See you in September PCARA Officers Contents Net night
Contents
1. _ radio provided the ability to cai er scan two bands FM and long wave combined with medium wave It seemed like the only way to create presets was to first scan and capture a station There was no direct tuning to be seen I instantly found Paris only prominent medium wave station France Bleu on 864 kHz and the two megawatt France Inter outlet on 162 kHz longwave Touchscreen of rented Renault M gane Long wave memories Not until I headed north towards Normandy did I hear radio in English I had never experienced long wave broadcasting before and it quickly became my link to world news and sports I quickly adopted two bi al new favorite stations BBC Radio 4 on 198 kHz and RTE Radio One from Ireland on 252 kHz Both can be heard day and night nearly all the way into metropoli tan Paris and were loud and clear as I rode through the Normandy countryside for the next few days I had no luck picking up BBC Radio Scotland on 810 kHz with any consistency day or night See If I had gone to Edinburgh instead I wouldn t have this problem The penetration of longwave is hard to believe Some stations simply would not die Using my trusty sony ICF SW7600GR por table I even heard the BBC on 198 inside a hotel room at Charles de Gaulle Airport ensconced by concrete and steel Another remarkable station was on 153 kHz Deutschlandfunk from Donebach Germany blazing a cool 500 kW I quickly ad2. Sep 11 WECA Westchester Co Fire Trg Cen 4 Dana Rd Valhalla NY 7 00 pm S Rothman 914 831 3258 Sep 15 Columbia Univ VE Team ARC 531 Studebaker Bldg 622 W 132nd St New York 6 30 pm Alan Crosswell 212 854 3754 Sep 27 P E A R L Mahopac Public Library Periodicals Room 668 Rt 6 Mahopac NY 10 00 a m Contact W2AG Qe Peekskill Cortlandt Amateur Radio Association Inc jp PO Box 146 Crompond NY 10517 PCARA Update September 2014 page 16
3. EOI ae mi Jumper settings for an Icom modular microphone plug connected to an Icom radio with modular MIC input Step by step In order to setup an MFJ 1251 adapter for a straight through con nection first move the jumpers from lt their default settings onto new headers as shown in _ the appropri ate diagram see the photo along side for an example You should then carry out a continuity check with a multimeter on its ohms position to confirm the connections from the 8 pin round micro MFJ 1251 with modified jumper settings for an Icom 8 pin round microphone plug to an Icom 8 pin round MIC connector PCARA Update September 2014 page 10 phone connector on the front panel to the 8 pin round microphone plug on the supplied cable The important pins to check are 1 Microphone input 2 8V DC output 5 PTT 6 GND PTT ground 7 GND Microphone ground Next you will need to drill four holes for the momentary switches in the lid of the MFJ 1251 case For the Radio Shack switches holes should be 17 a diameter and spaced 4 apart Position the line of holes equidistant from the front panel and rear panel to avoid other components inside the metal case Mount the four Radio Shack switches in the holes then solder connecting wires and four resistors to the switches as shown in Icom s circuit for an external keypad The resistors I used 1 5 kQ two off 2 2 KQ and 4 7 k
4. of T T flap ie al ee va and the 1 THRU PASS E 8V DC line Ha The black ae ovals in the cdl diagram MFJ 1251 jumper settings for an Alinco alongside modular plug microphone connected to an show the Icom radio with an 8 pin round MIC input default jumper set tings for an Alinco modular microphone plug con nected to an Icom 8 pin round MIC connector In order to arrange a straight through micro phone connection for Icom to Icom all you have to do is combine the left hand side of the diagram for your micro phone con nector with the right hand side of the diagram for your radio s MIC connector See the accompany ing picture for an example for Icom 8 pin Round Microphone Con nector combined with the diagram for an Icom 8 pin Round Radio sim ss x atti ie tie 0 For readers who sas no ee might have an Icom radio with an 8 pin modular jack I have provided a smaller diagram for Icom Modular Microphone Con nector to an Icom Modular Radio I have not been able to test this arrangement myself Sal SH IN fit eet a SHES a 7 gies a eE gt J J D g AAR ALAA al O oi PS Bow apu og aie ra ae a alameda Modified j jumper E me an Icom 8 pin round microphone connected to an Icom radio with 8 pin round MIC input epe ge ee e e y e e a T a a a i e e Le A L W iela eia a _ oe s mietan peana H H A 2 z u cae T 1 f
5. rates the inner and outer conductors Melted insulation could allow conductors to move introducing an imped ance bump or worse you might short the inner and outer conductors together One suggestion for pre venting damage is to cool the connector body immedi ately after soldering by wrapping with a damp cloth Another recommenda tion for suc cessful soldered con nections is to only use best quality silver plated brass PL 259 plugs They are easier to solder than the cheaper nickel plated variety and maintain a more reliable connection Good quality connectors are worth their weight in silver PL 259 connectors with just enough solder in the four solder holes to make a good bond between connector body and braid Center conductor is soldered inside the center pin Prehistoric procedure In my humble opinion our continued use of sol der on UHF series connectors in amateur radio is a throwback to World War II technology The UHF coaxial connector was invented by Amphenol engineer E Clark Quackenbush in the 1930 s when UHF meant anything below 5 meters In RF terms the PL 259 SO 239 design is little better than a 4mm banana plug and socket with some shielding wrapped around it The resulting impedance bump makes it unsuitable for use on modern UHF fre quencies above 300 MHz The pro cedure for sol dering the outer conduc tor of a PL 259 is fraught with problems as you cannot see
