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1. QRZ NEWS A MONTHLY PUBLICATION OF SOUTHERN PENNSYLVANIA AMATEUR RADIO CLUB INC PO BOX 1033 LANCASTER PA 17608 1033 Founded June 1960 AN AFFILIATED SPECIAL SERVICE CLUB OF THE ARRL INC Public Service through Communication Website WWW K3IR org Email address k3ir arrl net Repeaters 145 230 449 975 Packet 145 030 ATV 923 250 FN10se Club site 1715 Breneman Road Rapho Twp Manheim P O 17545 no delivery October 2013 President s Message Outer Banks Adventure Columbus Day the real one October 12 is my wife s birthday Now I m not going to say which birthday but let s just say she spent some time with the Social Security Commission in the past few weeks Anyway Years ago we would visit the Outer Banks of North Carolina on vacations Two things cut down on the frequency of those trips The discovery of cruising and a daughter who bought a house five states away Well Pat decided that she wanted to do one more trip to North Carolina We decided on the week of October 6 through 12 So early Sunday morning we load our bags into the F 150 and that will become an important decision later and start the 400 mile drive Six and one half hours later we were checking into the Outer Change to EST 2013 at Banks Motor Lodge on the beach in Kill Devil Hills So anyway you folks weren t the only ones getting rain last week lot of time watching the ocean and the fishermen There was a fishin2. Dimensions are 270mm 10 6 w x 300mm 11 8 d x 120mm 4 7 h The RF section has been designed exclusively for them by Chris Bartram GW4DGU of Mutek fame and use the Freescale MRFE6VP6300HR3 LDMOS device for high performance and maximum ruggedness The amplifiers are designed to meet the requirements of ETSI EN 301 7831 v1 2 1 with regard to conducted spurious emissions They have built in protection for overdrive high SWR and over temperature to ensure reliable performance Although not mentioned in the information provided it appears that PTT is accomplished by ground on transmit Specifications for the Six Metre Unit Frequency Coverage 50 54MHz Power Output 1db compression 300 watts Power Output 30db IMD gt 250 watts Spurious Output lt 70db 300 watts Input Power 3 25W specified when ordered Efficiency RF gt 65 RF Device 1 x Freescale MRFE6VP6300H Protection Overdrive SWR Over Temperature Relays Coaxial Output and Input Metering RF output Power requirements 230V AC 50 60Hz Dimensions 270w x 300d x 120h mm Weight 10kg 221 bs Gemini 6 internal view Gemini 6 rear view showing RCA jack for PTT and N connectors for RF The GEMINI amplifiers are advertised as plug and play units They incorporate a complete 50V linear power supply no external PSU is required The units carry a two year warranty Linear Amp says that orders now being taken for delivery December 2013 January 2014 P
3. It looks as though it can give a nice boost the average home station The only reservation if any 1S that output power of most transceivers must be reduced to use the amp watch the ALC overshoot transmit power spikes and that the input power must be specified at the time of purchase I suspect a fixed attenuator is installed at the factory The Tokyo Hy power HT 750 is a real neat rig that can be purchased by contacting Tokyo Hy Power directly at info thp co jp The 6N4 is an enigma I have not been able to get any more information about it If 4 metres ever becomes available here in the US there will be a mad dash for equipment for the new band maybe the manufacturer of the NR 6N4 knows something Linear Amp Gemini 300W Solid State Linear Amplifiers Linear Amp UK has announced the Gemini series of solid state 300 watt linear amplifiers with integral linear power supplies The new amplifiers are designed manufactured and assembled in the UK and are available in six four and two metre versions According to Linear Amp these amplifiers are designed to fill a market gap between the low power outputs of transverters and smaller rigs and the one kW plus amplifiers that not all users want or can afford The Gemini range of amplifiers has drive requirements of 3 25 watts The exact input power is user specified at time of purchase The units feature instant on solid state performance in a compact attractive aluminum package
4. and participating A remote station accessible over the Internet is in the works Keep spreading the word to your friends and SPARC will continue to grow NASA is reporting that solar cycle 24 is the weakest cycle in the past 100 years Sky amp Telescope magazine has published a report in their November 2013 issue summarizing the information See http www skyandtelescope com community s kyblog newsblog The Weakest Solar Cycle in 100 Years 216752671 html for details The period between about 1650 and 1715 was a period when almost no sunspots were reported The Earth cooled enough that it 1s called a Little Ice Age No organized sunspot records were kept at that time Various astronomers recorded their observations and historians later collected the records Today we have the STEREO space probes that watch the entire surface of the Sun front and back See Where is STEREO page 10 QRZ News May 2012 for more information Incidentally the STEREO probes will be observing comet ISON when it makes its closest approach to the Sun on 28 November 2013 Thanksgiving Day See http stereo ssc nascom nasa gov comet_ison 73 George W3FEY Six Meter DX Report By Chris Patterson W3CMP Here is something a bit different it s a write up of new equipment for six I put in my latest What s On Six column Although the Gemini amp isn t FCC approved yet I think it wouldn t be too hard to get one over here
