smaller antenna, two inches, still no luck. The signal is still to strong to pin point the source. I remove the antenna and now I can't get any signal.
I finally put a three foot piece of RG-58 coax with a BNC on one end where the antenna goes and start a new search. Looks like the RFI source may be the phone or answering machine. I unplug the power source and no change. The RFI is still there. How can this be? I look at the phone, no batteries. I look at the digital answering machine and, low and behold, I find a nine volt backup battery. I remove the battery and the RFI disappears. After three months, I can now hear the 147.00 repeater from home.
Now if I can just figure out why I get a one second rep rate click on my HF rig on all frequencies when there is no power to the house, I will have it made.
REPEATER HAPPENINGS
Mike Hugo KA6OIJ was recently
questioned about the progress on
moving the 147.00 MHz machine off of
El Paso Peak, linking it to the Randsburg
repeater and getting the autopatch
working. The following, his reply, might
be called "A day in the life of a repeater
guru."
With government travel and other hobbies getting in the way, I still have not gotten 147 to come to the top of my priority stack.
I was successful, last month, in getting Tom's (Skeer) repeater (KD6IQJ, 447.025 MHz) link to Trona and a six meter remote base installed. There is still some clean up work to do on the system and some additional programming of the controller to allow the six meter link some control from the Trona repeater (WB6LYB 146.97 MHz). There is also a possibility of doing some clean up work on the audio of the Trona repeater Once that project got off my priority stack, I have been working on the Condor (W5WH 224.98 MHz) repeater that has been off the air for year now. The repeater was knocked off the air by maintenance personnel from KRAJ/KLOA radio (they are both owned by the same persons) moving the equipment and breaking it in the process. There was also some feed line problems. At a swap meet a few months ago, I purchased three twelve inch high, self contained racks. One of them has been used to repackage the radio, link radio, controller, duplexers and pass cans. The new rack will fit much easier into the very small space available on El Paso Peak and should discourage tampering.
There was also a problem with the controller. It would occasionally lock up. Embarrassing as it is, the problem was a pack of field mice living next to warm heat sink and doing their business on the controller. The circuit board was carefully washed with soap and water and solder reflowed. I still need to reprogram the controller and spend an afternoon up on the hill fixing feed line problems.
The main reason why this has taken as long as has is Bill and I had a minor political problem with the rest of the Condor System owners. Though not major and certainly not worse than any other political problem that I face on a routine basis with Ham radio, it didn't serve to motivate me to get the repeater fixed. I expect to get the repeater completely done next weekend and possibly on the hill the following weekend or the weekend after.
I still have not gotten 147.00 MHz repeater to come to the top of my priority stack with travel and other hobbies getting in the way Once I get that done then I will start to work on 147 and the move.
The first order of business will be to assemble the 440 link system. I have the required crystals, duplexer, radio, controller and rack. The only things I still need to purchase are a power supply and a set of crystals for the Randsburg link tranceiver. I also need to figure out what the parts I have are worth and pass the cost on to SARC. The most expensive item is the duplexer which was acquired through a series of horse trades with a Ham friend of mine down in Riverside. He is the owner of a very large private link system and I traded him a few radios and various junk parts for the duplexer. Once I get the 440 link system complete we will have work party to install it. Once installed I will go to Randsburg and do a PM on it, install the link radio and upgrade the software in the controller. When this happens there will be an autopatch on the Randsburg repeater via the link.
I will then go to Laurel and remove the 147 and take it to my house for a few weeks to rework the repeater and change the wiring harness to accept a direct connection to the 440 link. Once done the 147 will get moved to where the link radio is sitting and the system will be complete.
IN THE MILL
Field Day Field Day Field Day
Field Day 1998 will be June 27 and 28. Mike Cash KN6IS has jumped at the invitation to head up the effort to hold SARC Field Day at the Leroy Jackson park in Ridgecrest.
The object of Field Day is to work as many stations as possible on any or all amateur bands (excluding the 30, 17 and 12 meter bands) and, in doing so, to learn to operate in abnormal situations under less-than-optimum conditions. A premium is placed on skills and equipment developed to meet the challenge of emergency preparedness and to acquaint the public with the capabilities of Amateur Radio.
The SARC tower trailer with it's three element, tri-band beam will dominate the park skyline. Wire antennas will burden the trees. Weird concoctions of wire, rope, coax and strange little boxes will be strung from poles of various materials. Computers, gas lanterns, tents, not to mention transceivers and the full gamut of Ham gear will live in the park for twenty-four hours of attack on the RF spectrum. A Saturday evening picnic and BBQ is in the planning stage. We wouldn't want to let McDonald's bring any civility to this all out assault on the ether.
Contact Mike Cash at 375-4441 if you would like to be an operator, be a logger, help set up, help tear down, kibitz, cook, take pictures, take videos or participate in any manner.
