-! .;

(TCXO op\lOl'l $40 )

We recently Introduced new vhf 1mexciters and receivers which do notrequ ire channel crystals.NOW..• uhf modules are also available!

WWV RECEIVER

RECEIVERS:

EXCITERS:Rated for continuous duty. 2-3W output

n01 VHF Exciter: for various eeooe 139·174MHz' .216-226 MHz.• K il l ~."' b.'l<l ' only)., $109 (TCXO option $40)• W lred/le sled. incl TCXO..,$189

TJ04 UHF zxener: variousbands 400-470 MHz' .

• Kit looo.oMl~_ bllOOl onIyl

IncJ TCXO .. .$149• W1redl1eSled . $189• lor fOV1 &•..,.., ....

Exciters and Receivers proVIde high qualify nbfm and15k cceretco. Features include• Dip switch Irequency selection.• Exceptional modulauon for voi ce and ctess.• Very low noise synthesizer tor repeater service.• Direct fm for da ra up to 9600 baud.• TCXO for tight freqlJfm{;y accuracy In wide

range of environmental conditions.• Nelr1 day shipping. No wa lt for crystals.

Very sen si tive - o 151JV,Superb selectivity , > 100 dB down at t12 kHz. bestavailable anywhere. llutter-proof squelch For 46-54.72 ·75. 140·175. or 216-225 MHz. ... kit $129, wit $189• R1" RCVR. l ike R1 00. for 2M. wl\n helical

resonator in front end kit $159, wit $219• R451 FM RCVR, for 420-475 MHz, SIO'Iltar to R100

above kit $129. wit S189 ,• R901 FM RCVR. 902·928MHz $159, wit $219

FM EXCITERS: 2W output, conllnuous duty

• TA S1 : for6M, 2M, 220 MHz; ." " k it $99, wit $169• TA451: for 420-475 MHz " " . kit $99 , wit $169• TA901: for 902-928 MHz, (0.5Wout) wit $169

VHF & UHF POWER AMPLIFIERS.Output levels from 10W to 100W Starting at $99

FM RECEIVERS:

Gel l ime & rrequency <:heckswllhout buy ing m ultiband hfrevr. Hear solar activ~y reportsatfeClir'19 radio propagation.Very sensi ti ve and sele<:livecrystal cconcnee superhet. dedicated to listening 10 WINon 10 MHz, Performance rivals the most expensive rev-s.• RWNV Rcvr kit. PCBonly . . ".. " ".".. ".".. ".. ".. ". ".. ".. ".. ", $59• RWWV Rcv r k~ WIth cabt spkr. & 1N rk adapler .. $89• RWNV Rcvrw/t ineebt With spkr &adapter ,, $129

...." .~"~ " .."A sens itive and Itlectiveprofessional grade receiver 10monitor eriti<:31 NOAA w..therbroadcasts. Good recePlioneven et distances of 70 miles ormore wrth suftabie antenna. Nocomparison w~h ordinary consumer radios'

Automatic mode provides storm watch, alerting you byunmuting receiver and providing an output to trip remoteequtpment when an alert lone ;s broadcasl Crystalcontrolled for aCCtlracy; alt 7 chilnnel, (162 40 10 162,55),

Buy juSl the receiver eee module in krt form 0<" buy the k~

with an attractive metal caOOe1. AC power adapter. andbultt-in speaker Also ayadable factory wired and tested.RWX RC'IT k ~ PCB only .._._..*'_._._._..*'"_.._.. ._.._.._.. .$79RWX RC'IT kl_ith ClIbirl4ll, spt• • • &ACadapter .$99RWX RC'IT .i~esIed in abiMl wiI!l spuhr & adapter _ $1)9

LNG-( ) GAAs FET PREAMPSTILL ONLY $59, wiredltested

• Make your foends SICk WIll'!envy ! Wor1l. statiOnS they cion'even knoW are there

• Insta ll one at the antenna andovercome coax losses

• Available for2~. es-se. 137-152. 152-172.210­230. 400-470. and 8OQ.960 MHz oeoos

No need to spend thousanda onnew transceivers fo r each band!

• Convert vhf and uhf signals 0 ; 3to & from 10M

• Even if you don't have a 10M 1lQ. you can pick upvery good used xmtrs & rcvB for next to nothltlg

• Receivi llQ converters (s/1OWn above) available forvarious segments ol6M. 2M, 220. and 432 MHz

• Rcvg Conv Kits from $-49 , Wlredltesled units only S99

• TranSOlltbng converter! J:~___for 2M. 432 104Hz. ~·'!'-'':V~,.,.,,_

• Kits only $89 vflfor S99 Uhf, l$J.j1~1 <Ji-Yl..~~ -• Power amplifiers up to - !~jf~7!"'''''e ~

SOW output - -

Join the run . Gel slrtklngIm311es di.-..;tIy rrDfO tnt_3ther nlellil..!

A very senSltlye WJdeband 1m j!_"~ .....receiver optimized lor NOAAAPT & Russian Meteor _ather fu on the 137MHz band

DeslQf1ed from the start for opt.mum saten~e re<:eptiofl; notjusl an otI·th f!.S-hetf stanner wl\h a S/'Iorted-out IF fi~er1

Covers alt 5 saleMe channels Scanner cirw~ & recorderconlrol allow yoo 10 automatically capfure signalS assateanes pass overhead. even whIle away Irom home• R139 Receiver Kll less eese . """ ,,,,, $159• R139 Receiver Kll wlth ease and AC power adapter $1 89• R139 Receiver wit in case With AC power adapter ...$239• Intemal PC oemcectatcr Board 8. Imaging Software $289• Turnstile Antenna " " " " "" " " $119• Weather Satellite Handbook " " $20

LNW-( ) ECONOMY PREAMPONLY $241kit

• "'lInialure MOSFET Preamp• Solder terminals allow easy

connection inside radios• Available for 25-35. 35-55, 55-90. 90-120. 120- ISO.

150-200. 200-270. and 400-500 MHz bands

~---~'-'-7--. - ?"

A microproceSlior-control1ed repeater with fun auto­patch and many versatile dtmf remote control fea·

tures at jess than you might pay lor a bare bones

repeater or controller alone!

• /lIt sUIl only $1095• factory assembled still only $1295!§O. W. 10).110, 21).2U. 0;z(j.47~ MH.<. (l102·i21 _ .loglltly flog.......}

• Fee Iy... . «.pl.~ lor~.eMc. Io'I l~ &o~MH1_.

COR-3. Inexpensive. fleXible COR module w~h timers.counesy eeec. audIO rruxer. only $49111It, $79 wit.

CWlD. Trad~lOOal diode matrix lo 'er kit only $59.

CWID·2. Eprom-controlled 10·er...... only $54l11 lt , $79 wit.

DVR.1. Record your own voiCl!! up 10 20 S(lC . For VOICe kIor playing clUb announcements " ......" " ..$59Ik lt , $99 wit

COR"' , Complete COR and C\IIIlD all on one board, 10 ineprom, Low power CMOS " only $99Iklt , $149 wit.

COR_5. COR wrth real-VOice kI, Low power CMOS, non-volal ile memory , " kit on ly $99, wit only $149.

COR-5. Ill' controller w~h autcpatcn. reverse ep. phoneremo1e control , lots 01 OTMF control funetions, a~ on oneboard. ., used in REP-200 Repeater. ....._u n wit

AP-3. Repealer autopatch. reverse autopatch. phone lineremo1e control . Use w~h TD-2 ,kit $89.

TD-2. Four-.d'9~ DTMF decoder/controller Five IaIchng(lI'H)/'Ilune\lOtll . toll e.Hrntrietor. . k il $79.

TD-4. DTMF c:ontroIIer as abo'le except one on-on func:l1OOand no toll canfeltridor. Can also use tor seIee\NtI caIInjj:mute lpea~er un!. someoloe pages you kIt $49.

Access all your favorite

c losed repeaters!• Encodes all star.dard CTCSSlones wilh ayslal accuracy andeeeverneet DIP sw~ch selecllOO

• Comprehensive manual also shows how you can set upa IrOn! panel swrtch to selecl tones 10<" several repeaters• Oll(:oder t an be used 10 mute receive audiO and Isoplimil ed lor instananon in repeaters 10 prOVide closedaccess, H,gh pan Mer gets rid of annoying buzz inreceiver. 0 New low prices!

. 10 ·5 CTCSS EneoderlOeeoder K~ , ", now only $29• TO·5 CTCSS Encoder/Decoder Wiredllested " " .....$49

Hamtron lcs has the w ortd's mostcomplete line of m odu les formaking repeaters. In addition toex.c iters, pa 's , and rece ivers, weo ffer the follOWing controllers.

Digital Voice Recorder Option. Allows message upto 20 sec, to be remote ly recorded oft the air, Playback at user request by DTMF command. or as aperiod ical voice to, or both. Great for m ak ing c lubannouncements I .. , , " , only $100.

REP·200C Economy Repeater. Real-voce 10. ncdlmf or autopatch Kit only $795. w&t $1195

REP.200N Repeater. Without controller so you canuse your own, K it on ly $695, w&t $995.

VECTRO ICS® leif.High-performance electronic kits ... fun to build and usel

Order Toll-Free 800-363-2922• Fa ~ : (601) 323-6551 · Tech : (601) 323-5800

VECTRON ICS, 300 Industrial Park RoadStarkville , MS 39759 USA

http://www.veetronics.com

AlIlIll'lal eaSl" fur IlIIlSt !;,Us, $14,IJ5,Add "C" for case to llIodei #. Exam ple: "VEC­20 IK{·". Has knobs. hardware, rubber feet andhrushcd alum inum-looking front panel decal.

Full featured CJV Keyer Kit, I24~-'!VEC-201K, the best electronic keyer bargain in ham radio! Sendbeautiful sounding Morse Code. Self-com plcting dot-dashes and dot.dash memory forgive timing errors -- makes sending C\V easy andac~ura te. Frt;,n t p~ne l volume/speed ( 3~65 wpm) controls. Weightadjusts 25-75 Yo, Sidctone (300 -1000Hz) has L\B 86 audio amp forexterna l speaker/phones. Select Iambic A or B. fully automatic orsemi-auto "bug" mode. Tune mode for tuning rig. RF proof. SleepMode battery saver. Usc 9V battery, I'/.x4x] '/, in. Simple skill level.VEe-lOtK sho...n in op'ionul ,'ase «-iny / w ver »e nOi ;·ho..'n), VEC-l OlKC, 'J4"

h,,·trunic~· kit.I' feature a prtJ{c.\·siollalqua/itJ· epuxl' xlass PC board with .\"IJ(Jer ma.,-k

.and eo!nponellt /eJ(enJ, ., imp!e s/I'p-by-Mep/Htruetwn.~ alld highest qual/I}' ,·ulllp fm ellb .

listen to the magic of radio that needs no power.Put up an antenna, connect a ground. Stationscome in amazingly loud and clear. Includesantenna wire, sensitive earphone. 1'I.x5x6'(, in.Simple skill level. Order VEe -Ill K, 519.95.

'- '.~_~~. Sh tlr!wan' Receiver Kit lets_~;~~<\ you listen to the world!

•• Covers 75/80, 49, 40, 30. 31,20, 25, 22, 19, 17, 16, 15 and 13 Meter bands.Explore AM, SSB. CW, WWV, RlTY and Packetsignals. Vernier reduct ion drive, smooth regenera-

C\\ Memorv Kever Kit stores to drive head phones. Use 9V battery I' I.x4)()' 1> non control. RF stage. Includes all meta! cabinet.512 characters in four 128 charac- in. SImple skill level, Order VEC-R30K, $19.95. 2 earphone jacks. Use 9V batte ry. 2'1,x7x6 in.