6. a WY ki PCARA Update Volume 15 Issue 9 Peekskill Cortlandt Amateur Radio Association Inc September 2014 See you in September Among the highlights of the summer season from an amateur radio perspective was the ARRL National Centennial Convention 2014 at the Connecticut Con vention Center in Hartford CT on July 17 19 2014 The convention was well attended by a contingent from PCARA who carpooled to the convention and informed me that it was quite an excellent event The activities included a visit to ARRL Headquarters in Newington CT The summer is coming to an end but that doesn t mean the fun has to stop There are quite a few regional hamfests coming up in the next couple of months so keep the following dates in mind e Sunday Sept 14 Candlewood Amateur Radio Asso ciation Western CT Hamfest Edmond Town Hall 45 Main Street Newtown CT e Saturday Sept 20 Garden State ARA Fall Hamfest MOESC Building 100 Tornillo Way Tinton Falls NJ e Saturday Sept 27 Ocean Monmouth ARC Tailgate Hamfest Infoage Learning Center 2300 Marconi Rd Wall Township NJ e Sunday Oct 5 Hall of Science ARC Hamfest NY Regist land Check in 7 Registrati d Checks inpr be PCARA members register at the entrance to ARRL s Centennial Convention in Hartford CT on July 19 PCARA Update September 2014 page 1 Hall of Science 47 01 111th St Flushing Mead ows Queens NY e Satu
7. against wear and abrasion These prod ucts are available from Home Depot Aim to cover all gaps where i az water might enter the Scotch connectors wind the Super 3 a tape so that any future or Super 8i vinyl tape gaps point downward and leave a drip loop at the end of the cable run so that rainwater is shed before it can get near a connector If you need to Relax stretch for final turn bury coaxial cable Self amalgamating tape should underground there are be covered with a layer of vinyl additional require tape for mechanical protection ments to keep the cable dry on the inside Check the ARRL Antenna Book for details Long term investment With the current cost of quality coaxial cable and connectors you will want your investment to last a very long time Take good care of your coax and it will be bringing you DX signals for many years to come NM9J PCARA Update September 2014 page 15 Peekskill Cortlandt Amateur Radio Association Mail PCARA PO Box 146 Crompond NY 10517 E Mail mail at pcara org Web site http www pcara org PCARA Update Editor Malcolm Pritchard NM9J E mail NM9J at arrl net Newsletter contributions are always very welcome Archive http home computer net pcara newslett htm PCARA Information PCARA is a Non Profit Community Service Organization PCARA meetings take place the first Sunday of each month at 3 00 p m in Dining Room B
8. but then one of the studios with an Icom IC 7700 for 20 meters opened up so they went back to the W1AW building to operate as W100AW for an hour Ray and Marylyn outside the W1AW building W2CH pic They had some contacts in the Extra and General portions of the 20 meter band with stations happy to work them using the special Centennial call of W100AW So before lunch Ray and Marylyn had already qualified for their official certificate signed by station manager Joe Carcia NJ1Q to say they had oper ated W100AW as part of the ARRL 100 Year celebra tions After lunch they returned to W1AW operating Thus L ertia Ft Raymond Nabil W2CH Pise Hiram Percy Marim Mensorlal Sialan New higi Lam hee Ei i P CO die by tery a i Ey 8 hagrsioe sks iua leg ARRAL iirin ranr August 10 2014 WI100AW Operating certificate 20 meters with the beam on Europe where they worked a number of stations from the UK and Ireland around to OE4BHA in Austria in German and UAI1AML in Saint Petersburg Russia On the way home our intrepid pair paid a visit to Lentini Communications in Berlin CT This is an amateur radio store and a music store During the trip Ray was trying out his latest Ray s Leixen VV 898 C 144 440 MHz acquisition mobile transceiver runs 4 10W output from the far east a Leixen VV 898 dual band mobile transceiver Footnote If you decide to pay your own visit to W1AW be su
9. for an External Keypad that can access the four stored memories In recent years the BetterRF Com pany sold an i Mate external keypad for Icom radios The i Mate cost 85 and was wired between the existing microphone and the radio s MIC connector Unfortu nately BetterRF does not seems to be in business any more The i Mate external keypad was manufactured by BetterRF Do it yourself I decided to build my own external keypad but first I needed a suitable case for mounting the micro phone connectors plus the four push buttons for select ing memory contents At a recent hamfest I had spotted an MFJ 1251 Universal Microphone Converter This is a small metal box with front panel connec tors for both an 8 pin round micro phone plug and for an 8 pin modular a ei plug Separate Loo lce cables are pro vided for con necting the adapter to either type of MIC socket on the radio The MFJ adapter allows one manu facturer s microphone to be used with another manu facturer s radio which is often wired differently Headers and jumpers inside the case allow for a variety of interconnections so that for example an Alinco microphone with a modular plug could be used with an MFJ 1251 Microphone Control Center from MFJ Enterprises PCARA Update September 2014 page 9 Icom radio having an 8 pin round MIC socket I thought the MFJ 1251 would provide a good basis for my external keyp
10. of the Hudson Valley Hospital Center Route 202 Cort landt Manor NY 10567 Drive round behind the main hospital building and enter from the rear look for the oxygen tanks Talk in is available on the 146 67 repeater Apart from holidays and July August break PCARA Repeaters W2NYW 146 67 MHz 0 6 PL 156 7Hz KB2CQE 449 925MHz 5 0 PL 179 9Hz N2CBH 448 725MHz 5 0 PL 107 2Hz PCARA Calendar Sun Sept 7 PCARA meeting Hudson Valley Hospital Center 3 00 p m Hamfests Sun Sept 14 Candlewood ARA Western CT Hamfest Edmond Town Hall 45 Main Street Newtown CT 8 00 am Sat Sept 20 Garden State ARA Fall Hamfest MOESC Building 100 Tornillo Way Tinton Falls NJ Sat Sept 27 Ocean Monmouth ARC Tailgate Hamfest Infoage Learning Cntr 2300 Marconi Rd Wall Twnshp NJ Sun Oct 5 Hall of Science ARC Hamfest NY Hall of Science 47 01 111th St Flushing Meadows Queens NY Sat Oct 11 BARA Fall Hamfest Westwood Regional HS 701 Ridgewood Rd Twnshp of Washington NJ 8 00 a m Sun Oct 12 Mt Beacon ARC Fall Hamfest Employee Recreation Center 83 Red Schoolhouse Rd Fishkill NY 8 00 a m Sun Oct 12 Meriden ARC Nutmeg Hamfest Sheraton Four Points Hotel 275 Research Pkwy Meriden CT 8 00 a m VE Test Sessions Sep 7 Yonkers PAL Ham Radio Club 127 N Broadway Yonkers 2 00 p m Michael Rapp 914 907 6482 Sep 7 Yonkers ARC 1st Police Precinct E Grassy Sprain Rd Yonkers NY 8 30 am John Costa 914 969 6548