5. and some others The unit can also feed your PC via a USB port and with the included cable software on a CD and batteries it is ready to go Its window to the world is an N fitting so in a sack that also fits in the case with the unit reversed I carry N to__ adapters for BNC 259 and SMA fittings For station use the unit and PC give a much larger on screen visual with the data at each frequency viewable by pushing a mouse button In a typical scenario I have swept HF dipoles VHF and UHF beams over the band range e g 4 MHz at 2 meters perhaps 10mor 20 Mhz or even the full 600 MHz which is the maximum sweep The result is a graphical sweep made in a few seconds that displays the SWR curve over the swept range in values to 10 to 1 Another scale gives the SWR only to 100 to 1 and in hundredths e g 1 35 to 1 My 432 Mhz Yagi showed 18 to 1 1t will be repaired before the January 2014 contest The PC images can be saved in the program for later use There is another scale that gives the following values R X Z L C and RL among others The unit is readily available in the USA I got mine at HRO VA The delivered price was 810 which may well compete with planned equipment purchases at many QTHs I leave the reader full dominion over these factors and 13 related decisions HI The included rechargeable AAAs have good battery life but I carry an extra set so a test 1s never aborted The validi
6. before the regular membership meeting on the fourth Tuesday of each month Ifa large amount of editing is required earlier submission 1s required We operate on an exchange basis with other non commercial publications Articles printed in QRZ News may be reprinted in a not for profit publication provided proper credit is given QRZ News is archived at http www k3ir org 1296 Net Report from W3ZKU Ross Kaufman W3ZKU is now calling in to the Packrats 1296MHz net at 9 30 Monday evenings Here is Ross report on how he does it Hi George I added the UX 910 option to the Icom 910H for 1296 and have a Comet 16 element Yagi which fits nicely on my 10 X 10 ft terrace I could vaguely hear you on Monday on 1296 but we can probably hear you fine when your antenna is to the east If you can hear the beacon in center city Philadelphia you will most likely copy me I m only a couple of blocks from that beacon 73 Ross The UX 910 module puts out about 10w I am running about 250w on 1296 I could not hear any trace of Ross with my antenna stuck pointing south When I get my 1296 rotor replaced I will be able to copy the Packrat beacon on 1296 244MHz and Ross George W3FEY Six Meter EME Report From W7GJ Hi George Those of us who are capable of working JT65A mode enjoy the Magic of working new DXCC on 6m EME all through the year Last month the new one I worked was SVSEME This month I have skeds with T88 A
7. from the F2 layer when hitting the F2 layer at a perpendicular angle the angle of incidence is 90 Use a higher frequency and the signal will pass thorough the F2 layer into space and is lost for communications lt 2 gt MUF or Maximum Useable Frequency the highest frequency we can use and still achieve good reflection refraction off the F2 layer 16 The formula for MUF is MUF fo sin where fo is the Critical Frequency and Q is the Angle Of Incidence AOD The MUF therefore is a function of the Critical Frequency and the angle at which the signal hits the F2 layer Note that the frequency can be increased as the AOI is lowered In NVIS operations we want the signal to hit the F2 layer at nearly a 90 angle The sine of 90 is 1 In fact the sine does not fall below 0 95 until the incident angle is below 72 Since nearly all the useful radiation falls within the 90 or 20 for an NVIS antenna the MUF is essentially very close to the Critical Frequency lt 3 gt The third factor is FOT Frequency of T The FOT is the frequency where nearly 100 communication is achievable The formula for FOT is FOT MUF 85 MHz Or for an NVIS antenna the formula is FOT fo 85 MHz Where Critical Frequency for the F2 layer is foF2 or just fo C F URL is in column left Amateur Radio Operators ARO s are limited to ham bands for operation Band selection becomes choosing the 160 80
8. how sensitive its receiver 1s Noble Radio NR 6N4 Two Band VHF Transceiver Noble Radio a new amateur radio equipment manufacturer has announced its first venture into the ham market the NR 6N4 dual band six and four metre multimode transceiver The radio appears to be a repackaged commercial unit and no firm introduction date has been announced Preliminary Technical Specifications which are subject to change are 1 RECEIVER SPECIFICATIONS Frequency Coverage 4M 69 9MHz to 70 5MHz 6M 50 0MHz to 52 0MHz Modes SSB USB LSB and CW No FM Circuit Type Down converting design Dual Conversion Ist IF 10 7MHz 2nd IF 25KHz Sideband elimination using phasing techniques with digitally generated Quadrature carriers and Image Reject Mixers preceded by 15kHz crystal roofing filters Ultimate receiver bandwidth set by adjustable SCAF filters Two 8th order filters used one for High Cut and one for Low Cut Sensitivity MDS 130dbm Dynamic Range Figures Blocking 110db IMD 3rd Order 95db Selectivity 500Hz to 4 KHz adjustable with the SCAF filters Ultimate attenuation of filters 1s 55db or better 2 TRANSMITTER SPECIFICATIONS Frequency Coverage 4M 69 9MHz to 70 5MHz 6M 50 0MHz to 52 0MHz Modes SSB USB amp LSB and CW Output Power 20 watts CW or PEP SSB SCAF Filters can be used to tailor SSB Transmit audio 3 GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS Synthesizer DDS PLL synthesizer with 10Hz mini
