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MAY  1994 
ISSUF.  #404 

USA  $2.95 
CAN  $195 

A  WGI  Publication 
International  Edition 


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73 


ICOIW  IC-SiA  Mi@ 


Special  Advertising  Insert 
from  Radio  City,  Inc. 


74820"08725 


D5 


^^^^mma 


With  ICOM's  New  IC-281H . 


BONUS 

RtttWl 

BANDl 


It's  Not  Just  2  M  Anymore! 

(2  M  mobile  transceiver  with  440  JVlIlz  receive!) 


New  Exciting  Features! 

Bonus  Receive  Bcmd  -  The  450  (440)  MHz 
bonus  band  is  available  for  receive.  Enables 
ftiU  duplex,  crossband  operation  between  ihe 

2  M  and  70  cm  iKinds.  Crossbiuid  repeat 
from  440  MHz  to  2  M, 

ScroUh  Pod  Memories  - 10  scralch  pad 

memories  automaiicaDy  store  your  1 6 
previously  Iransoiitied  frequencies  (5  simplex 
and  5  duplex)  for  instant  recall 
No  fumbling  around  trying  to  write  down, 
or  store  into  regular  memories,  frequencies 
which  you  want  lo  use  temporariiy 

Memory  Allocation  Functiot!  -  60  regular 
memory^  ch:mnels  can  be  divided  between  the 
main  and  bonus  band.  You  can  organize  your 
memories  for  maximum  efflcientT  and 
listening  preference. 

Aiitontofic  Memory  Channel  Advortte  — 
Aftt  r  a  mtinory  channel  is  programmed,  iJie 
channel  indicator  automatically  advances, 
speeding  up  the  programming  process. 

Tone  Scon*  -  Scans,  detects  and  sets  the 
subaudible  tone.  Permits  access  to  a  repeater 
when  you  don't  know  tite  tone  frequency- 

Voice  Synthesizer*  -  The  iC-281H 

announces  the  operating 
frcquenc);  enabling  quick 
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road  Ver)  helpful  for 
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operators,  too. 

Pocket  ^Plug 
and  Play" 
Operation 

Data  Jock  - 
Connects  a  TXC 

directly  to  the 
modulation  circuit 
for  packet  conve- 
nience. 


9600  BPS  Capability  -  No  modificationt 
necessary.  Provides  higher  performance 
packet  operations. 

Modulatjon  Circuit  -  Newly  designed, 
prevents  over  modulation  even  during  high 
data  throughpuL 


Rugged,  Durable  Construction 

[Ke  Cast  Aluminum  Frame  Construction  - 

Meets  tlie  highest  stimdards  lo  provide 
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trade-in  v^ue  veare  later. 


Large  Heat  Sink  -  Dissipates  the  beat 
to  maintain  power  output  and  stabiiii^^ 
characteristics. 

Simple  Operation 

Remote  Control  Microphone  -  Puts  the 
ofK^raiion  of  several  functions  at  your 
fingertips. 

Auto  Dioling  Capability  -  Programs  14 
telephone  numbers  for  autodial  via  repeater 

wiopatch, 

"One  Push''  Action  Switches  -Eliminate 

the  need  for  ''two  step"  function  switch 
operation.  Simplifies  mobile  operations  for 
convenience  and  safety. 

Large  Display  -  Easy  to  see  and  k^gically 
organized  for  ea,sT  interpretation. 

Auto  Power  OH  -  Shuts  the  transceiver 

down  (when  programmed).  Great  for 
bedside  use. 

Compatible  Accessories  -  For  easy  mounting 
and  operation. 

And  More! 

*  Built-in  Paf^  flint  Code  SqiHfldi 

-  OptronaJ  Tone  Squdch  and  Fndtet  Beep 
•  Scanning 


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o 


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AUTO  TRIGGER  &  HOLD 

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H  f^ttO  200  MHZ,  U  1 0x  probe 

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<  ODtO  Oredt.  90 OHM  pxibe 


B   m-BQ 
C   ra  901 
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CfRCLE  247  ON  HEADER  SEm/tCE  CARD 


JRC 


160-10  Meters  PLUS  6  Meter  Transceiver 


Fifte&n  reasons  v\fhy  your  next  HF 
transceiver  should  be  a  JST-245.  .  , 


1 


2 


3 


4 


5 


6 


7 


All-Mode  Operation  (SSB,CW,AM,AFSK,FM)  on  all  HFamaleur 
bands  and  6  meters.  JST-145,  same  as  JST-245  but  without  6 
meters  and  built-in  antenna  tuner. 

•  JST-145  COMING  SOON  • 


MOSFET  POWER  AMPLIFIER  •  Final  PA  utfitzes  RF  MQSFETs 
to  achieve  low  distortion  and  high  durability.  Rated  output  is  10 
to  150  watts  on  all  bands  Incfuding  6  meters. 

AUTOMATIC  ANTENNA  TUNER  •  Auto  tuner  included  as 
Standard  equipment.  Tuner  settmgs  are  automalicaJly  stored 
in  memory  for  fast  QSY. 

MULTIPLE  ANTENNA  SELECTION  •  Three  antenna  connec- 
tions are  user  selectable  from  front  paneL  Antenna  selection  can 
be  stored  in  memory. 

GENERAL  COVERAGE  RECEIVER  •  100  kHz'30  MHz,  plus  48- 
54  MHz  receiver.  Electrontcally  luned  front-end  filtering,  quad- 
FET  mixer  and  quadruple  conversion  system  (triple  conversion 
tor  FM)  results  in  excellent  dynamic  range  {>100dB)  and  3rd  order 
ICPof +20dBm. 

IF  BANDWIDTH  FLEXIBILITY  •  Standard  2,4  kHz  filter  can  be 
narrowed  continuously  to  800  Hz  with  variable  Bandwidth  Control 
(BWC).  Narrow  SSB  and  CW  flfters  for  2nd  and  3rd  IF  optional, 

QRM  SUPPRESSION  •  Other  interference  rejection  features 
include  Passband  Shii^  <PBS),  dual  noise  blanker,  3-step  RF  atten- 
uation. IF  notch  filter,  selectable  AGO  and  all-mode  squelch. 


8 
9 

10 
11 


12 
13 

14 


15 


NOTCH  TRACKING  •  Once  tuned,  the  IF  notch  filter  will  track  the 
offending  hete rodyne  {±10  Khz)  if  the  VFO  frequency  is  changed, 

DDS  PHASE  LOCK  LOOP  SYSTEM  •  A  single^crystal  Direct 
Digital  Synthesis  system  is  utilized  for  very  low  phase  noise. 

CW  FEATURES  •  Full  break-in  operation,  variable  CW  pitch,  built 
in  electrontc  keyer  up  to  60  wpm. 

DUAL  VFOs  •  Two  separate  VFOs  for  split-frequency  operation. 
Memory  registers  store  most  recent  VFO  frequency,  mo<ie,  band- 
widtti  and  other  important  parameters  for  each  band, 

200  MEMORfES  •  Memory  capacity  of  200  channels,  each  of 
wtiich  store  frequency,  mode.  AGO  and  bandwidth. 

COMPUTER  ff^TERFACE  •  Built-in  RS-232C  interface  for 
advanced  computer  applications. 

ERGONOMIC  LAYOUT  •  Front  panel  features  easy  to  read  color 
LCD  display  and  thoughtful  placement  of  controls  for  ease  of  oper- 
ation. 

HEAVY-DUTY  POWER  SUPPLY  •  Buift-in  switching  power 
suppfy  with  Power  Factor  Correction  (RFC)  and  ''silent"  cooling 
system  designed  for  continuous  transmission  at  maximum 
output. 

"Thss  device  has  not  been  approvBd  by  the  F&deral  Communications  Commfssion.  This 
de vroe  is  not,  and  may  net  be ,  offered  tof  saJ©  or  fease ,  or  sold  □  r  leEisQ d  umi  I  th^  approvaJ 
of  the  FCC  has  bsfln  obtiined/ 


JRC]  ^apan  Radio  Co..Hd. 


430  Park  Ave.,  2nd  Floor  New  York.  NY  1CM322        Phone:  (212)  355-1  ISO  Fax:  (212)  319-5227 

CIRCLE  \m  ON  AEADEf)  SEftVlCE  CARD 


THE  TEAM 

PUBLISHER/EDITOR 
Wayne  G^een  W2NSD/1 

ASSOCIATE  PUBLiSHEFVEOITOR 

David  CassidyNiGPH 

MANAGING  EOrTOR 
Hope  Cu  frier 

SENIOR/TECHNICAL  EDrTOR 
Charles  Wamngton  WAI R2W 

EDrrORlAL  ASSOCIATES 
Sye  Jewell 
Joyce  Sawtelle 

CONTHIBtlTINQ  EDITORS 

BiH  Brown  WB8ELK 
Mike  Bryce  WBBVGE 
Joseph  E.  CaiT  K4IPV 
David  Cowhig  WAI  LBP 
MichaeJGeierKBlUM 
Jim  Gray  W1XU/7 
Cmjcic  Houghton  WB6IGP 
Amie  Johnson  N 1 BAC 
Dr.  Marc  Leavey  WA3AJR 
Andy  MacAJIisler  WA5ZIB 
Joe  Moell  KOOV 
CaroEe  Perry  WB2MGP 
Jeffrey  Siomar>NlEWO 

ADVERTISING  SALES  MANAGER 

Dan  Harper 

ADVERTISING  COORDINATOR 

Judy  Walker 

1-603-924^0055 

1-800-274-7373 

FAX:  1-603-924-9327 

GRAPHIC  DESIGN 

Suzanne  Sell 

GRAPHIC  SERVICES 
Film  Works,  Inc. 
Hanoock  NH 

TYPESETTING 
Linda  Drew 

CIRCULATION  MANAGER 
Harvey  Chandler 

To  subscribe:  1^00*289-0368 

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Foreign  Subscribers 
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f^t;-    li  S^.OOperajliele. 

Back  ^yeg  $4  00  each. 

Write  tD  73  flwwJwrRwIb  Today.  Reprirts. 

70  Route  aoaN.  PetefSxTOMOh.  HH  03156. 

Printed  in  the  U.S.A.  by  Quad 
Graphics,  Triomaslon.  Georgia. 


"l^  Amateur 

Radio  Today 


May  1994 
Issue  #404 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


FEATURES 


10    HJ-PER  Audio  Filter 

This  project  provides  Hlgh-PERformance  CW  filtering..... KC3ZQ 

16   Speech  Compression 

Make  a  monster  mike! ..* . » „ „. „.,..KB1  UM 

22    Fast  Charger 

Recharge  NiCd  and  NiMH  batteries  in  as  little  as  30  minutes. 

.._.KN6PK 


►  •*!■■   ■*■¥»•  •■¥  *  ^  *  *  »  ^  ■ 


30   The  Radar  Gun  Reality 

Ham  scientist 
testifies  on  electro- 
magnetic radiation. 

,..,...,.K6UI 

58   improved  QRP 
Keying  Circuit 
A  slick  fix  for  your 
little  CW  rig„..KD1JV 


REVIEWS 


40   The  ICOM  [C-2IA 
Micro  HI 

Meet  the  ever- 
shrinking  MX 


■  »  I  V  ■  4  'I  I 


.KB1UM 


57  The  Power  Station 

A  multi-function, 
portable,  recharge- 
able power  source. 
„„ WA1RZW 

44   The  ICOM  IC-737  HP 
All-Band  Transceiver 

A  first-class  rig,  with 
all  the  right  features. 


DEPARTMENTS 


80  Above  and  Beyond 
89  Ad  Index 
84  Ask  Kaboom 
78  ATV 

99  Barter  'n"  Buy 
66  Carr's  Comer 
98  Deafer  Directory 
17  Feedback  Index 
47  Ham  Help 

73  Hams  with  Class 
60  Hamsats 

70  Homing  In 

6  Letters 

4  t^ever  Say  Die 
184  New  Products 
77  Packet  &  Computers 
98  Propagation 

74  QRP 
8  ORX 

65  RTTY  Loop 
86  73  International 
94  Special  Events 
47  Updates 


What  can  spoH  your  day  faster  than  a  speeding  ticket? 
Turn  to  page  30  and  find  out. 


FKKI)IIACK,„ 
FEEDBACKl 

i(\  like  bfing  (hsne— ri^ihl 
Ikhc  in  our  offices]  How? 
J  us  I  (;ike  ad  van  last;  of  Our 
FEKDRACK  carid  on  pajic 
17.  You'll  notice  a  leedbii^k 
nuiiiher  yiihe  beginning  o( 
c;kch  uriicle  Lind  £!€lumn. 
We"cl  ilk*  you  to  nne  wh;ii 
you  read  so  t!iiil  wc  can 
prill r  whui  types  uf  ihin^s 
you  tiLe  btfsi.  And  then  we 
will  draw  onf  Feedbijck 
Ciird  each  month  tnr  a  free 
suhscriplion  to  ?^. 


On  the  coven  Senior  Editor  Chartie  Warrington  WA 1RZW  aemonsfrates  how  dose  we  sonietimes  are  to  eiectfomagn^tlc 
radiation.  Turn  to  page  30  to  learn  more.  (Photo  by  David  Cassidy  N  f  GPH.) 


Edttorial  Offices 

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73  Amateur  Radio  Tod^y  [ISSN  \ 052-2522)  i%  piMtshed  monO%  by  Wayne  Green  Inc..  70  Route  202  North, 
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The  nxjre  readers  we  have,  the  more  gfedt  articles  we  can  bring  yoy! 


73  Amateur  Radio  Today*  May,  1994  3 


Number  1  on  your  Feedback  card 


Ni 


EVER  SAY  DIE 


Wayne  Green  W2NSD/1 


Wayne  at  Dayton  • . ,  Not! 

The  Hamvention  chairman  helped 
me  make  my  d3ci£(on  ...  to  not  at- 
tend Dayton  this  year.  I  gather  that 
Kenwood  Of  someone  more  important 
wanted  my  trnditlonal  Saturday  after^ 
noon  speaking  slot,  so  they  offered 
me  Sunday  morning.  That's  a  fine 
spot,  except  that  my  experience  has 
been  that  at  that  time  I  tend  to  out- 
number the  audience.  The  few  hams 
who  haven't  already  started  on  their 
drive  home  are  either  at  chunch  or  are 
busy  frying  for  one  fast  two-dollar  dis- 
count an  a  new  fig  from  desperate 
dealers,  \Vs  really  lonely  on  Sunday  at 
Dayton. 

There  s  always  a  bright  side  to 
ttllnQS.  In  this  case  this  will  give  me 
time  to  atterxl  (and  address)  a  Learn- 
ing Technologies  conference  at  New 
Brunswick  Community  College,  which 
ts  the  same  weekend.  They're  woiktr^g 
on  distance  learning  projects*  which  I 
happen  to  think  are  the  key  to  getting 
both  the  Canadian  and  American  edu- 
cational systems  off  the  destructive 
track  they've  been  on.  It's  easier  to 
provide  a  whole  new  teaching  system 
than  to  change  the  present  one.  And, 
obviously,  the  financial  rewards  are  aU 
most  beyond  calculation.  There  is  a 
built-up  need  for  quality  education  that 
will  take  years  to  satisfy. 

Distance  learning?  That's  via  sateJ- 
lite*  TV.  cable,  or  videotape.  And  it  can 
be  made  fairty  interactive.  We  have 
over  250  million  people  in  America 
Who  rieed  to  leam  ihings  whk:h  could 
be  taught  via  videotapes.  With  some 
small  language  modifications  these 
will  also  be  good  saleable  products  in 
Europe  for  another  400  or  so  million 
customers.  In  the  long  run  this  will  be 
an  Inexpensive  way  to  provide  a  su- 
perb educational  product 

A  course  that  will  be  used  by  mil- 
lions of  people  can  cost  millions  to 
make  and  be  a  bargain.  This  means 
nve'll  eventually  be  seeing  educational 
videos  which  feature  lop  performance 
lalem,  lots  of  graphics,  and  are  fun  to 
use.  ^ybe  even  exciting.  Heckp  they 
might  even  be  rr>ore  entertaining  than 
some  of  the  siupkJ  sitcoms  we  have 
been  wasting  our  Mves  seeing.  Will 
Hiey  be  able  lo  compete  with  basket- 
ball games?  ProbatjJy  not 

I'll  be  son^  to  miss  saying  heilo  to 
ifiy  thousands  of  friends  at  Daytoa  I 


always  enjoy  that.  And  while  the  7S 
booth  didn't  pay  for  rtself  in  sales.  I  did 
enjoy  the  oppOftuniiy  it  provided  for 
readers  to  lind  me  and  tell  me  how 
they  don't  always  agree  with  my  edito- 
rials. To  which  I  should  not  just  nod, 
but  should  ten  'em  that  if  they  don*t 
agree  with  me,  then  they  should  do 
their  homework  and  then  they  proba- 
bly will,  I  don't  shoot  from  the  hip 
when  Tm  writing  my  editorials,  I  do  my 
homework  before  I  wrjte. 

I'll  miss  those  big  Hamventlon  bar- 
becue sandwiches  too.  Mmm.  iheyVe 
good!  What  I  won't  miss  for  a  minute 
are  the  crowds  which  make  it  almost 
Impossible  to  get  arour^d  the  narrow 
atsfes.  And  I  won't  miss  having  to 
stand  in  line  for  10  minutes  to  say  hel- 
lo to  someone  in  a  booth.  Or  having  to 
park  a  mile  from  the  arena  and  walk 
thmugh  the  mi^d  to  get  ihem  .  . ,  and 
baclt.  Or  what  seems  like  the  In- 
evitable rain,  which  further  packs  'em 
into  the  inside  exhibits. 

On  the  bright  side^  IVe  been  stew- 
ing (and  writing)  about  how  hamtests 
haven't  changed  hardly  at  all  since  I 
attended  my  first  in  1938.  Well  I've 
got  what  seems  to  me  like  a  great  so- 
lution on  how  to  change  hamfests  so 
they'll  be  more  fun  and  help  attract 
new  hams.  If  anyone  cares  much  HI 
expEain  what  1  have  in  mind.  I  think 
well  be  able  to  double  or  quadruple 
attendance,  and  at  least  triple  ihe  ex- 
hibitors. But  hey.  If  I  can  think  of 
something  like  that,  why  can't  you? 
Give  H  a  try  and  see  what  you  can 
come  up  with. 

Hamfests  should  be  growing  in 
popularity,  not  dying  off.  I've  beer  dis- 
appointed to  see  one  hamfest  after 
another  become  unprofitable  for  us  to 
have  a  booth,  and  then  eventualiy 
blow  away.  I  hear  the  Miami  hamfest 
is  a  shadow  of  its  old  self,  but  then 
there  hasn't  been  an  original  idea 
there  within  my  memory.  The  failure  of 
the  recent  CO  Magazine  commercial 
hamfest  senes  tells  us  it's  time  for  a 
change.  We  should  have  big  hamfests 
every  year  or  two  in  our  mapr  cities.  I 
believe  we  can.  but  only  if  we  re-in- 
vent them. 

Update 

Now  I  see  that  TNT  Js  going  to 
broadcast  a  film  on  Amelia  Earhart. 
Well,  they  havenl  contacted  me,  and 


as  far  as  I  know,  Tm  probably  the  only 
person  alive  who  really  knows  the  in- 
skle  story  of  her  las!  trip.  Frankly.  I'm 
disappointed  In  you.  I've  wrftten  atDout 
this  and  you  haven't  passed  the  word. 
So  I  watched  Ihe  recent  TV  program 
about  Amelia  btunder  around,  arxj  dit- 
to the  author  of  the  recent  Earhart 
book.  Tsk.  Ves.  she  was  a  spy  for  Ihe 
Navy,  and  I  knew  it  before  she  made 
her  trip. 

Things  have  been  moving  fast  In 
the  cold  fusion  department.  The  Uni- 
versity of  Siena.  Italy,  recently  demon- 
strated a  nickel-hydrogen  system 
which  generated  lots  of  power  and 
kept  on  doing  it  for  weeks  after  all  in- 
pot  was  removed.  It  didn't  stop  by  tt- 
setf,  they  had  to  stop  it  This  is  partic- 
ularly interesting  in  that  the  reaction 
has  been  at  reiativety  htgh  tempera- 
tures (around  SOC^F),  so  it's  a  more 
efficient  system.  The  estimates  I've 
seen  are  on  Ihe  order  of  300  kilowatts 
from  three  grams  of  nickel  The  uni- 
versity has  not  been  forthcoming  on 
their  system  for  initiating  the  reaction, 
but  from  the  pictures  my  editor  took  it 
doesn't  look  very  complicated.  This  Is 
obviously  not  a  chemical  reaction, 

Cold  fusion  presents  a  wonderful 
opportunity  for  experimenters.  First,  it 
ctoesn't  cost  a  bundle  to  experiment  in 
the  field.  Second,  it  doesn't  take  a 
Ph.D.  in  chemistry  or  physics,  or  any- 
thing else,  for  that  matter.  This  is  a 
whote  new  neld  and  there  are  no  ex- 
perts yel.  You  could  be  one,  if  you 
wanted.  Third,  all  of  the  research  in 
this  field  so  fas  has  been  empirical, 
which  means  everyone  involved  is  try- 
ing this  and  that,  and  seeing  what 
works  and  what  doesn't. 

Pons  and  Fleischmann  got  started 
with  this  because  they'd  run  across  an 
anomaly  that  seemed  worth  checking 
out  when  palladium  and  deuterium 
were  puUn  a  lithium  bath.  It  was  much 
the  same  with  an  outfit  in  Georgia  that 
has  been  manufacturing  steam  heat- 
ing systems  that  use  a  new  approach 
to  water  compression  to  heal  the  wa* 
ter.  Then  their  customers  started  re- 
maridng  on  how  efficient  their  systems 
were,  so  they  tesled  one  and  found  it 
was  more  than  100%  efficient.  Hey, 
what's  going  on  here? 

What  fields  have  you  become  an 
expert  in?  For  that  matter,  what  have 
you  done  with  your  life  that  has  con- 


tributed even  a  little  bit  to  the  ad- 
vancement of  our  society?  One  of  the 
things  that  really  disappointed  me 
when  I  started  going  to  the  reunions  of 
my  okj  submarine  buddies  from  WWII 
was  that  few  of  them  had  ever  done 
anything  of  any  significance  since  our 
time  on  the  submarine.  Indeed,  that 
was  the  most  important  thing  many  of 
them  had  ever  don*. 

It  just  isn't  thai  difficult  to  become 
an  expert  in  some  field*  In  almost  any 
field.  When  the  microoomputef  came 
along  in  1975  I  decided  Td  have  to 
learn  how  these  darned  things  work.  I 
went  out  and  bought  a  stack  of  books 
on  computer  theory  and  started  read- 
ing. When  I  fourxl  them  difficutt  to  un* 
derstand  (they  were  terribie  .  .  .  col- 
lege texts)^.  that  gave  me  Ihe  idea  to 
start  Byte.  I  knew  there  woyld  be 
thousands  of  people  in  the  same  fix. 

No  one  knows  yet  bow  cold  fusion 
actually  works.  SO  anyone  new  to  the 
field  is  starling  out  fresh.  Actually,  a 
newcomer  has  an  advantage.  One  of 
the  things  that  has  hurt  cold  fusion 
has  been  the  know-nothing  scientists 
who.  because  they  don't  have  an  ex- 
planation for  what's  happening,  have 
been  refusing  to  believe  tt.  Their  posi- 
tion Is  that  every  one  of  the  research 
labs  that  has  claimed  positive  results 
has  made  serious  errors.  It  can't  hap- 
pen. II  hasn'i  happened.  Everyone  is 
mistaken.  One  scientist  and  one  joor- 
mfist  have  staked  their  reputations  on 
this  with  books  they've  putMished. 

Amateurs  have  a  great  advantage 
in  fliat  they  aren't  limited  by  wtiat  they 
know,  only  by  what  tfiey  don'l  know. 

So  the  next  time  you  start  reading 
about  digital  voice,  digital  data  com- 
pression, video  compression,  or  a 
crypto  algorithm,  don't  blonk  out  your 
eyes  like  that  stupid  old  orphan  and 
her  even  older  dog,  put  on  your  pio- 
neer hat  and  head  for  the  hills  of 
teaming.  How's  that  lor  some  creative 
diches?  Blonk  that  me taphori 

Custom  Call  signs 

As  Vve  mentioned  In  a  past  editori- 
al Tm  enthusiastic  about  custom  call* 
signs.  I  thought  this  was  a  fine  way  for 
the  FCC  to  make  some  money  to  off- 
set what  we're  costing  them.  So  Vm 
delighted  they're  now  thinking  in  terms 
of  making  'em  available.  They're  great 
for  club  stations,  for  special  events, 
and  for  serious  ego  cases.  Like  me. 

Yes.  of  course  I  have  a  special  call 
in  mind.  While  on  the  one  hand  I'll 
hate  to  lose  my  old  W2NSD  call  after 
all  these  years,  on  the  other  it  would 
be  nice  to  have  a  reaify  distinctive  call. 

When  I  moved  to  New  Hampshire 
from  New  York  In  1962  I  asked  the 
FCC  if  I  could  gel  W1NSD,  which  had 
been  unoccupied  for  several  years. 
When  1  moved  to  North  Carolina  in 
1948  to  take  an  announcing  job  at 
WEEB  in  Southern  Pines,  the  manag- 
er said  I  would  also  have  to  have  a 
broadcast  engineer's  license.  So  i 
look  the  train  to  Washington  that  nighl 
and  took  the  license  test  the  next 
morning.  And  passed-  While  3  was 

ContifiuBd  on  page  90 


4  73  Amateur  Radio  Today*  May,  1994 


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CfnCLE.54  ON  READER  SERVICE  QIKtiD 


Lehers 


Number  2  on  your  Feedback  caftf 


Ward  Stewart  VE3FGS,  Lakeland 
FL  Wayne,  j've  been  reading  your 
ranlings  in  the  December  1993  issue 
of  73.  I  have  a  couple  of  very  quick 
reports  tor  you. 

(  bought  an  Altnco  DJ580  HT  I  be- 
lieve that  it  represents  the  best  value 
around,  and  has  the  usual  overabun- 
dance of  bells  and  whistles.  The  re- 
ceiver audio  is  reaHy  good  and  is  suf- 
ficieni  to  drive  a  commercial  niobile 
speaker.  Cutting  a  jumper  gives  DC 
lo  daylight  frequency  coverage.  Se- 
lecUvily  Is  as  good  as  can  he  expect- 
ed wilh  that  kind  of  barxtwidth. 

My  principal  gripe  is  the  smaJIness 
of  the  push-buttons  and  the  readout. 
The  manufacturers  seem  to  forget 
that  most  of  the  hams  with  the  bread 
lo  buy  this  type  of  equipment  have 
reached  the  age  where  bigger  is  bet- 
ter. Perhaps  Tm  off  base  on  this  one. 

The  company  has  an  excellent  atti- 
tude with  regard  to  customer  service. 
They're  at  ways  willing  to  listen. 

So,  yc)u  think  you're  abnormal. 
When  did  you  reach  that  conclusion? 
You  make  it  sound  like  a  burden  .  .  . 
H's  not,  ar>d  you  know  it*  You  can  say 
and  do  alt  kinds  of  wetrd  things  and 
get  away  with  iL  U*s  wonderful  to  be 
thought  of  as  abnormal,  it^s  like  a  li- 
cense to  be  free!  The  downside  is 
Ihal  you're  seldom  taken  seriously, 
with  the  resulting  faislralion  of  know- 
ing that  your  views  are  valid,  but  lack 
vaNdaiaon  by  the  mob.  Console  your- 
self with  the  knowledge  that  you  at 
least  have  a  puEplU 

P.S.  Anyone  with  a  llmtted  budget 
who  l9  considering  buying  a  VHF  mo- 
bile rJg  should  consider  this:  Spend 
five  or  to  bucks  on  a  good  (i.e.  Mo- 
torola or  GE)  mobile  speaker,  and 
buy  an  HT  instead  of  a  mobile  200 
mW  of  audio  into  a  good  speaker  Is 
more  than  enough  for  most  applica- 
tions, plus  you  have  the  versatilrty  of 
a  mobile  plus  an  HI.  Two  watts  RF 
output  is  Quite  adequate  for  most  re- 
peaters, as  you  know.  Need  better 
coverage?  Put  your  money  into  a 
gain  antenna. 

Dave  Buren  N2QE,  Hancock  NH 
Wayne,  I  find  the  issues  discussed  in 
the  February  1994  'NSD''  column  im- 
mensefy  more  interesting  than  the 
usual  warmed-over  ham  radio  techie 
topics.  I  picked  up  R.  Becker's  Cross 
Currents  and  it  is  truly  fascinating.  I 
especially  appreciate  your  interesting 
reading  references. 

Count  my  vote  to  prtni  the 
schematk^s  for  the  mk^oamp  genera* 
tor  and  magnetic  pulse r.  Tliis  is  excit- 
ing stuff  •  .  ,  sure  beats  ""ARRL  Hap- 
penings,' 

Dennis  Washer  N4EXB/5V7WD, 
Jacksonville  FL  Wayne,  in  following 
your  comments  and  other  articles 


From  The  Ham  shack 


dealing  wfth  the  effects  of  EM  fiefds,  1 
have  found  it  interesting  thai  the 
medical  community  is  just  now  start- 
ing to  wake  up  to  the  vei^  real  effects 
of  this  menace. 

I  have  had  ih&  privilege  of  being 
reared  In  Western  Africa  (Miger).  Hav- 
ing been  bom  there  and  having  spent 
18  of  my  chifdhood  years  in  colonial 
Africa,  I  can  rarefy  recall  having 
Africans  at  the  dispensary/hospital 
with  any  form  of  cancer.  Seme  of  this 
may  be  attnbuted  to  a  better  present- 
day  knowledge  of  what  canoer  looks 
like,  but  part  of  this  bw  inddence  Is 
also  due  to  a  better  diet  (wttness  the 
low  incidence  of  heart  problems}. 
More  importantly,  I  believe  that  the 
lack  of  electricity  of  any  form  (and  its 
associated  power  lines,  transmitters, 
etc.)  has  played  a  vital  role  in  this. 
The  '70s  and  'BOs  brought  modern- 
ization (rlghtfulfy  needed),  bu\  with  It 
came  the  generators,  transmitters 
and  power  lines  into  even  the  hum- 
blest of  mud  huts.  Is  it  coincidence 
that  the  incidence  of  cancers  of  all 
types  has  gone  up? 

I  believe  that  future  research  will 
prove  lh&  damage  brought  about  by 
electricity.  But  we  cannol  turn  the 
dock  backward  and  keep  everyone  in 
the  "savage"  years,  and  so  our  task 
as  amateurs  is  to  help  protect  that 
newly-emerging  modern  society  by 
continuing  our  research  into  ways  to 
safeguard  against  EM  fields.  We  can- 
not just  roll  over  ar;d  play  dead  and 
admit  defeat:  we  must  continue  to  be 
on  the  cutting  edgel 

Thanks,  Wayne,  for  continuing  to 
challenge  us  with  your  good  maga- 
zine. 

Camilo  Carrau  HI3CAZ,  Puerto 
Plata,  Dominican  Republic  I  have 
followed  your  extraordmary  journey 
through  this  puzzling  and  yet  wonder- 
M  world  ol  ours  and  sincerely*  Mr. 
Green,  let  me  use  this  opportunity  to 
congratulaie  you,  thanking  God  to 
have  at  least  one  Wayne  Green  in- 
carnate! 

I  own  and  direct  a  small  three- 
year-old  television  station  on  the 
north  coast  of  the  Dominican  Repub- 
lic: UHF21  Puerto  Plata  Television,  li- 
censed HICC.  In  our  recent  visit  to 
our  capital  Santo  Domingo,  my 
brother  and  I  purchased  the  February 
issue  of  73  Amateor  Radio  Today  My 
brother,  a  physician  and  director  of  a 
njral  hospital  in  our  province,  and  I 
couk]n1  wait  to  return  home  to  write 
you.  Uncle  Wayne,  we  need  the  dr- 
cuit  diagrams  of  a// the  units  you  have 
written  about,  both  the  anti-HIV  and 
the  01  her  for  the  cure  of  daig  addic- 
tion, Tfius,  1  have  decided  lo  use  the 
most  expeditious  and  the  Third 
World's  safest  way  to  contact  you:  the 
fax. 


Please  regard  this  letter  as  the  an- 
swer not  of  a  ttvousand  but  of  millions 
of  souls  dwelling  amidst  ignorance 
and  oblivion  on  this  beautiful  island 
Shared  with  a  nation  bearing  one  of 
the  worfd's  highest  indexes  of  AIDS: 
Haiti. 

Rod  Hogg  KOEQH,  Scott  City 
KS  Uncle  Wayne,  there  have  been 
many  times  I  have  been  in  agreement 
with  your  editorials,  and  quite  a  few 
times  I've  wanted  to  bang  the  table 
and  strongly  disagree,  but  that's  his- 
tory now.  As  of  now.  in  reading  Ihe 
''Never  Say  Die''  column  in  the  March 
issue,  I  have  been  taken  in  by  your 
comments  on  the  lighf  topic. 

Interestingly  or  not,  and  you  may 
t>e  aware  of  it,  in  the  Febnjary/March 
issue  of  Modem  Malurity  there  is  an 
article  in  the  'Medicine'  column  on 
tne  use  of  light  therapy  for  jet  lag. 
etc.,  maladies  by  Stephen  Rae,  You 
rnay  r»ol  be  a  member  of  the  AARP 
(knowing  how  young  you  act)  and 
thus  you  may  want  lo  locate  a  copy 
and  add  it  to  your  info  file, 

As  I  read  your  column.  I  thought  of 
my  personal  experiences  with  light.  In 
particular  sunlight,  and  the  therapeu- 
tic effect  It  has  on  me.  I  recalled  a 
meeting  of  a  Kiwanis  club  I  used  to 
belong  to.  We  had  a  member,  a  Dr. 
Goodwin,  who  was  an  optometrist 
who  presented  In  our  monthly  pro- 
gram schedule  an  interesting  motion 
picture  (not  a  vkJeo.  but  a  mov^)  on 
the  studies  nrmde  with  Icgtit.  I  think  it 
was  the  work  done  by  John  Oil.  It 
dealt  with  slow-motion  photography 
and  his  experiments  with  various 
lighting.  Then  Dr  Goodwjn  branched 
off  on  this  with  his  wort?  with  light  and 
learning  disorders,  in  particular  with 
the  use  of  corrective  lenses,  etc. 

What  I  wonder  is,  are  the  bad 
guys,  ones  with  dark  glasses  all  the 
time,  lust  bad  and  getting  "badder" 
because  they  never  get  any  sunlight 
on  the  retina?  Seems  like  all  the 
tioods  of  the  wortd  are  afraid  of  sun- 
light. Hmmm . . , 

Best  75s.  I  will  Uxik  for  more  "in- 
spirational and  moving'  words  of  wit 
and  wisdom. 

Rod^Thanks  for  thB  fax.  Yep.  I 
get  Modern  Maturity.  Yep,  t  re^d  the 
article, 

You'ii  want  lo  read  the  Liberman 
book  on  iight.  too.  Dr.  Wm.  Campbeft 
Douglass  also  has  a  book,  Into  The 
Light,  it's  $27  ppd.  from  Second 
Opinion,  Bojf  467939,  Atienta  SA 
30346.  Youli  want  to  read  the  Ott 
book.  Health  and  Light,  too.  Excel- 
lenL  Cheers . . .  Wayne 

Lyman  H.  Wotfto  U  MLZJ,  Boise 

ID  Wayne.  I  have  been  reading  your 
journal  for  a  number  of  years  now 
and  have  tried  to  at  least  skim  your 
*Never  Say  Die*  editoriats.  in  the  last 
few  monlfis  it  seems  that  you  have  fi- 
nafly  moved  from  rehashing  the  same 
old  ham  radio  issues  to  some  new 
and  exciting  areas. 

Last  month  I  purchased  the  book 
Cross  Currents  and  dug  out  my  very 


old  copy  of  7?je  Secret  Life  of  Plants. 
For  the  past  24  years  my  career  has 
been  in  the  application  of  business 
and  technology  in  the  world  of 
medicine.  Dr.  Becker's  book  has  re- 
newed my  interest  in  neuroanatomy 
and  in  the  effects  of  both  electricaf 
and  magnetic  fields  on  the  human 
body.  Thank  you  for  bringing  this 
book  to  my  attention. 

As  a  clinical  engineer  1  have  long 
known  the  effects  of  light  on  the  hu- 
man body.  I  have  always  found  that 
the  natural  sunlight  coming  in  the 
window  of  my  office/ham  shack  is  im- 
portant in  starting  my  morning.  Like- 
wise. I  do  not  use  sunglasses  unless 
I  am  flying  or  exposed  to  highly  re- 
flecttve  light  when  skiing  or  sailrng. 
Keep  up  ttie  good  worlc  in  helping  our 
amateur  population  understand  the 
effects  of  bfoad  spectrum  light 

Finally,  1  am  most  interested  In 
learning  more  about  your  research  in- 
to cold  fusion.  I  plan  to  pick  up  the 
book  Fire  From  ice  this  week.  Hope- 
fully we  will  hear  more  from  you  re- 
garding this  exciting  new  field. 

Like  you  I  am  getting  rather  upset 
with  the  "pleasure  seeking"  attitude  of 
the  American  public.  The  advances  in 
Information  and  knowledge  do  not 
seem  lo  be  improving  the  govern- 
ment.  or  the  direction  in  which  It  is 
going.  The  increase  in  crime,  the 
generally  poor  quality  of  our  school 
systems,  and  the  continued  growth  of 
the  welfare  state  is  becoming  more 
and  more  o^  a  concern.  Your  edrtorv 
als  are  refreshing  in  these  areas. 
Keep  up  the  good  wo  rid 

Janide  Devfln  N50QV,  Newafia 

OK  Wayne,  while  reading  your  edito- 
rial in  the  March  1994  issue  I  ran 
across  one  section,  with  the  heading 
"Politics,"  that  I  had  to  comment  on. 

Trying  to  gel  people  to  do  anything 
about  the  way  things  are  going  in  our 
government  Is  next  to  impossible,  t  sit 
there  at  work  and  listen  to  everyone 
complain  about  everything  from  taxes 
lo  crime.  Try  telling  ihem  to  write  or 
organize  and  try  to  do  something 
about  it  and  all  you  hear  is  ""Well,  it 
won't  do  any  good  *  or  "I  don't  have 
timq/  Sq  I  tried  running  off  some  let* 
ters  on  my  computer  thinking  mayl>e 
they'd  at  least  mail  Ihem  to  their  rep- 
re  sentatives^  but  that  didn't  work  ei- 
ther I  guess  they  don't  want  to  spend 
the  29- cent  postage. 

I  joined  the  United  We  Stand 
group  righl  at  first.  I  mailed  in  my 
dues,  got  two  petitions  to  sign  and 
last  month  I  got  my  renewal  notice 
telling  me  how  much  good  they  were 
doing,  Needless  to  say,  I've  still  got 
my  dues. 

Anyway,  I  just  wanted  to  say  I 
definitely  agree  with  your  slate- 
men!.  "When  we  refuse  to  try  and 
do  something  to  soJve  our  problems 
then  we  are  condoning  them.'  I  don't 
know  what  the  solution  Is  but  thm 
people  had  better  start  doing  some- 
thing besides  complaan  or  the  country 
of  our  grandchildren  will  not  be  any- 
thing like  what  it  has  been  to  our 
parents. 


6   73  Amateur  Radio  Today  *U^y,^  994 


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Qyr  32  nd  Veart 


m ironies,  inc. 


QRX 


Number  3  on  your  Feedback  card 


AMSAT  3-P  Video 

The  Radio  Amateur  Satellite  Corporation 
(AMSAT)  has  launched  a  publicity  effort  to 
ensure  adequate  funding  for  completing  ham 
radio's  newest,  largest,  most  complex,  and 
most  expensive  satellite  ever.  The  nonprofit 
group  recently  enlisted  the  heJp  of  retired 
Senator  Barry  Gofdwater  K7UGA  (see  photo 
below)  In  producing  an  AMSAT  3-D  informa- 
tional video. 

The  one  quarter  scale  3-D  model  seen  in 
the  photo  was  handmade  by  Stan  Wood 
WA4NFY  and  appears  [n  the  video  presenta- 
tion. The  production  is  narrated  by  former 
NBC  Science  Correspondent  Roy  Neal. 

The  new  Phase  3-D  video  may  be  bor- 
rowed at  no  charge  by  sending  a  seif-ad- 
dressed  7-1/4"  x  11"  bubble^cushioned  mail- 
er and  $2.90  US  postage  to  AMSAT-NA,  PO 
Box  27,  Washington,  DC  20044.  it  may  be 
just  the  thing  to  liven  up  your  next  club  meet- 
ing. Borrowers  are  encouraged  to  make  their 
own  copies  of  this  video  to  help  promote  the 
project,  which  is  due  to  be  launched  in  1996. 
TNX  Keith  Baker  KB1SF,  V.R  for  Strategic 
Pianning,  AMSAT. 

Keep  Off  My  Machine 

The  FCC  has  issued  a  letter  of  interpreta- 
tion that  validates  the  authority  of  repeater 
system  licensees  to  ban  duly  licensed  radio 
amateurs  from  operating  over  their  open  re- 
peaters. The  letter  comes  in  response  to  a 
request  for  ciarification  sought  by  Attorney 
Sidney  Radus  N60MS  of  Orange,  California. 
Radus  is  representing  the  Claremont  Ama- 
teur Repeater  Association  (CLARA)  in  its 
fight  to  regain  control  over  the  way  its  cfub 
repeater  systems  are 
used  and  by  whom. 

The  Commission's 
Personal  Radio  Branch 
Chief  John  B,  Johnston 
W3BE  clarified  Section 
97, 205(e),  which  states 
" . . .  Limiting  the  use  of  a 
repeater  to  only  certain 
user  stations  is  permissi- 
ble." Johnston  wrote, 
"The  rule  section  applies 
whether  a  repeater  is  co- 
ordinated  as  an  'open'  or 
'closed'  repeater  Further, 
the  rule  applies  without 
regard  as  to  whether  a 
repeater  is  coordinated  at 
all.  Rule  97,205(e),  with- 
out qualification,  permits 
the  individual  responsible 
for  proper  operation  of  a 
repeater  to  limit  the  use 
of  a  repeater  to  certain 
user  stations." 


A  man  described  as  a  "disgruntled  former 
member"  of  the  CLARA  ham  radio  club  was 
ordered  by  a  civil  court  to  stay  off  that  orga- 
nization's repeaters  or  face  incarceration. 
The  three-year  restraining  order  is  said  to  be 
an  unprecedented  action.  TNX  Westtirrk  Re- 
port, No.  6$7,  February  28,  1994, 

Getting  Warmer 

Superconductor  research  at  computer  gi- 
ant IBM  has  reached  a  new  temperature 
milestone.  But,  scientists  are  stall  a  long  way 
from  creating  room  temperature  supercon- 
ductors. 

Superconductors  may  someday  revolu- 
tionize electronics  and  electrical  power  dis- 
tribution systems.  The  goal  Is  to  create  prac- 
tical "perfect"  conductors — materials  having 
no  resistance.  Experimental  prototypes  have 
only  worked  in  extremely  cold  environments 
until  now. 

Officiafs  at  JBM  say  they  have  created  the 
first  thin  films  of  the  mercury-barium-calci- 
um-copper-oKide  high  temperature  super- 
conductor (HTS)  that  have  zero  resistance. 
Previous  HTS  demonstrations  have  needed 
bulk  material  or  used  thtn  films  but  exhibited 
some  resistance.  TNX  Electronic  Engineer- 
ing  Times,  issue  788,  Marcii  14,  1994, 

Space  is  Limited 


At  one  time  or  another,  you  probably  have 
been  advised  to  "Buy  land,  'cause  they  ain't 
makin'  any  more.''  Well  that  same  wisdom 
applies  to  radio  spectrum  and  hams  are 
lucky  to  have  such  a  big  chunk. 

That  notion  was  a  key  part  of  the  remarks 
delivered  by  FCC  Private  Radio  Bureau 


Chief  Ftafph  Haller  N4RH  at  the  recent  Tropi- 
cal Hamboree  in  Miami.  Haller  said,  "You  are 
fortunate  that  there  are  many  advances  in 
technology  that  have  helped  to  improve 
spectrum  efficiency  or  else  we  might  literally 
be  out  of  spectrum  today,"  HaNer  said  the 
new  Special  Mobile  Radio  (SMR)  band  will 
be  up  to  40  times  as  efficient  as  today's  ana- 
log FM  technology.  TNX  Westfink  Report, 
No.  667,  February  28,  1994, 

A  Nlckei  for  Your 
Thoughts 

Reading  minds  via  computer  remains 
firmly  in  the  realm  of  science  fiction,  but  it 
may  not  seem  so  far-fetched  anymore.  Sev- 
eral years  of  improving  athletes'  perfor- 
mance using  neurofeedback  techniques  has 
given  Richard  Patton  special  insight  into 
brain- wave  pattenn  analysis  using  desktop 
computers.  Patton's  new  company,  Ad- 
vanced  Neurotechnologies  Inc,  (ANI),  is 
leveraging  that  expertise  in  a  radically  new 
approach  to  neurofeedback  training. 

By  combining  Motorola  56000-based  DSP 
hardware  with  special  DOS-based  BrainLInk 
software  designed  to  capture  and  analyze 
electro-encephalogram  (EEG)  patterns,  ANi 
has  created  a  breakthrough  brain  wave-to- 
computer  interface.  The  possible  implica- 
tions of  this  new  technology  are  profound. 

With  BrainLink  software,  users  can  gener- 
ate alpha,  theta,  and  40  Hz  arousal  states  to 
initiate  commands  in  much  the  same  man- 
ner as  they  would  use  a  speech-recognition 
system  to  input  voice  commands.  Thus,  you 
may  soon  be  able  to  operate  a  wfd©  variety 
of  efectronfcally  controlled  devices  by  merely 

using  your  head.  TNX  Elec- 
tronic Engineering  Times, 
issue  786 1  February  28, 
1994. 


TNX 


Senator  Barry  Goldwat^r  K7UGA  (Retired,  R-Anzona)  looking  over  WA4NFTs  model  of  the 
AMSAT  Phase  3-D  project  at  his  Saottsdale  ham  shack.  (AMSAT-NA  photo  by  Keith  Baker 
KB1SE) 


.  ,  ,  to  all  our  contribu- 
tors! You  can  reach  us  by 
phone  at  (603)  924-0058, 
or  by  mail  at  73  Magazine, 
70  Route  202  North,  Peter- 
borough, NH  03458.  Or 
you  can  reach  us  on  Com- 
puServe ppn  70310,775 
©compusen/e.com;  or  at 
the  73  BBS  at  (603)  924- 
9343  {300-2400  bps),  8  da- 
ta bits,  no  parity,  one-stop 
bit.  News  Items  that  don't 
make  it  into  73  are  often 
put  in  our  other  monthly 
publication,  Radio  Fun,  You 
can  also  send  news  items 
by  FAX  at  (603)  924-9327, 


8  73  Amateur  Radio  Today  *  May,  1 994 


With  Packet  Transmission 


Satisfy  your  need  for  speed  with  the  new  PK-96  9600 
baud  packet  eontroller  from  AEA. 

This  high-performance  machine  comes  standard  with 
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Bring  your  system  up  to  speed.  Call  AEA's  Litera- 
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Number  4  ofi  yoyr  Feedback  card 


HI-PER  Audio  Filter 

This  project  provides  Hlgti-PERformance  CW  filtering. 


I've  been  watching  with  interest  the  prolifera- 
tion of  new  audio  filters  utilizing  Digiial  Sig- 
nal Processing  which  have  appeared  lately  on 
the  ham  radio  market.  Even  though  Vm  all  in  fa- 
vor of  progress,  I  would  really  prefer  lo  see 
products  that  the  average  ham  could  build  for 
himself  if  he  had  ihc  parts,  or  troubleshoos  and 
fix  if  he  had  to.  DSP  can,  without  a  doubt,  pro- 
vide some  incredible  improvements  in  perfor- 
mance of  audio  filters.  However,  not  loo  many 
home-brewers  have  DSP  chips  laying  about  in 
their  junk  boxes^  whereas  a  lot  of  us  might  have 
an  LM324  or  two.  I  contend  there  is  still  a  lot  of 
life  left  in  the  simple,  lowly  op  amp! 

I  set  out  to  design  an  active  CW  filter  thai 
would  knock  the  socks  off  of  any  previously- 
published  active  filter  design:  one  that  could 
give  a  DSP  design  a  run  for  its  money:  one  ihat 
Joe  Ham  could  build  in  a  weekend  and  would 
cost  less  than  anew  set  of  finals  for  an  FT-lOl. 

Why  mess  with  another  active  CW  Filter  pro- 
ject? Well,  the  subject  of  CW  filters  is  one  in 
which  the  final  page  has  yet  to  be  wtitten.  Better 
CW  fiiliering  is  one  thing  most  hams  wish  for 
For  estample,  one  of  the  more  popular  ham  pro- 
jects to  come  along  in  recent  years  has  been  the 
direcl-conver^ion  QRP  rig.  These  rigs  have  the 
advantage  of  being  simple,  inexpensive,  and 
easy  to  build.  However,  the  direct  conversion  re- 
ceiver cannot  distinguish  between  upper  and 
lower  sidebands,  so  QRM  can  be  a  problem.  The 
addition  of  good,  sharp  CW  bandpass  filtering  lo 
the  direct-conversion  receiver  goes  a  long  way 
to  improving  the  usability  of  the  rig,  making  it 
more  practical  for  use  in  high-QRM  situations. 

Many  commercial  rigs  suflfer  from  poor  CW 
filler  designs  which  are  either  too  broad  or  suf- 
fer from  excessive  ringing.  A  good  audio  CW 
filler  would  be  useful  in  these  cases,  as  well 
Many  of  the  early  SSB  rigs  had  only  a  single- 
siddiand  IF  filter,  and  no  CW^  filtering.  Finding 
a  crystal  CW  filter  for  these  antiques  is  by  now 
nearly  impossible.  One  example  would  be  my 
old  Heathki!  HW-lOO,  whose  lack  of  a  CW  filter 
further  motivated  me  to  design  my  ow^n! 


by  David  Gripe  KC3ZQ 

Most  active  CW  filter  designs  published  so 
far  have  been  really  simple,  utilizing  one  or  two 
op-amp  sections.  If  the  bandwidth  of  these  filters 
is  made  as  narrow  as  that  of  a  good  C W  crystal 
filter,  they  suffer  from  ringing,  which  lends  to 
smear  the  transitions  between  the  CW  pulses 
and  the  spaces  separating  them,  affecting  the  in- 
telligibility of  the  CW  characters.  In  order  to 
achieve  the  maximum  performance  from  the  re- 
ceiver, we  must  design  a  filter  wtiich  has  both  a 
narrow  bandwidth  and  minimal  ringing. 

In  setting  out  to  design  the  best  active  CW  fil- 
ter, I  had  to  first  discover  the  charaaeri^ics  that 
made  a  good  bandpass  filter.  While  researching 
the  subject  of  bandpass  filters  for  CW  reception, 
I  discovered  that  there  was  far  more  to  filter  de- 
sign than  just  throwing  R*s,  C's  and  op  amps  at 
the  problem.  Apparently,  the  ringing  one  experi- 
ences in  a  poorly-designed  CW  filter  comes 
from  the  phase  response  the  filter  possesses, 
rather  than  its  amplitude  response.  Within  the 
passband  of  the  filter,  the  filter's  phase  shift  ver- 
sus frequency  must  possess  a  constant  slope  for 
Ihe  filter  not  to  ring.  The  all-impOftaAt  slope  of 
phase  shift  versus  frequency  is  referred  to  as 
"group  delay,"  A  filler  designer  concerned  only 
with  designing  a  CW  filter  with  a  nairow  ampli- 
tude response  is  likely  to  miss  the  requirement 
of  constant  group  delay,  ending  up  with  a  filter 
design  that  rings  like  a  church  belL  However,  I 
found  that  a  family  of  bandpass  filters  possess- 
ing the  required  flat  group  delay  had  been  dis- 
covered by  BlinchikolT  [  I  ],  These  filters  are  op- 
timized to  possess  minimal  overshoot  and  ring- 
ing, and  are  ideal  for  this  application. 

Even  wiih  fiat  group  delay,  a  minimum  filter 
bandwidth  is  required  for  intelligibility  of  the 
code  characters.  Even  though  the  inlbrmaiion 
contained  in  2(^word-per-minute  CW  is  concen- 
u^ted  mainly  in  a  25  Hertz  bandwidth,  without 
the  addilion  of  frequencies  coniaincd  funher 
away  from  the  carrier,  the  CW  signal  sounds 
mushy  and  the  characters  are  hard  to  distinguish. 
But  as  one  widens  the  CW  filter  to  improve  sig- 
nal intelligibility,  we  increase  its  suscepiibility  to 


interference  from  close-by  QRM.  For  this  de- 
sign, I  chose  a  200  Hi  bandwidth  as  a  compro- 
mise. 

Figure  1  shows  the  filter  topology  and  values 
of  a  passive  version  of  this  filter,  200  Hz  wide, 
centered  at  700  Hz.  I  have  modified 
Blinchikoff's  original  design,  adding  a  notch  to 
the  response  at  about  1600  Hz  to  sharpen  the 
high-side  QRM  rejection  of  Ihe  filter,  while  leav* 
ing  the  filler's  group  delay  essentially  un- 
touched. 

Figure  2  shows  the  schematic  of  an  active  inn- 
plementation  of  this  filler.  It  uses  its  op  amps  in  a 
configuration  known  as  a  "Generalized  Iminit- 
tance  Converter*'  [2],  (GIC).  which  allows  the 
creation  of  active  networks  which  simulate  in- 
ductors, capacitors*  etc.  Unlike  other  active  filter 
topologies,  such  as  the  Sallen-Key,  with  the  GIC 
it  is  easy  to  make  the  conversion  between  a  pas- 
sive and  active  filter  design.  The  schematic  may 
seem  complicated,  but  with  careful  layout  and 
construction  the  circuit  may  be  fabricated  onto  a 
few  square  inches  of  PC  board  which  can  be 
mounted  inside  most  rigs,  or  outboarded  in  a 
separate  box.  The  design  here  uses  12  op  amps, 
which  are  contained  in  three  14-pin  1C5>  Despite 
the  number  of  ICs,  it  wonl  blow  the  power  bud- 
get of  most  QRPers,  as  the  filter  circuit  con- 
sumes only  about  10  milliamps.  Although  de- 
signed to  run  from  12  volts,  the  filter  circuit  will 
also  work  well  from  a  9  volt  battery.  The  circuit 
does  not  require  a  split  supply;  the  circuit  con- 
taining op  amps  U Id  and  U3b  provides  a  bias 
voltage  in  the  middle  of  the  supply  voltage. 

The  filter  circuit  uses  \%  tolerance  resistors, 
as  well  as  0,022  jiF  capacitors,  which  must  be 
fairiy  closefy  matched;  5%  or  better  tolerance  is 
preferred.  These  pans  are  available  through 
sources  such  as  Digi-Key  or  Mouser.  The  circuit 
can  be  assembled  on  a  Radio  Shack  solder-pad 
perf  board  #276- 168 A  or,  better  yeL  on  the  cus* 
torn  PC  board  shown  in  Figure  3. 

1  have  included  a  filter  bypass  relay  Kl, 
which  can  be  used  to  switch  out  the  CW  filter 
when  the  operator  wishes  lo  return  to  SSB  opera- 


.ie9H 


Audio  In 


Audio  Out 


Figure  I.  A  higihperfontuince  passive  Jtlten  The  center  frequency  is  700  Hz;  -3  dB  bandwidth  is  200  Hz>  Notke  there  are  no  standard  values  liere, 
1 0  73  Amateur  Radio  Today  *  May,  1 994 


10  Bands  - 1 MFJ  Antenna! 

Full  size  performance . .  .No  ground  or  radials 

Operate  10  bands:  75/80,  40,  30,  20, 17, 15, 12, 10,  6  and  2  Meters  with  one  antenna 
Separate  full  size  radiators . . ,  End  loading  • . ,  Elevated  top  feed . . .  Low  Radiation 
Angle . . .  Very  wide  bandwidth . . .  Highest  performance  no  ground  vertical  ever . . . 


Operate  10  bands  -  75/80.  40,  30, 20, 17,  15, 
12, 10,  6  and  2  Meters  -^  with  this  MFJ-1798 
vertical  antenna  and  get  full  size  performance 
with  no  ground  or  radials! 

Full  size  performance  gives  you  high 
efficiency  for  more  power  radiated.  The  result? 
Stronger  signals  and  nrore  Q-5  QSOs. 

Full  size  performance  also  gives  you 
exceptionally  wide  bandwidths  so  you  can  tise 
more  of  your  hard  earned  frequencies. 

FuO  size  performance  is  achieved  by  using 
sei^ratc  full  size  radiators  for  2  through  20  Meters 
and  highly  efficient  end  loading  for  30»  40  and  75 
/80  Meters, 

You  gel  very  low  radiation  angle  for  ejcciting 
DX,  automatic  bandswjtching,  omni-directional 
coverage,  low  SWR  and  it  handles  1500  waits  PEP 
SSB, 

MFJ's  unique  Elevated  Top  Feetf  elevates  the 
feedpoint  all  the  way  to  the  top  of  the  antenna.  It 
puts  the  maximum  radiation  point  high  up  in  the 
clear  where  it  does  the  most  good  -  your  signal 
gets  out  even  if  you're  ground  mounted. 

It's  easy  to  tune  because  adjusting  one  band 
has  minimum  effect  on  the  resonant  frequency  of 
other  bands, 

Se!f-5upportiiig  and  just  20  feet  tall^  the 
MFJ-1 798  mounts  easily  from  ground  level  to 
tower  top  "  on  small  lots,  backyards,  aparimenis, 
condos,  roof  tops,  tower  mounts. 

Separate  PuU  Siz^  Radiators 

Separate  fkU  sizfi  quarter  wave  ladiators  are  used 
on  20J  7,  15,  12, 10  and  2  Meters,  On  6  Meters,  the 
17  Meter  radiator  becomes  a  3/4  wave  radiator. 

The  active  radiator  works  as  a  stub  to  decouple 
everything  beyond  it.  In  phase  antenna  current  flows 


MFJ  Super  Hi-Q  Loop 

MFJs         MFM786 
tiny  36  inch   $999^^ 

diameter /jf^/j  •'^^ 
efficiency  loop  antenna  lets 
you  operate  10  to  30  MHz 
continuously  —  including 
the  WARC  bands! 

It's  ideal  whaie  space 

is  limited  -  apartments,  

small  lots,  mobile  homes,  attics*  motor  homes. 

Enjoy  both  DX  and  local  contacts  when  you 
mount  it  verticaOy.  You  get  both  low  angle  radia- 
tion for  excellent  DX  and  high  angle  radiation 
for  ^ocal  close-in  contacts.  Handles  150  watts. 

Super  easy 'to'use!  Only  MFJ-1786  Super 
Remote  Control  has  Auto  Bmid  Selection^,  It 
auto-tunes  to  your  desired  band,  then  beeps  to  let 
you  know.  No  control  cable  is  needed. 

Fast/slow  tunc  push  buttons  and  built-in 
two  range  Cross-Needle  SWRAVattmeter  lets 
you  quickly  tune  to  your  exact  frequency. 

All  welded  construction,  no  mechanical 
joints,  welded  butterfly  capacitor  with  no 
rotating  contacts,  large  LCfSO  inch  diameter 
round  radiator  —  not  a  lossy  thin  flat-strip  — 
gives  you  highest  possible  efficiency. 

Each  plate  in  MFJ's  superb  tuning  capacitor 
is  welded  for  low  loss  and  polished  to  prevent 
high  voltage  arcing.  It's  welded  to  the  radiator, 
has  nylon  bearing,  anti-backlash  mechanism, 
Ibnit  switches  and  a  continuous  no-step  DC 
motor  for  smooth  precision  tuning. 

A  heavy  duty  1/8  inch  thick  ABS  plastic 
housing  with  ultraviolet  inhibitors  protects  tL 

MFJ -1782 ,  $269,95.  Same  as  MFJ-1786  but 
remote  control  has  only  fast/slow  tune  buttons. 


MFJ- 1798 

Super  80/40M  Vertical 

De^^gned  as  a  high         ^^  pj^  |  jg  2 
perfonnance^nicnn^tor    $f  CC|95       I 
80  and  40  Meten^.  the  *  3^ 

MFJ- 1792  features  nfuU  size  quarter 
wave  radiator  for  40  Meters  -  -  that's  a 
full  33  feet  of  mthlcss  radiating  power 

End  loading  —  ihe  most  efficient 
form  of  loading  ~  is  used  for  80 
Meters.  It's  accomplished  by  a  virtu- 
ally lossless  4V2  fool  capacitance  hat 
and  a  bigh-Q  coil  wound  with  Teflon* 
wire  on  a  low-loss  fiberglass  form. 

The  entire  length  radiates  power 

High  strength  606 1 -T6  aluminum 
tubingH*  super  strong  solid  fit>erglass 
insulator.  Frequency  Adaptive 
L-Network",  heavy  duty  swing  mount. 
Handles  1500  watts  PER  Requires  guying  and 
radials,  counterpoises  or  ground  screen- 


in  all  parallel  radiators. 

This  forms  a  very  large  equivalent  radiator 
and  gives  you  incredible  bandwidths. 

These  radiator  stubs  provide  automatic 
band  switching  -  there  is  absolutely  no  loss  due 
to  loading  coils  or  traps. 

End  Loading 

On  30, 40, 75/80  Meters,  end  loading  -  the 
most  efficient  form  of  loading  -  gives  you  highly 
efficient  performance,  exceUeni  bandwidth,  low 
an^le  radiation  and  automatic  bandswitching* 

MFJ*s  unique  Frequency  Adaptive 
L-Net\vork^  provides  automatic  impedance 
matching  for  lowest  SWR  on  these  low  bands, 

Ibning  10  your  favorite  part  of  these  hiinds  is 
snnple  and  is  done  at  the  bottom  of  the  antenna* 

No  Ground  or  Radials  Needed 

You  don't  need  a  ground  or  radials  because 
an  effective  counterpoise  that's  12  feet  across 
gives  you  excellent  ground  isolation. 

You  can  mount  it  from  ground  level  to  roof 
top  and  get  awesome  performance. 

No  Feedline  Radiation  to  Waste  Power 

The  feedline  is  decoupled  and  isolated  from 
the  antenna  with  MFJ's  exclusive  AirCore"^ 
high  power  current  balun.  ll's  wound  with 
Teflon*  coax  and  can*t  saturate,  no  matter  how 
high  your  power. 

Built  to  I..a5t 

Incredibly  strong  solid  fiberglass  rod  and 
large  diameter  6061  T-6  aircraft  strength 
aluminum  tubing  is  used  in  the  main  structure. 
ECGcieat  high-Q  coils  are  wound  on  tough 
low  loss  fiberglass  forms  using  highly  weather 
resistant  Teflon*  covered  wire. 


Ti^lon&  it  rvgistrrtd  tmd^morll  t^Onpoat 


MFJ  halfwave  Vertical 

6  bands:  40,  20,  IS,  10^  6,  2  Meters , , , 
No  radials  or  ground  needed!  , 

Operate  6  bands  -    MFJ- 1796 
40,  20,  15,  10,  6  and     S  f  g0» 
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12  73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  May,  1 994 


Continued  on  page  14 


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lion.  To  activate  the  CW  filien  a  switch  or  relay 
contact  within  the  rig  must  pull  one  terminal  of 
the  bjpass  relay  to  ground,  opening  the  relay 
contacts.  Those  wishing  lo  omii  this  feature,  and 
operate  the  fiUer  conlinuously  may  simply  delete 
Kl  and  the  diodes  associated  with  it,  Dl  and  D2. 

Electrically,  the  filter  should  be  mounted  be- 
tween the  Rrst  and  second  audio  stages  in  your 
rig.  Use  shielded  wire  to  connect  to  the  filter  to 
help  reduce  RFl  effa:ts. 

In  operation,  the  perfomuince  of  the  filter  is, 
in  short,  breathtaking.  This  is  not  your  garden 
variety  active  filter  here!  In  a  noisy,  interference- 
fiilt^  band,  when  the  filler  is  switched  in.  every- 
thing but  ihc  desired  signal  falls  away  After  I  in- 
stalled  this  filler  in  my  HW-lOO,  I  would  have 
been  hard  pressed  to  distinguish  between  its  per- 
formance and  that  of  any  of  the  best  crystal  CW 
fillers  in  any  other  rig  I  have  used  The  \Bck  of 
ringing  in  this  filter  made  it  better  than  quite  a 
few  other  fillers,  crvstal  or  otherwise,  that  1  have 
used.  This  filter  should  give  the  same  kind  of 
performance  to  your  direct-conversion  rig*  too. 

1  hope  you  enjoy  Ihis  project,  and  find  as 
much  pleasure  in  its  use  as  I  did  in  its  design* 
See  you  on  the  bands. 


References; 

1.  Blinchikoff,  H.  and  Zvenev,  A.,  Filtering  in 
the  Time  and  Frequency  Domains,  1976.  John 
Wiley  and  Sons.  pp.  199-204. 

2.  Downs,  Rick,  ''Vintage  Filler  Scheme 
Yields  Low  Distortion  in  New  Audio  Designs," 
EDN,  November  7  J  991.  pp.  267-272, 


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1 4  73  Amateur  Radio  Today  *  May,  1 994 


A  NEW  CONCEPT 
IN  HF  TRANSCEIVER  DESIGN 

FROM  A  NEW  COMPANY 


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introduces  the  PC- 1610"  a  full  featured  HF  trans- 
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■  Built-in  )CT  keyboard  interface  (keyboard 
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■  DDS  VFO  with  1  Hz  step  size 

■  Selectable  variable  speed/fixed  10Hz  step 
VFO  tuning 

■  Built-in  24hr  clock 

■  90  tunable  memories 

■  1  scratchpad  memoo/ 

■  9  (256  character)  keyboard  data  buffers 

■  Built-in  5-75  wpm  IAMBIC  keyer 

■  Built-in  2.4KHZ,  1 .8KHz.  500Hz,  200  Hz  & 
RTTY  filters 

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Specifications  am  subject  lo  change  without  no3ce. 
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Speech  Compression 


Make  a  monster  mike! 


by  Michael  Jay  Geier  KB1UM 


If  you  operate  on  a  crowded  band  like  20 
meters,  you  know  ihai  sometimes  being 

heard  can  get  tough.  You  hear  the  other  sta- 
tion pretty  well,  but  the  QRM  wipes  you  out 
on  his  end.  Or.  perhaps*  you're  on  10  meters 
and  ihe  QSB  and  generally  poor  conditions 
make  it  hard  for  anyone  lo  hear  your  signal 
You*ve  got  a  good  antenna  and  as  much 
power  as  you  can  mui^Lcr^  so  what  can  you 
do  about  it?  Who  ya  gonna  call?  Why, 
Speech  Busters,  of  course  1 

I'm  referring  to  speech  processing,  one  of 
the  most  valuable  signal  improvements  you 
can  make  to  an  HF  transmitter.  It's  valuable 
because  the  sounds  made  by  the  human 
voice  have  a  particular  characteristic  that 
makes  them  hard  to  send  over  noisy  chan- 
nels. 