11. prefer all hit stations like NRJ Nouvelle Radio des Jeunes literally New Youth Radio always has enough N R J to reach the top of audience ratings One station really made me smile Music Box on 92 8 FM in Paris Format New American Country Rest assured there is plenty of Blake Shelton to hear in Paree Amazing Euro power French household A C power is different than what you are accustomed to in America You won t find plugs with flat blade connections here A C plugs French power outlet has ground connection pointing outward PCARA Update September 2014 page 3 feature two sturdy round pins going into the wallplate and one round pin coming out of the wallplate for ground earth The two main pins are slightly different in size and not centered on the face of the round plug making it impossible to insert it upside down inverting neutral and hot French A C plugs make a very firm fit Here the standard is 240 volts instead of North Ameri ca s 120 volts If you are only interested in powering your com puter or cell phone you may only need a simple passive plug adapter Many high tech power supplies can accept voltages from 100 to 240 volts without any problem Read the fine print on your device carefully to decide Active 240 to 120 voltage converters are easy to find and inexpensive but don t expect to power a hair dryer coffee pot or other high current device with it A C current runs at 50 not 60 cy
12. soft keys positioned around the display You need to be in the correct part of the radio s menu system before these options appear On the IC 7410 the sequence is to select CW mode press the Menu button to reach Menu M1 press the F 4 KEY selection then press the F 2 SEND function key The four memory keys M1 M2 M3 and M4 then appear on the display This Habbo TUCO 1 741 pra ne 3 i m o id Icom IC 7410 display showing MENU key and function keys F 1 to F 5 ready to send from the four CW memories is not very convenient especially if you want to use the function keys for some other purpose such as the Band Scope Plug in shortcut Fortunately Icom allows connection of an exter nal keypad to call up memory keyer contents at any time This keypad is normally plugged into the trans ceiver s MIC connector which will either be a screw on 8 pin round type or an 8 pin modular jack type Icom does not sell a suitable external keypad as an accessory for their HF transceivers but they do provide the circuit diagram for an external keypad in the IC 7410 Instruction Manual four different resistor values are connected between pin 3 UP DOWN and pin 6 GND of the 8 pin round microphone plug when a memory button is pressed 4 7 KO 2 2 kO 555 15hO 1 560 25 t5 Topin 555 Front view Schematic from Icom IC 7410 User Manual
13. three day event with talks and pre sentations from many famous radio amateurs Your editor enjoyed the talk by Riley Hollingsworth K4ZDH What we owe the amateur service followed by a pre sentation on Software Defined Radio for Beginners by Stephen Hicks N5AC of Flex Radio Systems One floor of the Convention Center was dedicated to an extensive exhibition by a large number of amateur radio manufacturers vendors and organiza Lovjt N2CKD checks the HF transceivers on show at ARRL s Centennial Convention in Hartford CT on July 19 PCARA Update September 2014 page 6 even had a chance to chat with the Editor of QST Steve Ford WB8IMY Editing a 170 page national journal is a much larger undertaking than our little newsletter MNAM jj tions Just about every name you are familiar with from the advertising pages of QST had a pres ence and many commer cial vendors were doing good business PCARA members were busy checking out all the latest equip ment from Kenwood k E t Yaesu and Joe WA2MCR inspects high power Sitting in the editor s chair at ARRL HQ was Steve Ford Icom which amplifiers at the Ameritron booth in WB8IMY editor of QST was on display ARRL s Centennial exhibition area with antennas Joe and I also paid a visit to W1AW the Hiram P connected ready for a test drive Maxim Memorial Station in the grounds of ARRL In the area dedicated to over Headquarters seas radio clubs I pai
14. what is happening inside the connector body and you cannot easily disassemble a soldered connector to check the innards Production of a successful soldered joint in the typical amateur radio shack requires a lot of experience the correct equipment and a certain amount of luck If you still insist on soldering your PL 259s there are some excel lent hints from Alan KOBG at the following web page http www kObg com coax html Little better than a banana plug and socket with shielding wrapped around Crimping your style An alternative to the traditional solder on PL 259 is the use of crimp on connectors You will need to exactly match the connector size with the diameter of the coaxial cable as there are no small diameter adapt ers for crimp connectors You will also need a powerful crimping tool with the correct size die for the connec tor Good quality crimping tools are relatively expen sive 50 00 to 150 00 and crimped connectors cannot be re used Depending on how many PL 259 connections you need to make in a year it might be more economical to purchase ready made cables with the connectors already installed Cold compress Another alternative to soldering PL 259 connectors is the type of fitting with a pressure sleeve similar to N type and BNC coaxial connectors where the outer braid is pushed over a metal clamp or ferrule then kept in place by a compressed rubber gasket In the USA these are known as
15. E Spain RAI Italy and even stations from the Middle East and South and Central America serving a wide variety of tourist s tastes i a Ai is irs World War II signaling light with Morse key Canal decoder box below Philips TV C est la vie green French society should be applauded for their green approach to daily life Many many French automobiles rely on diesel fuel sometimes called gaz oil for excep tional mileage In Paris you ll also see inno vative all elec tric Autolib Bluecars charging their batteries along many streets Become a sub scriber to Autolib and you can travel green from point to point on demand whenever you need a car Automatic motion sensing light switches are installed everywhere you can imagine to conserve every possible electron Move around a little while you are in a public hallway or bathroom or you will find yourself in the dark Even the toilets themselves have two plunger buttons on the top of the water holding tank for a light or full flush to conserve usage One thing that caught my eye was a can of 3 In One oil in a Paris hardware store labeled 3 En Un Rest assured WD 40 is still called WD 40 in France Nearly every store had a big SOLDES sign in their front window declaring to everyone that an amazing sale was going on Pininfarina Bluecar recharging from an Autolib port in Paris French oil Apres tea You may want to