_ . ter non-volatile EEPROM message 144/220/44U MI-IL Low-Notsc tntermedtate skill leve! , Order VEC-102K, $59.95.';~ft' , ... I memories. Carl)' on enure QSOs mlp IT K't ~ShOrh\ ;We Converter Kit converts A~1 or

~P.!! by Just pressing memory message _r~amp I Jer , I S s.oup,up Y.l?ur antennaOIlUU/l)'. True sincwave sidctone with soft rise and I . sys tem: Hel~s pull m weak signals. , AM/P l.} radios to shortwave receivers at afall time ehrmnatcs harsh keycficks. I las all fca- Works \\o~ders for scanner or ham-?and.rece,ver, push of a button. Hear stations all over thetures of VEC-2 01 K CW Keyer Kit. l '/,x 6'/. x5' /. Quality microwave type blp?l ar device gives great -"- -'.·- world at various times of the day and year.in. Simple skifllevt'l. Order VEC-22 1K, $69,95. low-noise performance and umnumty from dam- Choose two I MHz bands between 3 and 22 MHz.

agmg electrostatic discharge. lx I'j, III Simple Popular 13, 16, 19, 25, 31 , 4 1, 49 and 60 Meters

f!JI2UI30l40 lRO l\1t'ler Receiver Kih give ' klli leve!. Order VEC-14mK (144 MHz).\ 'EC- international broadcast bands. On/off bypass. NE-high performance! Covers entire band 1421K (220 .\1Hl ), VEC- I444K (440 !\Hll), $17.95. 602/6 12 mixer-oscillator IC and tuned input cir-or tailor to cover desired poruon Copy II' h 12M cuit. Use 9 V battery. 1'/.x4x] '/, ui.Lntermediase

~ . I CW/SSEl /A\-l NE602/612 mixer-oscil-~.~ ~ I' ~~, -Pl'rK~rm;l,", C(. i't~r skill level. Order VEC-IO IK, $27.95,later, LM3g6 high gam audio amplifier 1'I,x4'/,x _ _ reamp It pu s weak Signals "'.' . .5'/. III \.foderale skill/eve! Order VEC.1120K out of norse. Solves three rccep-"Alrcr~ l t Receiver KIt tunes ennre vOICe(20 Meters).VEC-I 130K(30 Meters].VEC- 1140K tion problems -- boosts signals using a I-dB noise aircraft band 11 8- 136 MHz. Picks up air

(40 Meters). VEC-lIROK {80 Meters), $29.95 ca. fi gure microwave transistor, provides razor-sharp , !raffi c 1 O? miles away. Tr.ack progress o~bandpass filte ring, eliminates unwanted electrical mconung/ou tgomg traffic III your area, gam

112U/] /l/4UIRU "Ieter QHI' C',,"' transmit- noises with built-in balun. Uses 9-14 volts DC. advanced weather information, and discover howrcr "'its Ie! you wor~ the ,world! Variab le Tiny I '/' x3x l Ill. lits in any size box. Intermediate the National Air Tra~e ~ystem real,IY works. Great

. crystal OSCillator tuning.front panel skitt tevel, Order VEC- 1402UK, $59.95. way to learn about avrauon. Use 9\- battery. Drives. • • switch se lcct~ I of 2 crystals. I crystal 2/6/10 \1' , Fl\l R' " K" I ' external speaker/phone~ .. I ~/,x4x3 'h uv.Lntermed-lor popular frequency included. TransmlliRcceivc" > . ' l~~r , ' I" ~("~. I \- (" r dlls ect )?hU sa te skI/I level. Order \ f,C·1J1 K, $29.95.SWitch lets you connect rece iver. 1'/. x4x3' /, Ill. ". tunc mto t e wor u 0 am ra 10 . , ,ate, , .. ','Intermediateskill level. Order V)o;C. 1220K (20 . I all the action! Each cove rs the enure 10M III A:'II RlidlO Frausunttcr KIt lets you setMeters), VEC.1230K (30 Meters), VEC. 1240K ..... sub-band and runs off your 9 volt battery. up y~u r own AM staho~ and broadcast(40 M t .) VEC-12ROK (80 M t ) $29 9S Plug IJ1 speaker or headphones for loud clear t · . crystal clear progranunmg from your stu-

e ers " c ers , .• ea. reception. I'/,x4x3'h in. Interm ediate skill level. .. dio Wi th you as the dISC Jockey Of talk

IITlIn:tbk SSWCW AUlliu Filter Kit has Order VEC-W02K (2 Meters ), VEC. IO()6 K (6 show host. Play music from CO player, tape decksharp [our pole peak and notch filters. Meters), VEC-I 01 OK (10 Meters), $]4.95 each. or other source. Choose clear frequency Irom

, Eliminate interference. Zero in with , 2:\- ' .. !\ . . . .' 5]0-1750 KHz. Standard line level or microphone. '> ' frequency control and adj ust bandwidth .":195,::"""'.' .' tercr , ~ u n l.t ~" KIt rec ~lves .144-148 mflut, Easy 10 connect to CD, tape dec.k or mike

for best response, Extra steep skins. Tune fre- ;..'f'«¥- MHz, Low noise. high gam RFI'n:amp mixers. AudIO level adjustment. Has high levelqucncy from 300 to 3000 Hz. Vary bandwidth ' .. '. gsves you cxce~leJlt 0.1 ~V senslt.lvlIy. A M modulation for low distortion. 1'I.x4x3' /, m.from 80 Hz to nearly flat. Notch is an outstanding AIr variable tumng capacitor has 8.1 r('d~ctlOn. Simpte skillieve/. Order \'EC-1290K, 529.95,50 dfl. I Watt am lifier. S eaker/Phonc lac ks. 12 Dual conversion s~pcrhet pr':)\ ldes se le et1Vlt~ and . . " . '.. ', " ."DC I 10. A P" I 4'1 P5 'I' h i ) di stabilitv, Automatically eliminates squelch tails. III" lIall~lluttcr Kit Id s you plug m¥ a _ m , .x ·.x • mc l'S. menlle wle . .' . j \ 'CII TV d'k"li l I 0 d \ 'FC-R4 I K $l4 95 Bmlt-m speaker, squelch, tone, volumt: controls. camCOrt e~ . s. or eamcras an

,\ I eve. r er , , , , . . 19'/. in, tclescopic whip. 9V battery. 2x4' /.x4 m. - transrmt high quahty audlo/vldeo to ncar.

I'SUpl'" CW ,\ U(lio Filh'J" Kit gives you Intermediale skillleve!. Order VEC-104K, 579,95. . • .. ' by TV sds. Imagine watching your .

J?"" . thrcr bandwidths: 80, 110, ISO Hz. Eight .::; W !\ , "\ . ' . , , . favonte movIe .on a port able TV by the pool WIth~~ poles gives super steep skirts with no " att 2 , ~ctl ~ ~ ' .1 tra ~s,nlltl( r Kit lets a tape p.laymg mdoors. Crea tt: your own personal

' . ..... nnglllg. Pull CW QSOs out of lerrible )outransrnlt vOice and data -- AFSK data TV statIOn fur some great nClghhorhood fun! UseQRM ! Plugs into phone jack to drive phones. QR\I (up to 1200 baud) and FSK data (up to a hidden video camera to monitor remote areas.down 60 dEl one OCIa\e from center frequcncy ,.. ~, . 9600 ba~d ). .Jumpcr select reactance or Adjustable to channels 3-6. I '/,x4'I.x5'/. in.(750 Hz) for 80 Hz bandwidth. Improves SIN ratio dIrect FM mudulators. Rcl l ~b l e Motorola NBFM Moderale skillieve/. Order VEC-1294K, $27,95,15 dB. Use 9V batte . 1'/.x4x ] 'j, in. Sim Ie .\'kill transmille r IC and PA tran~lslOr.. Crystal con - iI" .." '" .lel'e!. Ordcr VEC-826K, SI9,95. P trolled (x8 freque~cy multIplicatIon), -60 dOc SL\ U.Hodl I Kil. tUllCS In SCA pro,'

spurs and harmol\lcs. Usc 12-14 VDC. 1.5 amps. gramm lllg. hlddcn m fM b:oadcast ~Ig-

AISuper CW tilt~r/:tIllI)lifierKit has pow· 5-pin 01:'\1 microphone jack. 1'/.x4'/.x5 '/, in. nals. You II find commercial free back-

" erful I wan audio amplifier to drive Difficult skill level. Ordcr Vf:C-1202K, $99.95. . ground music, all news programs. weath-, speaker. Pull C'V signals out of QR:-.I , .. . " . . er reports, stock quotcs, digital data, ethnic pro-

11 with cxtremcly narrow 80 Hz bandwidth ,\ 11 rlllrpo,se :'\.I·,(:td/!\~::\lIl R:IIJld grams, reading services for the bl ind ~ Tunes entire'without ringing. 8 poles ac tive IC fi ltering uses 11lItlt'ry (olldrtIIJIll'I' KI.t safely qUIck SCA band 50- 100 KHz wilh fron t panel tuning/cascaded low-Q stages. Raw r sharp se1eclivily. 3 . charges expenSive,baltcnes -- no over- volume cOlll rol. Drives cxtemal speakt'r. 1'/.x4'I.xbandwidths: 80. 110, 180 Hz. Cen ter frequt'ncy: w i .. chargmg .. many m less than an hour. 5'/. m. Simple skill level. Ordcr VEC-422K, $27.95.750 Hz. Up to 15 dB of noise reduction. Auto HTs. ccll phones, camcorders, lap top computers. _~c

11, ,,d'"' I 1° 12 " "11< Ch,-,'''g '1'1'" LED, n Thl' (,"IAN1" Knl) l, llfElectr;lIIk l>ruJ'eets,noise limiter knocks duwn static erashcs, impulse ~o v ~~ ~ , a· o .. J« U. • •

noises. Use 9-18VOC, 300 mA max. 1'I.x4 x3'h Discharge before charge function reconditlUns bat- Volullie I. Project book includes 19 kits on, 5 I k II I I 0 ,' teries. Also removes memory effect. Runs on 12- this page. Has building tips, complde partsm. 'imp e s i n'e. mer VEC-82IK, $29,95, IS VOC. 1'/•.\4 '/,x5' /. in. M udera /e skilllcl'el. lists, parts placement and PC board layo uts,

•

SUpl'!" SSK Audiu Filter Kit dramallcal- Orde'r VEC-412K, $49,95, '-" lest and alignment. operating instmctions, inIy improves readabil ity with 8 poles. case of difficulty. theory anct specs, schematiC's,

~ "" Optimizcs audio bandwidth, reduces ( 'l")stal r act in s('l Kit lets you relive cabinl't layout. Order VEC- 1901, $19.95,~ . ... . sideband splatter, low, high pitched inter- the experience of early radio pioneers.

C h' , h b k d' This baby really works' Wind your Inspect an d duwnload our manuals from :,erence, ISS, stallc cras es, ae 'groun nOIse,(1)/120 II h 375 H h'gh .' 2 2 own inductor, wire up the earliest radio

. z um. z I pass euto . .5, , t! circuit without soldering a thing and1.5 kHz low-pass cutoffs. Plugs into phone jack

AAST R O NII;:" CORPORATION

9 AutryIrvine, CA 92618(949) 458·7277· Fax (949) 458-0826 www.astroncorp.com

SS-1055·12$S-18SS-255$·30

SWITCHING POWER SUPPLIESCONT. ICS WT.(LBS)

7 10 3.210 12 3.415 18 3.620 25 4.225 30 5.0

55-25M With volt & amp meters55-30M With volt & amp meters

ASTRON POWER SUPPLIES• HEAVY DUTY. HIGH QUALITY. RUGGED. RELIAILE •

SPECIAL FEATU RES P",O.MAlCE SPECIFICATIOOS• SOUD STATE fL.fCTlOll ICAUY REGUlATED • INPUT VOUAGE: 105-125 VN;• FQl..D-8ACl( ClJRAfNT UMlTIHG Plottets Power SlJpply • OUTPUT YCM.IAGE: 13.8 VDC ! 0.05 voltS

t om excasive anent & continuous shorted 0U1IlUt (Internal ly Adjustablt: 11-15 VOC)• CROWBAR OVER VOlJAGE PROTECTIClI on all MocleIs • RlPPlf Less than 5mv peak to peak (full lOad &u_ ft-:IA, n-4A. n-~ Q.4L IlS-5I.. Ioirf Iinel

• MAINTAIN REGUlATION & lOW RIPPLE at Io'lJl' line Input • All units available in 220 VU; input voltageVoltage (except for SL-l1A)

• HEAVY DUTY HEAT SINK . QiASSIS MOUNT FUSE• THREE CONDUCTOfl. POWER CORD except for RS-3A• (WE YEAA WARRANTY . MADE IN U.S.A.

SL SE• LOW PROFILE POWER SUPPLY

Col", ConllnuDUs ICS' Sizi (IN~ Sh,p~'nlMODEl GrlY Black DlIty IAmpsl IAllps) H. W. Wl ••

Sl ·l1A • • 7 11 P.\i • 70/1 • 93fo 12SL-l1R • • 7 11 ",. 7 ... 12Sl-11S • • 7 11 211I ~ 7'1. ~ 9% 12Sl-11R-RA • 7 11 43/, ~ 7 ... 13

RS·L SERIES .-. Co

• POWER SUPPLIES WITH BUILT IN CIGARETTE LIGHTER RECEPTACLECInllnU llIlI ICS' SIZI liNI

MODEL OUl, IAmpl) [Alipil N• W~ bRS-4l 3 4 3'h ~ 6'" ~ 7'.4RS-5l 4 5 3'h ~ 6'" ~ 7'.4

9253750

RM SERIES

MOOEl RM-35M

• 19" RACK MOUNT POWER SUPPLIESContinuaul

MO DEl Out,lb pl lRM-12A 9RM·J5A 25RM-SOA 37RM ·60A SO

• Separate \lolt and Amp MetersRM-12MRM-35MRM·SOMRM ·8OM

ICS 'IAIlIlII

12355055

12355055

Sill (IN)KxW x O

5'.4 x 19 x 8'105'10 x 19 x 12'h5'1. x 19 x 12'h7 x 19 x 12 '11

5'1. x 19 x 8'105'1. x 19 x 12'h5'1, x 19 x 12',1,7x 19 x 12 '11

~P8::"16385060

16385060

RS·A SER IES "... Clllil..11MODEl Grl y Black Dll, ,A_' llAS·3A • 2.5AS-4A • • 3AS-SA • 4AS-7T1 • • 5RS·l0A • • 7.5RS·1 2A • • 9AS·128 • 9AS-lOA • • 16AS-35A • • 25

iIl·50A • 37

MOOEl RS-7A R ·70A • "

ICI·,A_'ll

34571012122035

18

lill'lll)HxW x l

3 x 4lio x 5~

334 x 6'/0 x 93'10 x 6'11 x 7'1,as x swx a4 x 7'1l x 10'"

4'11 x 8 x 94 x 7'k X 10 3~

s x s x tow5x11 x11

6 x 133", X 116 x 133/ , ~ 12..