Voice  signals  encompass  a  fairly  large  dy- 
namic range.  The  loud  sounds  are  really 
much  louder  than  ihe  soft  ones,  and  there  are 
far  more  soft  ones  than  loud  ones.  As  a  ic* 
sulL  the  m^erage  level  is  way  below  the  peak 
level.  Thafs  no  problem  in  a  nice,  quiet 
room.  And.  in  facc-to-face  contact,  lip 
movement.  Facial  expression  and  other  visu- 
al cues  help  us  fill  in  the  blanks  when 
sounds  get  lost  in  busy  environments.  On  a 
noisy  radio  channel  though,  the  result  is  a 
m^s.  Without  the  other  cues,  we  lose  some 
sounds,  making  words  harder  lo  understand- 
In  other  words,  our  inteiligibiUty  suffers. 
Compounding  ihe  problem  is  the  fact  thai, 
because  the  peak  voice  level  determines  the 
transmitter's  peak  power  output,  the  average 
power  output  is  fairly  low;  we're  wasting  a 
lot  of  our  transmitter's  capability.  We  need 
more  *lalk  power/*  Enter  the  speech  proces- 
sor. 

The  function  of  the  speech  processor  is  to 
equalize  the  volume  levels  between  the  nor- 
mally softer  and  louder  sounds.  Yes,  it's  a 
kind  of  distortion,  but  ii*s  one  that  helps 
make  the  words  more  intelligible,  even  if  the 
resulting  voice  quality  is  not  as  natural- 
sounding.  The  process  is  fairly  simple:  You 
raise  the  level  high  enough  that  peaks  are 
clipped  off  and  softer  sounds  are  closer  to 
the  level  of  the  now-clipped  peaks.  Then. 
you  filter  out  all  the  ugly  distortion  you  just 
created  with  the  clipping  by  passing  the  sig- 
nal through  a  narrow-bandwidth  filten  Voila, 
processed  speech. 

You  really  can  do  it  that  way»  but  it  sure  is 
hard  to  do  at  the  audio  level  Why?  Because 

1 6  73  Amateur  Radio  Today  *  May.  1 994 


making  a  steep  filter  that  will  remove  all  the 
clipping  mess  but  pass  the  desired  audio  fre- 
quencies is  rather  hard  at  such  low  frequen- 
cies. But,  why  not  bump  it  alt  up  to  RF  and 
do  it  there,  using  common  crystal  or  ceramic 
fillers  for  the  cleanup  gig?  That's  exactly 
what  happens  in  an  RF  speech  processor. 

Most  of  today's  HF  rigs  have  RF  speech 
processors  built  right  in.  No  doubt  about  it, 
RF  processing  is  the  best  kind,  especially 
since  you  never  need  to  convert  the  result 
back  to  audio  with  an  internal  processor  All 
you  have  to  do  is  feed  the  processed  RF 
through  the  sideband  filter  and  then  into  the 
rest  of  the  transmitter's  stages.  What  could 
be  easier? 

If,  however,  you  have  an  older  rig»  or  you 
have  one  of  the  less  expensive  modem  rigs, 
like  my  Yaesu  FT-747GX,  you  may  not  have 
a  speech  processor.  And,  you  may  spend  a 
lot  of  lime  rationalizing  why  you  hear  others 
so  much  better  than  they  hear  you*  h  there  a 
way  out? 

You  beicha!  At  one  time^  outboard  RF 
speech  processors  were  available,  and  they 
worked  fairiy  well  A  good  example  of  such 
a  product  was  the  Daiwa  RF-440.  Of  course, 
the  RF  processing  method  is  fairly  complex, 
so  these  boxes  weren'^t  cheap.  And,  since 
there  was  no  access  to  the  radio's  transmit  IF 
stages,  it  was  necessary  to  reconvert  the  pro- 
cessed signal  back  lo  audio  in  order  to  get  it 
into  the  rig.  Bui  it  worked,  and  it  sure  beat 
having  no  processor. 

Nowadays,  with  most  rigs  having  Iheir 
own  processors,  outboard  units  are  not  very 
common;  there  just  isnU  enough  market  for 
ihenL  But  speech  processing  doesn't  have  to 
be  done  at  RF.  It  can  also  be  done  right  at 
the  audio  level  As  I  mentioned  before,  the 
clipping  process  creates  problems  that  are 
hard  to  resolve  at  audio  frequencies.  Lucki- 
ly, there's  another  kind  of  processing  that 
doesn*t  involve  clipping  at  all  and  it  lends 
itself  well  to  simple  audio  circuits*  It's  called 
compression. 

Squeeze  Play 

The  object  of  the  game  is  to  reduce  the 
dynamic  range  of  the  voice  signal  right? 
Doesn't  that  sound  similar  to  the  function  of 
a  receiver's  AGC  circuit?  AGC  adjusts  the 
receiver's  gain  to  reduce  the  apparent  dy- 
namic range  of  incoming  signals.  Sounds 
like  the  same  idea,  right? 


k  hi  And.  it*s  not.  AGC  stands  for  Auto- 
matic Gain  Control  and  that's  what  it  does; 
It  controls  the  gain  of  the  receiver  to  keep 
signal  levels  as  constant  as  possible.  Such  a 
technique  might  be  called  'Volume  level- 
ing." The  big  difference  between  volume 
leveling  and  speech  compression  is  the  speed 
at  which  ii  occurs. 

Similarly*  if  you've  ever  tried  to  compen- 
sate for  lack  of  a  speech  processor  by  delib- 
erately overdriving  your  mike  gain  and  rely- 
ing on  the  transmitter's  ALC  to  compress  the 
signal  for  you,  you  know  it  doesn*t  work.  On 
the  air.  you  sound  about  the  same  as  if  you 
backed  the  gain  down,  at  least  until  the  point 
at  which  your  rig  begins  to  distort  and  splat- 
ter. Why  doesn't  ii  work?  For  the  same  rea- 
son a  receivcr*s  AGO  doesn't  compress 
speech:  The  ALC  just  isn*i  fast  enough* 

If  you  look  at  a  voice  signal  on  an  oscillo- 
scope, you'll  see  that  the  various  sounds  in  a 
spoken  word  occur  rather  quickly.  The  time 
difference  between  the  peaks  and  softer  lev- 
els can  be  as  little  as  100  milliseconds.  Syl- 
lables go  by  at  maybe  300  milliseconds. 
AGC  and  ALC  circuits,  though,  operate  at 
speeds  of  perhaps  one  or  two  seconds.  To  be 
more  accurate,  1  should  say  they  decay  at 
that  rate;  most  attack  very  fast.  In  other 
words,  they  clamp  the  gain  down  very  quick- 
ty«  but  it  takes  quite  a  bit  of  time  for  them  to 
open  back  up. 

Why  doesn't  AGC  work  faster?  Well,  if 
your  receiver  has  a  control  that  lets  you  set 
the  AGC  to  "fast,"  you  Ml  find  out!  Try  it  and 
you'll  sec  that  people's  voices  do  sound 
compressed*  but  all  the  background  noise, 
static  and  QRM  also  "pump"  up  and  down^ 
making  it  hard  to  listen  to.  It'll  give  you  a 
headache  real  fast.  That*s  why  the  process 
must  be  done  at  the  trans  mitten  As  for  trans- 
mitter ALC,  it  could  be  made  to  be  faster, 
and  it  would  indeed  act  as  a  speech  compres- 
sor But,  there's  a  big  drawback  which  pre- 
vents rig  makers  from  doing  it  that  way:  It 
takes  a  finite  amount  of  time  for  the  circuit 
to  act^  resulting  tn  some  overshoot  (delay  in 
clamping)  on  voice  peaks.  It  isn't  practical  to 
filter  out  the  resulting  distortion  and  splatter 
in  a  100-watt  signal  because  such  narrow 
niters  must  be  made  from  crystals  or  ceram- 
ics, and  they  can  only  handle  small  amounts 
of  power.  So,  ALC-bascd  compression  gen- 
erally is  out  of  the  question,  I  believe,  how- 

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Speech  Compression 

Contmued  from  page  16 

even  ihai  Droke  used  lo  have  a  rig  with  fast 
ALC  for  speech  processing  use.  Also, 
there's  a  new  linear  amplifier  which  does  it, 
100,  So,  I  guess  it  can  be  done,  but  it  isn^t 
cominoTi, 

So.  we're  back  lo  compressing  the  audio 
before  it  goes  into  the  transmitter  There 
have  been  many  circuit  designs  pubhshed, 
and  various  commercial  products,  which  do 
the  job.  Tve  tried  building  a  few  compres- 
sors*  and  I've  played  with  a  few  commercial 
boxes,  and  even  bought  one,  but  none  of 
them  really  made  much  difference  on  the  air. 
In  fact,  it  was  always  hard  for  the  receiving 
station  to  tell  whether  I  had  the  darned  thing 
on  or  ofn  Why? 

It's  the  same  old  problem:  The  things  op- 
erate too  slowly.  They  make  lovely  volume 
levclcrs,  but  rhey  don't  actually  compress 
speech  at  the  syllabic  rate*  which  we  need  if 
we're  going  to  increase  our  talk  power. 
Here's  what  happens  when  you  use  most  au- 
dio compressors:  The  first  loud  sound  in  a 
sentence  clamps  the  gain  down,  where  it 
.^tays  pretty  much  permanently,  because,  by 
the  time  it  starts  to  open  back  up,  other  loud 
sounds  have  clamped  it  down  again.  The 
softer  syllables  in  between  the  loud  ones 
never  get  cranked  up.  so  there's  no  increase 
in  talk  power  For  a  compressor  to  increase 
talk  power,  ir  must  have  rime  constants 
which  are  as  fast  or  faster  than  the  syikibic 
reue  of  speech.  That  way,  it  can  open  Ihe 
gain  back  up  for  the  softer  syllables,  ihus 
makins  their  levels  closer  to  those  of  the 


now-clamped  peaks.  That's  real  speech 
compression,  and  it  does  indeed  up  your  talk 
powerl  On  a  scope,  the  output  of  the  rig 
looks  similar  to  what  you  get  with  an  RF 
processor 

The  Monster  Compressor  85 

I  recently  purchased  a  Kenwood  MC-85 
desk  microphone.  This  lovely  unit  has  a  con- 
denser mike,  switch-selectable  outputs  for 
three  rigs,  and  a  built-in  volume-leveling 
compressor.  Almost  all  of  Kenwood's  newer 
HF  radios  have  internal  RF  speech  proces- 
sors, so  the  volurtie  leveling  approach  is  a 
nice  complement  to  what's  inside  most  of 
the  rigs  to  which  this  mike  is  likely  lo  be 
connected.  (A  syllabic-rate  compressor  feed- 
ing a  speech  processor  would  be  extreme 
overkill.)  But  I  got  my  MC-85  for  use  with 
my  processor-less  *747GX,  so  I  decided  to 
try  and  modify  the  mike's  compressor  into  a 
true  syllabic-raie  speech  compressor  The 
mod  works  like  gangbusters. 

Charge  II 

Imagine,  if  you  will,  an  amplifier  whose 
output  signals  are  inverted  and  then  fed  back 
to  a  terminal  which  controls  the  amplifier's 
gain.  As  the  output  signal  rises,  the  gain  is 
pulled  down.  And,  as  the  output  falls,  the 
gain  is  increased.  Sounds  like  a  compressor* 
right?  WelL  all  except  for  one  thing:  If  the 
control  terminal  is  moved  up  and  down  as 
fast  as  the  waveform  coming  from  the  amp's 
output,  the  result  will  be  that  the  output  sig- 
nal completely  disappears!  It  makes  sense: 
each  swing  of  the  output  cancels  itself  out 
The  way  around  this  is  to  slow  ihe  loop 


down.  As  long  as  the  loop  cannot  alter  the 
amp's  gain  anywhere  nearly  as  fast  as  the 
output  signal  swings,  it  won't  wipe  itself 
out.  To  that  end,  there's  always  a  capacitor 

in  the  loop.  Together  with  a  resistor  or  two, 
that  capacitor  fonns  a  time  constant,  pre- 
venting the  loop  from  being  too  fast. 
The  primary  modification  to  the  MC-85*s 

circuit  involves  changing  the  time  constant 
in  the  feedback  loop,  making  it  just  fast 
enough  to  catch  spoken  syllables.  A  few  oth- 
er changes  also  are  necessary  because  of  pe- 
ripheral consequences  of  the  change  in  the 
loop. 

How  It  Works 

Take  a  look  at  Figure  1.  iCl  is  the  ampli- 
fier. The  input  is  through  pin  2,  and  possibly 
a!so  pin  6.  It  isn't  clear  from  the  schematic, 
but  it  also  doesn't  matter  for  our  purposes. 
What  does  matter  is  that  the  output  is  from 
pin  8,  and  the  loop  starts  at  the  junction  of 
CI  1  and  CI 2,  The  output  signal  is  fed 
through  R13  to  the  base  of  Q2,  which  in- 
verts it.  CI 3,  at  the  transistor's  collector,  re- 
moves the  DC  component^  leaving  an  AC 
signal  which  can  be  rectified  by  D4  and  D5, 
The  rectified  signal  charges  C14,  which  is 
the  magic  capacitor  that  sets  the  time  con- 
stant. It  is  imponani  to  recognize  that,  be- 
cause of  D4,  the  capacitor  cannot  discharge 
back  into  the  transistor  That  feature  lets  the 
processor's  attack  and  decay  times,  which 
are  determined  by  the  capacitor's  charge  and 
discharge  rates,  be  determined  separate  from 
each  other.  As  originally  designed,  the  attack 
is  quick  because  R17,  between  the  transistor 
and  the  capacitor^  is  small,  permitiing  a 


.047 


C4 


^  \      Normal 


C5 


,018  t 

HH 


Low  Cut 


A 

From  Mic 
Element 


Figure  L  The  Monster  CampresserSS.  Schematic  shows  modification  to  Kenwood's  MC-85  Desk  Microphone. 
1 8  73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  May,  1 994 


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comparatively  large  current  to  flow.  (We're 
still  lalking  about  maybe  0.3  milliamps 
here!)  But  the  cap  can  only  discharge 
through  two  places;  the  amp  chip's  gain  con- 
trol terminal  itself  (pin  4),  and  the  R18/D3 
combination.  The  amp  chip  has  ver>'  high  in- 
put impedance,  so  ii  can  be  disregarded.  But, 
take  a  look  at  R18.  which  allows  the  cap  lo 
discharge  to  ground  through  D3.  Thai  resis- 
tor is  3,3  megohms,  which  ain't  small 
change  eitherl  The  result  is  thai  the  cap  dis- 
charges quite  slowly,  accounting  for  the 
compressor's  slow  decay  time. 

That  decay  time  is  precisely  what  we 
want  to  speed  up.  So.  it  would  seem  logical 
that  we  could  simply  reduce  the  value  of 
Rig.  It  should  work.  but«  when  I  tried  il^  the 
results  were  poor.  In  order  to  get  it  fast 
enough,  the  value  had  to  be  so  low  thai  it  di- 
vided the  voltage  down  to  less  than  what  the 
chip  could  sense.  So,  I  decided  to  reduce  the 
size  of  the  cap.  After  some  experimentation, 
I  wound  up  with  a  0.1  fiF  cap  in  parallel 
with  a  l-meg  resistor;  that  combination 
yielded  a  lime  constant  that  sounded  about 
right;  syllables  were  getting  boosted,  but 
distortion  was  acceptably  low. 

Distortion? 

Remember  what  I  said  before  about  the 
output's  disappearing  if  we  allow  the  loop  to 
be  too  fast?  WelK  think  of  the  loop  as  a  low- 
pass  filter*  which  really  is  just  what  it  is.  If 
we  don'l  slow  it  down  enough,  low  audio 
frequencies  will  get  through  and  begin  JO 
cancel  their  counterpans  in  the  output,  and 
that  means  distortion.  Ii  gets  worse:  In  this 
design,  Q2  is  not  operated  as  a  linear  ampli- 
fier, it  is  biased  to  be  a  pulse  amplifier,  and 
it  produces  pulses  which  correspond  lo  the 
peaks  tn  the  amp's  output  signal.  Residual 
pulses  being  fed  back  to  the  amp  cause  terri- 
ble di.stortion,  so  they  must  be  kept  veiy  low. 
That  requirement  rcsulicd  in  my  having  to 
choose  the  time  constant  very  carefully.  Too 
fast  and  it  sounded  awful  Too  slow  and  it 
didn't  accomplish  anything! 

UhOh 

After  I  found  the  right  time  constant,  I 
discovered  ihat  the  overall  gain  of  the  circuit 
had  gone  way  up.  Apparemly,  the  DC  path 
of  the  1  meg  resistor  increased  the  chip's 
gain.  Not  having  a  diagram  of  the  interior  of 
the  chip.  I  can't  tell  you  why.  With  the  gain 
so  high,  turning  the  compression  control  up 
past  6  or  so  caused  ihe  entire  circuit  to  go  in- 
to oscillation!  The  solution  was  easy, 
though.  Resistors  Y  and  Z  tailor  the  input 


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gain  such  that  the  circuit  remains  stable. 
Even  with  them  in  place,  the  compression 
control  doesn't  need  to  be  turned  up  past 
about  3. 

One  Last  Detail 

Male  voices  con  lain  most  of  their  energy 
at  fairly  low  frequencies.  Also»  the  gain  of 
the  circuit  goes  up  somewhat  as  the  input 
frequency  goes  down,  exacerbating  the 
problem.  The  resuh  was  that,  with  the  NOR- 
MAL/LOW CUT  switch  (S2)  in  the  NOR- 
MAL position,  it  still  was  possible  for  some 
instability  and  oscillation  to  occur.  I  noticed 
that  the  audio  was  a  little  bassy  anyway,  so  I 
changed  C4  from  1  jiF  to  0.22  jiF  to  provide 
additional  low-frequency  rolloff.  Finally,  ev- 
erything worked  great,  and  the  audio  sound* 
ed  excellent- 
Let's  I>9  It 

Unscrew  the  bottom  of  the  housing  and 
then  unscrew  the  sides.  With  the  mike  facing 
down  (the  foil  side  of  the  board  facing  you) 
and  the  output  cord  (or  cords)  facing  away, 
the  SIP  (single  inline  package)  ICI  is  near 
the  bottom  left  edge.  You'll  have  to  turn  the 
board  over  to  see  it,  of  course.  The  clipped 
comer  or  engraved  dot  of  the  chip  denotes 
pin  1 ,  Depending  on  your  dexterity,  you  may 
need  to  unscrew  the  PC  board  frame  from 
the  rest  of  the  housing,  but  it  is  possible  to 
do  the  mod  without  doing  that.  Either  way, 
find  C14,  a  small  electroljtic,  which  is  con- 
nected between  the  IC's  pin  4  and  ground, 
and  remove  it.  Install  in  its  place  a  0,1  p^F 
cap  in  parallel  with  a  1  meg  resistor.  I  put 
mine  on  the  foil  side  of  the  board,  simply 
because  it  was  easier  to  install.  Functionally, 
it  doesn't  maUer, 

Now,  look  over  toward  the  bottom  right 
and  find  the  compression  control *s  connec- 
tions. When  connecting  the  Ik  and  10k  re- 
sistors, use  the  ground  foil  on  the  left,  not 
the  one  on  the  right;  the  one  on  the  left  is 
closer  to  the  amp  circuitry  and  less  likely  to 
intioduce  ground  loop  or  RF  feedback  prob- 
lems* Solder  the  resistors  in  place  on  the  foil 
side- 
Finally,  you  must  remove  C4,  which  is 
another  electrolytic.  It  is  located  just  under 
the  cover,  on  the  component  side  of  the 
board,  which  is  part  of  the  bunon  assembly. 
The  cap  is  right  on  the  edge  of  the  assembly^ 
and  I  was  able  to  remove  it  with  tweezers 
after  desoidering  the  leads  with  removal 
wick.  If  you  can't  get  the  cap  out  that  way, 
you  will  have  to  unscrew  the  button  housing. 
Be  careful  not  to  lose  anything!  Once  the 


cap  is  out,  replace  the  assembly  if  you  had 
to  remove  it*  Now,  solder  a  0-22  |iF  cap  in 
its  place,  but  on  the  foil  side  of  the  board. 
Most  likely,  a  cap  of  thai  value  will  be 
too  big  to  fit  under  the  button  housing 
anyway. 

Finished 

Thai's  it!  Close  it  ail  back  up  again  and 
you  should  be  in  business.  Turn  the  mike  on, 
select  COMP  IN  and  speak  about  a  foot 
away  from  it.  The  level  meter  should  look  a 
lot  more  energetic  than  it  used  to!  I  find  that 
a  compression  control  level  of  about  3  works 
fine.  Any  more  than  that  and  it  sounds  over- 
compressed. 

The  Caveat 

Be  warned:  This  thing  wilt  run  your  rig  a 
lot  harder  than  it  nm  without  it!  Your  finals 
will  heat  up  much  faster.  On  my  FT-747,  the 
fan  never  used  to  come  on  during  voice 
operation,  but  it  sure  does  now.  That  extra 
heal,  of  course,  means  increased  average 
transmit  output  leveU  which  means  extra  talk 
power! 

On  the  Air 

Although  the  NORMAL  position  works 
fine,  I  find  that  with  LOW  CUT  on  there^s 
more  punch.  As  for  the  compressor,  on-air 
reports  indicate  that  the  difference  between 
turning  it  on  and  leaving  it  off  is  tike  night 
and  day.  And  Fve  gotten  several  unsolicited 
comments  on  how  great  the  mike  sounds. 
Enjoy  your  Monster  Compressor  851 

RS, — Recently,  I  began  to  have  RF  feedback 
trouble  with  my  modified  MC'85. 1  traced  it 
to  a  poor  connection  between  the  gooseneck 
and  its  base,  which  results  in  reduced  shield- 
ing of  the  mike  cartiHdge.  It  probably  was 
always  like  that,  but  adding  strong  compres- 
sion made  il  appear  much  worse.  If  you  run 
into  this,  check  the  resistance  between  the 
setscrcw  on  the  mike  element  housing  and 
the  frame  holding  the  PC  board  inside  the 
unit.  If  its  more  than  about  O.t  ohm,  you've 
found  the  culprit,  (Mine  was  about  10 
ohms!)  Unfortunately,  the  metals  used  at  the 
critical  junction  won't  lake  solder,  I  fixed 
mine  with  two  small  hose  clamps  and  a 
piece  of  ground  braid,  after  first  sanding  the 
connection  points.  It  worics,  but  il  aim  pretty. 
For  nicer  looks,  you  could  drill  a  small  hole 
in  the  base  and  insen  a  set  screw  for  a  sood 
connection,  just  as  long  as  you*re  careful  not 
to  go  through  the  gooseneck  and  damage  tjie 
cable.  My  mike  works  great  now, 


CIRCLE  300  ON  READER  SERVrCE  CARD 


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l-ssJ 

FR\ 

r^*fl 

1     t^^^iJ*^Tj 

y/M. 

Fast  Charger 


Number  6  on  your  Feedback  card 


Recharge  NiCd  and  NiMH  batteries  in  as  little  as  30  minutes. 


by  Richard  Togashi  KN6PK 


Why  another  NiCd  battery  recharging 
article?  Well,  Fast  Charger  will  noL 
only  rechai^e  NiCds,  it  will  fast  charge  them 
to  the  correct  capacity  in  as  litile  as  30  min- 
utes. After  fust  charging,  ihe  circuit  will  then 
autoniatically  switch  to  trickle  charge.  Any 
number  of  cells  can  be  rechar;ged,  up  to  a 
maximum  of  16  cells.  Programming  jumpers 
allow  different  charging  rates  and  different 
cell  counts  without  any  circuit  modification. 
And  with  a  single  part  replacement,  the  cir- 
cuit will  charge  the  new  Nickel  Metal  Hy- 
dride (NiMH)  batteries. 

NiCds  are  a  proven  technology  in  batter- 
ies, rclaliveiy  inexpensive,  available  in  ail 
popular  sizes,  easy  to  use  and  easy  to  abuse. 


NiCds,  when  fully  charged,  cxhibil  a  de- 
crease in  battery  output  voltage.  Fast  Charg* 
er  detects  this  voltage  change  during  fast 
charging  to  ensure  the  baieeries  are  at  full 
charge  capacity.  After  a  full  capacity  charge, 
Fast  Charger  will  revert  to  a  trickle  charge 
state,  allowing  the  batteries  to  be  at  a  full 
charge  state  indefinitely. 

NiMH  batteries  are  a  little  different;  they 
are  an  emerging  technology.  They  are  simi- 
lar to  NiCds,  but  they  boast  higher  current 
densities  than  NiCds  and  there  is  none  of  the 
memory  effect  NiCds  are  prone  lo,  There  are 
some  drawbacks  to  the  NiMH,  since  it  is  a 
new  technology:  They  are  in  short  supply, 
are  available  only  in  limited  sizes,  are  more 


expensive,  self-discharge  faster,  and  have 
approximately  80%  of  the  recharging  cycles 
found  in  NiCds.  For  hi  eh  curreni  demand  or 
cyclic  applications,  NiMHs  may  be  a  better 
choice  than  NiCds.  NiMH  batteries  require  a 
different  recharging  scheme.  They  exhibit  a 
voltage  plateau  when  they  are  fully 
recharged-  By  interchanging  an  inexpensive 
IC  with  a  similar  device,  Fast  Charger  will 
be  able  to  detect  the  NiMH  recharging  char- 
actenstics.  This  will  also  allow  the  NiMH 
batteries  to  be  charged  to  the  full  capacity  in 
a  minimum  amount  of  time. 

Normal  battery  chargers  charge  the  batter- 
ies at  C/IO  (where  C  =  capacity)  with  a  con- 
stant current  for  approximately  16  hours. 


r 


TOP  VIEW 


FAST   CHARGER 


INPUT  VOLTAGE ro. 
7V  TO  20V 


Q3 


B*TT-    1 


PRGMO 
JUMPER 


+ 


BEF 


V+ 


2 

T 


L 


ci 


m 

200 


B*TT-    i 
REF       i 


PRGMl 

JUMPER 


v+ 


E 


HDRl 


T 


B*TT-    1 


PRGM2 
JUMPER 


v+ 


o        0" 

HDH2 


PRGM3 
JUMPER 


m 


TT-    1 


V+ 


1 


J 

■^^ 


-O  Or 

-©       o- 

HDR3 


a 


'-ED1(J)     ON 


® 


RED 


LED2f3E^ 


^^ 


f — *-^ 


FAST 
CHARGE 


i§. 


B 


E 


10 


tLc4 


Q2 


LI 


@D1 


D2 


iMSBia 


® 


BATTERY 

UNDER 

CHARGE 


[] 


+ 


v+ 

FSTCTB 

THI 

TEMP      BATT- 

VLIMIT 

TLO 


^  P6P1 


PGM2 
PGM3  ICl 


REF 
GND 


HAX713 


ABA 
1.0 


R6B 

1.0 


Figure  I.  Schemaiicfor  Ihe  Fast  Charger. 


22  73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  May.  1 994 


& 


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These  chargers  are  simply  tinregulaied  con- 
stant curreoi  supplies.  On  the  other  hand. 
Fast  Charger  is  comrolled  by  the  Maxium 
Products  MAX?  1 2  or  MAX713  inrcgrated 
circuits,  allowing  a  fast  high  current  charge 
without  damage  to  the  batteries.  The 
MAX?  12  part  is  used  to  recharge  NiMH 
batteries.  The  MAX?  13  is  used  to  recharge 
NiCd  batteries.  The  only  difference  between 
the  pans  is  the  way  the  part  detects  the  end 
of  a  fast  charge  cycle.  The  MAX712  detects 
the  end  of  a  fast  charge  cycle  when  the  bat- 
tery voltage  plateaus;  the  MAX?  13  detects 
the  end  of  a  fast  charge  cycle  when  the  bat- 
tery voltage  starts  to  decline.  When  the 
MAX?  (2/3  senses  these  output  voltage  be- 
haviors, it  automatically  switches  to  trickle 
charge.  Trickle  charge  is  also  reached  when 
the  MAX?  12/3  determines  that  a  maximum 
expected  recharge  time  interval  has  elapsed. 

Circuitry  and  Pin  Programming 

My  prototype  layout  uses  a  hand-drawn 
PC  board.  The  only  critical  signals  are  the 
capacitors  connected  to  pin  11  of  the 
MAX?  12/3  device.  These  connections 
should  be  as  short  as  possible.  The  other 
critical  path  is  the  inductor  diodes  and  tran- 
sistor, which  constitutes  a  switching  power 
supply.  The  traces  to  these  devices  should  be 
as  short  as  possible  to  reduce  the  stray  in- 
ductance/resistance, which  will  degrade  the 
efficiency  of  the  switching  power  supply. 

The  MAX  chip  contains  circuitry  that 
does  most  of  the  work.  A  voltage  regulator 
regulates  the  output  voltage  to  recharge  the 
batteries,  a  current-sensing  amplifier  senses 
the  curreni  through  the  battery  and  adjusts 
the  output  drive  of  the  pass  transistor  lo  con- 
trol the  current  into  the  battery.  A  tempera- 
ture sensor  option  is  not  utilised  in  this  de- 
sign. An  analog-to*digital  circuit  samples 
the  battery  voltage  and  determines  the  out- 
put voltage  of  the  battery  overtime.  A  timer 
circuit  monitors  the  charge  times  and  issues 
a  time-out  if  the  expected  recharge  time  has 
been  reached  Finally,  control  logic  monitors 
the  four  program  pins  of  the  device  and  con- 
trols timing  internal  to  the  device. 


Figia^e  2.  A  driiied  and  etched  PC  hoard  for  ihe  Fast  Charger  is  available  for  $5  plus  $1.50 
S  &  Hper  order fwm  Far  Cinniis,  I8N640  Field  Cow%  Dundee,  IL  60118. 


The  four  program  pins  of  the  device  set 
the  battery  cell  count  and  the  expected 
recharge  time.  Program  pins  PRGMO  and 
PRGMl  set  !he  cell  count,  the  number  of 
cells  which  the  rccharaer  is  set  to  nschanze. 
The  cell  count  is  made  by  either  counting 
the  cells  or  dividing  the  expected  output 


voltage  by  1 .2  volts.  In  my  application  with 
four  cells.  PRGMl  and  PRGMO  are  shorted 
to  BATT-  and  V+  respectively.  PRGM2  and 
PRGM3  program  pins  set  the  time-out  peri- 
od for  the  expected  recharge  time.  To  deter- 
mine the  expected  recharge  time,  first  pick 
the  rechai^e  rate  for  the  circuit.  In  my  de- 


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Figure  3.  Operating  vhuracteristics  when  rechdf^ing  a  typical  NiCd    Figure  4.  The  same  batiery  pack  subjected  to  Fast  Cfiarge  after  lite 
battery\  pack  has  been  fully  charged.  Note  the  quick  switch  la  trickle  charge. 


24  73  Amateur  Radio  Today  May,  1994 


COMMUNICATIONS 
ELECTRONICS  INC. 

Emergency  Operations  Center 

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I 


* 


sign>  the  baltcrics  1  want  lo  recharge  are  AA 
500  mA  per  hour  eel  Is,  I  sei  Fast  Charger  to 
recharge  the  cells  ai  I  limes  the  capacity,  or 
IC  Recharseable  batteries  are  not  100^  c(* 
Ocieni  when  recharged,  so  the  expected 
recharge  lime  is  approximaicly  20%  higher 
than  the  expected  lime,  hence  for  IC 
recharge  rate,  the  expected  recharge  time  is 
about  one  hour  and  15  minutes.  The  closest 
lime  intcr\'al  available  for  a  one  hour  and  15 
minute  time-out  is  90  minutes,  which  is  en- 
abled by  shorting  PRGM2  and  PRGM3  to 
the  REF  voltage  pin. 

Table  1  defines  ihe  program  pin  program- 
ming  10  select  the  desired  sellings  for  ihe 
number  of  cells  and  for  the  time  period.  The 
Charge  Rate  in  C  is  the  charge  rate  as  set  by 
R6. 1  use  jumper  blocks  wiih  shorting  blocks 
(like  the  ones  used  in  PCs  to  sei  up  the  ex- 
pansion cards)  to  set  ihe  programming  op- 
lions.  DIP  switches  or  jumpers  can  also  be 
used,  PRGM3  also  sets  the  trickle  charge 
current  value.  When  PRGM3  is  open,  the 
trickle  charge  current  is  the  fast  charge  rate 
divided  by  3Z  When  PRGM3  is  connected 
to  REE  the  trickle  charge  current  is  the  fast 
charge  rate  divided  by  16.  When  PRGM3  is 
connected  to  BAIT-,  the  trickle  charge  cur- 
rent is  the  fast  charge  rate  divided  by  8.  My 
application  uses  the  PRCM3  pin  lied  to 
RER  so  my  trickle  charge  raic  ts  500  tnA  di* 
vided  by  1 6,  or  3 1  m A. 

Q1-Q3,  LI,  Dl  and  D2  form  a  DC- DC 
switching  power  supply  which  supplies  a 
current  source  to  the  batteries  with  overvott* 
age  piDteciion,  Dl  and  D2  are  Schottky  Bar- 
rier Rectifiers  which  have  low- forward  volt- 
age drops  and  arc  I'ast  devices  (low  internal 
capacitance)  to  keep  the  DC-DC  converter  at 
peak  efriciency,  Ql  and  Q2  boost  the  drive 
10  Q3,  turning  Q3  on  hard  and  off  hard.  Q3 
was  chosen  for  the  low  drain  to  source  resis- 
tance of  0.3  ohms,  Wiih  such  a  low  drain  to 
source  resistance,  no  heat  sink  is  required 
for  Q3,  tx*  Power  Dissipation  ^  (drain  cur- 
rent)- X  (drain  to  source  resistance  J  which  is 
below  100  milliwatts.  LI  is  charged  by  Q3. 
When  Q3  turns  on,  current  is  stored  in  LI 
and  discharges  through  D2  into  the  battery. 
When  Q3  turns  off*  current  will  coniinuc  to 
flow  through  LI  from  ihe  current  stored  in 
LI  and  through  Dl.  LI  must  be  both  electri- 
cally large  fo  accommodate  the  large  current 
flow  and  physically  large  to  prevent  satura- 
tion (saturation  is  when  Lt*s  core  cannot 
hold  any  more  magnetic  flux*  causing  LI  to 
look  like  a  resistor  with  a  resistance  value  of 
the  inductor  wire).  For  topology  buffs,  the 
topology  used  here  is  the  Positive  Buck 
Convener. 

LED  \  and  LED2  are  used  for  charging  in- 
dicators. When  power  is  applied  to  Fast 
Charger,  LED  I  illuminates.  When  fast 
charging  is  active,  both  LED  I  and  LED2  il- 
luminaie.  When  fasi  charging  is  complete. 
LED2  extinguishes  and  LED!  remains  on. 

Power  to  the  Fast  Charger  requires  a  1 
voh  input  voliage  over  the  highest  battery 
voltage,  with  a  minimum  voltage  of  7  volts 
and  a  maximum  voliage  of  20  volts.  The 
maximum  battery  voltage  is:  (1.65  volls)  x 


PROM  1  and  PRGM  2  Pin  Connections 
to  Deftnt  Cell  Count 


PRGM  2  and  PRGM  3  Connedions  to  Define  Time-otJt  lo 
TrickJe  Charge  and  Associated  C^a^&  Rate 


No.  of 
Cetls 

PRGM1 

Connexion 

PRGUO 

Connedion 

1 

V+ 

V* 

2 

open 

v+ 

3 

REF 

V* 

4 

BATT- 

V* 

5 

V+           i 

o^n 

6 

open 

open 

7 

REF 

open 

8 

BATT- 

open 

9 

V+ 

REF 

10 

open 

REF 

11 

REF 

REF 

12 

BATT^ 

REF 

13 

v+ 

BATT" 

14 

Open 

BATT- 

15 

REF 

BATT- 

16 

BATT-                BATT-        | 

Ttni€-oui 
fminules) 

CHa/ige  Rate 
tnC 

PRGM3 
Connedlon 

PRGM2 

C€tnnedion 

22                           : 

not  used 

V* 

RHF         j 

33 

not  used 

v+ 

8ATT- 

45 

2,0C  to  1  SO 

open 

R^F 

66 

1.4Cto1JC 

open 

BATT- 

90 

roctoo.ac 

REF 

1          REF 

132 

0.7C  to  0.5C 

REF 

BATT- 

180 

0.4C 

8AIT- 

REF 

264 

0.2&C 

BATT- 

BATT- 

T€ible  L  To  control  the  charge  rate,  the  current  sensing  resistor  must  be  chosen-  First  pick  the 
rate  to  recharge  the  batteries  (benveen  0.25C  and  2Cl  The  current  sensing  resistance  value 
is:  R6  =  (0.25  volts)  /  [(fast  charge  rate)  x  (banery  capacity}},  I  require  a  rate  of  iC  for  my 
500  mA/liour  baiterres,  so  the  resistor  value  is  calculated  as  follows:  R6  -  (0.25  volts)  / 
[(IC)  X  (0.5  A/hours)}  =  0.5  ohms. 


Parts  List 

Part 

Description 

DigMCeyi 

Price  ($} 

CI 

Capacitor,  47  UP  25V 

P5696 

0.24 

C2 

Capacitor,  33  pF 

P40ia 

0.06 

C3 

Capacitor  lOOpF 

P4024 

0.06 

C4 

Capacilor,  1  uF  25V 

pe74a 

0,53 

D1.D2 

Diode,  1NS818 

1N5818 

0.56 

IC1 

IC.  MAX713  or  MAX712 

MAX713CPE 

MAX712CPE 

6.27 

LI 

Inductor,  47  uH,  1  amp 

TK4355 

2.63 

LEDl 

Green  LED 

P303 

0.18 

LED2 

Red  LEO 

P300 

0.25 

Ql 

Transistor.  2N2222A 

PN2222A 

0.19 

02 

Transistor.  2N2907A 

PN2907A 

0.19 

Q3 

Transistor.  P  enhancemeni  PET,  Rds  =  0.3  ohms 

IBF9530 

2.40 

R1 

Resistor,  200  1/4W 

200Q 

0.05 

R2 

Resistor  470  1/4W 

470Q 

0.05 

R3 

Resistor,  2K  1/4W 

2KQ 

0.05 

R4 

Resistor,  48.7k  1/4W  1% 

4a.7KX 

0.11 

R5 

Resistor,  1.5k  IMW 

15KQ 

0.05 

R6 

Resistor,  as  required  for  IC 

1-OQ 

0.05 

HDR0-HDa3 

Header,  6-p  n 

S2012-06-ND 

1.11 

JMPR0-JMPR3 

Jumper  fof  headers 

S9000-ND 

1.03 

Socket 

Socket  for  101 

Fn33l6 

0.83 

(the  number  of  cells).  The  mimmum  current 
required  is  equal  to  the  fasi  chaise  cuiTcnt,  1 
built  my  Fast  Charger  to  run  off  a  car  battery 
to  recharge  RC  Slope  Glider  batteries.  If 
home  use  is  expected,  then  a  wall- mount 
transformer  with  the  appropriate  DC  output 
voltage  and  current  is  all  that  is  needed- 
Operating  the  Fast  Charger  h  simple. 
Plug  or  switch  the  desired  program  input 
pins  to  match  the  ceil  count  and  the  charging 
time  requirement.  Apply  power  to  the  Fast 
Charger  circuit  and  install  the  batteries,  Fasi 
charging  will  begin,  and  the  batteries  are 
charged  to  the  peak  capacity  when  ihe  fast 
charging  cycle  is  completed.  The  baiTeries 


may  be  left  attached  to  ihc  Fasi  Charger 
for  the  batieries  to  receive  a  trickle  charge. 
Ai  the  end  of  the  fast  charge,  the  batteries 
may  feel  warm,  but  they  should  noi  feel  ex- 
cessively hot  (greater  than  120  degrees 
Fahrenheit).  If  the  batteries  become  hot.  then 
the  fast  charge  current  is  loo  excessive.  In- 
creasing the  value  of  R6  will  alleviate  the 
problem. 

1  ran  into  the  following  problems:  If  Fa.sl 
Charger  draws  excessive  current,  check  Ql 
and  Q2,  they  may  be  swapped  causing  the 
excessive  current  draw;  if  Fast  Charger  will 
not  go  into  irickle  charge,  verify  C2  and  C3 
values. 


26  73  Amateur  Radio  Today  *  May,  1 994 


iliHie'srio  end  buDdE^ 
BJCTROfC  FlIBS 


lnaO(ih  ii  crOfectS 


Eloctrorrics 
Course 

^nd  EdJxion 


»13P     tt9  95 


2«^(?P     I1i35 


osciaoscoPEs 


llfiWP    »T7,95 


Counts  as  Z<'K;ardccv<ir 


J7I65P     fifths 


The 
I   Fbcke't  Radio 
Handbook 


TOOUSLESHOOTING 
mo  REPAIRING 

AUDIO  k  VIDEOI 

Q^SSerni'LAYERSl 

&  RECORDERS 


M2&P     St7.M 

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€1     '"'"  : 

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HardcDvnr 


GENERAL 
Pv  RAUlOTKUfrHONr 
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CouA  u  z 


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If  ycu  select  a  book  (h.^  counts  as  2  choicer  wrKe  the  boo><  numb«f  in  one  box  and  XX  in  the  nejtt- 
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y^Md  lof  new  members  only,  subfedl  to  acceptam^  by  E3C  Canada  mciJlf  rwrnll  in  U.S.  tunds  drawn  on  U.S.  banks.  Applkcanta 
o^tEidp  th?  US  Bind  Cencide  will  receive  special  Qfderirtg  insiructiqfu  All  boo)(£  are softcover  unless  othefwtse  noted 
Publishers'  prtces  shown.  A  ^hippiing/Tie idling  c^arg^  $  seies  ISK  iirift  be  added  lo  ail  oitiofs  STAH594 


Photo  A.  A  drilled  and  eiched  FC  board  for  the  Fast  Charger  is  available  from  for  $5  plus 
$1.50  5  &  H  per  order  from  Far  Circuits,  ISN640  Field  Cu  Dmdee.  it  60118., 


All  the  parts  used  on  [his  project  are  avail- 
able from  Digi-Key  Corporation,  (800)  344- 
4539. 

Schematic 

The  schematic  in  Figure  1  shows  the  cir- 
cuitry. The  left  side  of  the  schematic  shows 
the  programming  devices.  Shorting  jumpers, 
headers  with  jumper  shorting  blocks  or 
switches  can  substituted  for  these  devices, 
R6  is  shown  as  two  resistors.  This  allows 
custom  values  of  non-standard  resistance  by 
using  readily  available  standard  resistance 
values  and  placing  them  in  parallel. 

Figure  3  shows  the  operating  characteris- 
tics when  recharging  a  battery.  A  four-cell 
500  mA  hour  NiCd  pack  was  subjected  to 
the  Fast  Charger.  The  chart  shows  the  battery 
output  voltage  verses  time.  The  start  of  the 
plot  is  power  applied  to  the  Fast  Charger 
Battery  voltage  increases  with  charging  and 
then  peaks  at  about  60  minutes  into  the 
charge.  The  baiiery  voltage  peaks  and  then 
begins  to  fall  Fast  Charger  detects  the  drop 
in  battery  voltage  and  shuts  off  the  fast 
charge  current  and  enters  trickle  charge  at 
approximately  65  minutes  into  the  charge. 

Figure  4  shows  the  same  battery  pack 
subjected  to  Fast  Charger  after  the  pack  has 
been  fully  charged.  Again  the  chart  shows 
battery  voltage  versus  lime.  Since  the  pack  is 
fully  charged,  the  battery  voltage  peaks 
quickly  and  then  the  output  voltage  begins  to 
drop.  After  approximately  five  minutes  and 
30  seconds  into  the  charge.  Fast  Charge 
detects  the  drop  in  battery  output  voltage 
and  changes  from  fast  charging  to  trickle 
charging. 

I  hope  that  Fast  Charger  recharges  your 
batteries  as  easily,  quickly  and  automatically 
as  it  does  mine.  Fast  Charger  allows  conve- 
nient quick  charging  of  vinually  any  battery 
pack  on  the  market. 

I  would  like  to  thank  Jim  Keller  KD6JW0 
for  setting  up  and  programming  the  HP 
Chart  Recorder  used  for  Figures  3  and  4,  a_nd 
for  building  the  first  "production''  unit. 


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aRCLE  16  OU  READEIf  SEflVlCg  CAl^ 


CIRCLE  251  ON  READER  SERVICE  CARD 


CtRGLE  283  ON  READER  SERVtCE  CARD 


28  73  Amateur  Radio  Today  ■  May,  1 994 


Explore  The  World  of  Quorum  Wefax 


Wefax  Explorer 

Integrated  Wefax  /  Al* T  Receiver  and  Scan 

Convener  with  Qfax  sofm'aie, 

$695.00  complete 

shipping  and  taxes  not  included 

The  Best  Price  I  Performance.  Period! 

Conslmcia  Wefax  /  API  reception  system  from  individual  component  receivers,  scan  converters  and  image  processing  software 
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Explorer,  simply  connect  an  antenna  and  a  few  mouse  clicks  later  you're  receiving  the  highest  quality  images  possible.  The 
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Quonim  equipment  is  used  by  virtually  all  wefax  suppliers  in  worldwide  amateur,  commercial  and  military  systems, 

QFAX  Features 

I  GOES  /  Metemai  "Wefax  Reception 

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reception  under  software  control 

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CIRCLE  257  ON  REAOEH  SERVICE  CARD 


Number  7  on  your  r— dbach  card 


The  Radar  Gun  Reality 

Ham  scientist  testifies  on  electromagnetic  radiation. 


Introduction  by  Wayne  Green  W2NSD/1 


IVtyu  \'e  pmhabiy  been  reading  the  same  tm- 
dta  twiddle  about  the  dcmgers  of  celhtlar  tele* 
phones  and  radar  guns  /  have.  And  by  exten- 
siort,  a  danger  from  our  HTs.  You've  been  read- 
ing that  there  are  amfliciin^  data  on  these  dan- 
gers. You  \'e  been  trading  tripe. 

We  are  most  fommate  to  have  Rosx  Adey 
K6UI . . .  one  of  ours  ...asthe  world  expert  in 
this  controversial  field.  Ross  has  been  re^ 
searching  the  effects  of  electrotttagnetic  waves 
fwni  DC  up  through  the  niicrmvaves.  He's  been 
doing  this  for  years.  On  the  off  chance  that  you 
may  be  interested  in  reading  one  of  his  repiirts, 
I'm  goittg  to  reprint  his  testimony  to  the  Ad 
Hoc  Subcommittee  on  Consuttier  and  Environ- 
mental  Affairs  of  the  United  States  Senate 
Cotnntiitee  on  Governmental  Affairs,  Senator 
Joseph  Liebennan,  Chairman.  His  testimony 
was  given  for  a  "Hearing  on  health  risks  posed 
by  radar  gutu:  the  extent  of  federal  research 
and  regulatory  development  of  microwave 
esnisstons  from  hand-held  radar  guns.  ** 

Got  all  that? 

The  testimony  was  given  August  7.  1992.  by 
W  Ross  Adey  M.D.,  of  the  Pettis  Memorial  VA 
Medical  Centen  Lonm  Litida,  Califomia, 

Mow,  if  you  have  some  difficulty  in  reading 
this  technical  testimony,  just  itnagine  how  lit- 
tle our  average  senator  got  from  if . . .  if  it  was 
even  tvad,  which  is  unlikely.  Few  of  our  sena- 
tors have  any  technical  background,  so  all  this 
is  gibberish  to  tnost  of  them. 


If  you  ever  get  in  touch  with  your  senator 
you  might  ask  him  about  the  danger  of  radar 
guns  and  see  what  he  says.  It's  good  for  a 
laugh  anyway , . .  Wayne] 

1,  Introduction 

Mn  Chairman,  ihank  you  for  ihis  opportuni- 
ty 10  appear  before  the  Commiuce.  1  am 
William  Ross  Adey,  and  my  tcsumony  is  pre- 
sented as  a  private  citizen.  Since  1977. 1  have 
served  as  Associate  Chief  of  Staff  for  Re- 
search and  Development  at  the  Pettis  Memori- 
dI  VA  Medical  Center  at  Loma  Linda.  Calitbr- 
nia.  I  am  a  Distinguished  Professor  of 
Medicine  (Neurology)  a[  the  affiliated  Loma 
Linda  University  School  of  Medicine.  My  ac- 
tivities liclevani  to  this  hearing  include  found- 
ing membership  in  the  Biomedical  Commis- 
sion of  the  International  Union  of  Radio  Sci- 
cnces»  with  auihority  in  ih^  USA  vested  in  the 
National  Academy  of  Sciences;  and  as  a  con- 
sultant to  ihe  Wodd  Healih  Organisation  in 
health  problems  of  nonionizing  eleciromagnet- 
ic  radiation.  I  am  an  elected  Fellow  of  the  In- 
stitute of  Electrical  and  Electronics  Engineers. 
From  1957-1977,  I  was  a  faculty  member  al 
the  UCLA  School  of  Medicine  and  Director  of 
ihc  Space  Biolog\  Laborator)'  of  the  UCLA 
Brain  Research  Institute. 

For  the  past  46  years,  my  research  career 
has  covered  a  broad  spectrum  in  neurology 
and  the  brain  sciences,  in  environmental 


medicine,  in  biomedical  and  communication 
engineering,  and  in  cell  biology  of  molecular 
and  atomic  processes  by  which  cells  of 
brain  and  body  tissues  communicate  with  one 
another. 

These  latter  processes  have  been  the  exclu- 
sive focus  of  our  leam^s  nssearch  for  almost  20 
years.  We  have  played  a  pioneering  role  in  un- 
den>tanding  how  body  cells  "whisper"  to  one 
another:  and  in  so  doing,  we  have  discovered 
some  of  ih^  keys  to  understanding  how  elec- 
tromagnetic fields,  so  weak  that  some  scien- 
tists have  regarded  them  as  incapable  of  bio- 
logical effects,  are  detected  by  living  tissues. 
We  have  studied  some  of  the  likely  conse- 
quences for  human  health. 

The  problem  of  exposure  of  a  restricted  seg- 
ment of  the  population  to  radar  guns  is  but  an 
example  of  the  enormous  and  ever-growing 
use  of  systems  and  devices  in  our  society  thai 
emit  a  vastly  complex  range  of  electromagnet- 
ic fields.  The  ubiquitous  use  of  electricity 
makes  it  a  factor  of  great  and  serious  import  in 
shaping  the  future  of  our  society.  For  the  indi- 
vidual* these  same  concerns  are  likely  to  touch 
all  our  lives  in  very  personal  ways. 

2,  Natural  and  man-made  fields  in  qut  elec- 
tromagnetic environment. 

In  any  discussion  of  biological  and  biomedi- 
cal eflccts  of  electromagnetic  fields,  it  is  nec- 
essary to  understand  that  these  fields  are  oscil- 


t 


Police  radar  gutts  are  not  always  hand-held.  Instead,  many  are  mounted  onto  the  dashboard,  still  m  close  proxitnity  to  the  offlcen  Photos  by 
Charles  Warrington  WA IRZW:  courtesy  of  Greenfield.  NH,  Police  Department, 

30  73  Atnat&ur  Radio  Today  •  May,  1994 


fatmg^  meaning  thai  they  aJie  wa%'es  that  move 
through  the  universe,  surging  with  a  succes- 
sion of  peaks  and  troughs  past  an  observer. 
These  natural  waves  cover  a  vast  spectrum,  or 
range  of  frequencies.  Just  as  in  the  piano 
where  there  is  a  range  of  frequencies  covering 
many  octaves  from  the  low  notes  to  ihe  high, 
so  also  this  electromagnetic  spectrum  covers 
many  octaves.  They  range  from  very  short 
waves  with  high  frequencies  lo  long  waves  at 
low  fiequencies:  but  they  all  tnavel  al  the  same 
speed.  186,000  miles  (or  300,000  kilometers) 
per  second. 

Amongst  the  very  long  waves  are  those  os- 
cillaiiag  at  the  power  lin^  frequency  of  60  cy- 
cles per  second,  or  60  Hz.  Tlieir  peaks  are  5 
million  meters,  or  about  3,000  miles  apan  As 
these  waves  become  shorter,  we  enter  the  ra- 
dio spcctmm.  where  an  AM  broadcast  station 
emitting  waves  at  1  million  cycles/sec  (10()0 
kilohcriz  [kHz]  or  1.0  naegahcriz  }MHz]) 
sends  waves  with  a  length  of  300  meters.  The 
microwave  region  of  the  spectrum  begins  by 
definition  at  a  frequency  of  300  million  waves 
per  second  (300  MHz^  waves  I  meler  long) 
and  extends  by  definition  lo  300  billion  waves 
per  second,  or  300  gigahertz  (GHz).  Ai  300 
GHz,  the  waves  are  only  one  twenty-Hfth  of 
an  inch,  or  1.0  millimeter  long.  Police  radar 
guns  operating  at  10  GHz  (X-band)  and  24 
GHZ  (K-band)  have  wavelengths  of  30  mil- 
limelcrs  and  13  millimelers  respectively  (L2 
and  0,5  inches). 


But  this  is  by  no  means  the  limit  of  the  elec* 
iromagneiic  spectrum.  It  extends  many  oc- 
taves beyond  the  millimeter  wave  band,  with 
ever  shortening  wavelengths  and  ever  higher 
frequencies  of  oscillation.  Millimeter  waves 
are  succeeded  by  the  infrared  spectrum,  and 
this  in  mm  by  the  spectrum  of  visible  light* 
covering  barely  an  octave  as  wavelengths 
shorten  from  red  to  blue.  From  the  visible  re- 
gion of  the  spectrum,  there  is  a  progression 
through  the  ultraviolet,  to  X-rays  and  ulttroalc- 
ly  to  the  very  shon  cosmic  rays  from  outer 
s^ee. 

In  a  biological  perspective,  all  life  on  earth 
has  evolved  in  a  sea  of  low-frequency  electro- 
magnetic fields,  generated  in  part  from  the  sun 
and  also  from  the  huge  energy  of  thunder- 
storm belts  in  the  Amazon  basin  and  in  centtal 
Africa.  In  an  historical  perspective,  this  natu- 
ral electromagnetic  environment  has  been 
vastly  perturbed  ,since  the  beginning  of  the 
20ih  century  by  an  ever-itKrreasing  ievei  of  ar- 
tificial electromagnetic  fields. 

These  artificial  fields  now  bathe  us  through- 
out  our  lives,  in  our  homes,  in  the  workplace, 
and  in  the  environment.  In  two  important 
ways,  they  differ  fit>m  the  natural  electromag- 
netic environment.  Firstly*  they  are  typically 
hundreds  and  in  some  cases  millions  of  times 
stronger  than  the  natural  fields.  Secondly,  and 
most  importantly  in  this  hearing  on  possible 
health  effects  of  weak  microwave  exposure, 
most  eneigy  of  the  naturai  fields  occurs  at  fre- 


quencies below  100  cycles  per  second  (100 
Hz).  That  is,  they  surge  back  and  forth  less 
than  100  times  per  second  as  oscillating  fields. 
Natural  sources,  such  as  the  sun,  produce  pniy 
small  amounts  of  high-frequency  eneigy  in  the 
radio  and  microwave  regions  of  the  electro- 
magnetic spectrum. 

In  contrast,  man-made  devices  aiKl  systems 
now  expose  us  ail  lo  an  electromagnetic  envi- 
ronment of  almost  unbelievable  complexity 
from  conception  lo  death.  In  addition  to  low- 
frequency  fields  associated  with  electric  pow- 
er distribution  systems  and  the  devices  and 
systems  operating  directly  from  the  power  sys- 
tem, most  urban  and  suburban  environments 
also  involve  exposures  lo  radio  frequency  and 
microwave  fields,  Obviousiy,  the  magnitude 
of  these  exposures  depends  on  projtimity  to 
the  sources:  whether,  for  example,  near  indus- 
Irial  radio  frequency  heating  systems  for  plas- 
tic molding  and  sealing  plastic  surfaces;  or  to 
radio,  TV  and  microwave  transmitters  widely 
scattcned  in  most  urban  and  suburban  environ- 
ments; or  in  the  use  of  hand-held  portable 
transceivers  placed  close  to  the  head  of  the  us- 
er; or  in  microwave  radar  sources  close  to 
body  parts,  as  with  police  radar  guns  placed  in 
the  groin  in  an  operating  condition, 

3*  The  scope  of  federal  research  on  im- 
erowave  emisstons. 

With  such  a  vast  range  of  frequencies  in  the 
electromagnetic  spectrum,  it  is  inevitable  that 


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CIRCLE  22  ON  REAPER  SERVtCE  CARD 


73  Amateur  Radio  Today  *  May.  1 994    31 


to  date  only  scauered  segments  have  been  ex- 
plored for  ihcir  biological  intcraciions.  Bio- 
logical and  biomedical  research  has  been  re- 
stricted by  limitations  on  funding.  This  Kas 
come  mainly  from  Federal  agencies  seeking 
early  answers  to  specific  problems  in  mission 
oriented  research.  National  fashions  in  re- 
search have  emei^cd  in  consequence.  Thtis* 
public  and  congressional  preoccupation  over 
the  past  decade  with  possible  hazards  of  60 
Hz  electric  power  sources  has  made  it  essen- 
tially the  sole  facet  of  nonionizing  electro- 
magnetic field  research  supported  by  federal 
civilian  agencies. 

Until  recently,  when  the  National  Institute 
of  Environmental  Health  Sciences  manifested 
a  renewed  interest^  Ihc  US  Etepartment  of  En- 
ergy has  been  the  sole  custodian  of  a  Federal 
civilian  research  program  in  nonionizing  radi- 
ation since  1986.  At  that  lime,  the  US  Envi- 
ronmental Protection  Agency  eliminated  its 
active  and  highly  negarded  program. 

Even  with  a  strong  focus  on  60  Hz  bioef- 
fecis,  to  the  exclusion  of  other  urgent  prob- 
lems, a  total  DOE  budget  of  less  than  %5  mil- 
lion has  been  seriously  inadequate  in  the 
search  for  needed  knowledge  of  the  mecha- 
nisms undedying  weak  EM  field  imeracitons 
with  living  tissues.  For  more  than  ten  years, 
there  has  been  virtually  no  federal  civilian 
funding  or  medical  research  on  effects  of  m- 
dio  frequency  or  microwave  fields. 

Within  the  Department  of  Defense,  the  US 


Air  Force  has  assumed  the  role  of  Lead  Agen- 
cy in  microwave  research.  US  Air  Force  stud- 
ies deal  exclusively  with  effects  of  high  level 
exposures,  with  effects  attributable  to  tissue 
heating.  As  a  matter  of  policy,  the  Air  Force 
denies  existence  of  biological  erfects  at- 
tributable to  Qihermal  fields  (Erwin,  1988), 
Nevertheless,  evidence  for  aihermal  bioeffecis 
is  incontroveniblc  for  both  low-frequency  and 
radio  frequency  exposures,  and  tissue  heating 
is  not  the  basis  of  these  interactions.  AH  expo- 
sures of  law  enforcement  personnel  to  radar 
guns  are  athermal,  so  thai  if  there  are  biologi- 
cal consequences,  models  and  mechanisms  to 
explain  these  interactions  cannot  be  based  on 
heating  models  that  arc  the  essence  of 
ANSI/IEEE  guidelines.  1  shall  return  to  these 
issues  in  greater  detail,  including  the  regulato- 
ry aspects, 

3a,  Research  on  hiohgical  and  biomedical 
effects  of  microwave  fields. 

My  principal  purpose  is  to  review  ihe  scope 
and  content  of  research  relevant  to  possible 
health  hazards  of  microwave  emissions  from 
iratTic  radar  guns. 

It  is  important  ID  first  address  the  question 
of  what  our  expectations  might  be  from  re* 
search  on  devices  or  systems  \  ievsed  as  poten- 
tial environmental  heakh  hazards,  It  is  the 
premise  of  protagonists  of  police  radar  guns 
that  there  is  no  signitlcant  risk  from  these  mi- 
crowave exposures.  To  the  contrar>',  their  doc- 
ymentaiion  nmy  be  generously  inicrpreied  as 


only  showing  thaL  at  best,  there  is  no  proven 
hazard. 

Although  limited  in  scope  by  totally  inade- 
quate funding  from  cither  federal  or  other 
sources  over  the  past  decade,  research  in  the 
USA  and  elsewhere  on  bioeffecls  of  athermal 
RF/microwave  exposures  has  coniribuied 
strong  indicators  that  the  possibly  hazardous 
nature  of  these  exposures  must  be  seriously 
considered. 

Two  major  streams  of  new  knowledge  have 
emerged.  On  the  one  hand,  epidemiofogy 
studies  have  addressed  human  diseases  that 
now  appear  ever  more  closely  related  to  envi- 
ronmcnml  ckctromagnciic  field  exposure.  On 
the  other,  laboratory  studies  in  cells,  tissues 
and  animal  models  have  disclosed  m  consid- 
erable detail  many  of  {he  fundamefiial  mecha- 
nisms by  which  extremely  weak  electromag- 
netic fields  interact  with  cells  and  tissues. 

As  I  pointed  out  at  a  related  hearing  by  the 
Subcommitiee  on  Natural  Resources  of  the 
House  Committee  on  Sciencct  Space  and 
Technology  (7/25/90)*  it  is  important  to  em- 
phasize that  these  studies  at  the  cell  and 
molecular  level  have  built,  and  continue  to 
build,  a  series  of  critically  imponam  bridges 
between  laboratory  science  and  human  epi- 
demiology; so  that  it  is  no  longer  possible  to 
say  that  mechanisms  mediating  interactions  of 
electromagnetic  fields  with  biomotecular  sys- 
tems remain  unknown  with  respect  to  poten- 
tial health  problems. 


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In  many  respects,  scudles  of  mechanisms 
provide  essential  signposts  and  directives  that 
will  determine  the  very  nature  of  further  epi- 
demiology studies.  For  example,  laboratory 
studies  have  revealed  enhanced  effects  of 
chemical  cancer  promoters  in  joint  actions 
with  electromagnetic  fields;  thus,  the  epi- 
demiological hunt  for  the  basis  of  increased 
cancer  risk  now  invites  detailed  consideration 
of  possible  joint  effects  of  environmental 
chemical  pollutants  and  eleciromagnetic 
fields.  For  operators  of  police  radar  guns,  for 
example,  there  is  the  question  of  long-term 
concurrent  exposure  to  automobile  exhaust 
fumes  as  a  possible  adjuvant  factor 

4.  Health -related  t^ffecls  of  nthemtal 
RF/microwave  fields;  laboratorj  studies  in 
cells  and  tissues. 

ANSI/IEEE  guidelines  consider  tissue  heat- 
ing  as  the  sole  premise  on  which  to  base  safe- 
ty standards,  precluding  from  any  considera- 
tion the  very  existence  of  athermal  interac- 
tions. It  is  therefore  imperative  to  identify  by 
specific  citations  some  of  the  findings  in 
much  weaker  athermal  exposures  that  may 
bear,  directly  or  by  extrapolation,  on  potential 
human  health  hazards. 

The  following  account  describes  RF/mi- 
crowave field  effects  at  athermal  exposure 
levels,  substantially  below  limits  permitted 
under  ANSl/lEEE  guidelines,  Virtually  all 
have  received  some  form  of  federal  support. 


Most  laboratory  tests  with  RF/microwave 
fields  at  frequencies  below  1000  megahertz 
{1.0  gigahertz)  have  reported  effects  of  low- 
frequency  modulation,  or  periodic  interrup- 
tion, of  the  high-frequency  carrier  wave.  If  a 
long-range  radar  u^nsmitter  is  used  (not  a  po- 
lice radar  gun),  the  signal  is  typically  *'pulsed" 
at  frequencies  from  5  to  lOW  pulses  per  sec- 
ond; or  the  signal  may  be  rhythmically  modu- 
lated with  a  sine-wave  signal,  typically  at  fre- 
quencies below  100  Hz.  At  carrier  wave  fre- 
quencies below  1000  MHz,  bioeffects  have 
been  reported  with  unmodulated  carrier  waves 
only  with  fields  sufficiently  intense  to  cause 
tissue  heating. 

4a,  Summary  of  major  effects  of  modulated 
RF/microwave  fields. 

A  gamut  of  effects  has  been  reported,  most 
confirmed  in  independent  studies  in  different 
laboratories.  They  relate  to  a  hierarchy  in  the 
ordering  of  biological  systems. 

i)  Modification  of  calcium  binding  at  cell 
surfaces  has  been  a  pivotal  observation,  con- 
firmed in  many  studies  (Bawin  et  aL,  1975; 
Biackman  et  al..  1979,  1985;  Dutta  ct  al., 
1984;  Lin-Liu  and  Adey,  1982).  Calcium  is 
the  key  messenger,  carrying  messages  {from 
hormones,  antibodies,  neurotransmitters  and 
chemical  cancer  promoters)  from  ceil  surfaces 
to  the  interior  Calcium  also  mediates  signals 
between  cells  that  preveni  unregulated  cell 
growth  and  tumor  formation. 

ii)  Actions  on  cells  of  the  immune  system. 


The  body's  immune  system  is  the  fortress 
built  by  nature  against  infection  and  the 
creeping  claws  of  cancen  Reduced  immune 
competence  is  therefore  followed  by  dire  con- 
sequences for  the  individual,  whether  it  re- 
sults from  aging,  from  the  ravages  of  infec- 
tions such  as  AIDS,  or  from  environmental 
chemical  pollution.  Lymphocytes  of  the  im- 
mune system  can  be  ''targeted"  against  tumor 
cells,  destroying  them  by  breaking  their  cov- 
ering membranes. 

A  malignant  tumor  of  the  lymph  glands  of 
the  groin  (malignant  lymphoma)  has  been  re- 
ported in  users  of  police  radar  guns.  In  studies 
with  ceil  cultures,  athermal  microwave  fields 
(450  MHz,  1 .5  mW/cm^}  with  60  Hz  modula- 
tion reduced  by  about  20  percent  the  killing 
capacity  (cytotoxicity)  of  lymphocytes  target- 
ed against  human  lymphoma  cells  (Lyle  et  al.» 
1983).  Unmodulated  450  MHz  fields  had  no 
effect.  These  fields  also  disrupted  by  up  to  60 
percent  activity  of  enzymes  that  act  as  internal 
messengers  inside  lymphocytes,  including 
messages  regulating  cell  growth  (Byus  et  aL, 
1984). 

iii)  Modification  of  enzyme  activity  frgulat- 
ing  cell  growth.  A  series  of  studies  in  different 
laboratories  have  reported  sensitivities  to 
modulated  RF/microwave  field.s  of  growth- 
regulating  enzymes  located  within  widely  dif- 
fering types  of  mammalian  cells  (Byus  et  aL, 
1984,  1988;  Kmuse  et  al.  1990).  In  confimna- 
tion  of  the  athermal  character  of  these  inierac- 


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34  73  Atnateur  Radio  Today  •  May,  1 994 


tioas,  Chcy  have  been  shown  to  depend  on  ihe 
presence  of  low- frequency  modulation*  raiher 
than  simply  on  field  intensity:  and  more 
specifically,  to  retaie  to  a  narrow  band  of 
modulation  frequencies  in  a  fashion  described 
as  ^  frequency  window.  These  phenomena  are 
quite  inconsistent  with  ihermal  models. 

iv)  DNA  synthesis  in  cultured  mammalian 
cells  following  exposure  to  increasing  mi- 
crowave fields  at  constant  temperature.  Cul- 
tured human  blood  lymphocytes  and  human 
brain  cells  can  be  exF)Dscd  to  increasing  levels 
of  245  MHz  CW  microw^aves.  but  mainiained 
at  their  nomial  37  degree  Centigrade  environ- 
ment. Under  these  conditions,  they  synthesize 
DNA  with  a  sharp  peak  in  the  response  in  a 
narrow  range  of  field  intensities  (Cleary  et  al., 
1989).  This  is  an  Intensity  window,  also  quite 
inconsistent  with  thermal  models  of  intcrac- 
lion. 