9. must be at a selected slope from the support mast coax The mast may be separate from the coax which maybe fastened to the mast with electricians plastic tape ok for temporary field duty An antenna tuner may be used to lower the residual SWR The radio end of the coax should have a grounding rod driven in to the ground at least to 6 feet at the bottom of the mast The coax shield must be connected to the ground rod at the bottom of the mast AS 2259 GR TOP MAST E ASSEMBLY INSTALL TOP MAST ASSEMBLY Double Dipole Connections FREE NVIS Antenna Manual Download I built an Inverted V dipole for the 80 meter band when I lived on the farm 53 years ago and had space for any sized antenna I even mounted a 40 meter set of elements at a 90 azimuthal off set from the 80 meter elements At that age I didn t know what a sky wave was nor did I know about SWR I still made quite a number contacts 50 to 450 mile range with respectable signal reports 459 to 599 readability strength and tone on 50watt CW My dual band inverted V was strung between two large trees and the RG59 coax suggested to me by Russ W3MFW now SK was about 120 feet long to reach my bedroom ham radio station I also had two 150 ft long wires with an antenna tuner I built from ARRL Handbook design I was using a Knight T 50 running 50 watts from an RCA 807 final I have no idea what my SWR was nor what my ERP was I had n
10. 60 40 or 30 meter bands MUF dependent for our home portable or mobile land sea or air communications lt gt lt gt Here are a few URLs relevant and germane to the subject of this article VA3RJ Propagation Links Near Real Time F2 Layer Critical Frequency Map Near Real Time Map of the F2 Layer Height Maximum Near Real Time MUF Map lt gt lt gt My NVIS Research amp Study Sources lt gt Relation of Radio Sky Wave Transmission to Ionosphere Measurements Dual polarization antenna using NVIS system Dual orthogonal N V I Skywave Antenna If you try an NVIS antenna please write it up ina short article or email and send to K3IR SPARC s Evolution of NVIS communications and the Battle of RZ News Letter Thank You Arnhem WWII Near vertical incidence skywaves in World War II an 73 s de AA3C Jim historical perspective AA3C ARRL NET HF Communications A Systems Approach Maslin AA3 C AMSAT ORG Amphibious antennas providing near vertical incidence skywave communication Errata The September 2 plot published last month was mislabeled Here is the correct plot Full size ON4KST plots for September 2 amp 5 2013 See the Six Meter DX report on page 6 of September QRZ news for details ON4KST oo paths for 2 2013 17 ron i a Sak ELE A s TTrrTrTTT oo a oo oo a a a SO O O SS SS v e E ee a e me O a a ON4KST p
11. 92 VU Z81 and 3D2 R You can t work DX on 6m if you don t try I am especially excited about the Rotuma station because they are VERY well 12 equipped 1000w and a 6M amp GJ yagi aiming right out over the ocean during their moonrise and will be working many single yagi stations GL and VY 73 Lance Lance Collister W7GJ ex WA3GPL WAIJXN WAIJXN COA ZF20C ZF8 E5S1SIX 3D2LR SWOGJ E6M TX5K P O Box 73 Frenchtown MT 59834 0073 USA TEL 406 626 5728 QTH DN27ub URL http www bigskyspaces com w 7 gj Windows Messenger W7GJ hotmail com Skype lanceW7GJ 2m DXCC 11 6m DXCC 815 Interested in 6m EME Ask me about subscribing to the Magic Band EME email group or just fill in the request box at the bottom of my web page above Product Review The Rig Expert Model AA 600 Antenna Analyzer The Rig Expert antenna analyzer Model AA 600 covers 100 KHz to 600 MHz It operates on batteries stand alone and is highly portable in its own carrying case with strap I have used it in restaurants with other hams at the table to check the SWR of portable 2 m HT antennas The antenna owner may not have been pleased with the result but he got a true one HI This was also true when the same antenna was checked outside in rather free space Oh the caveat am not an employee nor boss nor stockholder of the maker located in the Ukraine I am just a pleased user FYI there is also a Model 1000 that covers to 1000 Mhz
12. Modular Object Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment It is an open source online learning management platform lt gt Introduction to the ARRL s Moodle Online Learning Platform A FREE PDF download AA3C note Intro to Moodle Platform tutorial is a must read and keep for reference while operating on Moodle Platform There are some additional instructions that will explain features of the Moodle platform only available to Mentors instructors lt gt ARRL is now accepting enrollments for the first new course developed for the Moodle online learning platform Click the next hyperlink for our newest reconstructed ARRL s Online Course Catalog for the description of Introduction to Emergency Communication and a link to enroll You ll find information about prerequisites course fee course length course requirements equipment or resources you ll need as well as a course syllabus and examples of course activities lt gt Prerequisites Before you begin the EC 001 course you should have completed the following prerequisites These courses provide a foundation for the content of this course These are FREE mini courses you can take online at The FEMA GOV TRAINING SITE What is a FEMA SID A FEMA Student IDentification SID number is a unique number generated and assigned to anyone who needs or is required to take training ARRL prerequisites provided by a FEMA gov organization Your FEMA SID uniquely identi