U I"il'WI. lib.)

4579111313

"2746..

• Separa1e Volt and Amp Meters · 0u1put Voltage acIjuslabie from 2-15 wtts . CuTent ~mil adj.lstable from 1.5 amps.. Full Load

13

U i"il'Wt. Ilh.1

lin IINIH xW xD

4h x8 x 912

lOS' linll_) U I"i••Ib,.) _x lllx D WI. ,....)@13.8V

12 4"" x8 x9 1320 s x s x 10'10 2035 s x 11 x 11 2950 6x 13~ x1 1 ..70 6113%112'10 ..

35 5'4 x 19 x 12'h 3850 5'1. x 19 x 12'.1 50

ICI· lillllll) 01,,11'h,1 II xW xO WI. ,1".1

7 4 x 7'10 x 10% 1010 4 x 7'11 x 10'10 1212 4'1o x8 x9 1320 s x s x 1 0~ 1811 2%)( 7¥0 l g.y, 12

QRCLE '1 ON READER SERVICE CARl:

9

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Above & BeyondAd IndexBarter 'n' BuyThe Digital PortHams With ClassHoming InNever Say DieNew ProductsOn the GoPropagationaRPaRXRadio BookshopSpecial Events

FEBRUARY 1999ISSUE #461

REVIEW

WB6fGP 394.64

KB7NO 47WB2MGP51K00V 42W2NSD/1 4

48KE8YW4 46W1XU 62WB8VGE 45

•16, 23, 35, 63

37

The IC·706MKIIShack- in-a-Box- W2BlCTake another look at anincreasingly popular rig.

DEPARTMENTS

E-mail

design73 @aol.com

Web Page

www.waynegreen.com

The Ultra-Simple 20 - G2BZQThe simplest solution to anyproblem is the best.

The Franklin VFO - W4LJDA nitty chill-ehasing project for the serious home-brewer.

We Must Be Dreaming - DuncanA home-brew receiverpro/eet!

lM- and Be-221 Frequency Munlplier - W6WTUGenerate detectablesignals up to 1000MHz.

FEATURES

23

ModsfortheOHR 100A - W4LJDHere's how to make a popular QRP rig even better.

Here Comes the Sun - WA8YKNPart2: Geomagnetic monitoring.

Easy Antenna Reference - VK2ATQuick basics for a quickdecision.

Tracking Dual-Voltage Power Supply - W6WTUBuildsomething handy while you wait for the year 'sfirst hamfest!

10

21

24

30

17

34

52

55

®A m a te u rRadio Today

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Advertis ing SalesFrances HyvarinenRoger Sm ith603-924-0058800-274 -7373Fax: 603·924·86 13

Contributing Culpri tsBill Brown WB8ELKMike Bryce WB8VGE

Joseph E. Carr K41PVMichael Ge ier KB t UM

Jim Gray Wl XUI?Jack Heller KB7NOChuck Houghton WB61 GP

Dr. Marc Leavey WA3AJRAndy MacAllister W5ACMDave Mille r NZ9EJoe Moal! KClOV

Steve Nowak KE8YN/5Carole Perry WB2M GP

CirculationLinda Cough lan

THETEAMEI Supremo & FounderWayne Green W2NSDI l

Nitty Grilly StuffJ. Clayton BurnettPri scilla GauvinJoyce Sawtel le

Assoc lClte PublisherF. L Marion

Data Entry & Other StullChristine Aubert

Norman Marion

Business OfficeEd~orial - Advertising - CirculationFeedback - s rccuct Reviews73 Amateur Radio Today Magazine70 Route 202NPeterborough NH 03458- 11 07603-924-0058Fax: 603-924-861 3

Associate Technical EditorLarry Anlonuk WB9RRT

Reprints: $3 per arreteBack issues: $5 each

Printed in the USA

On the cover: "Here Comes the Sun: Part 2" begins on page 34. Photo courtesy of NASA's SOHOsatellite. Image taken May 6, 1998 - day of a huge x -class flare.

Manuscripts ; Contributions lorpossible publication are mostwelcome. We'lldo the best we can toreturn any1hirg you request, but weasSllTle no reSjXlflSibility tor lossor damage. Payment for su nsneoarticles will be mace after coorcetoo.Please Slbmrt both a diSk and ahard copy oj your article IIBM (ok)or Mac (preferred) fonnats], carefullychecked drawings aro screrrercs.and the clearest best focused andlighted photos you can manage. "Howto write lor 73" guidelinesareavailableOf) request. US citizens, pleaseinclude your Social Security rorroerWIth submitted manuscripts so we canSlbmrt il to u know who.

Feedback: Any circ uit wo rks better with feedback , so please take the time to report onhow much you like, hate, or don' t ca re one way or the other about the arti cles andcolum ns in this issue . G = great !, a = okay, and U = ugh . The G's and a 's will becontinued. Enough U's and it' s Silent Keysville . Hey, thi s is your communicationsmedium, so don't just sit the re sc ra tc hing you r .. .er .. .head . FYI: Feedback "number" isusu ally the page number on wh ich th e art ic le or colu mn starts .

73 Amateur Radi o Today (ISSN 1052-2522) is pub lished monthly by 73 Maqaztne. 70 N202, Pete rborough NH03458- 1107. The entire contents 1Q1999 by 73 Magazine. No part of th is publicat ion Feb ruary be reproducedwilhout written perm ission of the publ isher, which is not au thai difficult to get, The subscription rate is: oneyear $24,97, two years $44,97; Canada : one year $3 4.21, two years $57 ,75 . including postage an d 7% GST.Fo reign postage: $19 surface, $42 airmail add itional pe r year, payable in US tunes on a US bank , Secondclass postage is pa id at Pete rborough, NH . and at add itional mai ling off ices. Canad ian second class mailregis tra tion #178 101. Canadian GST registration #1253933 14. Microli lm edit ion: University Microfilm. AnnArbor MI 48106 , POSTMASTER: Send address changes to 73 Amaleur Radio Today , 70 N202, PeterboroughNH 03458·1107.73 Amateur Rad io Today is owned by Shabromat Way Ltd , of Hancock NH.

Contract : By bei ng so nosey as to read this fine print, you have just entered into a binding ag reement With 73Amateur Radio Today. You are he reby obligated to do som eth ing nice for a ham l riend-buy him a subscriptionto 73. What? Ail of your ham friends are already subscribe rs? Donate a SUbscription to you r local sc hoornbraryr

NEUER SRY 0 I E

Wayne Green W2NSOIl

Cancer ! them, the AMA, the FDA, thehospitals, or the drug compa-

Ifyou don't have it yet. you nies. People only spend moneyor someone in your family after they get sick, thenprobably will. You certainly they'll spend all they andmust have some friends with their families have.cancer. The wife of the chap Anyway, when someonewho picks up my garbage has manages to cncanceratc him­cancer. So docs my ex-wife self, my recommendation is(the nicer one). to get the victim a copy of the

Once cancer strikes. the pa- $15 Dr. Bruno Camby book,tient (victim) has two choices Maximize Immunity (905-478~

- go to the doc tor and fun up 2201). Yes, of course, I' ve re­lens of thousands of dollars in viewed it in my Secret Guidehospital bills, endure the tor- to Wisdom. Second, I' d sendture of chemo and radiation for copies of Dr. Lorraine"therapy," or start some self- Day's videos describing howeducation on the subject and she cured her own cancer justlook for alternatives. It doesn't by changing her diet (800-574­take much reading to find out 2437). Thirdly, it wouldn't hurtthat cancer was almost un- to nail down the cause andknown a hundred years ago cure by getting a $ 15 copy ofand that Dr. Schweitzer said he Nature's First Law: The Rawnever ran across one singlecase of cancer in Africa until Food Diet (800-205-2350) .

To do any less could be tothe Africans started eating the sentence your friend (or your­European diet. None. Golly, do self) to death.you suppose that what we've Yes, I know how much youbeen eating may be connectedto the cancer epidemic? enjoy coffee, Coke, Big Macs,

If you know anyone with chocolate, ice cream, and socancer who hasn't totally on. Arc these habits really worthturned over all responsibility dying prematurely for? Slowlyfor their life to the medical and painfully prematurely?professionals, you may be able The more research I do, theto help them fi nd out both why more I' m convinced that can­they got the Big C and how to cer, heart trouble, strokes, ar­get rid of it without the pain, tbritis, diabe tes, and all thesuffering, and unl ikely sue- other things that are shorten­cess (not to mention expense) ing our lives, or at least mak­of the accepted medical treat- ing them more diffic ult, arements. They should take the completely avoidable . But get­word "treat" out of treatment. ting the word out, or, worse,

You ' re probably aware that convincing people even to takethe National Cancer Institute an interest in stopping themand the American Cancer So- killing themselves, seems acicty have spent billions of lost cause. So, though I' d likeyour dollars looking to develop to say something when I see aa pill or shot that will stop can- grossly fat person - aboutcer. They haven't spent bupkes j ust changing their damnedon looking into preventing diet - I know they'll get madcancer in the fi rst place . Well, and don ' t even want to hearthere's no money in that for anyth ing about how to cure4 73 Amateur Radio tcaev » February 1999

the illness that's making theirlife miserable and going tocut it very short.

We have over 8.000 hospi­tals in America. If we couldget people to change the ir di­ets, I think we could putaround 6,000 of ' em out ofbusiness and cut around a tril­lion dollars from our medicalbills. That's about $4,000 pertaxpayer per year! Yeah, thiswould put a lot of insuranceand pharmaceutical compa­nies out of business . Tough.But without your employerhaving to take all those medi­cal payments out of your pay­check before you even see it ,this would amount to a four­thousand-dol lar raise.

I' m sure Congress wouldhave no problem in fi ndingother ways to spend the hun­dreds of bil lions in federalfunds this would save.

So we have a trill ion-and­a-half vested interest in yournot find ing out that it 's you rdiet that's making you sick ­and killing you - when yourlife should be only hal f over,and no constituency to helpbring about change. Moneyruns this country. not the inter­ests of the people.

The Odds

A little item in Time caughtmy eye. Well , it mentionedcancer and nursing homes. Itseems that a recent studyshowed that 40% of the can­cer patients in nursing homesget too little or no pain medi­cation . Not even aspirin ! Idon 't know if you ' ve had afamil y member who died ofcancer, but when I lived inBrooklyn the guy across thestreet did and his screams of

pain could be heard day andnight for months.

This is, of course, of litt leimportance to you if you arenot ever going to (a) live in anursing home, and (b) getcancer. Well, unless youcha nge your lifestyle signifi­cantly, your odds are notgood. Around 60% of our eld­erly arc ending their days innursing homes, where there islittle to do and the foodsucks. Add to that the 40%who will get cancer (headingtoward 50% as we continue tosmoke and sugar ourselves todeath), and you are playingagain st serious odds.

How come all the pain?Well, two things: First, there'sthe cost of drugs, and second,the medical po lice and thedrug enforce ment people arelooking fOT any doctors who'vebeen prescribing painkillers.Several have lost their li­censes just through prescrib­ing pain-killing drugs for ter­minal cancer patients.

Both cancer and nursinghomes arc avoidable if youstop doing bad things to yourbody. Oh, to heck with the fat.the nursing homes, and the in­credible pain of cancer ­pass me another doughnut!

Another Opportunity

A chap at the PeoriaSuperFest had a copy of theKarlson Enclosure booklet Iput out in 1952 which hewanted me to autograph. He'dbeen able to buy a couple ofthe speaker enclos ures at anauction for a very reasonableprice, mainly because no oneelse there knew what theywere.

I've been to the ConsumerElectronic Show audio dem­onstrations in Chicago andLas Vegas and there's not onespeaker system being madetoday at any price that comeseven close to the performancea good speaker will producein a Karl son Enclosure.

Sure, you need a good hi-fisystem and a good speaker,but the last link in the chain isthe speaker cabinet.

Audiophile friends who visitme are astounded at the soundsmy system produces, and my

Continued on page 54

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The Bad Ones ...

FBI Busts Georgia Ham

Pirates POIm"'e"-d _

Injured Storm SpotterHonored

copy of an FCC letter to an alleged violator. Thetetter appears authentic, and is signed by W.Riley Hollingsworth. Hollingsworth is Ihe legaladvisor to the FCC's Compliance and Informa­tion Bureau and the point man in this latestenforcement effort. It details the complaints andadvised the alleged violator to callHollingsworth 's office to discuss the mailer.