16. FJ 1251 PCB component side 8 AF output varies with AF 7 GND Microphone ground oh GND PTT ground 4 Microphone input a 2 8 V DC output 3 Frequency up down I 6 PTT 4 Squelch switch Icom 8 pin round microphone connections as seen from the front panel From the IC 7410 Instruction Manual All you need to do to arrange for continued UP DOWN operation is to connect pin 3 of the 8 pin round MIC connector on the MFJ 1251 front panel to pin 3 of the empty modular jack position J2 A short length of wire can be soldered between the appropriate pins J2 pin 3 should already have one of the wires from the four push buttons connected to it via 1 5 KQ Final check Before you plug the modified MFJ 1251 into your expensive Icom radio take a moment to verify all the connections using an ohmmeter There is a chance of damaging the radio if the 8V supply has been wired incorrectly Pins 1 2 3 5 6 and 7 on the front panel s round connector should be connected straight through to the same positions on the 8 pin round plug Pins 6 and 7 GND will be connected to each other In addi tion you should check the resistance between pin 3 and pin 6 when each of these buttons is pressed the ohmmeter reading should be as follows M1 button 1 5 KQ M2 button 3 0 kQ M3 button 5 2 KQ M4 button 9 9 KQ Freq DOWN 4700 Freq UP 00 PCARA Update September 2014 page 11 If all is well plu
17. IC 7 26F SO 239 RG 58 Casual coax Coaxial cable used for portable operation and special events needs special care Stored cable should be rolled up and Loob 2 kept in a dry e ue i a ie environment ae Loop 3 between activi i ties There are two recom mended methods in the over under technique alter nating loops of cable are coiled in opposite direc tions There are instructions on the following web site http techno fandom org hobbit flipcoil howto html The alternative technique which I prefer is straight coiling where the loops of cable are all coiled in the same direction just as though a hosepipe was being wound onto an imaginary spool or drum Straight coiling is easy to learn and fast to implement important factors during any Field Day teardown You should never wrap cable around your elbow like a rope or a skein of wool or try to wind it into too small a loop Once the cable is suitably coiled up Coaxial cable coiled up using the Over Under technique Straight coiling use Velcro cable ties to keep the coil together until it is needed again Be proud of your coiled up cables Don t store your coaxial cables in a tangled mess Roll up neatly and use Velcro cable ties to keep the turns together Tie me up One advantage of Vel cro brand hook and loop cable ties is the oblong hole at the wider end of the strap By inserting the rounded en
18. Q 1 8 watt came out of my junk box P p een dears age abe RE Chie cl tie The four momentary push button switches and four resistors are mounted in the lid of the MFJ 1251 metal case The components mounted in the top cover have to be wired to Pin 3 and to Pin 6 of the 8 pin round microphone connector output The easiest way to do this is to employ the empty position J2 which is pro vided by MFJ on the circuit board for an additional modular jack socket but which is not used in this par ticular prod uct J2 is located just beneath the front panel A 8 pin round connector Access for sol dering to J2 is available if you gently push the round connec tor wires out of the way see the close Close up shows two wires from the case lid switches soldered to the empty RJ45 modular jack position J2 at the pin 3 and pin 6 locations Pin 1 is closest to camera up photo and accompany ing diagram The Icom HM 36 microphone has two buttons on top labeled UP and DOWN for changing frequency and memory channel I wanted these buttons to continue opera tion when connected through the MFJ 1251 adapter The UP and DOWN buttons work in a similar way to the memory keyer buttons the DOWN button connects MIC pin 3 through a 4700 resistor to ground pin 6 while the UP button directly grounds MIC pin 3 Pinout and wiring of the unused modular jack position J2 on the M
19. ad At the ARRL Centennial Convention in Hartford I pur chased an MFJ 1251 adapter from MFJ s own booth The price was 29 95 Next day I pur chased a packet of four momen tary pushbutton switches from Radio Shack part number 275 1547 price 3 99 These are the normally open type Total so far 33 94 Radio Shack momentary push button switches The right connections The first task was to evaluate the circuitry of MFJ s Universal Microphone Adapter MFJ provides an Instruction Manual containing the schematic plus con nection diagrams for various combinations of micro phone plug and radio manufacturer My plan was to use the Icom radio s original HM 36 microphone with the matching 8 pin round MIC socket on the Icom transceiver Unfortunately that straight through combi nation is not included in the manual Not unexpected though Careful examination of the schematic showed that MFJ selects four wires coming in from the microphone for MIC GND MIC AUDIO MIC PTT plus the 8 volt DC feed to power any microphone circuitry labeled THRU PASS These four lines are then connected through appropri ate jumpers WI SIERRRIGLNI f Oe 3 to the correct Ce el in numbers CE AE IE on the radio s E OnI m HH HA MIC con wit a ee at ae a nector for al POR Siow am ae RADIO MIC gie DRON a R Fiinta N i GND RADIO se ee ees MIC AUDIO rr fat RAED tu f l lal l oo IN O10 RADIO PTT _ 98
