November 2002 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/w1ee/ctsara.htm
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.
TREASURER'S REPORT AS OF 13 OCTOBER, 2002 INCOME EXPENSE Int. 6.76 Postage 108.27 50/50 8.00 Phone 25.80 Donation 8.00 ______ ______ Totals $ 22.76 $134.07 Balances: Checking $605.09 Savings $3,977.96 De WA1VUU
PRESIDENTS MESSAGE The Nutmeg convention fell on a less than spectacular day this year. It was a little chilly and a fine mist fell all day long driving away all but hardened tailgaters. Inside the Mountainside Resort, it was pretty full of vendors selling the usual assortment of junk and treasure. A few computer related tables, some tables with commercial two-way gear, Lentini's, KJI electronics, East coast Amateur Radio, and Battery tech were the stores present. East coast had 'workman' brand antennas, a dual band, 2m/ 70 cm, base station antenna about 9 feet long for $60. It looks identical to the antenna I just bought, only its about $30 less. If it works as well as mine it quite a bargain and for almost $100 less than a diamond of the same size I'm sure almost anyone could live with the difference in gain. Many different manufacturers were offering antennas for the new portable rigs. Some were auto-transformers with whip antennas and others were just simple matching networks and a wire or telescopic whip radiator. I have seen these in the magazines and often wondered why someone would go that route instead of just an MFJ or other brand random wire or full blown HF antenna tuner and a convenient length of wire with a sinker on the end. Getting a new gizmo and the excitement of seeing the big brown radio delivery truck pulling up at the curb must be half the reason. Lentini's had yaesu's new FT 897 HF/VHF/UHF portable on display. It was much larger than I expected it to be at about 3" high, 8" wide, and 10" deep. The display is rather small, only about 2" by 3" but there are still plenty of buttons and features to play with, 20 watts out from the internal battery or 100 watts from a 12V power supply. The same audio DSP and noise reduction as the popular ft 990,920 and 847, and an accessory strap to the side auto antenna tuner. It looks like a nice rig for someone how goes to a weekend retreat regularly and doesn't want to drag a full sized hf rig back and forth. I picked up two QRP books on my quest for the illusive perfect sized SWR meter. Why can't some one offer a little swr meter thats smaller the my Elecraft K1-4 and doesn't need batteries? W1FB's qrp notebook has a nice set of plans in it. The catch, and there's always a catch, is that this design from Colins radio, uses hi precision 5pf plunger variable caps to balance forward and reflected voltages. There not cheap to buy and not easy to scrounge. The other book has a bunch of goodies to build in it and some modifications for a transformer-less swr detector that uses a set of led's as good and bad indicators, it needs a 9v battery but it's simple and small. Andy P.S Icom gave out pigs and they were flying all over the place until one of the event coordinators asked us to keep our pigs restrained.
ASK ELMER Dear Elmer, My friend and I just got our Technician Licenses and we've been attending the Dayton Hamvention for a few years now. This year we both got 2m/440 HT's so we could talk to each other while we wandered the indoor/outdoor flea market. We didn't know any of the area repeaters so we decided to communicate on a simplex frequency. Other than listening to make sure a frequency isn't in use by someone else, are there designated sub-bands for simplex communications inside the 2 meter and 440 bands? Signed, Probably off frequency. Dear P.O.F.