Meanwhile, severallntemet bulletin boards arebecoming filled with rhetoric from supporters ofthose believed to be targeted by the governmentfor enforcement action .The words posted urgeev­eryone to ignore Ihe FCC and continue to operateon the air in any way that they like.

From NewsJine,Bill Pastemak WA6ITF, edtor.

Continued on page 8

... and nowThe Good Ones

Emma's Radio Proj"'ec"-'t'-----_

Ham hero l onnie McVaigh KB9LUN , ofDecatur, Illinois, has been honored as the latestrecipient of theprestigious Samuef l. Keene Me­morial Service Award from the Disaster Pre­paredness-Emergency Response Association.McVaigh received the award November 19. Itcarries a $1000 honorarium. McVaigh was seri­ously injured while on storm-spotter duty.

"Instead of simply reporting the location andmovemenl 01 the funnel cloud Ihat threatenedDecatur on April 19, 1996, Mr. McVaigh warnedpeople to get off the street and into shelters as thelomado bore down on them:' a DERA slalement

The United Kingdom's 1998 "Young Amateurof the Year: Emma Constannne 2E1BVJ, has is­sued a radio construction challenge that hasquick ly become a sponsored national UnitedKingdom ham radio youth contest.

Called "Emma's chatlenqe," the project in­volves building a six-meter three-watt FM por­table transceiver for less than £50 (50 pounds)inBritish currency.Contestants have until the endof 1999 to submit their entries. The UnitedKingdom's Radiocommunications Agency hasalso pledged its support and has donated £1 ,000worth of sponsorship.

The competi tion is open to all young Britishhams, Two main prizes will be awarded, for indi­vidual and group/club entries . For further infor­mation write to the RadCom office at RSGBHeadquarters.The E-mail address is [radcom@rsgb.org.uk].

From RSGB, via News/ine, Bill PasternakWA61TF, editor,

This appeared in the October 1998 issue ofThe Algoma Amateur, the newsletter of theAlgoma ARC, Wall Kimball VE3CWE, editor.

FCC Cracks Downon Fraud

Several sites on the World Wide Web areapparently dedicaled to thwarl ing the FCC li­cense fraud enforcement effort. While it is im­possible to say who is really sponsoring theWeb locations, the rhetoric from site to site hasa fam iliar ring . The majority of the sites claimthat everyone has the constitutional right to doand say what he wants on the ham bands. Somereportedly go so far as to say Ihat the govern­ment cannot do anything 10 stop what the ma­jority in the ham community see as maliciousinterference.

On one Web site there was even a scanned

Num~r 6 on your Ff/f/r;lback Cf/rd

During Hurricane Bonnie, I took Ihe opportu­nily 10 listen to the hurricane tracking net on14.300 kHz. It was a well-organized net, con­trolled out of Florida, but communications wereextremely difficult, in spite of reasonably goodband conditions.

I don't think I have ever heard jamming doneso effectively on any frequency before . Therewere two distinct stations broadcasting country­end-weste rn music, plus another that broke inperiodically with chimes. One music station wasin the south , and the other appeared to be outwest. Both had signals at least 10 dB over 9.Sometimes both were on together, and at otherlimes they were doing il solo. They kept this upfor several days while the net was active,

When you consider the importance of a hurri­cane tracking net, giving warning of how andwhere the sto rm was moving, etc. , you have tothink of how many lives and how much damagethey might be able to save-and yet these wereamateur radio operators doing their best to stopcommunications,

From ARNS Bulletin, December 1998, SteveAuyer N2TKX, editor.

Shame on Somebody__

Unlicensed operators also face criminal fines ofup to $100,000 and/or imprisonment for up 10one year, or both, lor a first-time offense.

From The ARAL Letter, via December's Bad­ger State Smoke Signals, Jim Rome lfangerK9ZZ, editor.

•••

An FBI statement issued in December 1998 saidthat Kevin M, Kelly N2BYE, an Advanced class lic­ensee, was arrested without incident November 6thal his Cumming, Georgia, home by FBI agents ac­companied by FAA and FCC agents. The arrest fol­lowed asearcn of Kelty's residence.

Kelly was charged ina criminal complaint withfour counts of breaking federal law prohibitingknowingly interlering with the operationof a "truelight" or signal used at an air navigation facility.The FBI said Itscase stemmed from FAA reportsof ' sporadic and momentary radio frequency in­ter terence" between aircraft and air traffic con­troller communications.The FBI said an extensiveinvestigation showed the RF interference to becoming from the Hyde Pa rk subdivision inCumming where Kelly lived.

The FBI described Kelly, 46. as "a highly ex­perienced electronics engineer" who was said tohave been "extremelyupset"about air traffic noiseabove his home,

From December 1998's Badger State SmokeSignals, Jim Romelfange r K9ZZ, editor.

The FCC has pulled the plugs on lour unau­thorized HF broadcasters in Massachusetts, Illi­nois, Texas , and Ca lifornia. The stations alltransmilled on 6955 kHz. Two of the operatorsare radio amateurs, according to an FCCspokes­person, who said Ihe ham licenses "aredefinitelyin jeopardy," The two hams were identified as 41 ­year-old Richard F. Jurrens KC5RGK. a Techni­cian licensee who lives in Katy, Texas , and46-year-old Henry Lee "Hank" LandsbergWB6MEU, an Advanced class licensee who livesin Sierra Madre,California. The names of the oth­ers cited were being withheld pe nding furtherofficial action.

In making me arrests, the FCC's Columbia(Maf)' land) Operations Center coordinated andprovided infonnation to FCC agents from the Bos­ton, Chicago, Houston and l os Angeles offices.FCC inspectors from those offices then performedon-site visits to the unauthorized stations.

With the exception of certain low-power Part15 devices, broadcasting on the HF bands is netauthorized without a station license. Under theCommunications Act, violators may be subjectto penalties 01 up to $11 ,000 and the equipmenlused may be seized and forfeited bycourt order,

6 73Amateur Radio Today· February 1999

QRH

1441440 MHz Antenna Tune r wi thbuilt-in SWRlWatlmeter

' overs 136 10 175 MHz, Hand les II.ISOWall' . CompaC1 4xl 'I.', 1'I."'. I: ::

N' w! $. 0 9 5\ lfJ-'m I' .

A.

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You could just step across the room ,but you'venever made the trip.

Why can't you nod and say 'Hejo" and thenGo sit among your friends? Now thai I'd

un derstand.I'll be at your next meeting. perhaps a nicer

night to spend.Think you could introduce yourself? , want 10

be your friend!

No author has been credited , but the Decem-ber 1998 ARNS Bul/etin (Steve Auyer N2TKX,editor) claimed that this poem had appeared inthe October 1998 SPARKS, newsletter of theDelta ARC, David Pace KU4AS, editor.

"... And Nowfor SomethingCompletely Different .»

Intense: Where campers sleepKinship: Your brother's boatMidget : Center engine of a three-engine fast

plane, Observatory: What Washington asked his

spies to doParadise: Ivory cubes used in craps and back-

gammonParaff ins: Found on the sides of fishRampage: Section of a book about ma le

sheepSarcasm: Quip lash

A bit of E-mail humor found in the June 1998issue of ARNS Bulletin, and no doubt in maE

Iother places, too!

UPDRTES

Missing Info Makes forConfusion in Montana

In the January i ssue, in " Le iters from, the Ham Shack," we ran a le tter from

Gene Lynch WA7ZRA. He wrote Waynethat he sti l l had the plans for the K arlsonspeaker cabinets he'd built some yearsago, and that copies were available foranyone who wanted them.

We didn 't mean to imply that they werefree. If you'd like a copy of the multipageplans that produce the speaker enclosureU ncle Wayne says " i s unequaled today,"please send $1 0 i n US funds, pl us a two-stamp SASE to:

Gene Lynch WA7ZRABox 567Bou lder hIT 59632.

New Member

I see you at the meetings, but you never say"Hello."

You're busy allthe time you're there, with thoseyou already know.

Isitamongsl thepeople, and yet I'm a lonesomeone.

The new fish are as strange as I, youod memberspass me by.

But darn it you guys asked us in and you talkof fellowship;

Th is somewhat cynical litany originally ap­peared in the Bulletin of the Kansas ARPSC; itwas reprinted in the September 1998 issue ofTheElectron, thenewsletter of the Sterling-RockFalls ARS, and we borrowed it from the Decem­ber 1998 ARNS Bulletin, Steve Auyer N2TKXeditor.

olf a project requires X components, there willbe X-1 in the junk box.

. If a particular resistance is needed, that valuewill not be available. Further, ~ cannot be developedwith any possible series or parallel combination.

-Adropped 1001 will land where it can do the mostdamage. (Also known as the Law of SelectiveGravitation.)

' A device selected at random from a grouphaving 99% reliability will be a member of the1% group.

-The probabi lity of a component value being om~·

ted from a plan ordrawing is directly proportional toits importance.

' Interchangeable parts won't.-Ccmponents that cannot and must not be

assembled improperty will be.-Any circuit that cannot fail wi ll.°A fail -safe circuit will destroy others .°A transistor protected by a fast-blowing fuse

will protect the fuse by blowing first.·A self-starting oscillator won't.°A crystal oscillator will oscillate at the wrong

frequency ... if it oscillates.°A PNPtransistor will tum out to be NPN.°A failure will not appear until aunit has passed

final inspection.-lf an obviously defective component is re­

placed in an instrument with an intermittent faultthe fault will reappear after the unit is returned toservice.

oAfter the last of 16 mounting screws has been re­moved from anaccess cover, ~ wi l l be dscovered thatthe wrong access cover has been removed.

-Atter an access cover has been secured by16 hold-down screws, il will be discovered thaithe gasket has been omitted .

-Atte r a rig has been fully assembled, extracomponents will be found on the bench.

' Regardless of what the club's newsletter edi­tor sets as a deadline, the club president wilsubmit his art icle two days later.

' If there are only th ree places 10 look for anitem, youunnd it on theIirst try. If there are morethan 10 places to look for it. you'll find it in thelast place.

Tutu ChallengeBoosts Club MembershilL

QRHconrtnuedjrom page 6

When Central Michigan Amateur Radio Clubpresident Erv Bates W8ERV said he would wea ra tutu if it increased the organization's membe r­ship , he probably never thought he would actu­ally have to do it. Bates made the comment thathe would wear the ballet dancewear if club mem­bership reached 200 by November's meeting. Itdid-and Erv was informed that he was duty­bound to pay up at the club's December meeting.

According to club secretary Julie McLainKB8ZXR, Bates really looked cute inthe "bumblebee" costume designed by Kim Carpenter, com­plete with antennae and wings. Want to see foryourself? Go to the club's photo gallery at theirWeb site: {www.qsl.netlcmarc/cp98b.html].

We were alerted to this club prez who's will­ing to make an extra effort to keep theARClivelyby News/ine, Bill Pasternak WA6ITF, editor.

By Larry Waggoner W0KA

read. As lime ran out, McVaigh look refuge witha family in their basement as the twister hit theirhouse. He was seriously injured when thestormtoppled the chimney into the basement.

McVaigh suffe red a broken pelvis and nervedamage in his legs. He has had to endure sev­eral operations and a lengthy and difficult reha­bilitation prog ram, Because of his injuri es,McVaigh can no longer work at his job and hashad to rely on public assistance, Social Security,and help from friends and his church. TheMcVaighs have three children of their own , plusfive foster chi ld ren. His slow recovery continues.

DERA Executive Director Bascombe "Jay"Wilson W0AI R said the organization pickedMcVaigh from among candidates representingevery continent. 'T he heroism and continuedcourage of Lonnie McVaigh serve as an inspira­tion for us all," Wilson said .

From January 1999's LCARA Patch, newslet­ter of the Lake County ARC, Painesville Ohio,Tim Oulek Ko8TC, editor.

-Any important instruction oroperati ngmanualwill have been discarded.

-Onqinal drawings will be destroyed in the pro­cess of copying them.

-Any wire, cut to length, will be too short.-ldentical units tested under identical condi-

tions will not be identical in the field.-Tbe availability of anycomponent is inversely

proportional to the need for that component.

8 73 Amateur Radio Today 0 February 1999

Murphy's Lawsof Amateur Radio

Whydoh s from 30 countries and all 50 states come to the Dayto .,•

. ' = =.,0$7.00 .: 5o S5.00 .: So S20.00 '" 50$5.00 =50$3.00 ,,50 $5.00 " S

Total $ _

Quantity

== = 0 516.00'

G $40.00"

All information, including how tobecome G'l exhibitor, flea market

vendor.forum speaker, and hou: toobtain an ADA parking space is

available on our web site atwww.hamvention.org

Admission (valid aft 3 days)Grand BanquetAlternate ActivitiesDine-A-Round, FridayCityTour, f ridaySI'lop-A·Aound. sal\JrdayCooking Class. saturdayMake h and Take It. SaturdayGardening Class, satuniayMary Kay Make-Over, Sal\Jrday

Credit Card Handling Charge

• 520.00 at door ' °545.00 at door, it available

Day tonHam vention issomething thatall hams should

experience!