20. clamp connectors while in Europe they are called compression fittings During my time in England I 7 purchased com 4 ae r n a pression style UHF Sleeve Pii 4 Gosket connectors made by UK companies Greenpar Connec tors Ltd and Coline Connectors Ltd They were easy to install and I still have a few in use today The key design feature is the top hat shaped brass ferrule or sleeve which is pushed under the outer braid and jacket of the cable When the clamp nut is Greenpar sleeve connector has a top hat shaped sleeve that slides under the braid PCARA Update September 2014 page 13 tightened it compresses the silicone rubber gasket against the cable and pushes the ferrule s flange tight against the connector body This produces an excellent connection of great strength without having to solder the outer braid Coline is no longer in business while Greenpar has been absorbed by Tyco Electronics Tyco Green par connectors can be obtained from distributors such as Mouser and Digikey Similar Multicomp clamp connectors are avail able from Newark Electron ics and from The RF Multicomp UHF Straight Connection in Gaithersburg plug clamp MC17 01F 5 MD http www therfc com Here are some part numbers Tyco Greenpar RG 58 male 1 1337473 0 RG 213 male 1478234 0 RG 58 female 1337652 0 obsolete Multicomp RF Connection MCI7 O1F 5 RFCI7 O1F 5 MCI7 01B 5 RFCI7 O
21. cles per second in France Your American clock will keep really odd time if you try it in Europe Also remember that Wi Fi is pronounced Wee Fee when you ask for it in Paris La t l vision French television has improved vastly since the advent of digital Back in the days of analog the French used a very complex television standard called SECAM S quentiel Couleur a M moire literal transla tion sequential color with memory that depended on the local 50 Hertz alternation of A C power The result was a stunningly beautiful picture with perfect color fidelity and hue but the most annoying 50 Hertz picture flicker since viewers first saw primitive movies in theaters New widescreen digital TVs have a much faster refresh rate than 50 cycles and now the flicker is gone Most everyone receives TV via satellite All channels ride on a multiplex called TNT T l vision ped Mes ICUs Num rique Terrestre u also available in most s places over the air on UHF In France the UHF antenna design of choice is a long COT Yagi with a corner eal i reflector eet eee L a i E Ee j antenne PERRE a French UHF TV mates emmm antennas have a look M that distinguishes pA them from all others Sometimes you ll see modified Yagi designs that feature three sticks coming out Yagi antennas for French UHF TV from the corner reflector instead of one director stick like you ll see in North America
22. d a visit to the where ARRL Radio Society of Great Britain s news bulletins booth where I met RSGB President is and code prac G3WKL Incidentally RSGB cele n tice transmis brated its own Centenary in 2013 a ee sions are l produced The studios were all busy with licensed visi tors operating under the W100AW com memorative callsign W1AW has an impressive array of equip ment feeding antennas you can only dream about Back at the Convention Center in Hartford after Hiram Percy Maxim Meo Station W1AW at ARRL HQ photo by W2CH NM9J G3VNQ visits the RSGB booth at ARRL s Centennial Exhibition manned by RSGB President Dr John Gould ee G3WKL and Mark M1MPA the impressive closing ceremony I was left wishing that we could hold Centennial Conventions more often than once every hundred years Congratulations to all con cerned on a fine event Highway to Headquarters Your editor and Joe WA2MCR joined one of the bus tours to ARRL Headquarters in Newington which is only five miles from Hartford We signed in then had a good look around the Headquarters Building I Newington revisited Most people agreed that the short tour of ARRL Headquarters and W1AW did not give enough time to PCARA Update September 2014 page 7 take everything in so on August 9 Ray W2CH and Marylyn paid another visit to Newington They thought they would tour ARRL HQ before lunch with volunteer guide Skip W1FTE
23. d through the hole the tie can be perma nently attached to the cable so it cannot be lost Velcro cable tie Tangled web Out in the field the cable should be unrolled in the same way it was coiled With the over under technique loops of wire can be pulled off or thrown out straight from the coil But you must take great care not to pull cable off the wrong side of the coil or it will become thoroughly knotted With the straight coiling method cable should be unrolled in a straight line just as though it was still wrapped around a large cable drum Do not pull coils off the top of the reel or you will end up with a seri ously twisted cable The reason for all this care with coiling and unwinding cable is to avoid twists kinks and other strains that might compress the dielectric insulation open the braid or shift and break the conduc tors Compressing the dielectric will introduce an impedance bump and might cause shorting between inner and outer conductors You should also take care not to damage the outer jacket as this could allow water to enter there is a later section describing the reasons for keeping your cable dry Coax with a kink PCARA Update September 2014 page 14 It s a stretch If you are installing coaxial cable permanently on a mast or tower addi tional precautions are needed to ensure long term reliability Coaxial cable cannot support its own weight this is especially true
24. ded it to my can hear it anywhere list The Normandy American Cemetery at Omaha Beach Normandy beaches Sussex signals Discovering my first two English language long wave stations was only the beginning On day two of my trip I stumbled across true manual tuning on my car s radio I had to remind myself that it is now the year 2014 Tuning knobs don t exist anymore Radios are tuned via the touchscreen on your dashboard I drilled down a few menus under the Media folder and found my way to a touch and tune screen where I could create presets for any frequency I wished regard less of being able to pick it up A major breakthrough You ll find lots to listen to in English if you know where to find it Driving into the town of Honfleur just PCARA Update September 2014 page 2 i Droitwich outside the Brooxmans f major port of AP ark cx Le Havre I ENGLAND lt Sa started LONDON Daver _ hearing all sorts of British stations SUSS ey Ay Shon _ Bextuil A ao Colas F r beaming Be az at ao i C J RARCE across The a English i rt Channel Led Favre broadcasting y a Hanfe gt Ws 4 4 from nearby oh a Chorjef de Sussex Domi g N a T sa a nant on a 3 medium wave ym iii was Smooth Radio on 945 kHz with a pleasant oldies hits format The first weekend we were there Smooth was featuring an all American Motown weekend Perfect BBC Radio 5 Live outlets o