4b,  Hie  tmfllmeter  wave  region:  b'weffects 
of  fields  similar  to  those  in  police  radar  guns. 

Police  radar  guns  operate  with  a  continuous 
wave  (CW)  signal  at  either  X-band  (10  GHz) 
or  K-band  (24  GHz).  Their  frequencies  are 
high  enough  to  resonate  directly  with  the  vi- 
brations of  biological  molecules  or  portions  of 
these  molecules.  These  direct  molecular  inter- 
actions do  not  occur  at  lower  frequencies. 

Bio  molecular  and  ceil  research  in  this  spec- 
tral region  has  been  merger  Studies  in  solu- 
tions of  DNA  and  of  growth  effects  in  bacte- 
ria have  yielded  conflicting  results  thai  may 


relate  to  extreme  technical  difficulties  not  en- 
countered at  lower  frequencies.  There  are  ma- 
jor pmbiems  in  the  engineering  of  suitable  ex- 
posure systems,  in  ensuring  biocompatible  ex- 
posure devices,  and  in  evaluation  of  experi- 
mental data  for  physical  and  biological  arti- 
facts. 

4b.  1 .  Cell  growth  responses  to  millimeter 
wave  exposuriss.  These  studies  may  have  spe- 
cial significance.  They  have  opened  new 
doors  to  understanding  mechanisms  that  un- 
dedie  bioeffects  of  extremely  weak  millimeter 
wave  fields.  The  definitive  findings  are  the 
product  of  a  single  team  of  highly  competent 
German  scientists,  collaborating  for  the  past 
15  years  wiltiin  the  framework  of  the  presti- 
gious national  Max  Planck  organization 
(Grundler  el  aL,  1977;  Grundler  and  Kcil- 
mann,  1978). 

Their  work  has  examined  effects  of  mil- 
limeter wave  fields  on  growth  of  yeast  cells,  a 
cell  type  commonly  used  in  biological  and 
biomedical  research  concerned  with  cell 
growth  and  genetic  mechanisms.  We  are  con- 
cerned here  with  prvcess.  with  mechanisms  at 
a  level  so  fundamental  in  living  systems  thai 
they  are  found  in  most,  if  not  all,  cellular  or- 
ganisms. By  extrapolation,  these  studies  raise 
questions  about  the  possibility  of  comparable 
effects  in  human  tissues  exposed  to  fields  of 
the  type  paxJuced  by  police  radar  guns.  At  the 
same  time,  it  must  be  emphasized  that  only 
with  much  further  research  can  we  determine 


the  validity  of  this  interpretation. 

In  the  first  studies  by  the  German  team, 
yeast  cell  cultures  were  irradiated  with  contin- 
uous wave  millimeter  fields  at  field  intensities 
of  a  few  milliwatts/cTn^.  The  growth  rate  was 
considerably  enhanced  or  reduced  depending 
on  the  field  frequency  around  42  GHz,  with  a 
succession  of  peaks  and  troughs  at  intervals  of 
about  10  MHz.  In  agreement  with  our  eariier 
analogy  with  a  piano,  the  cells'  growth  re- 
sponse appeared  finely  tuned  to  the  frequency 
of  the  applied  field  Careful  temperature  mon- 
itoring excluded  a  trivial  thermal  origin  for 
this  effect.  Repetition  of  this  experiment  con- 
firmed that  yeast  culture  growth  is  indeed  af- 
fected by  weak  microwave  mdiadon  in  a  fre- 
quency-selective manner  (Grundler  et  al„ 
1983;  Gmndlerand  Keilmann,  1983). 

These  early  experiments  have  been  sub- 
stantially improved  and  extended  (Grundler, 
1990),  Growth  of  single  ye^st  cells  has  been 
measured  microscopically,  and  orientation  of 
each  cell  controlled  with  respect  to  the  im- 
posed field  (Grundler  and  Kaiser,  1992J. 

A  notable  finding  in  these  recent  studies  is 
that  the  sharpness  of  the  tuning  increased  as 
the  intensity  of  the  imposed  fields  decreased; 
but  the  tuning  peak  occurred  at  exactly  the 
same  frequency  as  the  field  intensity  was  pro- 
gressively reduced.  Moreover  clear  responses 
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73  Amateur  Radto  Today  •  May,  1 994    35 


guiddines  for  millimeter  wave  exposure* 

What  do  these  studies  suggest  about  a 
threshold,  or  lower  limit  for  sensitivities  to 
these  weak  fields?  Theoretical  and  experi- 
mental modeling  has  gone  hand  in  hand  with 
biological  studies.  New  conclusions  are  strik- 
ing, even  challenging,  with  respect  to  poien- 
tiat  health  hazards.  Professor  Friedemann 
Kaiser,  a  theoretical  physicist  with  the  Max 
Planck  organization  and  a  world  authority  on 
weak  millimeter  wave  interactions  (Kaiser, 
19S3.  1 988)*  concludes  that  in  interactions 
between  an  impwDscd  field  and  an  oscillator 
within  a  ceiL  *\  ,  .  imposed  fields  can  be  ac- 
tive even  at  intensities  near  zero'*  (Grundler 
and  Kaiser.  1992),  In  other  words,  a  lower 
limit  or  threshold  would  not  exist 

Research  at  the  other  extreme  in  the  elec- 
tromagnetic spectrum  with  50  and  60  Hz  elec- 
tric power  fields  also  support  this  concept. 
Theoretical  and  experimental  studies  at  the 
University  of  Oxford  by  McLauchlan  (1992) 
conclude  that  sensitivities  in  biomolecutar 
systems  may  exist  even  at  the  lowest  icvets  of 
magnetic  energy  input.  Based  on  interactions 
between  magnetic  fields  and  chemical  forms 
known  as  "free  radicals"  there  can  be  **^an 
enormous  effect  of  a  small  magnetic  field  on  a 
chemical  reaction,  and  the  effect  begins  at  the 
lowest  applied  field  strength." 

5.  Physical  and  engineering  aspects  of  oper- 
ator exposure  to  radar  gun  exposures* 

If  extremely  weak  miHImeter  wave  fields 
can  interfere  with  mechanisms  regulating  cell 
growth,  are  radar  gun  operators  exposed  in 
ways  that  might  pose  risks? 

5a.  What  fwld  intensities  exist  at  the  aper- 
ture of  radar  guns? 

Many  thousands  of  measurements  have 
been  made  by  Fisher  (1991)  in  the  period 
1 982- 1 99 L  For  X-band  (10  GHz)  models 
popular  in  the  early  1980s,  the  average  anten- 
na apenure  power  density  was  3.36  mW/cm- 
for  fixed-mount  devices,  and  2.66  mW/cm^ 
for  hand-held  devices.  With  later  development 
of  K-band  (24  GHz)  technology,  the  average 
aperture  power  density  dropped  to  0.93 
mW/cm-^  for  fixed-mounted  systems  and 
0.69  mW/cm^  for  hand-helds. 

These  incident  field  levels  are  approxi- 
mately one  million  times  higher  than  incident 
ficltk  changing  growth  of  cells  by  direct  ex- 
posuns, 

5  b*  Are  there  circutnsiances  in  which  all  or 
most  of  this  energy  would  reach  the  surface  of 
the  body? 

Fisher's  (1991)  extensive  evaluation  of  mi- 
crowave exposures  encountered  by  traffic 
radar  operators  states  that  with  hand-held  de- 
vices, '*when  it  is  placed  in  the  operator's  lap, 
100%  of  the  aperture  power  density  would  be 
incident  upon  ponions  of  the  radar  operator's 
body  that  are  in  contact  with  the  antenna's 
af)erturc.  Radar  operators  who  place  the  hand- 
held device  in  their  laps  or  inadvertently  point 
the  antenna  towards  themselves  will  find 
themselves  in  the  HPD  (High  Power-Density) 
region  of  the  antenna,  with  exposure  to  more 
than  L0%  of  the  aperture  power  density," 

5c.  Will  most  of  this  energy  enter  the  body 


or  will  it  he  reflected  from  the  skin? 

As  discussed  in  the  next  Section,  relatively 
little  reflection  of  millimeter  waves  occurs  at 
the  body  surface.  Most  field  energy  penetrates 
the  body  surface  and  is  absorbed  by  body  tis- 
sues, 

5d.  If  the  field  enters  the  body,  how  deeply 
will  it  penetrate  before  dropping  to  levels  less 
than  those  shoHn  to  alter  cell  growth? 

Millimeter  waves  are  rapidly  attenuated  as 
ihey  penetrate  the  body  surface.  This  rapid 
weakening  of  the  field  is  due  to  energy  ab- 
sorption by  water  molecules.  In  engineering 
terms,  this  attenuation  is  measured  at  17-20 
decibels/millimeter.  In  more  familiar  terms,  as 
little  as  1.0  percent  of  the  field  energy  at  the 
body  surface  will  be  found  1 .0  millimeter  be- 
low the  surface;  and  ai  a  depth  of  3  millime- 
ters (one-eighth  of  an  inch),  the  field  intensity 
will  be  one-millionth  of  that  at  the  surface. 

How  do  these  physical  properties  of  the 
body  determine  the  actual  tissue  field  levels 
from  operating  radar  guns  in  close  contact 
with  the  body  surface?  It  appears  a  reasonable 
conclusion  that  for  antenna  aperture  densities 
of  1*3  milliw*atts/cm2  .  fields  at  picowaU  lev- 
els will  be  found  at  depths  of  3  millimeters; 
and  as  noied  above,  there  is  evidence  that  mil- 
limeter wave  fields  at  this  intensity  can  modi- 
fy cell  growth. 

5e.  Are  organs  such  as  the  testis  or  lymph 
glands  in  the  groin  close  enough  to  the  body 
surface  to  be  exposed  to  significant  field  lev- 
els? 

1  now  wear  the  hat  of  an  m^omist  with 
more  than  30  years*  experience  in  teaching 
and  research  in  the  anatomy  of  the  human 
body  in  the  Australian  medical  schools  of  the 
Universities  of  Adelaide  and  Melbourne,  in 
the  University  of  Oxford,  and  at  the  Universi- 
ty of  California  at  Los  Angeles. 

As  Gray  s  Anatomy  points  out,  *The  skin  of 
the  testis  is  extremely  thin."  It  is  devoid  of  fat, 
so  that  the  scrotal  contents  may  be  tnmsillu- 
mined  with  a  HashlighL  In  consequence,  the 
testis  itself  has  a  very  narrow  separation  from 
the  skin  surface,  typically  not  exceeding  2 
millimeters-  Thus>  picowatt  level  fields  may 
be  anticipated  in  the  outer  zones  of  the  testis 
from  incident  fields  on  the  skin  surface  in  the 
low  milliwan  range. 

A  similar  situation  pertains  for  the  lymph 
glands  of  the  superficial  inguinal  group  in  the 
fold  of  the  groin.  Malignant  lymphoma  has 
been  reported  in  lymph  glands  in  this  region 
in  association  with  exposure  to  police  radar 
guns.  By  reason  of  the  arrangement  of  major 
ligaments  and  fascial  sheets  in  this  region, 
these  lymph  glands  lie  close  to  the  overlying 
skin,  with  minimal  amounts  of  fat  separating 
them. 

6.  Epidetniolc^  of  human  microwave  ex- 
posure. 

For  the  millimeter  wave  spectrum,  there 
have  been  no  epidemiological  studies.  For 
other  parts  of  the  microwave  spectrum,  some 
findings  in  limited  studies  may  be  relevant  by 
extrapolation  to  millimeter  wave  exposures* 

Szmigiclski  et  al.  (1988)  examined  cancer 
incidence  amongst  Polish  career  militarj'  per- 


sonnel. The  major  exposui^  was  to  radar  mi- 
crowave fields,  but  exposures  to  50  Hz  power 
fields  were  also  involved.  Differences  in  can- 
cer rates  between  exposed  and  unexposed 
subjects  were  large,  with  rates  generally  six 
times  higher  in  exposed  than  in  unexposed 
subjects.  Most  malignancies  were  reported  as 
lymphomas  and  leukemias. 

Yugoslav  microwave  workers  have  shown 
abnormalities  in  blood  lymphocyte  chromo- 
somes (Garaj-Vrhovac  ct  al.,  1990}  in  studies 
that  compared  these  findings  with  similar, 
more  severe  changes  in  vinyl  chloride  work- 
ers* Exposures  were  of  long  duration  (8  to  25 
years,  mean  15  years).  Microwave  power  den- 
sities at  the  work  sites  were  in  the  range  10  to 
50  microwatts/cm^  ,  or  approximately  I  per- 
cent of  levels  permitted  under  ANSI/IEEE 
guidelines.  These  same  researchers  produced 
similar  chromosome  abnormalities  in  mam- 
malian cell  cultures  exposed  briefiy  (15,  30 
and  60  min)  to  a  7.7  GHz  field  at  an  intensity 
of  only  05  mW/cm^  ,  or  one-twentieth  of  lev- 
els permitted  in  the  revised  ANSl/lEEE 
guideline. 

The  long  exposures  experienced  by  these 
Yugoslav  workers  raises  questions  about  pos- 
sible effects  of  cumulative  dose,  a  factor  also 
raised  in  case  reports  of  police  radar  gun  oper- 
ators. This  problem  was  addressed  directly  in 
studies  of  brain  tumor  incidence  in  RF/mi- 
crowave  workers  by  the  National  Cancer  In- 
stitute (Thomas  et  al.,  1987).  Microwave 
workers  were  grouped  by  length  of  exposure 
in  5'year  cohorts.  No  measurements  of  field 
exposures  were  available.  Incidence  of  malig- 
nant brain  tumors  (astrocytomas)  was  pro- 
gressive with  length  of  exposure.  For  those  in 
excess  of  20  yean,  the  risk  was  10  times  con- 
trol levels,  if  they  were  simultaneously  ex- 
posed to  microwaves  and  soldering  fiimes, 
electronic  solvents  and  a  variety  of  other 
chemicals.  All  the  excess  risk  was  for  those 
engaged  in  design,  manufacture,  repair  and 
installation  of  electrical  or  electronic  equip- 
ment, suggesting  joint  actions  of  chemical 
factors  and  RF/microwave  fields,  as  already 
discussed. 

7,  Regulatory  considerations;  the 
ANSI/IEEE  guidelLiie& 

The  results  of  much  research  presented 
here  leave  little  doubt  about  the  reality  of 
athermal  bioeffects  of  RF/microwave  fields 
and  their  importance  with  respect  to  potential 
human  health  hazards.  Nonetheless,  this 
knowledge  has  yet  to  lake  its  place  in  any 
safety  guidelines.  Those  private  bodies  pre- 
suming to  advise  govcmmenL  industry  and 
the  general  public  have  produced  guidelines 
based  solely  on  tissue  healing  thresholds. 

In  the  absence  of  f^^leral  regulations  relat- 
ing lo  any  environmental  electromagnetic 
field  exposure,  limits  promulgated  as  "guide- 
lines" by  the  American  National  Standards  In- 
stitute (ANSI)  became  the  de  facto  standards 
for  occupational  and  non-occupational  expo- 
sure in  1982  (ANSI  Standard  C95J-1982, 
covering  the  spectrum  from  300  kHz  to  100 
GHz).  Subsequent  revisions  of  the  ANSI 
C95J-1982  Standard,  now  known  as  IEEE 


36  73  Amateur  Radio  Today  May,  1994 


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C95.M  991,  were  undertaken  inbehalf  of  AN- 
SI  by  Subcommittee  28  of  Lhe  IEEE  Standards 
Coordinaling  Commitlee  CSCC28). 

By  uncompromising  adherence  to  ihcrmal- 
izing  levels  of  exposure  (10  mW/cm^  )  at  fre- 
quencies above  ]3  GHz  as  the  sole  basis  for 
human  hcaUh  concerns,  the  new  ANSI/IEEE 
guidelines  raise  questions  of  objectivity  in 
reviewing  available  evidence.  Theie  has  been 
a  willful  refusal  lo  consider  ibe  significant 
volume  of  highiy  credible  scientific  evidence 
on  athermal  elfects,  dismissed  by  the  co-chair 
of  Subcommittee  SCC28,  Dr,  Eleanor  Adair 
(1990),  as  "today^s  grab  bag  of  contradic- 
tory or  unreplicated  evidence  and  miscel- 
laneous theory,  falling  far  shon  of  credibil- 
ity;' 

Woree,  the  ANSI/IEEE  guidelines  appear  to 
have  become  a  refiige  for  special  inieiests  for 
whom  the  very  existence  of  health  problems  at 
aiherma!  levels  of  exposure  would  have  im- 
ponant  consequences.  For  example,  Fisher 
(1991)  in  his  engineering  review  of  mi- 
crowave exposure  levels  encountered  by  po- 
lice traffic  radar  operators  concludes  thai 
"with  a  high  degree  of  certainty,  microwave 
exposure  levels  encountered  by  these  opera- 
tors is  less  than  1%  of  the  maximum  exposure 
level  of  5  mW/cm^  established  in  ANSI  stan- 
dard C95. 1-1982.  Because  of  this  (sic)  stan- 
dards and  the  results  of  this  experimental  re- 
search, we  are  able  to  conclude  with  a  high  de- 
gree of  certainty  that  there  is  no  evidence  to 


support  ihe  allegation  that  police  traffic  radar 
operators  are  at  risk  due  lo  prolonged  expo- 
sure to  microwave  emissions  from  their  radar 
units," 

Thus  are  uninformed  engineering  opinions 
on  some  of  the  most  complex  of  m^ical  prob- 
lems foisted  on  an  unsuspecting  public. 

8.  Recommendations* 

1.  As  an  emergent  general  conclusion,  it  ap- 
pears that  cognate  Federal  regulatory  agencies 
should  assume  direct  responsibility  for  devel- 
opment and  implementation  of  urgently  need- 
ed safety  guidelines  for  RF/microwave  expo- 
sures. This  had  been  a  long-standing  require- 
ment, made  more  urgent  if  a  national  patch- 
work of  separate  state  and  local  enactments  is 
to  be  avoided-  These  tasks  should  not  be  left  in 
the  hands  of  pri\'a[e  bodies,  all  too  often  sus- 
ceptible to  pressures  of  special  interest  groups. 

2.  Future  developments  in  safely  guidelines 
should  encompass  the  highly  aiediblc  body  of 
information  on  athermal  bioeffects*  including 
effects  of  modulation  patterns  on  RF/mi- 
crowave fields,  and  growing  evidence  on 
biomolccular  inieraciions  with  millimeter 
wave  fields. 

3.  There  is  an  urgent  need  for  a  national 
civilian  research  program  on  medical  effects 
of  RF/microwave  exposures.  This  program 
should  encompass  both  epidemiological  and 
laboratory  studies,  with  special  emphasis  on 
industrial  and  military  exposures.  This  re- 


search initiative  should  recognize  ihe  impor- 
tance of  cooperative  international  efforts,  par- 
ticularly through  mechanisms  of  the  World 
Health  Organization  and  related  bodies,  in- 
cluding the  International  Telecommunications 
Union  and  the  International  Union  of  Radio 
Sciences  (URSI),  Tt  is  pertinent  that  the  Ger- 
man Government  has  recently  developed  a  na- 
tional program  of  fundamental  bioelectromag- 
neiic  research  through  its  prestigious  Max 
Planck  organization,  with  a  strong  focus  on 
athermal  millimeter  wave  interactions  and  ac- 
ceptance of  the  physical  principles  enunciated 
in  this  testimony  as  a  point  of  departure. 

A  Summary  by  Wayne 

/  hope  Ross  won*!  be  irritated  that  Vve  edit- 
ed out  two  full  pages  of  references. 

In  case  the  language  of  Ross*  testimony  be- 
fore the  Senate  was  too  obscure  for  you,  what 
he  said  was  thai  yes,  police  radar  guns  can 
cause  cancen  And  yes,  ceifular  telephones  can 
cause  cancen  as  can  ham  rigs,  if  you  *re  not 
carefuL  This  is  the  same  stuffl*ve  been  telling 
you  and  has  been  resisted  by  some  of  our  more 
obi  use  brethren. 

It  does  appear  that  a  2m  HT  probably  won 't 
cause  much  harm  .  .  ,  unless  you're  running 
PL  tones.  Those  are  the  real  mischief  makers. 

The  only  standards  we  have  have  to  do  with 
power  levels  that  cook  our  flesh.  Research  has 
now  shown  that  power  levels  a  million  times 
weaker  can  harm  us. 


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38  73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  May,  1 994 


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CIRCLE  147  OM  READER  SERVICE  CARD 


73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  May,  1 994  39 


73  Review 


Number  8  on  your  F«edbaclc  card 


by  Michael  Jay  Geier  KBIUM 


The  ICOM  IC-2iA 

Micro  HT 


ICOM  America,  Inc. 

2360  116th  Ave  N.E. 

Bdllevue  WA  980Q4 

Telephone:  (206)  450-6088 

Price  Class:  $380. 


Meet  the  ever-shrinking  HT, 


Whafs  that?  You  say  you  want  a  walkle 
small  enough  to  drop  into  your  pocket 
or  purse  without  so  much  as  a  bulge?  To- 
day's waJkies  just  aren't  small  enough  to  take 
with  you  wherever  you  go?  Well,  check  out 
ICOM's  new  IC*2iA,  There*s  a  whole  new 
generation  of  ultra-small  HTs  comfng  around, 
and  ICOM  has  led  the  pack  with  this  miniatiir- 
ized  model.  This  tiny  radio  sports  the  emerg- 
ing new  style  of  slide-in  battery  which  fits  into 
the  bottom  of  the  case,  keeping  the  size  of 
the  fig  to  a  minimum.  Where's  the  radio?  Tve 
seen  microphones  bigger  than  this  thing.  At 
only  2.2r  x  3.6"  x  1.2',  this  is  as  small  as  it 
gets!  And  even  with  the  battery  pack  in- 
stalled, the  whofe  shebang  weighs  only  a  little 
over  nine  ounces.  With  rigs  this  size,  there's 
just  no  excuse  for  leaving  them  home. 


This  radio  repre- 
sents a  new  ap- 
proach to  HT  opera- 
tion. Rather  than  the 
usual  array  of  but- 
tons, this  one  has 
only  seven  o!  them  to 
operate  all  the  ad* 
vanced     functions 

we've  come  to  ex-  

peel     in     today  *s 

watkies.  Plus,  of  course,  the  squelch,  volume 
and  rotary  dial  knobs  are  on  top,  just  as  with 
any  HT  That's  iti  No  DTMF  keypad.  My  first 
reaction  was,  ""Oh,  no  autopatch  calls  with  this 
tNng."  1  was  wrong — you  can  program  in  up  to 
16  autodial  memories  and  send  them  whenev- 
er you  like.  So  how  do  you  control  all  thai  stuff 
with  only  seven  buttons?  ICOM  has  devel- 
oped what  they  refer  to  as  "artificial  Intelfi- 
gence"  modes.  Essentially,  they're  menus 
which  le!  you  set  up  all  the  parameters.  The  Al 
twist  refers  to  your  ability  to  fock  yourself  out 
of  what  you  don't  feet  ready  to  use.  In  fact, 
there's  one  mo<le  In  which  the  various  fea- 
tures begin  to  appear  gradually  as  you  accu- 
mulate hours  using  the  radio.  As  a  seasoned 
ham,  [fs  hard  for  me  to  judge  the  usefulness 
of  such  an  approach,  but,  to  a  newcomer,  it 
might  be  handy  in  avoiding  contusion  while 
learning  graduaJly. 

For  such  a  tiny  box,  this  radio  does  a  lot.  It 
transmits  from  140- ISO  MHz,  and  The  wide- 


bar>d  receiver  covers  130-174  MHz,  taking  in 
a  fair  amount  of  the  public  service  band  ac- 
tion. CTCSS  encode/decode  and  DTMF  pag* 
ing  functions  are  built  in.  In  the  easy  mode, 
you  get  only  10  memories,  but  there  actually 
are  100  of  them,  and  they  appear  when  you 
switch  to  the  full-featured  setting.  The  trans- 
mitter puts  out  1  watt  with  the  supplied  battery. 
(At  13.8  volts,  you  get  5  watts  out.)  A  watt  is 
plenty  for  local  repeater  use,  and  the  lower 
power  output  greatly  helps  consen/e  the  bat- 
tery,  but  ifs  less  than  most  HTs  put  out.  No 
current  rating  is  printed  on  the  battery  pack, 
but  in  a  separate  list  of  available  options  I  dis- 
covered that  the  7.2  volt  battery  is  rated  at 
400  mAh,  Thafs  about  two*thlrds  the  current 
capacity  of  most  HT  packs  but,  then,  this  radio 
is  only  about  one*haif  to  two-thirds  the  size  of 
^^^^^^^.^^^^^^^    the  average  HTI 

Considering  the 
size  of  the  pack- 
age. 400  mAh  is 
not  at  all  bad  If  it's 
not  enough  for 
you,  though,  you 
can  buy  bigger 
packs  which  give 
you  longer  operat- 
ing time  or  higher 

RF  output  power. 

You  also  can  get  a 
holder  for  €  AA  cells,  so  you  can  be  sure  of 
having  power  at  all  times.  Of  course,  any  of 
these  options  will  make  the  radio  a  bit  longer, 
but  It  still  will  tte  pretty  darned  small. 

The  LCD  is  quite  large  and  the  frequency 
is  easy  to  read.  Some  of  the  icons  are  fairiy 
small,  but  the  most  important  stuff,  like  the 
memory  channel  number,  stands  out  welL 
The  buttons  themselves  are  made  of  rubber- 
ized material,  and  they  feel  good,  with  distinct 
tactile  feedback  when  pressed.  Above  the 
PTT  is  the  function  button,  which  lets  you  use 
the  other  buttons  for  multiple  operations. 
There's  a  two-color  LED  which  turns  green 
when  the  squelch  is  open  and  red  when 
you're  transmitting.  On  the  right  side  is  a  aib- 
ber  cover,  under  which  are  the  mike,  ear- 
phone and  external  power  input  jacks.  Over- 
all, the  rig  seems  especially  weatherproof, 
except  for  where  the  battery  enters. 

The  coaxial  DC  power  input  jack  lets  you 
run  the  rig  on  anything  from  6  to  16  VDC, 


"There's  a  whole  new 

generation  of  ultra-smalt 

HTs  coming  around, 

and  ICOM  has  led  the 

pack  with  this 
miniaturized  model. " 


40  73  Amateur  Radio  Today  May.  1994 


%^  I  BULLETIN  I 

182  North  Maple 

I.  Box  73 


Watertown,SD  57201 

{Stme  of  Mount  Rushmorel 


SALES  ORDERS 

1  -800-927-4261 

SERVICE  (605)  886-7314 

FAX  (605)  886-3444 

FAX  PRODUCT  iNFO 

(605)886-6914 


HOURS:  MON,  -  FRL  9-5  p.m.; 

SAT*   &-1  p.m, 
CLOSED  SUMDAYS/HOLiDAYS 


.^^J-^>J^<!- 


^ir5!:^^^H&^ 


Cooking  for  a  rare  bird?  Gftll 
alNHft  our  us€€i  equipm^tft^All 
fuilH  re-conelitioned! 


INC 


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Proud  to  be  "AMERICA'S  MOST  REUABLE  AMATEUR  RADIO  DEALER" 

Serving  Amateur  Radio  Operalors  Since  1937 

Now-  tUai  Bfi/U4iJf  iiol  ^inalLf^  a^t^tioed  ke/iB  in  SouiU 

ipBoioU  OH  fktd}^  and  ^iei  S<^mp^^ 

dkak  (^4iakhf  &  e^^tomiM^  mik  Urn  p^ioUeml  Uicd  ooh  oooM  4judk 
^mi^ham^    i^hm aU CiiB,  ^om ^uU tu^  WMfiM^fl SA% 

and  urn  takB  f^ieaifinidB  m  dom^  iUsr  pL  RIGHT/^   ^cw«  oi^ 
*!fiM4^  (ht^kSBf^oB  am  idjeU  4dJo^^  St^^ot 

73as^liadmaJfafif^aHdp^iQipe^iQi4i,S^ 


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HF  ALL  MODE  f  FtANSCEIVERS 

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CALL  1-800-927-4261 


CALL  1-800-927-4261 


which  means  you  can  use  ft  on  car  power 
without  a  separate  regulator  But  don't  ttiink 
you're  going  to  go  down  to  Radio  Shack  and 
make  up  your  own  power  cable,  because 
(COM  has  used  a  modified  version  of  the 
coaxial  jack  IVe  never  seen  before.  As  far  as 
1  can  tell,  only  their  cord  will  fit.  Also,  unless 
you  buy  the  quick^harger,  you  must  charge 
the  battery  through  this  jack;  there's  no  jack 
on  the  battery  pack  itself.  Thts  involves  some 
inconvenience,  as  you  can't  use  the  rig  while 
you're  charging  ^b  battery,  but  it  also  has  a 
point:  The  radio  maintains  the  memories  via 
an  internal,  rechargeable  battery^  which  also 
gets  charged  when  you  charge  the  main  bat- 
tery. By  the  way.  the  backup  battery  will  keep 
your  data  for  about  two  months  with  no  power 
applied,  so  it  shouldn't  be  a  problem  un/ess 
you  hardly  ever  use  the  rig. 

The  rubber  duck  antenna  is  one  of  the 
nicest  IVe  ever  seen.  Ifs  not  much  longer 
than  the  radio  itself,  which  is  a  welcome 
change  from  some  of  the  small  rigs  which 
have  huge  antennas.  Also,  this  one's  both 
thin  and  extremely  flexible  above  the  bot- 
tom inch  and  a  half  or  so.  A  cool  quacker. 
Also  included  are  a  hand  strap,  belt  hook 
and,  of  course,  a  waJf  cube  charger. 

Getting  Started 

The  IC-2IA  jams  virluaify  all  the  goodies, 
such  as  CTCSS.  DTMF  squelch  and  such,  in* 
to  this  little  box.  As  initially  configured,  you're 
locked  out  of  most  of  the  good  stuff.  At  first, 
all  you  get  are  1 0  memories  and  one  VFO 
frequency.  Nothing  else — not  even  repeater 
offsets!  This  is  because  the  radio's  default 
state  is  something  called  "easy  mode."  De* 
signed  for  rank  beginners,  easy  mode  just 
gtves  you  the  bare  minimum  for  simplex  oper* 
ation.  But»  recognizing  that  nearly  all  VHP 
ham  communications  in  the  U.S.  are  via  re- 
peaters, ICOM  explains,  toward  the  end  of 
the  short  manual*  how  to  get  into  the  full-fea> 
tured  mode  long  enough  to  pick  an  offset 
They  also  tell  you  how  to  set  a  CTCSS  tone 
frequency.  Other  than  that,  you  are  referred 
to  a  separate  set  of  Instructions  cafled  the 
Tech  Talk."  I  found  no  such  Tech  Talk  with 
the  review  rig,  so  I  called  ICOM.  Apparently, 
some  earfy  units  were  shipped  without  It.  re- 
qumng  you  to  get  it  through  your  dealer.  They 
assured  me,  though,  that  current  units  all 
have  the  Tech  Talk  included. 

The  Tech  Talk  manuals  are  simple,  well- 
written  and  illustrated  Instructions  which  show 
you  how  to  use  the  various  features  available 
in  the  fulUfunction  mode.  Now  you  can  get  to 
the  100  memories,  set  scan  limits,  scan  type, 
power*on  and  power-off  timers  (the  radio  has 
a  built-in  clock),  program  phone  numbers  and 
autopatch  codes  (which  include  the  A,  B,  C 
and  D  codes)  into  the  autodialer,  set  up  frie 
DTMF  code  squelch  options,  change  the  bat- 
tery saver  interval,  skip  and  hide  memories, 
you  name  it.  There  are  even  settings  for  LCD 
contrast  and  turning  off  the  green  "receive" 
LED  to  save  power. 

The  Menu  Interface 

Cramming  all  this  stuff  onto  seven  buttons 


was  quite  an  achievement!  The  use  of  menus 
is  a  great  help,  and  I  suspect  we'll  see  more 
walktes  with  this  type  of  control  Basically^ 
you  hold  the  "S"  button  while  turning  the  ro- 
tary dial  knob  and  the  radio  steps  through  all 
the  functions  which  are  accessible  with  the 
menus.  The  sequences  aren't  hard  to  do.  but 
keep  the  Tech  Talk  sheets  handy  until  you 
memorize  the  most  common  sequences. 
Luckily,  once  you  get  everything  into  memory, 
it's  a  piece  of  cake  to  go  to  a  memory  Chan- 
nei  and  start  talking. 

The  Modes 

There  are  four  modes; 

1)  Easy:  You  get  10  memories  and  a  VFO 
frequency.  Thaf s  it.  But.  If  youVe  already  set 
repeater  offsets  into  those  memories  or  the 
VFO  from  one  of  the  advanced  modes,  they 
still  work. 


££ 


The  lC'2iA  Jams  virtually 
all  the  goodies,  such  as 

CTCSS,  DTMF  squelch 

and  such,  Into  this 

little  box. '' 

2)  "Growng-type"  Al:  At  first,  very  few  fea- 
tures appear.  As  you  build  up  hours  of  use 
with  the  rig  and  perform  the  various  opera- 
tions you  are  given,  you  get  more  features. 

3)  "Select-type"  Al:  You  get  to  pick  which 
features  you  want  to  appear  and  which  you 
don't.  The  functions  are  ordered  into  seven 
groups,  each  starling  with  a  letter  In  the  word 
"special,"  The  display  shows  the  letters  of  the 
selected  groups.  This  could  be  handy  if,  for 
example,  you  never  use  DTMF  squelch  and 
would  like  its  menus  to  go  away,  uncluttering 
the  operation  of  the  rig  somewhaL 

4)  *All-type"  Al;  This  is  the  full-function 
mode,  and  most  users  will  want  to  leave  it 
this  way. 

On  the  Air 

Uke  most  ICOM  receivers,  this  one  Is  quite 
sensitive,  even  well  outside  the  ham  band. 
Selectivity  is  fairly  good;  you  can  teN  when 
youVe  5  kHz  off.  (Some  rigs  are  so  wide  you 
can't  tell  no  matter  how  hard  you  try.)  The 
case  doesm  get  very  warm  when  transmit- 
ting with  the  7*2  volt  battery  but,  then,  it 
shouldn't  with  a  1  watt  transmitter,  StilL  trans- 
mit efficiency  must  be  fairly  decent  or  you'd 
feel  it  after  a  minute  or  so  of  key-down  time. 

The  receive  audio  is  a  little  tinny^  but  it's 
quite  loud  for  such  a  small  rig,  in  fact,  ifs  sig- 
nificantly louder  than  my  normal-sized  HT, 
which  is  great  for  using  the  rig  In  the  car.  You 
might  actually  be  able  to  hear  this  one  at 
highway  speeds. 

The  transmit  audio  is  a  dffferent  story.  Ev- 
ery contact  I  made  began  with  the  other  oper- 
ator's saying  something  like,  ''Gee,  your  au- 
dio is  pretty  muffled.  I  can  understand  you, 
tHit  ft  ain't  great*  I  listened  to  it  through  my 
other  walkie,  and  they  weren't  kidding.  A  call 


to  ICOM  confirmed  that  this  model  tends  to 
be  a  bit  bassy.  Looking  at  the  front  panel.  I 
could  find  no  microphone  hole!  It  turns  out 
they  use  a  channel  in  the  plastic  which  picks 
up  sound  through  the  speaker  holes  and 
sends  it  to  the  mike.  It  seems  to  lose  most  of 
Itie  higher  frequencies. 

Al  ICOM's  suggestion,  I  even  opened  my 
rig  to  make  sure  the  channel  wasn't  blocked 
by  a  stray  bit  of  glue,  but  it  was  clear.  They 
told  me  that  some  owners  have  drilled  a  little 
hole  over  the  mike,  giving  it  direct  sonic  ac- 
cess and  dramatically  improving  the  audio.  If 
you  decide  to  do  this,  I  suggest  you  open  the 
rig  and  remove  the  mike  first,  so  you  don*t 
drill  into  it.  You  may  not  find  it  necessary, 
though.  Even  if  you  do  sound  a  bit  muffled, 
you  certainly  can  be  understood. 

What  1  Uked 

This  thing  is  really  small.  With  its  nice, 
flexible  antenna,  it's  easy  to  take  it  any- 
where»  even  when  you  might  leave  a  big- 
ger radio  home.  Once  all  your  data  is  pro- 
grammed in,  selecting  memories  and  using 
them  is  easy  Setting  a  frequency  into  the 
VFO  is  fairly  quick,  too,  despite  the  lack  of 
direct  keypad  entry.  The  receive  audio  is 
nice  and  loud.  Though  not  rich-sounding, 
ifs  very  intelligible.  Even  with  no  keypad, 
you  can  send  autopatch  numbers. 

What  I  Didn^t  Like 

With  something  this  new  and  different,  it's 
reasonable  to  expect  some  bugs  and  prob- 
lems. Here's  what  I  found: 

Despite  frie  menu  system,  this  radio  rs  a  bit 
harder  to  program  than  some  other  HTs.  Con- 
troiling  all  those  features  with  so  few  buttons 
was  bound  to  make  things  messy.  Without 
the  Targe  Tech  Talk  sheets  by  your  side,  you 
are  bound  to  forget  how  to  operate  the  more 
advanced  functions.  A  wallet-sized  cheat 
sheet  is  provided,  but  it  covers  only  a  few 
easy-mode  functions.  A  complete  one  for  the 
ail-type  Al  mode  would  be  vej^  welcome. 

Unlike  on  most  HTs,  there  is  no  automatic 
repeater  of^et  function.  If  you  set  a  frequen- 
cy into  the  VFO  which  requires  a  different  off- 
set direction  than  the  previous  one^  you*ll 
have  to  go  to  DUP  mode  to  change  the  offset 
from  <f  to  -  or  vice  versa,  or  even  to  select 
simplex. 

Finally,  you  can't  use  the  radio  while  the 
battery  is  charging,  even  if  you  have  another 
battery  pack  or  an  AA  cell  holder,  because 
the  standard  charger  connects  through  the 
rig.  It  isn't  clear  from  the  illustrations  whether 
you  can  put  the  supplied  battery  into  the 
quick-charger  without  the  radio;  the  drawing 
shows  it  going  in  while  attached.  With  the  big- 
ger batteries,  it  appears  you  can,  though. 

Conclusion 

The  tC*2iA  represents  a  bold  move  by 
ICOM  to  create  a  new  generation  of  micro 
HTs.  If  you  want  a  really  small  HT  with  all 
the  features  currently  dreamed  up,  the  lC'2iA 
just  might  fit  your  needs.  You  sure  won't 
leave  it  home  because  ifs  too  big  to  carry 
aroundl 


42  73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  May,  1 994 


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CIRCLE  184  ON  HEADER  SERVICE  CARD 


73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  May.  1 994  43 


73  Review 


Number  10  on  your  Feedback  card 


by  Arnie  Johnson  NIBAC 


The  ICOM  IC-737  HF 

All-Band  Transceiver 

A  first-class  rig,  with  all  the  right  features. 


ICOM  America,  Inc. 

2380  116th  Ave.  N.E. 

Bellevue  WA  98004 

Tetephone:  (206)  450-6088 

Price  Class:  $1 ,800 


How  many  of  you  have  ever  wanted  to  up- 
grade your  Hf  equipment  but  became 
confused  by  all  of  the  features  different  man- 
ufacturers offer?  Size  and  stiape?  Bells  and 
whistles?  Wilt  it  do  this  or  that?  Can  I  use  it 
mobile?  How  forgiving  is  it  to  operate  at  a 
high  SWR  into  the  wet  noodle  antenna  hang- 
ing out  the  window?  And  the  final,  ever-pre- 
sent question:  How  much? 

Of  course,  there  are  many  more  questions 
we  tend  to  ask  when  we  are  mortgaging  the 
wife  and  kids  to  purchase  that  new  HF  rig 
and  one  of  the  biggest  is:  Is  it  worth  it?  Let's 
find  out. 

Any  radio  !  get  my  hands  makes  me  to 
wonder  at>out  many  things:  the  ability  to  use 
the  radio  as  my  base  rig  or  take  it  mobile: 
whether  or  not  there's  a  built-in  antenna 
tuner:  the  ability  to  operate  SSB,  CW.  AM, 
FW.  and  RTTY/AMTOR/packet;  ease  of  oper- 
ation: number  of  memories;  etc. 

Thanks  to  being  in  the  right  place  at  the 
right  time  (in  the  73  office  when  a  big  box 
from  ICOM  came  in  addressed  to  Associate 
Publisher  David  Cassidy  N1GPH).  I  got 
a  chance  to  use  and  review  one  of  ICOM's 
latest  and  greatest  pieces  of  HF  equipment, 
the  iC-737.  1  almost  asked  to  borrow  David's 
Outbacker  mobile  antenna  to  use  it  on 
the  way  home,  but  figured  I  might  be  press- 
ing my  luck  a  bit  too  much  (a  bird  in  the 
hand  is  worth  two  in  the  bush,  etc.).  so  I 


had  to  wail  until  I  got  home. 

My  wife  gave  me  that  ""not  another  toy" 
look  as  1  brought  the  box  into  the  house,  but 
seemed  a  bit  happier  when  I  told  her  that  I 
hadn't  bought  it  but  was  reviewing  it  for  73. 

First  Impressions 

As  I  opened  the  box,  I  was  pleased  to  see 
that  ICOM  packed  the  equipment  as  well  as 
they  did  many  years  ago  when  1  bought  my 
last  new  radio.  Enclosed  was  the  radio  (with 
carrying  handle  on  the  srde,  just  like  my  IC- 
701),  and  inside  another  smaller  box  were 
the  hand  microphone,  stereo  plug  (for  GW 
operation),  DC  power  cable,  and  two  fuses 
{20 A  for  the  power  cable  and  4 A  for  intemal 
drcuitiy  in  the  PA),  and  *^es.  Virginia.  ICOM 
still  fuses  both  the  positive  and  negative  pow- 
er leads." 

One  of  the  first  things  1  do  when  J  see  a 
new  radio  is  look  at  the  labels  on  the  front 
panel  to  see  if  I  can  figure  them  out  without 
having  to  open  the  instruction  manual  {heav- 
en forbid).  Of  the  48  buttons  and  11  knobs,  I 
only  had  questions  on  the  operation  of  five 
buttons.  I  don't  think  that's  too  bad  for  a  new 
state-of-the-art  radio. 

It  didn1  appear  that  those  unknown  buttons 
should  stop  me  from  firing  up  the  tC-737,  so  I 
connected  the  hand  mike,  hooked  the  DC 
power  cord  to  my  20A  Astron,  connected  the 
DC  cable  to  the  back  of  the  rig.  and  took  my 


triband  beam  antenna  coax  from  its  switch 
box  and  started  to  screw  it  on  the  back  of  the 
rig.  That's  where  I  ran  into  a  little  problem: 
The  IC-737  has  two  coax  connectors  on  the 
back.  What's  up.  Doc?  Well,  the  ANT  2  re- 
ceptacle had  a  plastic  cover  on  it*  so  t  hooked 
my  beam  up  to  ANT  1.  That  answered  a 
question  on  one  of  unknown  buttons  on  the 
front  panel,  a  choice  of  Antenna  1  or  2,  More 
on  this  later. 

Power  switch  ON.  No  smoke,  just  normal 
sounds  out  of  the  speaker  on  the  top  of  the 
radio.  The  frequency  tuning  knob  in  the  front 
center  had  a  nice  free  feel  to  it  as  1  moved 
through  the  band.  Volume  control  offered  a 
nice  range  of  audio  and  the  outer  knob 
squelch  worked  fine.  Many  operators  have 
large  fingers,  but  I  think  the  size  of  the  knobs 
will  alk)w  everyone  to  use  them  easily.  The 
only  two  that  might  be  a  bit  small  are  the  RF 
PWR  and  COMP  LEVEL,  which  don't  get 
changed  too  much  anyway — just  set  'em  and 
forget  'em  at  max  smoke  and  mid-poini. 

Testing 

Because  I  had  moved  out  of  my  beam  an- 
tenna's 2:1  area  I  figured  1  would  test  the  in- 
ternal antenna  tuner's  ability  to  bring  my  an- 
tenna back  into  range,  i  selected  TUNER  and 
was  happy  to  see  a  small  light  in  the  button 
come  on  to  show  selection.  I  then  touched 

Continued  on  page  46 


44  73  Amateur  Radio  Today  *  May,  1 994 


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CIRCLE  149  ON  READER  SERVICE  CARD 


The  ICOM  IC-737 

Continued  from  pag&  44 

the  TUNE  button,  noticed  needle  movement 
on  the  combination  S/RF  meter,  and  watched 
the  indications  show  tuning.  As  advertised  (I 
peeked  in  the  book  for  the  times)^  in  less  than 
seven  seconds,  probably  more  fike  three  sec- 
onds,  it  was  tuned  to  1:1.  That's  neat!  I  love 
ft!  Certainly  faster  than  my  trusty  faithful  old 
companion  three-knob  Dentron  Super  Tuner. 

I  decided  to  see  what  the  rest  of  the  bands 
wouJd  do.  so  I  took  a  stab  at  UP  and  DOWN 
buttons  to  change  bands.  That  worked  also, 
but  at  1  MHz  steps,  I  also  heard  sorne 
whirring  and  figured  that  the  automatic  anten- 
na tuner  was  making  corrections  on  the  fly,  at 
least  to  get  close.  This  isn't  so  bad.  I  thought. 

Next  was  the  use  of  the  number  buttons  on 
the  pad,  listed  as  1 .8  (1 ),  3.5  (2).  7  (3),  10  (4), 
14  {5),  18  (6).  21  (7),  24-5  (8),  28  (9),  and  29 
{0}.  Each  button  pushed  took  me  to  a  fre- 
quency in  that  band  and  the  proper  mode. 
This  radio  is  a  piece  of  cake  to  operatel 

The  next  button  1  tried  was  the  FREQ-INR 
I  typed  in  the  desired  frequency  on  the  nun> 
ber  pad,  pressed  ENT,  and  there  1  was.  This 
is  too  easy! 

Since  neither  my  IC-701  nor  Atlas  21  OX 
have  the  WABC  bands,  I  decided  to  hook  up 
my  160m  dipole  to  the  ANT  2  connector  and 
sea  what  was  happening.  When  I  tried  to  se- 
lect Antenna  2  on  the  front  panel,  nothing 


happened.  Finally,  I  had  run  into  something 
that  forced  me  to  open  the  Instniction  Manu- 
af.  After  looking  at  all  the  pages  about  anten* 
nas  listed  in  the  index  and  not  finding  what  to 
do,  i  started  looking  page-by-page.  I  finally 
found  something  called  "set  mode  operation" 
that  allowed  changes  in  programming  to  be 
made  in  13  different  items,  and  one  of  those 
was  activating  the  antenna  switch.  It  was  very 
simple,  even  for  me.  You  can  choose  OFF 
(switch  not  activated),  ON  (switch  activated 
for  manual  use),  and  AUT  (switch  activated 
and  the  band  memory  memorizes  the  select- 
ed antenna).  This  is  too  easy;  my  kind  of  ra- 
dio! Of  course.  I  selected  AUTo, 

As  expected,  once  Antenna  2  was  select- 
ed, the  tuning  worked  great  on  all  bands  us- 
ing my  160m  dipole.  This  took  a  iittie  longer 
on  10m  (my  Dentron  can't  get  It  below  1.6:1). 
but  did  ffne. 

Most  of  the  other  buttons  were  self-ex- 
planatory: POWER,  TRANS,  BK-IN,  FULL, 
PREAMP,  ATT,  AGC,  NB.  COMP  BIT,  TX. 
NOTCH,  SSB,  CW/N.  AM.  FMfTONE,  LOCK, 
A/B,  A=B,  SPLIT.  Many  of  these  buttons  have 
littJe  lights  in  them  to  show  selection.  The 
knobs  were  also  self-explanatory:  AF,  SQL* 
MIC,  KEY  SPEED.  RF  PWR.  COMP  LEVEL, 
RIT/rx,  NOTCH,  M-CH,  PBT 

After  attempting  to  memorize  some  fre- 
quencies into  memories,  I  decided  discretion 
was  the  better  part  of  valor  (I  was  beginning 
to  took  dumb,  even  to  myself),  so  I  looked  in 


the  very  informative  Instruction  Manual  agairii 
and  found  that  it's  not  really  that  hard  (maybe 
Vm  not  so  dumb  after  all).  I  just  wasn1  push- 
ing the  MW  (Memory  Write)  long  enough 
(orie  second).  It*s  actually  quite  simple:  1 .  Set 
the  desired  frequency  and  operating  mode  in 
the  VFO  mode;  2.  Rotate  M-CH  (Memory 
Channel)  to  select  the  desired  memory  chan- 
nel to  be  programmed;  3.  Push  and  hold  MW 
for  one  second  to  program  the  displayed  fre- 
quency and  operating  mode  into  the  memory 
channel.  To  check  the  programmed  contents, 
push  VFO/MEMO  to  select  the  memory 
mode. 

Channels  1-89  are  regular  memory  chan- 
nels with  one  frequency  and  one  mode  In 
each  channel;  channels  90^99  are  split  mem- 
ory channels  which  allow  independent  trans- 
mit and  receive  frequencies  and  operating 
modes  In  each  channel  for  split  frequency  op- 
eration (FM  repeaters  on  10m);  and  channels 
PI  and  P2  are  scan  edge  memory  channels 
which  affow  one  frequency  and  one  mode  in 
each  memory  channel  as  scan  edges  for  pro- 
grammed scan. 

The  IG-737  aJso  allows  for  three  different 
matfiods  of  frequency  scanning:  Programmed 
Scan  repeatedly  scans  between  two  scan 
edge  frequencies  {PI  and  P2);  Memory  Scan 
repeatedly  scans  ALL  programmed  memory 
channels;  and  Selected  Memory  Scan 
repeatedly  scans  all  SELECTED  memory 
channels. 


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46  73  Amateur  Radio  Today  *  May.  1 994 


■{  AN&WIV  li  C-AP  rtCHNOLOGV  *TME  AH-t\-4itf  IV  G4f  tgcHT*QLGoy 


An  Airtemi  with  No  Earth  Loss? 


FC$>  ■  ■  ttlV 


PPtETUNED 


H-IFVATID 


It  you're  looking  for  an  anten- 
na thai  can  out  peftonn  the 
allws  and  give  you  the  edge, 
yOu'fB  looking  for  a  GAP.  The 
Chal^vnger  DX-VJII  is  1ti8 
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answers  your  demands  tor 
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GAP  de^ivets  rrom  an  eimsM 
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Updates 


Number  1 1  on  your  Feedback  card 


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Using  the  World  s  Most  Acctirate  Frequency  Standard 

With  regard  to  the  above  mentioned  series  which 
appeared  in  the  Jartuary*  Febmary,  and  March  1994 
issues,  pJease  rwle  the  lolJowing: 

1 .  On  ail  cirojil  boards,  the  transistor  outtines  inked 
on  top  of  the  boards  for  NPN  transistors  are  not  tor 
the  2N2222  types.  The  author  suggests  using  either 
the  2N3904  or  2N4123  types.  The  2N2^2s  wiJI  work 
if  you  bend  the  base  lead  back  between  the  other 
leads  so  Ihey  are  rnourted  correctly. 

2.  For  the  1  MHz  osciiJator  (Part  3),  it  you  have 
trouble  getting  enough  output,  add  a  56k  resistor  from 


the  base  of  08  to  ^  volts.  If  the  output  is  still  inade- 
quate, reduce  the  AGC  by  adding  a  100k  resistor 
across  C  IT. 

Getting  Started  With  Satellite  fmagery 

In  connection  with  the  above  mentioned  article 
{March  1994.  page  14),  we  listed  a  number  of 
vendor  addresses,  Among  these  was  the  (former)  ad- 
dress for  Software  Systems  Consuiting,  Please  con- 
tact SSC  at  their  current  address:  Software 
Systems  Consulting,  615  S.  El  Camino  Real  San 
Clemenle,  CA  92672, 


Maat  help 


Number  12  on  your  Feedback  card 


We  are  hap0y  to  pnnnde  Ham  Heip  IKstiig?  frse  on  a  sp&ce  ave^abte  basis.  To  make  ouf  job  easier  and  to  ensvte  ihat  your  fisiwig 
£S  correct,  ptease  fype  or  pnnt  your  wquest  dearty.  dotjbia  spaced.  £^  a  Mf  {3  h2~  x  11')  sFieef  of  paper  You  may  also  vpioad  a 
ftstng  as  E-matf  to  Sysop  to  the  73  88SJSgieciaJ  Esf&m  iSes&age  Aiea  *  1 7  (2400  baud.  3  data  M&.  no  panfy.  i  siap  M  (603^ 
924-B343h  Pi&^se  ffidCBte  d  nm  for  p«j6fetfbrt.  Use  4pper^  and  kmer-case  letters  tvtiere  appwpriate.  Also,  print  numbers  cate- 
ffjfty — a  f.  for  ej&mpie,  can  be  mtSfBad  as  the  ieiier$  Lori  or  even  the  niFmber  7.  SpedTtsaMy  menttcn  that  your  messagB  is  lof 
the  Ham  Heip  Cokjmo,  Pfease  rememb&r  to  adtriovvi&dg^  responses  to  your  requ^tS-  Tharik  yov  forypor  cooperattpa. 


WANTED;  Donations,  suggestions,  new  members. 
ATOM,  Amateur  Television  of  Manchester  is  a  new 
group  organizing  to  help  educate,  experiment,  and  in- 
crease local  activity  on  ATV  in  New  Hampshire  and 
New  England.  ATOM,  175  Cfosbie  SU  Manchester 
NHQ3104. 

WANTED:  Manual  (or  copy}  for  ICOM  IC*02AT  2 
meter,  I  also  need  the  operator's  instruction  manual 
(or  copy)  for  YAESU  FV  102DM  VFO.  and  REALIS- 
TJC  Comp-100P  programmabte  memoiy  scanning  re- 
ceiver I  wiil  pay  for  the  manuai  or  copying  fees  Vin- 
csnf  Lopez  NF4MZ.  60  Moore  St.  Apt  5J,  Brookiyn 
NY  11206. 


I  would  like  to  get  in  touch  with  anyone  who  knows 
how  to  modify  the  UNIDEN  HR2600  for  QRP  opera- 
tion, Jm  N9KX3.  5748  N,  Campbelt  43,  Chicago  it 
60659. 


I  have  liberated  an  HW-5400  transceiver  from  the 
clutches  of  a  CBV  who  had  "modified"  the  10  meter 
band.  I  need  the  HEATH  construction  manual  with 
schematics  on  this  unit  in  order  to  return  it  to  Amateur 
status.  OriginaL  zerox.  etc.,  ok.  I  will  pay  your  costs, 
or  buy  il  you  want  to  sell  John  A,  Callahan  KR5K, 
340  E  GaywOOd.  Houston  TX  77079.  Tet,  {773}  46 f- 
6704. 


Hi  ^^IrWEt  ri  O AP  tECHHOlOQ*  »  the  an4«I»  i&  Cap  TIChhOIOCt 


QSO  Tiitoi 

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73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  May.  1 994  47 


Actual  Use 

No  review  ts  worth  its  salt  if  nothing  is 
said  about  the  ability  of  the  transmitter  and 
receiver  to  do  their  parts.  I  do  not  have  any 
test  equipment,  so  I  will  leave  it  up  to  ICOM 
to  be  honest  in  its  representation  as  shown 
in  the  Specifications  sidebar  The  proof  is  in 
the  pudding,  though,  and  the  IC-737  talks 
with  IQOM's  usual  fine  audio  quality,  even 
under  compression,  and  listens  just  fine.  No 
surprises  there.  What  I  could  hear,  I  could 
usually  wofk,  except  in  the  pileups  with  the 
"Big  Guns,'*  The  NOTCH  and  PBT  {Pass 
Band  Tuning)  were  certainly  able  to  do  their 
intended  jobs. 

Connectors 

Another  Important  part  of  any  radio  Is  its 
ability  to  support  external  devices,  such  as 
connecting  to  a  linear  amplifier,  a  TNC  for 
data  communications,  etc.  The  JC-737's 
back  panel  is  composed  of  the  two  antenna 
connectors,  a  ground  bolt  with  a  wing  nut,  a 
connector  tor  an  external  speaker,  an  elec^ 
ironic  keyer  switch  that  turns  the  Internal 
electronic  keyer  ON  and  OFF,  a  CW  semi- 
break-in  delay  control,  a  CW  key  jack,  two 
accessory  sockets  (7-  and  8-pin),  an  ALC  in- 
put jack,  a  send  control  jack  (this  goes  to 
ground  while  transmitting  to  control  external 
equipment,  such  as  a  linear  amplifier),  an 
AH-3  control  socket  (external  antenna 
tuner),  a  DC  power  socket,  and  a  Cl-V  re- 
mote control  jack  (use  with  a  persona!  com- 
puter for  remote  operation  of  transceiver 
functions).  Lots  of  support! 

The  Instruction  Manual 

And  last,  but  certainly  not  least,  the  60- 
page  Instruction  Manual.  I  must  say  thai  it  is 
written  very  well,  in  a  manner  that  makes 
each  page  worth  reading  to  discover  the 
many  other  capabilities  of  the  10-737  not 
mentioned  in  this  review.  Also  included  are 
two  large  separate  folded  sheets  of 
schematic  diagrams.  11  might  still  lake  a 
magnifying  glass  to  check  the  components 
(at  least  with  my  eyes),  but  they  are  all  there 
for  tfiose  who  want  to  know  what  makes  it 
tick  or  just  can't  keep  Ihefr  fingers  off  the  in- 
ternal goodies. 

Optional  Features 

Optional  items  available  for  the  IC-737  in- 
clude CW  narrow  filters,  500  and  250  HzJ-B 
dB  for  both  the  455  kHz  (third  IF)  and  the 
9.0106  MHz  {2nd  IF);  a  UT-30  pro- 
grammable tone  encoder  unit;  a  CR-282 
high-stabJIity  crystal  unit;  and  an  MB-49  mo- 
biie  mounting  bracket;  as  weff  as  all  the  rest 
of  the  optional  items  such  as  power  sup- 
plies, microphones,  etc. 

The  worst  part  of  this  review  was  knowing 
that  David  remembered  who  he  gave  the 
IC-737  to,  and  that  I'd  have  to  give  it  back 
to  him.  If s  difficult  to  give  up  a  quaJity  well- 
built  radio  like  this,  but  if  I  do,  maybe  he  will 
let  me  do  another  radio  review  in  the  future* 

I  only  have  one  more  thtng  to  say  about 
the  ICOM  IC-737:  "Try  (t=you1l  like  it!"  I 
didl 


IC-737  Specifications 


Frequency  Range 


Mode 

Memory  Channels 
Antenna  Impedance 
Usabte  Temperature  Range 

Frequency  Stabttlty 


Power  Supply  Requirement 
Current  drain 

Max  audio  output 
Dimensions 

Weight 

Transmitter 

Output  power 

Spurious  emissions 
Carrier  suppression 
Unwanted  sideband 
Microphone  impedance 

Receiver 
Receive  system 
Sensitivity  {Preamp  ON) 
Less  than  13.0  pV  for 
1 0  dB  S/N 

Less  than  0.1 6  ^V  for  1 0  dB  S/N 

Less  than  2.0  (aV  for  tO  dB  S/N 

Less  than  0.5  |iV  for  1 2  dB  S/N 
Squelch  sensitivity 

Sensitivity 


Receive 
Transmit 


500  kHz-29.995  MHz 
1 .800-1 .99900  MHz 
3.500-4.000  MHz 
7.000-7.300  MHz 
10.100-10.150  MHz 
14.000-14.350  MHz 
18.068-18.168  MHz 
21 .000-21 .450  MHz 
24,890-24.990  MHz 
28.000^29700  MHz 

SSB,  CW,  AM.  FM 

tOI 

50  ohm  nominal 

-lO'^C  +60°C 

+U^F  -i-140'F 

Less  than  ■I-/-200  Hz  from  1  mfn.  to  60  mln.  after  power 

ON,  After  that,  rate  of  stability  change  is  less  than 

+A30  H2Air.  at  ^25  0:  +77^F.  Temperature  fluctuations 

(0*C  to  +50*0;  +32"F  to  +122^F)  less  than  +/-  350  Hz, 

13.8VDC+/-15%<20A) 

Transmit  20A 

Receive  squelched  1 .6A 

2.1A 

330(W)  X  111(H)  X  285{D)  mm 

13.0(W)x4,4(H)x  11.2(D)  in 

8.05  kg;  17.7  lb. 


SSB,CW.FM 

AM 

Less  than  -50  dB 

More  than  40  dB 

More  than  50  dB 

600  ohms 


Triple-conversion  superheterodyne 
0,5-1.8  MHz  AM 


1 0  to  1 00  watts 
10  to  40  watts 


1,8-29.995  MHz         SSB,  CW 


AM 


FM  (28-29,7  MHz) 


SSB 
FM 
SSB.  CW 


Spurious  and  image  rejection  ratio 

Audio  output  power 

load 

RIT/TX  variable  range 

Antenna  Tuner 

Matching  impedance  range: 

Mm,  operating  input  power 
Waiting  time  for  band  changing 
Tuning  time 
Tunrng  accuracy 
Insertion  loss  (after  tuning) 


Less  than  5.6  ^iV  at  threshold 
Less  than  0.3  ^iV  at  threshold 
More  than  2.1  kHz/-6  dB 
Less  than  4.0  kHz/-60  dB 

AM  More  than  6,0  kHz/-6  dB 

Less  than  20.0  kHz/-40  dB 

FM  More  than  12.0  kH2^*6  dB 

Less  than  30.0  kH2/-50  dB 
More  than  70  dB 
More  than  2.6W  with  a  10%  distortion  and  an  8  ohm 

+/-  2.5  kHz  max. 


16.7-150  ohm  unbalanced 

{VSWR  less  than  3:1 ) 

8W 

Less  than  3  seconds 

Less  than  7  seconds 

VSWR  l.5:t  or  less 

Less  than  1  -0  dB 


48  73  Amateur  Radh  Today  May,  1994 


45Sr 

2  Day 
Delivery 

'Up  lo  12  tb&  \n  Contlfieflial  USA 


-800-426-2891 


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•  * 

fj^MK 

'^A 

^^^^^ 

1^ 

1 

i 

3 

).      '1 

^^^K 

^S 

'4W 


O^v 


e  it  at  Dayton  ^ 


J^^ 


i^ 


Radio  City,  Inc. 


T 
▼ 


m^m. 


And  RAore  Page  8 


^ 


^,,  It's  a  GREAT  TIME  for  Giving: 

We're  Proud  to  Support: 
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vsco 


h'  A  P  >  dl '  V 


RVTHER'S  DAY 


I     I     I 


til 


1 1 1  Birthday  1 1 1 


GRADUATION 
Field  Day 


I 


(HiHtR 


TRAVEL 


A 


3 


^Uh^Hi 


FUN 


IPB^* 


.^tefl 


rfl 


Bas^d  on  the  proven 
design  ol  Ihe  L5R130,  this 

440  MHz  mobile  is  jus!  lr\ 
lime  to  show  off  ai  Dayion 

TCC  type  accaptance  mav 
be  pending  at  Itie  tima  Of 
this  putiiication.  The 
tnformation  as  pmsenldd  is 
pr^rimin^fy. 

•  Dfl'lSOT    S3 19.95     ^ 


369 


A  super- 
compact 

hanatietd.  the 

tiny  DJ-SeOT  IS 

fl  powerful, 

fealuro  packed 

twin  band^f. 

Ttiis  Bupef- 

compact  HT  ts 

Ihe  smallHO^I 

you'll  imd.  and 

ibefBilyfrtsin 

the  palfn  of  your 

hand. 

Ergonortiic  design 

combined  with  ex:ce9l6nt 

sensitivity  and 

Unbeii^evable  great 

sound,  sm&  a  new 

siandafd  lof  miniaiure 

HTs.  ^ 


^399 


Authorized  Factory  Warranty  Center 
W^  aH^f  faclory  Authorized  warranty  se^vi-C'e  lor  IcDm.  Konwood  and  Ynoau.  We  s^uvkh  s^meMiSB  nnd  inodeis,  Our  (customers  may  send  any  product  requiiring  WBw'\ce  toun,  artd  we 
will  handle  It  l<rr  lh$^   Thii^  i«  d  Qn$<&lfif]  i^t\ftce  I^Bl  ke-c^pi'ti  cmr  cusli^rriEiit^  t^vmg  mari?  furi  ihan  hf)t^«;l^  m  thii;  hnbby.  ]f  you  rvi^a  ca&tom  catilt  lor  packQl  and  don'l  iliavo  Ume  to 
maUB  n  J^  uEki  cto  ^ncr  yoir  C  A  P  &  M.A^  S  rftod&  dt«  a^  available  al  e^asonotibe  ral'^s  to  aulhanz&d  iiamg  only. 


Not  ResponsibJe  For  Typographicai  ErrOfS. 


County  Boad  I  Mounds  View,  MM  55112 
mro:  (612)  7B64475  •  Natl  Watts:  1^aO(M26-28d1  •  FAX  (612)  7e&€S13 


StOfB  Hours:  M^,  10:00  am  -  8:00  pm,  Sal^  10:00  am  -  5:00  pm 
Ptione  Hours:  M-f,  S;00  am  *  8:00  pm,  SaL.  10:00  am  -  5:00  pm 

153  ON  READER  SERVICE  CARD 


♦ 


Expires 
June  1994 


Prtces  Subject  To  Change  Witiout  l4o&8. 


^^  Oetivery 

'tip  to  12  fk&,  m  Continental  USA 


1 -800-426-2891  • 

Fax  (612)  786-6513 


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Phone  Hours 

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M-F  8  am  -  8  pm 

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CST 


MM 


O 


ICOM 


Explore. 


Buy  Now! 
FCC 


This  advanced 
tfansceivor  features 
□OS,  dual  antenna 
pons  cfyal  VFO  display, 
101  memones,  tnlefnal 
ajttenna  tunef.  b-uitl-in 
Keyer  and  1 05  dS 
^amc  receive  mn^. 
Join  the  OX  scene  with 
Ihe  lalQst  destgn 


More 


\e  World  with  llie  help  of 
Radio  Cify,  Inc- 


1489 


CetvVet 


mfespart  15.121  wiH 
change  availability  of 
these  products, 
I  Effective  April  1d94 


In  a  world  tified  with 
Rignals  and  sounds 
you  need  a 
c&minunicaiion 
system  you  oan  rely 
on.  Now  you  ^m 
hear  communica- 
lions  arourird  the 
gloDe  wiih  a  tJny 
package  That  ftls 
snugly  in  your 
pocket-  Icom's  IC- 
n%.  one  d  the  smallest 
Communicatioris  fBcCfver^ 
ever  produced  Other 
loatur^s  indixte  100 
memories  tiom  100  KHz 
lhrougt>  1300  MHz.  AM, 
FM  and  FM  wide  modes 
and  clock  funclion. 


S489 


k  t      1         P   I  M 


ine  \€-728  is  a  full 
featured  transceiver 
provicfiing  pleasurable 
HF  operatiofi  with 
features  sucti  as 
passt^nd  tuning  and 
ipe^ch  compression. 
Periect  foi  rrKJtsdE 
opGrolion  ioo. 
Supplies  LivnHed. 