REGISTRATIONADVANCEFOR CHECK OR CREDIT CARD ORDERS:Make checks payable 10: Dayton HAMVENTIONEnclose the arTlCllXll indicated in U.S. dollars. For ceot cere eoers. pleaseadd S1.25tlicket harding charge.A $25 seMce charge JriI be assessed on all returned checks.

Mail to: Dayton HamYenbon Box 1446Dayton, OH ' 45401-1446

'"Fax 10: (937) 454-5655

Please typeor print your name and addresselear¥

After much thought, we wondered Why our can find new andvisitors return 10 the Dayton Hamventior r" used hamyear after year. So we asked them. Here's equipment,what they told us. electrical parts,Meet friends! The Dayton Hamvention is computers, tools,the annual event for the ham radio operator. antique radios,There is a certain "chemistry" with somany microscopes andhams thaI just doesn't exist anywhere else. some really

strange stuff that you didn't even know youThe latest equipment! Major eeded

ufn .

man aeturers introduce new products atHamvenlion. Try out the equipment. Talk to Listen to the Forum Speakers! We havethe reps! free Forums on virtually every topic, fromShop at the VHFN HF to OX, SSTV/ATV, Packet,Wortd's largest Three great AMSATISAREX, antennas. contesting and

days to exp lore much much more. Since our visitors haveHam radio,electronics and everyth ing diverse interests, we try to have somethingcomputer flea ham radio has for everyone.market! Our Flea to offer! Visit the exhibits! With over 500 indoorMarket is so large it May 14, 15, 16, 1999 exhibit booths you can find anything fromis hard to imagine antennas and books to computers, electrical Need a brochure? Send us a-mail atunless you have parts, meters, software, tools, wire and Info@hamvention.org or FAX us atbeen here. With 2,638 outdoor spaces you weather instruments. You name it and 937-274-8369.

General Chairman Dick Miller. N8CBU • ASIt. Genera l Chairman Jim Graver. KB8PSO • WEB & Internet Access Compliments of EriNet

Sponsored by the Dayton Amateur Radio Association, Inc.:>.-- -

73 1 2 3 4

MontM YearExpiraMn Data; L~L~_

Event Dates : May 14 , 15, 16 , 1999

Name Call

Address

City

Daytime Phone (

E-mail Address

I

Slate Zip

Evening Phone ( )

PLEASE PRINT! THIS IS YO UR RETURN LABEL.

We Must Be DreamingA home-brew receiver proj ect!

Thomas K. Duncan1107 Alta Vista Ave.Huntsville AL 35801

"VtITi1h last summers hamfest peri ls of 40 mClcrs-QRPers and half-season promising all sorts megawatt broadcasters sharing the sameof new occupants for the band certainly tests dynamic range. As

parts bin. I fe lt it was time to make an SWL, I wanted to recei ve both . Aroom by cleaning out some of the pre- receiver that wo uld cover. say. 6.5 tovious several years' good finds. Home- 7.5 MH z seemed like both a cha llcng-brewi ng several HF receivers wi th ing project and a way to c lear space forGilbert ce ll fro nt ends taught me the this year 's hamfest-find-of-the-cenrury.

... 'O <Sf _-t / <, c.. r-, / "--- ---< -.' ,..-

I-U'._ --- - ._.,- ... ,- -V -, /

-:--,• • - --17.>- ... _

~,,---

~

--L~ ". ~ -_. ~ -{(V -,- .~ ,- """;-

L> - V..~ --~

1-'-.4

'-

--' c-~~ ~ .,... ...-••

Fig. I . Block diagram.

T he circuit

Fig. 1 is the block diagram. Overallga in requ irements were based on a0.5 uv signal at the an tenna delivering0.25 W into an 8 Q speake r. or 134 d B.Originally. the intent was 10 li seOH2GF"s synchronous detector for AM(A Synchronous Detector for AM Trans­missions, Ju kka Vermasvuori OH2G F,

QST, July 1993). This requires 15 mVinpu t into 50 Q . so 90 dB gain is re­quired before the detec tor. and 44 dBin the de tector and audio sec tions . Ul­timate ly. difficulty obtaining theNE604 or a suitable single-chip substi­tute in a standard DIP package Icd meto use a diode detec tor for AM andadapt OH2G F's product de tector forCW and SS B.

The ci rcuit is dual -conversion to im­prove image rejection. Double hal­anced diode mixers are used togenerate the 10.637 M Hz first IF and455 kHz second IF. Ceramic fi lters areused be tween the first and second stagesof each IF train. The MMIC first stagesmake up for mixer and fi lter losses, andprovide 50 n terminations for the mix­ers. The AGC<:omrolled second stagesprovide the bulk of the gain.

10 73 Amareur Radio Today · February 1999

The first loca l osc illato r a nd BFOare both varactor- tuned. The BFO tun­ing voltage range is determined by two10k trimpors. with which my junk boxsti ll overflows. First local oscillator tun­ing vo ltage is developed through whatmay seem to be a needlessly com plexcircuit. The bandspread control is a 10­tum pot with nice smooth action, beg­ging to be pressed into service, but at100 n and 1/8 W, it cannot by itself sup­ply a wide enough voltage di fference totunc the varactors over the desired IMHz range. An op amp is therefo re usedto mul tiply the difference between thebandset and bandspread wiper vo ltagesto produce between 2 V and 5 V at itsoutput, correspo nding to between 17 pFand 11 pF of tank capac itance, for a fre­quency range of 17.2 MHz to 18.2 MHz.The buffe r am plifi e r adapted from acircuit in Hayward and OeMaw (SolidState Design for the Radio Amateur.Wes Hayward W7ZOI and Doug DcMaw

W IFB ; firs t local oscillator adaptedfrom LO and BFO c ircuits for the 160meter rece iver in Chapter 6) isolatesthe osci llator and matches it to the 500. firs t mixer local oscillator port. L9adjusts the match to pro vide 0 .5 V,m,(+7 d Bm) injection.

T he seco nd local osci llator is aPierce circ uit using a read ily avai lableinexpensive crystal. At 11.092 MHz ­455 kHz = 10.637 MHz, the firs t IF isslightly off the usual 10.7 MHz, butthe band wid th of the first ceramic filtereas ily accommodates 'this. Similarly, the10 .7 MHz transformer has sufficient tun­ing range to adjust for a peak oscillatoroutput of around 0 .5 Vrm, into the secondmixer loca l oscillato r port.

AGC is developed by amplifyingsecond IF o utput through Q I and Q 2,rectifying through 06 and 0 7 a nd Iil­tering the sig nal, and ampli fying theresulting contro l signal through Q 3(see 1993 ARRL Handbook for Radio

Amateurs; AGC derived from Chapter12, Fig . 43). T he unity gain op ampfunct ions as an inverter and Ic velshifter, where the IF gain contro l setsthe quiescent AGC vo ltage at p in I ofU8 to between 4.5 and 6 V. As the sec­ond IF outp ut increase s, A Ge vo ltageincreases, reduci ng the ga in o f bothMC 1350s. AGC may be turned o n andoff by a push/pull switch mounted o nthe IF gain co ntrol , a llowing IF gain tobe adjusted man ua lly even whe n AGCis used .

The o ther half o f U8 is an aud iopreamplifier used to boost the enve­lope detecto r o utput to something nearthe o utput o f the prod uct de tector. U7has a convers ion gain of around 15 dB ,while the di ode detector has a loss ofaround 7 dB . M ost full -carrier AM sig­na b in this receiver's range are broad­cas ters , so the 20 dB gai n o f thepreamplifier is q uite suffic ient Audi ooutput is pro vided by U 1O, wh ich

l02 ~ - 'T6- "'""

• SBL-lC<

•I' I" I" I'

MCl 45812 'c,

I~~~-.oo l oct:-..- : r------1

_l · ~:f-l~.-j ~~~2 ,~-~S ~-~r; ua OC r '"

~:u ; . rooJ, !-"H - ---'I=j'=J, T=_ _ ,-,.~

••

o

c •••••• __

Fig. 2. Front end board schematic.73 Amateur Radio Today. February 1999 11

- "" ........-

" ~l'> _

•-----,'--~

•

;r.-.. ..__",. "'l._" ..(Ioonot ....

o ' ''12 I

,m _ .

-+~~~~ , .'tJ, • GtlQ-..n a ....~ t-., <><'" Yo" • "." ---.---It--•...=....."".. ,, ~, -I T 1- v' l ' ~ , ." ,-'" : - - - ~ • ~ go ."' .. _ -

/. 0.. I •..:0 .. .1. cr H: T":~ .

.. " Power s........Y "...... ' 1 ... ..",!.. -"".:.. ~rd I

Fig. 3. Oscillator board schematic .

C1RCl.E 254 ON READER SERVICE CARD

(~ MB-V-A NYE VIKING31lW ANTINNA TUNER

Alignment

F ig.S has the first local oscillator andtuning am pli fier, the seco nd local os ­ciliator, and the audio po wer ampli fier.Each local oscillator sectio n is par·tially sh ielded . The front end boardshown in Fig. 4 holds the remainder ofthe circuit and has no overall shie ld ing.Both hoards have a good deal of unusedspace, but not so much thai they could beeasily combined onto one five-by-three­inch hoard. Most o f the coils areshielded, so the circuit is we ll behavedeven with the oscillator shie lds removed.

A three-inch by f ive-and- three­e ighths-inch by six-inch box houses theboards and controls. with enough roomleft over for the power supply pcrfboard.Alas , the power transformer would notfi t inside , so it's mo unted o n the out­side of th e rear panel. A barrier str ip o nthe rear brings o ut the antenna, audio,ground, and auxiliary power connections.

It is possib le to rough ly align the ra­d io by tuning the two IF transformers" by car" until so me usab le signa l is

Constr uction

The circuit is laid o ut o nto two five­inch by th ree-i nch sing le-s ided PCboards. The oscillator board shown in

gives another 26 dB gai n. The AM-CWISSB switch is a 4PDT push/pull unitmounted on the BFO tuning control (justlike the AGC switch and IF gain con­trol), one section used to select AM orCW/SS B, and the other to tum the BFOon only in CW/SSB mode .

The power supply was added as an af­terthought-the original board set wasintended to be e xperimental and nevermake it off the work bench. but itworked well enough 10 justi fy a penna­nent power supply. 1bc fact that the junkbox had plenty of 6 V three-tenninalregulators and zencrs. but no 12 V units.accounts for the m ultiplicity of regula­tors. Those with di fferent parts on handmay wi sh to rep lace U l 2 and the zencrwith a 78 12. Auxiliary power connectionsallow operation off+12 V DC regulated. or+15 10 +18 V unregulated. Total curre ntrequired at +12 V is about 90 rnA .

Mtg. ~AmaIN BlQl:I kresY!Jl'5Tuners,Telegraph keys. Fitters and more.write lor a free catalog and dealer inlo.

WM. M. NYE COMPANY INC.PO BOX t Sn, PRIEST RIVER 10 83856

(208) 448-1762Fax (208) 448-1832

visit Ul lll hllpJ'-,skyport~l .hlm

12 73 Amateur Radio Today ' February 1999

Fig. 4. (a) Front end board, (b) Parts layout f rom f oil side ,

73 Amateur Radio tcaev » February 1999 13

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are then adj usted to give the desiredrange (say, 1500 Hz) on either side of455 kHz.

Attach the signal generator to the an­tenna tcnninals and insert a I mV 7MHz signal, reducing s ignal level asyou proceed with alignment and over­all gain increases. You should be ableto find this signal with the handspreadand bandset controls. Attach both thecounter and voltmeter to the secondaryof TI. Rock the bandspread bac k andforth and adjust TI for peak vol tagencar 455 kHz. Proceed backward to­ward the antenna, adjusting L6, L5,L4, and L3 for peak signal. With theexception of L5 , these arc c lements oflow-Q tuned ci rcu its . Adjustmentwi ll have very little effect and is notc riti cal.

LI and L2 establish the shape ofthe input filter. You may wi sh topeak both coils to favor a parti cu la rfrequency, or adjust them so one peaks

found, and then adjusting L6, L5 , L4,L3, LZ, and L1 for peak signal. A moreexact method follows, requiring a sig­nal generator covering 7 MHz, voltme­ter with RF probe or some other wayof measuring RF voltages up to 20MHz, and frequency counter.

With bandset and bandspread con­trol s at center, the first local oscillatorcenter frequency should be sci to thecenter of the tuning range, 17.7 MHz,by adjusting LS's slug. L9 should thenbe adjusted for maximum injectioninto U I pin 8, which should be around0.5 Vnn" Adjust T3 for maximum sec­ond local osci llator injection into U4pin 8, again around 0.5 V""" BFO fre­quency is centered by setting the twoBFO range trimpots to their maximumvalues, centering the BFO tunc con­trol , and adjusting L7 so the signal atU7 pin 7 is at 455 kHz. The voltage atthe wiper of the BFO tunc control nowcorresponds to 455 kHz. The trimpcts

I>'

t7

1 I :Ai vj ~to...o 0,•

;0 00 • [oOl o' ~LJo: o

Fig. 5. (a ) Oscillator board. (b) Par ts layout from foil side .