Experience is not required. Field Day is where experience is gained.
RF Exposure Document Package
RF exposure rules have been in effect
for amateur radio since 1 January 1998.
FCC Part 97 has been updated to include
Section 97.13(c) which begins "Before
causing or allowing an amateur station
to transmit from any place where the
operation of the station of the station
could cause human exosure to levels of
radiofrequency (RF) radiation in excess
af that allowed under---."
The latest and only acceptable FCC form 610 (September 1997) contains the following. "I certify that: I have READ and WILL COMPLY WITH Section 97.13(c) of the Commission's Rules regarding RADIOFREQUENCY (RF) RADIATION SAFETY and the amateur service section of OST/OET Bulletin Number 65." (Yes, upper case is on the form.) Applicant's signature is the next line. Any use of a form 610 requires certification of RF safety compliance and all Hams will have to certify compliance no later than 1 September 2000.
The ARRL magazine, QST, has two excellent articles. "What's New About the FCC's New RF-Exposure Regulations?" in the October 1997 issue. The January 1998 issue has "FCC RF Exposure Regulations--the Station Evaluation" which guides the Ham through a sample station evaluation using generalized tables. The Feedback column in QST for February 1998 has corrections for three values in Table 6 of the January article.
The ARRL has recently published "RF Exposure and You" which can be reviewed and purchased from http://www.arrl.org/catalog/6621/. Part of the ARRL description is: "This book was written to communicate one simple message: For the vast majority of Amateur Radio operators, the RF exposure rules are not difficult to understand and follow. This book has what you need--the background information, suggestions and worksheets to help you to comply with the new RF exposure rules. With this information, you will be able to operate your station legally and safely--and you will be able to operate."
What FCC documents must be read? What must be complied with? How is it done? These questions can be answered by studying the following three FCC documents.
FCC Rules, Part 97, Amateur Radio Service is the U. S. Government document which governs amateur radio. A current version of this document should be in every Hams shack. Thirty-seven pages Internet source: Go to http://www.fcc.gov/wtb/. Under Consumer Information click on Rules and Regulations. In the Search Terms box enter 47CFR97 using upper case and no spaces. Click the SUBMIT box. Scroll to item 73 (This number might change.) at the bottom of the page to find [1997] 47CFR97--PART 97--AMATEUR RADIO SERVICE. Click on one of the three document format icons. Follow download instructions. FCC Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) Bulletin 65 "Evaluating Compliance with FCC Guidelines for Human Exposure to Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields" is the FCC's complete document on RF exposure hazard computation and compliance for all radio and television services. Eighty-five pages. FCC Supplement B to OET Bulletin 65 sub-titled "Additional Information for Amateur Radio Stations" is written expressly for Hams, at ARRL request, to assist in and simplify the computations and evaluation. It is not a stand-alone document and has references to Bulletin 65 which must also be used. Sixty-one pages plus four work sheets.
Internet source for both documents above: Go to http://www.fcc.gov/oet/rfsafety/. Click on OET Bulletin 65. This takes you to http://www.fcc.gov/oet/info/documents/bulletins/#65. Choose the document and format desired. Click on them. Follow download instructions. Not on the internet? Don't want to wear out your printer? Don't want to fight with the government printing office? You are wondering where do I get hard copies these documents? Be not alarmed. Bill Burns WA6QYR has a complete set of the above documents. He will have them copied for you with advance payment of approximately $9.00. Contact Bill at 375-8566 or e-mail bburns@ridgecrest.ca.us.
Cerro Coso License Class
The spring semester CCCC Amateur
Radio (Technician) License class has
eight members. The instructor, Tim
Lyons KF6LCH, is asking for IWV Hams
with special interests or skills,
applicable to the class, to volunteer to
make a presentation in the class. You
may contact Tim at 375-9886.
Show and Tell Program
Have you constructed a neat, one of a
kind, magic black box? Are you
exploring another of the myriad of RF
toys available to Hams? Have you
written a technical paper that is of
interest to Hams? Do you have a special
expertise that is RF applicable? The
SARC second vice president and
program chairman, Larry Merwin
KE6YLG, is considering a Show and Tell
meeting program consisting of several
short subjects presented by members.
Call him at 384-3180 if you want to
contribute a short subject or do a
demonstration.
Electronic Form 610
Well, not really a form 610, but it does
some of the job a lot quicker if you are
on the internet. The FCC's Electronic
Renewal Form 900 can be used to: (a)
renew your amateur radio license (b)
change mailing address (c) change
licensee's name. Go to
http://www.fcc.gov/wtb/electcom.html
and click on Electronic Renewal Form
(Form 900) to begin. After submission
how does one tell if the form was
received and acted upon? Simple, go to
Form 900 Electronic Renewal Query, just
below the form 900, and click to initiate
an action query.