899 


Get  ahead  with  dual  band 
superiority  Even  Ihough  rl 
Is  foadi&d  with  many 
attractive  functions  (or 
com  pie  to  dual  band 
capatillity,  it  is  compact 
Like  a  moooHjjand 
tran!SC£fyef ,  ri  f?ts 
anyv#Nif«,  m  any  v«h>de. 
36  mennories,  DTMF 
microphone,  and  3  powor 
levels.  Supplies 
Limited. 


499 


WC-T55 


Seeing  is  belmvingK  so 
enjoy  Ihfj  view.  The  buflt- 
in  videa  dls^play  Is  your 
spectrum  scope^ 
frequency  readout, 
terminal  monitor  and 
cortiroi  scfecn.  Dual 
receive.  150  watt  output. 
99  memones  and  wide 
dynamic  range  add  up  to 
a  perfomnance  leader 


5839 


Here's  9  pounds  ol  tun 

with  a  display  thal's  easy 
to  Bee,  a  front  panel 
that's  easy  Lo  work  wlth^ 
and  pertormance  to 
dpare.  You  get  big  rig 
specs  in  ar>"HF 
Iransceiver  cJesjgned  fof 
motide  and  pofiabi^  use. 
Ffiatures  Indude  a  rKKse 
hidnker,  pre-amp,  1 00 
watts  out.  32  memones 
and  greai  sonsitivity. 


839 


Bring  the  wodd  to  your 
car.  Now  you  can  enjoy 
a  wider  world  ol 
bioadcasling-  VHP  air 
ifKl  marine  bands,  AM. 
FM.  WFM  modes, 
emergency  services  and 
many  more  tn  your 
ve^tde.  Fuity  covei^  all 
ttta  stations  wodti 
hearff^  in  Ihe  500  kHz- 
18  GHz  range. 


679 


The  tC'72S  includes  the 
excitii^g  50  MH£  band  in 

an  HF  all-band/alhmode 
trariacofver.  Features 
include  passband 
tuning,  sipeech 
compressor,  VOX  and 
mote  to  increase  your 
DX  communication. 


M  239* 


The  classic  HF  afl-band 
transceiver  that  you've 
been  iooking  lor  .Jhe 
most  cOittpact  and 
advanced  futl-festured 
radio  with  gerwral 
coverage  on  ftie  mafkeL 


1 049 


Peri&rmance  with  easy-to- 
use  feaJures  With  a  lull- 
jeatured  front  panel  and  a 
large  fluorescent  dlBplay^ 
this  radio  was  designed  to 
be  used?  Wide  dynamic 
range,  fu^l  duly  cycle  heal 
Sink.  99  mefnor^^.  DOS 
and  hjgh  sf>eed  antenna 
tuner  witl  expand  your  fun. 


S2595 


Tt>e  beauty  ot  the  all  mo<ie 
IC-27SH  Irom  icom  is  tnal  is 
gives  you  IJie  best  ot  boih 
wofids-  accessible  rly  to  he 
lar-tlung  reaches  of  ihe  earth 
combined  with  tremendous 
slrtipficity.  Al  just  the  touch  ofj 
a  tew  switches  you  can 
contact  places  m  the  wo^ld 
you've  always  dfeamed  of 
Visiting. 

lC-475H-70cm  aU  mode 

IC-S7SH-  6m  aJI 
mode 


SI  389^ 


Continuous  frequency 
coverage  Irom  25  MHi 
through  2000  MHZ  with 
all  mode  capability 
(W.F.M.opt )  This  unit 
offers  a  dcclt.  timer.  900 
rnemones,  scanimg  and 
more  than  them's  room 
10  list 


1389 


Not  fTospowtote  FprTypognfftal  Ent»s. 


Empires 
June  1994 


R 

€ 

Prices  Sub|«d  To  Change  Without  Motice. 


♦ 


Used/Consignment  Sales 
A  :  Uf«9  vqiiiiiRWH  t»l«5lect  ptiof  lo  sale  and  ««  ptoiMt  a  W  t^y  i^ixf  ■ammty.  We  pnTv^e  no  aisnaniycif  XAtmrnttM  o4  Dpef*t«n  on  Bquipmfil  consignvd  tsy  our  cmtfmnefs  A 
la  day  wHifn pifirttopi  fe pfpyidttf  ot\  camtigwaeiHa 


2663  County  Road  I,  Mounds  View,  MN  55112 
Metro:  (612)  78&4475  *  Natl  Watts;  1^80(H26-2^1  •  FAX  (612)  786^13 

CIRCLE  153  ON  READER  SERVICE  CARD 


Store  Hours:  M-R  tO:00  am  -  8:00  pm,  SaL,  10;(K)  am  -  5:00  ptn 
PtKine  Hours:  M-F,  8:00  am  *  d:00  pm,  Sat^  10:00  am  *  5:00  pm 


$C45 


* 

for 
2  Day 

Delivery 

tip  to  12  ass.  in  Comin^itaj  liSA 


1  -800- 

Fax  (61 2) 


-2891 

-6513 


Call  for  Catalog 
Ask  for  Ext.  22 


Phone  Hours 

1-800-426-2891 

M-F  8  am  -  8  pm 

Sat.  10  am  -  5  pm 

CST 


O 


ICOM 


& 


See  it  at  Dayton 


IC-281 
IC-2700 


VETV 


TWs  new  lC-2ai  mobife 
radio  packs  a  triple:  punch 
with  lis  many  features.  It 
hosts  bonus  band  440  MH? 
rfiCSivG  and  a  9600  baud 
data  radio  port  all  tor  a 
prloe  that's  hard  to  boat. 


379 


IC-820H 
▼    IC-2340H 


*  This  d^vcce  has  not 
been  approved  IjyjtT^j 
FederaJ  Gorr  trriLinlcii* 
tfons  Commj&slon^ 
This  devbs  te  T>oi  and 
may  not  be  offemd 
tor  sate  or  lease  Of 
soJd  or  leased  urtlfl 
the  aoifDual  o(  ttie 
RX:eoblairwl 


Here's  ihfl  H.F.  fig  you've 
been  holding  out  for!  It 
features  a  full  lOO  watts 
output  frorn  160  moiofs, 
100  wait  [hrough  6  meters 
wilh  a  built  in  anianna 
tuner  and__power  supply, 
VOX.  PBTRF  Gain,  101 
ni'GmoflGii  and  more 
provides  you  with  (he 
latei^l  I  en  lures  and  lun. 


1869 


Save 

MOO 


Tt>»IC'AlA 

IFHilC-dlE 

are  the  first 
VHF/UHF 

fj-jband 
handhelds  in 

■\h&  amateur 
world.  144 

430(440J  MHz 

and  1200 

MH£  band 

unils  are 

intluddd  in> 

on^  compact 

body.  Triple 

band 

opefaltoo  in  ttta  palm  o1 

your  har>d.Umited 

Supplies.  '^^ 


MoR£ 


This   ultra-slim 
transceiver  is 

designed  for 
maxtrrium 
portability  and 
«3nven  fence. 
Even  with  lis 
NiCd  battery 
pack  attached, 
ihis  transceiver 
can  fit  in  your 
shJrt  pockel  or 
hand  bag. 
CTCSS.  Clock 
and  100  m€fnones  are 
slandafd  featuies 


More 


Dual  receivers 
witn  Single  band 
transmit  makes 
this  HT  irujy 
verF^atlCn  Trie  S 
wall  output,  lil 
Keypad,  fiist 
scan,  DSQ, 
clock,  11^1 
memories  and  a 
compact  design 
add  up  to  a 
great  new  product. 


^325 


SaV£ 
I     MCHIE 


A  return  to  design 
(uri<lamenrBts  has 
prmlucod 
somcthirkg  truly 
uniqjUo  In  duah 
band  FM 
trantsceivers. 
Even  though  11  Is 
the  smalJe&i  in  its 
class,  it  IS  packed 
to  the  ►irni't  with 
real  u  res  to 
expand  your  fun 
oui-of-doors.  on 
the  road,  or  al  hon^e. 

Limited  Supplies. 


uvea* 


This  new  2  meter/70cm 
du^l  tjand  mobile  will 
wow  you  with  all  its  new 
tf?fitureG.  II  sports  a 
removable  from  panel, 
separate  ccntrcjls  tor 
luninp-volume  and 
squefch. Remote  corTlrol 
mike  See  i?  at  Dayton 
along  with  the  IC-3700H 
tor  your  70cm/  l^ 
GHZ  needs.  .a. 


S789 


This  new  satellfto  Dual 
band  all  mode  base,  its 
designed  to  provide  critical 

fueriormance  wilh  Icom 
echnoiogy  compelijfvely 
griced  Features  JncJude 
lata  port.  50  memori^9S. 
TXCO.  Noise  Blanker.  DDS, 
Cornpact  sl^a  and  much 
mucti  more.  STB  A* 


Wieat 


This  new  a  meter/ 
4^ 0cm  Dual  biiind  is 
ai^othor  star  in  a  new 
product  line  up  lor  Icom. 
iFeatures  includo 
separate  tuning,  volume 
and  sqtjolch  controls  tor 
each  band,  100 
rtsemones.  high  power 
out-put  make  Vrus 
competitively  priced  unit 
a  re;at  winner. 


849 


DTMF 
SfrE«El*  MiC 


319 


P  R 


^479 


TBA 


5659®^ 


Aifthori£ed  Factory  Wafrairty  C«mtf 

We  offw  (*c*of¥  s^honred  «ananiy  usnrtee  tar  Icpm,  Komvocdand  Yi^su  We  i^j-jv^s  dis  n-^Ke$.  and  models.  QW  cuAicmers  Tiiay  send  arty  produel  requiring  sarvice  tti  us,  and  wm 
wIF  fiiir>ald  it  lot  fftmn.  Titts  Is  a  one-slop  ^^mtnca  ihai  keeps  our  custofttets  hcving  mora  ion  Itian  tiasslie  m  rfuft  lujtitky  ft  you  need  a  cusiom  CHBb49  lor  packet  and  don't  iiave  tarm  lo 
maktt  ft,  lut  ir*  do  UE  tor  ycMj.  CJLF.  &  M  A.ft  S.  modi  arfi  aSso  avs^d^  ■!  nM>D(WJ3ile  ratas  ta  auihorized  runii  only. 


^ioT  ResponsUe  forl^/pogfaftwcai  Errors 


2663  County  Road  1^  Moitnd^  View,  MN  S5112 
Metro:  (612)  786-4475  •  Nat  I  Watts:  1-800-426-2891  •  FAX  (612)  786-6513 


Store  HdUfsr  M-F,  10:00  am  -  8:00  pm,  Sat.,  10:00  »n  -  5:00  pm 
Phone  Hours:  M-F,  8:00  am  -  8:00  pm,  Sat,  10:00  am  -  5:00  pm 

CIRCLE  153  ON  READER  SERVICE  CARD 


♦ 


Expires 
June  1994 


Prices  Subject  To  Char^gg  Without  Notice. 


WUBIIVIUUHA! 


2  Day 
Delivery 

*Up  to  12  lbs.  in  Contirwmaf  USA 


-426-2891 

(612)786-6513 


Call  for  Catalog 
Ask  for  Ext.  22 


Phone  Hours 

1-S00-426-2891 

M-F  8  am  -  8  pm 

Sat.  10  am -5  pm 


^ 


KENWOOD 


Jrllf  UX 


^-^ 


i/  Check  out  Radio  City,  Inc. 
New  Handhelds  with 
loads  of  features  and 
prices  that  are  hard  to  beat 

•  Get  a  new  mobile  antenna 
fbrttiecar. 

•  Bring  the  latest  nnaga^ne's 
and  ad's  from 

Radio  City,  Inc. 

% ^ 


irrs-7Q« 


Wfr^'- 


Ttie  TS-79QA  breaks  new 
aroutndiri  lerrrs^  oi 
features  and  perfor- 
mance. With  t^  opiKma! 
1 300  MHz  itnit.  it  <jHer5 
tii-band  coverage  Iw 
maximum  vers.ati!Fty. 
Supporting  it?  dual- 
frequency  recepve 
capability  are  sep^rale 
readotils  and  contfob  loi 
maiei  ar»d  &ub  bands, 
©veri  1ijll-dyple>:  cross- 
band  operation  is 
PQssibfe. 


M  789^ 


CorTipact  and 
contHjeni,  it  sets 
exerting  fiew 
stands^  lor 
fiortabie 

communicatiorts, 
combing 

opecatjon  with  a 
mLiltiplicity  of 
features,  in 
addition  to  bulkt- 
in  DISS  and 
paging  functions, 
It  provides  a  dual- 
frequency  rransceive 
capability,  wicie  band 
receive,  a  sliding  keypad 
cover,  and  many  olhter 
li&aiures.  While 
supptestsst 


r    MDfl€ 


41 7" 


This  Slate  of  the  £irl 
HT  has  numerous 
features-  the  abiilly 
10  store  both 
alphanumeric  and 
ire<|uen<^  data  m 
non-volatile 
memory.  AM 
aircraft, 
alpha  numeric 
message  paaing_  fn 
addilkvi  to  D7S5 
af¥J  pager 

functioris-plus  switchable 
duaH>and  feceive.  As  an 
added  bonus  the  number 
of  memory  channels  can 
be  increased  to  240 
(option). 


Kenwood's  technology 
endows  the  TS-BSOS/AT 
wilh  specs  Ihat  place  ii 
at  the  top  of  amateur 
radio  equipment 
Automaiic  antenna 
tuner,  lOOmemones. 
three  scan  modes, 
DDS.  digital  PLl  system 
plus  more. 


1695 


liTS-ea* 


S309 


A  radio 
thai 

star  in 
virtu- 
ally any  note  wrth  its  l  OOw 
imnsmissjcn  capabitrlies  on 
nine  amateur  tuancts  plus  50 
watts  output  Oft  6  metfifs. 
Comfiact,  igHweigrit 
consmJcSon  makes  OiisHF 
uansc&p^er  particularly 
siHtod  lOf  DX^ng  i=lu99ed 
re<liabi^  is  matcf>ed  with 
leadirig  edg^  electronics. 
Kenwood's  AlP  sysiem  tor 
improved  dynamic  range, 
ODS  for  lirte  tuninq  and  tt^e 
optional  DSR-100^dl9^lal 
Signal  processor.  ^ 


A  compact,  tightwalght 
radio  with  1  Dow 
transmission 
capabilities  on  aFI  nine 
amateur  bands 
i^uqged  reliatJi^ity  is 
malched  wUh  leading- 
WSm  ^electronics, 
automatic  anfenna 
tunef.  AlF  system,  and 
ODS  tor  fine 
tuning. 


s-i  2799 


!irt-9a^ 


The  TL  922A  is  an  HF 
Linear  amplirier  designed 
to  provkle  maximumleaal 
power.  By  utilizing  twoll> 
500Z  high  performance 
transmitting  tubes  you'll 
fiave  plenty  of  rescrrve 
power  for  mose  DX  and 
contest  coniacis.  Features 
include  2kw  PEP  output*  2 
meiefs,  variable  ALC, 
delay  cooling,  class  A8^ 
bias  and  a  look  10  malcn 
tl^oso  Kenwood 
products. 


1\<     ■'fleet  entry-ievel  HF 
trL-ihsi.iriver.  All -mode 
nefformance  is  enhanced 
by  numerous  by 
numerous  user-orientod 
feaiures  such  as  31 
momories,  a  dual -mode 
rvoise  t?lanker  i^ith  levef 
coniroL  CW  rull  &  seinl 
break' in,  tiuilt-tn  speech 
processor  and  it's  iiehi 
enough  for  DXi>edi!iort& 
and  mobile  use.  ^ 


899 


i^amNi 


Graphic 

control  of 

your 

amateur 

radi-o 

slation 

wilh  Ham 

Windows. 

The 

LogWindmv 

monitpfs 

the  OX  cluster,  stiows 

your  current  ^  ar^f 

pfovides  current  DXCC 

and  WA2  award  sialus 

The  syssem  also 

interlaces  to  HamBasc 

Spot,  work  and  log  new 

count  rios  wdh  thelatest 

point-and-shoot 

technology.  HW-3P    .a. 


Swilt  perlnjrmance  and 
surgical  precision  are 
second  nature  to  iho  TS- 
950SDX   Quality 
engineering  tjlends 
aesthetic  simplieily  of  form 
with  a  wide  range  of 
advanced  features-  dual 
Irequency  receive.  100 
memones.  DSP,  MOS 
FET  final  section  (a  first 
for  amateur  transceivers) 
and  much  much 
rrxjre. 


^391  r^ 


IfUtecs 


n^ 


TU*7  $49.95 

VS-1  567,95 

YG-4SSCr*-t  S7699S 

YK.88C-1  S899S 

YK-88CN'l{1sii=}  m.^ 

YK^B8S-1  (1  S2  ¥}  WJ5 

vK^essN-i  miss 

YK^SSC-irandR  S10995 
YG^5501  (2  rxf  IB  S144  95 
yG-456CN-1  (2  nd  IRStSS  95 
YK-45SC'1  $109.95 


si  409^ 


$17299 


M49 


Not  Responsible  For  Typographical  Errors. 


Empires 
June  \994 


♦ 


PncesSubreci  Te  Change  Wiiiout  NoiiosL 


Used/Consignment  Sales 
JUJ  Usetf  equipm«At  te  Meted  prior  Iti  S!]l<«  a*^  wd  onavicie  a  3Q  day  iatof  warranty  We  prxywki  no  vtMiAntf  or  assurance  O'f  operatknn:  on  «qiiif]«H«it  consigned  by  uur  cuttonwrs  A 
15  <9ay  rsiufn  priwiidQB  i>  pfovfifed  dn  cQnfi^nfneftis. 


7^2  County  Road  1.  Mounds  View,  MN  S5112 
Wm:  (61 1)  78&4475  •  N^l  \^tt5: 1-dO(H2&2^  -  FAX  (612)  T^^li 

C4nCL£  153  ON  READER  SERVICE  CARD 


Stofie  Hours:  M^,  10:00  ain  <  8:00  pm.  Sat  1 0KIO  am  -  5:00  pm 
Phone  Hour^:  lA-F^  0:00  am  ^  8:00  pnv  ^^  ^^'-^  ^ib  -  5:00  pm 


45  for 

2  Day 
Delivery 


1-800-426-2891 

Fax  (612)  786-6513 


tip  to  12  lb9.  m  Contki^ital  USA 


Can  for  Catalog 
Ask  for  Ext-  22 


Phone  Hours 

1-800-426-^2891 

M-F  8  am  -  8  pm 

Sat.  10  am-Spm 

GST 


WvivfCDid] 


KENWOOD 


ORDER 
EARLY 

Specials 

ARE  LlMITEO 

TO  SUPPLIES 
ON  HAND 


See  it  at  Dayton 

T    TM-255IP 
T    TL-922A 

TH-22HT 
TS-790A 


^^m    rfcA4  Ik 


*30 


Enjoy  hJgh  parformance 
CO  mm unicaUons  plus  go- 
dr^vwhere  convenience 
wiln  Ih^  world's  smallesl 
1 00 w  mobile  HF 
transcejuer  Ad  modes 
and  all  banc^s  eomploto 
this  pdckage.  bmiled 
supplies.  ^ 


969 


Attuned  to  the  ta&i- 
moving  world  o\  mobllo 
eommunkritlons.  Ihis 
ducii-band  transceivor 
offers  many  leatures 
fndudurig  a  dolachable 
front  panel  in  a  compact 
design. 


569 


Kenwood  provides  a  variety 
of  devicds  to  add  computer 
conlroi  or  allow  some  unrts  to 
be  worked  remoiely. 
IF-2:kzC  oonvefts  pe^<50fiai 
computoF  RS^?^  tevete.  to 
levels  used  with  Tr^nscoWeis 
sucfi  as;  TS'960  series,  TS- 
850  senes,  TS-690  series. 
TS-790A  sejies,  TS-^M 
serloa  and  the  R-5000-.   ^ 


*  "Riisjdavice  has  noi 
boenQpproii*edby  the 
Federal  Domrrunica- 
tiom  CcifnmiK5»on. 
IHgilsviceienotand 
may  nod  be  oUarsd 
im  «afeicir  base  or 
sofci  Of  teased  uvm 
(he  appfCM!9l  et  &ie 
FCCBobtgpvd 


^tlV: 


Ttiis  new  2  meler 
transceiver  provides  dual 
band  receive  and  gives 

Sou  a  data  port  that'a  960D 
aud  ready.  CTCSS 
encode,  41  memyrles  are 
escpandable,  cross  band 
repoal,  hmo  out  timer. 
Diss  and  much  more, 

•TM^IA  1.23HzTi7CcnRi 
'FCC  Apprevil  pending 


NewVHF/ 
UHF  Iri- 
tsander  wi^h 
third  band 
optional,      __ 

transcojvor  has  all  the 
featyres  and  adv^intages  of 
the  TM-741  plus  theae 
enha  ncem  ents-dir  act 
frequency  onlry.  Iho  unit 
can  separate  Inia  Ihree 
pioces  froqiiifes  remote 
cable  i<:it),  CTCSK  nncode 
Is  built  in,  and  it  can  be 
contfotled  remotely  with 
DTMF  signals  from  any 
Iransceiv&r.  Al&u  available 
in  a  tri  band  rncdel 
{ttie  TU'B42A). 


More 


5439 


695 


»109' 


Authorized  Factory  Warranty  Center 
W&  of  far  fjiclorv  authon/ed  wjirranty  &ervi>ce  far  loam.  K-cnADod  atwi  Vaueu  Wh  h^  tvir.^  All  makiiiii  and  rnodolA  Out  c^u-^tomary  may  se^nd  any  prodnJcl  t^Qumng  mrv\c^  to  u$,  and  we 
wtK  liand^e  it  tor  Ibsm  ThiB  is  a  one-slop  sen/fice  i+ia1  keeps  OHf  cusiomors  having  more  Sun  than  ha&sle  m  thiA  hobby  i1  ytju  nood  a  custom  cable  for  packel  aiKJ  don't  hflvo  Umo  to 
nnai^e  irt,  IcH!  uu  do  il  tor  yfiu  C.A.P.  &  M  A.R.S.  mods  are  utijin  nvaitablA  ai  raasonoble  rales-  lo  authonzpd  huma  oniy 


2663  Coynty  Road  I.  Mourvds  View.  MN  55112 
Metro;  (612)  78&4475 '  Nafi  Watts:  ^-^gXM2^m^  •  FAX  (612)  7^^t3 


Store  Hours:  M-f,  10:00  3m  -  8:00  pm.  Sat,  10:00  am  -  5:00  pm 
Phone  Hoors:  W-F.  8:00  am  ■  8:00  pm.  Sat  10:00  am  -  5:00  pm 

aRCL£1S3  ON  READER  SERVICE  CARD 


Not  Responsibie  For  Typo^raptiical  Errors. 


♦ 


Expires 
Jun^  19S4 


Prices  Sudfoct  To  CtvmgG  WithOLTt  Notice^ 


2  Day 
Delivery 

njfi  to  12  ttis.  in  Cov^Miental  USA 


800-426-2891 

Fax  (612)  786-6513 


Call  for  Catalog 
Ask  for  Ext.  22 


Phone  Hours 

1-800-426-2891 

M-F  8  am  -  8  pm 

Sat.  10  am  -  5  pm 

CST 


At  home  or  . . .  away 
Explore  the  World  with  the  help  of 

Radio  City,  Inc. 


[|rr^O 


The  new  FT -990 

combines  Ihe  basic 
technical  r^^^luri^is  of  tfiai 
iop'OHhy-iino  mode] 
with  severai  new 
advances  ir  both 
transmitter  and  receiver 
circuitry.  Digital  filter.  90 
memones,  wide  dynamic 
range  and  mjch  mor^l' 

FT990iDC  SI  739.95 


Solid  statt^  desit^n  wfth  a 
bul^t  in  antenna  tuner 
mekea  for  a  no  Juss  QSO 
iii  tcujoh  conditions  is  a 
full  1:^0  walls  tn put  on  all 
bands  wkth  automatic  or 
manual  tuning  lets  you 
decide  the  best  way  to 
drive  tnis  cornpetltor. 


Pod  able 

or  mobKB, 
this  2 
TTieter  alt- 
mode 
trans- 
ceiver 
del  (vers 
fun  and 
function,  The  2B  wtiU 
linear  Eimplifier  clips  on 
in  ptacg  o[  an  optional 
baliery  case  Ip  extend 
your  operating  horizon. 

FT-eSORai 

6m  lj^SOTv«r  MBM 

R'TMRfll 

70citiltBr^c«<ver        S649.^ 


M  995 


2029' 


548 


This  new  higti 
performartce  table  top 
reosiver  provkl&s  aatierat 
covef agf  from  50  KHz  - 
30  MHz  in  all  and  FM  ai 
an  afforddb^  price. 
Features  include  50 
memones.  noise  blanker. 
lOMHif,  lOOanctl  KHz 
tuning  steps,  selectalslo 
attenuate,  twin  ciDct<5  and 
scan  mode. 


599 


Nat  Responsible  For  Typographical  Errors 

(I 


R 


h7^ 


Expiree 
June  1994 


Ptkss  Subieet  Tt)  Changs  VWhwit  Noiwa 


♦ 


Used/Consignment  Sales 

Al|i  U:i-:il  iMj.iipment  Ih  teatBd  pricH'ta  sale  and  we-provido  a  30  da^  labor  warfarity.  We  provide  na  wdrruriiy'or  ttKaurancB  ol  qpeiatton  on  flquipmert  c^oniMgnid  by  om  cusEOfner^.  A 
IS  day  ft^lUfn  prhfiicgv  is  providad  an  ccnstgRmenta'. 


2063  County  Road  L,  Mounds  View,  MN  55112 
mm:  {mi}  7864475  •  Nan  Watls:  1^800^26^2891  -  FAX  (612)  766^13 

CtRCLE  153  ON  READER  SERVICE  CARD 


Store  Hours:  M-F,  10:00  am  -  3:00  pm.  Sat.  10:00  ain  -  5:00  pni 
Ptione  Htjurs:  M^.  8:00  am  -  8:00  pm.  SaL.  10:00  am  -  5:00  pm 


$C45for 

Zj  2  Day 

^^  Delivery 

*Up  to  12  lb&  in  Continental  USA 


800-426-2891 

Fax  (61 2)  786-651 3 

Cail  for  Catalog 
Ask  for  Ext.  22 


Phone  Hours 

1-800-426-2891 

M-F  8  am  -  8  pm 

Sat.  1 0  am  -  5  pm 


Ifit, 


M^^ 

"1 

Uc^ 

!j 

%4s:i 


SaleJiFte  find  ail-mode 
2m/70cm  wDric  gets 
exciting  ^txu  this  fiMI- 
fcfature  trafisceiver 
Unked  tumng.  tZ  unfirvk 
mefnories.  1?>0  g**neral 
purpose  memorres.  and 
room  for  2  optional 
modjie?  Qlformg  bflnd 
exlonsions  tor  6m. 
220MHz,  Of  1,2  GH2 
Operation 


M  684 


See  it  at  Dayto 

FT-d 


FT-890/AT 

Fr-736R 

rr-2200 


i 


«Tt 


kv^JWa'^LT-^k 


Th©  remavabletront  panel 
\et&  this  dual  bander  fii 
any  instailarion.  If  loatures 
50w  out  on  2  meters  3o^ 
our  on  70  centimeL«iSv  32 
memories,  CTCSS 
encode  and  PAGE  mode. 


This  duai  band  mobile 
fealuros  100  momoiies, 
cfoss  band  repeat,  llghtecl 
keypad,  buih-m  duplracei 
ancf  a  srAOll  (eoipfini. 
Duai  watdt  capabiliilY 
rounds  oul  Itiis  50.'3S  wall 
VHF/UHF  iranscBtver, 
Packer  ready. 


Jfiis  compact,  lull-[eatured 
mobile  corner  with  49 
memones,  10DTMF 
aulocial  memories,  A.fl.S., 
CTCSS  encode,  digital 
squelch  an^  I'Thtsd 
keypad  ar€  .i  i  idardt 
roaiures. 


629*^ 


599 


369 


This  fvoged  mihtary- 
gracSe  2  meter  mobite 
provides  wido  b^nd 
receive,  3  powor  output 
levels,  a  lighted  Keypad 
and  ^€  memories.  Join 
the  fun  ^ 


Fr-74W 

Has  the  same  t|reat 
features  as  the  FT-2400 
but  is  dosignad  for  the 
440  band. 
S459.95 


The  newest 
member  ol  tho 
ffciaJband 

/,  This 
handneid  spofts 
auto  tone 
search,  82 

memory 
channels, 
automalic 
pow^  oft,  built- 
in  VOX.  dual  in- 
band  recerv^  feature, 
butlt-in  cross  band 
repoal  function  and 
much  more. 


343 


Motors 


G-10005DX 

$499.95 


Whothef  you  are  instalTfrtg 
u,  station  forprofo^^lanal 
HF  communications,  a 
satellite  ground  station  or 
inerofy  a  fofator-contfoUer 
cOmtMnatTon  fof  you. 
Designed  to  last  a  lifetime, 
all  Yaesu  rotors  are 
housed  in  weatherproof 
m  el  ami  no  coaled  die'Caaf 
aluminum  and 
pemianerstiy  Eubricated  to 
Insure  maiiritenance-free 
operation  under  aJI  climate 
oiorKS&ort& 


G-500A 

$289.95 


G-5400B 

$499.95 


This  new  VHF 

handhctd 

Uartsceiver 

provides  the 

latest  features- 

auto  lone 

saarch. 

automatic 

battery  savef, 

autorriaijc  power 

off.  41 

memones. 

CTCSS  encode/ 

decode  ^  DTMF 

paging,  backljl 

keypad  and 

display  artd  a  choicfii  of 

two  colors  (blach  or  gray^. 

FT-816  UHF  versjoo 

avarlabte. 

Supplies  Umited 

on  gray. 


238' 

Gray  only 


Aytl>orize<l  Fsctttry  Warranty  Centef 

Wa  offer  lactory  auftwrizied  wanranty  attrvvos  tctt  kjoin,  K«i^#Dcict  ancf  Yaesy.  }fit  txtrhc*  an  majhes.  Mtrti  mi^diiii  Qw  euttdmers  mav  send  any  prtKlucI  iscpjiniig  service  id  u&^  aid  w* 

mH  handr«»  It  tor  'itwm  This  h  ci  one-sikip  s-ervicN  That  heepii^  cm  cuiitomcTS  ittWWiS  nwn  hin  Chan  hassEe  in  Ihs  Utobby  l(  yciu  rm^a  custom  cab[&  lor  packnt  And  danl  have  tim^  to 
make  M,  let  us  Og  i1  lyr  you_  G.A.P.  i|  M.A.R.S.  mods  are  B^BQ  avaiuble  at  rafUpCHriblt  ritoa  to  aiifthfirizad  hame  orilj^, 


H(A  Rssponrfjie  For  Typographical  Errors 


2663  Qoimty  Ftoad  L  MQifncls  View.  MM  55112 
mm:  (612)  78&4475  •  Natl  Watts:  1^80Q^&-2B91  -  FAX  (812)  78^^6513 


Stor^  Hiyars:  W-F,  10:00  am  -  8:00  pm,  SaL,  10:00  am  -  5:00  pm 
Phone  Hours:  M-F,  8:00  am  -  8.^  pra  Sat,  10:00  am  -5:00  pm 

QBCLE  153  ON  READER  SERVICE  CARD 


♦ 


Expires 
June  1994 


Pnces 


To  atm^  VWiout  Hc^Sce 


^J  2  Day 

^^  Delivery 

*Up  t£>  12  tbs.  In  Coftttnent«l  USA 


800-426-2891 

Fax  (612)786-6513 


Call  for  Catalog 
Ask  for  Ext.  22 


Phone  Hours 

1-800-426-2891 

M-F  8  am  -  6  pm 

Sat.  10  am  •  5  pm 

CST 


4CAi^rmDNK^, 


■i 

'  KAM  Plus 

S309.95 

•  KPC-a 

Sl63.a& 

•  KPC-3 

siifl.as 

Hostitiastsf  11+ 

S6@,S5 

PC  Combo 

S49  9& 

PK-900 


Ttiis  nexl  g&n^ralion  o1 
multi-modd  controller  is 
made  in  the  USA  «itti  a  front 
pariiel  designed  for  you! 
En^io^  duat  pen  action  for 
packer  RTTY,  FACTOR, 
CW,  fax,  and  morel 


475 


You  needn  I  be  a  ROCKET  SCTENTIST  to  realize  that 
VALUE,  SERVICE  &  EXPERIENCE 

(ire  all  to  be  found  at 
Radio  City,  Inc. 


^i^a 


Comet 

offers  a 

^on  or 

Single, 
dual, 
triple 
band 
anten- 
nas for 
your 

Be  1 1  Ba5«,  motifle  or 
HT's,  ttie&fi  antennas 
otl^r  a  wid^j  variety  o^ 
gam,  matctiing  mounts 
and  cab  1 9  assemblies  T6 
duple^ers  are  available 
wUh  and  "v^ithout  leatis. 


The  OSCAR  Link  anisnna 
systerri  i&  today  s  most 
flex^b^'t  system  lor 
saielms  Both  145  sai^d 
the  4;i>  MHz  anienna  § 
nave  polartty  swilcbmg  Tne 
Gniue  syslem  b^lacce^  on  a 
5' fiberglass  boom.  The 
latesl  NBS  design  435  MHz 
and  loganthFnit:2  meter 
Ipactng  make  chfS  the  best 
OSCAfl  ar^t&nna 
jflvaJabte  today 


^385 


am 


'  ,     TGleK2T4Fli 

Telejt  25  FU  'fi^ 

Escape  I  he 

50  rtiile 

boiitidary 

*ffh  tflkgtse 

conipaciS 

meier  teams  WhettierGod 

square  chasing.  VHF 

CQiTitesling  or|Usl  2  meter 

SSS  rag  chews  There  is  so 

rnijcli  more  to  amateur  radio 

than  |us4  2  meter  refjeaicrs 


Telei  2t  FM 


m(= 


tonal  Wi«e-i5t£able 


j:**' 


BS-taA 
RS?aA 

RS^35A 

ns-stkit 

SLUA 


12  amp,  regidilad  power  supi% 

20  amp,  regulatBo  powef  supply 
35  timp,  fB^lated  powsr  ^pply 
50  anp.  r^egut^Qd  poMf  sifipty 
20  «P^  M'^^ji^amp  meler 

It  arr^.  slim  style 


STggs 

saeas 

£149.35 
S2199S 


NS'6&0A 

Cross  reedle,  13-150 
MHz  SWR  meter  wittl 
rernote  capability. 

$ia5.9S 
NS-660PA  $209.95 

Ci^'-i  dii 

Cfoss  needle  SWR  and 

power  metei  1  B-t50 


DX  lOD 

Ou|ii«xer  &0^239  in  and  two 

PL2S9  out  <::onnectoT  only 

tlX'lOM  S37.9S 

DX'iaiSl  S37.g5 


Cable 
909 1 
9095 
4009 
90B& 

6214 
5450 
0612 
3266 


.^■^^ 


Cable  &  Connectors 

RG8X9S%8h  (minia) 

RGe95*%sh  foam 

RGBAU  95=^^  &h  pdly 

RGS9e%sh  {9913  eq  I 

RGSU,  superflex 

14  gauge  Copperweld 

450  ohm  tvjinEead 

ta/6  te/2  8  conductor  wire 

i&  gauge>'6c  caiMtuctoi  rolof  vhhb 


Prices  listed  are  nper  foot'  in  1 0Q  foot  of  greater 

quctntitjes 


Not  flespOfBtte  for  Tyixigraphical  Errors. 

EM 

a 


ExpEres 
June  1994 


P»K8S  Subfed  To  Chanp  wmKUt  NeNioaL 


Used/Conslgnmenl  5«tes 
Ail  Used  4K(UQ}nienf  w  lesfed  pnor  loMf"  d^'c  ^-^  irc^vii^  AJOdayidHor  «a'idr')r  Wci^fy*  oe  r^o,  wjii'drtirc:  ^^suranct  oi  ap^^^tionafiiei^uif:^ 
1  ^  Hay  return  prrvtiagQ  jg  prc^M<Sed  on  consign  m?  m  ^ 


:i  ^ooiMg'^ed  byotjf  cui]onie>5  * 


266a  Coynty  Road  L  Mounds  View,  MN  56112 
Metro:  (612) 78W47S •  Natl  WattS'  l-80(M2fr2891 '  FAX  (612) 7lfr^13 

CIRCLE  tS3  DM  READER  SERWlCg  CARD 


Store  Hours:  U-F.  10:00  am  -  @:00  pm.  SaL,  10:00  am  -  5:00  pm 
PhC¥^  Hours:  M-F,  8:00  am  -  8:00  pm^  Sat,  10  00  am  ^  500  pm 


73  Review 


Number  9  on  your  Feedback  card 


by  Charles  Warrington  WAIRZW 


The  Ham  Contact 

RO.  Box  3624,  Dept.  73 

Long  Beach  CA  90803 

Telephone:  (310)  433-5860;  (800)  933-HAM4 

Price  Class:  $49.95  (plus  $8.50  shipping) 


The  Power  Station 

A  multi-function,  portable,  rechargeable  power  source. 


Mt 


Jtrst  think  of  all  the  devices  you  can  run 
from  your  car's  cigarette  fighter  outlet 
these  days.  There  are  NTs  and  HF  rigs,  CD 
players  and  spotlights,  shavers  and  solder- 
ing irons,  refrigerators  and  coffee  pots — 
even  power  tools.  Now,  with  cigarette  smok- 
ing's  fall  from  fashion,  auto- makers  will  prob- 
ably soon  begin  calling  these  "accessory 
power  outlets,"  or  possibly  replace  the  lighter 
itself  with  a  simple  protective  cover.  Instead 
of  a  smoldering  butt  symbol  you  might  in- 
stead see  a  symbol  for  a  battery 
or  the  word  "ACCESSORY."  What 
started  out  as  a  way  to  fight  up 
your  smokes  has  evolved  into  an 
all-purpose  power  source. 

Too  bad  your  car  isn't  all  that 
handy  at  times,  So,  with  a  bevy  of 
gadgets  tethered  to  your  dash, 
wouldn't  it  be  nice  if  you  coufd  just 
yank  that  little  outlet  and  take  it 
with  you  when  you  need  it?  How 
about  camping?  Or  fishing?  Or 
just  operating  your  HT  at  your 
home  QTH  at  high  power  like  a 
base  station? 

Well,  wish  no  more,  because 
the  foll<s  at  The  l-iam  Contact  are 
now  importing  and  distributing  the 
Power  Station — ^a  slick  little 
rechargeable  gelf  cefl  battery 
source  that  you  can  take  with  you 
anywhere.  Let's  take  a  look  at 
what  the  Power  Station  has  to 
offer. 

Features 

The  heart  of  the  Power  Station 
is  a  7.0  amp-hour  rechargeable  gell  cell  bat- 
tery. By  means  of  comparison^  the  NiCd  bat- 
tery in  your  HT  is  probably  rated  at  400  or 
600  mAh.  Thus,  you  could  muitiply  the  life  of 
your  HT  battery  by  about  14  times,  just  to 
give  you  an  idea.  And,  while  nickel  cadmium 
batteries  suffer  the  dreaded  memory  effect, 
these  gell  cefis  do  not. 

The  unit  is  shipped  compfete  with  a  wall 
charger,  and  the  CHARGE  light  blinks  when 
the  unit  is  fully  charged.  Also  [ncluded  is  an 
8-foot  double-ended  cigarette  lighter  cord. 
This  allows  you  to  recharge  the  Power  Sta- 


tion from  your  automobtte  battery  when  you 
are  on  the  road. 

The  output  is  switchable  from  12  volts  to  9 
volts  to  6  volts  to  3  voits^ — four  output  levels 
to  accommodate  a  wide  variety  of  devices. 
The  3,  6,  and  9  volt  output  \s  at  a  3.5  mm 
coaxiaf  jack  on  the  side  of  the  unit;  the  12 
volt  output  is  available  at  the  female 
cigarette  lighter  socket  and  at  the  output 
studs  under  the  back  cover.  You  can  draw 
current  from  any  or  alt  at  the  same  time. 


mmsmmsi^mm^msssssm 


The  voltmeter  on  the  front  of  the  Power 
Station  normally  reads  output  voltage,  but  it 
can  also  read  the  condition  of  a  car  battery 
when  the  lighter  plug-to-lighter  plug  cord  is 
used. 

A  Good  fdea 

I  felt  some  sense  of  comfort  during  the 
horrendous  ice  and  snowstorms  we  suffered 
recently  here  in  New  England  knowing  that  1 
had  some  method  of  dependable  back-up 
communications.  The  Power  Station  was  al- 
so mighty  nice  to  have  when  the  lights  went 


out,  since  1  happen  to  own  a  12  volt  halogen 
spotlight  and  a  12  voft  television  set,  and 
both  are  equipped  with  cigarette  lighter 
plugs. 

Another  advantage  to  ownfng  one  of  these 
units  is  realized  when  your  car  battery  be- 
gins to  give  up.  The  Power  Station  can  be 
helpful  fn  two  ways:  as  a  charger  and  as  a 
booster. 

In  very  cold  weather,  you  can  run  jumper 
cabtes  from  the  Power  Station  to  your  car 
battery  and  give  it  a  quick  charge 
before  starting.  Or,  you  can  puM 
up  to  1 00  amps  from  the  Power 
Station  for  just  a  matter  of  sec- 
onds—long enough  to  jump  start 
the  old  jalopy.  While  the  12  volt 
output  cigarette  lighter  socket  is 
fused  at  10  amps,  the  12  volt  out- 
put at  the  studs  under  the  rear 
cover  is  not  fused — permitting 
short  bursts  of  high  current. 

Conclusions 

The  Power  Station  would  be  a 
welcome  addition  to  any  ham 
shack.  It  is  a  quality  product  con- 
structed of  heavy-duty  ABS  plastic 
and  is  UL  approved.  The  unit  can 
be  recharged  from  a  standard  wall 
socket  m  about  eight  hours,  or 
from  your  car's  cigarette  lighter 
socket  in  about  three  hours  {with 
the  engine  running). 

The  Power  Station  Is  truly 
portable  at  about  7.5  pounds  and 
measuring  approximately  7,5"  x 
2.5"  X  8^  The  charging  circuit 
shuts  off  automatically  to  prevent  overcharg- 
ing. The  voltage-sensing  circuitry  protects 
the  unit  and  extends  its  life.  You  can  run  all 
three  outputs  at  the  same  time,  at  two  differ- 
ent voftages>  making  this  a  versatile  unit. 

You  will  also  enjoy  the  instruction  manual. 
The  translation  from  Chinese  is  often  humor- 
ous. Still,  the  information  Is  easily  under- 
stood. Add  a  multiple  outlet  adapter  like 
Radio  Shack's  270-1544  to  the  Power  Sta- 
tion and  go  nuts!  I  wish  they  had  these  when 
we  were  kids.  It  sure  would  have  livened  up 
the  old  tree  house.  Q 

73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  May,  1994  57 


Number  13  on  yotir  Feedback  card 


Improved  QRP  Keying  Circuit 


A  slick  fix  for  your  little  CW  rig. 

by  Steven  Weber  KD1JV 


If  you  We  ever  built  a  simple  QRP  transmit- 
ter»  the  keying  circuit  you  used  probably 
iooks  something  like  the  one  shown  in  Fig- 
ure la.  If  you  look  at  the  wave  shape  of  the 
RF  output  of  your  transmitter  with  a  scope, 
you  will  see  just  slightly  rounded  edges  on 
the  signal  as  you  key.  Also,  if  you  trigger 
your  scope  upon  key  closure,  you  will  notice 
it  takes  a  few  milliseconds  before  you  even 
gel  an  output.  Why  does  this  happen? 

Referring  back  to  Figure  la,  when  you 
close  the  key,  capacitor  CI  starts  to  dis- 
charge through  resistor  Rl.  At  some  point 
enough  charge  is  taken  froni  the  capacitor 
and  current  starts  Xo  flow  through  the  emitter 
of  Q],  starting  to  turn  it  on  and  supplying 
power  to  your  amplifiers.  The  amount  of 
time  it  takes  for  Ql  to  start  to  turn  on  after 
key  closure  is  hard  to  say  as  the  voltage 
across  CI  does  not  follow  the  normal  RC 
discharge  curve.  It  only  has  to  discharge 
enough  to  start  to  turn  on  the  transistor  and 
then  the  gain  of  the  transistor  modifies  the 
curve.  An  additional  delay  is  caused  by  the 
fact  that  the  RF  amplifiers  don't  start  to  turn 
on  until  there  is  2  to  3  volts  across  them.  By 
the  time  you  start  to  get  any  signal  out  of 
your  transmitter,  a  significant  amount  of 
time  has  gone  by  since  key  closure  and  Ql 
is  well  on  its  way  to  being  fully  turned  on. 

When  you  release  your  key,  CI  charges 
very  quickly  through  the  emitter-base  diode 


junction  of  Ql.  To  slow  down  the  turn  off 
time  a  fairly  large  capacitor,  C2,  is  added  to 
the  circuit.  This  gives  the  trailing  edge  of  the 
keyed  signal  a  shape  closer  to  what  you 
would  expect  to  see.  However,  it  takes  a  few 
milliseconds  before  C2  charges  up  enough 
to  start  to  turn  Ql  off,  again  creating  a  delay. 
"So  what?*'  you  might  ask.  Well,  it*s  not 
much  of  a  problem  with  real  low-power  rigs, 
but  when  you  get  up  to  5  or  more  watts  of 
output  power  serious  key  clicks  may  be 
heard.  If  you  try  to  round  out  the  leading 
edge  by  increasing  the  value  of  CI  there  will 
be  even  more  of  a  delay  between  key  down 
and  signal  output.  This  can  make  for  clipped 
dots  when  sending  at  faster  code  speeds, 
making  for  very  difficult  copy  on  the  other 
end  of  the  QSO, 

A  Better  Idea 

I  developed  the  circuit  shown  in  Figure  lb 
to  solve  these  problems  for  my  20  watt  40 
meter  transmitter. 

Op  amp  U2b  is  a  baste  inverting  amplifier 
with  a  gain  of  one.  The  capacitor  C5  across 
the  feedback  resistor  Rll  makes  it  an  inte- 
grator.  The  RC  time  constant  of  Rll  and  C5 
determine  the  ramp  time.  The  values  shown 
will  produce  a  5  ms  ramp.  Use  a  good-quali- 
ty capacitor  for  C5,  such  as  a  mylar  or 
polypropylene  type.  A  power  transistor  is 
placed  inside  the  feedback  loop  so  that  the 


circuit  can  supply  several  hundred  mil- 
li amperes  of  current.  Control  P2  sets  the 
stand-by  output  voltage  as  seen  at  the  emitter 
of  Q2.  U2a  buffers  the  voltage  from  P2.  This 
isolates  the  pot  from  the  input  of  the  integra- 
tor. With  your  key  up,  adjust  the  pot  until 
you  just  start  to  see  an  output  from  your 
transmitter,  then  back  off  a  little.  Typically 
this  will  be  between  2  and  4  volts.  Your  out- 
put signal  will  now  have  the  proper  5  ms 
leading  and  falling  edges  and  there  will  be 
no  delay  between  key  closure  and  the  start  of 
the  output  signal. 

You  must  supply  the  op  amp  and  collector 
of  Q2  with  at  least  15  volts  to  produce  a  full 
12  volts  output  on  the  emitter. 

One-Chip  CMOS  Delayed  T/R  Control 
Circuit 

In  Figure  lb,  when  the  code  key  is  closed, 
the  output  of  CMOS  NAND  gate  A  goes 
high,  charging  cap  C3  through  DL  The  out- 
put of  gate  C  then  goes  high,  activating  the 
T/R  relay  and  the  oscillator/mi xer/or  VFO 
offset.  One  input  to  gate  D  is  slightly  de- 
layed to  allow  the  relay  and  oscillator  or 
VFO  to  settle  before  the  initial  keying  of  the 
amplifiers.  When  the  key  is  released,  the  cap 
C3  starts  to  discharge  through  R2,  PL  If  the 
key  is  not  closed  again  before  C3  discharges 
to  1/2  of  Vcc,  the  T/R  relay  will  open  and 
switch  you  back  to  receive. 


a) 


Km- 


05 


Figure  2,  Impwved  QRP  Keying  Circuit  PC  board  and  parts  placement  diagram. 
58  73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  May,  1 994 


12V 

T 


Q1 


TO  AMPS 


> 


CI 


.  "lu 


R1 
1  6K 


> 


C2 

1u 


KEY 


a) 


> 


I 


12V 


R4 

1K 

P2 

ADJ 

ST  BY 

VOLT 

fl5 
22K 


Re     10K 
VW' 


- — O     *^2V  IN 
R7  RHG 

10K 


C8 


10K 


iTTi 


C4 


100U/25V 


^ 


0u/25V 


1W 


VV\ — f 

RS 
1O0K 


6 


>^  7 


R9 
47 


-^NAA O     *16V  IN 

R10 

10  i/2W 


5  ms 


.*12V  KEYED 


U2 
LM358 


R11     100K 
AAA^ 


1-3V 

STANDBY 


5  ms 


)i 


C5 


CM7u       FILM 


R12 


O    KEYED  OUTPUT   VOLTAGE 


C6 

1u726v 


O    <SND 


1N4146        U1 


D2 


I 


11 


13 


<3^ 


CODE 


KEY   O 

IN 

0 


b) 


12 


02 

001    ^ 
D1  ^ 

— W 


R3 
100K 


12V 


1H4143 


100K 

■wv 


R2  47K 


PI 


DELAY 


e 


10 


9 


^        VFO     SPOT 
OFF-SET 


C3  CD401ia 

^    10uy25V 


12V 


] 


Figure  I. a)  Typical  QRP  keying  ciwuii;  b)  Improved  QRP  Keying  Circuit  with  CMOS  T/R  keying  control 


R1.4,T2 
R2 

Bas.li 

R5 
R6,7 
R9 
RIO 

PI 
P2 


Ik1/4W 
47!<  1/4W 
100k 


1Gk 

47  ohm 

10  ohm 

100k  or  500k  trimpot 

lOktfimpal 


f    CI 

C2 
03,4 

C5 
C6 
C7 
OS 

D1,2 
03,4,5 


Parts  List 

0.01  |iF  disk  cap 
0.001  pF  disk 
10  uF/25V  electro 
0.047  ^F  poly-fiim  type 
1  uF/25V  eJectro 
Skipped 

100  ^F/^6V  etedro 
1N41 48  diode 
1N4001  1 A  diode 


01 
02 

U1 
U2 


2N3904  HPH 
■np4t-to-220NPN 
4011 B  CMOS  NAND  gales 
L^^58  dual  Op  amp 


Drilled  and  etched  PC  boards  are  available  for 
$4  plus  $1.50  S  &  H  per  order  from  FAR  Circufts, 
18N649  Field  Court,  Dundee.  IL  60118. 


73  Amateur  Radio  Today  May,  1994  59 


Hams  ATS 


Nuinbar  14  on  your  Feedback  ^d 


Andy  MacAflister  WASZtB 
U714  Knights  Way  Drive 
Houston  TX  77083 


The  Return  of  DOVE 


Just  over  four  years  ago,  on  Jan- 
uary 21.  1990,  tour  small  cube- 
shaped  satellites  were  laynched 
from  the  Kourou.  French  Guyana, 
spaceport  as  secondary  passengers 
on  an  Ariane  rocket.  They  began  a 
new  era  in  amateur-radio  satellite 
communications.  Among  Ihem  vyas 
DOVE,  the  Digital  Ort)iting  Voice  En- 
coder. It  would  soon  become  known 
asDOVE-OSCAR-17, 

DOVE  is  small,  measuring  only 
10  Inches  on  each  side,  and  weigb- 
Ing  just  over  20  pounds.  The  satellite 
)s  composed  Df  aluminum  trays 
formed  into  a  stack  tied  together 
with  stainless-steel  bolts  and  cov- 
ered with  solar  ceils  for  power.  The 
tntemal  Irays  contain  Ihe  command 
receiver,  flight  computer,  power 
module  with  batteries.  S-band 
(2401 .220  MH2)  transmitter,  AX.2S 
packet  TNC  (terminal  node  con- 
troJlerJ,  digttal-to-anatog  converter 
system,  voice  synthesizer  and  the  2 
meter  FM  transmitters. 

A  25'Conductor  ribbon  cable  njns 
between  the  modules  carrying  pow- 
er, digita)  data>  control  signals  and 
analog  voltages  from  the  various 
telerpetry  sensors.  Eacli  nnodule  has 
its  awn  AART  (Addressable  Asyn- 
chronous Recerver/Transmltter).  The 
inter-module  communication  runs  at 
ABQQ  bps  (bits  per  se^^oncf)  and  has 
been  described  as  a  six-inch-long 
IAN  (LocaJ  Area  Network). 

DOVE'S  mission  is  1o  transmit 
voice  messages  for  educational  and 


Amateur  Radio  Via  Satellites 


scientific  purposes.  The  project  was 
first  proposed  by  Junior  Torres  de 
Castro  PY2BJO.  Junior  is  President 
of  BRAMSAT  (Sociedade  Braslleira 
de  Satelite  Amador),  the  Brazilian 
counterpart  ot  AMSAT-NA  (Tbe  Ra* 
dio  Amateur  Satellite  Corpo ration), 
and  is  also  a  member  of  the  Board 
of  Directors  ot  AMSAT-NA.  Junior 
and  BRAMSAT  Sponsored  the  pro- 
gram and  paid  for  the  sate J lite  which 
was  built  in  Gotorado  during  the  late 
1980s.  Junior  was  knighted  by  the 
president  of  Brazil  for  his  contribu- 
tion to  the  welfare  of  Brazil  ttirouih 
the  DOVE  protect 

During  early  software  develop* 
menl  efforts  after  launch  the  2  meter 
transmitter  became  stuck  in  the  ON 
condition.  Usually  the  transmitter  cy- 
cles to  allow  time  for  uplink  com- 
mands. With  the  transmitter  on  con- 
tinuously, DOVE  s  2  meter  command 
fsoeiver  was  severely  desensitized. 
Thanks  to  the  efforts  of  W5UN  and 
his  extremely  high  ERR  (effective  ra- 
diated power)  moonbounce  station, 
a  reset  signal  was  forced  into  the 
command  receiver  during  a  period 
when  the  satellite's  transmitter  pow- 
er was  low  due  to  low  battery  voit- 
age.  DOVE  had  been  saved  from 
potential  disaster  The  heavy  cycling 
of  Ihe  batteries  could  have  caused 
if  reversible  damage  to  the  power 
system. 

In  1991  and  1992  Students  ai  the 
Chaminade  College  Preparatory 
School  used  DOVE  for  classroom 
projects.  DOVE  was  beginning  to 
meet  its  potentiaC  through  education- 
al efforts.  A  number  of  curriculum 
packages  were  developed  at  the 
scbool  to  teach  science  principles. 


Photo  A.  The  DOVE-Oscsr-17  QSL  frum  PY2&JO  and  BRAMSAT 


DOVE  Talks 

On  May  24.  1^2.  strange  voice 
iigirmis  could  be  heard  on  DOVE's 
145.823  MHz  FM  downlink  in  be- 
tween the  bursts  of  packet  telemetry. 
Sounding  like  the  Coiossus  comput- 
er in  the  movie  The  Forbin  Project,* 
the  satellite  was  speaking  a  short 
sentence,  "You  are  listening  to  Dove 


mlcrosat,"  Command  stations  on  the 
ground  had  sent  code  to  the  SG-02 
voice  synthesizer  unit  (now  called 
the  Arctic  Technologies  263 A)  to  ac* 
tivate  the  voice  output^  It  worked,  but 
after  a  few  days  ttie  message  be- 
came garbled.  Since  then  the  voice 
capability  has  been  expanded,  but 
the  synthesiz:er  does  not  represent 
the  full  voice  capability  of  DOVE. 


Photo  B.  Junior  Torres  de  Castro  PYBBJO  was  knighted  by  the  President  of  Brazii 
for  his  contributions  to  the  country  regarding  DOVE. 

60  73  Amateur  Radio  Today  *  May,  1994 


Photo  C.  The  Microsat/DOVE  simulator  at  WDOE  requires  several  circuits  and  de- 
vices. (WD0E  photo.) 


Photo  a  Prototype  DOVE  voice  and  data  modaie  fs  used  as  part  of  the  Mh 
crosai/DQVE  simulator.  (WD0E  photo.) 


IhB  unused  digitaJ-to-analog  con- 
verter systeni  was  designed  to  allow 
uploaded  digitized  voice  to  be  sent 
with  fideUly  close  to  the  original 
recording.  Work  continues  to  bring 
this  function  online  but  no  guaran- 
tees or  estimates  are  possible  since 
this  is  a  volunteer  effort. 

The  Failures 

Since  launch  there  have  been 
some  hardware  problems  that  have 
made  life  diificuSt  for  the  recovery 
team  and  ground  controllers.  The 
locked -on  transmitter  event  earlier  in 


DOVE'S  life  could  have  destroyed 
the  batteries.  It  is  uncertain  if  the 
satellite  could  survive  a  repeat  of 
thaf  incident.  Elaborate  soHware 
watchdog  rimers  have  been  imple* 
mented  in  the  pfogramming;  with 
hope,  this  will  help  to  avoid  a  future 
occurrence. 

The  A  ART  communications  Chip 
on  the  module  tray  containing  the 
voice  system  is  not  operating  cor- 
rectly. It  can  receive  and  act  on  in- 
structions sent  to  it,  but  cannot  re- 
spond back  through  the  satellite 
LAN.  This  has  required  that  pro- 


Photo  E.  Microsai  software  testing  is  c. 
at  WD0E.  (WD0E  photo.) 


g rammers  not  demand  any  digital  re- 
sponse from  the  voice  unit  to  ac- 
knowledge commands. 

Carrier  suppression  of  the  S-tiand 


on  a  microsat  CPU  board  tike  this  one 


2.4  (BHz  transmitter  failed  complete- 
ly. This  means  that  the  transmitter's 
signal  can  be  easily  detected,  but 
the  data  carried  by  the  modulation  is 


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The  SG2000  HF  transcetvef  ts  lype  accepted  tm  GommefGiai  and  marine  servica 
m^e  wrlh  ff^adltional  U-S.  ocmm&rci^l  raidio  quality  (and  al  cours-t  il  can  be  us€<! 
on  the  ham  bands  aJsa^  wiiue  J  he  Japanfise  radios  have  2  ftnar  tritiniSistors  tnai 
3lrain  to  put  out  10Q  watis  on  th«  low  bands  and  only  75-85  watis  on  ten  metar^, 
ihe  SGSOGO  ^as  4  larg*  iransisEons  iiiat  roaf  along  ai  150  watts  on  ALL  THE 
BANDS  INCLUDING  10  METERS!  Some  Of  tho  SQ2000  leatums  are;  1)  A 
c&nirol  heatf  remotabie  (no  special  kit  necessary)  up  lo  150'  awa/  from  the  rtg, 
porfed  lor  automobiles  and  boots.  Up  to  &  heads  can  bo  uEitli^od  and  used  as 
Intorcoms  also,  2)  The  lar^esl  display  0(  any  HF  Iranscelver.  3)  644  pre- 
programmed memories  and  IOC  user  programmat^ie  niemoTies,  4}  operabio  trtwrt 
'30F  {'A5C}  to  lasF  1+SSCj,  You  wani  quality  right?  Here  is  what  EVERY 
SG2D00  mi^t  endure  before  tf>ov'fs  sliipped  fram  tfie  (actoryi  VI  Ttiey're  tactofy 
aligned.  2.)  BVEMy  332000  tt  tcsycd  down  at  luH  power  fCW  ^  SO  Walts)  mio  an 
open  a'Ytenna  ior  about  10  uconds.  tncn  connected  to  a  shonod  eintennia  and 
keyed  down  fof  an  addflfonal  1 0  seconds.  31  EVERY  SO2O00  Is  put  kn  the 
~au^=IM-tir  fack  and  keyvd  do«m  lor  24  hours  non>$iop  m  fuE  pc^et  CW.  Don1  wy  mat  wish  the  fofeign  radioa.  4j  every  5G£0G0  is 
Ihen  r€-diecic8d  lor  aiignm^ii  end  put  in  the  tohtuhe  rac^T  wtieee  they  ah9  k4yed  4n  m^  oH  every  1Q  sa^onds  f^  24  htours.  5| 
the  S(^2000  is  P«rt  re-ev^hjaled  and  ai  control  tunctions  are  verflted  to  ensva  that  Hie  miCTOprooesSOr  cs  up  )K>  Sp«£-  BCN  AND 
ONLY  TtlEN  15  THE  S<52QOO  ALLOWED  TO  LEAVE  THE  FACTORY. 

Ttm  bottom  ine  :»  price,  you  knd«  how  ajqsensMi  commaziai  tqs  are  ncrmaliy,  we  are  teiing  me  SG2QQ0  B€LOW  OEALEH  CC^T 
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The  5G236  SMART-TUNf  R  is  the  t>e&E  HF  autoluner  at  any  ofice.  and  :o 
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Serving  The  LORD 
Skice  1967 


Joe  Brancalo 

THE  HAM  CONTACT 

PO  Box  3624.  Dept  73 
Long  Beach,  CA  9G803 

CA  ResdenlsAddS  1/4%  SalHT&i  Atgisl«3L  HawaL  AfKJCftnwisnReadffFte^EesKBendU 
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(atOH^-seeo.  outside  of  CA  Orders  OnJy  eai  {dOQ)933-HAM4  and  leavo  a  message. 


CIRCLE  114  ON  Rf  AP€n  SERVICE  CARD 


CIRCLE  334  ON  READER  SERVICE  CARD 


73  Amateur  Radio  Today  May,  1994  61 


difficult  to  detect.  It  is  20  cfB  below 
the  carrier  An  open  capacitor  may 
be  the  culprit,  but  there  is  no  way  to 
fix  It  Using  the  S*band  receive  sys- 
tem of  Bill  McCaa  K0R2,  in  conjunc- 
tion witii  DSP  (digital  signal  process- 
ing) techniques,  \he  low  moduiatlon 
ieveis  have  beon  received  well 
enough  to  decode  some  of  the  S- 
band  packets. 

The  temperature  sensor  on  bat- 
tery two  is  bad.  This  is  more  of  an 
annoyance  than  a  problem.  It  Ss  only 
mentioned  since  someone  monitor- 
ing the  telemetry  might  get  worried 
by  the  high  values  associated  with 
this  parameter. 


DOVE  Today 

Extensive  effort  by  the  satetiite's 
designers,  builders  and  the  current 
team  of  ground  controlters  has  been 
needed  to  circumvent  DOVE's  prob- 
lems. The  resuil,  four  years  after 
launch,  is  a  functional  satellite  with  a 
lot  of  potential .  Key  voiunteers  in  the 
recovery  team  include  Haroid  Price 
NK6K,  Jim  White  WD0E,  Bob  DIers- 
ing  N5AHD  and  Bill  McCaa  K0RZ. 
For  day-to-day  operation  the  lead 
command  station  is  Richard  Howie tt 
VK7ZSX,  with  help  from  Russ  Piatt 
WJ9F.  DOVE  can  be  heard  on 
145.825  MHz  FM  sending  standard 


AX,25  packet  at  1200  bps.  The  sig- 
nals are  strong  and  can  be  heard  on 
a  handie-talkie.  A  typical  home  sta- 
tion set  up  for  packet  operation  can 
easiiy  detect  and  copy  the  mes- 
sages and  telemetry  sent  by  DOVE. 
The  simplest  approach  to  DOVE 
monitoring  is  to  leave  your  packet 
station  on  145.825  MHz  and  set  your 
computer's  communications  pro- 
gram to  a  capture  mode,  Depending 
on  your  location  there  will  be  four  to 
six  passes  above  your  horizon  in  a 
24-hour  period.  After  a  day  of  moni- 
toring, check  the  capture  file  tor  da- 
ta. It  may  took  somethmg  like  that 
shown  in  Figure  1.  Using  information 


from  Rgures  2,  3,  4  and  5,  this  data 
can  be  deciphered. 

A  more  sophisticated  approach  to 
telemetry  capture  is  to  use  a  com- 
puter with  a  satellite-tracking  pro* 
gram  to  determine  when  the  satellite 
is  above  the  horizon,  then  tune  for 
Doppler  shift,  use  a  beam  antenna 
and  collect  the  data  on  a  PC  with 
TLMDC-II,  WhatS-  Up  by  G3ZCZ,  or 
another  microsat  telemetry  program. 

Several  satellite-tracking  pro- 
grams have  been  available  as 
shareware  and  there  are  other  good 
ones  for  sale.  A  source  of  commer- 
cial software  is  AMSAT  at  (301)  589- 
6062.  One  of  their  simpler  PC  track- 


DOVE-1  >BCRXMT-0  Sun  Mar  05  05:51 :38  1 994 

vmax=7G9l60  baltop=766771  temp=357713 

DOVE-1>LSTAT-0  Sun  Mar  06  05:51:39  1994 

I  P:0x3000  o:0  1:138S4  f:  13884,  d:0  St:0 

SWITCH'0>SWITCH-0  DM 

DOVE-1>TIME'1  Sun  Mar  06  05:52:01  1994 

PHT:  uptime  is  11 9/1 1 :39:04.  Time  is  Sun  Mar  06  05:52:20  1 994 

SWITCH-0>SWITCH-0  DM 

DOVE-1>TLM-0  Sun  Mar  06  05:52:05  1994 

00:58  01 :58  02:85  03:30  04:57  05:58  06:60  07:54  08:6B  09:74  OA;AO 

0B:E2  0C:E8  0D:D6  0E:00  0F:24  10:CD  11:A4  12:00  13:02  14:A8  15:95 

16:96  17:92  18:94  19:94  1A:91  1B:8C  10:98  1D:91  1E:25  1F:5C  20:B2 

DOVE-t>TLM-0  Sun  Mar  06  05:52:06  1994 

21 :9C  22:19  23:18  24:1 5  25:34  26:00  27:00  28:00  29:00  2A:00  2B:00 

2C:00  2D:28  2E:00  2F:9F  30:CC  31:9E  32:00  33:00  34:C0  35:A4  36:AA 

37:AS  38:B2 

DOVE-1>STATUS-0  Sun  Mar  06  05:52:06  1994 

80  00  00  IE  41  18  CC  02  00  50  00  00  OA  OF  3C  05  17  00  OF  04  01 

DOVE-1>_STAI-0  Sun  Mar  06  05:52:06  1994 

1  P:Oj<3000  0:0  1:13884  f:  13884,  d:0  st:0 

SWlTCH^O>SWITCH-0  DM 

DOVE-1>TIME-1  Sun  Mar 06  05:52:31  1994 


PHT  uptime  is  119/11:39:34.  Time  is  Sun  Mar  06  05:52:50  1994 

SWITGH-0>SWITGH-0  DM 

DOVE-1>TLM-0Sun  Mar  06  05:52:35  1994 

00:58  01 :58  02:85  03:30  04:58  05:58  06:6C  07:54  08:6C  09:72  0A:9F 

OB:EOOC:E8  0D:D6  0E:00  0F:24  10:CC  11:A4  12:00  13:01  14:A8  15:96 

16:8F  17:94  18:92  19:94  1A:92  1B:8C  10:98  1D:92  1E:24  1F:5O20:B0 

DOVE-1>TLM-0Sun  Mar  06  05:52:36  1994 

21:9D  22;  19  23:18  24:14  25:34  26:00  27:00  28:01  29:00  2A:00  28:00 

2C:00  2D:28  2E:00  2F:9E  30:CC  31:9E  32:01  33:00  34;C0  35:A4  36:AA 

37:A9  38:B2 

D0VE^1>STATUS  0  Sun  Mar  06  05:52:36  1994 

80  00  00  1E  41  18  CO  02  00  50  00  00  OA  OF  30  05  17  00  OF  04  01 

DOVE-1>BRAMST-0  Sun  Mar  06  05:52:33  1994 

3rd  March  1994 

DOVE  reports  have  been  received  from: 
Will  Marchant  Richard  Emerson 

Steven  Bible  Dave  Reeves 

Gilbert  Mackall  Jim  Lyons 

Dorothy  Baker  Paul  Wiliamson 

These  will  change  in  3  Days. 

fvk7zbx] 


FigLtre  t  Sample  of  recent  DOVE  packet  telemetry. 