13. W Main St Mt Joy PA Contact Gerry Wagner KB3SSZ for more details Everyone interested in Amateur Radio is invited to attend See http guskeystone com for restaurant details Columbia Halloween Parade Thursday 24 October 2013 will be the Columbia Halloween Parade This is a fun annual event and a public service Most of the Amateur activity is directed toward assisting in organizing the various participating groups After the parade starts we monitor for exceptions and assist as needed Someone usually marches the route with the parade to observe progress Meet at Susquehanna Fire Co 10 amp Manor Sts Columbia PA at 5 30PM Parking and rest facilities are available at the fire house The parade starts at 7 00PM Volunteer Amateurs need not be members of SPARC You will be provided with a listing of the parade organization so you will be able to answer questions on where the various groups should muster for the parade Bring a flashlight It gets dark early The Kilty Band is great The steam calliope marks the end of the parade This is an HT only event using a primary simplex frequency of 147 470MHz Contact Dave Payne N3LOM for further information Other Events Editor s Notes SPARC is making great progress on upgrading the club site now that we have the mortgage and buried oil tank behind us Club membership is growing steadily and meeting attendance is growing The monthly breakfasts get people out
14. ation Net 9 00 PM on 147 015MHz Thursday Lancaster Radio Transmitting Society Net 9 00 PM on 145 390MHz Sunday Info Net On the N3TUQ 900MHz repeater 8 30PM Output 927 5875MHz Input 902 5875MHz 25MHz PL 114 8Hz The N3TUQ 900MHz repeater is located on the LVSRA tower on Cornwall Mountain Net control Bob Howard KB3QAQ For more information visit http www n3tuq com repeater aspx PACKRAT MONDAY NIGHT NETS Visit the Mt Airy VHF Radio Club at http oackratvhf com airtimes htm for the latest information on VHF UHF nets 11 Two EPA Nets Now Accessible via Echolink Posted By egroups_n3sw egroups_n3sw Mon Aug 27 2012 11 40 pm lt gt The EPA AA3RG and Echolink Traffic Net EAETN has been accessible since its inception via Echolink at node AA3RG R 149493 See the group Calendar for more information Thursday 8 00PM lt gt Now the Capital Area Traffic Net CATN is also accessible via Echolink at node N3TWT R 743026 See the group Calendar for more information All licensed hams are welcome to join in on these nets 73 Scott N3SW EPA STM lt gt AA3C note To visit our group on the web go to NTS EPA Group web site http groups yahoo com group nts epa Both nets will utilize the 146 640 tx MHz Transmit access tone 82 5 Hz AA3RG Repeater http www aa3rg org QRZ News Publication QRZ News is published monthly The deadline for submission of items for publication is 10 days
15. control CTRL or CTRL or CTRLO to adjust image size Click Here or on map for UPDATE Near Real Time Selecting the Correct Frequency Besides having low antenna height the next most important factor is selection of the proper operating frequency We need to select a frequency that is reflected by the F2 layer but is not absorbed or significantly degraded by the D layer The higher the frequency the less the D layer will affect the signal However too high a frequency and the signal will pass through the F2 layer into outer space Fortunately we can determine the best operating frequency from propagation information on the Internet and a few relatively easy calculations A good place to find the F2 Critical Frequency is at this URL http www spacew com www fof2 html The map at that URL shows the F2 Critical Frequency fo for the entire world It is updated every five minutes so the map is very current Another good URL for links to many propagation information sites is this URL http solar spacew com Once we know the Critical Frequency we can determine the proper operating frequency The theory behind the selection is straight forward We need to select the frequency that is the highest possible without passing through the F2 layer There are three factors to consider lt 1 gt First the Critical Frequency for the F2 layer is foF2 or just fo This is the highest frequency that will be reflected back to earth