Photo A. Receii -('/' shown with f requency counter and speaker. Note how the speaker,which normally accompanies Illy Heathkit 58 -310 receiver, dwarfs both the radio andfrequen cy counter.

14 73 Amateur Radio Today· February 1999

below the cente r of the tuning range,and one above center, giving a flatterresponse.

Antenna

My unit was fi rst tested on Field

Day. so there were plenty of signals topractice with. Even with plenty of sig­nals (and don 't forget, lots of atmo­spheric noise) , a short length of wireon the antenna will not suffice. At 16feet of elevation, I have a dipole cut

for 6.5 MHz, and a 75-foot randomwire. Both these antennas, plus a coldwate r pipe ground, worked well.

Operation

The bandset control can tunc AMsignals by itself if you have patience,hut then that's what the bandsprcadcontro l is for. I have my bandsprcadspan trimpot adjusted to give about 80kf-lz/revoluuon, whi ch is fine for AM .Decrease bundspread span resistance,gi ving a smaller tuning range, if youconcentrate on CW and SSB, Whenthe BFa is on , set the BFa tune pot tocenter and locate the signal, then ad­jus t for the desired sideband and audioquality.

I generally set audio gain to aboutone-third, turn on AGC, and usc the IFgain control (which functions evenwith AGC on) to adjust overall ga in.The AGC responds 10 severe atmo­spheric noise in an annoying way, so in

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Parts List

D1 , D2 MV209 29 pF varaetor

D3,04 MVAM1 08 500 pFvaractor

D5 1N34A german ium diode

D6,D7 1N9 14 sil icon diode

FL1 10.7 MHz ceramic filter,230 kHz bandwidth

FL2 455 kHz ceramic fitter

L1 . L2, L8 1.5 J.1H slug tuned

L3 2.2 J.1H slug tuned

L4 15 J.1H slug tuned

L5 8.2 pH slug tuned

L6 120 J.1 H slug tuned

L7 150 j.lH slug tuned

L9 1.8 J.1 H slug tuned

T1 455 kHz IF transformer

T2 13 trifilar twisted turns onFT·37·77 core

T3 10.7 MHz IF transfonner

U2.U5 MAR·1 MMIC widebandamplifie r

U1, U4 SBL· 1 double balancedmixer

U3, U6 MC135D RF/ IF amplifier

U7 NE602A mixer/oscillator

UB,U9 LM1458 dual op amp

Ul0 LM386 audio amplifier

U11 78L62 low power +6 Vregulator

U12 7806 +6 V regulator

~lodifications

that case I tum it off. There is plenty ofoverall gain. and enough audio to drivea speaker quite nice ly.

If you adhere to my "use the junkbox" rule. you may wish to change thecircuit to match your ow n hoard o fparts . T he first local oscillator. for ex­ample. could use a nice vernier-drivenvariable capac itor in lieu of the

Table 1. Parts list.

first couple of minutes , but very solidthereafter.

Thcre is enough space on the frontend board to accommodate all ofOH2GF 's demodulator. The biggestcomponent, T 2, is a lready there. TheSWL in particular should readOH2GF 's article cited above beforegoing ahead with the whole ci rcu it oran AM-only version. Don't plag iarizemy excuse about not being able to findan NE604 t

L3, U tCl , and L6 are impedancematching components. The circuit hassufficient gain that these componentscan probably be eliminated entirely.The n-section filter using 1.9 shouldnot be removed , though: V I and U4like to see 50 Q at each port. Speakingof filte rs, replacing the front end filte rwi th one cente red on 28.4 MHz wouldallow the low end of 10 meters to betuned, with the first local oscillatorused as is, but tuning on the low side.A sing le-stage RF amplifier migh t benee ded to ge t the noi se figure to areasonable level .

There is only one second IF band­width: 6 kHz, detcnnined by FL2. Thisis fine for AM, but a little wide forSSB and very wide for CWo An audiobandpass filt er could be built from an­other op amp, and U9 has a spare sec­tion that cou ld be used for thispurpose. fa

Ph oto D. Front view.

Photo C. Inside view sho wing stacked PCboards and power supply perjboard.

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16 73 Amaleur Radio TOday· February 1999

Number 17 <H1 your "Hdb"c~ cerd

LM- and BC-221Frequency Multiplier

Generate detectable signals lip 10 1000 MHz.

Hugh Wells W6WTU1411 18th Street

Manhattan Beach CA 90266-4025

Hams have the advantaec andprivilege of bei ng al1lttu de ­sign. build , te st. and o perate

eq uipme nt in the ham bands; thesepri vileges come wi th the passing of theham lice nse examination. T he ham li­ce nse is ,I "license to learn ," and pro­vides the incentive to get involvedwith electronic equipme nt and c ircuits.A large abundance of equipment hasbeen developed over the years sincethe 1930s, wi th a large portion of itbuill for World War II. Out of thateq uipment inventory. and of specifi cinterest to hams. are the LM- and BC­221 frequency meters .

These measurement instruments havebeen superseded by counters andphase -locked loop signal generators,but the use fu lness of the old freque ncymeier sti ll abounds. LM- and BC ·221frequency meters are showing up atswap mee ts fo r di rt cheap prices, mak­ing them readil y ava ilable for the ex­perimen ter and his applications. TheLM- and 8C-221 arc really precisionmeasuring instruments that had anorig ina l frequency measuremen t acc u­racy of 0.0 1%-some may still he thatgood today. Witho ut attenti on over theyears their accuracy may have de­graded some. hUI the usefulness of the

instruments has no t. These instrumentsretain the ir short- te rm stabilitv andalso have a long -term sta bi lity e xceed­ing that of most of the currently a vail­able se lf-e xc ited signa l so urces. Mypoint is that each o f these instrumentssho uld be g iven a second c hance as aviable piece of test equipme nt.

Ham ingenuity is requi red to findnew uses a nd app lications fo r desir­able eq uipment. O ne such applicatio nfor o ld freque ncy meters is to lise themas stable freq ue ncy so urces capable ofge nerating signa ls up to at least 450"tHz. with some de tectable signa l upto I000 "1Hz. The funda me nta l tuni ngranges for these two ins truments aretyp ically 125- 250 kHz and 2---l .\ IHzin two bands. In its origi nal cond ition.the frequency meter provided suitableharmonics up ( 0 at least 20 ~tHl fromthe 2-4 MHz band. To uti lize the 2-4MHz range for usc in the VHF andUH F region. it is necessary to build afreq uency mu ltipli er capable of pro­vid ing some usable ene rgy at har­monic multip les up to at least 250times (333 times for IO{)O M Hz) thefundamental freq uency.

T here are many designs and tech­niques available for frequenc y multi ­p lication appl ications: the duty of the

ex perimenter is 10 find a beuer so lu­tion to the problem to meet his requ ire­ments, As the saying goes, ..the designis ne ver fi nished until the last c xpcri­mc ntcr is dead: ' a nd that's true for thefrequenc y mu ltiplier c ircuit presentedhere . Electronic circuits are prcscnta­tions o f ideas fo r project so lut ions .and for this project as well as others.experimen ters arc encouraged to usc.modify, and cha nge the circuit a" deemednecessary to meet the ir applicationneeds.

The circuit

The objective of the frequency mul­tip lier circuit is 10 increase both thesignal amplitude and the harmonicconte nt of the output sig na l such thatthe signal can be detected well up intothe UH F range . Some of the availablefreq uency multiplier circuit designsand other solutions are e laborate andcomplex, and may usc parts no t readilyavailable to the experimenter. T here­fo re . a simple and repeatable designwas soug ht, one whic h used oldera vai lable parts that would hi: easy toasse mble .

That objective was met and is sho wnin Fig. I . where the parts are an

73 Amateur Radio Today · February 1999 17

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Fig. 3 shows the signal waveformsobta ined at three points within the cir­cuit; it may be used as a guide inbuilding the frequency multiplier.Waveform A is nearly a sine wave atthe drain terminal of the MPFI 02. The2N2222 reshapes the waveform to anear pulse as shown in B. As expected

T he resistor connected from the 74 107pin 12 to ground deserves spec ial at­tention . It is necessary to select a va luefor thi s resi stor which a llows the clocksignal to swing sufficiently above andbelow the "maybe" region, because theresistor establishes the DC referencelevel for the chip input. A 1 k resistorsatisfied the requirement for the proto­type circuit but may need to be adjustedslightly to accommodate a different74107 or one of its substitutes.

Fig. 2. Coax attachment. Small holedrilled for self-rapping screw which isused to ground the coax shield.

Circuit waveforms

MPF I02 JFET, 2N2222 transistor,74107 J-K flip-flop, and 7805 (LM340­5) voltage regulator. A CMOS 4027 wastried as an alternate for the 74107, butit failed to toggle for whatever reason.The purpose of trying the 4027 was totake ad vantage of the higher VCCvoltage tolerance. Also, se lecting the74107 part required the use of the five­volt regulator. Should a 74107 part notbe available , the following parts maybe cons idered for substitution: 7473,74LS78, 74276, 74376. aod 74F112(the 54XX series should also work sat­isfactorily in this application). In anycase , only one section of the chip isused for the multiplier. The remaininginput pins must be grounded while theoutputs are allowed to float .

An FET is used as an input stage toaccommodate the high output imped­ance of the frequency meter. Becauseof the high impedance , a flexibleshielded cable, such as coax, should beused to reduce extraneous signalpickup. Any length less than aboutfour feet is suggested in order to keepdown the capacitive load on the fre­quency meter 's output circuit. Attach­ment to the meter is accompli shed bydrilling a small hole in the case nearthe RF terminal for a small self-tap­ping screw, which is used for holding asolder lug as shown in Fig, 2. The FETand transistor stages provide suffic ientsignal amplitude, though marginal, totoggle the clock input of the 74107.

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Continued on page 20

amplitude profi le. The measurementswere made using a 3 MHz signal fromthe frequency meter and the amplitudewas measured at the indicated frequen­cies. At 450 MHz (1501.h harmonic). thesignal was detected at a level of 0 .1 J.I.V.At 300 MHz, the signal rose to 0.3 mY.Judging from the test data. the fre ­quency meter and multipl ier com bina­tion is usable as a signal source up intothe 450 MHz band (although marginalabove 450). A signal was de tec ted ashigh as 1()(X) MHz (333rd harmoni c),but the amplitude may be use ful de­pending upon the sensitivity of the re­ceiver. No attempt was made todetermi ne if a signa l could be detectedabove 1000 MHz., but it is reasonedthat some de tec table signal is likely.The length of the coa x. between themultiplier and receiver greatly affectedthe detectable signal level, with shortcable lengths being preferred. Formeasurement results shown in Fig....the coax. was six. feet of RG-58.

While monitoring at 450 MHz., thesource frequency was manually sweptfrom 2 to 4 MHz to determine whichfrequency might produce the highestamplitude. I found that frequencies inthe range of 3.4 to 3.8 MHz produced ahigher amplitude , approaching 10 J.l.Y.The amplitude vari ance shown in thecurve is a function of the distortion in

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and desired. the waveform at C isnearly a square wave. A pure squarewave would contain only odd har­monic energy of the fundamental. Butsufficient di stortion is present in theoutpu t of the 74 107 to provide energyat both odd and even harmonics of thefundamenta l.

To understand the signal outputcharacteristics, signal levels at variousfrequencies were measured. A curvewas drawn between the points, asshown in Fig. 4 , to show a ge nera l

Fig. 3. Wm'ej(mns obtained at points A, B.and C as indicated in Fig. 1. VO/lage l 'af·

ees are approximate .

Fig. 4. Typical signal amplitude vs.frequency,73 Amateur Radio toaey » February 1999 19

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LM340-5 5 V regulatorJameco #51 262 ,Hostelt #7805

74107 JK flip-flopJameco #49234.Hosfelt #74LS107

Parts List

100 k 1/4 W resistorJameco #29997

1 k 1/4 W resistorJameco #29663

330 1/4 W resistorJameco #30867

10k 114 W resistorJameco #299 11

470 114 W resistorJameco #311 65

150 114 W resistorJameco #30162

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0 1

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R7

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U1

U2

C1, C2,C3, C4,C5. C6.C7, C9

CS

Table I. Pam list .

over the years. I suggest that you sal­vage these instruments from their rest­ing places on du sty shelves and thechopping blocks at swap meets.

Build the frequency multiplier cir­cuit and bring your instrument hackto life as an accurate and stable signalsource capa ble of generating s igna lsas high up as 1000 M Hz. As indi­cated by this expe rimental proj ect,everything is simple and non-com­plex. yet the project achieves reason­able results in terms of frequencymultiplication .

Don 't be afraid to change and/ormodify the circui t in any way youlike . The fun of a project is to experi­ment with different values . parts, andconcept') to achieve a useful resu lt. fa

The LM- and BC-22 1 frequencyme ters were built as quality and pre­ci sion measuring instruments . Thatquality has probably been retained

Conclus ion

Construction of the multipli er circu itis simp le and noncriti cal. Commonparts were selected for the projec t;they may be mounted using any desir­able method-from the "dead bug"style to a printed ci rcuit hoard.