EqiiatEons  are  in  the  form:  Y  =  A*Nr  +  B*N  +  C  where: 
N  =  Telemetry  Count  (00  -  FF) 
A,  B,  G  =  Equation  Coefficients 
Y  -  Result  {in  Specified  Units) 


HEX  Description 

0  Rx  E/F  Audio(W) 

1  Rx  E/F  AiJdio(N) 

2  Mixer  Bias  V: 

3  Osc.  Bisd  V: 

4  Rx  A  Audb  (W): 

5  RxAAudb{N): 

6  RxADISC: 

7  Rx  A  S  meter: 

8  Rx  E/F  DISC: 

9  -Rx  E/F  S  meter: 
A  +5  Volt  Bus: 

B  +5V  Rx  Current: 

C  +2.5V  VREF: 

D  8.5V  BUS: 

E  IR  Detector: 

F  LO  Monitor  I: 

10  +10VBus: 

11  GASFETBiasI: 

12  Ground  REF: 

13  +Z  Array  V: 

14  Rx  Temp: 

15  +X(RX}temp: 

16  Bat1V: 

17  Bat2V: 

18  Bat  3  V: 

19  Bat4V: 
1A  BatSV: 


C  B  A 

+0.000  +0.0346  0.000 

+0.000  +0.0246  0.000 

+0.000  •HJ.OIOH  0.000 

+0.000  +0.0102  0,000 

+0.000  +0.0246  0.000 

+0,000  +0,0246  0.000 

+10.427  -0.09274  0.000 

+0.000  +1 ,000  0.000 

+9.6234  -0.09911  0,000 

+0.000  +1.000  0.000 

+0.000  +0.0305  0.000 

+0.000  +0.00010100  o.ooo 

+0,000  +0.O1O8  0.000 

+0.000  +0.0391  0,000 

+0.000  +1 .000  0.000 

+0.000  +0,000037  0.000 

+0.C0O  +0.05075  0.000 

+0.000  +0.OOO026  O.OOO 

+0.000  +0.0100  0.000 

+0,000  +0.1023  0.000 

+101.05  '0.6051  O.OOO 

+101.05  -0.6051  0.000 

+1 .7932  -0.0034O84  0.000 

+1.797S  -0.O035316  0.000 

+1.8046  -0.0035723  0.000 

+1 .7762  -0.0034590  0.000 

+1.$410  -0.0038355  0.000 


UnFts 

V<P"P) 

V(P-P) 

Volts 

Volts 

V(p-p) 

V(p-p) 

kHz 

Counts 

kHz 

Counts 

Volts 

Amps 

Vo3ts 

Volts 

Counts 

Amps 

Volts 

Amps 

Volts 

Volts 

Deg.  C 

Deg.  C 

Volts 

Volts 

Volts 

Volts 

Volts 


HEX  Description  C 

IB  BateV:  +1.8381 

1C  Bat  7  V:  +1 .8568 

ID  BataV:  +1.7866 

1E  Array  V;  +7.205 

1F  +5VSus:  +1.932 

20  +8.5V  Bus:  +5.265 

21  +10VBus:  +7.469 

22  OCR  Set  Point:  -8.762 

23  BCR  Load  Cur:  -0.0871 

24  +8,5V  Bus  Cur:  -0.0092 

25  +5V  Bus  Cur:  +0.00502 

26  -X  Array  Cur:  -0.01075 

27  +X  Array  Cur:  -0  01349 

28  -Y  Array  Cyr:  -0.01 1 96 
23  +Y  Array  Cur:  -0.01141 
2A  -2  Array  Cur:  -0,01653 
2B  +Z  Array  Cur:  -0.01137 
2C  Esct  Power  Cyr:  *0,02000 
20  BCR  Input  Cur:  +0.05122 
SB  BCR  Output  Cur:  -0-01724 
2F  Bat  1  Temp:  +101.05 
36  Bat  2  Temp:  +101.05 

31  Basepit  Tern  p:  +101.05 

32  FM  TX#1  RF  OUT:  +0.0256 

33  FM  T:K#2  RF  OUT:  -0.0027 

34  PSKTXHPATemp  +101.05 

35  +Y  Array  Temp  +101 .05 

36  RC  PSK  HPATemp  +101.05 

37  RC  PSK  BP  Temp:  +101.05 

38  +Z  Array  Temp:  +101.05 
^  S  band  TX  Out:  -0.0451 
3A  s  band  HPA  Temp  +101 .05 


B 

-0.0038450 

-0. 0037757 

'0.0034068 

+O.O7200 

+0.0312 

+0.0173 

+0.021765 

+1.1590 

+0.00698 

+0.001899 

+0.00431 

+0.00215 

+0.00270 

+0.00239 

+0.00228 

+0-00245 

+0.00226 

+0.00250 

+0,0031 7 

+0,00345 

'0.6051 

-0.6051 

-0.6051 

-0.000884 

+0.0O1257 

-0.6051 

-0.6051 

-0.6051 

-0.6051 

-0.6061 

+0.00403 

-0.6051 


A 

0.000 
0,000 
0,000 

0.000 
0.000 

o.ooo 

0.000 
0.000 
0.000 
0.000 

o.ooo 

0,000 

0.000 

0,000 

0.000 

0.000 

0.000 

0.000 

0.000 

0.000 

0.000 

0.000 

0.000 

+0.0000836 

+0.0000730 

0.000 

0.000 

0,000 

0.000 

0,000 

0.000 

0,000 


Units 

Voits 

Vofts 

Votts 

Vofts 

Volts 

Volts 

Voits 

Counts 

Amps 

Amps 

Amps 

Amps 

Amps 

Amps 

Amps 

Amps 

Amps 

Amps 

Amps 

Amps 

Deg,  C 

Deg.  C 

Deg.  C 

Watts 

Watts 

Deg.  C 

Deg-C 

Deg.  C 

Deg.  C 

Deg.  C 

Watts 

Deg.C 


Figure  2.  Ongmai  DOVE  telemetry  decoding  parameters.  (N4HY) 


62  73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  May,  1 994 


The  LSTAT  line  is  senl  by  the  loader  portion  of  PHT  (the 
loader/command/telemetry  task).  Its  purpose  is  to  show  the  state  of  the  loader 
process  so  that  ff  sometfiing  goes  wrong  durtng  upload,  we  can  teli  wt^t  r^eds 
to  be  fSoue  to  continue  the  process. 

The  LSTAT  line  comes  in  two  types,  as  shown  betow. 

I  PiOjchhhh  o:n  l:nnnn  f:nnnn,  d:n  st:n\ 

A:  Oxhhhh.  P:Oxhhhh,  o:n  i:nnnn  finnnn,  d:ri  stn  "r  Means  there  is  no  soft- 
ware load  in  progress  (inactive) 

A:  Means  a  software  load  is  in  progress  (active),  tihhh  ^  the  segment  ad- 
dress of  the  program  being  loaded. 

P:  The  segment  of  the  ninning  program  (PHT).  the  initial  load  ol  PHT  is  al- 


ways at  0x3000.  any  other  address  here  means  PHT  has  been  reloaded. 

o:  the  number  of  times  the  HDLC  otitpul  queue  was  full  when  PHT  tried  to 
serxj  a  frame,  this  ts  left  over  from  debugging  the  only  major  bug  found  in  the 
I/O  drivers  since  launch,  A  bug  oo^asionaiiy  caused  a  65535  byte  frame  to  t>e 
sent,  filling  the  output  queue  for  nine  minutes.  Thfs  should  always  be  zero. 

I:  the  largest  free  memory  block,  in  decimal  paragraphs,  To  find  the  number 
of  free  bytes  in  the  largest  block,  muttiply  this  number  by  16.  This  number 
shows  the  largest  program  that  can  be  loaded  at  that  time. 

f:  The  total  amount  of  free  memory,  in  decimal  paragraphs. 

d:  The  dig] peat  flag.  1  is  dfgipeat  on,  0  is  diglpeat  off. 

St:  The  task  number  of  the  [ast  task  loaded. 


Figure  3.  LSTAT  ftne  decoding  for  DOVE.  (NKSK) 


Followng  is  a  breakdown  of  information  in  the  STATUS  line  presently  trans- 
mitted by  DOVE.  This  only  applies  to  DOVE  arKi  the  current  on-board  software* 
Counting  frorn  the  left,  the  first  pair  of  numbers  being  0.  Ali  data  Is  in  hex. 

0  -  Receiver  status.  Bits  0  -  3  =  Rlter  status  of  R)t  A-D:  0  =  1200,  1  =  4800, 
Bits  4  -  7  =  gain  settings  of  IB  sensor,  ^jormal  =  8  =  log  mode.  Moonal  for  wtrole 
position  ts  80  =  IR  in  iog,  fUlers  fn  1200. 

NOTE:  receivers  in  DOVE  are  for  commanding  only. 

1  -  Unused 
2 '  Unused 

3  -  BCR  Set  point,  ts  adjusted  by  fKHJsekeeping  task  software  lo  provide  best 
power  transfer  from  panels  to  regulators,  f^onnally  i  E  during  eclipse  arxl  in  tt^ 
eOs  in  the  sun.  Roughly  con^espor>dsto  telemetry  channel  22h, 

4  -  Number  of  hours  since  last  command.  See  18. 

5  -  BCR  status  bits.  Indicates  status  of  various  latches  in  the  BCR  used  to 
gather  telemetry. 

6  -  Transmitter  power  level.  0  to  R  Rrst  number  Is  TXi.  second  is  TX2.  al- 
though they  will  normally  be  the  same. 

7  -  Which  transmitter  Is  in  use.  Bit  0  (LSB)  is  TXl ,  bit  1  is  TX2.  A  hex  02  ind^ 
cates  TX2  is  in  use*  Ot  wouki  be  TXl. 

8  -  Unused 

9  -  Status  of  switches  in  the  voice/pa cket/s 43 and  module  (4).  Will  always  be 
DO  in  this  version. 


10  -  Unused 

11  -  Wt^en  WOD  is  in  use,  shows  the  number  of  samples  lakerVIS.  This  pro* 
vtdes  a  positive  Indication  a  collection  has  started,  how  far  it  fias  proceeded  and 
when  the  sample  bucket  is  full. 

12  -  Low  end  of  nominal  transmitter  power  range.  See  13. 

13  -  High  er^:*  of  nominal  iTansmitter  power  range.  The  housekeepir*g  soft- 
ware moves  the  transmitter  power  between  these  two  number  to  control  the 
charge/discharge  of  the  batteries,  and  keep  the  transmitter  power  as  high  as 
possible, 

14  -  Time  between  executions  of  tfie  power  control  software  In  secorxis. 

15  -  The  transmitter  power  level  that  is  set  if  the  batteries  get  abnonnaJly  dis- 
charged. Normally  5. 

16  -  Count  of  errors  on  the  s/c  Internal  bus,  ThJs  will  Increment  on  DOVE  be- 
cause module  4  no  longer  consistently  responds. 

17  -  Overflow  from  16. 

18  -  Days  till  the  command  timer  will  expire.  Defaults  to  2  on  software  staiL 
Normally  kept  at  R  This  is  another  of  the  software  "watchdogs"  that  attempt  to 
assure  the  2m  transmitter  doesn't  get  stuck  on  forever,  if  the  s/c  does  not  hear 
a  command  in  this  number  of  days,  it  jumps  to  the  ROM  boot  loader  firmware 
which  turns  all  transmitters  off. 

19  -  The  module  number  the  errors  in  16  came  from. 

20  -  Intemal  state  related  to  transmitter  tock-on  avoidance.  Nonnally  1. 


RgufB  4,  STATUS  Hne  decoding  for  DOVE.  (WDOE) 


(fig  programs  is  currently  being  of- 
fered as  a  'perit"  for  new  members 
who  join  at  the  S30  yearty  rate.  They 
have  other  more  sophisticated  pro- 
grams with  many  different  features. 
Any  of  them,  including  the  "perk," 
are  good  for  finding  DOVE. 

Tuning  for  Doppier  shift  is  easy. 
Since  the  DOVE  output  is  FM  on  2 
meters,  tuning  is  not  always  neces- 
sary- The  maximum  Doppier  shift  on 
an  overhead  pass  ts  no  more  than 
+/-  3  kHz.  At  the  beginning  of  a  pass 
the  signal  will  appear  a  few  kHz 
high.  At  closest  approach  the  signal 
will  be  on  145  825  Mi-12.  and  as  the 
satellite  heads  away  it  will  appear  a 
few  kHz  low. 

DOVE  has  two  2  meter  transmit- 
ters. Transmitter  two  is  more  effi- 
cient and  is  usually  on.  It  ajns  RHCP 
(right-hand  circular  polarization)  with 
the  satoHite's  antenna  array  white 
transmitter  one  creates  an  LHCP 
stgnai.  A  typical  verticaily-poiarized 
home-station  antenna  does  well  with 
either  transmitter,  A  small  beam  that 
can  be  rotated  in  both  azimuth  and 
elevation  planes  is  desirable  but  not 
required. 

For  data  capture  and  automatic 
decoding,  AMSAT  offers  TLMOC-II 
at  S2Q  for  members  and  S30  for  non* 
merplje*^  at  the  number  above  or  via 
maH  at:  AMSAT-NA,  850  Sfigo  Ave. 
#600.  Silver  Spring,  MD  20910.  Re- 
ception reports  can  be  sent  to:  Dr. 


Junior  Torres  de  Castro  (PY2BJO), 
119  MacaubaL  Sao  Paulo,  BRAZIL 
01254.  South  America,  Special 
DOVE  QSL  cards  will  be  sent  to 
those  submitting  reception  reports. 
Junior  and  BR  AM  SAT  are  parlicular- 
fy  interested  ^n  hearing  about  equip- 
ment used  and  signal  quaJity.  While 
actual  telemetry  listings  are  not  cur- 
rently needed,  they  would  also 
like  to  hear  of  any  educational ly- 
orienied  activities  using  signals  from 
DOVE, 

DOVE  s  Future 

Even  if  ihe  voice  system  is  never 
fully  e:<ercised,  many  educational 
activities  using  DOVE  are  pOSSfble. 
Just  a  few  of  the  studies  conceivable 
include  orbital  mechanics,  the  speed 
of  light  and  Doppier  shift,  thermal 
characteristics  of  Ihe  satellite,  solar 
panel  operation,  satellite  alignment 
with  Ihe  earth's  magnetic  field,  gravh 
ty  and  other  general  topics  related  to 
satellites  and  communications.  If  full 
voice  operalfons  become  possible, 
many  of  the  common  telemetry  out- 
puts could  be  spoken  rather  than 
sent  In  hex  code. 

To  amateur-radio  operators, 
DOVE  represents  a  very  easy  way 
to  get  started  with  hamsats.  Most 
amateurs  f^ve  some  fonn  of  2  me* 
ter  equiprr^ent  and  can  easily  moni- 
tor DOVE*s  signal.  The  packet  stg- 
nals  are  easily  captured  by  any 


Folbwirvg  are  Ihe  formulas  for  oak;ulatJng  the  output  power  of  the  fXDVE 
transmitters  ffom  the  value  in  STATUS  line.  It's  necessary  to  calculate  the 
power  because  the  transmitter  is  off  when  tfie  telemetry  is  gathered. 

Transmitter  number  1  (r>oi  in  use  at  present) 
Output  power  =  s=  X  .020460  +  s  X  -,027435 

Transmitter  number  2  (presently  in  use) 
Output  power  =  s^  X  .022176  +  s  X  -.051588 

Where  "s"  Is  one  of  the  digits  In  STATUS  line  position  6  (counting  from 
zero  on  {he  left).  These  will  gel  you  within  a  tenth  of  a  wait  or  so  at  the  high 
ef)d. 


Figure  5.  Ouput  power  ca^cutations  tor  DOVE. 


packet  system  currently  set  up  for 
terrestrial  use.  The  59  telemetry 
channels  of  data  from  this  small 
cube  in  space  offer  information  ot  in- 
terest to  those  engaged  in  satellrte 
studies  or  just  considering  repeater 
telemetry  systems  or  other  remote- 
sensing  experimenis  using  ham  ra* 

diO- 

When  OOVE  was  brought  t>ack  to 
2  meter  operation  in  November  of 
last  year,  Junior  PY2BJO  offered  his 
thanks  to  those  involved  in  the  satel- 
lite's recovery,  *After  a  long  time, 
DOVE  is  back  again  on  2m  at 
145.825  UHz.  This  project  was  cre- 
ated to  provide  an  extremely  simple 
way  for  those  not  familiar  with  satel- 
liie  communications,  especially 
those  new  to  amateur  radio,  to  take 
part  in  this  exciting  phase  of  our 


hobby.  DOVE  is  finally  beginning  to 
live  up  to  its  ohginal  promise.  After 
Its  rebirth,  we  at  BRAMSAT  are  re- 
ceiving many  E-mail  messages 
(PY2BJO@amsat.org)  and  letters. 
We  are  happy  with  this  response, 
but  we  wilt  be  even  happier  when 
DOVE  again  becomes  the  popular 
satellite  that  we  always  knew  it  could 
be/ 

For  further  information  on  DOVE 
there  are  several  publications  cover- 
ing the  topic  and  other  related  satel- 
lites. Afl  the  books  are  available  from 
AMSAT  and  include  Decoding 
Teierrtetry  from  the  Amateur  Satel* 
Iftes.  The  PACSAT  Beginner's 
Guide,  Proceedings  of  the  AMSAT^ 
NA  EtevenW  Space  Symposium 
f993  and  The  Sateline  Experh 
menter's  Handbook. 


73  Amateur  Radio  Today  May,  1 994  63 


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Number  15  on  your  Feedback  card 


Marc  i  Leavey,  M.D.,  WA3AJR 
6  Jenny  Lsne 
BattimorB  MD  2120B 

Last  month  I  printecf  a  few  schemes 
used  to  mate  ttie  popular  CP-1  mter- 
face,  by  AEA,  with  various  computers. 
This  month,  with  the  help  of  F.  A» 
BartJen  W60WP  of  Paradtse,  Califor- 
nia, let  me  share  some  more  tntertac- 
rng  data. 

Bart  retates  familiarity  with  AEA, 
Kantronlcs,  and  MIcrotog  programs 
from  the  CP-1  era.  While  ail  three  use 
the  5-conductor  CP-l  cable  and  con- 
nect to  the  C-S4  user  port,  each  con- 
nects to  different  pins  on  that  port.  He 
Is  not  aware  of  any  programs  for  the 
C-64  that  access  the  game  port.  CP-1 
cabfes  that  temiinate  with  a  9-pin  Joy- 
stick plug  were  normally  intended  to 
run  with  the  C-64's  tiaby  brother  com- 
puter the  VIC'20.  WnUe  the  CP-1  is 
the  same  for  either  computer,  the  ca- 
ble used  for  the  C-64  is  the  one  that 
plugs  into  the  user  port.  The  pinoul 
data  for  the  CP-1  is  as  follows; 

Pin  1 — RTTY  send^receive  fine 
from  computer 

Pin  2— RTTY  input  from  computer 

Pin  3— CW  input  from  computer 

Pin  A — Grour>d 

Pin  5 — CP*1  demodulator  out  to 
computer 

Fin  5  Is  the  left-hand  pin,  looking  at 
the  unit  from  the  rear. 

Bef erring  to  last  month's  diagrams, 


Amateur  Radio  Teletype 


these  would  appear  to  be  connect  for 
AEA  software,  such  as  AEA  MBA- 
TOB.  Other  software  schemes  hook 
up  to  different  user  part  pms.  See 
Table  1  for  a  comparison  of  several 
software  connections. 

As  you  can  see,  the  software  deter- 
mines the  use  of  each  prn  of  the  user 
port,  so  the  connection  to  ihe  CP-1 
must  be  modiffed  accordingly.  Jf  you 
are  using  some  other  form  of  software, 
with  the  data  in  the  pinout  chart  you 
should  be  able  to  formulate  a  correct 
hookup  if  the  software  documentation 
does  not  give  you  ihe  infomiation. 

My  thanks  to  Bart  for  supplying 
much  of  this  information.  I  am  sure 
that  many  others  will  find  It  of  use. 

More  Mai) 

Rick  Newton  KA3AUX  of  Pitts- 
burgh. Pennsylvania,  tells  us  that 
when  he  finds  commercial  RTTV  sta- 
tions on  the  air  he  Is  unable  to  copy 
them«  even  tliough  hie  can  tur>e  m  the 
signaJ.  He  wonders  if  they  are  using  a 
speed  thai  his  C-54  cannot  copy,  or  a 
code  other  than  Baudot 

Weil,  Rick,  as  mentioned  several 
lirnes  here  in  "RTTY  Loop,"  commer- 
cial stations  often  nio  at  speeds  and 
with  codes  that  "standard'  RTTY  pro* 
gmms  cannot  handle.  Several  of  the 
newer  programs  around  are  able  to  di- 
gest these  codes,  though:  and  certain- 
ly multimode  controllers,  like  those 


from  AEA  and  KantronrcSt  handfe 
them  with  ease. 

To  understand  just  what  these  sta- 
tions am  sending,  there  may  be  no 
better  source  than  the  Klingenfuss 
books  mentioned  a  few  monltis  back. 
Just  in  case  a  new  subscriber  doesn't 
have  the  information,  write  to  Jorge 
Klingenfuss  at  Klingenfuss  Publica- 
tions, Hagenloher  Str.  14,  D- 72070 
Tuebingen,  Germany,  for  into nna Hon 
on  his  eirtensive  line  of  RTTY  litera- 
ture. And  if  you  mention  that  you  saw 
it  in  73  maga2ine  s  "RTTY  Loop,"  well, 
t  have  no  idea  what  that  will  do  for 
you,  but  a  wilt  make  me  happyl 

White  we're  abroad.  l*d  ilke  to  ac- 
knowledge a  note  received  fram  Jirka 
Hold  OKiDR  of  the  Czech  Republic. 
He  wrote  that  back  when  Czechoslo* 
vakia  was  still  under  Communist  con- 
trot,  73  magazine  was  ^llegally  smug- 
gled into  the  country  for  the  benefit  of 
that  country's  amateur  radio  opera- 
tors. He  was  one  of  the  first  OKs  to 
work  with  a  Creed  teleprinter,  and 
eventually  buHt  a  home-brew  video 
terminal.  His  TU  was  also  built  from  di- 
agrams published  in  "RTTY  Loop." 
many  years  ago.  While  the  govern- 
ment Interfered  with  operations  during 
the  1960s*  he  is  back  on  the  air,  and 
looks  forward  to  giving  an  OK  contact 
to  ttis  friends  on  RTrTY  in  t^ie  States. 
George,  I  wfsh  you  all  the  best  for  suc- 


cess and  continued  solid  operatfonsf 

"RTTY  Loop "  Software 

Many  of  you  have  sent  in  requests 
for  the  "RTTY  Loop"  Software  col  lec- 
tin. Therefore,  it  gives  me  great  plea- 
sure to  announce  the  fifth  disk  in  the 
series.  See  Table  2  for  programs  con- 
tained on  this  disk,  and  brief  descrip- 
tions. 

As  wfth  Ihe  other  conections,  Ofilc 
#5  just  about  fills  a  3.5',  1.44  Mb  disk. 
So,  for  any  or  all  of  the  "f^TTY  Loop" 
Software  CoElection,  Just  send  a  blank 
disk  (each  coilection  fits  on  a  1.44  Mb 
disk).  S2  m  US  funds  per  disk,  afid  a 
self-addressed  STAMPED  mailer  to 
return  the  package  to  you.  Be  sure  to 
specify  which  disks  you  want,  I  am  not 
ctairvoyanti  If  you  would  like  just  a  list- 
ing of  what's  available,  send  me  a 
self-addressed,  stamped  envelope 
and  I'll  send  you  a  printed  list.  That  liM 
is  available  on  Email,  as  well.  Now 
that  America  Online  has  an  Internet 
gateway,  you  may  reach  me  via  Inter* 
net  at  MarcWA3AJR®aol,com,  or  on 
CompuServe  at  75036.2501 ;  or  Amer- 
k:a  Online  at  MarcWA3AJR.  or  Delphi 
at  MarcWA3AJR. 

I  have  some  reviews  in  the  works, 
and  even  a  new  online  service,  of 
interest  to  hams.  Don't  miss  out, 
the  next  few  months  should  be 
dooziesi 


CP-1  Pin 

Kantronics  HAMTEXT 

AEA  MBA-TOH 

Mlcfolog  Alrdisk 

1 

H 

E 

L 

2 

J 

F 

J 

a 

K 

H 

K 

4 

1  (onej 

1  (one) 

1  (or>e) 

s 

L 

a 

C 

HAfJC22.LZH 

HFFAX5ZIP 
JVFAX601.ZIP 

JV_)afllT.GIF 
PACKPETTIP 

PACKY1ZIP 
TOR32C.LZH 


HamComm  version  2.2  supports  reception  aJid  transmission  of  amateur 

radio  teletype  (FmY)  and  Ktorse  code  (CW)  signais.  A  decoder  lof  SHIP 

ar>d  SYNOP  n^xxts  from  weather  stations  is  also  induded. 

Rec^ve  HF  WE  FAX  signals  on  your  ron^pufer.  Indudes  a  sinple 

hardware  interface  design. 

JVFAX  6.0  is  a  muiti-purpose  program  for  the  reception  of  both  weather 

chart  and  photo  style  fa>t.  For  radio  arnateurs,  there  Is  an  addtttonal 

tiansmrl  option  for  iax  and  an  SSTV  transmit/receive  fadlily 

GIF  graphic  of  transmit  adapter  for  sending  S$TV  with  ypyrotxnpiip' 

and  JVFAX  program. 

PacKetPeT  Ute  lor  Windows  Shareware  versioa  of  commeroal  padcage. 

Packet  Pet  for  Windows,  Ihis  is  a  Windows-based  conirotler  program  for 

most  hardware  TNCs. 

Packy  is  a  Windows  program,  designed  for  packet  radio  operation  on 

txam  radio  trequendes  using  tJie  AEA  PK'222  of  PK-SS  controiJers^ 

F^  AMTOR  on  a  PC  with  oofy  a  simpte  hardware  interface. 


l^Bt. 


Table  2, 


SCARED  OF  THE  CODE? 


IT'S  A  SNAP  WrTH  THE  ELIGAMTLY BtMPLE 
IIOItSE  TUTOR  ADVANCED  EDITION  FOR 
BEGtNNERS  TO  EXPERTS— AND  BEYOND 

Morse  Coda  teaching  sottwnre  from  GGTE  it  the 
moftt  poputir  In  the  workt^^nnd  for  g^ood  neasorv* 
Yoy'ir  laam  ^^ulclceat  with  the  mosft  modem  teaching 
mtfthods^includrriij  Ftffts worth  or  fiandafd  code. 
jMihaereafi  nashcsfdi^  random  characterB,  woj^b  and 
Mtor^s  ot  convef^atjon^guafariteed  to  contain. avaiy 
rvqulred  character  evary  time— in  1 2  taay  leaaona. 

Sneak thrtHJgh  tMithersama  plateaus  In  one  tenth  of 
a  word  par  minuta  atape.  Or,  create  your  own  drtlls 
and  |>lay  them,  prin<l  them  and  aave  them  to  disk, 
import ,  anclyzia  and  convert  text  to  code  fof  •ddJtion' 
ftldrilis. 

Gat  the  software  the  ARRL  vans  and  os^  to  creala 
Itiair  practice  and  real  tape^n  Morse  Tutor  Advanced 
Edition  la  approved  lor  VE  exams  at  ail  levels.  Morse 
Tutor  is  greet ^Morse  Tutor  Advanced  Edition  Is  even 
beUef^ftfKJ  It's  in  ufter  selectable  eolor.  Order  youn 
todaiy. 


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73 


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CIRCLE  193  ON  READER  SO  VICE  CARO 


CIRCLE  299  ON  READER  SERVICE  CARD 

73  Amateur  Radio  Today*  May,  1994  65 


^^  numDer  i«  on  yo 

Carr'S  corner 


Number  16  on  your  Feedback  card 


Joseph  J.  Can-  K4tFV 
RO.  Box  7099 

Church  VA  22041 


A  "Universal"  VFO  Project 

Variable  frequency  oscillators 
(VFOs)  can  be  used  to  controt  the 
operating  frequency  of  receivers  or 
transmitters,  or  a@  a  signal  generator 
for  testing  radio  and  electror^lc  cir- 
cuits, or  for  a  targe  number  of  other 
applications.  Tiiis  month's  column  is 
dedicated  to  a  small  VFO  project, 
built  on  a  printed  clrcuH  board,  that 
can  be  incorporated  fnlo  any  of  sev- 
eraF  different  projects  that  you  might 
design. 

Ttie  Circuit 

Figure  1  shows  tl^e  basic  circuit  for 
the  VFO,  except  for  the  tuning  cir- 
cuits (wfiich  are  shown  in  Figure  2}, 
Transistor  Q1  is  a  junction  field-effect 
tfansislor  (JFET)  oscillator  stage.  Tlie 
device  to  use  at  Qi  includes  mpf- 
102,  2N4416  and  the  replacement 
devices  from  the  popular  tines  of  "ser- 
vice" parts  (e.g.  EGG  and  NTE).  The 
NTE-452  and  ECG-452  can  replace 
the  2N4416.  while  the  NTE-312  or 
ECG-312  can  replace  MPF-102  de* 
vices.  The  ECG  and  NT£  devices 
can  usually  be  bought  through  local 
electronic  parts  distributors  who  cater 
to  the  service  and  repair  industry.  Al- 
ternatively, NTE  replacement  semi- 
conductors can  be  ordered  Irom 


Ocean  state  Electronics  [POB  1458. 
6  Industrial  Drive,  Westerly  Rl  02891: 
1-800-865-6626  (orders);  1-401-596- 
3080  (voice):  1-401-596-3590  (faxJI. 

The  oscillator  is  followed  by  a  two- 
stage  buffer  amplifier  consisting  of 
Q2  and  03.  Tlie  selectiorts  for  02  are 
the  same  as  for  the  oscillator  For  03, 
use  a  2N2222  or  some  simifar  NPN 
silicon  device. 

Two  different  o<8Ciifator  configura- 
tions can  be  aoMimmodated  by  this 
design  {i.e.  both  Clapp  and  Cotprtts 
oscillators  can  be  built).  Both  oscilla- 
tors are  the  same  from  point  ''A"  In 
Figure  1  forward,  and  both  depend 
on  a  <^pac^tor  voltage  divider  feed- 
back network.  The  Clapp  oscillator 
(Rgure  2a)  is  senes-tuned.  while  the 
Colpitts  oscillator  is  parallel-tuned 
(Figure  2b). 

The  tuning  circuits  shown  in  Figure 
2  consist  of  an  inductor  (L1 }  and  sev- 
eral capacitors.  One  of  the  capacitors 
is  the  main  tuning  capacitor  (Ctun), 
and  another  Is  a  trimmer  capacitor 
(Ct).  Several  fixed  capacitors  {Ca1- 
Ca3}  can  be  used  (optional}  in  order 
to  craft  an  L-C  tuned  circuit  with  ex- 
actly the  right  capacitance  and  tuning 
range.  It  is  not  necessary  to  use  any 
of  these  capacitors.  You  may  also 
lump  aJl  of  the  fixed  capacftance  into 
a  single  capadtor.  if  desired. 

The  DC  voltage  supplied  to  the  os- 
cillator transistor  (01)  is  voltage-regu- 
lated. The  voltage  regulator  can  be 


^  A 


^Tun 


H' 


III 


May  Be  Grouped 


(s) 


Tun 


Ill 


May  6e  Grouped 


W 


\[ 


Figure  2.  Tuning  section  of  the  VFO  circuH:  a)  series-tuned  Clapp;  b)  paratiel- 
tuned  Cotpitts, 


any  7eLxx  series  from  78L05  to 
78L09.  tf  the  7SL05  is  used,  there 
may  be  some  problems  getting  it  to 
oscillate.  I  didn't  experience  any  such 
problems  in  thts  particular  case,  but 
in  other  cases  the  lower  voltages  pro- 
duced some  problems.  However  drift 
is  typically  iower  when  the  lower  votl- 
ages  are  used. 


The  values  for  the  components 
can  be  developed  from  guidelines 
given  by  Doug  DeMaw  in  Soi/d-Staie 
De&tgn  for  the  Radio  Amateur  (ARRL 
publication),  p. 34,  As  starting  points 
(some  experimentation  may  be  need- 
ed) he  recommends  that  LI  have  a 
reactance  of  140  ohms  In  the  Colpitts 
case,  and  260  ohms  in  the  Clapp 


O  +12  VDC 


D1 
1N4148 


O  Out 


Figure  f ,  VFO  drcuit  less  the  tuned  circuits. 


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""»* 

A 

yv 

JL 

i  i 

13 

-/^ 

53 

4^ 

r 

\/ 

Figure  4,  Parts  placement  for  point  'A'  to  ihe  Oiftput. 


'^ 


rgTT 


c^g. 


OUT 


D^ 


rm 


s 


rna— I 


Figure  5.  Paits  placement  mth  wiring  for  Ciapp  osaUator. 


case.  The  total  combination  of  all  tun- 
ing capacitors  should  be  about  200 
ohms  capact^ve  reactance,  total.  Th^ 
feedback  capacitors  (CI  and  C2) 
should  have  a  reactance  of  approxl- 
matety  50  to  100  ohms. 

If  you  select  the  feedback  capaci- 
tors (C1  and  C2)  incorrectly,  then  you 
may  find  either  of  two  situations. 
First,  the  osciltation  w\\\  abruptly 
cease  at  one  or  both  ends  of  the  tun- 
ing range.  Second,  the  amplitude  of 
the  output  signal  drops  to  zero  as  the 
main  tuning  capacitor  is  luned  to- 
wards  the  high  end  of  the  ran^.  All 
oscillators  vary  amplitude  somewhat 
as  the  cJrcuit  is  tuhe<i,  but  when  C1 
and  C2  ape  incorrect,  the  effect  often 
drops  rapidly  as  the  main  capacitor  is 
tuned  .  ,  ,  reaching  zero  at  some 
point. 

There  are  two  RF  chokes  used  in 
this  circuit  (RFCI  and  RFC2),  The 
values  shown  are  nominal  values  for 
high  frequency  applications,  but  vari- 


ation will  generally  not  harm  the  cir- 
cuit's performance. 

Rgure  3  shows  the  foi(  paflem  for 
the  printed  circuit  board  used  with 
this  pTDJect.  You  can  make  your  own 
If  you  please,  or  order  one  for  $14  ei- 
ther from  me  (ROB  1099^  Fads 
Church  VA  22041)  or  from  FAR  Cir- 
cuits C1BN640  Field  Ct>.  Dundee  IL 
60118).  The  parts  layout  for  the  print* 
©d  circuit  board  is  shown  in  Rgure  4 
for  point  "A*  to  the  output. 

The  printed  circuit  board  is  set  up 
for  certain  standard  component.  For 
RFC1  and  RFC2.  select  components 
with  0.2"  (5  mm)  spacing  between 
pins,  such  as  the  Toko  size  SRB  or 
10RB  coils.  See  the  Digi-Key  (ROB 
677,  Thief  River  Falls  MN  56701* 
0677:  1-800-344-4539)  catalog  for 
details  on  specific  part  numbers. 
Main  tuning  inductor  LI  rs  selected 
from  the  Toko  lOEZ.  lOEZC,  10EH, 
10PA,  or  tOK  size  slug-tuned  coils 
(again,  see  the  Oigl-Key  catalog  fof 


part  numbers  fof  desired  induc- 
tances). The  trimmer  capacitor,  Ct, 
should  be  a  10  mm  top-adjust  type, 
such  as  the  Sprague*Goodman 
FILfi^TRiM  series  sofd  by  DigE-Key. 

Configuring  the  printed  circuit 
board  for  either  the  Ck)lpitts  or  the 
Clapp  oscillator  depends  on  how  the 
tuning  components  are  wired  on  the 
board.  Figure  5  shows  the  wiring  for  a 
Ctapp  (series- tuned)  oscillator.  The 
tuning  capacitor  the  trimmer  and  the 
fixed  capacitors,  plus  inductor  L1,  are 
placed  the  same  in  both  configura- 
tions. However,  three  jumpers  are 
used  in  Figure  5  to  make  this  circuit  a 
Ciapp  oscillator. 

Figure  6  shows  the  wiring  for  a 
Co^pitts  oscillator.  One  of  lh%  jumpers 
from  Figure  5  is  repfaced  with  the  DC 
blocking  capacitor  {Cc).  The  jumper 
fn>m  the  fixed  capacitois  10  the  main 
tuning  capacitor  rematns,  arxf  a  new 
jumper  Is  added  from  the  bottom  of 
Lt  to  ground. 


Figure  7  shows  the  wiring  for  ei- 
ther Ciapp  or  Colpitis  cases  where 
the  tuning  capacitor  ts  series^con- 
nected  with  a  small-value  fixed  ca- 
pacitor. This  configuration  is  often 
US&6  tor  reducing  the  range  of  a  varn 
able  capacitor  to  something  required 
for  a  particular  application.  The  total 
capacitance  at  any  setting  of  the 
main  tuning  capacitor  is: 


'total 


+  C 


tun 


If  you  cton't  want  to  use  the  slug- 
tuned  coif,  but  rather  a  toroid  cor©  In- 
ductor or  air  core  Inductorp  then  leave 
LI  off  the  tioard.  and  use  the  holes 
for  the  leads  from  the  substitute  coils. 

Conclusion 

This  circuit  makes  a  reasonable 
choice  for  many  different  VFO  applica- 
tions. It  can  be  easily  built,  and  is 
generally  well  behaved.  Good  luck. 


73  Amateur  Radio  Today  May,  1994 


rg^^ 


I     tB     I 


OUT 


1 

o 

o 

4 

JUMPER 
JUMPER 


ctan'^ 


Figum  6.  Parts  placement  with  wiring  for  Colpitts  oscillator. 


rcTT-i 


• 


[IM 


i 

OUT 


Wl    - 


na-n 


^    ^inJMfet^y': 


Ftgure  7,  Parts  placement  wrth  wiring  for  either  Clapp  or  Coipnts  casss  where  Cfj^„  is  in  series  with  a  fixed-vaiue  cap.. 


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CiRCLE  384  ON  READER  SERVICE  CARD 

73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  May,  1 994  69 


Homing  in 


Number  17  cm  yoiF  Fee^tiacK  card 


JoeMoeflRE.  K0OV 
P.O.  60x2503 
Fufferton  CA  92633 

Temblor  Triggers  a  T-Hunt 

Whether  you  want  to  ptay  a  musi- 
cal instrument  or  pass  a  QW  test, 
there  is  no  sut)stitute  for  diligent  prac- 
tice. The  tame  goes  for  emergency 
preparedness.  Both  planning  and  sim- 
uiated  exercises  are  important  for 
rapid,  effective  respor^se. 

After  the  January  17  earthquake  in 
Soutliern  California,  ARES  and 
RACES  groups  tinat  had  met  regularly 
and  held  drillg  with  Iheir  served  agen- 
cies responded  sooner  and  had 
greater  overall  success  than  groups 
thai  did  not  emphasize  preplanning 
and  operator  training. 

It  takes  practice  to  become  ski  I  ted 
In  radio  direction  finding  (RDF)  too. 
Hidden  Iransmltter  hunts  (called  fox- 
hunts  and  T-hunlsjf  are  more  than  just 
fyn— they  are  practical  lessons  in  sig- 
nal propagation,  antenna  theory,  and 
navigation.  They  can  prepare  you  for 
rapid  RDF  response  in  a  disaster  or 
other  emergency. 

Un-Jamming  the  Sheriff 

JaMi  Smith  KK6CU  Is  a  District 
Communications  Officer  for  the  Los 
Angeles  Disaster  Communications 
Service  (DCS).  Following  the  quake, 
he  took  chafge  of  the  RACES  room  at 
the  Sheriff's  Communicalions  Center 
(SCC}  and  the  county's  Emergency 
Operations  Center  (EOC)  In  East  Los 
Angeles.  Thirteen  hours  after  arriving, 
JaMi  was  laktng  a  short  break  from 
his  volunteer  DCS  duties  when  a 
county  employee,  also  on  break,  men- 
tioned that  a  steady  canter  tiad  ap* 
pea  red  on  a  county*  wide  law  enforce* 
ment  frequency. 

KK6CU  loves  lo  go  T*hunting,  es- 
pecially with  his  inotofized  VHF  quad 
and  storage  scope  display  unit  (sea 
"Homing  In'  for  October  and  Novem- 
ber 1992).  Out  he  had  traveled  by  nrm- 


Radio  Direction  Finding 


torcycie  to  the  £OCt  leaving  his  gear 
at  home  in  Pasadena.  Besides,  the 
stuck  transmitter  was  near  482  MHz, 
out  of  range  for  his  UHF  RDF  quad. 
Rguring  that  he  coutd  hunt  the  carrier 
with  a  beam  ar>d  his  extended- range 
handheld,  he  asked  if  a  yagi  for  4d2 
MHz  was  available.  The  answer  was 
r^egative. 

Minutes  later,  JaMi  was  ap- 
proached by  Sargeant  Larry  Bryant 
N6LYA,  Officer  in  Charge  ai  County 
Incident  Command,  along  with  a 
sargeant  from  the  Communications 
Section.  They  told  him  that  the  inter- 
ference was  blocking  a  sheriff's  ad* 
ministratlve  repeater  that  was  vital  for 
radio  assignment  requests  and  earih- 
quaHe-reiated  mutual  aid  communica- 
tions. Of  37  receiver  sites  in  the  coyn- 
ty,  eight  were  picking  up  the  signal. 
Vehicles  and  HOP  gear  were  avail- 
able. Could  he  help? 

JaMi  and  the  communications 
sargeant  surveyed  the  SCC  equip* 
ment  pool,  finding  three  OAR  Corpo- 
ration RDF  display  units,  each  with 
antenna  sets.  Two  had  built-in  re- 
ceivers that  did  not  cover  482  MHz. 
The  last  unit  was  a  neariy-new  OAR 
Model  DF4003A,  This  model  does  r>ot 
include  a  receiver  Further  search 
yielded  a  Model  2002A  multi*mode 
scanner  made  by  ADR  (not  to  b%  con- 
fused wFth  OAR), 

The  DF4003A  {Photo  A)  has  hra 
connectors  for  receiver  IF.  plus  an  au- 
dio connector  The  scanner  has  no  IF 
output  connector  No  equipment  man- 
uals were  handy,  so  JaMi  decided  to 
try  hooking  iusl  the  scanner  audio  to 
the  RDF  set.  For  this,  he  needed  a  ca- 
ble with  an  RCA  plug  on  one  end  and 
a  miniature  phone  plug  on  the  other. 
He  quickly  made  one  by  cannibalizing 
a  set  of  headphones  and  soldering  its 
cable  to  a  spare  cable  with  an  RCA 
plug. 

The  sargeant  offered  a  choice  of 
vehtcles  and  an  officer  to  drive.  He 
and  the  radio  technician  strapped  the 


r — 

\ 

.1     ,, 

mwiCE 


IJF4003* 


.  ruatti  * 


K*fVf*0 


rtff_B#*Q 


Photo  A.  Government  agencies  am  (he  ma/n  custom^fs  for  Watson'Wstt  RDF 
equ^ment  from  OAB  Corporation.  This  Mod&t  DF4003A  OiSfyiay  unit  works  wttfi 
extemai  peceivers  and  antenna  sets  covming  7  through  520  MHz, 

70  73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  May,  1 994 


Photo  8.  ft  tooks  tfke  a  complex  Doppfm  antenna,  but  the  OAR  Modei  MA350ED 
fe  actuaily  two  Watson-Watt  arrays,  a  smatl  one  for  UHF  and  a  farger  one  for  VHE 


ModflliWA350ED  RDF  antenna  (Photo 
6)  to  the  car  top  and  put  the  rest  of 
the  gear  inside.  After  a  quick  check  of 
the  setup  using  a  hand-hekJ  tianscelv- 
er,  Ihey  look  off.  JaMi  rode  with  the 
driver  in  front  the  technician  sat  in  the 
back. 

The  offending  earner  was  not  copy- 
able  at  the  SCC,  but  signal  levels  into 
the  receiver  "voting"  system  led  the 
county's  technician  to  conclude  that  it 
was  coming  from  the  north  end  of  the 
San  Fernando  Valley,  perhaps  from 
Sylmar  (see  Figure  1), 


Radio  Waves  and  PIng-Pong  Balls 

UHF  signals  rellect  from  neariy  any 
hard  surface  or  object  bigger  than  a 
breadbox.  They  carom  off  mountains, 
hills,  buildings,  billboards,  and  cars. 
The  bearir>g  on  an  RDF  display  lefls 
the  a  nival  direction  of  a  signal,  but  In 
urban  or  hilly  terrain  this  may  not  be 
the  direction  from  which  the  signal 
originates. 

When  signals  arrive  at  a  receiver 
by  both  direct  and  reflected  paths  si- 
multaneously, the  effect  is  called  "mul- 
tlpath."  In  severe  mullipath,  an  RDF 


Figure  1.  Staring  from  East  Los  Angetes  (A),  KK6CU  went  to  the  HoUywood  hiits 
for  a  dear  bearing  (B),  thm  to  the  West  Vattey  Admtnistratrve  Cotter  (C),  where 
the  stuck  tian^nittef  was  found. 


bearing  may  change  constantly,  or  be 
consistently  wrong.  From  his  T- hunt- 
ing experiences.  KK6CU  knew  that 
the  besi  way  to  maximize  ttie  signal 
level  and  get  an  accurate  beadng, 
with  minimum  multipath  effect,  is  to  bo 
as  high  and  in  the  clear  as  possible. 
He  decided  to  immediately  go  to  tlie 
top  of  the  hilte  above  Holtywood, 

'On  Mutholfand  Drive,'  he  says, 
there's  a  great  spot  that  overlooks 
the  San  Femando  Valley.  I've  used  it 
on  T-hunts  before.  We  headed  up  In- 
terstale  5,  then  west  on  Highway  134 
to  Highway  101.  All  we  could  get  was 
an  occasional  blip  of  signal  on  the 
RDF  set.  We  had  just  gotten  off  101. 
going  south  on  Laurel  Canyon  Boule- 
vard, when  I  got  a  sirong  bearing  to 
the  west  as  we  waited  at  the  Tight. 

•t  suspected  a  reflection,  and  it 
went  away  as  we  went  south.  Bui  as 
we  gained  elevation,  the  signal  came 
up  again,  mostly  bearing  to  the  rrorth, 
because  it's  a  boK  canyon.  The  hills 
were  to  the  east  and  west.  Once  we 
got  up  on  Mulholland.  there  was 
a  steady  bearing  and  virtually  Full- 
quieting  signal.  Before,  we  had  gotten 
a  lot  of  broadbartd  noise,  I  couFd  tell 
thai  because  I  have  learned  from  ex- 
pehence  to  check  by  tuning  off  fre- 
quency to  see  if  I  am  hearing  noise  or 
signal. 

l/Ve  had  no  map  and  no  compass, 
but  I  knew  that  the  streets  in  the  valley 
run  north  and  south,  so  I  looked  down 


there  for  reference.  The  strong  bear- 
ing was  about  about  290  degrees 
true,  pointing  toward  the  extreme 
northwestern  end  of  the  valley  The 
tech  said  he  didn't  believe  it  He  still 
thought  it  was  to  tt>e  north/ 

Back  at  Highway  101,  the  trio 
headed  west  at  well  above  the  speed 
limtt.  "A  couple  of  miles  west,  we  start- 
ed getting  signal  again."  JaMi  went 
on.  "Then  the  bearing  started  to 
change.  I  got  a  couple  of  strong  due- 
north  blips  at  the  Van  Nuys  exit,  but 
we  still  guessed  we  would  have  to  go 
to  the  far  end  of  the  valley.  By  the  time 
we  got  to  Interstate  405,  we  were  not 
getting  good  signal  strength  because 
we  were  below  ground  level.  We  de* 
dded  to  go  north  on  the  405,  and  as 
we  came  up,  I  got  good  bearings  east 
of  us,  swinging  again.  I  told  the  driver 
to  take  the  next  ex\L  He  locked  up  the 
drakes,  swerved  over,  ar>d  we  went 
east  on  Vk:tory  Boulevard.' 

JaMi  and  his  companions  were 
now  onty  six  mites  from  the  earth- 
quake epicenter.  Power  was  out  in 
most  places,  and  a  curfew  was  in  ef- 
fect. Forlunaieiy.  the  drfver  w^s  an  of^ 
ficer  in  uniform, 

fyfulttpath  makes  UHF  RDF  in  ur- 
ban areas  tricky.  Rows  of  buildings 
tend  to  "funnel"  signals  down  the 
streets.  The  bearing  may  appear  to  be 
constantly  in  front  (or  behind^  and 
then  change  suddenly  at  an  rniefsec- 
tion.  "As  WB  approached  Van  Nuys 


Photo  C-  The  Northwest  District  Superior  Court  tKiikjing  is  famous  for  beiftg  the 
site  of  the  recent  Menencfez  murder  trial ^  Now  it  has  arjother  distinction — the 
source  of  a  signai  that  jammed  sheriff's  communications  after  the  Norfhridge 
earthquake. 


Boulevard,  the  beaiing  tended  toward 
south,'  KK6CU  continued.  "Now  the 
signal  was  full  quieting  and  I  could 
hear  the  DF  lone  plainly  in  the  receiv- 
er audio. 

1  had  the  driver  pull  oul  into  the  ir*- 
tera action  very  stowly.  There  was  a  lot 
of  muEtipath  and  the  display  swung 
around  quite  a  bit.  \  told  him  to  contin- 
ue east,  and  at  the  nexl  street  we 
went  out  in  the  middle  again.  It  looked 
to  be  to  the  south,  so  we  turned  south 
for  three  blocks  and  found  ourselves 


inside  a  large  complex  of  government 
tiuildings.  including  two  courthouses 
and  the  Los  Angeles  Police  headquar- 
ters for  the  San  Femando  Valley/ 

They  headed  for  the  police  moWte 
command  ranter,  where  JaMi  got  out 
and  checked  by  the  vehicles  with  his 
dual-band  hand-held.  No  stuck  mikes 
there.  Back  In  the  sheriff's  car  I  hey 
dfove  around  the  complex.  Signal  was 
weak  everywhere  estcept  on  the  south 
side  of  the  Superior  Court  building. 
They  parked  again  and  walked  all 


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CIRCLE  249  ON  READEfl  SERVICE  CARD 


CIRCLE  13  ON  READEH  SEP  VICE  CARD 


73  Amateur  Radio  Today*  May,  1994  71 


around,  seeing  no  one  but  noting 
boarded -up  doo^  and  othdr  signs  of 
daffiage. 

After  walking  back  next  door  to  ttie 
police  station,  they  introduced  them- 
selves and  KK6CU  checked  for  signal 
inside  itie  bLriiding.  Meanwhile*  the 
technician  found  out  that  a  sheriff's  ra- 
dio set  had  been  installed  in  the  Supa- 
nor  Court  building  a  year  ago.  Back 
they  went  to  that  courthouse  (Photo 
C)  to  peer  into  the  windows  again. 

Tinaily,  we  saw  somebody  inside," 
says  KK6CU.  "It  was  a  plainclothes 
deputy  assigned  to  guard  the  building. 
He  let  LfS  in  and  we  asked  direcilons 
to  the  communications  room.  There 
we  found  that  the  ceilings  were  wel 
and  there  was  water  all  over  the  fkx>r 
from  leaking  pipes.  There  was  an  o*d 
desk  with  stacks  of  paper  around  the 
edges  of  the  desktop,  which  was  sag- 
ging in  middle.  Water  was  a  hatf  inch 
deep  in  center  and  an  old  desk  mike 
sat  \n  the  mkidle  01  the  pcK>l,  wtth  the 
push-button  switch  submerged.  I  care- 
fully pulled  It  oul,  shook  it  dry,  and  the 
carrier  disappeared! 

"We  were  still  in  a  penod  of  strong 
aftershocks,  so  we  decided  to  get  out 
of  there  right  away.  To  be  safe,  we  uri* 
plugged  it  and  a  few  other  pieces  of 
equipment  that  were  saturated.  I  dis- 
assembied  the  DF  gear  and  we  head- 
ed back  to  the  SCC/ 

The  submerged  mike  was  connect- 
ed to  a  100 -watt  tmnsmitter.  So  why 


was  the  signal  so  weak  until  the  T- 
hunters  were  within  a  mile  of  the 
courthouse?  It  turned  out  that  this  ra- 
dio Is  osed  mainfy  for  communications 
within  the  building  on  simplex  frequen- 
cies. The  transmitter  drives  a  long  run 
of  special  leaky*  coax  that  goes  up 
the  south  side  of  the  £>unding  to  a 
dummy  load.  Enough  signal  escapes 
from  the  coa)«  to  reach  the  officer's 
transceivers  inside  for  simplex  worit. 
The  signal  c^n  al^>  be  hear^  by  the 
sensitive  sheriff's  repeater  network 
when  the  transceiver  ts  switched  to 
the  administrative  frequency,  which 
the  marshal  had  apparently  done  at 
the  end  oi  the  last  work  shift  before 
the  quake. 

Despite  unfamiliar  aquipmen!  arxj  a 
weak  signal  KK6CU  and  his  helpers 
found  the  problem  and  fixed  il  In  less 
than  an  hour  Without  JaMf's  under- 
standing of  RDF  principles  and  his 
practical  foxhunting  experience,  ii 
would  have  taken  much  longer. 

fntroduclng  the  Wat  son -Watt 

OAR  (which  stands  ibr  Ocean  Ap- 
plied  Research)  is  a  welkknown  name 
among  commercral  and  government 
users  of  RDF  equipment.  T-huntIng 
hams  seldom  buy  OAR  gear,  due  to 
its  cost  Sticker  price  Of  the  DF4003A 
plus  a  basic  antenna  system  covering 
2  meters  (MA350}  is  $11,700. 

Why  so  much?  After  all,  you  can 
buy  an  excellent  commercial  Ooppler 


RDF  unit  with  digital  readout  and  2 
meter  mobile  antenna  set  far  about 
$850.  You  can  buikJ  the  popular  and 
effective  Roanoke  Doppler  from 
scratch  for  much  less.  The  reason  for 
the  price  difference  is  that  OAR  units 
do  not  employ  the  Doppler  principie. 
even  though  they  have  tour  vertical 
whips  and  put  a  tone  In  the  receiver 
audio,  just  like  a  Doppler  set  does, 

OAR  sets  use  the  Watson-Watt 
RDF  scheme,  which  is  derived  from 
the  Ad  cock,  one  of  the  earliest  RDF 
antennas.  Whereas  a  Doppler  rapidly 
selects  one  of  the  tour  (or  more) 
¥rtiips  at  a  time  in  sequence  to  gh^  an 
electronic  rotation  to  the  array,  a  Wat- 
son-Watt uses  the  four  antennas  as 
two  orthogonal  pairs,  combining  sig* 
nals  from  thein  in  three  distinct 
modes.  Processing  these  modes  pro- 
duces a  vector  on  the  cathode-fay 
tube  display.  The  vector  position  teJts 
direction  of  the  incoming  signal.  Vec- 
tor length  indicates  signal  strength 
and  quality,  helping  the  operator  de- 
tect ar^  combat  the  effects  of  muiti- 
path. 

One  reason  for  the  high  cost  of 
OAR  gear  is  its  special  three-channel 
processing,  which  makes  on©  receiver 
do  the  work  ol  three.  Some  OAR  mod- 
els include  a  built-in  receiver,  whi^e 
others  work  with  an  external  receiver 
or  scanner.  Unlike  the  Doppler,  which 
uses  ordinary  narrowband  FM  re- 
ceivers, the  Watson -Watt  signal  pro- 


cessor requires  AM  detection.  Direct 
connection  of  the  processor  to  the 
receiver  IF  stage  allows  normal  use 
ot  the  receiver  for  monitoring  in  any 
mode.  If  the  receiver  does  not  have 
an  IF  tap.  the  OAR  DF4003A  can 
be  hooked  to  receiver  audio  oulpyt, 
tjul  the  set  must  be  kept  In  the  AM 
mode. 

There  is  no  RF  switching  in  thd 
Watson- Watt  antenna  array,  which 
can  result  in  better  system  sensitivity 
than  Doppler  installations.  OAR  sets 
include  a  tracK-and-hold  feature  for 
capturing  very  short  sigrial  bursts,  and 
integration  of  bearings  over  itme  to 
average  out  mulilpath  effects  while  in 
motion.  Doppler  sets  are  usually  fimrt' 
ed  to  tracking  carrier-type  signals 
such  as  FM  and  CW,  whereas  the 
Wat  son -Watt  method  tracks  all  these 
plus  SSQ  and  pulsed  noise  sources. 

For  More  fnlormation  . , . 

OAR'S  manufacturing  facflitles  are 
fn  San  Diego,  California,  but  the  pri- 
mary sales  offica  is  on  the  East  Coast 
OAR  Corporation.  2165  Druid  Park 
Drive,  Baltimore  MD  21211;  (410) 
462-1700. 

Plar^  for  the  Roanoke  Doppler  are 
in  the  book  Transmitter  Hunting— 
Radio  Direction  Finding  Simptifiect, 
available  from  your  local  bookstore. 
This  book  also  includes  a  comprehen- 
sive discussion  of  both  Doppler  and 
WalsofT-Watt  RDF  techniques. 


Nanie 


ARRL  '94  National  Convention 

and 

Ham-Com  '94 

June  10-12 

Arlington  Convention  Center 

DFW  Metroplex,  Texas 

Call 


Address. 


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CIRCLE  351  ON  READER  SERVICE  C AfiD 


72  73 AmatQur  Radio  Today*  May,  1994 


Hams  with  class 


Feedback  card 


Carole  Perry  WB2MGP 

Medi^  Mentors.  //?c; 

P.O.  Box  131646 

Staterr  Island  NY  103130006 

Self-Esteem:  The  Key  to 
Success  in  School  and  in 

Life 

With  parent-teacher  conferences 
scheduled  to  take  place  at  my  school 
this  month,  I  thought  about  all  the 
things  I  wanted  to  convey  to  the  par- 
ents of  my  new  sixth-,  seventh-,  and 
tighth-grade  ham  radio  students,  I 
made  a  package  of  brochures  of  in- 
expensive rigs  and  radio  accessories 
that  I  could  show  them.  Besides 
shanng  indh^iduaJ  students'  progress 
with  each  parent.  I  planned  to  give 
my  usual  "propaganda"  speech  for 
ham  radio.  This  was  quite  ambitious 
for  what  was  supposed  to  t>e  a  two- 
minute  conference  wrth  a  parent. 

I  tfioughi  bacH  to  how  much  the 
children  in  my  classes  have  changed 
over  the  last  10  years.  As  the  largest 
intermediate  school  in  Slaten  Island. 
New  York,  we  have  seen  a  huge 
change  in  the  population  of  our  stu- 
dents. We  presently  have  over  80  dif- 
ferent languages  and  dialects  repre- 
sented: creating  a  need  for  a  fulf-time 
ESL  (English  as  a  Second  Lan- 
guage) teacher.  Many  of  our  students 
come  from  low  socio-economic  back- 
grounds, bringing  with  them  a  whole 
different  set  of  problems  which  could 
Interfere  with  tfre  leamlng  process. 

The  problems  facing  teachers  in 
inner-city  schools  today  are  varied 
and  complex.  They  cannot  be  ig- 
nored for  they  will  surely  not  go  away 
by  themselves.  The  one  common 
thread  that  seems  to  run  true  year  af- 
ter year  of  dealing  with  this  difficult 
age  group  is  that  they  all  respond  to 
respect  and  genuine  caring.  I  tiled 
my  radio  brochures  away  and  dug 
out  some  articles  I  had  saved  to  read 
that  were  published  by  The  National 
PTA.  t  found  the  one  I  wanted,  and 
proceeded  to  run  off  100  copies  of  it. 
I  plan  to  share  it  w)th  my  colleagues 
and  to  distribute  It  to  the  parents  who 
come  to  see  me  to  discuss  their 
child's  progress. 

Without  helping  children  to  devel- 
op self-esteem,  we  will  inevftably  fail 


at  whatever  other  good  things  we  try 
to  leach  them.  As  a  parent  and  as  a 
teacher  I  encourage  you  to  incluefe 
the  following  in  your  repertoire  of  im- 
portant things  to  teach  your  children, 
along  with  rules  of  radio  procedure 
and  Ohm's  Law,  etc. 

Studies  have  shown  that  helping 
diildren  develop  good  self-esteem  ts 
probably  the  most  important  thing 
parents  and  teachers  can  do  for  their 
children.  Critical  decisions,  such  as 
whether  or  not  to  use  drugs,  or  to 
stay  in  school  or  drop  out.  are  affect- 
ed by  their  sense  of  seff-worth — their 
self-esteem, 

15  Ways  to  Help  Children  Like 
Themselves 

1.  Reward  children.  Give  praise, 
recognition,  a  special  privilege,  or  in- 
creased responsibility  for  a  Job  well 
done.  Emphasize  Ihe  good  things 
they  do,  not  the  bad. 

2.  Take  their  ideas,  emotions,  and 
feelings  seriously, 

3.  Define  limits  and  rules  clearly. 


and  enforce  them.  Be  consistent. 

4.  Be  a  good  role  model.  Let  them 
see  fhat  you.  too,  can  make  mistakes 
and  can  learn  from  them. 

5.  Teach  children  how  to  deal  with 
time  and  money. 

6.  Have  reasonable  expectations 
tor  your  children  and  your  students. 
Help  them  set  reaifsiic  goals  so  they 
can  experience  success, 

7.  Help  children  develop  tolerance 
toward  those  with  different  values 
and  backgrounds.  Point  out  other 
people's  strengths. 

8.  Give  children  lesponsibility. 
They  will  feel  usefuf  and  vafued. 

9.  Be  reasonable.  Give  support 
when  children  need  it. 

10.  Show  them  that  what  they  do 
is  important  to  you.  Talk  with  them 
at>out  their  activities  and  interests.  In 
the  case  of  radio  students,  ask  them 
to  tell  you  what  they  enjoy  most 
about  the  hobby. 

11.  Express  your  values.  Descfite 
experiences  that  determined  your 
values,  and  the  reasons  behind  your 
beliefs. 

12.  Spend  time  together.  Share  fa- 
vorite activities.  Ham  radio  is  great 
forthfs. 

13.  Dfscuss  problems  without 
placing  blame  or  commenting  on  the 


child's  character.  It  children  know 
there  Is  a  problem  but  don't  feel  at- 
lacked  they  are  more  likely  to  look  for 
a  sotuUon, 

14.  Use  phrases  that  build  sell- 
esteem,  such  as.  "That  was  an  excel- 
lent idea/  Avoid  phrases  that  destroy 
seff-esteem,  like  "How  many  times 
have  I  told  you?* 

ts.  Show  how  much  you  care 
about  them.  Tell  them  you  think  they 
are  terrific,  Use  body  language, 
smiles,  and  words  that  make  children 
feel  good  to  let  them  know  that 
you  are  interested  in  them  as  people 
and  that  you  have  something  really 
special  to  share  with  them,  f^any 
youngsters  have  told  me  that  they 
originally  got  their  radio  licenses  be- 
cause they  wanted  to  make  me 
proud  ot  them. 

As  responsible  adults  working  with 
children,  we  owe  it  to  them,  and  to 
each  other,  to  make  evefy  child  feel 
special  and  worthy  so  that  tney  can 
become  happy,  productive  members 
of  society. 

Be  sure  lo  stop  by  at  the  Dayton 
Hamvention  Youth  Forum  on  Satur- 
day. April  3Dth,  to  lend  your  support 
to  all  the  youngsters  who  will  be 
speaking  there.  We've  got  a  terrific 
group  of  children  lined  up. 


Photo  A.  tiam  radio  provides  a  great  opportunity  to  share  interesis  and  activities. 


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CIRCLE  7  ON  READER  SERVICE  CARD 


73  Amateur  Radio  Today  May.  1994  73 


Number  19  on  your  Feedback  card 


MiChaefBryve  WB&VGE 
2225  Mayffower  NW 
Massiffon  OH  44646 

Have  you  been  looking  for  a  good 
analog  meter  lor  a  project?  Have  you 
found  out  how  much  ihey  cost?  One 
would  think,  with  the  entire  world  go- 
ing digitai.  analog  meters  would  be 
really,  realty  cheap.  The  exact  oppo- 
site has  occurred  Instead.  Now,  a 
quaiily  analog  meter  cosis  more  than 
th©  prolect  yotiVe  trying  to  construe! . 
Vou  can  stilt  find  plenty  of  surplus 
anafog  meters  laying  around  howev- 
er, provided  you  donl  mind  the  face 
printed  with  some  strange  Industrial 
scale. 

Entering  the  Digital  Worid 

This  Is  a  case  of  "if  you  canl  beat 
'em,  join  em"  as  digital  panel  mod- 
ules are  now  available  at  a  very  rea* 
sonable  price,  I've  have  been  work- 
ing with  two  different  models  fronrj 
two  different  supplfers. 

They're  both  low  power  3-1/2  digit 
LCD  digital  panef  meters.  Their  baste 
Input  requirement  ts  200  mV  DC. 
Other  input  ranges  are  also  possible, 
by  special  order.  The  first  module 
we'll  [ook  at  is  the  D1  International 
DPM5035L  The  second  module  is 
by  Moduteo. 

Specifications 

The  DPM5035L  is  built  around  a 
Maxim  MAX131CPL  anakjg-to-d*gltal 
converter  chip.  Along  with  some  sup- 
port  parts,  the  Maxim  chip  does  all 
the  work.  The  LCD  Is  an  easy-to- 
read  0.5"  high  and  shows  3-t/2  dig- 
its. Automatic  zero  and  a  polarity  in- 
dicator are  part  of  the  DPM5035L. 
You  can  select  your  own  decimal 
point  position.  A  "t"  displayed  on  the 
left-most  side  of  the  DPM5035L  is 
the  over- range  Ind  teat  Jon.  The  con- 


Low  Power  Operation 


version  rate  is  about  three  times  per 
second. 

The  DPM5035L  has  a  basic  DC 
Input  of  200  mV.  The  input  Is  differen- 
tiaL  Input  impedance  is  over  ii 
megohms.  You  can  operate  the 
OPM5035L  on  a  single  9  volt  battery. 
Any  power  supply  trom  5  to  9  volts 
will  work  just  fine ^  The  low  battery  in* 
dication  comes  on  at  approximately 
4.8  volts.  Acconding  to  Itie  factory,  a 
fresh  g  volt  baltery  should  operate 
the  DPM5035L  for  over  one  year,  tf 
you  want,  or  if  you  just  don't  need  the 
LCD  display,  you  can  also  order  the 
DPM5035L  in  an  LED-readout  ver- 
sion. Its  number  is  DPM5135,  This 
LED  version  requires  5  volts  at  less 
than  130  m A.  This  would  be  an  ideal 
0PM  for  a  power  supply.  Both  the 
DPM5035L  and  the  DPM5135  are 
available  from  01  Intemalional  Inc. 
95  East  Main  Street,  Huntington  NY 
11743;  (516)  673-6866.  The  price  for 
the  OPM5035L  Is  about  $30,  plus 
shipping. 