16. e running from the common porch would have been appreciated Two it was only my wife and I We had talked about the things we wanted to do while we were there and places we wanted to revisit If other extended family members had gone Pat probably would have done things with them which would have given me time on my own This trip was a birthday present to her and I didn t think it was appropriate to spend hours on the radio while she sat alone Remember Ham radio can be an important service and is a lot of fun but family is more important And besides who knows giving your spouse undivided attention for a few days may buy you a free pass to a Ham related activity later 73 Harry WA3FFK MINUTES OF THE SEPTEMBER 2013 MEETING OF THE SOUTHERN PENNSYLVANIA AMATEUR RADIO CLUB SPARC Held Tuesday September 24 2013 at the repeater site on Breneman Road The following members and guests were present Dave Sarraf N3NDJ Jim Silvius KW3E David St Pierre KC3AUQ Jaclyn St Pierre KC3BDE Gerry Wagner KB3SSZ Gerald Wilson KB3GNB George Kraus W2LEI Ted Freedman K3KSA Larry W Laughman K3LWL Ken Barto Dave Payne N3LOM George Gadbois W3 FEY Tom Hartranft KB3ZGF Kevin Lampo K3LLC Mike Warner N3XPD Charles Zimmerman N3WXO Harry Bauder WA3FFK Jim Hartranft KB3ZGE Linda Hartrantf KB3ZGE Scott Lithgow KN3A Eugene Hostetter KB3ZGG Mike Daskalopoulos KJOMIC Harry started the meeting at 7 00 PM Dave p
17. fies you throughout the FEMA organization and all of its agencies The goal is for your FEMA SID to serve as your personal identification number instead of our Social Security Number SSN in support of FEMA s effort to decrease cease the use of SSN for identifying and tracking individuals ARRL requires 2 training fema gov courses completed as prerequisites before enrollment in EC 001 Moodle Platform is not needed for ARRL s FREE I CS 100 18 100 b and IS 700 lt gt ICS 100 IS 100 b Introduction to the Incident Command System FREE lt gt IS 700 National Incident Management System FREE AA3C note These are short courses that will let you get accustomed to online course use There may be other FREE courses you may want to take beyond the ARRL s prerequisites Certificate of Completion ARRL the national association for Amateur Radio recognizes that Sharon Ibaugh N3CXY has met all of the requirements to successfully complete EC 001 Introduction to Emergency Communication 2004 07 17 hs Cas Date Awarded by David Sumner K1ZZ P7 q od ARAL Chet Executive Otncer Gy ARRL amateur radio 7 Certificate of Completion ARRL the national association for Amateur Radio recognizes that James Ibaugh AA3C has met all of the requirements to successfully complete EC 001 Introduction to Emergency Communication 2004 07 17 o pp A Gale Date Awarded by David Sumner K1ZZ FA s eer eM ARRL C
18. g tournament later in the week but a number of people came early just to fish for fun I didn t see a lot of fish being pulled in but then I didn t see a lot of hooks being baited I really think a lot of these guys went out early in the morning and would go back to their spouses 6 hours and a case of beer later Yes dear the fish just weren t biting today Tuesday brought heavy rain and strong winds We really expected to see Jim Cantore but we only rated Alex Wallace By Wednesday the rain had stopped but the winds were still pretty strong My wife loves to walk along the beach but does not like wind and rain After lunch on Wednesday I talked her into at least walking down to the water s edge Once we got on the beach we decided to walk a short distance down the shore We didn t want to go too far because it was high tide and the winds had pushed the surf way higher We were a little Table of Contents President s Message Page 1 September Meeting Minutes Page 3 Coming Events Page 4 Editor s Notes Page 4 Six Meter DX Report Page 5 ARRL Online Comm Courses Page 8 ARES RACES Information SPARC Officers Nets Etc W3ZKU on 1296 Six Meter EME Report from W7GJ Page 12 Page 10 Page 10 Page 12 Monday was very nice and we enjoyed several long walks on the beach and spent a AA 600 Antenna Analyzer Page 12 Near Vertical Incidence Skywave Page 13 Errata Sep 6m DX charts Corrected Page 17 concerned that we mig
19. het Executive Orticer vw ARRL anateusnadio N3CXY finished the course before I did but all course data was released to data base on the 17 July 2004 and we both finished courses in early June 2004 ARRL s MOODLE INTRODUCTION PDF On the Moodle platform you will see a page with a list of open course sessions This will be your Moodle Home page You will click on the course session you want to enter This work can be done on your time schedule any ARRL AMATEUR RADIO moodle Home Users Courses News Calendar Support Home Courses Navigation Home ARRL Continuing Education Program My home gt P 45864 EC 001 Introduction to Emergency Communication Site pages gt My profile P My courses 2 44075 EC 001 Introduction to Emergency Communication 43818 EC 001 Introduction to Emergency Communication Settings gt My profile settings 4 41014 EC 001 Introduction to Emergency Communication 4 40035 EC 001 Introduction to Emergency Communication Main menu gt 39051 EC 001 Introduction to Emergency Communication ME Site news gt 25792 EC 001 Introduction to Emergency Communication Search courses day of the week You will be assigned a Course Mentor who will monitor review your work regardless of when you submit the work The PDF also contains Mentor and Instructor info The Moodle online platform is configured for any standard s