The resistors used in the project maybe from 1/8 to 1/2 W, but the boardlayout I used (not shown; you can eas­ily make your o wn) accommodated1/4 W ones. All of the coupling andbypass capacitors, except e8. were0.01 u f disc ceramics. But any valuefrom 0.005 J.1 F to 0.1 J.1F is satisfactoryand may be used in any combinationof availability.

Construction

LM- and BC-221Frequency Multipliercontinued from page 19

the 74 10Ts ou tput waveform as we llas the harmonic number.

Different chips might exhibit a dif­ferent set of energy leve ls at the indi­cated harmonic, but the general profilewould be expected to remain. Should aspectrum analyzer be used to view theoutput of the multiplier, it wou ld dis­play a comb of signals. each separatedby the frequency of the source. Theamplitude of the comb display wouldfollow the curves shown in Fig ... .

No attempt was made to include aresonator at the desired output fre­quency. However, the addition of aresonator would improve the ampli­tude of the signal present at the fre­quency of resonance , Conceivably, theusc of a resona tor following the multi­pli er might create usable signals in the900- 1296 MHz bands . An experime ntto prove the validity of the scheme iswarranted. A suitab le resonator couldbe made using a strip line, cavity, orcoil and capacitor. The highcr-Qstripline and cavity are recommendedto better the chances of success.

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20 73 Amateur Radio Today . February 1999

Number 2 1 on your FHdtMck card

The Ultra-Simple 20The simplest solution to any problem is the best .. .

Richard Q, Marris G2BZQ35 Kingswood House

Farnham RoadSlough SL2 lOA

England

Contin ued on page 22

The simple design is show n in Fi~.

1. It consists of 23 feet of wire . sup­ported hy nylon fishing line . whichalso acts as e nd insulation. A se riesva ria ble capacitor ( V C ) is used to tuncout the reactance. The varia ble usedwas a 60 pF. though 100 pF could heused. This vari able should he a good­qua lity sma ll transmitt ing type , thougha wide-spaced. well-insulated. rccci v­ing type could be used up to about 20watts. As it is at a high voltage poi nt. itshould he e nclosed in a sma ll plastic

~ 23'0" INSULATED WIRE --I /FISHING LINE

SUPPORT

---------'T---------------....·---------

fccdlinc im pedance . Bu t. as the lengtha nd impeda nce ha ve inc reased , sohas the induct ive reactance , whichwill ha ve to he reduced with a seriescapaci tor.

As the antenna was designed for 20mete r CW operat ion , it was initiallycut so that it happily covered from14-.000 kHz to we ll over 14. 100 kHz.The outpu t impeda nce of the trans­m itters tha t have bee n used with thisantenna was 75 oh ms, The usual trans­mi t power has been up to about 10 to25 watts. though 100 wat ts " 'as used inMinnesota in the 1970s.

And they don't come much sim­pie r than thi s 20-meter handtransmitt ing ante nna. It has

been used. off and on. fo r 20 mete rCW activitie s ove r the last 30 years­or more. start ing at a time when OCCLl ­

pntiona l ac tiv ities necessitated qu itefrequent mo ves of QTH. One of thosemoves meant be ing located in M inne­sota for severa l years. in the 1970s.

The a nte nna can he used indoors or

in a very restricted space outdoors. Itcan also he put up in a hote l room.used portable. on vacation. or as an ex­tra "occasiona l" antenna. The design islow cost- the ante nna needs a hare

minimum of parts: just some wi re.some fishing line and a good variablecapacito r.

The base impedance o f a )J4 verticalantenna wire is usually between 20 and30 ohms. de pe nding on the grounding Vc = 60 pF VARIABLEsystem- not 50 ohms, as is ofte n as-

sumcd. For 50 ohms it will require Z = 75 n COAXIAL LINEsome kind of matching de vice . How­ever. if the antenna is lengthened to A13,men the impedance wi ll have inc reasedto 75 ohms. which is a common Fig. L, 20-merer alllellna .

Simpl ici ty ilself

73 Amateur Radio Today . February 1999 21

6'0" 18" LEAD OUT

/I 1I/!flIIlIlIUIIII/lmmnmtl/tlmmUlnU/Uml ~<, L /5/8" DOWEL TAPE

Fig. 2. Optional "artificial" ground. Wire windings are lUll[ all inch apart 011 the dowel.

The Ultra-Simple 20 Fig. 1, the ante nna length of 23 fee tcontinued Jrom page 21 represents )J3 al 14,030 kH z. Th is

box. for safety and dust protect ion , andfrequency was selected from cxpcri-cncc , on the basis that though the clec-

fitted with a short insulated shaft.trica l length might change somewhat

A good ground is essentia l. a nd the(if the antenna was bent somewhat or

ground lead should he as short as pes-erec ted hori zonta lly or sloping), u

sible. Using. say, a 12-foot length ofcou ld still he used in the CW spec-

wire to a water pipe could introduce alltrum . 14 .000-14,100 kHz or more .

kinds of problems. as it wo uld he overPast ex perie nce shows that this has

1J8 long at 14 MHz!held good. in various insta llations. in

Quick and slick various places .Fig . 1 is an in-room layout, with the

In th e typi ca l insta llation sho wn in antenna runn ing diago nally across the

ARTIFICIAL- GROUND-,

/J ',

,,D ANTENNAI I -- -- ------,,

, " Vc IN BOX,, , -(a) TOP VIEW

ANTENNA----------- -- --------ARTIFICIALGROUND

/0 Vc IN BOX

COAXIAL»> ~FEEDLILNE

TXlRX

(b) SIDE VIEW

Fig. 3. Orientation ofartificial ground,

22 73 Amateur Radio Today· February 1999

room. The far end is supported bymonofi lament fis hing line. The otherend drops down for (typically) fourfeet, to the varia ble capacitor (VC ) andtransmitter. T he ang le of the bendshould be muc h more than 90°. andsupported wi th fi shing line. as shown.A 90° bend should he avoided.

The transm itter e nd of the antennagoes to a good-quali ty var iable capaci­tor. which should he mounted in aplastic box. An insulated shaft. \vithcoupler. should be between VC andcontrol knob.

T he coaxia l socket is al so moun tedin this box. an d the outer conduc torshould he connected 10 a good ground,wi th a short lead (m ore on thislutcr) .

The suggested antenna wire is 20­gauge stranded PVC-covered. If theantenna is erected outdoors. this wi reshou ld he exami ned every few months,as extremes o f temperat ure may causethe PVC coveri ng 10 deteriorate. Also.strong braided fi shing line should beused to comhat winds an d storms.

G roundin g alternatives

The ground connection lead sho uldbe as short as possib le . a nd certain lynot exceeding four or fi ve fee t. It canbe taken to a conve nie nt metal wate rpipe, if thi s exi st s . But make certaintha i the pipe is at ground potentia l!

An alternati ve ground used has beena )J4-wavc wire dropped out of a win­dow. when required. with VC (in box)mounted just inside the bottom edge ofthe window frame.

Another success ful ground was ametal frame window about 16 feetwide . T he VC box was mo unted onthe wall, near a top comer of the win­dow fra me . and a six- inch lead clippedto the me tal frame. The coax ialfee dline dropped down to the transmit­ter, whic h was located d irec tly be lowon a tabl e . T he antenna ran d iago­na lly across the room. T he samese tup a lso wo rke d we ll with a n an­tenna outdoo rs in a ve ry confi nedspace.

You ean see tha t the ground ingtechnique used will depend on theprevai ling c irc ums ta nces , and may

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occurring. Readjust VC to eliminate ifneeded. Recheck again at 14,000 and14,1 00 kHz, and gradually move upthe band to find the maximum usablefrequency. If a portable TV is avail­able, then place it under, or near, theantenna, as a simple practical TVIcheck.

If TVI should occur, (I ) check andexperiment with the ground systemand (2) ensure that the antenna is clearof house wiring, which may be hidden.On one occasion when used with a 50­ohm transmitter, an existing "T" ATUwas inserted into the coaxial line, as asimple quick means of matching the50-ohm transmitter to the 75-ohm an­tenna. This also proved to be a mosteffective eliminator of TVL

The basic concept is very simple. Nodoubt individual experimenters canproduce variations to suit particularcircumstances . Quickly assembled anderected nearly anywhere, the simpledesign lends itself to very confinedspace situations- and to almost anyham's needs! 51

require some indiv idual initiati veand experimentation.

An "artfflcial" ground

I personally consider this antenna tobe a low-power device, using up to 25watt". No doubt it could he upgradedby individual operators using a morerobust higher-voltage variable capaci­tor (VC) and ceramic insulators to re­place the fishing line technique.However, with 15 walls low powerCW, it has been found to be quite ad­equate. It has not been used higher upthe band with SSB, and possibly thiswould mean a small amount of an­tenna length pruning. The antennashould be connected to the rig with75-ohm coaxial feedline via a low­pass filte r.

First. tunc the receiver to 14,030 kHzand rotate VC for maximum signal.Recheck at 14,000 and 14,1 00 kHz­the VC should not need retuning.

Again, at 14,030 kHz, feed lowtransmit power into the antenna, andslightly rotate VC (if required) formaximum radiated signal on a nearbyfield strength meter. A check should bemade that harmonic radiation is not

It's a personal choice

A popular "artificial ground" isshown in Fig. 2. It consists of 36 feetof Za-gauge stranded PVC-coveredwire, wound on a S/8- inch diameterwood dowel, or plastic tube. The wireturns should be spaced half an inchapart. The wire is extended by a fur­ther 18 inches to form a connectinglead.

The artificial ground has been par­ticularly successful, and used at sev­eral QTHs. With a little practice it iseasy to set up.

Fig. 3b shows this "ground" erectedbehind, and in line with, the antenna.Indoors, it should be mounted wellclear of walls (hidden house wiringand pipes) and at least 30 inches abovefloor level. Top view (Fig. 3a) shows itin line with the antenna. However, itcan be oriented up to 900 either way, toobtain the best loading, and to neutral­ize the effects of surrounding objects-hidden or otherwise. 1-----------------'

The Franklin VFOA nifty chill-chasing project f or the serious home-brewer.

J . Frank Brumbaugh W4U CP.O. Box 3C

c/o DefendinSalinas PR 00751 ·003C

The Frankli n oscillator circuitmakes a terri fic frequency con­trol for ham transceivers. trans­

ruiners and receivers. It is inherentlystable because only the tuning lank cir­cuit contro ls the oscillating frequency.Bund-swi tchiug is very simple becausethe LlC circuit is in parallel. \·..ith oneend grounded.

The Franklin oscillator is uni que inthat the capacitors and resistors in theosci llator circui t arc nor frequency-de­termining components. The values ofthe internal NPO capaci tors remain thesame without regard to the frequencybei ng generated-c-it's a truly universalVFO circuit.

Al thoug h lhi .. osc illator requires us­ing two JFET transistors , the actua losci llator contains only four XPO cu­pac itors and four resistors . which rc­main the same regardless of frequency.There are no critical pans. no tappedcoils. and no capacitive vo ltage di vidersto provide feedback .

The tuning capacitor and its pa ra lle linducta nce . plus a ny nece ssa ry paddcrand tri mme r capac itors. must be of thehighest qual ity because they are theonly frequency-determining components,Tbey al so contribute to the inherent

24 73 Amateur Radio Today · Februa ry 1999

stabi lity. The mai n luni ng capaci torshould have a ceramic frame. hedouble-bearing. and have plated. so l­dered-in hrass plates. As it is re lative lylarge . its thermal inertia adds greatly tothe frequency sta bil ity.

Any variable capacitors used as

trimmers or padders should pre ferabl ybe a ir-dielectric type. although ce­ramie i'PO trimme rs a rc almost asgood. O f course . fi xed padding capaci­tors must he l':PO ceram ic-di sc typesof the largest d iame ter you can find .Because the capaci tors are heated bythe RF current flowing th rough them.the tota l amount of padding sho uld bedi vided among several smaller-va luecapac ito rs. and the large-diameter onescan provide additiona l area and keepRF heati ng-induced instability mini­rnal . Th is is not the place to usc tinymonolithic COG type capacitors!

The coil used is equally important .T he best would he a so lid ly-mountedair-wound coil such as the 3 &WMiniductor" series. but you may heunable to lind them (hamfests andswap meets arc a possib le source). AI·most as good is a coi l wound on a hol ­10 \\' ceramic form of a diameter whichal lovvs close to a I : I ratio (diameter to

length ) fo r the needed inductance. Thi swill provide the highest "Q." Theremust he no slug in the coi l fo rm .