The  Modutec  digitai  panel  meter  is 
so  very  close  to  these  specrficatkins  I 
won't  repeat  them.  The  Modutec 
DPM  I  used  is  the  BL100101,  You 
can  get  this  meter  from  Digi-Key  for 
S33-  While  it  has  the  same  LCD. 
0.5*,  and  displays  3-1/2  digits,  the 
Modutec  DPM  is  much  smaller  than 
the  DPM5035L,  In  fact,  you  can 
place  the  Modutec  DPM  inside  the 
D1  International  DPM. 

Dttf  erenc«s  Between  the  Two 

Both  of  these  DPMs  are  very 
much  alike  electrically:  the  main  dif- 
ference Is  in  their  physical  layout. 
The  DPM5035L  is  the  larger  of  the 
two  and  requires  much  more  panel 
area  than  the  Modutec  DPM.  This 
may  be  of  concern  if  youYe  wonder- 
ing about  using  one  of  these  DPMs 


CK20VDCin  + 


1  MEG 


Hf  REF 


To  DPM  Inputs 


-  <r 


LoREr 


^^r7 


OK  to  use  remove  B.2K 
and  use  10K  trimmer 
instead  of  5K  trimmer 


Adjust  the  trimmer  to 
calibrate  the  DPM 

R3  mutti-tum  trimmer 


Photo  A.  The  D1  Digital  Panef  Modufe  mounted  m  a  cas&.  The  Modutec  meter  is 
in  the  for&ground  with  its  connectOK  A  WO  amp  100  mV  shunt  is  also  shown. 


Photo  B.  The  Modutec  Digital  Panel  Module  is  tiny. 


F^ure  t.  Input  circuitry  to  property  scale  the  ratio  of  signal  to  input  for  the  DPM. 


in  your  next  QRP  project.  Although 
larger,  the  DPM 503 5L  is  much  easier 
to  install.  The  DPM5035L  snaps  into 
the  panel  cutout.  No  other  hardware 
Is  required.  This  bezel  allows  for 
some  "operator  en-or'  when  cutting 
out  the  paneL  The  Modutec  DPM.  on 
the  other  hand,  requires  a  very 
clean-fitting  cutout.  There  is  no  bezel 
to  hide  your  mistakes.  The  Modutec 
meter  also  requires  you  to  add  a 
mounting  dip  and  ptastic  nuts.  It*s  no 
biggie,  but  you  have  to  realty  take 
your  time  to  do  the  in  staff  atron  prop- 
erly with  the  Modutec  DPM.  The 
Modutec  meter  also  requires  a  con- 
nection kit.  This  kit  is  a  header  on 
0.100  centers.  The  input  to  the  Mod- 
utec meter  fs  very  sensitive  to  static 
discharges  and  you  are  warned  not 
to  solder  directly  to  the  DPM  pins. 
Use  the  connection  Jot  to  avoid  prob- 
lems. 

Making  Them  Work 

A  very  popular  use  of  the  DPM  is 
to  measure  voltage  from  a  power 
supply  or  a  battery.  The  first  step  you 
need  to  do  is  scale  the  Input  so  the 
DPM  knows  what  to  do  with  it,  With 
an  input  Of  only  200  nnV»  It  t)ecomes 
quite  dear  you  must  keep  the  proper 
ratio  of  signal  to  input.  Take  a  look  al 
Figure  1.  You'li  notice  that  the  two  re- 
sistors scale  the  input  from  our  pow- 
er supply  down  to  a  value  the  DPM 
needs  We  have  scaled  the  200  mV 
input  to  20  volts  input.  In  case  you 
don't  have  1%  resistors  on  hand,  I 
added  the  10k  trimmer  to  fine-tune 
tfie  voltage  divider.  An  e.2k  and  a  5k 


trimnier  provide  an  easier  adjusting 
of  the  DPM. 

By  changing  the  values  in  the  volt- 
age divider,  while  keeping  the  ratio 
the  same*  yoo  can  scale  the  input  to 
lust  atM>ut  any  value  you  require.  The 
only  precaution  would  hG  to  increase 
the  number  ot  resistors  in  series 
when  measuring  very  high  voltages. 
This  would  prevent  flash  over  of  a 
single  resistor.  Of  course,  you 
ORPers  don't  need  to  worry  about 
measuring  kV  m  our  amplifiers — 
unless  you  happen  to  smoke  cigars! 

Trouble  with  the  Input 

If  you  took  dose  at  Figure  1 .  you'll 
see  there  is  a  second  power  supply 
running  the  DPM.  That's  because 
you  can  t  have  the  Lo  REF  tied  to 
ground-  This  causes  the  A-to-D  con- 
verter  chip  inside  the  DPM  to  t^e- 
come  confused  and  display  a  false 
reading.  There  is  only  one  way 
around  this  problem.  You  must  have 
a  separate  power  source  to  operate 
the  DPM.  Luckily  for  us.  we  have 
three  choices.  The  first  Is  to  use  a  9 
vott  battery,  it's  simple,  cheap,  and 
sure  is  easy.  The  second  is  to  oper- 
ate the  DPM  from  a  separate  power 
source  such  as  a  wall  wart  power 
supply.  Or.  we  can  use  a  DC-to-DC 
converter. 

You  can  buy  commercial  DC-to^ 
DC  converters  just  about  anywhere. 
But,  fKJid  onto  your  hats,  they're  not 
cheap!  The  one  D1  International  sells 
to  operate  their  DPM  runs  atioul  $20. 
It  generates  a  +g  volt  supply  which  is 
totally  isolated.  I've  seen  DC>tc-DC 


74  73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  May,  1 994 


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^  .  to  DPM 


converters  listed  in  surplus  catalogs. 
One  had  a  converter  that  would  fill 
the  requirements  for  under  two 
bucks ^  Et  fs  important  wher^  shopping 
for  a  converter  to  get  one  that  sup- 
plies an  isolated  +9  (or  +5)  volts. 
Some  voltage  converters  generate  a 
different  vo?tage  than  the  supply.  This 
is  rtot  what  you  want  for  the  DPM. 

You  can  roil  your  own  DC*to-DC 
converter  without  too  much  Iroubl©-  In 
fact,  all  you  need  is  just  a  spoonful  of 
paita.  Figure  2  shows  the  DC-to-DC 
converter  I  built  up  using  some  junk 
box  parts.  The  output  from  the  oscil- 
lator is  coupled  to  a  small  trans- 
former.  The  output  is  then  rectified, 
filtered  and  regulated  to  7.5  volts  with 
a  zener  diode  and  a  resistor  A  sec- 
ond zener  diode  is  also  across  tho 
output  of  the  converter.  This  diode 
acts  as  a  safety  valve  in  case  the  7.5 
volt  zener  opens  up.  If  that  happens, 
fie  10  volt  zener  will  short  the  output 
together,  protecting  the  DPM  from 
overvoltage.  In  my  DC*to*OG  convert- 
er  there  is  very  little  current  devel- 
oped. Although  Tve  never  measured 
It,  I  would  guess  the  total  amount  of 
currerit  generated  would  be  less  than 
10  mA. 

Just  about  any  type  of  oscfiiator 
can  be  used  in  this  circuit.  I've  used  a 
single  gate  of  an  LM324,  a  555  timer. 
a  4049,  and  at  least  several  others, 
too.  in  fact  nothing  is  really  crtt»cat. 
The  driver  transformer  is  available 
Ifom  Mouser  Electronics* 

Notice  hK>w  the  output  ts  separated 
from  the  supply  ground.  This  gives  us 
the  required  isoiation.  The  O.t  jiF  ca- 


Figure  2.  DC  to  DC  con\^en&r  for  the  DPM. 


pacltor  from  the  output  to  system 
ground  was  required  to  keep  a  nasty 
spike  from  confusing  the  DPM, 

I  built  this  converter  q»n  a  hunk  of 
perf  board  There  ts  rto  PC  board  lay- 
out for  it.  Since  the  converter  u$es  an 
oscillator,  it  may  be  possible  to  hear 
this  oscillator  in  your  receiver.  Some 
careful  shielding  of  the  converter  will 
keep  all  the  noise  inside  and  out  of 
the  receiver. 

If  you  suffer  from  inductorphopia, 
you  might  be  able  to  come  up  with  a 
suitable  DC-to-DC  converter  without 
the  transformer  Perhaps  some  types 
of  capacitance-coupled  diodes  may 
work. 

Measuring  Current  with  the  DPM 

There  is  or>e  more  task  the  DPM  is 
capable  of  doing:  h  has  the  ability  to 
measure  current*  All  you  need  is  a 
shunt  in  the  negative  lead  and  you're 
ready  to  go.  If  you  use  a  calibrated 
shunt  the  display  will  t>e  accurate;  11 
you  use  a  homemade  shunt  you'll 
need  to  calibrate  the  meter. 

A  laser  trimmer  100  mV  shunt  is 
what  \  use.  This  shunt  wf]l  drop  one 
millivolt  for  every  amp  of  current.  So, 
at  100  amps,  we  have  1 00  mV  across 
the  shunt.  If  this  is  applied  to  the 
DPM.  the  display  will  be  100.  You  can 
select  the  display  decimal  point  by 
using  a  switch.  At  10  amps,  the  dis- 
play would  read  010  and  so  on.  It  is 
Important  that  the  shunt  be  in  the 
negative  lead.  And  again,  ihe  DPM 
must  be  running  on  either  a  battery  or 
the  OC-to-DC  converter  described 
above.  I  have  a  source  of  taser  trim- 


mer 100  mV  shunts.  They're  not 
cheap,  about  $35  each,  but  if  you're 
inte rested <  drop  nrbe  a  note. 

Depending  on  the  amount  of  cur* 
rent  you  want  to  measure,  you  can 
build  your  own  shunt  A  six-inch  piece 
of  solid  #14  copper  wire  wound  on  an 
AA  baitery  wortts  great.  Use  the  bat- 
tery as  a  form  only;  remove  ft  tsefore 
you  use  the  shunt.  You  have  to  cali- 
brate this  shunt  with  a  I00k-t0'470k 
trimmer  as  shown  in  the  schematic. 
Either  value  win  work.  To  calibrate  the 
shunt,  first  connect  a  load  of  several 
amps  in  series  with  a  source  of  power 
and  the  shunt.  A  headlight  makes  a 
cheap  and  dirty  load.  Now  install  your 
own  current  meter,  say  your  multime- 
ter, in  series,  too.  Turn  on  the  suppfy 
artd  note  the  current  on  your  muttime- 
ter.  Adjust  the  trtmmer  so  the  DPM 
displays  Ihe  same  value.  Place  a 
drop  of  paint  or  nail  polish  on  the 


trimmer  to  prevent  its  movement  and 
youVe  all  done.  By  using  a  shunt  and 
the  0PM,  you  have  a  great  way  to 
measure  a  large  amount  of  current 
safely.  A  multi-pole  switch  would  be 
ideaJ  for  a  combination  voltage  and 
cijrrent  display. 

Other  Uses 

Although  the  DPM  is  really  at 
home  with  current  and  voltage,  it  can 
be  made  to  do  other  tasks.  If  you 
want  to  display  frequency,  for  exam- 
ple, all  you  have  to  do  Is  add  a  fre- 
quency to  voltage  chip  and  display 
the  results  on  the  DPM.  Measuring 
SWR  or  RF  power  would  be  easier 
yet.  Two  of  the  DPMs,  one  to  mea- 
sure forward  power  and  a  second  to 
measure  reflected  power,  would  be 
easy  to  build.  In  fact,  the  Kanga  pow- 
er bhdge  would  be  a  good  test  bed 
for  a  project  like  this.  Right  now,  I'm 
working  on  my  own  version  of  a  field- 
strength  meter  using  Ihe  DPM  from 
01  International  Should  t>e  an  inter- 
esting project  to  build. 

Field  Day 

Next  month  is  Field  Day,  a  tradi- 
tional outing  for  QRP  stations.  How 
about  getting  those  Field  Day  photos 
together  and  sending  some  in?  Other 
OPBers  would  like  to  see  what  the 
guy's  station  looks  tike  after  the 
smoke  clears. 

While  life  may  be  too  short  for 
OR  P.  intense  levels  of  RF  and  those 
cigars  will  do  you  In  quickert 


Power  supply 


stium 


100Kor470K 


negative  lead 


positive  lead 


Ainpmeia  mine 


Figure  3.  Using  a  power  suppty  to  calibrate  the  DPM  to  reatf  current. 


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CIRCLE  222  ON  READER  SERVICE  CARD 

76  73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  May,  1 994 


CIRCLE  113  ON  aEADER  SERVICE  CARD 


■^  Numbtr  20  on  your  Feedback  card 

Packet  &  computers 


Jeffrey  Sloman  N7EWO 
P.O.  Box  636 
Fmnktin  tN  4SJ31 

Getting  Started  In  TCP/IP, 
Part  7 

From  Here  to  There — Routing  and 
TCP/IP 

This  month's  installation  of  our 
TCP/IP  series  will  concentrate  on 
routing,  the  specification  of  the  path 
that  traffic  should  take  between  sta- 
tions. 

If  I  want  to  conned  to  your  station, 
but  cannot  hear  i1  directty.  I  am  not  out 
of  luck.  The  TCP/IP  protocol  offers  ihe 
ability  to  create  'routing  tabfes*  which 
specify  how  traffic  addressed  to  a  par- 
ticutar  station  should  be  directed, 
TCP/fP  uses  what  is  called  "static 
roulingr  that  is,  it  depends  upon  the 
tables  you  create  to  find  the  intended 
station  for  a  given  address. 

ARP 

ARP  means  Address  Resolution 
Protocol,  and  this  is  the  TCP/IP  ser- 
vice that  lets  JNOS  figure  out  what 
you  mean  wfien  you  save 
NlEWO.AMPR.ORG.  Let^s  follow  a 
hypotiietical  connection  by  you  to  my 
station.  Well  use  tfie  ttylink  (chat)  pro- 
gram so  we  can  talK^  The  first  Step  is 
for  you  to  type  the  pfoper  commanci  at 
the  prompt: 

59672  net>tty  NlBWO 

This  tells  JNOS  to  make  a  telnet 
connection  to  port  87  of  my  station — 
which  is  the  ttylink  service.  The  first 
thing  your  station  does  Is  make  an 
ARP  request  on  the  air  If  we  switch  to 


the  monftOT  screen  (by  pressing  F9) 
we  see; 

A3C25t  (your  call  J  ->OST 

AR?:   len  30  hwtype  A2.25  prot 

IP  op  REQUEST 
sender  lE^addr  44 .  (your  IP 
addxesa)  hwaddr  (your  call) 
target  IP«ddr  44*48.70.32  hvaddr 

Your  station  ts  asking  the  worid. 
"What  is  the  hardware  address  of 
AA.A8JQ227'  What  is  a  hardware  ad- 


using  NOS  over  an  Ethernet  network 
irtstead  ot  AX. 25.  the  hardware  ad- 
dress that  would  be  sought  l>y  the 
ARP  fK^uest  is  Ihe  MAG  (Medfa  Ac- 
cess Control)  address.  This  is  an 
eight-byte  address  tfiat  is  unique  to  an 
Ethernet  NIC  (fvfetwork  Interface 
Card),  just  as  'mycair  is  unique  to  an 
AX^5  station. 

Lef  s  assume  that  my  station  can 
hear  your  station  directly.  I  hear  your 
ARP  request  and  reply  (again  in  the 
monitor  screen): 

AX25:     KIEWO  ->  {your  c«lll> 
UI  pids'ARP 
len   30  hwtype  AX.2S 
prot  Xf  op  REPLY 
!r  iPaddr  44.43.70,22 
NIEWQ 

target  Ifaddr  (your  IP 
address }  fawajddr  (your  call) 


ARP 


This  month's  installation  of  our  TCP/IP 
series  will  concentrate  on  routing, 
the  specification  of  the  path  that 
traffic  should  take  between  stations/' 


dress?  TCP/IP  is  network  layer  proto- 
col and  in  the  ham  radio  world  it  runs 
over  an  AX. 25  (plain  old  packet)  Itnk. 
We  use  the  AX.25  link  to  create  the 
connection  between  stations— we  use 
TCP/IP  to  manage  and  control  data 
between  stations.  So,  the  hardware 
address  is  whatever  ''mycair  is  set  to 
for  a  TCP/IP  station.  The  purpose  of 
the  ARP  request  is  to  find  out  what 
that  call  IS,  so  oommunicatk>n  can  take 
place.  TCP/IP  is  a  "datagram'  proto- 
col. This  is  in  contrast  to  a  "Virtual  cir- 
cutr  protocol  such  as  AX,25.  In  other 
words,  data  transfer  via  TCP/IP  on 
ham  radio  fs  accomplished  with  AX .25 
UI  (Unnumbered  Information) 
frames— in  plain  language,  the  sta- 
tions never  connect  in  the  AX. 25 
sense. 

By  way  of  example,  if  we  were 


As  you  can  see^  my  station  sent  a 
REPLY  to  yours  Indicating  that  my 
hardware  address  is  N1EW0.  It  could 
have  been  NIEWO^l  or  some  other 
SSIO  (Secondary  Station  IDentrfier. 
the  '1  part).  Or,  what  if  I  coukJnl  hear 
your  station — is  all  tost? 

No.  there  are  at  ^east  a  couple  of 
ways  around  that.  First,  I  could  fix 
thtngs  from  my  end  by  arranging  a 
^gateway"  and  having  it  "publish*  itseff 
as  the  hardware  address  to  reach  me. 
To  make  this  work  takes  two  steps. 
Rrst  I  must  use  the  ARP  command  {at 
the  gateway  station)  to  pubJish  itself 
as  the  hardware  address  for  my  sta- 
tion: 

arp  publish  44.48.70.22  ax25 
(gateway  hwaddr)  (interface) 

where: 


44.48,709.22  iS  my  address 

ax25  is  the  hardware  type 

(gateway  hwaddr)  is  Ihe  caJI  of  the 

gateirtray 

(interface)  is  the  name  of  ttie  interface 

on  the  gateway  that  will  publish  this 

address. 

Now  an  ARP  request  for  my  fiard- 
ware  address  will  be  answered  by  this 
gateway  station.  Trouble  Is.  if  I  do 
nothing  else  this  doesn't  let  us  oom- 
municate.  f  need  to  tell  the  gateway 
where  to  send  the  traffic  that  it  gets 
for  me.  l  do  this  with  the  ROUTE  com- 
mand: 

route  add  44.4S.70.22  (interface) 

Now  traffic  sent  to  thts  station  will 
be  sent  out  the  interface  specified. 

Alternatively,  you  can  set  it  up  from 
your  side.  This  works  by  manually 
adding  my  statkxi  to  your  ARP  list 

arp  add  44.4B.70.22  ax25  NIEWO 
(Interface) 

which  puts  a  pennanent  entry  in  the 
ARP  table  for  me.  The  second  step  fn 
this  process  is  to  add  an  AX.25  route 
to  my  hardware  address  using  the 
ax25  command; 

axSS  route  add  NiEWO  (tnltriace) 
(digrs  . , . ) 

This  puts  an  enlry  into  the  AX. 25 
routing  table  (or  my  hardware 
address,  letting  you  connect.  The 
ARP  entry  means  that  yoii  don't 
have  to  send  out  a  request — which 
I  could  not  hear.  You  can  see  that 
TCP/IP  routing  is  "sialic' — you  set 
it  up  and  then  must  change  it  man- 
ually, tf  you  can  hear  the  stations  di- 
rectlyp  it  Is  dynamic  (you  ask^  it  tells, 
your  tables  are  built),  but  not  other- 
wise. 

fvlex!  month  we'll  look  more  at 
routing.  73  deNIEWO. 


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CIRCLE  197  ON  REAO£i%  SERVICE  CAflD 


73  Amateur  Radio  Today*  May,  1994  77 


Atv 


Humb«r  2t  On  your  Feedback  card 


Ham  Television 


Bill  Brown  WB8ELK 
c/o  73  Magazine 
70  Route  202  North 
Petertxfrough  NH  03458 

ATV  Birthday  Party 

Kim  Cohan  KD6TLB  wanted  his 
30th  birthday  party  to  be  unusual  and 
unique.  Srnoe  he  is  a  pilot  and  also 
loves  ATV,  he  decided  to  combine 
these  interests  and  throw  a  truly 
amazing  aerial  celebration  that  the  lo- 
cals would  keep  talking  about 

After  a  lot  of  ooordlnatjng  with  the 
FAA  and  local  airport  oflicfals  he  was 
able  to  arrange  to  have  four  skydiving 
instructors  from  the  i-lolli$tar  airport 
parachute  from  an  atliluda  of  11,000 
feel  to  land  right  in  his  back  yanj  (for- 
tunately he  lives  right  next  to  the 
Carmel  VaiJey  Airport).  To  make  this 


Photo  A.  Skydiver  Jess  Rodriguez  demonstrates  his 
unique  helmet  camera  system  compfete  with  ATV  tr&ns^ 
mitier.  An  8mm  camcorder  and  a  35mm  fttm  camera  is 
mounted  to  his  heirrmt  m  art  aluminum  brackeL  TTie  ATV 
tfansmitter  ts  strapped  to  tvs  wsfst  inside  of  ttfe  knapsack 
Bnd  tfie  ATV  antenna  can  be  seen  attached  to  his  shoe. 


a  truly  memorable  experierice^  he  en- 
listed the  aid  of  some  of  the  members 
of  the  Naval  Postgraduate  School 
ARC  in  Monterey  to  work  out  a  way 
of  televising  Ihe  jump  live  via  ATV. 

Skydiving  tV 

Doug  McKinney  KG3RL  designed 
a  small  knapsack  l  watt  ATV  trans- 
mitter that  strapped  around  the  waist 
of  the  skydwer.  The  transmitter  con- 
sisted of  a  Kreepfe-Peepie  transmit- 
ter (RC*  Electronics),  an  audio  ID 
that  sent  out  a  CW  message  over  the 
ATV  audio  subcarrier  and  an  eight- 
cell  AA  alkaline  battery  pack  mounted 
in  a  Sturdy  metal  enclosure  (Bud  CiJ- 
247  or  Hammond  15900).  Doyg 
(ourd  that  by  using  an  alkaline  AA 
pack  he  could  keep  everything 
lightweight  and  compact  and  still  op- 
erate the  system 
for  around  four 
hours.  One  unique 
feature  that  Doug 
designed  Into  his 
ATV  box  was  a 
latching  ON/OFF 
toggle  switch.  Once 
turned  on,  you 
need  to  lilt  up  the 
toggle  and  physi- 
cally slide  it  over  to 
allow  it  to  snap  off. 
It  is  virtuaJly  impos- 
sible to  accidentally 
brush  against  this 
switch  and  move  it* 
Anyone  building  up 
a  portable  ATV  sys- 
tem may  want  to 
incorporate  this 
switch  into  their  de- 
sign. It  is  available 
from  Digi-Key  (part 
number  CKN1015- 
ND)  and  is  made 
by  C&K  Company 
(called  the  K-tock- 
ing  lever). 

Finding  a  good 
place  to  attach  the 
antenna  to  the  sky- 
diver  presented  an 
interesting  problem 
for  Doug,  He  tried 
taping  a  440  MHz 
rubber  duck  anten- 
na to  the  skydiver's 
shoe  but  found  that 
this  caused  prob- 
lems due  to  detun- 
ing. To  solve  this 
problem,  Doug 
formed  a  2"-thick 
urethane  spacer 
out  of  "Great  StufT 
spray  foam  (found 
at  most  hardware 
stores).  He  mount- 
ed the  mbbter  duck 


on  top  of  the  foam  and  carved  out  the 
bottom  of  the  toam  so  that  it  rested 
on  top  Of  the  skydiver's  shoe.  RG-5$ 
coax  was  run  from  the  transmitter 
down  to  the  antenna  underneath  the 
skydiver's  flight  suit  (ifs  important  to 
keep  cables  from  tangling  up  with  the 
Other  skydivers  in  the  plane  prior  to 
jumping).  This  arrangement  allowed 
the  skydlver  complete  freedom  of 
movement  without  the  danger  of  trip- 
ping over  cables  or  the  antenna  dur- 
ing landing. 

The  Sky  cam  Helmet 

It  turned  out  thai  Jess  Rodriguez, 
tfie  skydivar  chosen  to  carry  Ihe  ATV 
system,  had  already  developed  hts 
own  system  for  videotaping  his  flights 
(see  Photo  A).  He  had  an  8mm  cam- 
corder strapped  the  top  of  his  helmet 
and  a  mechanical  sight  that  he  could 
place  in  front  of  one  of  his  eyes.  All 
he  had  to  do  was  to  line  up  the  sight 
with  whatever  scene  he  wanted  to 
videotape  (important  for  filming  for- 
mation skydiving).  Interfacing  the 
camcorder  to  the  waist- mount  ATV 
transmitter  simply  involved  running  a 
smalt  cable  behind  the  helmet  and 
under  his  Jacket. 

Taking  e  Fall 

To  receive  the  signal,  Mike  Marchi- 
ni  WA6E0C,  Pat  Carter  KA61RS. 
Steve  Bible  N6HPR  and  Don  Nichols 
KB6BZL  set  up  a  ground  station  un- 
der a  tent  on  the  edge  of  the  Canne] 
Valley  airport.  Mike  and  Pat  also 
recorded  the  flight  on  their  VCR.  We 
all  crowded  out  onto  the  airport  and 
could  Just  make  out  a  tiny  speck  mopv- 
ing  across  the  sky.  Using  a  six-ele- 
ment beam  we  started  to  receive  an 
excellent  ATV  picture  showing  the  in- 
side of  the  jump  plane  as  it  circled 
overhead  at  11.000  feet.  Soon  we 
could  see  several  small  dots  as  the 
skydivers  jumped  out  of  the  plane. 
Everyone  crowded  around  the  TV 
set.  and  all  were  amazed  to  see  a 
beautiful  image  of  the  skydivers  link- 
ing hands  and  free-falling  in  fonna* 
tkm.  The  helmet  camera  provided  a 
very  stable  image  that  gave  us  ihe  i I* 
lusion  that  we  were  up  there  free- 
falfing  with  them.  One  by  one  they 
opened  their  steerable  parafoKs  and 
treated  us  all  with  an  aerial  tour  of 
the  Carmet  Valley  as  they  gently  de- 
scended towards  the  airport.  As  the 
skydivers  landed  in  front  of  us,  each 
shouted  out  '"Happy  Birthday"  to  Kim, 
folded  up  the  chute,  and  joined  the 
pany. 

The  Ultimate  Birthday  Balloon 

As  if  skydiving  ATV  wasn't 
enough,  we  launched  an  ATV  balfoon 
(with  color  camera)  about  an  hour  af- 
ter the  skydiving  adventure.  This 
package  contained  a  lightweight  color 
TV  camera  {Howard  Associates, 
Thousand  Oaks,  CA)^  a  5  watt  ATV 
transmitter  on  434  MHz  (micro-ATV 
transmitter  with  a  RC*  Electronics 
PA-5  power  bik*)  and  a  GPS  system 
on  2  meter  packet  built  by  Doug 
McKinney  K03RL.  We  launched  this 


Photo  &.  The  birthday  guy.  Km  Cohan 
KD6JtB,  iooks  on  as  Jess  Rodnguez 
and  his  Skydi\i^  Cam  prepare  to  iand 
at  the  party. 


package  Just  a  couple  of  hours  before 
sunsei  and  treated  the  party-goers 
with  an  aerial  view  of  the  mountains 
as  the  balloon  drifted  up  into  the 
stratosphere.  The  chase  crew  was 
deployed  near  the  impact  zone 
(about  SO  miles  southeast  of  the  par- 
ty) but  darkness  and  the  remote  land- 
ing site  prevented  a  recovery  that 
night.  Thanks  to  Kim's  eagle  eyes,  he 
spotted  the  payload  a  few  days  later 
while  flying  over  a  ranch  in  the 
foothills  east  of  King  City  in  his  Cess- 
na 150.  After  fending  our  way  past  a 
few  herds  of  cattle  we  were  able  to 
recover  everything  in  good  shape. 

The  party  continued  on  with  even 
more  unique  events  such  as  a  MIDI 
CKXicert  that  invotved  a  pianist  In  Ohio 
(Eugene  Beer)  playing  Kim's  synthe- 
sizer in  California  via  a  telephone 
modem  and  a  paper  glider  contest 
(dropped  from  a  tethered  balloon). 
Kim's  party  was  truly  a  multimedia  af* 
fair  and  sparked  an  interest  in  ham 
radio  with  several  of  the  guests. 
WeVe  all  looking  forward  to  next 
year's  event — I  guess  it'li  have  to  be 
a  virtual  reality  ATV  party  to  top  this 
one! 


78  73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  May,  1 994 


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73  Amateur  Radio  Today  May,  1994  79 


Number  22  on  your  Feedback  card 


^m  numoer  z^  on  your  t-c 

Above  &  beyond 


VHF  And  Above  Operation 


a  L  Houghton  WB6fGF 
San  Diego  Microwave  Group 
6345  Badger  Lake  Ave. 
San  Diego  CA  9211 9 

Cdfistructing  Hamtronics 
Modules:  Conversion  of  28 
MHz  HF  to  2  Meters  SSB 

Last  month  in  this  column  I  cov- 
ered a  basic  concept;  one  method  of 
converting  an  SSB  HF  rig  using  a 
VHF  transverler,  adapting  an  HF  ng 
to  2  meter  SSB  operation.  I  detailed 
the  HF  modifications  to  my  test  de- 
vice, an  Atfas  B-100  SSB  HF  rig.  I 
used  this  rig  because  it  was  available 
to  me  for  a  modest  cost.  The  basic 
point  is  that  any  inexpensive  HF  rig 
you  locate  is  usable  if  it  can  cover  the 
desired  frequency  range,  in  Ihis  case 
10  meters  (28  MHz).  10  meters  is  just 
a  piatform  for  generating  and  receiv- 
ing SSB  in  this  particular  application. 
Any  similar  rig  will  work  as  it  has  all 
the  basic  circuitry  to  accomplish  this 
goal.  Whatever  type  of  HF  rig  you 
base  your  design  around  you  should 
be  able  to  find  a  bargain  in  the  used 
equipment  or  swap  meet  arena.  Ob- 
taining a  used  HF  rig  for  thfs  project 
and  converting  it  makes  good  sense 
from  both  a  lime-saving  and  mone- 
tary point  of  view,  in  contrast  to  home 
construction  of  an  SSB  system  for 
this  use. 

Using  a  Hamtronics  Kit 

As  I  stated  last  month,  1  selected 
the  Atlas-R-100  receiver  as  the  basis 
tor  my  23  MHz  SSB  portion  because 
its  circuitry  is  constructed  to  work  In 
transmit  or  receive  functions  simply 
using  a  single  PC  board  design.  See 
the  April  'Above  and  Beyond"  column 
for  details.  This  month  I  want  to  cover 
the  construction  and  interfacing  of  the 
Hamtronics  transmit  and  receive 


modules  to  convert  a  28  MHz  SSB 
transceiver  to  2  meters.  Initially  I  was 
going  to  design  a  set  of  modules  for 
this  purpose  but  when  I  read  the 
Hamtronics  advertisement  for  their 
modules  and  looked  at  the  cost,  I 
could  see  this  was  a  better  deal  than 
trying  to  re-invent  the  wheel.  Besides, 
it's  more  fun  to  put  a  kit  together  than 
to  engineer  one. 

Let  me  give  you  a  few  excerpts 
from  tlie  Hamtronics  construction  de- 
tails that  come  packed  with  their 
equipment  to  give  you  an  example  of 
how  easy  they  have  made  interfacing 
their  kits.  This  excerpt  is  only  a  por- 
tion Of  the  tntormation  supplied  and 
deals  with  the  attenuator  needed  for 
the  transmit  side  of  the  circuit.  See 
Table  1  for  resistor  selection  values  to 
construct  a  suitable  attenuator. 

There  are  many  ways  to  come  up 
with  1  milliwatt  of  drive  at  10  meters, 
tt  is  not  possible  to  cover  every  ex- 
ample for  each  type  of  exciter,  but  the 
general  information  provided  should 
be  adaptable  for  your  particular  situa- 
tion. The  primary  things  to  remember: 
First,  be  very  careful  to  start  on  the 
conservative  side  when  experiment' 
ing  to  find  the  best  value  to  use.  If 
you  apply  a  massive  amount  of  power 
to  your  converter  you  may  end  up 
with  smoke  signals  instead  of  SSB 
signals.  Second,  do  not  reduce  the 
audio  gain  of  the  exciter  to  keep  out- 
put drive  low,  except  for  fine  adjust- 
ment. Design  your  attenuator  to  use 
the  full  range  of  the  exciter  Then  you 
won't  d/a^lthe  transceiver  accidental- 
ly with  high  power  when  the  converter 
is  In  operation.  Third h  be  prepared  to 
experiment  to  find  the  ideal  attenua- 
tor for  your  situation. 

For  low- power  radios  (less  than  5 
watts) ^  you  can  simply  build  a  sym- 
metrical pi -attenuator  to  reduce  drive 
for  the  converter.  Mechanically,  the 


Photo  A.  Hamtronics  receive  converter  CA-1 44-23. 


attenuator  is  made  of  composition  re- 
sistors of  appropriate  rating  (be  con- 
servative) soldered  to  a  vector  board 
or  terminal  strip.  Keep  connections 
short  and  install  any  convenient 
length  of  coax  cabie  and  connections 
to  complete  the  job.  See  Table  1  for 
attenuator  values.  It  is  sufficient  to 
find  resistance  values  close  to  the 
values  given — it  is  not  necessary  to 
be  exacts  Make  sure  the  resistors  can 
handle  the  power  level  safely  espe- 
cially the  shunt  resistor  on  the  exciter 
side  of  the  circuit,  which  dissipates 
most  of  the  power 

The  above  description  was  part  of 
the  11  pages  of  detailed  instnjctions 
from  Hamtronics  to  make  the  kit  con- 
struction successful.  They  went  Into 
great  detail,  giving  construction  tips 
and  line-up  and  testing  procedures 
that  were  easy  to  follow  for  the  most 
Intimidated  kit  buElder  I  am  not  saying 
a  third-grader  could  construct  these 
kits,  but  with  limited  kit  building  expe- 
rience you  can  feel  comfortable 
putting  them  together.  In  retrospecti 
the  onfy  trouble  I  had  in  constructing 
the  transmitter  portion  of  the  kit  was 
trying  to  figure  out  where  to  use  the 
solid  #22  ga.  wire.  (It  was  used  to 
hold  shield  sections  in  place.)  f^fly 
problem  was  that  I  missed  the  in- 
struction on  that  item  in  my  quick 
scan  of  Hamtronics  material.  Jf  I  had 
read  the  material  more  slowly  I  would 
not  have  missed  that  instruction. 

The  remainder  of  the  construction 
was  very  straightforward  and  easy  to 


Fiioto  B.  Hamtfonics  transmit  converter  XV2. 


follow,  The  only  tools  needed  for  the 
kit's  construction  were  a  wire  cutter, 
long-nosed  pliers,  X-Acto  knife^  sol- 
der and  soldering  iron.  The  X-Acto 
knife  was  needed  to  remove  the 
enamel  on  the  wire  used  tor  the  coti 
forms  prior  to  soldering.  The  wire 
supplied  was  easy-strip  and  could  be 
soldered^  but  I  prefer  to  scrape  my 
coil  wire  to  dean  copper.  An  alternate 
procedure  for  fine  wire  is  to  have  a 
small  capful  of  rubbing  alcohol,  dip 
the  wire  end  into  the  alcohol  and  then 
with  a  match  bum  the  tip  of  the  wire. 
After  a  few  seconds  quickly  dip  the 
hot  wire  end  into  the  alcohol.  The 
enamel  will  crack  off  as  the  hot  wire 
end  is  immersed  into  the  cold  alcohol. 
(Keep  the  fiame  away  from  the  aico- 
hoi.)  For  safety,  use  only  a  small  cap- 
ful of  alcohol.  That  is  all  that  is  need- 
ed anyway.  [Manufacturer's  Note: 
New  fiits  being  shipped  a$  of  this 
month  have  mofded  coils,  so  winding 
on  coil  forms  is  no  longer  necessary. 
On  the  few  alr*wound  coils  which  stUI 
require  the  huifder  to  strip  off  insula- 
tion, be  sure  to  pretin  tfie  coil  leads 
after  the  coils  are  wound  but  before 
they  are  installed  on  the  board.  Thus, 
the  heat  is  transferred  to  th^  wire  and 
not  sunk  to  the  foil  on  th&  board.] 

All  component  parts  for  the  kit 
were  packed  in  a  box  with  the  PC 
board  and  instructions  for  that  particu- 
lar kit.  All  the  components  needed 
were  sealed  in  a  plastic  bag.  I  sug- 
gest you  obtain  a  small  tray  or  box  lid 
to  place  the  components  into  before 
you  open  the  bag  so  you  don't  drop 
something  and  lose  it.  I  used  a  small 
photo  tray  about  4"  by  6',  Placing  all 
components  in  the  tray  allowed  the 
organization  of  resistors  Into  a  low-to- 
high- value  assortment,  allowing  me  to 
place  and  select  them  quickly  during 
the  construction  of  the  kit.  I  used  a 
section  of  cardboard  and  inserted  the 
resistors  into  the  corrugated  end  of 
the  cardboard.  If  you  have  any  trouble 
reading  the  color  code  you  had  better 
use  a  meter,  just  to  be  safe,  (I  know  lit 
the  color  code,  and  assume  you  do 
also,  but  poor  eyesight  in  low-light 
conditions  predicates  use  of  a  VOM  to 
confirm  just  what  I  think  tt  Is.  This  step 
avoids  problems  and  Is  a  good  confir- 
mation step). 

Looking  at  the  schematic  and  con- 
firming component  part  locations  on 
the  PC  board  is  quite  easy  after  a  few 
components  have  been  placed  on  the 


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61  d-744-1 043      FAX 


( 


73  Amateur  Radio  Todays  May,  1994  81 


K-174 

RF  Amp 

NEC    GaAsFet 


FET 

Mi^er   J308 


RF 


2B   MHz 
To  SSB  IF 


3SK174 


144  H^Hz 

145  MHz 

146  MHz 


3S.667 
39333     xtal 


Osc 
2N3563 


Mutt 
2N3963 


Figure  t  Biock  diagram  Hamt funics  CA- 7 44-28  receive  converter 


board  A  suggesllor^  for  consffuciloft 
Is  to  place  some  of  the  shields  for  Ih6 
coils  (without  the  coils)  to  give  you  a 
starting  point  until  a  few  parts  have 
been  mounted,  it  helps  to  visiialize 
the  layout  of  Components  by  separat- 
ing portions  of  rhe  circuitry.  After  a 
few  pans  are  permanenlly  mounted 
and  soldered,  remove  them  until  later 
when  the  coifs  are  positioned  on  the 
board. 

After  all  the  resistors  were  mount- 
ed I  sorted  the  capacitors  and  used 
the  same  procedure  as  wtth  the  resis- 
tors. The  coffs  tor  the  receiver  were 
all  pre-wound  and  color-coded  for 
easy  Installation.  In  the  transmitter  kit 


the  1/8'  coil  forms  needed  to  be 
wound  with  the  turns  specified  The 
enameled  wire  for  ttiis  was  supplied 
in  the  kit,  The  remaining  coifs  are  air- 
wound  wJth  the  #22  gauge  enamel 
wire  on  a  1/8"  mandrel  for  a  form. 
Any  l/S"  fomi  will  do  here ■  The  X-Ac- 
10  knife  was  used  to  remove  the 
enamel  from  the  wke  to  bare  the  cop- 
per to  aid  In  good  soldering  of  con- 
rectJons. 

The  Hamtronies  transmitter  kit  pro- 
vkjes  2  watis  of  power  output  in  the 
stock  kit  as  constructed.  This  is  far 
more  power  than  is  needed  for  up- 
oonversion  in  a  microwave  portion  o( 
the  cor^verter.  I  have  tried  several 


methods  of  power  reductior  to  limit 
power  to  acceptable  levels  near  the 
+10  dBm  range  (10  to  25  mW  Max.  of 
power  at  2  meters).  One  method  is  to 
remove  the  final  transistor  and  couple 
through  this  empty  stage.  Another 
method  is  to  remove  the  +DC  voltage 
to  the  collector  of  the  final  and  use 
the  remaining  power  that  couples 
through  Ihe  disabled  final.  In  thts 
method  the  iransistor  is  still  connect- 
ed to  the  driver  and  provides  a  good 
match  to  its  dmuitry.  The  open  collec- 
tor wEth  the  tuned  circuit  and  collector 
de-coupling  still  in  place  will  reduce 
gain  to  acceptable  levels  for  convert^ 
er  use. 

For  the  Hamtronics  converter  th(s 
proved  to  be  the  best  mettKXJ  and  the 
simplest  to  serve  the  microwave  cor>- 
verter  with  low  drive.  In  any  case,  you 
could  elect  to  incorporate  a  switching 
drcuil  in  the  microwave  Iranscetver  to 
have  a  20  or  so  dB  attenuator  in  the 
transmit  path  arvd  switch  it  out  for  re- 
ceive. This  would  reduce  the  z  watts 
output  to  converter  levels  of  +10 
dBm.  Ne}ft  monih  j  will  cover  a  circuit 
that  has  this  protection  feature  using 
a  MMIC  amplifier  and  relay-actuated 
attenuator.  This  unit  serves  as  a  pro- 
tection device  for  the  microwave  cir- 
cuitry to  prevent  accidentally  keying  a 
Iransmitter  into  a  receive  microwave 


2K35S3 

Amp 


2N4427 
Driver 


BFO-42 
Final 


144    MHz 
BPF 


28    MHz 
Input 


2N54ea 


rA 


Balanced 
Mixer 


nw  Out 

2  Watts 
PEP 


2N54a$ 


TF  Freq  XtaT  Freq 

144  -  146  MHz       38.667  MHz 

145  -  147  MHz       39.000  MHz 


Buffer 

2N3S63 


Trlplof 
2N3563 


Xtal   Osc 
2N3563 


Local   Osc 
Inject 


Xtal 


Figure  2.  Bkxk  (ftagr^m  of  the  Hamtronics  XV2  transmit  converter. 


Hamtronics 

CA-144'28 


Atlas  28  MHz  SSB  Radio 
Power  Amp  Circuitry  Removed 
For  Low  Power  Output 

SPOT 
Relay   #1 


il«e 


28   MH:^  SSB 
HF  Radio 

PTT 


2   Meter 
Rec  Conv 


Ant 


SPOT 
Refay   i2 


In/Out 

«  28  MHz 


Hamtronics    XV-2 
— ^ — 1 


Xmt 


2  Meter 
Xmt  Conv 


i:; 


2   V 


R  ^   1N4001 

Rectifier 

Diode 


Relays  Are  Radio  Shack 
#275-248   or  Similar   12V   Types 


Figure  3.  System  interconnection  diagram.  HFto2  meters. 


miner.  It's  a  simple  protectfon  circuit 
In  the  transmit  path  lies  the  attenua- 
tor to  reduce  the  lull  power  of  the  2 
watt  power  level  to  atx>ut  10  mW  out 
+10  dBm  for  Insertion  Inlo  the  mi- 
crowave mixer, 

There  is  an  SPOT  switch  in  the  At- 
las R-100  antenna  cincuil  allowing  the 
28  MHz  transceiver  to  be  switched 
from  the  receive  converter  to  the 
transmitter  converter.  This  need  not 
be  a  coaxlat  relay — a  small  open 
frame  or  dip-type  relay  is  suitable* 
The  power  level,  it  similar  to  my  corv 
version,  Is  quite  low  and  any  similar 
type  relay  will  work  we!i.  This  relay  is 
actuated  off  the  R-100  keying  line 
part  of  ttie  original  circuitry.  Select  a 
hrgh  resistance  relay,  like  the  Radfo 
Shack  mini  retay  part  #275-248 
($2,99)  or  anything  similar,  for  low- 
current  operation,  This  particular  re- 
lay has  a  320  otim  coil  and  draws  3B 
mA  when  operated  from  12  volts,  I 
would  prefer  a  little  higher  coil  resis- 
tance but  Ihis  one  will  do.  See  Figure 
3  for  the  system  diagram  showing  the 
entire  inter-connections  from  lh«  28 
MHz  HF  SSB  dhver  to  both  receive 
and  transmit  2  meter  converters.  As  I 
mentioned,  next  month  I  wfll  cover 
the  construction  of  3  simple  switching 
Circuit  for  the  2  meter  portion  of  tire 
drojit. 

2  Meter  Receive  Converter 

The  construction  of  the  2  meter  re- 
ceive converter  is  qurte  straightfor- 
ward. II  was  assembled  in  a  similar 
manner  to  the  transmitting  oonverter; 
thai  is;  resistors  first,  capacitors  sec- 
ond, coils,  then  so  fid -state  devices.  In 
this  kit  all  the  coils  were  pre-manufac- 
tured  on  their  particular  forms  and 
color-coded  as  to  where  the  coifs 
were  to  be  positioned.  This  made 
construction  very  easy  and  fast. 
Again  the  instruction  sheets  for  as- 
sembly were  well-documented,  with 
enough  information  to  keep  you  out 
ol  trouble  and  to  answer  most  ques- 
tions about  const nict ion  and  testing. 

The  only  difficulty  I  had  was  Ihe 
adjustment  of  the  coils'  ferite  slugs. 
The  coils  in  the  kit  had  square  adjust- 
ment holes  and  i  did  not  have  such  a 
tool  in  my  tuning  tool  assortment. 
Hamtronics  makes  such  a  tool  avail- 
able but  1  did  not  know  I  needed  one 
for  the  job.  Their  tool  part  number 
•'A2e"  is  0060"  square.  Not  having 
one,  I  took  an  old  hexagonal  tooi  that 
was  quite  worn  and  fashioned  a 
0.060"-square  shaft  on  the  erti  of  the 
soft  plastic  tod.  I  filed  the  part  square 
and  kept  reducing  the  dimensions  un- 
tli  it  fit  into  the  slug  easily  For  easy 
insertion.  I  fashioned  the  tip  of  this 
homemade  0.060*-square  tool  soma- 
what  smaller  than  required.  Be  care- 
ful as  the  ferite  rnaterial  is  quite  brittle 
and  wiii  not  take  to  force  of  any  kind. 
If  your  tooi  can  be  inserted  into  the 
cofB  three-eighths  of  an  inch  or  more 
that's  fine,  as  the  force  will  be  dis- 
tributed about  the  slot  and  not  just  at 
the  top.  rf  you  Just  insert  the  tuning 
tool  fnto  the  lop  portion  of  the  core 
and  try  to  adjust  the  core  posJtion,  the 


82   73  Amateur  Radio  Today*  May,  1994 


possibility  fs  very  high  that  the  core 
will  shatter.  You  need  a  tool  that  will 
have  a  good  bite  and  spread  the 
torque  about  the  core  slot  instead  of 
just  at  a  pan  of  the  core  rrtaterial. 

The  safest  thing  to  do  would  be  to 
order  the  A28  (aluminum  and  brass) 
tuning  tooi  when  you  buy  your  first 
Ham  Iron  scs  kit.  This  rnakes  sense  be- 
cause otherwise  you  risk  fracturing 
the  slugs,  which  are  made  of  com- 
pressed powdered  iron.  At  the  same 
time^  you  could  order  a  metal  lipped 
variabJe  capacitor  screwdriver  tool»  if 
you  don  I  already  have  one. 

The  remain ing  alignment  and  ad- 
fustmenl  of  the  receiver  and  transmit- 
ter was  qurte  uneventful,  I  guess  the 
troubleshooting  was  made  easy  be- 
cause of  the  many  components  that 
needed  to  be  placed  on  the  PC 
boards  with  care  and  confirmation, 
eliminating  mistakes.  Gremlins  can 
creep  in  but  !  am  sure  you  will  have 
as  easy  a  task  as  I  did.  With  sianclard 
construction  methods  and  aJI  th«  Ttne 
maieriat  Hamtronics  provided  witti 
their  krt,  they  made  the  job  easy.  See 
Frgure  3  far  I  he  interconnections 
needed  to  provide  I  he  switching  nee* 
essary  for  the  implantation  of  Single- 
switch  PTT  operation  on  2  meters 
with  these  modules.  By  I  he  way,  you 
can  place  the  bare  bones  version  of 
these  modules  without  the  microwave 
equlpmen!  attached  tor  2  meter  SSB 
operation. 

f^ext  month  I  plan  to  cover  the  IF 
switch  circuit  particulars  that  will  be 
adaptable  to  any  system  for  VHP 
switching.  The  beauty  of  this  circuit  Is 
that  it  incorporates  a  protection  circuit 
for  the  microwave  converter  that  pre* 
vents  a  high  level  of  RF  from  taking  a 


dlirect  path  to  the  microwave  mixer. 
This  can  be  an  embarrassing  if  not 
expensive  lesson  in  why  we  prevent 
high  power  from  reaching  a  prized 
and  expensive  microwave  mixer. 

In  the  switching  circuitry  for  the  28 
UHz  to  2  meter  conversion  (Figure  3) 
use  small  relays,  aval  fable  from  Ra- 
dio Shack.  Remember  For  good  sig- 
nal isolation,  use  two  relays  to  pre- 
vent the  relays  from  lalkJng  to  each 
other.*  The  levels  used  in  this  switch- 
ing path  are  low,  as  we  doni  use  the 
full  power  of  the  28  MHz  SSB  system 
(limited  to  about  +10  dBm).  Addition- 
aliy.  the  Hamtronics  transmit  convert- 
er is  afso  limited  to  low  power  by  dis- 
abling the  final  2  watt  transistor  stage 
to  provide  again  k)w-levet  RF  for  mi- 
crowave mixing.  At  this  point  keep 
the  modifications  simple  as  you  might 
want  to  return  this  equipment  to  nor- 
maJ  2  meter  use. 

The  final  Analyste 

Was  the  Hamtronics  Idl  cost  effec- 
tive and  did  it  provide  a  good  t^se  on 
wtiFCh  10  constaict  a  VHP  ptatform  for 
converting  HF  rig  to  2  meters?  You 
beV.  My  onfy  Shoughfcs  on  improvement 
wouid  be  to  have  a  single  PC  board 
with  the  low-power  rec/xmt  dncuitry  for 
conversion  to  2  meters  done  *n  such  a 
way  thai  its  main  use  woufd  be  for  mi- 
crowavers'  appficatjons.  Well,  there  I 
go  again  dmaming  of  the  perfect  appli- 
cation for  my  small  problem.  If  we  had 
it  our  way  every  time  we  wouldn't  have 
any  fun  on  the  worlcbench.  Besides, 
the  modular  design  allows  the  most 
flexibility,  such  as  for  cross  band 
OSCAR  operation.  I  have  to  thank 
Hamtronics  for  providing  their  modules 
for  our  evaluation  in  this  application, 


Pad  Value  (dB) 

Shunt  R  (otims) 

Series  R  (ohms) 

Good  for  power  level: 

3 

aoo 

IS 

2mW 

6 

160 

40 

4mW 

10 

100 

72 

10  mW 

14 

75 

120 

25  mW 

20 

6t 

250 

100  mW 

30 

53 

790 

1  watt 

40 

51 

2500 

10  watt 

Tat^e  h  Attenuator  values  for  pad  construction,  Oto40  {fB,  for  use  tn  FigurB  3, 


and  to  stale  that  they  pe^ormed  very 
well.  The  kits  and  PC  tx>ard  were  easy 
to  follow  and  in  operation  peHonned 
flawlessly.  I  highly  recommend  thes€ 
Hamtronics  kits  for  your  SSB  HF  con- 
version considemtion. 

Mailbox 

Greg  N8RXB  wntes:  *1  am  trying  to 
find  a  simpEe  circuit  for  use  as  a  10 
GHz  detector  to  sftow  the  presence 
of  a  signal.  A  power  indicator  would 
be  an  added  plus*  Well,  Greg,  a  sin- 
gle diode  in  a  waveguide  is  the  sim- 
plesi  drcufi  that  can  be  constructed. 
Obtain  a  short  piece  of  waveguide  for 
the  frequency  of  interest.  In  ttijs  case 
a  piece  of  r  t>y  1/2'"  guide  about  r  to 
2"  tong  will  work  welL  A  microwave- 
type  diode  is  needed  and  anything 
similar  to  a  1N23  will  work  well.  This 
diode  is  packaged  mudi  fike  a  22  cal* 
iber  bullet.  The  brass  bottom  case  is 
made  tor  grounding  in  waveguide  and 
the  top  is  the  worthing  contact  of  the 
diode.  Some  diodes  are  made  in  such 
a  way  that  they  can  be  puiled  out  of 
the  bottom  brass  case  and  reversed 
in  polarity.  For  our  application  either 
way  will  work  weiJ — you  Just  have  to 
change  the  indicator  polarity  to  suit 
the  diode  polarity. 


I  just  got  a  thank  you  reply  back 
from  Greg  in  the  mai  and  he  informs 
me  Itiat  my  suggestions  work  very 
well.  He  found  an  old  security  alarm 
circuit  with  a  diode  attached  and  re- 
ports ttiat  tlie  CJrouft  is  doing  the  job 
nicely. 

Dean  Lucas  NSVMD  questions  the 
antenna  notse  bridge  {73  magazine. 
February  1 9S4).  Dean  does  not  krww 
about  the  RSGB  Handbook  and  is 
kxjking  for  information.  Well  Dean,  I 
will  send  you  a  copy  of  the  Circuit 
from  tfie  RSGB  Handbook.  The  book 
is  available  from  the  ARRL  library 
and  costs  about  $30.  It  is  published 
by  the  RSGB.  i.e.  Radio  Society  of 
Great  Britain,  Cranbom  Road,  Potters 
Bar.  Herlordshire  England  EN6-3JW. 
The  book  is  a  collection  of  articles 
covering  almost  every  aspect  of  VHf 
and  UJ-IF  communications.  It  is  slant- 
ed towards  material  found  in  the  UK 
but  as  a  sourcebook  and  idea  book  It 
is  quite  good  in  describing  operations 
and  methods.  The  author  is  G,  R. 
Jessop  G6JR 

WeJI,  that's  it  for  this  month.  As  al- 
ways I  will  be  gEad  to  answer  ques- 
tions concerning  this  and  related  top- 
ics. Please  send  an  SASE  for  a 
prompt  response.  Chuck  WB6IGR 


Field  Day  G5RV  Qu/cKits'^ 


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73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  May,  1 994  83 


Ask 


Numtier  23  qh  your  Feedback  card       nlum  dodes,  but  the  ti39nslstors  are  an 
M^  M  M^^^^^MM  but gont,  man k  goodness, 

KABOOm  ,„,.„ 


Michaet  J.  Geier  KBfUM 
C^O  73  Mag^zme 
70  Route  202  North 
Peterborough  NH  03458 

Failure  Modes 

A  long  time  ago,  I  wrote  a  column 
called  "The  Way  It  Goes."  in  which  I 
<Jescril>ed  the  typical  failures  found  in 
various  kjnds  of  parts,  along  with  the 
reiattve  frequency  of  failures,  arranged 
by  type  of  <xnTiponent.  Let's  taNe  an- 
other  look  a^  that,  this  time  cor«:efttrat- 
ing  on  failures  in  semtconduclors, 
wAUk^  are  by  far  the  most  oomnx>n.  A£- 
so,  let's  took  at  how  a  failed  active 
compon^i  affects  the  parts  armjnd  It 
Just  why  do  things  stop  working? 

ReliablUty 

If  youVe  old  enough  to  remember 
tubes,  you  probably  recall  pulling  the 
tubes  from  your  malfunctioning  TV  (or 
watching  your  dad  do  Jt)  and  taking 
t?iem  ciown  to  the  local  convenience 
store.  There,  you  popped  them  Into  a 
socket  on  a  giant  tester  and  cfiecked 
the  tiit»5'  emissions.  Usually,  one  was 
quile  low,  and  a  nevv  S3  tube  was  pur- 
chased. You  got  home,  put  them  all 
back  in  and,  wow,  the  set  worked 
again. 

Imagine  domg  that  today! 
Widespread  use  o(  the  transistor  swept 
the  old  fubes  and  that  big  tester  into 
oblivion,  where  liiey  belonged,  Whefi 
solid-state  circuits  came  along,  we 


Your  Tech  Answer  Man 


W8fe  promised  they  wouki  be  mgged, 
reliable  and  pretty  much  permanent. 
Were  the  manufacturers  lying?  Kind  of. 
See.  the  transistor  had  the  potential  to 
be  all  those  things,  but  getting  It  to  ac- 
tually live  up  to  its  promises  was.  and 
stin  is.  something  else. 

AtRf^t 

The  earliest  transistors  were  made 
of  gennanium.  This  materlaj  is  a  good 
semiconductor.  In  fact,  it  exhibits  less 
voltage  drop  m  the  *'on'  state  trmn  does 
the  silicon  we  use  today.  Unfortunately, 


The  tubes  wore  out  because  they 
had  to  operate  at  high  tenpeiatures  in 
order  to  work.  For  a  tube,  heat  is  a 
necessary  element.  Also,  because  of 
the  heat  and  the  aniottnt  of  power  be- 
ing dissipated,  other  components,  such 
as  resistors  and  capacitors,  got  fried 
too.  (More  on  that  later.)  For  a  transis- 
tor, though,  heat  is  no  more  than  an 
unfortunate  byproduct,  because  the 
electronic  energy  travels  through  solid 
matter  (hence  the  "solid-state* 
moniker),  so  it  doesn*t  need  to  be  heat- 
ed up  to  get  i1  to  fly  through  space.  Bui, 
transistors  do  get  wanm.  Sometimes, 
they  get  downright  hoi,  especially  if 
they  have  to  handle  lots  of  current. 


•  « 


CMOS  is  perhaps  one  of  the  most 
reliable  technoiogies  we  have  and, 

without  it,  most  of  the  iittie, 
battery-operated  toys  we  enjoy  so 
much,  such  as  pocltet  TVs  and  mini 
CD  ptayers,  couidn't  exist " 


it  had  other  problems,  the  worst  of 
whktfi  was  its  physically  fragile  nature. 
Even  a  little  heat,  or  a  good  bump, 
could  fracture  a  stiver  of  germanium, 
causing  these  parts  to  be  very  failure- 
prone.  The  average  tube  could  easily 
outcast  the  average  gemrtanium  transis- 
tor. Today,  germanium  is  used  only  in 
special  cases  which  require  the  smaller 
voltage  drop.  You  can  stiil  buy  germa- 


AtkJ.  as  with  any  frattdrial,  high  temper- 
atures can  break  down  molecular 
bonds  and  destroy  the  device.  But 
what  about  small-sigiial  parts  which 
don't  generate  significant  heat?  Why 
do  they  tjreak  down? 

Zap 

One  of  the  biggest  causes  of  com- 
ponent failure  is  static  discharge.  A 


good  zap  wilf  destroy  Just  about  any- 
thing, because  the  rampaging  elec- 
trons actually  bum  a  hole  between  lay- 
ers of  the  semconductor  allowing  sig- 
nal electrons  to  go  where  they  don't 
belong.  And.  it's  a  cascading  effect: 
once  the  damage  starts,  the  applied 
powef  continues  it  until  a  toial  short  oc- 
curs. And,  although  you'd  think  it  would 
be  an  instantaneous  process,  as  the 
old  song  goes,  "it  ain't  necessarily  so." 
Transistors  and  iCs  designed  for 
very  small  signals  and/or  low-power 
operation  tend  to  have  extremely  thin 
boundaries  between  layers;  thafs  a  big 
part  of  the  reason  small  voitages  cari 
traverse  them  and  operate  these  de- 
vk:es,  ft  is,  however,  also  a  recipe  for 
disaster.  Even  a  smali  static  discharge 
can  punch  a  nice  hole  in  such  Utin  lay- 
ers. But,  Ff  it's  a  sman  hole,  the  device 
may  continue  to  work!  Over  time, 
itrough,  the  ho*e  wili  get  bigger  until  the 
device  finafly  faHs.  It  can  take  months. 
CMOS  chips  have  built-in  protection 
diodes  to  help  prevent  static  damage, 
but  rt  can  stiil  happen,  especially  when 
the  parts  are  tying  around  loose.  MOS- 
FET  transistors,  which  use  essentially 
the  same  construction,  also  are  vulner- 
able, It's  not  uncommon  for  a  CMOS 
part  which  has  been  damaged  by  static 
discharge  to  work  fine  tor  quite  awhile 
and  then  sudd  en  Fy  short  out,  so  long 
after  the  damaging  event  you  can't 
even  remember  it  happened.  IVe  seen 
RAM  chips  do  that.  Nonetheless,  be- 
cause of  its  ultra-low'power.  cool  pper- 
airon.  CMOS  is  perhaps  one  of  the 
most  reliable  technologies  we  have 
and.  without  it,  most  of  the  litde,  bat- 
tery-operated toys  we  enjoy  so  much, 
such  as  pocket  TVs  and  mini  CD  play- 
ers.  coufdn't  exist. 


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84  73  Amateur  Radio  Today  May,  1994 


Made  That  Way 

Th&re's  another  cause  of  semicon- 
ductor failure,  and  you  can  t  do  any- 
thing about  it.  Like  anything  els&,  the 
structures  Inside  transistors  and  iCs 
aren't  perfect:  they  often  have  extreme- 
ly small  buishles  and  holes  in  them. 
We're  talking  sub-microscopic  here;  it 
takes  a  scanning  electron  microscope 
to  see  them.  Over  a  period  of  months, 
or  even  years,  electron  flow  through 
hotes  can  cause  enough  damage  to 
begin  a  short.  Also,  believe  3t  or  not, 
imperfections  can  nan-ow  a  conductor's 
effective  area  enough  that  it  presents 
enough  resistance  to  generate  a  srnal] 
amount  o\  heat.  It  aini  much  but,  at  this 
size  scale.  It  doesr\'t  take  much!  Mlao- 
scopic  aluminum  a>ndue1or  lines  can 
actually  mefL  Big  chip  makers  employ 
chemists  whose  sole  |ob  it  Is  to  study 
these  molecular  phenomena  and  try  to 
devise  ways  to  prevent  their  formation. 
And.  as  the  lines  get  snrtalPer  and  small- 
er, the  problem  gets  worse.  If  we're  ev- 
er going  to  have  reliable,  affordabJe 
ifiulli- megabit  RAM  Chips,  this  issue  will 
have  to  be  resolved.  As  It  stands  rww. 
manufacturing  processes  are  a  tot  bet- 
ter than  they  were  just  a  few  years  ago. 
That's  a  btg  reason  why  chip  densities 
have  risen  so  much,  bringing  us  486 
micfos  and  such, 

Th«  Bumpy  Road 

Can  semiconductors  actually  break, 
in  the  phy^icai  sense?  As  I  mentioned 


before,  gernrianium  was  prone  to  doing 
tfiat.  SJIicof)  is  a  great  deal  sturdier  but 
yes.  it  can  happen.  I've  seen  transis- 
tors fracture,  especiafly  if  they  were  hot 
when  the  shock  occurred.  I've  never 
seen  an  IC  do  iL  though,  but  I  suppose 
if  cotJkJ.  Crystals,  which  aren*t  semi- 
conductors, of  course,  but  are  made 
out  of  quartz,  which  is  quite  fragile 
when  sliced  thin,  are  the  worst  offend- 
ers. If  yoM  drop  your  rig  onto  a  hard 
^rface  and  any  of  its  crystat  oscillators 
stop  working,  suspect  the  crystal  right 
from  the  start.  I  can't  count  the  number 
of  t>ad  crystals  Tve  run  into,  and  many 
of  them  cfied  from  physical  shock. 

Can't  Touch  This 

Yqy  don't  need  the  high  voltage  of  a 
^tic  discharge  to  damage  a  semicon- 
ductor. Son^etimes^  even  just  a  few 
volts  wili  do,  particularly  with  MOS- 
FETs.  An^.  tielieve  it  or  not,  just  touch- 
ing a  lead  can  occask^naUy  do  the  dirty 
deed,  thanks  to  induced  voltages  and 
v/eaK  un noticeable  static  build-up  on 
your  body.  That's  why  people  who  work 
with  CMC^  and  MOSf  ET  parts  a  great 
deal  wear  those  grounded  wrist  straps. 
If  you  dont  have  one,  it's  a  good  Idea 
to  touch  something  grounded,  like  youf 
scope  ground,  after  you  sii  down  and 
tjefore  you  stk;k  a  finger  on  the  circuit 
board. 

The  Domino  Effect 

In  the  tube  days,  enough  power  was 


being  dissipated,  and  enough  heat  be- 
ing generated,  to  dan^ge  resistors,  ca- 
pacitors and  colls  even  when  there 
wasn't  ar\ything  wrong  with  the  circuit! 
But  with  solid-stale  circuits,  that's 
rarely  the  case.  Sure,  there  are  some 
power-handling  drcucts  which  can  heat 
up  and  cause  those  old-fashioned  trou* 
bias.  Power  supply  regulators  and 
power  amplifiers  come  to  mind.  But  in 
nrtost  circuits,  signals  are  small,  and 
the  amount  ol  power  be^ng  dissipated 
Es  so  tiny  that  there  just  isn't  the  poten- 
tial to  make  much  heat 

But.  when  a  semiconductor  dies,  it 
often  can  do  some  damage  to  other 
parts.  The  usual  cause  is  a  shorted 
transistor  or  diode's  pulling  too  much 
current  through  ar>olher  cofriponent. 
h^dng  it  up  to  the  point  of  destruction. 
Typicaity,  the  victim  is  a  resistor  of  low 
value.  Obviously,  you  can't  pull  a  great 
deal  of  cun'ent  through  a  lOk  ohm  re- 
sistor njnning  off  a  l2'Volt  suppV<  rio 
matter  what  you  do;  even  if  you  put  the 
resistor  direct fy  between  the  two  sup- 
ply rails,  you'd  only  have  1.2  mA  flow- 
ing, for  a  total  power  dissipation  of  14.4 
mflfiwahs.  Most  resistors  are  rated  for 
at  least  250  mW,  so  there's  no  prob- 
lem. But,  if  the  resistor  is  only,  say.  10 
ohms,  now  you're  talking  trouble,  be- 
cause enough  cun'ent  can  flow  to  heat 
and  crack  the  resistor  Consequently, 
emitter  resistors  in  power  amps  are 
ripe  tor  damage  wher>  the  finals  short 
out.  Very  often,  they'll  have  smaJl 


cracks  which  make  them  open  or  inier- 
mtttenL  Coils  also  can  be  blown  that 
way,  because  they  usually  have  low 
DC  resistance.  But^  the  healing  effects 
which  used  to  ruin  capacitors  In  the 
tube  days  afe  all  but  gone:  unless  a 
cap  is  nearly  touching  a  big  power 
transistor,  chances  are  if1f  be  unaffect- 
ed by  a  blowout. 

I  hope  youVe  enjoyed  this  little  me- 
ander through  the  world  of  dying  semi- 
conductors. As  the  years  go  dy.  the 
pans  gel  more  and  more  reliabfe,  but 
they  still  go  and  probably  always  will 
Oh  wefl,  at  least  they  don't  have  fila- 
ments to  bum  ouL  Now.  Jet's  bok  at  a 
letter: 

Dear  Kaboom, 

My  Ramsey  2  meter  kit  radio  picks 
up  a  lot  of  iniermod.  Granted,  I  live 
near  some  big  commercial  VHF  tow* 
ers,  so  f  can*!  really  fault  Ihe  rig.  Still, 
Vd  kwe  lo  t>e  al^le  to  actually  use  it!  Is 
there  anything  I  can  do  lo  reduce  the 
mess? 