20. ht get trapped between the waves and the dunes so we just made short trips from the motel first one way then in the opposite direction After awhile Pat said You know this is fun in a perverse kind of way Thursday we decided to head down the coast to Hatteras and take the ferry to Ocracoke The first thing we ran into was front end loaders clearing the sand from the road Now you have to remember that Hatteras is a narrow strip of land with the ocean on one side and the bay on the other and sometimes they get REALLY close together so we were a little surprised to see how much this narrow strip of land had been developed since the last time we were there What had once been little villages with a few houses and a fire department is now a bustling community of beach houses and condominiums Remember there is water all around We reached the town of Avon only to find the highway flooded We had the truck which sits pretty high and I could see the road through the water and lots of cars were making it through so we pushed on After about a mile we Cleared the flooded road but the weather was starting to look ominous so we scrapped our plans for the ferry ride and returned via the Same route Thursday brought a return to nicer conditions Lots of time for walking on the beach and watching the surf Friday dawned cloudy and misty After breakfast we were sitting on the porch watching the waves when my wife says What do you think ab
21. mbership for approval to purchase a rig No objections were raised Mike Hess wants to purchase a surplus Cushcraft R7 antenna for 100 No objections were raised to the sale and no counter offers were made SPARC has a surplus repeater controller for sale as well e Harry gave a summary of tower work done to date He would like to purchase an additional ascender cable and cable grab and some rescue equipment most likely this spring e The linking system Ethernet cables are degrading due to defective non UV resistant jacketing The manufacturer has agreed to replace the cable Dave needs to coordinate a tower climb with Gary Blacksmith who will furnish the replacement cable e new member application has been received from KA3DPW It was accepted with no objections The business part of the meeting adjourned at about 7 30 The technical portion of the meeting was a talk by Scott Lithgow on Geocaching with a demonstration that involved finding and marking the cache at the repeater site Respectfully submitted Dave Sarraf N3NDJ SPARC Secretary Coming Events SPARC programs for 2013 Tuesday 22 October 2013 7 00PM at the Rapho Twp Municipal building 971 N Colebrook Rd Rapho Twp The program for the evening will be a talk by Harry Bauder WA3FFK on the construction of simple HF antennas Monthly Breakfast The second Saturday at 0800 of every month is a SPARC breakfast at Gus s Keystone Restaurant 1050
22. mum step size Tuning rate is variable depending on the Tuning Knob speed Variable Speed Tuning VST Memories 10 memories per band Antenna Impedance 50 ohms unbalanced Supply Voltage 11 5 to 14 Volts Regulated DC negative ground at approximately 3 6 amps at full output power Dimensions 8 in 203 mm W x 12 in 305 mm D including knob and heat sink x 3 75 in 95 mm H including feet Weight Approximately 4 Ibs 1 8 kg 4 SPECIAL FEATURES The NR 6N4 has the capability of being controlled by a standard PC type keyboard that plugs into a rear connector Once a keyboard is interfaced to the radio it can be used to directly enter a frequency skip directly to various functions by a single press of a function key without having to navigate the menus from the front panel buttons as well as being used to send CW via the keyboard There is also a built in keyer function that operates with a standard keyer paddle for CW operation with or without a keyboard connection The low level 10 7MHz IF signal is also brought out to a rear connector so that it may be used for panadapter or SDR applications The price is expected to be around 800 More information can be found at www nobleradio eu Noble Radio NR 6N4 transceiver 73 Chris W3CMP ARRL ONLINE COMMUNICATIONS COURSE CATALOG By James L Ibaugh AA3C ARRL T S ARRL s New Online Learning on the Moodle Platform System are now available Moodle is an acronym for
23. ncaster County primary ARES RACES repeater is on 145 310 MHz with minus offset and 118 8 PL Combined York County Amateur and ARES RACES NET convenes at 8 30 PM 2030 Mondays on 146 97 Pennsylvania RACES HF Nets are held at 3993 5 kHz LSB on all Sundays except holidays The statewide net is on the first Sunday of the month at 0800 hours local time The Central Area including Lancaster County net is at 08 30 local time EPA NBEMS Net Tuesday 7 30pm local EST 3 5920mhz Mode Olivia 8 500 1khz Net Mer WA3 WSJ arrl net SPARC Nets SPARC holds nets every Tuesday at 2100 local time on 145 230 MHz minus offset and a PL of 118 8 The 449 975MHz repeater is linked to the 2m repeater for the net Club Officers President Harry Bauder W A3FFK Vice President Kevin Lampo K3LLC Secretary Dave Sarraf N3NDJ Treasurer Mike Hess KB3 YWG Repeater Trustee Dave Payne N3LOM Nearby Nets of Local Interest If you need additional information on access tones etc see http arcc inc org arc fdbas html Usually the referenced web sites below will provide all the information needed Monday Ephrata Area Repeater Society Net 9 00 PM on 145 450MHz Tuesday Digital Net 8 00 PM on the York 146 97 Repeater This is a busy digital data training net for beginners and advanced users The primary mode used is MT63 2k Other experimental modes are also used See http www w3hzu com Wednesday Red Rose Repeater Associ