You bring up an interesting question. I too, have been attending the Hamvention for the last 20 years, and one of the concerns is where is there some open frequencies in order to communicate with other people in our group. I have good news and bad news for you. First the bad news. At an event such as the Dayton Hamvention, with over 20,000 hams in attendance, finding a clear frequency to operate, on either 2m or 70 cm is, as they say in that song from the Man of LaMancha, an impossible dream. The best you can hope for is to share a frequency with several other stations, and squeeze your transmission between theirs. What you will generally find is that several operators will be using the frequency simultaneously, but because of propagation, shielding due to buildings or other fixed objects and limited power and antenna location, interference is not too terrible. Here is some good news. With the modern radios, use of the CTCSS tones to mute your radio until a message is sent specifically to you or members of your group. This does not eliminate interference, but it does quiet your radio between transmissions. This is the same method commercial users have been using for many years to share a common repeater frequency. I'm afraid that the only areas you would find clear frequencies are on 222 MHz or 1.25 GHz bands. They tend to be less used due to the limited amount of commercial portable equipment available. I am not in any way recommending that you obtain equipment for these bands, unless you wish to operate on them beyond just hamfests. As you know, all amateur radio frequencies are shared frequencies. With the exception of those bands specifically divided by the FCC, all band plans are by gentlemen's agreement. Much of the VHF and UHF bands have been allocated to repeater operation, since this has become the most popular mode of operation. This has not in any way eliminated simplex, weak signal, satellite, digital or other specialized operation on these bands. Frequencies have been set aside on each of the VHF and UHF bands to accommodate these modes of operation. Rather than go into detail on the band plan of the 2 m and 70 cm bands, I would recommend you obtaining a copy of the ARRL Repeater Directory. This publication lists the band plans for all of the VHF and UHF bands as well as the frequencies and locations of the repeaters in North America (both US and Canada). As far as the areas allocated for FM simplex operation on the 2 m and 70 cm bands, they are as follows: On 2 m, 146.40 to 146.58 MHz and 147.42 to 147.57 MHz. With 146.52 MHz as the National Simplex Calling Frequency. On 70 cm, 445.0 to 447.0 MHz with 446.00 MHz as the National Simplex Calling Frequency. This does not mean that you can't use the portion of the band allocated to repeater inputs and outputs. If there is no repeater operating on that frequency in the area (at least for a distance of 50 miles in flat terrain), there is no reason for you not to use the frequency. Just keep in mind that all frequencies are shared and you want to be a good neighbor and considerate operator. I hope this points you in the right direction and enjoy using your radio at the hamfests. 73, Elmer Send your questions and comments to “ASK ELMER”, c/o Marv Fleischman, N1AWJ, PO Box 113, Ridgefield, CT 06877-0113 or e-mail to [email protected]
SARA Monthly Newsletter If members would like to receive the SARA monthly News Letter, e-mail mike kb1dxc: [email protected] If you have not received the News Letter your e-mail address may not be in my address book. You must be added to the address book to prevent junk mail. News Letter is at: [email protected] You can also call me at 353-8422. If I am not home leave your message on my answering machine. If been getting e-mail failures. John: wb1grb.
VE LICENSE EXAMINATIONS Amateur Radio License Examinations will be held on Saturday, November 9, 2002 at 9:30 AM. The location is the 4th floor Cafeteria of the Stamford Government Center on Tresser and Washington B'lvds, in Stamford, CT. The fee for the test session is $10, and we would appreciate a check made out to the ARRL/VEC (we do accept cash, but a check is more convenient). All applicants bring 2 forms of ID, one being a photo ID (such as your drivers license). Those applicants for an upgrade, bring both your original license and a photocopy of the license to be attached to the NVEC-605 form. Examinations start promptly at 10 AM. No pre-registration is required, just come on down! For more info, contact Marv, N1AWJ at 203-438-7889 or [email protected]. Call to all VE's. We need your help to run the session. If you can make it, contact Marv, N1AWJ to let him know. ARRL AREC LEVEL I COURSE There is still time for you to sign up for the Level I Amateur Radio Emergency Course. Those ARRL members who live in Connecticut can take advantage of the tuition free course being sponsored by the United Technologies Corp. grant. To register, go to the following website http://www.arrl.org/forms/cce/ . Once there, take the sample lesson offered and then register for the course. The course consists of 20 lessons and will take between 15 and 30 hours to complete over an 8 week time span. You go at your own pace. The material is not tricky or difficult, and is quite informative. You are assigned a mentor to help you and answer your questions. It is vitally important that you complete the course once started, as the grant is conditional on a minimum number of students passing the course. I have recently completed the course and found it to be very well organized and presented. I recommend it to all operators interested in emergency and public service operations. Marv.
N1AWJ 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.
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)