TREASURERS REPORT from Mark Rosenthal N6BVP
As of 10 March Share account $2,444.09 Draft account $1,978.51 Total $4,422.60 Obligated funds Relocate 147.00 repeater $1,200.00 Balance $3,226.60
Tried 10 meters lately? Its opening up.
OLD BUSINESS
Board of Officers Meeting Minutes
by Secretary Tom Ingram WB6EPD
March 4, 1998, 1715 hrs. Those present: 1st VP David Stone KC6UUR, 2nd VP Larry Merwin KE6YLG, Secy. Tom Ingram WB6EPD, Treas. Mark Rosenthal N6BVP and AIRWAVES editor Elvy Hopkins NØLV.
Mike Cash has agreed to lead the Field
Day effort this year. The Board voted to
pay the $25.00 fee required to reserve
Leroy Jackson Park. Kern County
requires a proof of insurance letter that
lists Kern County Parks & Recreation as
an alternate. A Proof of Insurance letter
(without KCP & R as alternate) will be
provided to see if that is sufficient.
Bill Burns WA6QYR has provided an RF
exposure document package to the club.
The club will reimburse Bill for $11.94
copying costs. The cost of reproducing
this bulletin is $8.20 per copy.
Information for those wishing to
purchase a copy of the RF bulletin will
be placed in the next newsletter.
Upcoming programs that needed to be
scheduled were provided by Larry.
They are six meter Sporadic E & Meteor
Scatter by Ron Ogren WA6PEV, Portable
Repeater/setup demo by Greg Roush
WA7IRW and SHARES/MARS Federal
level HF emergency communications by
Lloyd Brubaker WA6KZV. The order was
decided by the board and will be
published upcoming newsletters.
Elvy announced that the April
newsletter would be mailed during the
first week of April as usual.
Ed Tipler WA6KYZ declined any rent for
the 147.00 MHz repeater site. The
phone at that site is now classified as a
business phone. Phone bills will
monitored in the future to see if the
club needs to pay for some service.
Letters of appreciation need to be sent
to the Heritage Inn (meeting room)and
the Kern County Library (volunteer
exam room) toward the end of this year.
Chuck Pierce WA6QFD will bring a video
and models for the six meter radio
control program at the March general
meeting. The Death Valley - Mt Whitney
bike race was discussed.
The meeting was adjourned at 1740 hrs.
FOR SALE FOR SALE FOR SALE
Antenna tower, fifty-five feet, three section, crank up, free standing, Tristao TX455 (18 sqft at 50 mph), $600
Antenna Tuner, AEA Model QT-1 300 watt with internal dummy load $70
Desk microphone, Shure 444D $50
Power supply 14.4 VDC, 16 cont. 20 ICS AMP, Astron RS20A $85
Low Pass Filter 1000 watt $20
Tube tester, US Govt. surplus, nice one, $45
HF transceiver, collectors item, vacuum tube (Remember DeForest valves?), 100 Watts, Yaesu FTdx560, with matching speaker $125
Box of miscellaneous new and used vacuum tubes, $25. All items very clean and undamaged.
Proceeds from the sale of these items will go to the Fire Mountain Scholarship Fund for Communications and Engineering at Cerro Coso Community College in memory of "Maggie" Pladsen WA6RFJ, now a silent key.
Call Bob Huckins W6UPI 760-375-7655, e-mail w6upi@ridgecrest.ca.us.
FOR SALE FOR SALE FOR SALE
Hewlett-Packard Scope, model 140 with plug-ins and manuals, needs power supply diode $25
Hewlett-Packard Test Oscillator model 650A with manual $25
Dentron Super Tuner antenna tuner $50
Texas Instruments 8086 computer with color monitor, no keyboard - great for packet $25
Tempo 2 meter HT (Henry Radio), 6 channel rock-bound, great for simplex $15
Cobra model 138 CB tranceiver, works but needs final transistor replaced $25
Heathkit oscilloscope model O-10 w/manual $10
Heathquit Audio VTVM - real nice $15
Griefkit VTVM Multimeter model V7 $10
Heathkit Visual-Aural Signal Gen. $10
Heathkit RF Generator model SG-8, manual $10
Heathkit Audio Oscillator model AO-1, manual, needs knob $5
Heathkit Electronic Switch for single trace scope $5
Okidata printer, wide carriage, dot matrix $10.
The following are FREE for pickup at my
house.
Monochrome monitor for PC:
Texas Instruments dot matrix printer,
has problems
Courier 2400 baud
modem
Manual for Heathkit model TS-
4A TV Alignment Generator
Manual for
Fluke 8030A Digital Multimeter.
Contact Claude Wood WA6YSQ 377-5558, e-mail cmwood@iwvisp.com.
See ya in the funnys paperz.
de NØLV