Slfined, 
6am  Door  Open 

Dear  Bam  Door, 

The  Ramsey  kit  performs  about  as 
well  as  nxjst  radios,  but  the  company 
makes  a  special  fitter  just  for  problem 
areas  like  yours.  Give  them  a  call  and 
they'll  tell  you  a  if  about  it 

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73  Amateur  Radio  Today  *  May,  1 994  85 


73 


Number  24  on  your  Feedback  card  Project  Manager  TELECOM  95.  BotJi 

a  Af  v^H^mMfl  m  ^M^%WkM  M  M  ^^^  ^^  IntemationaJ  Telecommunication 

JrlVff  Evm  Af#l  I  f  vfv/lL  Union.  Place  de  Nations.  CH'l2tl 

—         -  -        -  -                            Geneve  20.  Switzerland. 


A^rF^e  Johnson  NWAC 
43  Did  Homestead  Hwy. 
N,  Swanzey  NH  03431 

Notes  from  FN42 

A$  I  am  writing  this  coiumn  (M^rdh 
3),  we  have  just  finishBd  receiving  six 
inches  of  ttie  white  Huffy  stuff  that  falls 
from  the  Sky,  and  Vm  not  talking  about 
Cottonwood  tree  cotton,  and  we  are  ex- 
pecting another  2*-3'  duhng  the  night. 
This  malies  storm  #75  to  come  tiirough 
New  England  this  winter  season.  We 
am  fast  approaching  the  recx)fd  for  the 
most  snowfall  t  really  don't  care  to 
break  the  record.  I  'm  running  out  of 
^pace  to  plow  the  snow  to. 

Okina  wa  's  Hamba  ssa  dor  Da  vid 
Cowhig  is  moving  to  Taiwan  in  August. 
I'm  sure  that  Okinawa  will  miss  him,  but 
he  has  promised  to  continue  his  report- 
ing from  Taiwan.  David  also  sent  some 
beautiful  pictures  of  the  islands  arourTd 
Okinawa  and  a  very  pretty  QSL  I  am 
submitting  the  QSL  for  print  because  of 
the  very  vivki  cofors  of  the  fish  and  the 
blue  water  /  tiope  that  the  QSL  wilt  be 
printed  in  color.  |Ed.  Note:  Sorry  Ami^!J 
David  also  adds  that  Okinawa  has  300 
of  the  known  600  species  of  coral  afKf 
some  of  the  finest  coral  reefs  in  the 
worid* 

Time  for  the  news  of  th^  world— 
4m/e  NWAC. 

Roundup 

Ecuador  Another  "Program  Notes" 
from  HCJB,  Voice  of  the  Andes,  reports 
ttiat  their  1 994  OSL  series  features  the 
people  of  EcuackDr  in  bright  oo^or  Send 
in  a  complete  reception  report  to  aug- 
menr  your  QSL  collection. 

Also.  DO  Wednesdays.  "Ham  Radio 
Today":  Get  witn  other  amateur  radio 
fans  and  host  John  Beck  for  a  hall  hour 
of  featureSn  tips,  newSn  and  helps  for 
your  hobby.  Atrs  to  the  Americas  a! 
0100.  0330  and  0530  UTC:  to  the 
South  Pacific  at  0800  and  1030  UTC. 
and  to  Europe  at  0800  and  1930  UTC. 

Pakistan  Received  in  tfje  mail  from 
th0  Pakistan  Amateur  Radio  Society. 
Reported  in  the  January  t994  "PARS 
News  Letter"  were  the  following  items: 
From  January  to  December  1993,  at 
least  20  new  amateur  Ibenses  were  is- 
sued by  the  PTC  wireless  Board  Istam- 
abad.  great  progress  for  1993;  the 
PARS  QSL  Bureau  is  working  very 
well,  havirig  cleared  all  the  incoming 
and  outgoing  QSL  cards  on  December 
31:  Wahid  Public  School  Islamatiad  is 
the  first  school  in  Pakistan  Hcensecf  for 
an  amateur  mdio  station,  AP5WPS>  to 
promote  the  amateur  radio  hobby  to 
the  school's  senior  students;  and 
evening  classes  for  radio  hams.  Navy 
and  Merchant  Ships  were  started  at 
Wahid  Public  School  on  1  November. 

For  further  information  about  PARS 
or  to  receive  the  "PARS  r^ews  Letter,* 
write  or  call:  Pakistan  Amateur  Radio 
Society,  Zom  21  PO  Box  1450,  tstam- 


abad,  Pakistan  44000  Region  3;  Tel. 
252853.  pile  "News  Letter^  was  six 
pages  long  and  was  very  informative^ 
with  operating  practices  and  proce- 
dures for  radio  hams.  Ham  Maitbag, 
and  rarSo  tips. — Amie} 

Switzerland  From  the  ITU  Press 
Notes:  Just  in  case  you  missecf  it.  the 
following  countries  have  received 
membership  since  January  1:  Czech 
Republic  (Jan  1),  Georgta  (Jan  ?).  Slo- 
vakia (Feb  23),  Kazakhstan  (Feb  23), 
Micronesia  (Mar  18).  The  Former  Yu- 
goslav Reputslic  of  Macedonia  [May  4), 
Turkmenistan  (May  7),  Eritrea  (Aug  6), 
and  Andon-a  (Nov  12), 

The  TELECOM  95  FORUM,  to  be 
held  in  Ger^eva  in  conjunction  with  the 
TELECOM  95  exhibition  from  3  to  11 
October  1995,  has  been  drasticaliy  re- 
thought in  light  of  the  changes  \t\  the 


ISRAEL 

Ron  Gang  4X1t\AK 
Kibbutz  Urim 
D.  Negev  85530 

4X1 KT  Memorial  Packet  HF-VHF 
Gateway  Station  Up  and  Working 
Corrirvne  Yehudah  4X6VT  reports  that 
she  has  got  the  4X1  KT  memorial  pack- 
et gateway  up  and  working  on  the  air  at 
Kiryal  Yam,  a  northern  suburb  of  Haifa. 
Using  the  late  T^vi  Pomer  4X1  KTs 
gear  donated  by  his  family,  the  station 
is  already  relaying  the  traffic  between 
the  Haifa  4X4HF  BSS  and  abroad. 

When  4X1 RU  stepped  down  at  the 
end  of  December,  4X1  KT  completely 
took  over  the  Israeli  internationaf  for- 
warding. Corrinne  reports  that  this  has 
been  an  amazing  learning  exfsenence, 
and  in  one  day  she  managed  to  pass 
1 .5  megabytes  of  traffic  with  a  Greek 
station.  Help  has  been  offered  also 


By  establishing  a  truly  open  door 
policy,  the  FORUM  is  a  unique 
opportunity  to  bring  all  these 
interest  groups  together. " 


policy,  economic,  regulatory,  financial, 
devefopment  and  investments  aspects 
of  telecommunications  ttial  are  now  in- 
timatety  entwined  with  technology,  in- 
novative in  concept,  form  and  sub- 
stance, the  FORUM  will  consist  ot  two 
summits,  one  on  strategies  and  one  on 
technology. 

The  Forum  aims  to  open  up  a  true 
dialogue  with  all  relevant  companies 
and  organ izabons  affected  by  the  cur- 
rent information  lechnoiogy  revolution. 
"^By  establishing  a  truly  open  door  poli- 
cy, the  FORUM  is  a  unique  opportunity 
to  bring  all  these  interest  groups  to- 
gether." says  Pekka  Tarjanne,  Secre- 
tary-General of  the  ITU,  "It  wifl  alloM 
the  telecommunications  industry  to  ex- 
plain what  it  has  io  offer,  and  itie  users' 
community  to  articulate  its  require- 
ments." 

The  theme  of  the  Technology  Sum- 
mit, ^'Convergence  of  technotogies,  ser- 
vices and  applications,*  will  expire  in 
three  {^raliel  conference  traci^  the  fot- 
towing  issues:  communications  ser- 
vices for  the  individual,  communica- 
tions services  for  business.  ^r\6  nation- 
al, regional,  and  global  issues. 

The  Call  for  Papers  for  the  Summit 
encourages  submissions  from  all  in- 
dustries involved  in  or  affected  by  the 
new  telecommunicafions  environment 
and  from  governments  of  all  countries, 
be  Ihey  developing  or  developed.  The 
deadline  for  the  receipt  of  abstracts  is 
August  15. 1994. 

For  further  press  information  contact 
Francine  Lambert,  Chief  Press  and 
Public  Information:  for  information  on 
submitting  abstracts  contact  Lill  Rison, 


from  Germany  and  Italy  for  relaying 
traffic  and  bulletins  as  far  as  the  tow 
sunspots  wilt  permit.  4X1 GP.  4X1  RU. 
and  4X4XM.  to  mention  a  few.  have 
been  most  helpful  getting  Corrtnne  go* 
ing  t>oth  with  the  hardware  and  soft- 
ware. 

Corrinne,  who  for  the  past  few  years 
has  been  managing  the  outgoing  lARC 
OSL  bureau,  observes  thai  both  the 
bureau  and  the  gateway  are  like  a 
kitchen  sink:  f^  matter  how  many  dish- 
es you  wash,  there  are  always  more 
waiting! 

The  (unction  ttiat  4X1  RU  sefved  as 
a  BBS  for  the  Tet*Aviv  ar>d  Central  area 
node  (HRZ)  has  been  taken  over  by 
the  new  4Z4AAA  BBS  and  TLV  node 
run  by  Yaacov  4Z5AY.  There  were 
about  three  days  of  silence  m  the  area 
at  the  tjeginning  of  the  year  until  Yaa- 
cov and  his  crew  got  everything  up  and 
running,  otherwise  the  transition  was 
completefy  snx»oth.  Now  the  bulletins 
from  all  over  the  world  are  daily  filling 
our  monitor  screens,  and  we  are  strJl 
blessed  with  a  beautifully  functioning 
packet  system. 

Many  thanks  to  Jim  4X1  RU  for  all 
his  years  o!  service  as  BBS  SysOp  and 
VHF'HF  gateway  station.  Jim  is  still  ac- 
tive on  packet,  but  now  as  a  private 
station.  ar>d  is  providir>g  the  4XNet  sys- 
tem with  Iresh  AM  SAT  bulletins,  a  ser- 
vice much  appreciated. 

More  Pirates  Bite  the  Ouslf  After 
itm  all  thought  that  the  Mmistry  of  Conv 
munications  was  impotent  and  the 
lARO  had  won  a  court  precedent  that  it 
could  have  tf>e  police  arrest  pirates  and 
wiDf ui  interfece^  artd  take  tftem  to  trial. 


the  Ministry's  Monitoring  Unit  has 
caught  a  few  bootieggers.  Although  the 
information  that  has  reached  us  is 
sketchy,  apparently  one  of  the  offend- 
ers was  In  Kibbutz  Hamad iya.  using  the 
club  callsign  of  a  neighboring  kibbutz. 

Another  of>e  was  in  the  l-taifa  area. 
A  tot  of  amateur  equipment  was  confis- 
cated. He  is  now  trying,  in  a  crash 
course,  to  acQu^re  the  required  profi* 
ciency  to  pass  ttie  next  Radio  Annateur 
Examinations,  and  has  offered  all  the 
seized  equipment  as  a  gift  to  the  lARCl 

Another  twOt  reportedly  in  Herzllya. 
were  using  unlicensed  amateur  gear 
and  were  jarrwnjng  wirele^-  telephones. 

4265TA  Celebrates  Tel-Aviv*s  85th 
Birthday  From  January  1  through  Aprit 
30.  4Z65TA,  a  special  station  com- 
memofating  the  85th  anniversary  of  the 
founding  of  the  city  of  Tel -Aviv,  will  be 
on  the  air  All  modes  {and  we  mean 
all— CW,  SSB.  SSTV,  packet,  AMTOR, 
FACTOR ,  and  RTTY}  will  l^e  operated 
on  ail  the  bands,  and  possibly  via  satel- 
lite as  welt. 

Shbmo  Musali  4X6LM,  Ifie  Ifianagef 
of  the  statkn,  promises  a  special  QSL 
lor  every  contact  made.  ar>d  says  that  a 
diploma  will  be  availabEe.  The  condi- 
tions necessary  for  winning  the  award 
will  be  published  as  soon  as  known;  in 
the  meantime,  make  it  a  New  Year's 
Resolution  to  get  on  the  air  and  work 
the  station  on  as  many  modes  and 
bands  as  you  can! 

OKINAWA 

Das/id Cowhig  7J6CBQ/WAILBP 

AmCon  Naha 

fBU  PSC  556,  Box  &40 

FPO  AP  96372-0840 

Summer  '93  brought  I  he  Taiwan- 
Japan-Korea-Russia  UHF  test  in  Eate 
July  and  portable  operations  at  the 
many  festivals  hetd  in  Okinawan  cities 
and  towns.  The  Kadena  Radio  Club 
operated  the  UHF  test  from  a  hilftop 
ate  at  Tanodake  in  northern  Okinawa. 
Taiwanese,  Japanese.  Korean  and 
Russian  stations  participate  in  this  an- 
nual propagation  test.  JS6YLV  worked 
a  8V  Taiwan  station  on  early  Saturday 
afternoon  and  then  turned  its  beams 
north  to  work  Into  Kyushu  and  Honshu 
Saturday  evening  and  Sunday,  A 
strong  typhoon  which  hit  soutfiem  Hon- 
shu on  Saturday  evening  reduced  ac- 
tivity from  that  area  considerably!  The 
JS6YLV  hams  proudly  told  me  of  how 
they  contacted  another  island  20Q  km 
to  the  north  by  ATV  (fiam  tetevision)  on 
1200  MHz  a  few  years  ago  from  the 
same  hilltop  site.  The  430-440  MHz 
ham  band  is  not  used  for  ATV  in  Japan; 
1200  MHz  and  2400  MHz  are  the  ATV 
bands  here* 

Another  group  ot  hams  operated 
from  the  Qnnason  FestivaL  Onnason.  a 
spectacularly  beautiful  resort,  lies 
halfway  up  the  Pacilic  coast  of  Oki- 
nawa. Onnason  is  proud  of  its  early 
ISth  century  wonr^n  poet  Onna  Nabe 
who  wrote  this  verse,  the  most  famous 
of  the  Ryukyuan  Songs:  'i  gaze  upon 
the  Onna  hills/Towards  my  lover's 
home  village;/l  want  to  push  the  moun- 
tains aside/And  draw  fiim  here  to  rne-' 
Okinawan  literatufe  and  mustc,  a  won- 


86  73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  May,  1 994 


RF  POWER 
AMPLIFIERS 


Pin     Pout  ic  6sln/NF 
Model      (W)      (W)    (A)  [dB]  (dB) 


NEW! 

400 

WATTS 

AVG* 

' (1 44-1 4B  MHz) 


(!3.8  V] 
1V|M 


0503G 

V6 

10-50 

6 

15/0.6 

LPA 

050&G 

1 

170 

28 

15/0,6 

standard 

050SR 

1 

170 

2B 

-h 

Repeater 

051 OG 

10 

170 

25 

15/0.6 

Standard 

051  OR 

10 

170 

25 

-^ 

Repeater 

0550  G 

5^10 

375^ 

60 

15/0.6 

HPA 

0550RH 

5-10 

375 

60 

-h 

Rep&aterHPA 

0552  G 

25-40 

375 

55 

15/0.6 

HPA 

0552RH 
144  MHz 

25-40 

375 

55 

~h 

Repeater  HPA 

1403G 

1-5 

10-50 

6 

15/0.6 

LPA 

1406G 

25 

100 

12 

15/0.6 

Standard 

1409G 

2 

150 

25 

15/0.6 

Standard 

1409R 

2 

ISO 

24 

-h 

Reflate  r 

1410G 

to 

160 

25 

1 5/0.6 

Standard 

1410R 

10 

160 

24 

-/- 

Repeater 

1412fi 

25-45 

160 

20 

15/0.6 

Standard 

1412R 

25-45 

160 

19 

W" 

Repeater 

1450G 

5 

350 

56 

15/0.6 

HPA 

1450RH 

5 

350 

56 

-h 

Repeater  HPA 

1452G 

25 

350 

50 

15/0.6 

HPA 

1452RH 

25 

350 

50 

-h 

Repeater  HPA 

1454G 

&0-100 

350 

40 

15/0,6 

HPA 

1454RH 

50-100 

3B0 

40 

-h 

Repeater  HPA 

220  MHz 

2203  G 

1-5 

10-40 

6 

14/0.7 

LPA 

2210G 

Ifl 

130 

20 

14/0.7 

Standard 

2210R 

10 

130 

19 

-/- 

Repeater 

221 2G 

30 

130 

16 

14/0.7 

Standard 

2212R 

30 

130 

15 

-/- 

Repeater 

2250G 

5 

220 

40 

14/0,7 

HPA 

2250RH 

5 

250 

40 

-/- 

Repeater  HPA 

2252G 

25 

220 

36 

14/0.7 

HPA 

2252RH 

25 

250 

36 

-/- 

Repeater  HPA 

2254G 

75 

220 

32 

14/07 

HPA 

2254RH 
440  MHz 

75 

250 

32 

-^ 

Repeater  HPA 

4403G 

4410G 

441  OR 

441 2G 

441 2R 

4448G 

4448R 

4450G 

4450RE 

4452G 

4452RE 

4454G 

4454 R£ 


1-5 
10 
10 

20-30 

20-30 

5 

5 

5-10 

5-10 

25 

25 

75 

75 


7-25 
100 
100 
100 
10O 
100 
10O 
175 
175 
175 
175 
175 
175 


4  12/1 J  LPA 

19  12/11  Standard 

IB  -h  Repeater 

19  12/1.1  Standard 

1 S  -h  Repeater 

22  12/1J  HPA 

22  -h  Repeater  HPA 

34  12/1.1  HPA 

34  -h  Repeater  HPA 

29  12/1.1  HPA 

29  -h  Repeater  HPA 

25  12/1.1  HPA 

25  -h  Repeater  HPA 


MODEL  t410G  MQIIEL  1450G 

mNMHD  NPJ; 

Ail  amplifiers  (non-rplr)  are  Ipnear.  alhmode  with  fLilly 

aaJtDmatic  T/R  switching  arKl  PIT  capabiiity,  Ttie  receive 
preamps  use  GaAs  FET  devices  rated  at  5  dS  NF  with +18 
dBm  3rd  ordef  iP.  LPA   StafHJard  and  HPA  amps  are 

intermittent  duty  d^ign  suitable  lor  base  and  motiiie  operation. 
Repeater  amps  are  continuous  duty,  class  C. 

AmplHler  capabHItles:  High-power,  narrow  or  wideband; 
1O0-2DO  MHz,  225-400  MHz,  1-2  GHi  Military  (28V), 
Commercial,  etc.  -  conaJlt  factory.  A  c^^mplete  line  of  ftx 

preamps  aiso  availabie. 


flX  Preamplifiers 

NF   Gain 
Band     MoiTel    [dB]  (dB)  Connector 


50  MHz 

0520  B 

,5 

25 

BMC 

50  MHz 

0520N 

.5 

25 

ht 

144  MHz 

1420B 

.5 

24 

BNC 

144  MHz 

1420N 

.5 

24 

1^ 

220  IVIHz 

2220B 

.5 

22 

BMC 

220  MHz 

2220N 

.5 

22 

N 

440  MHz 

442DB 

,5 

18 

GNC 

440  MHz 

4420N 

.5 

1S 

N 

12  GHz 

1020a 

.9 

14 

BNC 

12  GHz 

1020N 

.9 

14 

M 

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MICRO  1.2  &  2.1  VOICE  REEDRDER  IDENTIFIERS 


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CIRCLE  231  ON  READER  SERVICE  CARD 


SGC's  Hidden  (160-10)  Antenna 


Covenants,  building  codes  and  neighbors  limiting  your  HF  gpe rations?  SGC 
would  like  to  shrire  a  simple  solution  using  90  feet  of  wire,  some  TV  twin 
lead  stand-offs  and  ihe  legendary  SG-230  Smartuner '^'^.  Heir's  pari  of  a 
letter  from  Jerry  Davis  of  Amateur  Radia  Installations,  in  Los  Angeles. 
California: 


"Dear  SGC: 

I  recent  h'  in  skilled  the  system  you  see  here  for  an  elder  hum  who  lives  in  a 

retirement  commuuity.  This  was  one  of  those  cases  where  a  ham  wanted  top 

notch  performance  on  ail  bamis-and  boy,  did  you  guys  deliver! 

As  yotill  see.  the  Smar tuner  is  mounted  under  the  peak  of  fiie  roof  and  fwo 


...  ■■*• 


.    '  VJ 


A  proud  owner  of  a 
hidden  antennu  ,system 
u^iivg  aij  SG-230 
^8  stranded  iusidated  wires  run  under  the  eaves  down  from  the  peak  and    SmartunerJ'^  tromSGC. 
down  eit  tier  side  of  the  htiiidtng.  Each  is  45  feet  ioni^.  !  hope  you  can  see  this  hi  the  close  up  picture. 
This  antenna  only  look  a  few  hours  to  ins  tali  and  no  one  noticed  us  doing  anytliinj*  as  it  looked  like 
we  were  workini^  on  the  eaves! 

Wlien  we  fired  if  up,  the  system  tuned  perfectly  on  eveiy  band.  My  client  is  pleased  and  even  asked 
me  to  send  along  her  fyicture.  but  she  !iad  to  hide  lie  r  features  because  there  are  sttfl  a  lot  of  people 
in  the  retirement  community  wIjo  don't  realize  she's  running  9  hand DX. 
Ttiank  you  for  your  suggestions  on  this  installation. 

By  the  way,  I  worked  Madrid,  Spain  from  the  car  using  the  SG  2000,  SG-303  and  Quick  Mount 
Sxstem  ffie  otirer  dar  around  I  PM  local  time..  Believe  it  or  not,  f  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^_ 
had  a  better  signal  than  almost  all  the  fixed  stations  here  in  die 
LA  area.  Keep  it  up  and  best  73  's  

Jerry  Davis,  KK6  YO  "  PO  Bax  3526 

Bellevue,  WA  98009  USA 

For  a  free  infbivmtlon  package,  call  SGC  at  I  -800-259-7331  or  circle    Fax  (206)746-6384 
our  Reader  Sen'ice  number.  We  make  our  great  transceivers,  antenna     (206)746-6310  or 
couplers,  antenna  sysienis  and  accessories  right  tie  re  in  the  USA.  1-800-259-7331 


CIRCLE  18@  OH  READER  SEflVlCE  CARD 

73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  May.  1 994  87 


derful  synthesis  of  old 
and  new  with  many  ele- 
ments borrowed  from 
majniand  Japan,  China 
and  South  Asia,  reflects 
the  passionate  feel  Ergs 
and  friendly  "i-chari-tja- 
chode"  (to  feel  like 
brothers  on  the  first 
meeting)  spirit  of  the 
Okmawan  people.  "I- 
chari-ba-chode"  trans- 
lates best  into  HngNsh 
as  "Aloha™— Okinawa 
history  and  culture  have 
innumerable  parallels 
With  the  Aloha  State. 
One-fourth  of  the 
Japanese- Americans  of 
Hawaii  trace  their  fami- 
lies back  to  Okinawa. 

In  mid-August  the 
first  Okmawan  Radio 
Direction  Finding  Con- 
test was  held  in  the 
Prefeciurai  Forest  near 
Onnason,  The  two 
hams  who  found  the  six 
transmitters  In  the 
shortest  time  won  the  right  to  represent 
Okinawa  in  the  annual  Kyushu  regional 
radio  direction  finding  event.  Both  win- 
ners used  a  2  meter  hand-hefd  yag [/re- 
ceiver unit  manufactured  by  Mizhuno 
Radio  Co,  TTie  145.18  MHi  Foxhunting 
Friendship  Ciub  regularly  holds  mobile 
foxhunts  one  Thursday  night  a  month 


Photo  A.  QSL  card  from  JSStiQ^ 


in  southern  Okinawa  with  a  nice  late- 
night  snack  at  the  site  of  the  fox— the 
hidden  transmitter. 

Tourist  hams  from  other  parts  of 
Japan  Hstening  to  the  2  meter  band 
here  for  the  first  time  are  surprised  that 
so  many  hams  here  speak  Okinawan, 
a  Japanese  dialect  nearly  tncompre- 


hensible  to  Tokyo  dwellers.  As  I  write 
this  In  January  1 994,  many  of  the  1 ,200 
Okinawan  hams  (6,000  people  have 
ham  licenses)  are  saying  "e  so-  gatchi 
de-bi-ru"  (Happy  hJew  Year)  to  one  an- 
other in  Okinawan  as  well  as  the  "a-ke- 
ma-shi-te  o-me-de-to  go-zai-masu" 
(Happy    New    Year    in    standard 


Japanese).  Okinawa 
Prefecture  (population 
1.2  million)  has  tremen- 
dous dialect  differences 
from  island  to  isEand. 
Saying  thank  you,  for 
example,  in  standard 
Japanese  is  "artgato"; 
for  hams  speaking 
diaTect  on  the  main 
island  of  Okinawa, 
"nhhey-day-bee-lu":  on 
Miyako  Island  'landy  ga 
tandy";  and  on  Yonaguni 
island,  80  miles  oft  the 
coast  of  Taiwan,  iu-ga- 
ia-sa/" 

To  get  to  the  point 
where  they  could  say 
"e  so-gatch  de-bi-ru," 
Okinawan  hams  ran  a 
gauntlet  of  Forget -the- 
Old-Year  Parties  (bonen 
kai)  starting  in  mid- 
December  After  the  fine 
bonenkai  of  the  145  J  8 
Foxhunting  Friendship 
Group,  where  we  saw 
a  display  of  foxhunting 
antennas  and  enjoyed  the  tine  view 
from  atop  the  Hotel  Ekka  In  ivjaha, 
many  of  my  Okinawan  ham  friends  got 
ready  to  go  to  their  second  party,  to  be 
followed  by  a  third  in  some  cases!  In 
January  many  people  go  to  New  Year's 
parties  as  welL  Okinawan  hams  kn_aw 
how  to  have  fun! 


Join  the  FUN  on  the 

SATELLITES 

YES!  Anyone  with  a  Technician  Class 
license  or  higher  can  work 

the 


via  the 


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\1 


CIRCLE  110  ON  READER  SERVICE  CARD 


The  ZAPPERism 

awesome  Answer! 

This  magic-like  little  box  aclivales  any  radar 
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come  on  the  speeding  sports  car  that  just  flew  by. 
Keep  those  speeding  big  trucks  from  eating  your 
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ter  the  size  of  a  cigarette  pack,  operates  on  a  9v  battery. 
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CIRCLE  11  ON  READER  SERVICE  CARD 


88  73  Amateur  Radio  Today  May,  1994 


A 


DVERTISERS 


R,S-# 


page 

'       '    A& A  Engineering... ..„.....,..„ 76 

'  Q      f*  "^  '■-r^  ■    ■■■'■■■■■■  f-IH+IHS^atllBllllk-B-hifaiB-invaiHiiBiiBiiBiik^O 

IB  A.3A , £8 

351  Absolute  Value  Syste?ns,., .72 

I    164  Ace  Communications  of 

Indianapolis ....,.„„„. 96 

•  Ad  van  ced  E  tecira  nic  Applications 9* 

149  Acfvantage  instruments 

Corporation ......45 

261  Agrelo  Engineeririg ...., 87 

j       67  Alinco  Electronics ., „,13* 

'     194  Alt  Electronics  Corporation 17 

•  Alphalab  .„, 103 

76  Amateur  Networking  Suppiy  „. 89 

113  Amsoft. ...+..*..* „. 76 

380  Antennas  West 20 

89  Antennas  West 64 

107  Antennas  West 73 

296  Antennas  West ,B3 

132  Antennas  West .„,. M 

£82  Antennas  West ..101 

135  Antennas  West ...h.,.102 

336  Antennas  West 103 

16  Astron  Corporation 23 

•  Azden  Corporation , 2 

21  B  S^  B.  Inc , 33 

41  Barry  Electronics  Corporation 19 

42  Bilal  Company 83 

137  B0J(  Products,.,.,,, 100 

56  Buckmaster  Publishing. ......,,.,.,61* 

7  Buckmaster  Publisiiing ..............73* 

1 68  Buc  kmasler  PubEishing ,,. , 102* 

•  Burghardt  Amateur  Radio 41 

■    Butternut  Electronics. .,,.,, .,„...„„ 9t 

222  By ers  Chassis  Kits .......76 

1  Cr4    k^  O-  O  O-3-E0S.  JriC+ ibkrx-ki^.^drii hfa.+  i.taT...-H-3 

•  CBCity  International,.,. 20 

26S  Chipswitch 73 

289  CM  Technologies.  Inc 77 


R.S.#  page 

186  Coaxial  Dynamics .......95 

99  Cornmunicatton  Concepts,  Inc. ........ .95 

10  Communicaiions  Specialists.  Inc 32* 

356  Communications  Eiectrontc 25 

•  Dallas  Ham  Com 72 

181  Digital  Communications 64 

13  Doppier  Systems , 71 

-     Down  East  Microwave 43 

114  E.  H.Yost ..61 

•  Eiectronics  Book  Club-. 27 

8  Eiktronics ...........64 

33  FB  Enterprises , 32 

118  Rytecraft ., 100 

251  Flytecraft ....26 

329  For  Hams  Only... S4 

•  Gap  Anten  na  Produ  cts ,47 

392  Garantennas .„, 77 


VjC L"  J  Ck^i  I  +  ii+f^q ^11  ^11 II 


lifirFrl-r  rT  +  T-i  t -I  T^  i 


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193  GGTE 65' 

338  GJobal  Upgrades 96 

291  Gracilis........ .„ 81 

•  Ham  Radio  &  More 75 


Hamtronics,  inc. 


vH-Q'        r^da   fl  WqF   IUwW3    Bar  ar  ■  r  >  r-r-TBi-ra  >  ■  ■>■■>■■>■■>■■>>■«  >^/£. 

1B7  Harlan  Technologies ...,.77 

356  Harrington  Software ...» ...100 

284  Heights  Tower  Systems ...17 

43  Highlands  Electronics 83 

293  IC  Engineering .............83 

179  loom CV2* 

263  Innotek,  Inc. 28 

42  Isolron ...,., B3 

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133  Jade  Products, ,...„., 101 

240  Jan  Crystals 93 

159  Japan  Radio 2 

235  JPS  Communications, „„„ 38 

*  K-Comm , .„,„..., 69 

2  Kawa  Productions 14 

151  KDC  Sound 64 


R-S.#  page 

•  Kenwood  USA  Co  rporati  on C  V4 

197  Lathrop  Publications,  Inc .47 

234  Lentini  Communications...... .,.,93 

B6  MFJ  Enterprises .,.„. 11 

86  MFJ  Enterprises......... ...67 

162  Michigan  Radio „„.. 34 

1 60  Mi  era  Compute  r  Concepts  ...... ...... .. . .  83 

144  Micro  Control  Specialities .99 

114  Mr.  Nicad 61 

24B  MoTron  Electronics 71 

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73  Amateur  Radio  Today  UsLy,  1994  89 


Never  Say  Die 

ContinuBd  from  paga  4 
there  I  asked  where  Ihey  were  In  tew- 
ing W4  calls.  They  checked  and  said 
they  were  jus!  handing  out  W4NSA  at 
that  time,  1  said  to  hold  W4N3D  for 
me  please,  which  ihey  did.  I  put  in  for 
It  while  I  was  there  and  returned  10 
Southern  Pines  that  night  with  my  first 
class  commercial  ticket  and  my 
W4NSD  license. 

rd  brought  along  my  Icilowatt 
NBFM  rig,  so  I  had  a  great  time  worth- 
ing DX  from  there.  Laier  1  movfrd  to 
Sarasota.  Florida,  to  wofH  at  WSP8, 
where  I  was  active  on  6m  and  20m. 

In  I95t  I  moved  to  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  arxi  applied  for  W8NSD  I'd  put 
on  my  application  so  long  that  by  the 
time  my  new  call  arrived  I  was  led  up 
with  working  there  ard  was  about  to 
inove  back  to  New  Yorfc,  That  was  the 
year  1  operated  the  first  weekend  of 
the  ARRL  Sweepstakes  contest  as 
W2NSD/8  in  Cleveland,  and  the  sec- 
ond weekend  from  New  York  as 
WSNSD/2.  I  had  separate  rigs,  so  the 
onty  ttiing  in  common  was  my  D-104 
microphone. 

Sometime  afler  that  Ihe  FCC 
stopped  making  such  parallel  calls 
available.  So  when  t  moved  to  New 
Hampshire  in  1962  they  couldn't  give 
me  Wi  NSD  Bui  they  said  that  they 
expected  to  change  the  rules  so  t 
would  be  able  to  get  the  call  and  to 


operate  as  W2NSD/1  in  the  mean- 
while. 1  had  a  permanent  address  in 
New  Yofl^  at  my  folks'  house,  so  it  was 
legal.  I  kept  sending  in  the  required 
notices  of  portabte  ope  rati  on ,  waiting 
for  the  promised  rule  change.  This 
went  on  for  years.  Then,  in  the  70's 
ihey  eliminated  the  portable  notifica- 
tion mle.  But  they  never  made  it  pos- 
sible for  me  to  get  W1NSD,  so  1  said 
to  belt  with  'em  and  have  been  usirYg 
my  W2NSD  ever  since.  I  may  have 
set  a  record  lor  portable  operation.  If  s 
been  32  years  now!  Anyone  beat 
mat? 

So  what  call  would  I  swap  for  my 
old  W2NSD/1?  WelL  I  have  to  admit 
that  I  did  get  a  kick  out  of  operating 
JYT  from  King  Hussein  s  palace.  So 
the  call  of  my  choice  would  be  '^.' 
Stands  for  Wayne.  Yes.  I'il  pay.  How 
much  do  they  want?  How's  tfiat  for  an 
ego  trip?  Would  1  accept  W1?  Well, 
perttaps.  So  wfx)  are  Ihey  going  to  sell 
Wto? 

Media  Inertia 

Rrsl  I  want  to  thank  the  dozens  Of 
readers  who  wrote  in  asking  for  more 
information  on  the  AIDS  cure,  I  want 
to  particularty  thank  those  who  have 
been  putting  up  with  my  writing  atx>ut 
anything  I  think  will  interest  you. 

Tlie  new  year  was  particularty  esc- 
citing  for  me  because  I  felt  9  had  some 
earth-shaking  news  ahead  of  the  pop- 
ular media  .  .  .  news  which  would 


eventually  make  headlines.  The  most 
exciting  was  the  AIDS  cure  news. 
Next,  by  a  nose,  was  the  news  of 
what's  been  developing  in  the  cold  fu- 
sion field.  Imagine,  a  cure  for  the 
world's  worst  disease  and  what  looks 
hke  a  new  source  of  unlimited  power 
Ifom  nickel  and  waterl  Then  I  got  wo^ 
of  a  simple  and  inexf^ensrve  new  p no- 
cess  for  converting  radioactive  waste 
isotopes  into  non-radioactive  ele- 
ments and  isotopes.  Wow!  This  pro- 
cess seems  connected  with  Hie  cold 
fusion  process. 

I  wanted  lo  get  the  word  out  on 
thesQ  incredible  developments  as 
quh:kly  as  I  could,  so  I  dropped  notes 
to  several  magazines,  asking  If  ttiey 
were  interested  in  getting  more  infor- 
mation. I  wrote  to  Tjime,  N&wsweek. 
US  News,  QmnL  Dtst^v&r,  Scientific 
American,  Forces,  Fortune,  etc.  The 
only  one  Ive  heard  from  after  sevefal 
weeks  was  Omni,  which  sent  me  a 
fonn  rejection  letter. 

Oh  yes.  I  also  wrote  to  my  senators 
and  congressmen,  the  governor,  Bill 
and  Hillary,  Aj  and  Tipper,  and  a  few 
other  elected  officials.  No  word. 

Is  It  that  no  one  of  importance 
reads  their  mail  any  more?  I  read 
m^ne,  but  then  I  probably  don^t  count 
as  a  person  of  importance,  except  in 
my  own  mind. 

Meanwhile,  word  of  the  AIDS  cupb 
has  been  appearing  in  a  few  medical 
Journals  In  the  US,  Canada,  and  Aus- 


tralia, so  that  may  get  around  without 
my  help. 

The  AIDS  Circuit 

Though  the  circuil  itseff  is  dlrt-sbn- 
pie,  I  wanted  to  provide  as  complete 
instmctJons  to  its  use  as  I  could  so  I 
wrote  the  whoie  works  up  and  printed 
It  as  an  eight-page  booklet  l*ve  sent 
this  to  everyone  wtio  wrote  asking  me 
to  pttblish  the  circuit.  No  charge.  But  I 
have  asked  for  dor^tions  to  help  me 
get  the  word  out  with  PR  and  ads.  Tve 
asked  that  anyone  who  has  AIDS  and 
is  cured  as  a  result  of  nrry  information 
send  ine  $100  which  will  be  used 
solety  for  the  pronfx>tion  of  this  cure. 

If  I  gel  enough  donations  Vi\  try  to 
find  someone  to  put  together  e  as  fly- 
built  kits  of  parts  to  help  make  this 
even  easier.  I've  also  asked  that  any* 
one  experimenting  with  this  approach 
keep  careful  notes  and  send  me  a 
copy. 

GoUy.  it  was  bach  in  1364  that  t  got 
Involved  with  pulling  together  parts 
kits.  I  wanted  to  help  the  73  readers 
be  able  to  buikl  the  constatction  pro- 
jects we  published,  i  ined  firs!  to  inter- 
est an  outside  company  in  doing  it, 
but  couldn't  find  anyone  interested.  So 
I  hired  a  ham  from  Miltord,  the  ne>cl 
town  east  of  here,  to  handle  the  kits.  It 
meant  building  a  test  unit,  writing  up 
the  detailed  instructions,  buying  the 
pari:s,  listing  the  kits  in  the  magazine, 
then  packing  and  shipping  the  kits 


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90  73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  May,  1 994 


when  they  were  ordem6.  Sounds  sim- 
ple, eh?  What  a  hassled 

When  he  goi  hopelessly  screwed 
vp  with  this  I  moved  him  on  to  some- 
thing  else  and  tried  a  ham  from 
Keene^  the  next  big  town  to  the  west. 
The  kits  were  late,  ads  wrong,  parts 
not  ordered,  and  so  on,  I  r»rkaljy  gave 
up  a  net  did  it  mysetf.  I  bought  all  my 
parts  from  Evans  Radio  tn  Concord* 
NH,  wrote  the  instaictions,  picked  the 
parts,  wrote  the  labeEs.  and  had  a 
good  business  going. 

But  I  was  also  busy  putilishirtg  not 
Just  73,  but  afso  6  Up.  5-7-9,  ATV, 
and  a  club  newsletter  editor  newslet- 
ter. 6  Up  viras  a  VHF-UHF  newsletter 
5-7'B  was  for  ccntesters.  These  four 
newsletters  were  written  by  experts  in 
the  fields,  edited  by  the  73  crew,  and  I 
printed  'em  all  on  an  AB  Dick  360 
press  in  my  garage.  I  had  local  high 
school  students  come  in  after  schoot 
to  do  the  collating,  stapling,  and  ad* 
dressing. 

This  was  atl  worldng  ffne  except  for 
a  couple  of  teeny  weeny  little  prob- 
lems. First,  and  least  significant,  was 
that  I  was  paying  the  kids  50c  an  hour 
to  work.  They  loved  it,  but  that  was 
less  than  the  minimum  wage,  so  I  had 
to  fire  them  and  pot  iri  a  cottating  ma^ 
chine  and  an  automatic  addressing 
machine.  That  saved  me  money,  but 
put  the  kids  out  of  work.  They  used 
their  new  spare  tirrte  to  gel  into  Irou* 
hie. 


The  second  teeny  problem  was  my 
divorce  from  my  first  wife^  which  really 
threw  me  for  a  Eoss.  I  got  so  sick  over 
it  that  I  coukjn't  work  more  than  a  few 
minutes  a  day  without  collapsing.  So  I 
had  to  stop  publishing  the  four 
newsletters.  I  ended  the  parts  kit  pro* 
gram.  I  turned  the  tr\stitute  of  Amateur 
Radio  over  to  one  of  the  directors  to 
mn.  and  hired  a  manager  for  za  The 
Institute  director  quickly  bled  the 
membership  bank  account  dry.  My 
manager/editor  did  an  outstanding  job 
of  trying  to  put  73  ou!  of  business.  He 
Stopped  sending  out  renewal  notices. 
He  canceled  several  thousand  ^uY>- 
schptions.  Then  he  walked  oul  and 
left  me  with  not  only  that  mess,  but 
with  not  one  single  artrcle  for  the  next 
issue.  He  took  along  my  circulation 
manager,  and  my  entire  production 
department.  He  tried  to  hire  away  my 
assistant  editor  and  bookkeeper.  ar»d 
so  on.  He  used  all  the  articles  to  heEp 
start  Ham  Radio,  a  move  which  tend- 
ed to  pul  a  strain  on  our  relationship 
from  then  on. 

lt*s  been  a  long  time  sJnce  fVe  writ- 
ten about  the  eaiiy  days  of  7 j  .  ,  .  ni 
have  to  tell  you  some  of  the  stories 
about  those  times. 

So  now  I'm  considering  getting 
back  Into  handling  kits  again.  Well,  a 
kJL  anyway.  But  if  it'll  help  save  a  few 
thousand  Hves,  111  be  glad  to  help. 
Maybe  f1l  be  able  to  find  someone  this 
time  who'll  be  able  to  am  a  small  kit 


business  for  me.  Oddly  enough,  when 
1  first  heard  about  the  AIDS  cure  we 
tried  to  get  two  ham  kit  coirpanies  to 
do  this  one  . . .  and  Ihey  woukjn't. 

DRA 

This  is  my  latest  attempt  to  try  and 
get  some  intelligence  into  ham  QSOs. 
J  suppose  t  shoukj  |ust  shut  up  atx>ut 
this  and  stop  grumbling.  Hams, 
trapped  by  an  age-old  technology 
where  they  can  only  taJk  or  tislen,  but 
not  both,  will  probatily  never  be  abEe 
to  maintain  many  interesting  conver* 
sations.  Oh.  Tve  come  up  with  some 
fairly  simple  ways  1o  get  duplex  con- 
tacts going,  but  to  no  avail 

Back  when  I  was  in  the  fifth  grade 
at  the  Oyster  School  in  Washington. 
DC,  they  had  a  clever  way  of  getting 
all  the  students  to  read  the  paper  ev- 
ery day.  That's  more  than  most  kids 
do  now,  right?  They  had  a  dammy  mi* 
crop  hone  in  the  class  and  each  stu- 
dent had  to  get  up  and  give  a  news 
item  from  yesterday's  paper.  We  had 
to  be  prepared  wtth  several  Items  be- 
cause no  duplication  was  permitted. 
That  had  us  reading  the  papers,  book- 
ing for  unusual  and  interestirtg  items. 

The  DRA  stands  for  "didya  read 
about."  The  idea  is  to  clip  interesting 
items  from  newspapers  and  maga- 
zines and  have  'em  handy  near  the  rig 
so  you  can  pick  one  up  and  ask  DRA. 

\  don't  know  about  you.  but  1  read  a 
ton  of  magazlr^s  (but  no  newspapers) 


arKf  Tm  a  cffppfng  ffend.  Call  me  the 
Yankee  Clipper.  I  pull  the  pages  oul  of 
magazines  on  politics,  health,  EMF. 
ar>d  SO  on.  Jusi  under  C  I  have  clip- 
ping files  for  capitalism,  child  care, 
classical  music.  Clinton's  plans, 
clothes,  cold  fusjoa  colleges,  comput- 
ers, Cof>gress,  copy  writing,  cosmolo- 
gy, cnme,  and  cutting  govemment 

If  you've  worked  me  recent iy  on  the 
air  the  chances  are  that  I  somehow 
managed  to  steer  the  conversation 
around  to  AIDS  or  cotd  fusion.  But  it 
you  have  anything  that  interests  you, 
the  chances  are  good  that  I'll  be  inter- 
ested too^  I  just  want  to  talk  about 
somethir^g  olher  than  what  rig  or  an- 
tenna you  have,  t  like  to  use  our  com- 
munications medium  for  communicat- 
ing. I  want  to  know  what  work  you  do, 
what  other  hobbies  ar>d  Interests  you 
have,  and  anything  new  that  t  might 
have  missed. 

Many  readers  delight  me  by  finding 
articles  In  their  local  papers  they  think 
will  interest  me  and  sending  me  dtp- 
pings.  I  really  enjoy  that  So  keep  a 
pair  of  scissors  handy  and  clip  for 
your  file.  And  if  you  find  something 
you  know  Vm  interested  In,  send  me  a 
copy.  OK? 

|.,oony  Tunes  * ,  ^ 

That's  the  answer  some  scientists 
have  used  to  rkiicuie  others  for  contin- 
uing to  research  the  cold  fusion  phe- 
nomenon. Many  areas  of  research  are 


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CIRCLE  133  ON  READER  SERVICE  CARD 


73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  May.  1 994   91 


cut  off  from  any  significant  funding  t>y 
the  Loony-Tune  derision.  OJ  course 
there's  nolfiing  new  about  this,  as  I've 
explained  befotB,  The  Wright  Brothers 
were  ridiculed  as  frauds  tor  $everai 
years  after  their  maiden  flight,  it  was 
so  bad  tliat  they  left  America  and  went 
to  France,  where  their  work  was  ap- 
preciated. The  same  thing  Pons  and 
Fleischmann  did. 

There  are  so  many  areas  that  sci* 
entists  shouki  be  researching,  but  are 
prevented  by  ridicule,  llaat  if  we  are 
ever  able  to  overcome  thai  read  ion  by 
the  pathologically  skeptical,  we'll  be 
able  to  enjoy  more  progress  in  undar- 
Standir>g  the  wo  rid  an6  life  than  any- 
thirvg  we've  seen  in  the  past 

There  are  so  many  "crazy'  things 
that  science  has  ignored  that  I  can  on- 
ly list  some  of  the  major  ones  that 
come  to  mind.  I've  read  enough  books 
to  convince  me  that  we  need  to  find 
out  a  lot  more  about  death,  reincarna- 
tion, me  spirit  world,  psychics,  psychic 
healing,  clairvoyance,  fortune  telling ^ 
psycometry.  predicting  the  future, 
UFOs,  UFO  oontaclees,  auras,  spoon 
bending,  prayer,  communications  be- 
tween and  with  plants,  der^taJ  amai- 
gam,  vitamins,  light  bioelectromag* 
netism,  electromagnetic  fields  and 
health,  mob  psychology,  magnetism, 
communications  with  extraterrestrials, 
near'death  experiences,  out  of  body 
experiences,  mind  reading,  lEmb  re- 
generation, light  and  health,  all  that 
missing  dark  matter,  serendipity,  cofn- 
cidences,  past  lEves,  acupuncture, 
herbal  medicine,  homeopathy,  chiro- 
practic.  the  placebo  effect,  music  arid 
health,  f^re  walking,  speed  healing, 
psychokinesis,  long  (delayed  radio 
echoes,  and  so  on.  How  cfo  Quija 
boards  work?  How  atsout  automatic 
writing?  How  can  yogis  control  their 
heart  rate,  body  temperature,  blood 
flow,  and  so  on?  Is  dowsing  all 
tjaloney? 

As  I've  mentioned,  you  can  be- 
come  a  research  scientist  ^n  your  own 
home  WFth  nothing  more  than  a  bunch 
of  beans  and  some  pots  to  grow  them 
in.  Vou  can  experiment  with  the  ef- 
fects on  their  growth  of  being  exposed 
to  either  the  north  or  south  pole  of  a 
magnet,  exposed  to  different  colors  of 
light,  to  AC  fields,  to  nadio  Tields,  and 
even  to  prayer.  Yes,  I  know  it  looks 
stupid  to  pray  to  a  bean,  but  waiflt  you 
see  what  it  can  do!  Try  some  beans 
up  near  your  linear,  with  some  at  a 
distance  as  a  control.  AtkJ  some  near 
your  TV  set. 

By  the  time  we've  opened  up  most 
of  the  fields  (Ve  mentioned  we're  go- 
ing to  know  a  lot  more  about  our 
wo  rid,  about  life,  and  even  mayt>e  be- 
gin to  understand  a  lot  more  about 
God. 

One  nice  thing  about  quantum  me- 
chanics was  that  it  knocked  the  stuff* 
ing  out  of  the  old-guard  scientfsts. 
Most  reacted  by  refusing  to  accept  ft. 
I've  totd  you  Max  Planck's  response  to 
that.  And  sure  enough,  the  old-timers 
gradually  died  off,  taking  their  refusal 
to  believe  In  quantum  theory  to  their 
graves.  Well  we  have  our  own  ver- 
sion of  that  with  our  believers  In  CW. 

S2  73  AmatBur Radio  Today*  May, 


Oh,  CW  is  nne.  It  just  shouldn^t  be  a 
religious  matter.  And  it  also  shouldn't 
t>e  used  to  make  amateur  radio  a  skill 
hobby  Instead  of  a  technical  ho&by. 
CW  requires  no  mind  at  all.  It's  a  sub- 
conscious fy  developed  skill.  I  prefer  to 
have  amateur  radio  depend  on  ex- 
panding the  mind,  not  killing  it 

Perhaps,  without  our  need  for  ever 
more  complex  and  expensive  military 
weapons,  we'll  be  abte  to  devote  more 
money  to  non-miMtary  research  and 
development.  The  latest  figures  I've 
seen  have  put  the  American  overall 
scientific  budget  at  about  80%  mili- 
tary-oriented. That  stinks.  How  much 
more  technology  do  we  need  to  butt 
into  countries  where  we  have  no 
strategic  interests?  There  are  dozens 
of  countries  alt  around  the  world 
where  our  media  will  be  pushing  us  to 
send  In  our  milttary  for  humanitarian 
reasons.  Well,  atrocities  sell  papers 
and  build  TV  ratings ^  plus  they  give 
Congress  an  excuse  to  keep  up  their 
military  pork  spending.  Le!  me  know 
when  you  think  you  are  getting  tired  of 
being  manipulated  by  the  media. 

One  of  the  results  of  the  ridicule  in 


When  we  win  we're  heroes.  When  we 
miss.  weVe  the  only  ones  who  need 
know  about  it.  And  we're  not  under 
any  publish-or-pensh  mreat. 

i'm  Proud  to  be  an  American! 

Just  look  at  everything  we  have  to 
be  proud  of.  We  all  know  tt^t  America 
is  the  greatest  country  tn  the  world. 
Love  it  or  reave  It.  right?  Weil,  we  all 
love  America.  And  we  are  justly  proud 
of  a  country  which  used  to  be  the  car 
capital  of  th^  world.  Whkrh  used  to  t^e 
by  far  number  one  In  electronics  and 
high-tech. 

Well,  we're  still  number  one  tn  a 
great  many  ways  and  we  shoutdnl 
forget  it!  We  have  one  of  the  most 
corrupt  governments  in  the  world.  We 
have  one  of  the  most  expensive  and 
least  effective  school  systems  in 
the  worid.  We  have  one  of  the  most 
expensive  health  care  systems  in 
the  world.  We  have  some  of  the  most 
corrupt  unions  in  the  world.  We  have 
the  worst  crime  problem  of  any  courv 
try  m  the  world.  We  have  rrtore  mur- 
ders per  capita  than  any  other  coun- 
try. We  have  more  racial  strife  and 


"And  most  of  all,  I'm  truly  proud  of 
my  fellow  Americans,  who  are  able 
to  stomach  all  this  corruption  and 
waste  without  a  whimper. " 


America  of  cold  fusion  researchers  ^ 
that  most  of  the  exciting  devetop* 
ments  in  the  field  are  happening  in 
Other  countries.  We  re  getting  left  fur- 
ther and  further  behind.  The  lates!  re- 
pott  is  from  an  Italian  group  who've 
go!  a  sysiem  working  thai  they  can 
turn  on  and  off  at  wilf,  and  which,  once 
started,  generates  around  300  ktio- 
watts  using  only  three  giams  of  nickel 
and  some  hydrogen  for  fuel.  They 
haveni  gone  public  with  this  yet.  so 
we'll  see  if  it's  real  when  they've  fin- 
ished their  patent  applications. 

The  time  was  when  hams  led  the 
communications  industry  in  th^  devel- 
opment of  new  technologies.  We  pio- 
neered FM.  We  pioneered  NBFM, 
SSB,  SSTV.  and  repeaters.  We  even 
pioneered  TV.  Some  of  the  eariy  com- 
mercial TV  people  had  cut  their  teeth 
in  an  amateur  TV  studio  In  Long  Is- 
land City  When  I  worked  as  an  engi- 
neer and  then  as  chief  cameraman  at 
WPiX  (channet  11)  In  New  York  bacM 
in  1948  several  of  the  people  working 
wth  me  were  afumni  of  the  Long  Is- 
land studio. 

There  are  many  areas  wide  open 
for  hams  to  research  and  pioneer, 
once  we  stop  being  scared  off  by  the 
commercial  research  scientists.  We 
have  ^n  enormous  advantage  over 
them  in  that  they  know  that  when  they 
tackle  a  project  they'd  better  damned 
well  come  up  with  a  positive  result.  It's 
a  vicious  worid  out  there  for  scientists. 
Amateurs  are  gambling  their  own  time 
and  money  This  is  why  most  of  the 
major  new  breakthroughs  in  technolo- 
gy have  been  made  by  amateurs. 

1994 


bigotry.  We  have  one  of  the  worst 
drug  problems  in  the  worid.  We  have 
more  lawyers  and  lawsuits  per  capita 
than  any  other  country.  We  have 
the  highest  federal  deficit  In  the  world. 
We  have  the  worst  trade  defK:it  in  the 
worid.  We  have  the  most  dangerous 
cities  in  the  world.  We  have  the  best 
music  In  the  worid,  but  of  course,  83% 
of  our  music  comes  from  foreign* 
owned  companies  {mostly  Japanese). 
We  have  more  people  in  prison  per 
capita  than  any  other  country.  We 
have  the  wealthiest  organized  criminal 
groups  in  the  worid.  We  have  more 
employees  in  government  than  in 
manufacturing.  And  we're  world- 
class  when  It  comes  to  encouraging 
enlr^reneurs  .  .  ,  to  tap  our  goveni- 
ment  via  HUD,  food  stamps,  and 
endless  health  care  scams,  all  dutif- 
ully reported  on  our  expose  TV 
shows. 

We  can  well  be  proud  of  our  street 
gangs,  our  riots,  our  welfare  system, 
our  decaying  cities  caused  by  rent 
control,  our  polluted  rivers,  our  ra- 
dioactive and  Industrial  waste  record, 
black  family  disintegration,  smog  and 
air  pollution,  the  IRS,  Bill  and  Hillary, 
our  obscene  music  lyrics,  guns  In 
schools,  vapid  sitcoms,  illegal  immi- 
grants, our  foreign  aid  program,  our 
lobbyists  in  Washington  and  all  state 
Capitols,  our  porno  industry,  our  mili- 
tary procurement  system,  our  banking 
mess,  our  savirigs  and  loan  mess,  our 
tobacco  farmer  subsidies,  corruption 
on  Wall  Street.  NASA's  monumental 
Inefficiency,  our  eager  acceptance  of 
eco-scams  .  .  .  you  continue  the  list 


please, 

ftome  had  l\s  circuses,  with  Chrfs- 
fiWB  ighting  lions  and  each  other  We 
have  TV  so  we  can  gawk  at  mayhem 
in  Bosnia  and  Somalia,  so  we  can 
spend  our  days  enjoying  important 
things  tike  a  severed  penis»  an  at- 
ta^ed  skater,  our  Bureau  of  Rreanns 
wiping  out  a  dangerous  colony  of  relf- 
gious  nuts,  and  more  religious  nuts 
fighting  or  defending  abortion.  We  reJ- 
ish  every  murder  in  the  news,  and 
then  turn  to  crime  shows  for  nrrore.  We 
shine  our  media  spotlight  on  any 
protest  group.  We  fan  the  flames  of 
sensitivity.  We're  sensitive  to  women, 
to  homosexuals,  to  the  "disadvan- 
taged.'  to  blacks,  to  the  poor,  to  the 
short,  the  fat  (so  don't  eat  so  damned 
much,  fatly),  the  homeleas+  the  lu- 
natics, and  so  oa 

I'm  proud  of  our  choice  of  presi* 
dents.  Of  Lyndon  Johnson  who  so  en- 
thusiastically pursued  the  expensive 
and  lost  war  in  Vietnam  and  launched 
the  long^  e)q>en5ive  and  lost  war  on 
poverty.  Of  Nixon,  who  still  insists  he 
was  not  a  crook.  Of  Ford,  who  gave 
us  lots  of  laughs.  Of  Carter,  who  gave 
us  hyper-inflaiton.  Of  Reagan,  who 
gave  us  the  movie  star  president  we'd 
always  dreamed  or  Of  8ush  who 
gave  us  .  .  .  gave  us?  Oh  yes,  of 
Bush,  who  fir^lfy  fed  us  up  with  both 
the  Democratic  and  Republican  par- 
ties, forcing  us  to  lean  on  Ross  Perot 
.  .  .  who  then  crumbled  under  the 
weight. 

And  most  of  all  Tm  truly  proud  ot 
my  felk)w  Americans,  who  are  able  to 
stomach  all  this  comjption  and  waste 
without  a  whimper,  t'm  proud  of  how 
our  factory  production  school  system 
has  Chang©!  what  was  once  a  fiercely 
proud  nation  into  a  nation  Of  wimps. 
I'm  enjoying  the  spectacle  of  a  people 
trying  to  er^act  a  constitutional  change 
to  limit  terms  ...  please  stop  me  from 
endlessly  re-electing  my  crook.  And 
another  to  balance  the  budget  .  * 
please  stop  me  from  letting  my  repre- 
sentatives spend  my  children's  mon- 
ey. I'm  proud  of  our  stomach  for  con- 
gressional poriL 

What  other  country  would  allow  pe* 
dophiie  (man-boy  fove)  groups  to  pa< 
rade?  Would  provide  police  protection 
for  hate  groups  to  parade?  Would  lis- 
ten by  the  millions  for  hours  a  day  to 
Rush  Limbaugh^  Howard  Stern,  and 
G.  Gordon  Liddy?  What  other  country 
would  watch  Donahue,  Oprah,  and 
G  era  I  do  on  TV  every  day  explorting 
sickos? 

I  hope  you  are  as  proud  to  be  an 
American  as  L  I'm  proud  of  the  isia* 
tional  Rifle  Association  and  the  Ameri* 
can  Associatkin  of  Retired  Persons  for 
their  effective  lobbying,  no  matter 
what  it  is  doing  to  our  quality  of  life. 
Do  you  know  that  we  have  the  most 
Gormpt  newsstand  circulation  system 
in  the  world?  And  the  most  cormpt 
music  industry  loo?  When  it  comes  to 
superiatives,  weVe  got  most  of  *em 
cornered. 

Now,  if  you  happen  to  t>e  a  trouble- 
maker and  less  of  a  Poltyanna  ttian  I, 
you  might  look  at  the  downside  of 
some  of  the  superlatives  Tve  listed. 


Yes,  the  Mafia  fs  ruthless  and  into 
hundreds  of  businesses,  but  by  golly, 
it  worlds!  It  works  fabulously.  Th& 
average  Mafioso  inakes  well  over  a 
million  a  year,  and  what  spells  suc- 
cess more  in  America  than  making  big 
money? 

When  we  heard  thaf  Perot  was  a 
multi-billionaire  we  wanled  him  tor 
president,  arid  never  mind  some 
screws  Ihai  seemed  lo  be  loose. 
Maybe  well  run  Bill  Gates  nert  time. 
Sill,  who  I  happen  to  know  personally, 
also  has  some  screws  ksose,  but  the 
lecent  media  oampaign  to  make  him  a 
household  word  should  should  sue- 
cesslully  hide  those  btemishes. 

But  even  if  someone  were  to  actu- 
ally get  upset  over  the  negative  as- 
pects of  the  thjngs  I've  mentioned, 
we  re  all  on  this  big  train  goi/tg  a  hun- 
dred miles  an  hour  toward  hen  and 
there's  nothing  any  of  us  can  do  to 
change  things,  flight? 

Wrong,  aciuatly.  Tve  got  a  chal- 
lenge for  you.  Let's  see  how  creative 
you  are.  What  rs  one  thing  that  you 
could  do  which  coiild  change  almost 
everything  many  probably  clin^lly 
depressed  people  see  as  negatives? 
Let  me  make  that  even  more  of  a 
challenge.  What  is  oriB  thmg  you 
could  do  which  would  take  an  average 
of  abotit  12-seconds  a  day  and  which 
would  inevitably  change  the  welfare 
system,  the  social  security  mess,  the 
deficit,  crime,  crowded  prisons,  the 


drug  war.  foreign  aid  waste,  unem- 
plovment,  housing  values,  lower  tax- 
es, and  so  on? 

Now,  if  you  look  back  over  the  list, 
you'fl  see  that  virtually  every  outstand- 
ing misery  in  our  country  comes  down 
to  bejr>g  caused  or  encoy raged  by  the 
government.  The  government  you 
elected  and  are  paying  for. 

Is  the  situation  hopeless?  Yes,  un- 
less you  change.  Look,  your  poEitl* 
dans  aren't  going  to  change  by  them- 
selves. It  isn't  going  to  be  easy  to 
change  them  .  .  .  but  it  actually  can  be 
done.  Here's  a  scenario  for  you  to 
think  about.  Let's  suppose  that  no 
matter  how  good  an  elected  pditidan 
seems  to  be  doing  his  job.  that  with- 
out fail  he  is  replaced  fn  the  nea^t 
eldctk)n  by  someone  new.  This  would 
kill  the  congressional  seniority  o^m- 
mittee  system,  which  lies  at  the  heart 
of  most  of  our  problems.  Many  con- 
gressional freshmen  come  in  hoping 
lo  make  changes.  It  doesn't  take 
them  ^ortg  to  learn  that  ihey  either  play 
ball  or  they'll  get  zip.  Mo  commit- 
tee appointments  worth  spit  No  pork. 
Nil 

iMevet  ever  re-elect  any  poiiiician. 
If  we  keep  fitishing  the  toitet  long 
enough  we'll  finally  begin  to  see  clean 
water  in  the  bowL  One  tenn.  Period. 
Nevtl  I'd  love  to  see  NMi  bumper 
stickers  all  over  the  country.  No  More 
incumbents.  Is  this  something  your 
radio  club  could  do? 


M 


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73  Amateur  Radio  Today  *  Niay,  1 994   93 


Number  25  on  your  FeedbacN  card 


^^  Number  25  on  yoi 

Special  events 


Ham  Doings  Around  the  World 


WAYl 


BEM1DJI,  MN   The  Paul  Bunyan  ARC  Of 

Bemidji  will  hold  its  annual  Hamfest  from  S 
AM-2  PM,  Flea  Market.  VE  Exams.  Deal- 
ers. Taik-in  on  146.1 3/. 73.  Contact  Steve 
Hake,  Hamfest  Chaifman,  4331  Fincherry 
m,  Bemidji  MN  56607.  TeL  (218)  751- 
9558. 

BURLINGTON,  lA  Valley  Emergency 
Comin.  Assn.  will  host  Burlington  Hamfesl 
"94  from  7:30  AM'3  PM^  at  tfie  BurlJnglon 
Drive-In  Tfieater  on  Agency  St.  Talk- in  an 
146=790/.190  WOLAC/R  and  146.520  &im- 
pEex.  Contact  Chuck  Gy^N2DUP,  Burling- 
ton Hamfest  '94,  P.O.  Box  911,  Builington 
iA  52601  0911,  or  call  (319)  752-3000 

(voic^fBx). 

HERKIMER,  NY   The  Fort  Heri^imer  ARC 

will  hold  a  party  at  the  Herkimer  County 
Home  lor  the  Aged,  from  1  PM-3  PM,  to 
celebrate  "Dean  Wallace  Day/'  tn  of  honor 
Dean  K2ANM,  Oldest  Active  Amateur  Ra- 
dio Operator  in  Herkimer  County.  Dean, 
who  was  bom  In  July  of  1899,  was  first  li- 
censed in  1919! 

YONKERS,  NY  The  Metro  70cm.  Networ1< 
weII  present  a  Giant  Electronic  Flea  Market 
at  Lincoln  H.S.^  9  AM-3  PM,  rain  or  shine. 
VE  Exams.  Talk-in  on  440.425  MHz  PL 
1567;  223.760  MHz  PL  670;  146.910  Hz; 
and  443.350  MHz  PL  156,7,  Mail  reserva- 
tion payments  to  METRO  70  CM  NET- 
WORK, 53  Hay  ward  St.,  Yonkers  NY 
10704.  For  details,  call  Otto  SuplfSki 
W62SLQ,  (914)  969-1053. 


MAY  7 

EAST  LIViHPOOi,  OH  A  Hamfest  will 
be  heW  t>y  the  Triangle  ARC  from  8  AM-3 
PM  at  Calcutta  Fire  Hall,  Talk-in  on  146J0. 
Contact  Dick  Sisley  K8JKB,  1218  North- 
side  Ave..  East iJv&rpool  OH  43920. 
GRA&ONVtLLE,  MD  Kent  Island  ARC  will 
hold  their  Hamfest  at  Grasonville  VFW, 
from  0S00Z-1400Z.  Tatk-in  on  146.94  Rptr. 
Contacts:  Tom  Dove  K30RC,  (410)  643- 
4675;  Gtenrj  Durbln  WmC,  (410)  643- 
1125;  Jim  Smith  K3UBC,  (410)  &43-333d; 
Jerry  Mianfe  K1JUM,  (4 10)  643-2732. 
MANITOWOC,  Wl  The  Mancorad  RC  will 
hold  iits  annua!  Hamfest^  starting  at  8  AM, 
at  the  Manitowoc  County  Expo  Ctr.  Ama- 
teur/Computer/Electronics Rea  Mart<et.  VE 
Exams.  Mail  checks  w/SASE  to  Mancorad 
RC,  EO.  Box  204,  Manitowoc  Wi  54221- 
0204;  or  call  R&d,  (414)  634-9097  days; 
Ron  (414)  793-4733  eves. 
OWEGO,  NY  A  H  ami  est  sponsored  by 
Southern  Tier  ARC  wilt  be  held  at  Marvin 
Park  Fairgrounds  from  8  AM-4  PM.  VE  Ex- 
ams, ABRL  Fomm,  35th  Annual  Banquet. 
Flea  Market.  More.  Talk-in  on  146. 16/. 76 
or  146,52/,52.  Contact  STARQ  RO.  Box 
7082,  Endicott  NY  13761-7082. 
SIERRA  VISTA,  AZ  The  CochisO  ARA  will 
have  their  annual  Hamfest  from  7  AM-4 
PM  For  VE  Exam  Info,  call  Frar\k  Ivey, 
(602)  378-9404.  For  Hamfest  info,  contact 
Tim  Mize,  (602)  458-5257.  Talk- In  on 
146.76/16. 


Listings  are  free  of  charge  as  space  permits.  Piease  send  ub  your  Speciai  Event 
two  months  in  advance  of  the  issue  you  want  it  to  appear  in.  For  example,  if  you 
want  it  to  appear  in  the  January  issue,  we  should  receive  it  by  October  31.  Provide 
a  dear,  concise  summary  of  the  essentiai  details  about  your  Special  Event.  Check 
Special  Events  File  Area  mi  on  our  BBS  (603-924-9343).  for  itstings  that  were 
too  late  to  get  into  publication. 