25. g your microphone into the modi fied MFJ adapter then plug the adapter cable into your Icom transceiver s MIC socket Before you check opera tion you will need to enable External Keypad capa bility using the radio s Set Mode menu For the IC 7410 hold w w down the naa bau Menu button to enter Set Mode then wed UVniporeal MEGO NOE Acdapier choose menu MPJ 1261 3 item 37 External Keypad and change from the default OFF to KEYER SEND by rotating the VFO dial control For enabling of other Icom models check your radio s Instruction Manual Make sure that the four keyer memory buttons are working correctly along with the normal functions of the microphone PTT UP DOWN and microphone audio If you are using a headset which requires receiver audio from the radio you will also need to manually wire pin 8 center pin on the round micro phone connector through to pin 8 on the output con nector in a similar manner to the wiring for the UP DOWN buttons External keypad with the four memory buttons M1 M4 suitably labeled E F P 7 7 Oy Uire Allergies iar urii g Ready for some CW The external keypad based on an MFJ 1251 is shown in line with the Icom HM 36 hand microphone and cabled to the Icom IC 7410 8 pin round MIC input at bottom left Choose your Icom Bear in mind that different Icom HF transceivers may need some modification to these ins
26. l of a French AZERTY keyboard PCARA Update September 2014 page 4 Keep your eyes open wherever you go Ina museum dedicated to the Normandy invasion I found a Morse code key not hooked up to a trans mitter but a naval signaling light Cool Networks The premiere network in France is TF1 watched by almost a third of all viewers at any given moment It is literally channel one on the TNT delivery system and is a high profile first class network in every respect Big events always seem to appear on TF1 World Cup soccer on TF1 looked positively stun ning on the flat screens I saw everywhere we went Also available are a complete set of state owned channels France 2 France 3 France 4 and France 5 all with their own personalities Canal pronounced Canal Plus is the French version of HBO and is the fore most subscrip tion service in the country You ll know right away if someone is a subscriber A Canal decoder box is a beauti fully stylized black contrast ing with white box with a distinctive European look and is a regular companion to French flatscreens Dozens and dozens of alternate channels fill up the rest of the French TV spectrum There is never a shortage of TV programming to watch in France Expect to see quite a variety of international televi sion when you stay at high end hotels especially in Paris On your TV menu you ll find the BBC Germany s WDR NHK from Tokyo CCTV from Beijing TV
27. n 693 and 909 kHz were also easy to receive During the middle of the day these two BBC outlets would go through long dramatic fades and phasing but never losing their signal strength probably due to multiple transmitter sites operating in synchronicity These were great big emissions of RF No matter what mix of prop agation came their way during the day the muscle of BBC s signals held on tight and never let go You ll never witness this kind of dominance in the USA Our limit is single transmitters at 50 000 watts We don t do megawatts The Europeans certainly do a MF and LF Transmitter sites in southern England tower symbol heard by Karl in France including Bexhill 945 693 kHz YOUR RELAXING MUSIC MIX English channel I later came to appreciate other U K music sta tions that could be heard at night like Absolute Radio on 1215 kHz and Capital Gold from London on 1548 kHz Remember Europe follows a 9 kHz channel stan dard instead of the 10 kHz spacing familiar to North Americans hence odd looking to us operating spots like 198 693 and 909 kHz Check your portable radio s manual before you leave home Many receivers can be converted to a 9 kHz standard with just a couple of hidden button pushes I am pleased to report that there is no lack of amateur radio operators in Western Europe Using just a few feet of wire as an antenna I heard many opera tors in SSB CW and RTTY without any trouble Italy Grea
28. nstal lations so you can experiment France Merci beaucoup pour la belle visite Au revoir de N2KZ La Vieille Ch vre 73 et dit dit Eiffel Tower by daylight Summer medley During the annual summer break months of July and August there have been quite a few events involv ing PCARA members July in Augusta On Sunday July 13 the Sussex County Amateur Radio Club Hamfest took place at the County Fair grounds in Augusta NJ It isn t the easiest place to find thanks to the distance from major highways never theless several PCARA members made the journey and Henry KB2VJP checks out a cable on offer a TT Jeg County ARC Hamfest on July 13 enjoyed the day Outdoors the weather was pleasantly cool for July and there were plenty of vendor tables Inside the main pavilion were a number of commercial vendors along with a table containing much equip ment for sale by Ray W2CH Ray and Marylyn s table has been a feature of several hamfests this year las Ale He a mt A s a e aa 3 A n p a t ow eee SS fy ed qa es X eo Indoor pavilion at Sussex County ARC Hamfest included a table where Marylyn KC2NKU and Ray W2CH were selling Classy Centennial One week later on Saturday July 19 PCARA members joined in multiple carpools to visit the ARRL National Centennial Convention at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford Saturday was the final day of an enjoyable
29. of the larger diameter cables If you suspend a long vertical run of cable there is a danger of the outer sheath braid polyethyl ene dielectric and inner conductor all moving relative to each other The result could be breakage of a conduc tor or pulling the center pin out of a connector Because of this weight problem it is inadvisable to pull the end of a long cable straight up a high mast or to lower a long length of cable from the top of a tower Instead the whole coil of coaxial cable should be taken up the mast the end of the cable secured then the remaining feeder should be unrolled down the mast and fastened at frequent intervals Use black cable ties that are rated for outdoor exposure and do not over tighten or you might distort the cable Be careful when bending the cable around a corner the minimum bend radius for RG 8 and RG 213 is approx 3 to 4 while for RG 58 it is 2 If the cable feeds a rotary antenna leave a large loop around the rotator to avoid strain and excessive bending Stranded cable is best for the rotator loop All threaded connectors used outdoors should have the coupling ring tightened with pliers hand tightening is not sufficient to ensure a reliable connec tion through multiple temperature cycles Dangerous when wet Whatever style of coaxial connector you choose no design is 100 waterproof When connectors are used outdoors there are two dangers fir