24. o equipment to test it all I really did not know that I was using a crude early version NVIS type antenna in 1958 From US Government manual public domain and unclassified military information Radio Communication Optimized Range as a Function of Antenna Element Angle The following table summarizes the antenna take off angles needed when the F2 layer is 250 miles up vertical at transceiver site Range Take off Distance Angle 10 0mi 90 00 25 0mi 87 14 50 0mi 84 29 75 0mi 81 47 100 0mi 78 69 125 0mi 75 96 150 0mi 73 30 175 0mi 70 71 200 0mi 68 20 225 0mi 65 77 15 250 0mi 63 43 300 0mi 58 67 350 0mi 53 90 400 0mi 49 13 450 0mi 44 36 Angles below 45 have degraded signal levels merges with the ground wave Quote from George Gadbois W3FEY NVIS has become important for HF communications VHF fills in the gaps but not everyone is able to put up the antennas to make VHF reliable out to 600 miles plus The antenna footprint works out better at HF The smaller antenna footprint is a big advantage for portable operations MUF MEGAHERTZ 0000 0500 LOCAL 1000 1500 TIME 2000 2400 lt gt lt gt lt gt lt gt lt gt lt gt Maximum Usable Frequency Solar Influence lt gt lt gt lt gt lt gt lt gt lt gt E 25 2628 S Mens api Sd ry te ae rp LS E 34 000 km HUFs SHF SSH 64 A Index 10 Xr 2013 10 03 2350 UTCS Use Windows ZOOM
25. on Members Guests 85 lt gt Description This course is designed to provide basic knowledge and tools for any emergency communications volunteer The course has 6 sections with 29 lesson topics It includes required student activities and a 35 question final assessment Course and assessment is expected to take approximately 45 hours to complete over a 9 week period 5 hours per week You will have access to the course platform at any time of day during this 9 week period so you may work according to your own schedule You must pace yourself to be sure you complete all the required course material in the allotted time lt gt AA3C s Conclusion You are allowed to complete the course EC 001 in less time N3CXY completed hers in 4 weeks and I completed mine in 5 weeks She can type ten times faster than I Both Shari N3CXY XYL and I took and passed the online course EC 001 It was not very difficult at all Shari asked Is that all there is to it I said straight out to her without hesitation or fear 73 s de AA3C Jim AA3C ARRL NET AA3C AMSAT ORG Yes BRIGADEAR you aced it 10 ARES RACES As part of the SPARC commitment to emergency communications the SPARC repeater system 1s maintained as available for linking with other area repeaters Lancaster County RACES VHF Net is held on the first Tuesday of the month at 2030 hours local time on the 145 310 MHz repeater in Rawlinsville The La
26. out driving home today instead of waiting till tomorrow Just think about this Friday of a holiday weekend through Norfolk around Richmond and Washington DC Throw rain into the mix also Didn t seem like a good idea to me but Shortly after lunch we departed Kill Devil Hill for what will probably be the last time We really love it there but the huge growth of the area and the increase in traffic mean it s just not what it used to be Also we have many other places we would like to visit Anyway my prediction about traffic on the trip home was somewhat inaccurate The traffic wasn t bad it was terrible Two accidents in the Norfolk Hampton Roads area had both I 64 and I 664 at a standstill Once we cleared that it was a slow go all the way to Richmond on 64 heavy on 95 to DC slow and rainy on 495 and even heavy on I 270 to Frederick MD Things didn t really thin out until we were nearly to Gettysburg So by 8 30 we were home again As a kind of reward for enduring the day s trials I was now free to visit the SPARC site for the PA QSO party on Saturday and Sunday I will try to get a full report on that event together for next month Someone asked if I was taking a radio and antenna along You know I didn t even take an HT with me I did have the VHF UHF mobile in the truck but I never even turned that on There are two reasons One we were staying in a motel not a house I don t think a vertical in the dunes or a wir
27. resented the minutes from the prior membership meeting On a motion by Gerry Wagner and a second by George Gadbois they were accepted as presented Harry presented the Treasurer s report for Mike On a motion by Dave Payne and a second by Kevin Lampo it was accepted as read General Topics and Announcements Jim Hartranft is starting a series of Technician classes at Moravian in October Harry is holding General classes at the repeater site in Thursday New operating benches and other improvements are underway in the operating building SPARC would like to change to a one fee per family policy No changes are needed to the bylaws Membership applications are still needed from each family member A trip to the ARRL 100 anniversary convention is being considered The convention is July 17 19 which is Thursday through Saturday Transportation cost 130 by train and 40 by car pool A charter bus was mentioned as a possible option Fees meals and rooms are the responsibility of the attendee SPARC is not planning to offer any sort of package New Business Northwest EMS Inc has offered us a portable inflatable hospital We would have the use of it if we agreed to deploy it as needed It needs an enclosed trailer and a generator Planning continues for a remotely operated HF rig Used rigs are too costly A new rig is on the order of 1000 HRO has a suitable model on sale through the end of the month Harry asked the me
