www.qsl.net/w1ee/ctsara.htm   
March 2003
THE SQUELCH BURST
a monthly publication of the
STAMFORD AMATEUR RADIO ASSOCIATION

President .......… Andy Laska .............. KA1SLG ........ 531-9493
Vice Pres .……..Fred Cunningham...... K1FC …......... 322-8274
Secretary .....…. Mike Cordelli .....…... N1FOA .…..... 838-3661
Treasurer ...…... Dick Finn .…..............WA1VUU ...... 323-0982
Trustee .......…... Jim Markus ... ........... N1ZFS .......... 316-8585
Editors .......…... Marv Fleischman ...... N1AWJ ....…... 438-7889
Mike Cordelli ........... N1FOA .....….. 838-3661
Dick Finn ..................WA1VUU …... 323-0982
Y.O.J.B. Ed..…. Marv Fleischman ..... N1AWJ ...….... 438-7889
Circ/Pub..…...... Dick Finn .................. WA1VUU …... 323-0982

Repeaters: W1EE/R........ 146.055 in; 146.655 out (PL. 1Z, 100Hz)
W1EE/R.... 442.125 in; 447.125 out (PL. 2A, 114.8Hz)
Internet Home Page at http://www.qsl.net/ctsara

Yearly membership $20.00 ($ 15.00 for retirees, senior members over 62, $10.00 for full time students, members under 16 years of age and members living over 100 miles from Stamford; $20.00 for family memberships.) This includes a copy of the club bulletin and a copy of the club roster.
Send your dues, membership applications, etc. to the club Treasurer, Dick Finn, WA1VUU, 27 Ivy St., Stamford CT 06902.
Non-commercial ads are printed in the SQUELCH BURST on a no charge basis, club members only. Send your ads for Ye Olde Jonque Boxxx and articles for the SQUELCH BURST to Marv Fleischman, N1AWJ, P.O. Box 113, Ridgefield, CT 06877-0113, or e-mail to n1awj@ att.net.
Unless noted, meetings are held on the first Thursday of every month in the 4th floor cafeteria of the Stamford Government Center, Tresser and Washington B'lvds., Stamford, CT. Meetings start at 8:00 P.M. Free parking in the Government Center garage with the entrance on Washington B'lvd.
The Stamford Amateur Radio Association is a tax exempt organization under section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue code.

PRESIDENTS MESSAGE

Its February already???? The winter has flown past for me, maybe being confined to the house has had something to do with it. The last time I was out by myself, it was November, gas was $1.30 a gallon and it was warm. Now a peek at the pump shows gas at over $1.70 a gallon, the news says were looking at war with three different nations, another space shuttle disaster, the state budget is a mess and, it looks like we aren't going to get to play on the 5 Mhz band. I suppose we can look on the bright side, it can't stay cold forever, tragedy leads to better safety measures, maybe the governor will figure out a way to lay off the senate and maybe the higher gas prices will get some of those mini-busses they call luxury SUV's off the road. The winter was also not kind to some of our club members, Chuck N1CML, had some heart trouble and I am told he is mending well.
Ernest KA1NGG had a touch of pneumonia and is getting better; Dick WA1VUU took a fall again and re-injured his leg. Every body pray that Mike N1FOA, Marv, and Fred hold together until I can get my legs back under me.
The New repeater should be in any day now, hopefully it will be up and running by the end of the month. I do not anticipate any problems the installation but it does need to be examined carefully to insure some thing was not overlooked.
Interesting fact, Cattle can only digest grass and leaves well. We fatten them up for beef by feeding them corn and grain resulting in them having upset tummies, four per critter. As a result, one half of the U.S.es total production of bicarbonate of soda goes to aiding their distress.

Keep warm, KA1SLG

With deep sadness we announce the passing of GNARC & SARA  Member Charles "Chuck" Ball, N1CML.