30. older Detailed instructions for soldering standard l Strip jacket tin braid 135 PL 259 UHF series con ce 34 Tin nectors with and without 2 Strip cable iG n adapters are available in tin inner several places including n the ARRL Handbook the ifa Antenna Book and from 3 Slide on connector Spider the Amphenol web site bady and solder _ http www amphenolrf mated com Don t forget to body thread the coupling ring Screw coupling ring onto connector onto the cable before you start work on the connec tor body PL 259 connector assembly PCARA Update September 2014 page 12 In my opinion the most important factor for suc cessful installation of a PL 259 connector is a soldering iron with sufficient power and thermal mass to bring the connector body up to temperature quickly This will create a good soldered joint through the four holes in the connector body through to the pre tinned outer conductor A Weller solder gun is not sufficient for this task you need a large iron that takes a while to warm up in order to solder the outer itii or _ braid A smaller Esico 6150 150 watt soldering iron iron can be used has large thermal mass in the tip for the center conductor Try to avoid outdoor breezes which will remove heat from the soldering iron and connector Do not apply too much heat to the outer conductor or you will melt the polyethylene dielectric insulation that sepa
31. rday Oct 11 BARA Fall Hamfest Westwood Regional High School 701 Ridgewood Rd Town ship of Washington NJ e Sunday Oct 12 Mt Beacon ARC Fall Hamfest Employee Recreation Center 83 Red Schoolhouse Rd Fishkill NY e Sunday Oct 12 Meriden ARC Nutmeg Hamfest Sheraton Four Points Hotel 275 Research Parkway Meriden CT Now that we re back from our summer break we have to begin planning upcoming events for the months ahead Bring any and all of your ideas and suggestions with you to the September 2014 meeting on Sunday September 7 2014 at 3 00 pm at Hudson Valley Hospi tal Center in Cortlandt Manor NY I look forward to seeing each of you there 73 de Greg KB2CQE PCARA Officers President Greg Appleyard KB2CQE kb2cqe at arrl net Vice President Joe Calabrese WA2MCR wa2mcr at arrl net Contents See you in September KB2CQE Adventures in DXing N2KZ Summer medley External keypad NM9J Coaxial care NM9J 1 Net night Peekskill Cortlandt Amateur Radio Association holds a weekly net on the 146 67 MHz W2NYW repeater on Thursdays at 8 00 p m Join net control Karl N2KZ for news and neighborly information N ODN FR Adventures in DXing N2KZ Allons y let s go Consider it a modern miracle You board a plane and eight hours later you are across the world My flight took off from Newark at 1 00 AM and delivered me to Paris France just before d jeuner lunch time Upon arrival Ame
32. re to check the opening hours and take your amateur radio license along with you in order to operate at the station High in Haledon A few weeks later on Saturday August 23 it was time for the Ramapo Mountain ARC Hamfest which is now in its fourth year at Camp Veritans Haledon NJ This is an excellent loca tion with an indoor build ing for the commercial vendors including KJI Electronics plus leafy glades provid ing welcome shade for the outdoor flea market tables Ray and Marylyn had an outdoor space selling radio equip ment at this Bob N2CBH and Mike N2EAB check out year s Haledon W2LCN s 13 cm mesh network at the event The location is a little difficult to find so be sure to bring your GPS and a good map Ramapo Mtn ARC Hamfest on August 23 NM9J PCARA Update September 2014 page 8 External keypad If you have an Icom HF transceiver then you might find this project of interest build yourself an external keypad for around 34 00 Key memories Recent Icom HF transceivers such as the IC 7410A and IC 7000 have a built in electronic memory keyer capable of storing up to four messages Some models also have a voice keyer to record short voice announcements The memory keyer can be helpful for sending your callsign and standardized contest exchanges for example CQ CQ de W2NYW W2NYW and 2A ENY Calling up the stored memories is carried out using
33. ricans in Paris need to adapt to their new surroundings It s easy if you know how Things have changed since I last visited Paris 25 years ago Now nearly everyone speaks English without hesitation and speaks it well The atmosphere is warm and welcoming The overall demeanor is casual and relaxed All signs said good times ahead It felt nice to be there First things first When in France you should drive a French car We rented a Renault M gane a sporty five door hatchback coupe Driving was effort less The French drive on the right side of the street just like in America and the roads are refreshingly smooth and well kept Even in the most rural areas axle bending potholes are missing in action and road debris is never to be seen The highways run fast with posted speed limits up to 130 kilometers per hour 81 mph You ll see lots of French and German vehicles Renault Citro n Peugeot along with Mercedes Benz and BMW Volkswagens and Fiats are fairly common too Once in a blue moon I would see a compact Ford but they were not easy to find One peculiarity was learning the concept of the French priority road regulations Just because you are rolling along on what seems like a major road doesn t mean you have the right of way M gane s megahertz In any case what is the first thing to do when starting up a new rental car Of course the answer must be play with the radio The front plate of the p