MAY  6 

ATHENS,  OH  The  Athens  County  ARS 
will  hold  its  1 5th  annual  Hamfest  and  Rea 
Market  from  8  AM-3  PM  at  the  City  Rec. 
Center  Indoor  space  is  available  only  by 
advance  registration;  Contact  John  Biddfe 
WDSJLM,  80  Wonder  Hitts  Dr.,  Athens  OH 
45701.  TeL  (614)594-8901  after  6  PM.  For 
InfOp  write  to  Carl  1  Dent^ow  KA6JXG,  63 
Morris  Ave.,  Athens  OH  45701-1939.  TaJk- 
in  on  the  Club  repeater  at  145.15  MHz  (- 
600). 

MEDINA,  OH  The  Medina  2  Meter  Group, 
Inc.,  will  hold  their  H am/Com puter/Elec- 
tronic  Hamfest  at  Medina  County  Commu- 
ntty  Center,  735  Lafayette  Rd.  Ftea  Market 
Set-up  at  6  AM.  For  details,  contact  Medi- 
na Hamfest  Committee^  RO.  Box  452^ 
l^edina  OH  44253.  Tel.  (216)  725-4492,  10 
AM-5  PM, 

IWAY14 

CADtLLAC,  Ml  The  annual  Swap  and 
Eyeball  QSO  will  bs  held  by  the  Wexaukee 
ARC  at  the  Cadillac  Middle  School,  Talknn 
on  146,98  Rptr.  Contact  Wexaukee  ARC, 
P.O.  Box  163,  Cadillac  Ml  49601;  or  call 
Dan  KESKU,  (616)  775'099a, 
ETOBICOKE,  TORONTO,  CANADA  The 
Skywide  ARC  will  host  their  annual  Spring 
Hamfest  and  Flea  Market  from  8:30  AM- 
1:30  PM,  (Set  up  at  7:30  AM)  at  the  West- 
way  United  Churchy  8  Templar  Dr  TalK-in 
on  146.985/R  or  direct  146.52.  Reserve 
early  for  best  tables.  Contact  John  Wilson 


VE3WIL,  (416)  663-0173:  or  Rex  Sweet- 
apple  VE3XER,  (416)  663^0288. 

MAY  14-15 

FT.  WAYNE,  IN  The  Ft.  Wayne  Computer 
Fair,  sponsored  by  Trade  Show  Produc- 
tions, Inc:,  will  be  held  from  10  AM-5  PM  at 
the  Memorial  Coliseum.  Flea  Market. 
Demonstrations.  To  reserve  space,  make 
checks  payable  to  Trade  Show  Produc- 
tions, tnc,  and  return  to:  Mark  Hansfip, 
143  Schloss  if).,  Dayton  OH  4541$. 
SELAH,  WA  The  Yakima  ARC  will  hold 
their  annual  Hamfest  at  Selah  Middle 
School.  Seminars.  VE  Exams.  Breakfast, 
lunch,  and  banquet.  Talk-in  on  146 .660. 
Contact  Dick  Umberger  N7HHU,  (509) 
248-3530. 

MAY  15 

CAIVIBRIDGE,  MA  The  MIT  Electronics 
Research  Soc,  the  MIT  Radio  Soc.  and 
the  Harvard  Wireless  Club  will  hold  a 
Tailgate  Electronics/Computer/Amateur 
Radio  Flea  Market  from  9  AM-2  PM  at  the 
corner  of  Albany  and  Main.  For  reserva- 
tions and  info,  call  (817)  253-3776.  Mait 
advance  reservations  before  May  5th  to 
W1GSL,  P.O.  Box  32  MIT  BR.,  Cambridge 
MA  02139.  Talk  in  on  146.52  and 
449.725/444725  -  pi  2A  -  WIXM/R. 
HOLLY,  Ml  The  4th  annual  ARRL  sanc- 
tioned Hamfest/Computertest.  sponsored 
by  the  Fenton  Area  ARA  and  the  Ben 
Sherman  Middle  School  ARC,  will  be  held 


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94  73  Amateur  Radio  Today*  May,  1994 


flie^  Sherman  Midde  School.  Hamfesf  d 
AM'2  PM  (SetHip  6  AM-B  AM),  TaJk^n  on 
146.780  (-600)  and  442,250  (+5  MHz) 
linked  Rptrs.  Contact  FAABA,  P.O.  Box  46, 
F§ntQn  Mt  43430. 

WAUSEON,  OH  TTie  North  West  Ohio  Tri- 
Counry  HAMFEST  will  be  heW  at  the  Ful- 
ton Co.  Fairgrounds  on  Stale  RTE  108 
(Ohio  Turnpike  Exit  3).  Rea  Market.  VE 
Exams  by  appointment  on*y:  Contact  Tom 
Hay,  (4i9} 542'6t92.  before  May  sm.  Talk- 
In  on  147,195+  KflBXQ  Rfrtr,  Ftiom  (419) 
264-7775  for  table  resen^a lions  or  into; 
SASE  to  Mike  Sharpe  NBRLD,  126  Muntz 
SL  Hoigate  OH  435S7. 
WHEELING,  WV  Tripfe  States  RAG.  Inc. 
will  present  their  17th  annual  Wheeling 
Hamfest-Computer  Show  al  Wheeling 
Parte  fmm  B  AM*3  PM.  Antique  Gar  Dis- 
pity.  1912  Beechy  Rane  replica  on  djs> 
play.  Talk-in  on  146.91.  Contact  TSRAC, 
8ox24€,  RR  I  Adena  OH  43901.  T&i/Fax 
(614)  546-3930. 

MAY  20-22 

ROCHESTER,  NY  The  60th  annual 
Rochfist^r  Handiest  and  Computer  Show, 
combined  wilti  ttw  Atlantic  DivTNew  Yoffc 
Slate  ARRL  Convention,  will  be  hetcf  at 
yonroe  County  Fairgrounds.  Route  15A  & 
Celkins  Rd.  Sponsored  by  the  Rochester 
ARA,  The  Flea  Market  will  run  continuous- 
ly for  the  entire  weekend,  starting  at  noon, 
Fri.  May  20th.  For  info,  cail  (716)  424-7t84 
during  weekd&y  busiriess  hours ^  For  a 
t) nocture,  write  to  Rochestsr  Hamfesi  300 
Whfte  Sprues  Bhd.,  Rochester  NY  14623. 

MAY  21 

COLORADO  SPRINGS  The  Pikes  Peak 
RAA  will  hokl  a  Ham  Radio  Swapfest  from 


8  AM-3  PM  at  Liberty  H.S..  3720  Scaibor- 
ougti  Df  Ham  gear  Computers.  Bectron- 
ics.  Tatk-in  on  146.97/,52.  Swapfest  Con- 
tact: Harv  Hunter  WA3EIB,  (719)  597- 
8964.  VE  Exams  begin  at  9  AM:  contact 
Rick  Brown  KDOSU  (719)  53h3423.  Send 
pre-registfation  cheeks  payable  to  PPRAA, 
with  SASE  to  Jortn  KrRn\Br  NOVBM,  1765 
Kimberiy  Place.  Colorado  Springs  CO 
80915.  Tet.  (719)  560^  14S9  after  5  PM. 
EPHRATA,  PA  The  9th  annual  Ephrata 
Hamfesr-Rea  MarKet  w[ll  be  held  by  the 
Ephiata  Area  Repeater  Soc.,  Inc,  at  ttte 
Ephrata  H.S.^  803  Oak  Blvd.  Their 
Radlo/Computer/Eloctronic  Flea  Market 
will  stal  at  e  AM  (Set-up  at  6:30  AM),  V£ 
Exams  wilJ  begin  at  9  AM.  Make  checks  fof 
S5.75  pa^aWe  to  'ARRUVEC;  Brir^  origi- 
naf  ^>d  a  photocpy  of  your  cu/rertt  l»^nse, 
and  2  fonrts  d  ID.  Rea  Maricet  Pre-regis- 
trations  deadline  fs  May  lOth,  fsfo  rBfunds, 
Make  diecks  or  money  orders  payable  to 
Ephrata  Area  Repeater  Soc,  tnc,  906 
Clearview  Ave.,  Ephrata  PA  17522.  TeL 
(71 7)  33&25i4  (after  6  PM). 
FORESTDALE,  Rl  The  Rhode  Island  Arzi- 
ateur  FM  Rptr,  Seivice,  Inc.,  wiH  hoJd  tt>elr 
annual  Spring  Audion  and  Rea  Mart^t  at 
VFW  Post  6342,  Main  St.,  FbfBStdaie  (No. 
Srnithi field),  The  Rea  Market  opens  at  8 
AM.  with  the  Auction  b^inning  at  11  AM 
and  continuing  until  about  3  PM,  Ta^k^n  on 
H6J6.  Contact  Rick  Falnveather  K1KYI, 
106  Chaptin  St.,  Pawtucket  Ri  02361;  or 
call  (40  n  725-7507  t)etween  7  and  8  PM, 
MKNEAPOUS/SX  PAUL,  MN  A  Tailgate 
Swap  test  will  be  held  by  IM  TwinsLAN 
ARC,  at  Hofieyweii  Ridgway  taoiity  parit* 
Ing  lot.  2600  Ridgway  Pkwy.  Open  to  the 
public  7  AM-l  PM  (Set-up  at  6:30  AM). 


Talk-in  on  146.76^.16  KIOHB  Rptf,  Contact 
Biti  Brisley  NOBSN,  \B025  Cynthia  On, 
Mlnnetonka  MN  5B345-42Q6.  TeL  (6l2j 
474-0113. 

PADUCAHp  KY  The  Paducah  ARA  will 
sponsor  an  ARRL  Hamtest  Irom  8  AM-2 
PM  (Set-up  at  6:30  AM],  at  Noble  Parle 
Civic  Center,  Flea  Market.  VE  Eieams. 
Concessions.  Other  goodies  available. 
Contacts:  David  Fraser  KQ4iU,  5715 
BiandvSte  Rd.  Paducah  KY  42001,  (502) 
554^7999,  or  Paul  Smith  N4ffO,  229 
Nicketfo  Hts..  Paducah  KY  4200t,  (502) 
898-6834;  packet  address 

@  W4NJA.  WKY.KY.  USA.NA. 
PRILLIPSBURGp  NJ  The  Cherryvilfe 
Hamtest,  sponsored  by  the  CherryvilJe  Rp- 
tr  Assn,  II  Inc.  wfll  be  hetd  from  8  AM-2 
PM  at  ^iB  Warren  County  Farmers  Faif- 
groynds.  Set-up  al  6  AM,  Flea  Market 
Contact:  Keith  Burt  KF5FK  (906)  788- 
4080.  VE  Exams  Contact:  Marty  Groiin^ 
NS2K,  ($08)  eOS-6944.  Talk-in  on 
147.375+ and  1 46.820-. 
SACRAMENTO,  CA  Visit  the  Camlchael 
Elks  Lodge  in  CarmichaeL  between  8  AM- 
3  PM.  to  enjoy  the  annual  Hamswap  spon- 
sored by  the  North  Hills  Ra<fo  Qub  Talk^ 
in  on  145,190-  (K6IS)-  For  detoils,  write  10 
NHRC,  PO,  Box  41653,  Sacramento  CA 
95814-0635. 

MAY  22 

CAN  FIELD.  OH  The  Canfield  OH  Fair^ 
grounds  on  RT  46  wilJ  be  the  location  for 
the  10lh  annual  Hamfest/Compuler  Show 
spofisored  by  the  Twenty  Over  Nine  Radio 
Club.  Doors  open  8  AM-3  PM,  |Set*up 
starts  at  6:30  AM).  For  info,  contact  Don 
Stoddard  N8LNE.  42  S.  Whitney  Ave.. 


Youngstown  OH  44509.  (216}  793-707^ 
or  Dave  Mellon  KE8KT  2895  Penny  Ui., 
Austintown  OH  44515.  (216)  793-0816. 
Advance  registrations  must  be  received  by 
May  15lh;  send  with  SASE  to  20/3  ARC 
Inc.,  42  $.  Whitney  Ave.,  Youngstown  OH 
44509.  Ta1k4n  (before  1  PM)  on  147.315+, 
443225+.  or  224.160  MHz  simplejt, 
PLAIN  EDGE,  KY  The  Suffolk  County  RC 
^id  the  Great  South  Bay  RC  will  hold  tt>eir 
Long  Island  Hamfest/CompLFter  Show  from 
9  AM-4  PM  at  the  Pialnedge  H.S,,  Wyn- 
gare  Dr,  Talk-in  on  146,635  and  223.86. 
Contact  Ancfy  Fetdman  WB2FXN^  (516) 
928-3368  (eves.  7-10  PM);  or  Watt  Wen^et 
KA2RGt,  (516)  957-5726. 

MAY  28 

COLUMBIA,  UO  The  Central  Missouri 
Radto  Assn.  will  hold  their  t91h  anr^ual 
Hamtesl'Compuler  Expo  from  9  AM-4  PM 
al  \he  Heams  Mutti- Purpose  BIdg.  on  Sta- 
dium Blvd.  Contact  W.  'Mac' McKeazie,  Jn 
H4CHS,  (314)  B82  7413  days;  (314)  442- 
7619  eves. 

SPRINGHILL,  LA  The  Spnnghlll  and  Ark- 
La  ARCS  will  co-host  the  North 
Louisiana/South  Arkansas  Hamfest  at 
Spfinghill  Civic  Center  Flea  Marttet.  Fo- 
mms  Commeraal  Dealers.  Contact  David 
Smith  KF56E  PO.  Box  812,  Springhift  LA 
71075.  TeL  (318)  539-3226.  Taik-m  on 
146,73  and  147.39, 

MAY  29 

SOREL,  QUEBEC,  CANADA  The  Club 
Radio- Amateur  Soret-Tracy  will  bold  their 
"tiamfesl  du  Quebec'  at  The  Curling  Dit>. 
For  details,  write  to  Ciub  Radio-Amateur 
Sorei-Tracy.  C.P^  533,  Soreh  Quebec, 
Canada  J3P  5N6^ 


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73  Amateur  Radio  Today  May,  1994  95 


MAY  30 

SYLACAUGA,  AL  The  3rd  annual  Tal- 
ladega RAC  Hamfesi  will  be  held  at  J. 
Craig  Smith  Comm,  Center  beginning  al  B 
AM,  VE  Exams  at  8  AM  sharp,  with  walk- 
|n$  accepted.  Fcrums.  Contact  Jim 
KD4BHH,  (205)245-7825. 

JUNH4 

KTTCHENEfl,  ONT,  CANADA  Th€  20th 
Central  Ontario  Aniateuf  Had o  Reamarkei 
MriU  5e  heid  at  Bin  gem  an  Park.  Contact 
Jack  Kntght  VE3RGY,  35  BrockviHB  Ave., 
Guetph,  OnL  Canada  NJE5X5.  TeL  (519) 
823^135$, 

KNOXVILLE,  TN  A  Hamfest  will  ba  held 
from  S  AM -4  PM  at  Tennessee  Vafley  Fair 
Gfoynds-Chilhowee  Pk.  Sponsor:  RAC  of 
Knoxville.  VE  Exams  Talk-fn  on  147,30+ 
RACK  Rptf..  and  224.50+.  Dealers  contact 
Angeia  Cngger  N4RPR  27Q7  Pine  Hiil  Dr., 
Kmxviiie  TW  37938.  TeA  (615)  694^9Q7i. 
For  inlo.  contact  Ross  A.  Ramsey 
KC4YDR,  790  N.  Cedar  Bluff  Rd., 
KnoxvHfe  TN  37923.  Tei  {615}  690-^520, 
TEA«ECK,  NJ  The  Bergen  ARA  will  hold 
its  BUTntial  Spring  Ham  I  est  from  8  AM-2  PM 
at  Fa^fl&igh  Dickinson  Univ.  in  Teaneck. 
pre -registration  required  for  Flea  Market 
spaces  w/power.  Contact  Jim  Joyce 
K2ZO,  i20t)  664^725.  VE  Exains;  contact 
BAHA  VE  Hotline.  (20V  797^15t  t)efom 
W  PM.  Talk-in  on  146.1 90/. 790;  14S.620 
Simplex. 

JUNES 

EVANSVtLLE.  m  The  Tri-^ale  AR5  will 
hold  Iheir  47tft  Hamfest/Electronic/Com- 
puter  ShQ^  at  the  ^ndertxirgh  County  4H 
Cenier.  Booftvilte-New  Harmony  Rd,  starl- 
ing at  B  AM  (Set-up  at  7  AM).  Tark-in  on 
U7.15/146.79-  Contact:  Chartie  Apfeistam 


N9GWS,  TARS.  PO.  Box  452h  Evansviffe 
fN 47724.  Te!.  ($^2)  477*77i5, 
PRINCO'ON.  it  The  Starved  Roc^  Ra(fk) 
Club  Ham f est  will  be  held  at  the  Bureau 
County  Fairgrounds,  staning  at  6  AM.  Talk- 
In  on  146.355/ J55.  For  details,  Contact 
Bfuce  Burton  KU9A,  or  Debbie  Burton 
N90RU,  1153  Union  St.,  Marseiihs  (L 
6l34i-i7t0.  Tet.  (815)795-2201. 
SAUNA,  KS  The  Cerrtral  Kansas  ARC 
will  sponsor  its  a;inuaJ  HamfesI  8  AM-3 
PM.  in  the  4H  Btdg.  in  Kerrwood  Park  F^ 
Man<et.  Commerdat  Booths.  Corttad  La/7y 
White  KB08H,  336  Sunset  Dr.,  Satina  KS 
67401.  Tei.  (913)  827-3737. 

SPECIAL  EVENT  STATIONS 

APR  29-MAY 1 

K04AVE  DESERT.  CA  BHIy  Hotcomb 
Chapter  of  E  CUmpus  vnu$  will  operate 
KC6LUC  to  oommemorale  Fort  Cady.  Op- 
orations  will  be  In  the  phone  portions  ol  the 
General  80,  40.  2D  and  15  meter  sub- 
bands,  and  In  the  Novice  10  meter  sub- 
band.  For  a  certificate,  send  QSL  and 
rxlf  SASE  to  KC6LUa  Sid  Blumner. 
1458  Albright  Ave,,  Upiand  CA  91786- 
272t 

APR  30 

SONOMA  VALLEY,  CA  The  Valley  ol  the 
Moon  ARC,  WB6DWY,  will  operate  in  com- 
merrwration  of  the  City  of  Sonoma  and  the 
Valley  of  the  Moon's  lich  historical  her- 
itage, from  1700  UTC-2400  UTC  The  sta- 
tion will  be  operated  dortng  the  dub's  an- 
nual Hamfest.  Listen  throughout  the  day 
on  Ure  Gertefal  pTtone  ponions  of  to.  20 
and  40m.  For  a  nica  parcftmeni  certfficate, 

QSL  wtlh  SASE  to  VC^ARC,  358  Pattm 
St,.  Sonoma  C A  95476. 


APR  30-MAY 1 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA  The  Olympia  ARC 
wit]  operate  WA3BAT  from  1300Z  April 
30th-20002  May  1st,  to  commemorate  the 
96th  Anniversary  of  Admiral  Dewey's  tri- 
umph over  the  Spanish  Reel  al  the  Battle 
of  Manilla  Bay.  SSB/Phone— 3,898.  7.268, 
14.268,  21.368,  28.368.  145.270.  and 
packet  For  a  certFTKate,  send  OSL  and  a 
9*3t12'  SASE  to  aympia  ARC,  P.O.  Bom 
928,  Phtla<Mphm  PA  19105. 

MAY1 

WAMEGOp  KS  The  Mahar  ARC  Will  oper^ 
ate  KBOGPR  1400Z  to  2000Z  to  celebrate 
the  annual  Mahar  Family  Reunion.  Opera- 
tion  will  be  In  the  20  and  40  meter  General 
phone  bajxis.  146.580  and  28.350  For  a 
certificate,  send  QSL  and  btisiness  Size 
SASE  10  Mitdi  Antferson  KBOGPR,  PO. 
Bom  931,  New  Slmwn  KS  66839-09^1. 

MAY  4-14 

HOLLAND,  Ml  The  Holland  ARC  wtll  op- 
erate a  Special  Event  Station  to  celebrate 
Tulip  Time.  Operation  will  be  in  ifm  lower 
portion  of  the  General  20  and  15  meters 
and  26.400  MHz.  For  a  c^tificate,  send 
QSL  with  call  Signs  worked,  ^id  a  ^%\X 
SASE  to  N8NXA,  Bartara  Si^}eitnK  6418 
cm  R<S.,  Saugatuc^  Ml  49453. 

MAY  8^3 

ABERDEEN  WA  The  Grays  Hartor  ARC 
wtil  operate  W7ZA  from  2300Z  May  6th- 
2300Z  May  Stin,  to  celebrate  their  40th 
Birthday.  CW  operation  will  be  in  the 
Hovice  poftai  of  the  1Q,  15,  20,  40.  and 
m  meter  subbaiKls.  as  weu  as  in  the  Gm- 
eral  portion  of  tfte  20  meter  band.  SS8  will 
be  in  the  General  portion  of  tt>e  10 ,15. 20, 


40,  and  80  meter  subbands  and  the  10 
meter  Novk»  barrf.  For  a  QSL  cant,  send 
QSL  and  SASE  to  GHARC,  P.O.  BoM 
2250,  Aberdeen  WA  98520. 

MAY  7 

DEKALB,  IL  Tht  Klshwaukoe  ARC  will 
operate  WA9CJN  1800Z^2200Z  to  help 
celebrate  the  Three  Fires  Council  BSA 
Scout-0-Rama  show.  The  purpose  is  to 
eooourage  young  mert  and  boys  to  gain  an 
Interest  in  ham  radio  ar>d  earn  tt>e  Radio 
Merit  Badge.  For  a  certificate,  send  an 
SASE  to  KARC.  WA9CJN,  P.O.  Box  264, 
Sycamofe  it  60173,  ATTN:  KB9AGV,  Lis- 
ten for  WA9CJN  on  28.430  +/-  QRM. 

MAY  9-1 4 

VAN  ALSTYNE,  TX  Amateur  As* 
tronomers/Hams  representing  the  Sotrth- 
west  Region  ol  the  Asironomica!  League 
w^ll  be  operating  BE  Station  K5GH  (K  5 
Gaiaicy  Hunters)  at  the  I3th  annual  Teicas 
Star  Party.  The  TSP  Is  located  near  the 
Univ.  of  Texas's  McDonald  Observatory  In 
tti«  Davis  Mountains  of  West  Texas.  Oper- 
ation will  be  (W-  ORM):  28365,  21385. 
14265  afid  7285.  SSTV  and  CV/  contacts 
on  request.  For  an  astronomical  theme 
QSL  card,  send  QSLySWL  report  and 
SASE  to  K5GH'TSP,  2619  Bordeaux, 
MC^imey  TX  75070 

MAY  10 

PROMONTORY,  UT  The  Ogden  ARC  will 
Operate  W7STB  0001Z-2100Z,  to  com- 
memorate the  driving  of  the  Ooiden  Spike 
at  Promor^tory  Summit.  Ffequencies; 
3.S70.  7^0,  14.280.  21,375.  and  28.415 
MHz.  Send  OSL  and  SASE  lo  Ogden 
ARa  P.O.  Box  335J.  O^en  UT 84409. 


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MAY  1Ȥ 

SAN  ANTONK),  TX  The  San  ArrtOnJo  FIC 
Will  celetsrate  its  Diannorid  Anniversary  by 
operating  W5SC  from  2200Z  May  13th- 
2200Z  May  15th.  Operation  will  be  in  the 
bottom  50  kHz  of  the  General  phone 
bands  on  75-10  meters  (NovicaTech  part 
d  band  on  10).  For  an  8  1/2'xll'  mm- 
cate  and  QSL,  send  SASE  and  QSL  to 
"SARC  Diamond  Jubthe.'  1(^27 ML  Cros- 
by, San  Antonio  TX  7825L 

MAY  14-15 

BROKEN  ARROW,  OK  The  Broken  Ar- 
nm  ARC  will  operate  AS5EE  trom  1500 
UTC  May  14-0300  UTC  May  IS  In  coll- 
odion with  the  Bnokefi  Antm  Chamber  of 
Commerce  sponsored  "Rooster  Day,*  Fre- 
quencies: 10m  Novice  band.  a!or>g  with  all 
HF  bands  In  CW  and  SSB,  Also  on  VHF 
FM.  For  a  ceriitk^ate.  send  QSL  and  9'x12* 
SASE  10  Brok&n  Arrow  ARC,  Box  552. 
Bnokefi  Arrow  OK  740 1 3. 
CAHUSLE,  PA  The  Cumbtfland  ARC  wi 
operate  K3IEC  1 3002^0 IfXJZ  May  Uth 
and  15tli,  to  celebrate  the  Club's  30th  An- 
niversary. Operation  wifl  be  phone  and  CW 
on  the  160-6  meter  bands,  For  QSU  send 
QSL  and  SASE  to  CARC,  107  mmp  M, 
Boiling  Springs  PA  i7007. 

MAY15-JUNE15 

WAIANAE,  Ht  To  commamofate  the 
beautilication  of  Falher  Damien,  Hawaiian 
hams  will  operate  a  variety  o1  Special 
Event  stations.  Activities  are  planned  for 
all  bamls,  aU  modes^  including  the  IMovioe 
Sti]baj>ds.  Operati^fts  begin  on  May  I5th, 
lo  colndde  with  ttie  ofTioiaJ  ceremony  in 
Belgium,  and  will  coniinue  until  June  15th. 


Pof  a  Oa,  please  send  your  card,  SASE. 
and  name  of  operator  worked  to  AmKY, 
Apt.  iSQB,  84-265  Famagton  Hwy.,  Wa- 
ianae  Ht  $6792;  Of  dkectfy  to  the  operator 
contacted, 

MAY  20-22 

HAINES  FALLS,  MY  Tlie  Long  Msmi 
Mobile  ARC'S  Junior  Operators  Commrt- 
lee  will  operate  K2YEW  from  their  QRP 
Camping  Weekend  at  North  Lake  State 
Park  in  Greene  Co.  Frequencies:  3.560, 
7040,  14060.  QSL  to  Robert  Todaro 
N2MX,  22S8  E.  73rd  St.,  Brooklyn  NY 
U234. 

MAY  21 

PASADENA,  MD  The  Bay  Area  ARS.  in 
cooperation  with  the  Anne  Aoindeli  Coun- 
ty Historical  See,  will  operate  Station 
KM3I  to  commemorate  the  150th  Anniver- 
sary of  the  telegraph  rnessage  'What  Hath 
God  Wrought.'  transmitted  on  an  experh 
memal  Bne  from  Was^ngton  DC  to  Balti- 
more MD.  Operation  wifl  be  1300  UTC- 
2000  UTC  on  one  or  more  of  the  (oltowing 
CW  frequenctes;  7.125,  14,125,  21.125, 
21.225,  28.125  MHz,  For  a  commemora- 
tive certificate,  Amateurs  send  your  QSL 
card:  SWLs  send  details  of  the  QSO, 
along  with  an  8  li2*xir  SASE.  to  Greg 
Odema,  Bay  Area  AflS.  41B  Brooks  Ct, 
^en  Bumte  MD  210St 
SEATTLE,  WA  The  2nd  Annual  North- 
west QRP  Club  Spring  Sprint  Contest  will 
be  held  from  1700  UTC-2100  UTC.  Fre- 
quencies; 7035-40,  14055-60,  21060  kHz. 
Logs  must  be  received  by  June  15th, 
1994  by:  Sfai?  Yarema  KG7ME.  Contest 
Editor,  345/  72th  West,  Seatlie  WA 
98119, 


MAY  21 -22 

HANSKA.  MN  Ihe  New  Ulm  ARC  wil  op- 
erate KeoiWV  1600Z-04002  May  21st, 
and  1600Z-2300Z  May  22nd,  to  celebrate 
Han  ska's  10lh  annual  Syttende  Mai.  Thts 
is  to  commemorate  the  ieoth  Anniversary 
of  the  enactment  of  the  Constitution  of 
Norway.  FfBquencies:  7.250,  14.250  MHz, 
and  the  Club  Rptr.  at  147.33^,  For  a  certifi- 
cale,  send  a  QSL  ajid  a  9^12'  SASE  with 
2  First  Class  stamps,  or  a  #10  SASE  (for  a 
folded  certificate)  lo  New  Utm  ARC^ 
KBOtWV '  Patrick  Mattiioweti,  RR  4  Box 
U'A,  New  Uim  MN  56073.  SWL  reports 
welcome. 

ST  CHARLES,  MO  The  SI.  Daites  ARC 
rnH  operate  WBOHSI 1300Z-2100Z  as  part 
of  the  Lewis  and  Clarlc  Rendezvous,  to 
commemorate  the  departure  of  the  Lewis 
and  Clark  Expedition  on  2i  May  1804. 
Frequencies:  7,265,  14.265,  21.365. 
28.465. 146,67.  AO-13  Modes  B  ar^d  J.  as 
propagation  and  QRM  permit.  For  a  certifi- 
cate, send  a  9M2'  S.^E  to  Sf.  Oiaries 
ARC,  EO.  Box  1429,  St.  Charfes  MO 
6332-1429. 

MAY  21-23 

OAK  PARK,  Ml  The  Oak  Park  ARC  will 
host  the  1994  Michfgan  QSO  Party,  18002 
May  21SI-0300Z  May  22nd;  and  ffom 
1100Z  May  22nd-0200Z  May  23rd,  Fre- 
quencies: CW-1810,  3540.  3725,  7035. 
7125,  14035,  21035.  21125.  28035. 
28125,  Phone-1855,  3905.  7260.  14280, 
2t380,  28SaO.  VHF'S0.125,  145.025, 

146.52.  Results  will  be  final  on  July  30th, 
1 994  and  will  be  mailed  to  all  entrants  who 
have  sent  in  an  SASE,  Mailing  deadline  is 
Juty  1st.  Send  logs  to:  Mark  Shaw  K3ED, 
27600  FFEnkifn  Rd.,  Apt.  5t6,  Sou^fietd 
Ml  45034, 


MAY  28-29 

BELLEVUE,  NE  The  Bellevue  ARC 
will  operate  WOWYV  from  the  Strategic 
Air  Commanct  Museum,  adjacent  to  Offutt 
Air  Force  Base,  t300Z-2200Z  on  May 
2dfh  and  May  29th.  Operation  wtJI  be  in 
the  lower  phone  portion  of  the  General 
40,  20  and  15  meter  t>ands.  and  if  propa- 
gation permits,  in  the  Novice  portion  of 
the  10  meter  phone  subband.  For  a 
QSL,  sand  QSL  card  wi!h  contact  num- 
ber and  a  #10  SASE  lo  N40WG,  1311 
Greef}wood  Ave.,  Orryaha  NE  6S133- 
2526. 

NORTH  SYRACUSE,  NY  TTie  Liverpool 
Amateur  Rptr.  Club  wil)  operate  WA2f5C 
from  2000Z  May  2eth-2200Z  May  29th. 
to  commemorate  the  Mid- Empire  Slate 
Chapter  293  Vietnam  Veterans  of  Ameri- 
ca's WatchFire  VII  Memorial  Day  fire 
Hghllng.  SSB  operation  will  be  tn  the 
vicinity  of  7.240  and  14.240.  CW  opera- 
tk)n  will  be  in  the  lower  25  kHz  of  40m 
and  20m  general  sub-bands.  RTTY  on 
40ni  amJ  20m.  Other  bands  as  concfitions 
permit.  For  a  certificate,  send  QSL  and 
9'x12'  SASE  to  LA/?a  PO.  Box  W3. 
North  Syracuse  NY  13212. 


MAY  30 

ELQIN,  IL  Station  W9IKN,  sponsored  by 
the  Elg*n  ARS  in  conjunction  witJi  the  ai>- 
nual  running  of  ihe  Valley  Fox  Tret  10- 
mile  race,  will  be  on  the  air  from  1200Z* 
1700Z.  Operation  will  be  in  the  lower  por^ 
tion  of  Ihe  General  subbands  on  SSB 
and  CW,  and  propagation  permitting, 
50.200  SSB.  For  a  osffificale,  semi  busi- 
ness size  SASE  10  EAM.B.,  RO^  Box 
135f,  Bg^n  IL  60123-1351. 


Serving  The  LORD 
Sfrtce  1967 


THE  POWER  STATION 

The  POWER  STATION  is  a  12V  x  6.5  AmpHr  gel-celi 
battery  complete  with  voltmeter,  wall  charger  and  a 
cord  for  charging  via  automobifes.  It  will  power  most 
HTs  at  5  Watts  for  2-4  weeks  (depending  upon  how  long-winded  you 
are).  AJso  VHF,  UHR  QRP,  or  HF,  mobifes  such  as  the  KENWOOD  T^ 
50  (at  60W).  There  are  no  hidden  costs,  all  you  need  is  your  mobile  or  HT 
power  cord  or  cigarette  tighter  adapter. 

The  POWER  STATION  provides  12V  from  a  cigarette  plug  and  has  two 
recessed  terminals  for  hardwiring.  A  mini-phone  jack  with  regulated  3V, 
6V,  or  9V  output  can  be  used  separatefy  for  CD  players,  Walkmans,  etc. 
THE  POWER  STATION  can  be  charged  in  an  automobile  in  only  3  hours, 
or  in  the  home  in  8  hours.  The  charger  wil!  automatically  shut  off  when  the 
battei7  is  completely  charged,  so  you  can  charge  it  even  when  it  has  only 
been  slightty  discharged,  (unlike  Ni-Cads  that  have  memory).  Our  charg- 
ing circuit  uses  voltage  sensing  circuitry,  other  brands  are  timed  chargers 
which  always  charge  the  battery  a  full  cycle,  this  damages  their  battery 
and  shortens  its'  Itfe  rf  ft  only  needs  a  partial  charge.  The  POWER  STATION 
has  a  voltmeter  that  shows  the  exact  stale  of  charge  of  the  battery,  not 
worthless  idiot  lights  that  tell  you  '^YOUR  BATTERY  IS  NOW  DEAD."  The 
voltmeter  can  even  be  used  to  measure  voltages  of  other  sources. 


To  order,  send  ct^eck  or  money  order  for  S49.9S  + 
S6,S0  for  shipping*  along  witti  your  shipping  address 
and  lefephone  number  lor 

Joe  Brancato 

THE  HAM  CONTACT 

P,0,  Box  3624,  Dept.  73 
Long  Beach,  CA  90803. 

CA  Re^Fdents  Add  8  i^A%  Sales  Tax.  Alaska,  Hawaii,  and  Canadian 
Residents.  Please  Send  U-S.  Money  Order  &  S17J0  Shipping. 

If  you  wi^h  more  inforrnaOOrt  pl^aBS  send  a  SASE  lo  the  above  Address. 
For  COD  orders,  call  ^310^  433  5S60,  outside  of  CA  Orders  Only  caH 
(BOO)  933'HAM4  and  leave  messaoe,    Deafer  fnouiries  Invited. 


C1HCLE  384  Cm  READER  SERVICE  CARD 


7B  Amateur  Radio  Today*  Uay,  1994  07 


PC  HF  FASCIMILE  7.0  $99 


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CIRCLE  250  ON  HEADER  SERVICE  CARD 


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n^  Number  26  ori  your  Feedbac 

Dealer  directory 


DELAWARE 

N«w  CastJ« 
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Propagation 


Kumber  27  on  your  Feedtxack  card 


Jkn  Gmy  W1XU 

210  East  Chateau  Clfcie 

Payson  AZ  35541 

This  month's  calendar  shows  few 
Good  (G)  days  for  propagation,  while 
the  remainder  are  Fair  (f )  to  Poor  {P) 
and  trending  from  one  to  the  other.  DX 
success  this  month  will  require  a  good 
receiver  and  a  tot  of  work.  On  the  Good 
days  yoy  wilJ  find  oonditions.  favorable 
for  DX,  whereas  on  the  P cor  days  you 
may  hear  few  DX  stations,  and  those 
am  likely  to  be  on  the  nofth-sauth  path 
across  the  equator.  The  Fair  days  are 
the  ones  where  opportunity  will  present 
itself  but  will  require  effort,  with  signals 
fading  in  and  out  and  general  inslatDility 
Ofi  all  bands.  As  tisual  when  cortditiors 
are  margir^L  the  higher  HF  bar>ds  lerxJ 
to  be  affected  the  most.  Anticipated 
conditions  by  band  are  as  follows: 

10-12  Meters 

Some  north -south  openings  during 
afternoon  hraurs.  On  some  c^ys  you  will 
find  sporadic  E  ttial  can  provide  signal 
paths  of  short  duration  to  1 ,000  miles  or 

so. 


15-17  Meters 

On  good  cfays  you  will 
have  fairly  good  openings  to 
tf>e  southern  hemisphere  dur- 
ir^  daylight  hours,  peakirvg  in 
the  afternoon.  There  will  be 
occasional  openings  lo  Eu- 
rope and  Africa  on  east-west 
paths,  also  during  the  local 
afternoon.  There  will  be  pten* 
ty  of  short-skip  and  sporadic 
E  skip  on  many  days.  Out  to 
1*000-1 ,500  miles. 

20  Meters 

The  best  band  for  world- 
wide propagation  during  day- 
light hours.  This  band  ought 
to  open  shortly  after  sunrise 
and  remain  open  until  after 
dailt  Peak  oonditions  should 
occur  an  hour  or  two  after 
sunrise  and  again  in  the  tale 
afternoon.  Short-skip  will  be 
favorable  during  the  daylight 
hours  beyond  about  500 
miles. 

3040  Meters 

Evening,  nighttime  and 
sunrise  hours  are  best  on 
these  bands  for  DX  contacts. 
From  sunset  to  midnight  to- 
ward Europe  and  Africa,  and 
generally  toward  the  East. 
During  sunrise  and  for  a  half 
hour  Of  so  on  efther  skie.  look 
for  DX  to  the  West  and  PacJf- 


Jim  Gray  WIXU 

\c  areas.  Daytime  short  sitip  to  about 
1.000  miles,  and  nighttime  Skip  out  to 
2,000  miles  wlN  occur,  increasing  state 
levels  will  be  present,  and  may  some- 
times prevent  hearing  all  but  the 
Strongest  signals  on  these  bands. 

eO-1 60  Meters 

No  DX  openings  during  daylight 
hours  on  these  bands.  After  dartt  on 
some  days  you  may  find  DX  (limited  by 
QRN).  and  again  around  sunrise,  Short 
skip  cf  200  miles  or  so  may  be  avail- 
abJe  on  80  meters,  and  distances  out 
lo  2.000  miles  or  so  at  night.  On  160 
meters,  skip  out  to  atKJUl  1,000  miles 
shoukj  be  available  when  QRN  is  ab- 
sent 

Special  Condftions 

There  may  be  some  severe  weather 
or  other  geophysical  disturbances  sur- 
rounding the  dates  of  May  16th  and 
27lh,  and  iasting  for  a  day  or  two, 
Ke^  your  ear  open  for  WWV  on  5, 10, 
15,  and  20  MHz  at  18  minutes  after 
each  hour  for  latest  propagation  news. 

Ttiere  will  be  a  partial  lunar  eclipse 
on  May  25th,  visible  in  most  of  both 
hemispheres. 


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98  73  Amateur  Radio  Today*  May»  1994 


Bl  Number  28  on  ^ 

ARTER  W  BUY 


Number  2S  on  your  Feedback  card 


Turn  your  old  ham  and  computer  gear  rnto  cash  now.  Sure,  you  can  waSt  for  a  hamlesf  to  try 
and  dump  it,  but  you  know  youll  got  a  far  more  n&atisiic  prioo  If  you  have  it,  oul  whiere  1 00,000  ac- 
live  ham  potential  buyers  can  see  it  than  Ihe  few  hurKlred  bca!  hams  who  come  by  a  flea  rnarket 
labia.  Check  your  attic,  gamge,  cellar  and  closet  sheJv@$  and  gel  cash  ior  your  ham  and  confipuier 
gear  before  it's  too  old  to  seB.  You  know  you're  not  going  to  use  it  a^ain.  so  why  leave  rt  for  your 
wido*  to  throiv  out?  Thai  stuf?  tsn'i  gening  any  younger! 

The  73  Rea  Mai^et.  Barter  W  Buy.  costs  you  peariuts  {almost:)— comes  to  35  csots  a  mird  lor 
tmSvidual  (nof>camtfTiNcr^a{)  ads  and  51,00  a  wofd  for  aynmefoiil  ads.  Don't  plan  on  t^ng  a  bng 
story.  Use  ^ibfevia&ons^  crain  it  in.  But  be  hanesL  There  eie  plenty  of  hams  vvtio  Icve  k»  fix  things, 
so  if  it  rloesnt  work,  say  so. 

Mike  your  Ut  couni  ^  words,  inducfing  your  cail  address  arul  plune  numbef=  Induds  a 
diedt  Of  your  Cfedrt  carit  number  and  mtpnmBon-  If  you're  pl^ng  a  coiiwmtitiai  ad,  indikde  ao  ad- 
dittcrtal  phone  nurnber,  separate  from  your  ad. 

This  is  a  monthky  magazine.  f>ot  a  daily  newspaper,  so  figure  a  couple  months  before  tha  ac- 
tion starts;  then  be  prepared.  If  you  get  too  many  caHs,  yoo  priced  tt  low.  If  you  don't  get  many 
callSn  too  high. 

So  get  busy.  B3ow  the  dusi  off,  check  everything  out  rnaJ^e  sure  II  sttU  wofks  right  and  mayba 
you  can  he!p  make  a  ham  sure  it  stxIJ  woihs  right  arKJ  mayl:)e  you  can  help  make  a  ham  rewcomer 
or  rehred  old  tkner  happy  with  that  ng  you're  nol  using  now.  Or  you  might  get  txtsy  on  your  com- 
pute^ and  put  toc^ther  a  tt^  Oif  smafi  gear^lpan^  to  send  to  those  Interested? 

Send  youf  ads  artd  payment  to  ^  Barter  'n'  Buy.  Judy  Walker.  70  EL  T^^H.  Peitefttorou^  HH 
0S45S  and  get  set  tor  the  phone  cais 


Thd  cieadline  for  the  June  ciassiffed 

ad  section  is  Aprif  7, 1 994. 

ALL  ABOUT  CRYSTAL  SETS,  Theo- 
ly  and  construction  of  ciystai  sot  ra- 
dios $7.95  each,  ppd  USA.  Send  to: 
ALLABOUT  BOOKS,  Depl.  S.  P.O. 
Box  22366,  San  Diego  CA  92192. 

BNB200 

CUSTOM  MADE-HAND  TOOLED 

leatJier  products  witti  your  initials, 
name,  call  letters.  Photo's  &  estimates 
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GREAT  GIFT.  LEATHER  &  WEST,  67 
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03469-  (6031352-6256.  9-4  pm.  M-F 
ET  BNB2r5 

QSL  SAMPLES'  50  cents.  SAM< 
CAflDS,  48  Monte  Carlo  Dr.  Pitts- 
burgh PA  1S239.  BNB275 

COMMODORE  64  REPAIR.  Fast  turn 
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GIES AMATEUR  RADIO,  10715  SW 
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[305)238-3327,  BNB295 

WAf^ED:  Electron  Tubes.  tCS,  Semi- 
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{800)666-8467.  BN8307 

KENWOOD  AUTHORIZED  REPAIR. 

Also  ICOM,  Yaesu.  GROTON  ELEC- 
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OLD  TUBES.  Write  K1KOL,  Box  131, 
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RCl-2950  OWNERS:  New  modEflca- 
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HR2S10,  RCI2&50,  CONNEX  3300, 
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to:  RUTENBER  ENGINEERING, 
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OSL  CARDS  —  Standard  and  cus- 
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93423.  BNe370 

REALISTIC  HTX-100  10  METER 
TRANSCEIVER.  HardEy  used,  good 
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NEW  NN1G  CW  SUPER-HET  SIN- 
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Available  in  20M,  30M,  40y.  80M: 
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SERVICE  MONFTORS  WANTED.Any 

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ITS  BACK]  The  return  of  the  HW-e 
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Shipping.  Mike  Bryce,  WB8VGE, 
2225  Mayflower  NW.  Massillon  OH 
44647.  BNB404 

WANTED:  Hammarlund  Model  SPC- 
10  SSB  Converter  HA.  Weber,  4845 
West  107th  Street,  Oak  Lawn  IL 

60438-5252.  B1MB411 

MAHLON  LOOmiS,  INVENTOR  OF 
RADIO,  patented  1872  by  Thomas 
Appleby  (copyright  1967).  Available 
tfom  JOHAN  K.V.  SVANHOLM, 
N3HF,  SVANHOLM  RESEARCH 
LABORATORIES,  RO.  Box  81 ,  Wash- 
ington  DC  20044,  Please  send  $25.00 
donation  with  $5.00  for  S&H.   BNB420 


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RF  performance  realty  counts 
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Call  or  write  for  the  full 
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CIRCLE  1  ON  READER  SERVICE  CAttO 

73  Amateur  Radio  Tbtfay  *  May.  1994  99 


Experimenters 
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Frequency  Counter  Kit  FC4  (4  1/2  dtgits)  .  .  $4ft.ftS 

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$4%M  +  $2.m  Shipping  &  Handling 
FlorMs  residents  add  sales  tax. 

Please  Send  Check  or  Money  Order 
and  your  Amateur  Call  Sign  to: 

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1 565  Brazilian  Lane 

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(407)  679-901 7 


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next  generalion  VOX  cotitroiler  willi  adj  vox 
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CIRCLE  137  ON  READEF4  SERVICE  CARD 


The  FLYTECRAFT'  SFX  Line  of  Monotiand 
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1 0fl  75  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  May.  1 994 


BROWNIES  QSL  CARDS  SNCE  1939.  Catalog  & 

sampTes  SI  (refundable  with  order).  30 35  Lehigh 
Street,  Allentown  PA  1 81 03.  B^S4^0 

QSL  CARDSIII  Customize  one  of  26  standard  for- 
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ICOM-781  RAFFLE:  One  hundred  tJctets  ONLY  at 
$100  a  piece.  Drawing  to  be  held  at  3pm  on  June  24 
at  the  HC  of  JHS  22  In  NYC.  Tickets/Quesiions- 
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10002.  Phone  {516)674-4072,  FAX  (51 6)674-&600. 

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REPEATER    PROGRAMMING     SOFTWARE. 

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CRYSTALS:  High  quality  for  your  VHFAJHF  arwJ  SHF 
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73  Amateur Radfo  Today*  May,  1994  101 


TIRED  OF  PLAYING  GAMES? 

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CtPlCLE  311  ON  HEADER  SEflVICPCARD 

1 02  73  Amateur  Radio  Today  *  May,  1 994 


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Say  You  Saw  It  In 

73  Amateur  Radio  Today 


QUICK,  EASY,  &  COMPACT 

Flash  cards  'NOVICE  thru  EXTRA'  iheofy  Key  words 
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WANTED:  HAM  EQUIPMENT  AN0  OTHER  PROP- 
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SERIOUS  ABOUT  SOLAR  POWER?  The  PVSP 
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KENWOOD  TL-922A  LINEAR.  Low  time,  original  box 
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amateurs.  SGC,  INC.,  PO  Box  3526,  Bellevue  WA 
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write  Dept.  7,  SCHEME-AODICT,  8622  West  44th 
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PRINTED  CIRCUfT  BOARDS  for  73,  QST,  etc.  Club 
orders  welcome.  US  orders  deduct  20%.  Free  list 
B-C-D  ELECTRONICS,  Box  20304.  853  Upper 
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WANTED:  BUY  &  SELL  All  types  of  Electron  Tubes. 
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INEXPENSIVE  HAM  RADIO  EOUIPMENT.  Send 
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RADIO  REPAIR  Amateur  and  commercial,  profes- 
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We're  making  some  changes  at  Uncle  Wayne's  Bookshelf, 
changes  that  will  enable  us  to  offer  you  the  books  you  want 
at  prices  you  like. 

Please  bear  with  us  while  we  remodef  the  operation 
to  serve  you  better. 


73  Amateur  Radio  Today  *  May.  1 994  1 03 


^a 


New  pr\ 


f/f 


Number  29  on  your  Feedback  card 

vers 


Compiled  by  Charles  Warrington  WAIRZW 


AEA 


Advanced 
Electramc  Appii- 
cations.  Inc.  is 
proud  to  intro- 
duce AEA  We- 
Fax  256— a  new 
software  accessor/  for  users  of  their 
DSP'2232/t23£  multimode  con- 
trol lers.  AEA  WeFax  256  Is  a  Windows 
program  for  reception  and  display  of 
gray  scafe  WeFax  images. 

AEA  WeFax  256  dispiays.  in  real 
time,  true  gmy  scale  images  from  ei- 
ther the  NOAA  HF  WeFax  Service  or 
the  t^OAA  APT  Satellite  Service.  It  will 
provide  two  modes  of  resolution^500 
Of  250  pixels  per  line — which  ensures 
that  the  AEA  WeFax  256  imaging  sys- 
tem will  wort<  on  yoiif  setiip.  This  prod- 


uct inoorporates  i  scnotfable  recefve 
buffer  capatsle  of  operating  in  slop  or 
loop  modes. 

AEA  WeFax  256  comes  complete 
with  an  Image  processor  It  wilt  sup* 
port  BMP.  GIF,  PCX.  TIF.  and  JPG  im* 
age  formats.  It  integrates  an  Aoto 
CtocK  function  to  "Vrake  up"  your  sys* 
tern;  and  ca  ply  res  unattended  Irans- 
mtssions. 

The  suggested  retail  price  for  the 
AEA  WeFax  256  \S  5129-  AEA  WeFax 
is  available  from  your  favorite  amateur 
radio  dealer  For  more  information* 
please  contact  Advanced  Eiectronfc 
Appiications,  ma.  P.O.  Box  C216Q, 
LynnwoQd,  WA  98036:  (206)  774- 
5554;  FAX  (206)  775*2040.  Or  drcte 
Reader  Service  No.  201 , 


NUMBER  ONE 

The  paper  Smith  chart,  invented 
over  50  years  ago.  provides  a  graph!- 
car  method  for  solving  impedance 
matching  and  transmission  fine  prob- 
lems. Now,  Number  One  Systems' 
new  Z-MATCH  for  Windows  program 
greatly  enhances  the  usefulness  and 
accuracy  of  Smith  chart  techniques, 
and  adds  a  wide  range  of  valuable  Ra- 
dio Frequency  Engmeerfng  utilities, 

2-MATCH  tor  Windows  provides  RF 
and  Communications  designers  with  a 
comprehensive  set  of  circuit  and  sys- 
tefn  design  tools  in  a  remarkably  easy- 
to-use.  low-cost  package.  An  immedt- 
atety  apparent  advantage  of  Z-MATCH 
for  Windows  is  that  it  works  directly 
with  actual  lengths  of  transmission  tine 
and  actual  reststance  and  reactance 
values,  eliminating  the  need  for  nor- 
matization.  The  designer  can  also 
switch  instantly  between  Impedance 
and  admittance  charts 

Z-MATCH  for  Windows  also  pro- 
vides a  receiver  and  system  design 
lool  for  calculating  overall  values  of 
gam.  noise  figure  and  more.  For  RF 
amplifier  designers,  Z-MATCH  for  Win- 
dows' ability  to  work  directly  with  S-Pa- 


;7fffj 


SYSTEMS  LTD. 

r  a  m  e  t  e  r  s 
greatly  simpli- 
nes  many  de- 
sign tasks. 
Options  In- 
clude platting 
stability  cir- 
cles, the  cak:ulation  of  stabHfty  factor, 
transducer  gain»  maximum  available 
gain  and  the  source  and  load 
Impedances  needed  to  achieve  it,  and 
even  the  determination  of  the  compo* 
neni  values  to  provide  source  and  load 
matches  for  specified  O. 

The  program  comes  complete  wiriiti 
a  comprehensive  instruction  manual 
covering  botin  the  theory  and  practice 
of  using  Smith  chart  techniques  and 
includes  many  case  examples. 
Z-MATCH  for  Windows  requires  a  min- 
imum oi  an  AT286  running  Microsoft 
Windows  3,0  or  later,  and  is  available 
direct.  The  price  is  $375.  For  more  in- 
formation contact  Number  OnB  Sys- 
tems Ltd..  Harding  Way.  St.  tves  Hunf- 
ingdon.  Camt^s-  PE17  4WR  England: 
+44  480  48 1 778;  FAX  -1-44  480 
494042.  Of  circle  reader  Service  No, 
204. 


b-kk  precision 

B+ICs  new  h^gh  current  variable  3- 
14  VDC  power  supply  is  designed  ex- 
pressly as  a  substitute  for  an  auto  or 
truck  battery.  Model  1688  produces 
r>ominaliy  25 A  maximum  at  T3.8  VDC 
continuously,  fK>ur  after  hour,  without 
overheating,  (Maximum  current  output 
is  lower  at  fower  voltages). 

Model  1688  IS  ideal  for  servicing  or 

demonstrat- 
ing mobile 
electronics 
equipment, 
such  as  ham 
radios,  it  is 
a  preferred 
substrtule  for 


heavy  vehicle  batteries  tf>at  leak  add, 
must  be  recharged,  and  cannot  toler- 
ate shorted  loads:  and  for  typical  high- 
cun-enl  DC  power  supplies  that  are  ei- 
ther high  priced  or  designed  for  inter- 
mittent duty  oniy. 

Voltage  can  be  varied  from  3  to  t4 
VDC,  Current  and  voltage  can  be 
monitored  simultaneously  on  separate 
analog  meters.  Outputs  are  fully  iso^t- 
ed.  Line  ztK^  toad  regulation  are  tight 
(+  or  -  0.8%)  and  ripple  is  low  (less 
than  lOmVrms),  Two  or  more  supplies 
can  be  connected  in  series  or  parallel 
to  double  the  voltage  or  current  out- 
put. And  to  withstand  accideriial 
abuse,  Model  1688  has  reverse  potari- 
ty  protection,  overload  protection, 


S-COM  INDUSTRIES 

S-COM  Industries  Is  now  shipping 
a  powerful  new  software  upgrade  with 
all  6K  Repeater  Controllers,  whic^  in- 
cludes a  100-setpoint  sc^tedulerto  eic^ 
ecute  tasks  at  programmed  times  and 
qiates.  Uses  include  changing  the  re- 
peater's access  mode  based  on  day 
and  night;  generating  special  Identifier 


messages  for  hofldays  or  special 
events;  announcing  nets;  charging 
batteries:  weekly  pager  tests;  and  so 
on. 

The  6K  Repeater  Controller  with 

Aulopatch  is  priced  at  $395.  Older  6K 
controflers  may  be  upgraded  with  a  6K 
V2.0  Kit  for  $49-95  plus  $3  for  ship- 
ping and  handling. 

For  nnore  information,  contact  S- 
COM  industries,  RO.  Box  t718,  Love- 
tand.  CO  80539-1718;  (303)  663- 
6000.  Or  circle  Reader  Service  No. 
202. 


TECHSONIC 

A  new  line  of  attractive,  sturdy  QBP 
transmitter  kits  is  now  available  for  20, 
30,  and  40  meters  from  TechSonic. 
These  professionally  engineered  3- 
walt  rigs  fealure  low  cun^ent  drain  for 
long  battery  life  and  clean,  chirp-free 
DC  keying  with  low  harmonic  content. 

Output  levels  on  these  rigs  are  ad* 
justable  from  under  100  mW  to  3  watts 
by  changing  input  voltage;  le,  a  9~volt 
transistor  battery  will  run  all  weekend 
and  provide  one-half  watt  out.  Twelve 
volts  gets  you  one  watt  out,  and  16  to 


18  VDC  delivers  3  watts. 
The  output  transistor  is  lully 
SWR  protected.  An  RX  an- 
J^„  lenna  jack  couples  to  your 

receiver  for  single-antenna 
convenience  arxl  full  QSK. 

Ffequency  control  is  via 
VXO  and  provides  7  to  14 
kHz  coverage  depending  on  the  band. 
A  QRP  frequency  crystal  Is  included 
with  each  unit  Kits  come  complete 
with  PC  board.  atJ  components, 
conr^ectofs.  and  thorough  instructions 
tor  easy  assembly.  All  coils  are 
pre-wound-  Information  on  GRP  oper- 
ating, clubs,  and  awards  is  also  in- 
cluded. 

For  more  information  contact  Tsch- 
Sontc,  1642  Butler  Piks  Suite  1270, 
Coryshohoaken,  PA  19426;  (610)  834- 
1978^  Or  circle  Reader  Service  No, 
203. 


RF  Industries' 
new      26*page 
catalog  presents 
an      expanded 
range  of  SMA 
connecto  rs. 
These  connec- 
tors    are     de- 
signed to  offer 
reliable  broadband  performance  ffwn 
ix;  to  16  GHz  at  a  consistent  50  ohm 
Impedance.  They  feature  high  me- 


RF  INDUSTRIES 

Chanical  strength,  high  durability  and 
tow  VSWR, 

The  SMA  series  (RSA-3xxx)  will 
encompass  connectors  for  fle^^e  ca- 
ble as  well  as  semi-rigid  ^bie.  it  wiii 
also  include  in-series  adapters  and 
between-sertes  adapters. 

For  your  free  copy,  call  or  write  /?F 
industries.  Ltd.,  7620  Miramar  Road, 
San  Diego.  CA  92126-4202:  (619) 
549-6340:  FAX  (619)  S49-634S.  Or  cir- 
cle Reader  Service  No.  205. 


CONTACT  EAST, 

The  new  1994  catalog  from  Contact 
East  is  244  pages  of  new  test  instru- 
ments and  tools  for  engineers,  man* 
agers.  technicians,  and  hobbyists. 
Featured  are  qualily  products  from 
brand-name  manufacturers  for  testing, 
fepalnng.  and  assembling  electronic 
equipment.  Product  highlights  include 
new:  DMMs  and  accessories,  solder- 
ing tools,  custom  tool  kits.  EPROM 
programmers,  power  supplies,  ELF 
meters,  helplut  reference  books, 
breadboards,  scopes,  meters,  data- 
com  tools  and  testers,  adheslves, 
measuring  tools,  precision  hand  tools, 
and  portable  and  bench  top  digital 
storage  sccpes. 

Also  included  are  Conlact  East's 


INC. 

popular  lines  of 
communication 
tesf  equipment, 
SOldering/desol- 
defing  systems, 
static  protection 
products,  ozone 
safe  cleaners, 
magnifiers,  in- 
spection equipment,  workbenches, 
cases  and  nnone.  All  products  are  tully 
guaranteed,  and  orders  placed  by  4 
p.m.  are  shipped  by  5  p.m.  To  receive 
your  free  copy,  call  or  write  Contact 
East,  335  Wiliow  Street  No^  Andover, 
MA  01345:  (508)  682-2000:  FAX  (508) 
686-7823.  Or  circle  Reader  Service 
fto.207. 


short  circuit  protection,  thermal  protec- 
tion, and  current  limiting. 

Model  1B38  is  priced  al  S29d.  For 
more  information  or  for  the  name  of 


your  nearest  distributor,  contact  0^K 
Preaskm,  6470  W.  Cortiand  St,  Chica- 
go^ ft  60635:  (312)  869-1448.  Or  cirde 
Reader  Service  No.  206, 


104  73  Amateur  Radio  Today*  May,  1994 


FT-7400H 


/70cm  Mobi  es 


Specifications 

•  Frequency  Coverage: 
FT-250QM 

RX:  140-174  MHz 
TX:  144-148  MHz 
FT-7400H 
RX/TX:  430-450  MHz 

•  Rugged  Military  Spec  Design 

•  Advanced  Track  Tuning  (ATT) 

•  Sslectabie  Alpha-Numeric 
Display 

•  Largest  Oisptay  Available 

•  Power  Output: 

FT'2500M  50/25/5  Watts 
FT-7400H  35/20/5  Watts 

•  Rip  Up  Front  Control  Panel 
Hides  Seldonn  Used  Buttons 

•  Backlit  DTMF  Mtc 

•  31  Memory  Channels 

•  CTCSS  Encode  Built-in 
•Automatic  Power  Off  (APO)' 
•Time-Out  Timer  (TOT)' 

•  Manual*  or  Automatic 
Backlighting  Adiustment 

-  Accessories: 
FTS-17A  CTCSS  Decode  Unit 
FRG-6      DTMF  Paging  Unit 
SP-4       External  Speaker 
FP-700     Power  Supply 


"No  other  mobile  lias  a 
Military  spec  rating.  This 
radfo  can  really  take  itl*^ 


"Backlit  DTMF  Mic,  too. 
Only  Yaesu  radios 
have  this  " 


if-* 


1NU-. 


:v 


-t 


^. 


«■ 


Iff' 


r: 


'V'*^ 


U 


/      M 


"3"Stage  advanosd 
track  tuning  really 
reduces  intermod. 
Its  great!" 

'"Yaesu  did  it  again " 


VoS; 


^ 


POWER 


U0^ 


tow 


ea 


"W^tf^  i 


m.saam  fHEuJillJ 


SQL 


BTEP 


VOL 


f/W 


"^Ahisu 


-'-«--Sc.^^,=T-2SODM 


J 


Performance 
beyond  the  call  of  duty. 


ust  when  you  thought  you  had 

the  most  formidable  mobile  built,  we 
made  the  FT-2500M.  It^s  the  next  evolu- 
tion of  powerful  rugged  mobile  radios. 

The  FT-2500H  based  on  the 
acceptance  of  the  popular  FT-2400H 
takes  its  durable  quality,  features,  and 
performance  then  goes  one  better!  The 
FT-2500M  has  a  new  easy-to-operate 
front  panel  design  with  rubber  coated 
knobs  and  large  amber  display,  and  the 
Yaesu  exclusive  3-Stage  Advance  Track 
Timing  feature  which  reduces  intermod- 
ulation  and  front-end  overload.  With  its 
superior  technology,  the  FT-2500M  is  as 
close  as  >'ou  can  get  to  commercial  grade 
performance  in  amateur  frequencies. 

The  FT-2500M  is  the  only  mobile 
with  a  Military  spec  rating;  the  only 
mobile  radio  with  the  most  often  used 


controls  on  the  front  and  those  you  "set 

and  forget"  neatly  hidden;  and  the  only 
mobile  radio  with  a  backlit  DTMF  mic. 
With  its  extra  large  heat  sink  and 
one-piece  die-cast  chassis^  the  tough 
FT-2500M  is  unlike  any  other  mobile  in 
its  class. 

So  test  the  mettle  of  your  mobile,  if 
it  doesn  t  measure  up  to  the  endurance 
standards  set  by  the  US*  Military,  you 
need  the  FT-2500M.  Designed  for 
flawless  performance  in  rough  and 
rugged  situations,  the  FT-2500M  is  really 
formidable  -  just  what  youd  expect  from 
Yaesu.  See  it  at  your  deafer  tod^! 


Performance  without  compromise. 


SM 


FT-2200/7200 

Just  5.5  "W  K  L6"H  X  6.5'D,  the  FT-2200/7200 
radios  are  designed  to  fit  into  today's  more 
c()mpact  tars  with  ease, 

SPECIFICATIONS  •  Frequency  Coverage: 
FT-2200  RX:  llO-WJ-MJiz,  TX:  144-148  MHx. 
FT-7200  RXTX:  430^50  MHz,*  \Sl^ 
ReceK'cr  Co\«rage:  1 10-180  MHz  •  AM 
"Aircraft"  Receiv-e:  110439  MHz  •  Built-in 
DTMF  Paging^Coded  Sqatich  •  Selectabk 
Channel  Only  Display  •  10  Memor>'  DTMF 
Auto  Dialer  •  Backlit  DTMFiMic  •  Vower 
Output  SO/25/5  Watts  (FT-7200  35  Watts) 

•  50  Memor>'  Channels  •  Remote  Operation 
w/  Optional  MW-2  •  CTCSS  Encode  Built  in 

•  Optional  Digital  Voice  Storage  System, 
Accessories:  Se^  your  authorized  Yaesu  dealer. 


©  1994  Yaesu  USA,  17210  Etfwafds  Road,  Cerrittjs.  CA  90701  (310)  404-2700 
Specifkcartkiins  stittecf  to  donge  wlvut  ficto  Specfficafion^  guManieed  on^  wrttm  amaeur  Ctinds  Sonie  acxgssDnes  artd/m  opiions  ar^  standard  m  certiNi  p^ss  Check  with  ^r  toc^l  Vaesu  dealer  for  specific:  detail. 


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eafures 

Iqx.  sow  auiput  {1 44MHil  35W  (440MHi) 

4-m-l  *  progrommafcle  memoiy 

2  memory  channels 

Ime-Operflted  &  (arrter^Operatd  start  stop  modes 

)uqI  receive  on  some  band  [VHF+VHF  or  tJHF+UHF) 

uihin  DTSS  selective  talfing  with  page 
iSC  (Aulo  Stmplei  Checker) 

lilt-in  cress  encoder  &  optional  TSU-8  decoder 
[ey  function  display  I  Aytomatic  band  chonge 
itP  (Advanced  IntercepI  Poin))  ■  Cross-bontt  repeated 
Selecfoble  frequency  step  {5, 10, 12.5, 15,  20  or  2SkHz 
Wireless  done  function  I  Incrementol  MHz  key        ** 
S-meter  squelch 

lone  alert  system  with  elapsed  Hme  indicafor 
teparole  speaker  terminals  for  each  band  (switchable; 
iijto  repealer  offset  (l44Ut{i) 
tepeater  reverse  switch  &  offset  smilili 
l-position  RF  output  power  control 
I  Dimmer  fontiol  I  Auto  power  off 


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FM   DUAL  BANDER    ^-^ 


Kenwood V  new  FM  dual  bncier,  the  IWTBk  (H^MHz:  440MHzl  is  specially  tailored 
for  hassle-iree  mobile  communicauons  with  a  unique  "6-111-1'  programmable  memor}\  Six 
entire  operating  profiles^including  eveT;\tliing  from  frequency  range  to  dimmer  leve  — 
can  be  stored,  ready  tor  instant  recall.  So  there's  virtually  no  need  to  adjust  your  settings. 
The  detachable  front  panel  has  a  high-visibility  LCD  with  key  function  display  to  make 
on-the-move  operation  even  easier.  Of  course,  this  compact  transceiver  has  a  ful 
complemeni  of  sophisticated  features,  including  72  memory  channels,  DTSS  selective  calling 
and  page  functions,  ASC  (checks  whether  you  can  switch  from  a  repeater  to  simplex 
communications),  AIP  (Ken^vood  s  exclusive  circuit  for  enhancing  RX  performance),  and  a 
jack  for  1200  9600bp5  packet  use.  And  as  well  as  receiving  simultaneously  on  \'HF  and 
UHF  bands,  the  TM-733A  can  receive  two  frequencies  on  the  same  band  (\'HF+\TfFor 
UHF+UHFX  Theres  even  an  optional  quick-rel^se  kit  as  an  added  anii-theft  measure. 
So  check  out  the  TM-/  53A-a  sensation  bred  from  inspiration. 


*li?  ^^mliaxBBf  h«  a  TiiiM^  «  SHI  «■  Vi  p4ri ! 


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94ARD-0a93 


KENWOOD  COMMUNICATIONS  CORPORATION 

AMATEUP  f^ADfO  PRODUCTS  GROUP 
P.O.  BOK  2?74S,  2201  East  DDfnmguflz  St.,  Long  Beach,  CA  9&e0i-57J5 

KENWOOD  ELECTRONICS  CANADA  INC. 

6U70  Kestrel  Road.  MisBlsaauga,  Onrario  L5T  156