28. rice of the unit as of October 3 is 849 00 including VAT Linear Amp also intends to produce versions for 432MHz and 1296 MHz These units will become available during 2014 More information can be found at http www linearamp co uk Tokyo HY Power rereleases the HT 750 If you recall recently Tokyo Hy Power recently released preliminary information on a new multi band HT similar to the legendary HT 750 tri band HT On 16 September I received the following email from Nobuks head of Tokyo Hy Power Chris I hope you have been well Today I have some interesting news about our QRP product that had been very popular 1996 2002 We have some limited quantity of stock now for HT 750 3 Band HF 40 15 6metre SSB CW 3 watt transceiver They are refurbished products and fully brushed up looking brand new in good condition We have accompanying high gain collapsible antennas for 40 15 and 6 metres as well as soft case I wonder if you have club members who might be interested in this unique radio I can offer you a special kit price of US 499 00 plus shipping including all antennas and soft case Looking forward to hearing from you soon 73 Nobuki Wakabayashi JAIDJW Those of you who are familiar with the HT 750 know this is a real bargain For those of you who aren t a brief stroll around the internet will acquaint you with the qualities of the unit There are a couple You Tube videos that show
29. ropagation paths for 9 5 2013 18
30. tary communications broad casting especially in the tropics and by Radio Amateurs The radio waves travel upwards into the ionosphere where they are refracted back down and can be received within a circular region up to 650 km 400mi or more from the radio transceiver If the frequency is too high refraction fails to occur and if it is too low absorption reduces the signal strength IONOSPHERE SKYWAMES r Py eo j P R Pea i r 1 be ta s t C X Fa A A lt Transcetving Stations Special Antenna Designed for NVIS Service 1 4 Wave Element gt lt 1 4 Wave Element 1 4 Wave Element gt A wiitiary NVIS antenna is the US AS 2259 G Antenna which consists of two V shaped dipoles the four dipole wires quarter wave each also serve as guy support for the antenna mast coax The quarter wave elements are not grounded they are insulated from ground yet fastened by insulating devices Band MHz QuaterWave in FT 1 9MHz 123 16ft 3 6MHz 65 00ft 3 8 MHz 61 579ft 7 1MHz 32 958ft 7 2MHz 32 500ft 10 1MHz 23 168ft 14 1MHz 16 596ft 14 3MHz 16 364ft Reliable frequencies for NVIS communications are between 1 8 MHz and 8 MHz Above 8 MHz the probability of success begins to decrease dropping to near zero at 30 MHz There is still a chance to work daytime Skywave at 1OMHz and 14MHz ham bands All four quarter wave elements
31. ty of the builders QTH is partly attested to by the mostly Cyrillic text on the AAA batteries There is a Time Domain Reflectometer function that will tell you of coax issues to within inches if the correct velocity factor was put in the set up This is per a good friend who has used this function more than I have The User s Manual seems a bit better than the often really crummy UMs that come with much ham equipment I found myself soon into measuring antennas in a very intuitive way and running repeated tests as it is so easy to do so Summary I like my unit and have made many tests with it After calibration I have felt confident that the reported results are correct I have learned that some antennas both HB and commercial do not work as well as advertised Now if it would only check my antennas through 24 GHz HI 73 John W3HMS Reprinted from the October 2013 issue of Cheese Bits published by the Packrats The Cheese Bit archives can be found at http packratvhf com Cheese 20Bits cheesebit s html E e SS Near Vertical Incidence Skywave NVIS By James L Ibaugh AA3C ARRL T S Wikipedia Information quote wiki Near_Vertical_Incidence_Skywave Near Vertical Incidence Skywave or NVIS is a radio wave propagation method that provides usable signals in the range between ground wave and sky wave distances usually 30 to 400 miles or 50 to 650 km It is used for military and paramili
32. upporting browser with current updates lt gt Firefox 3 or later lt gt Safari 3 or later lt gt Google Chrome 4 or later lt gt Opera 9 or later lt gt MS Internet Explorer 7 or later Moodle ORG strongly suggest Firefox browser on both PC or MAC Enable Pop ups You ll need to enable pop ups from the course coming from moodle ctdlc org for the course content to display properly and for the various features of the platform to work as intended If you don t already have it you ll need to download Adobe Flash Instructions are provided for these last items when you sign into the course AA3C note I was told that the Moodle System will work on a computers running Windows XP Vista 7 amp 8 platforms I was using Windows 98SE SP2 when I took the course back in 2004 ARRL s Online Course FAQ LINKs If you have a question about the online courses visit the online course FAQ page via the title line hyperlink EC 001 Online Course Overview Course Syllabus Section 1 The Framework How You Fit In Section 2 The Networks for Messages Section 3 Message Handling Section 4 What Happens When Called Section 5 Considerations Section 6 Alternatives and Opportunities Final Assessment amp Student Activities lt gt Introduction to Emergency Communication Course EC 001 This is a revision of our former Emergency Communications Basic Level 1 course Cost ARRL Members 50 35 discount N
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