ASK ELMER

Dear Elmer,
What's with having so many kinds of transistors? It seems to me that their absolutely essential characteristics are only polarity,
gain, frequency cutoff. power handling capacity and material (SI or GE). Since childhood I've been under the impression that
polarities the same (NPN or PNP) if I substituted a 2N yak-yak-yak for a 2N bla-bla-bla, the circuit will POSITIVELY, ABSOLUTELY, STUBBORNLY will not work. Izzat so? Speak, O Guru, thy novice is listening.
Signed Finiky
Dear Finiky,

To answer your question we have to look at two worlds, that of the Technical and the Commercial. From the technical point of view, Transistors are designed and built to perform a specific job. In doing so, many parameters are considered which you did not mention. Other important parameters, if it is being used in an RF circuit is its noise figure and stability, if used for a precision DC amplifier is its leakage currents and gain stability with changing current, and we must also consider its construction (mesa, planar, grown junction, etc). This is only the tip of the iceberg. To illustrate a point, many years ago I was responsible for the design a gain controlled audio amplifier project which used then popular series of grown junction transistors. At the time, several manufacturers claimed to manufacture this particular family of transistors. The amplifier was designed and several prototypes were built and extensively tested. We even substituted the transistors from several manufacturers to make certain that the circuit was tolerant to the variations found the transistors available. We could not try every manufacturer, but at least six or seven were tried and were found problem free. The amplifier was released to manufacturing, and the companies purchasing department went out obtain the components. One transistor manufacturer presented a very attractive price for the transistors, and guaranteed them to meet the published minimum electrical specs. A very large quantity of the transistors was purchased and the amplifiers were built. When the amplifiers were tested, they all failed. After several days of investigation, it was found that the transistors used, met the gross electrical specifications of the device, but having been made by a significantly different process, did not meet the detailed electrical specifications. At the time, some manufacturers were retesting the devices they made and if they met the gross electrical specs of a particular transistor, repackaging them, marking them and selling them with that part number even though they a significantly different part. Fortunately, that is not happening today. Does that mean that a transistor with a different part number will not work in your circuit? No, it does not. If the circuit is non critical, a device which meets the gross electrical specs will probably work fine. This is the basis of the replacement grade transistors (type SK, and NTE, etc.) available from many parts distributors. If, on the other hand the transistor is used in the input stages of a communication receiver or other critical application, then the exact part must be used, or one whose specifications very closely match that of the original device. On the commercial side, it is sometimes important to have a device, which is unique to a specific manufacturer. At one time, it was fairly easy and inexpensive to register a transistor and have a 2NXXX number assigned. Minor differences in the case or electrical specifications would qualify it as a new device. This was used for many years as a marketing ploy to get engineers to design in a manufacturers unique device. There are currently over 8000 registered 2N, 3N devices, of which, maybe 20% of them are unique electrically, and the others are minor variations either mechanically or electrically. These days it is somewhat more expensive and difficult to register a new device; so many manufacturers are relying upon house numbers, rather than formal registration. This permits them to claim unique characteristics for their devices, and copy write their part number so other manufacturers cannot use it. Fortunately, for all concerned, the detailed electrical and mechanical specifications for
most devices are available. This permits the engineer or technician to make an informed decision as to whether they must use a
specific device or can substitute a generic one. Most often, for simple projects, most any of several transistor types will work
without any difficulty.
Well Finicky, you must be the judge. Try it and find out. That is the fun of experimenting. Just remember, that smoke makes electronic equipment work. When you release the smoke, it stops working. Do not release the the Smoke !
73,
Elmer
Send your questions to “ASK ELMER”, c/o Marv Fleischman, N1AWJ, PO Box 113, Ridgefield, CT 06877-0113 or e-mail to [email protected].REPEATER FUND
Donations to the repeater fund has been very gratifying. The club gratefully thanks all those that have contributed. Contributions
are still being accepted for the Repeater Fund. Remember that these are tax deductible, albeit on next years taxes.
73, The Repeater Committee

EMPIRE SLOW SPEED NET
Join the Empire Slow Speed CW Net every evening on 3590 KHz at 6PM local time. CW speed is between 6 and 8 wpm. A great way to
improve your CW proficiency and learn net operation. Joe, W1LUH is one of the rotating Net
Control stations.