34. snack during the afternoon Res taurants don t even begin to serve dinner before 19h 30 7 30 pm Save room for dessert The pastries and breads are outstanding and creatively presented every where you go Also be prepared The French still love to smoke cigarettes and you ll smell tobacco all over town When you are not listening to the radio or trying to DX terrestrial TV you should spend some time visit ing all the spectacles you ll find in France To me lei surely visits to Paris art museums are comparable to making a pilgrimage to church Enjoy the beauty you will find at The Louvre The Mus e d Orsay The Rodin Museum and the renovated Orangerie It s only the beginning Cath drale Notre Dame Centre Georges Pompidou and the Opera House should all be on your must see PCARA Update September 2014 page 5 list After dusk The Eiffel Tower is lit with a warm orange glow At night at the top of every hour there is a spectacular display fea turing hundreds of little strobe lights covering the tower with star bursts What a show and what a view from the top Au revoir Enjoy France and don t forget your general cover age radio You have to experience the wide area coverage and all the new challenges of DXing long wave On my next visit I ll need to arrange the aid of some devoted TV FM DXers and radio amateurs to bring my recep tion to the next level It is difficult to discretely disassemble hotel TV i
35. st water might enter the area between plug and socket corrod ing the electrical contacts Second water could be drawn into the cable s stranded wire through wicking action corroding both inner and outer conductors If the dielectric insulator is porous for example the foamed polyethylene inside RG 8X then water can be absorbed changing the dielectric constant and increasing losses Coaxial cable with corroded conduc tors or with water dripping out of the end is a total loss and must be replaced The last thing you want to see on the copper braid is a coating of green verdigris Bear in mind that a high loss coaxial cable can show a perfect 1 1 VSWR at the transmitter end even when there is a badly mismatched antenna at the far end Run the tape Coaxial connectors used _ Stretch outdoors should be pro EF wean P tected with a we p plastic boot Scotch 2228 and or by l i Moisture sealing wrapping the prr tape joint with Parser i plastic tape A suggested treat Ponpa ment for per _ Coaxial manent Connectors installation is to use a self amal gamating tape such as Scotch 2228 rubber mastic tape wrapped around the con nectors with over Coaxial connectors exposed to the weather should first be wrapped with a self amalgamating tape such as Scotch 2228 lapping layers followed by a top Slight layer of Scotch Super 88 gt stretch electrical tape for pro tection
36. t Britain Sweden Poland Spain and everything in between could be logged CW was quite alive and well especially on 20 and 40 meters I even heard a 25 watt NAV aid beacon LHO from Le Havre on 346 kHz longwave If I haven t yet convinced you to bring a general coverage receiver with you when visiting Europe let me add this Many many North American radio station Internet streams are geo blocked across the pond Don t expect to hear Newsradio 88 WCBS overseas One exception is National Public Radio in the clear imported from America via the web but you also have to consider the time difference Wake up in the morning to shave and shower in France and you ll quickly notice it is about 1 00 AM in the morning on the east coast of the U S American morning drive time starts right around lunch time in Europe French modulation FM French FM radio really reminded me of America Of course everything is spoken en francais but they have our act down and know it well Jingles sounders hot talking DJs commercial clutter yes it s all here too just like at home Sounder short musical sequence to identify a station or network Ed In Paris there are dozens of FM stations to choose from Very popular with mature adults is RTL the descendant of the legendary Radio Luxembourg with an interesting mix of thoughtful talk and eclectic music Think of RTL as a peppy and energetic full service station French young adults
37. to optimize reception on different narrow UHF bands They also can tilt up and down from true hori zontal Tilting is quite popular in the neighborhoods near the Eiffel Tower where UHF Yagi antenna with three rows of the target trans directors tilted upward mitters are liter ally up in the sky for viewers to catch Look carefully up on top of buildings wherever you go and you ll see a little bit of French TV his tory Most all terrestrial broadcasts seem to now be on UHF in horizontal polar ization There are still some remnants of much older upper VHF antennas still surviving on rooftops in both polarities verti cal and horizontal Pll bet the oncoming of digital TV pushed the French above 300 MHz just like in North America Some things really made me think I saw two types of FM radio antennas on rooftops One was a hula hoop like design similar to those used by FM transmitters in the USA Want to really scratch your head in wonder The French also use FM band S loop antennas but they mount them vertically It makes a very unusual visual to this DXer s eyes The best quiz was sitting down to a French computer and trying to negotiate an AZERTY format key board Just try to find and type an sign or look fora dot for your dot coms or dot frs for France It s really interesting Vertical S loop FM antenna se ry ey ea z e I HT ke r ET A i 1 Detai
38. tructions especially if the radio has a modular MIC jack Check the radio s Instruction Manual for connections to the microphone for suggested circuitry of an external keypad and for the Set Mode menu item that will enable the external keypad Icom models with a memory keyer include the IC 746 Pro IC 756 Pro 2 and 3 IC 7000 IC 7100 IC 7410 IC 7600 IC 7700 and IC 7800 The high end IC 7700 and IC 7800 have a separate 3 5mm stereo input jack for their external keypad Best of luck with this little project My own exter nal keypad has already been put to good use for some DX CW contacts NM9J Coaxial Care Se fe protective sheath Outer conductor After this year s Field E braid or foil Day I had several coaxial g Dielectric cables that needed attention Ei s spacer This prompted some thoughts on the general care of coaxial feeders for the radio amateur Center or inner conductor Parts of a single shield coaxial cable PL problem The first item needing attention after Field Day was a 100 ft length of RG 213 U cable that had caused grief for the 6 meter station A quick check with my Fluke digital multimeter revealed that the outer con ductor was disconnected at the antenna end Since the cable was full size 0 405 outer diameter I did not attempt recovery of the connector I simply hacksawed off the cable with the old connector and prepared the end for soldering on a new PL 259 Need to s
Download Pdf Manuals
Related Search