YE OLDE JONQUE BOXXX

ICOM IC-2AT 2m HT w/Charger, Batty., & SS-32MP micro-min. CTCSS Encoder kit, VGC, $100; Simpson 260 VOM, VGC, $50.
Call Geoff, N1CAT, (203) 966-7444 evenings
HALLICRAFTER SX-28A RECEIVER, recapped, $275. Works good.
Call Joe, N1GWO, (203) 322-4061 Evenings
PARTS GALORE- Xerox 3000 Word Processor (antique) w/transformer,
p/s, etc., connection to Diablo printer. FOR FREE!!! Take it away!
Call Mike, KA1VWP, (203) 838-8089
AOR 1000 XLT, 1000 Channel HH Scanner, 5KHz to 1.3 GHz cont. coverage. Exc. cond. $ 275.
Call Rick, N1LYK, (203) 531-1756
YAESU FT-757 GXII, HF Rig, FP 757 HD Power Supply, FC 757 AT Tuner
and MD 1B8 Desk Mike.
Call George, N1HIX, (203) 357-1879
Mac Laserwriter printer, best offer.
Call Jeanine, KY1Q, (203) 324-6865
FatMac Computer w/ 1Meg Ram, Free!!!; FOR PARTS..Olevetti Accounting Machine. FREE!!!!! Take it away!!!
Call Marv, N1AWJ, (203) 438-7889
HD-73 ROTOR w/CONTROL & CABLE, $50; Cushcraft 10-40M Vert. Ant., $15; Heathkit Station Monitor Mod. 614, $50. 2 South Bend 7.5 HP
Go-Cart Engines. Call for Info.
Call Irv, N1ATS, 348-3425 or e-mail [email protected]
2M 30W AMPLIFIER, $25; 6M Amplifier, 10W in 150W out, $175: AM6155 2M SSB Amplifier, 8930 Tube based, Cavity Tuned, 400 W Out (not
cont. duty) $325.
Call Andy, KA1SLG, (203) 531-9493
MFJ ANTENNA TUNER A-1 Cond. $100; Cushcraft R4 Ant , New, $25; ¼ ? Mag. Mt. Ant., $12; ? ? Mag. Mt. Ant, $15, ? ? Trunk Mt. Ant.,
$10; Measurements Grid Dip Meter, $25; HP Signal Gen.; $15; Code Pract. Mach., $15
Call Milt, K2DLT, (203) 324-2723
MICROTEK SCANMAKER, Flat Bed Scanner Mod. E3 w/cables, software and ISA SCSI card. FREE to a good home
Call Dick, WA1VUU, (203) 323-0982
B&W TVI FILTER Model FL-10/1500 $20; Heath Cantenna, Dummy Load Model HN31, 50 Ohm Non-Reactive, 1 KW Oil Filled, $20.
Call AL, AG1B at (203) 322-3621
DIAMOND CP-6, 6 Band Trapped Vertical, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10 & 6M (tuner req'd, for 80M), $125; Comet CX-333, 3 Band Vert., 2M, 220 &
440, Like New, No Tuning Req'd., $ 100. Triplexer for use w/Comet Ant w/Leads $60.
Call Chris, N1YNO at (203) 359-0570 evenings
Send all your ad's for YE OLDE JONQUE BOXXX to Marv Fleischman, N1AWJ, PO Box 113, Ridgefield, CT 06877. E-mail to
[email protected]. Ad's must be in by the meeting night of the month prior to the publication. (December meeting for January
publication)
You can also add items to the: CTSARA & GNARC Message Board