Most of us hard-core home-brewerswill end up wi ndi ng our coils on ironpo wder toroid cores . The Amidon"Mix-7 is a good choice . T he T6S-7 has

an AL of 50. and Mi x-7 has a te mpera­ture coe ffici ent o f 30 ppm/DC. the moststable mix available today. The T50-7has an AL of 4 3 if a sma lle r core is de­sired. However. the larger T 68-7 corehas a greater thermal inertia. a nd aidslong-term stability,

The JFETs you choose should he 01high quality. though they don't need tobe expensive. Although MPF I02s wi llgenerally osc illate in this c irc uit. theyare no t recommended. Among therecomme nded J FETs are 21'\44 16.2N54R6. U31O. 130R. 1309 and 1310.Other J FETs with a transconductanceof 4000 or more will also be suitable iJthey have a maxim um frequenc y rat­ing of 300 Ml-lz or higher. The ( \\.'0

JFETs (Q I and Q 2) in the actual osci l­lator must he the same type numbe rhut they don ' t have to be perfectly

matched.As in a ny VFO. the oscillator must

be iso lated from the load. Normally.

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The schematic diagram of theFranklin VFO is shown in F ig . 1. Thecomponents and values specified pro­vide a stable range of 5.0 to 5.5 MHz,perhaps the most widely used VFOfrequency. Changing the oscillator tocover other frequency ranges is di s­cussed later in this article.

Operation of the oscillator, Q I andQ2, and associated components is un­usual-I don 't know of any other VFOcircuit like it. The four resistors, R Ithrough R4, establish operating condi­tions and the oscillator and source fol­lower are powered with a regulated +9V supplied by VI. The tank circuit(Cll and Ll , and the para llel con­nected trimmer and padder capac itors,C 12 through C 16) is very lightlycoupled to the oscillator at the junctionof C I and C2, which arc very small ca­pacitors. This essentially isolates thefrequency-determining componentsfrom the oscillator and prevents load­ing the tank circuit, maintaining circuit"Q." CI and C2 , in conjunction withC3, cross-connect Q I and Q2 simi larlyto connections used in an astablemultivibrator. Thus, the Franklin osci l­lator is foolproof-it has to oscillate !

When power is applied, the slightlydifferent transistor characteristics causea tiny difference in current n ow throughthe drain resistors, and this starts oscilla­tion, which is maintained by the cross­connections of CI , C2, and C3, withfrequency being controlled solely by thecomponents connected between thejunction of C I and C2, and gro und.

RF from the drain of Q2 is fedthrough C4 to the gate of source fo l­lower Q3. Output from Q3 is takenacross RFCI and fed through C7 to thebase of Q4, an NP N bipolar Class Aamplifier, which amplifies the RF andprovides it through C IO to the follow­ing circuit being driven by the VFO­normally a transceiver, transmitter orreceiver.

Here 's what it looks like

Con tinued on page 26

this requires another WET as a sourcefollower, followed by a bipolar NPNClass A amplifier.

Here's how to use it

1(0-1 ' (7 V(1 ca ""I

0 1 Q2 03 eo

01 :! " ea l 02 es

*" " "", J,

ff t t t te n e12 CI3 ( 14 CIS CI6 11

Fig . J. Franklin VFO schematic diagram,

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10, 12 or 15 pFCOG or NPO. Mustbe same value .

Ul

CS, CG, C8, C9

C7, Cl0

Cll

D1 , D2

C13

C12

01 , 02,03

Rl , R4

R2, R3, RS

R6,R9

R7

R8

RFC I . RFC2

C 14, C1S, C1 6

C3,C4

cr. C2

11

04

Tahir I . Parts list .

Normally, adjus ting e12 will ce nte rthe frequency range of the VFO tocover the desired span. However. be­cause of unavoidable stray capaci tiesand component tolerances. incl udingthe winding of L I and the core proper­ties. it may be necessary 10 shift thetuning range up or down a small

1IfC' "C1U1PUT

+---1'( )~l~

R7

UI

n

of both capacitors should he connectedto the ground plane with bare wire aswe ll. Capacitors C 13 through C 16 canhe connected with short leads al:TOSS

CI I or CI 2 cr both.Because CI I tunes fro m 5.0 to 5.5

;\I Hz in 180 degrees of rotation. usc avernier mechanism to sloe..· the tuningrate when using the VfO. They' re of­ten difficu lt to locate. and ge ne rallycostly when you do fi nd them . As IbisIS writte n, Jackson Brothers' halldrives . 7: 1 and 10 : 1. arc availablefrom Dan 's Small Parts and Kits . Box3634. Missoula MT 59806-3634.$ 13.50 and $15 .00 respective ly.

Similar vernier mechanisms may hesa lvaged from old Eico. Knight and.Heathkit test eq uipme nt. Na tional Ra­dio "Velvet Vernier" mechanisms. al­though about two inches in diame ter.can he sa lvaged fro m \Vorld War II·vintaee mili tarv radio tunine uni ts- . -used with the BC- 19 1 and BC-375 ru-dio sets. These units tune vel)'smoothly. but about the only places to

find them nowadays is in old- timers'deep junk boxes.

There are also Japanese vernier di·als. in two small diameters. which a reavailable from a few mail -order deal­ers. These are not as smooth tuni ng asthe Jackson Brothers ' or Velve t Verniermechanisms. Cost will probably beunder S15.00.

"RI 1"t-- ;:+----e

C3_ -+--rl-

Mechanica l stabili ty is of the utmostimportance for all components. TheVFO should he construc ted In ashie lded enc losure. e ither aluminum orone made from double-sided printedcircuit hoard materia l with solderedscams. The uuun tuning capac itorshould he mourned through the fro ntof the enclos ure. An access hole mustbe drilled for tuni ng access to trimmerC 12 so it call he adjusted from outsidethe enclosure . However. if an air-di­elect ric capacitor is insta lled at C 12. itwill moun t through the top or side ofthe enclosure as well.

Although a sing fc-s idcd glass epoxypri nted circuit board could he e tchedand drilled for the VFO circuit. goi ng"dead hug" style with point-to-pointconstruction is often better. with shortleads. and the transi..to rs and U ep­oxi ed in place. All ground connectionsare made directly to the ground plane.Because tiny monolithic COG capaci­tors arc speci fied for C I through C..+.little space is needed. Besides. the cir­cuit will he completely hidden insidethe enclosure and no one will see the"ugly" construction.

Use solid hare wire for the connec­tions between C II and C 12. and fromC I I to the junction ofC I and C2. Rotors26 73 Amateur Radio Today . February 1999

The Frankl in VFOcontilluedJrom page 25

Here's how to build it

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quite impressed at their inherent stabil­ity, even though in most cases I builtthem from odds and ends out of thejunk box. Though I' ve never learnedthe Franklin oscillator 's provenance, Ican ' t unde rstand why such a simp le,stable ci rcuit hasn' t had more ex po­sure in the ham literature. Perhaps thi sarticle will give it a well-deservedboost. fa

amount. Adding or removing a turn ortwo from Ll and readjusting C 12 isthe easiest way to manage this. Thetuning range may also be a bit short ora hit long, in which case more or lessNPO padding capacity may be needed.When the frequency has been adjustedas necessary, be sure to put two coatsof QsDope" or clear fingernail polish onthe winding of L I , both to keep thewinding from shifting, and to preventmoisture from changing the inductance. f-----------------.JHere 's another way

Because the tank circuit and assoc i­ated capac itors are the sale determi­nants of frequency, it will be easy totailor the Franklin VFO to cover otherfrequency ranges, by substituting othervalues for the components specified.To restrict the tuning range, a fixedNPO or a vari able a ir-die lectric ca­pacitor can be placed in series be tweenC I I and the junc tion of C I and C2.Reducing the value of the capaci torused at C I I will a lso reduce the tuningspan.

Here's what I think

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The Franklin oscillator will happilyoscillate j ust about anywhere you wantit to. 1 have had a Franklin tossed to­gether on a protoboard osc illating atover 30 MHz, but because of the longleads to the coi l and tun ing capac itor, Ican' t say how stable it would be. In mycase it varied over several hundredhertz, but if it were solidly construc tedand shielded properly, it probably wouldhave proven to be much more stable.Certainly it would be far better than theHartley, Clapp or Colpitts oscillators atthese high frequencies.

I am currently working on the designof a band-switched HF signal genera­tor based on the Franklin oscillator cir­cuit, and if it proves to be as good as Ithink it wi ll be, you may see the signa lgenerator desc ribed in these pages in afew months.

I first stumbled across the Franklinoscillator in a forgotten publicationmore than 15 years ago, and have beenintrigued by its possibilities ever since.I' ve built a number of them for experi­men ts over the years, and have been

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73 Review

The IC-706MKII Shack-in-a-BoxTake another look at an increasingly popular rig .

Bill Clarke W2BLC764 Alta-Voor RoadAltamont NY 12009[W2Bl C @bigfoot.com]

W hen I fi rst started out in amateurradio. I had a large Gl-style

green metal desk covered with ha mequipment. More equipme nt was on ase t of shelves that sat beside my chair.T his se tup made up my station and al­lowed me to operate HF on AM, SSB.and CW; six meters on AM; a nd twometers on AM.

Let 's move ahead about 30 years andtake a look at modern hamming. I nowha ve a little so lid stale rig that a llo wsme to operate 160 meters through twometers on AM. FM . C Wo RTTY, andSSB. It is about the size of a cigar box.Wha t is this diminuti ve device? It ' s theICOM IC-706MKII. The MK II is theseco nd in the IC-706 series, and hasbeen available for about a ye ar or so.

I have had my MKII for about 10months, and ha ve used it as a portab lein my travel trailer and fixed in myshack. It is the laucr operation that hasproved so im pressi ve . I have ye t to uscall the available features, but have beenable to make many comparisons withmy regular station equipment lineup,

T he reason for th is article is to giveyou a user 's point of view and cheek­OUl of the IC-706MKII. 1 hope to assistyou in being able to make an infor meddecision regarding the purchase of anMKII , whi ch at the time of th is writ ingwas se lling fer about a kilobuck- du e28 73 Amateur Radio Today' February 1999

no doubt to ICOM's announcement ofthe IC-706MKIIG, which will includethe 440 MHz band.

Open the box

The MKII is packed in a box notmuch larger than a shoebox. Stockequipme nt consists of a hand mike ,power cab le (for 12 VDC ), someplugs, spare fuses, and an instruc tionmanual. The manual you will find ofabso lute va lue- in fact, you cannotoperate the radio witho ut it. The handmike is another story- I found it to beof I/O val ue , not even as a paperwe ight(more on thi s later),

Connect the rig to 12 VDC and anantenna . You ' re on the air! Well. al­most. Bcuer get that manual out, be­cause in the begi nning yo u will heneeding it-but not for long.

Menu-drtven

Much of the operation and all of thebasic setup of the MKII is by menu se ­lections. Like the most rece nt VHFIUHF HTs and GPS (G lobal Position­ing System) receivers, you choose fea­tures and operations via mai n menusand submenus, making se lections fromfi ve push-buttons. Sound complicated'!Yes! Complicated to usc'! No! It justtakes some time to learn the various

menus and how to switch betweenthem . No te that most of the menus areon ly used for init ia l setup or on rareoccasions. During normal operation Ise lect between two menus, j ust forswitching to the narrow SSE filter orto toggle the DSP. All else pretty muchstays the same.

Compare

How docs the little rig compare tomy othe r rigs '! Well , fi rst of all , the706M KII is not easily compared toany other rig, as it is far marc capab lethan most. This rig docs HF, six meters,and two meters. For this article, Lwi lllook primarily at HF and then commentabout six and two meters.

My HF mainstay is a Yaesu Ff-990wi th a Timcwa ve DSP-59Y outboardfil ter. I th ink I have been able to fairlycompa re the MKII to the 990 by us­ing an AlB switch arrangement Bothrigs feed identica l bookshelf-stylespeake rs.

The receiver

The lCOM 706 MKII is a very com­fortable rece iver to listen to . It is ex­ceptionally quie t and very stahle (anoptional CR-502 hig~ stability cry stalunit is avai lable). The rig covers 30kHz through 199 .999 MHz in all

modes. I have used it fo r li s tening toAM broadcast. sho rtwave, the localsheriff, and even country music [usingwidcband FY1 (WFM )j.

The MK Il 's sens itiv ity is g reat. Aswith most current rigs, it 's greater thanwhat natura l conditions (Q RN) allow. Ihave noted , ho wever, that it is out ­stand ing at hea ring weak signals on 10me ters.

Selectivity, in most instances. is e x­ce llent. The IF shift works very we lland the op tional SSB 1.9 kHz narr owfilter (FL-223) is a very worth while in­ves tment. To say the optional DSP unit(UT- I06) is great wou ld he a verylarge understatemen t. The DSP is su­per! The NR (noi se redu ction) portionof the UT-I06 outperforms myTimewave and the ANF (automaticnotch fi lter) is very effective .

Howe ver, I have not iced that attimes nearby strong SSB signa ls willca use some interference to be heardfrom as far away as +6 kl-lz (for ex­amp le. when the signal you arc listen­ing to is an S7 an d a po werfu l sig na l6 kHz. away is 30 dB+) . Using the 1.9SSB filter will he lp. but to really com­bat the problem. turn the rece ivepreamp off or use the atten uator, If thenoi se blanker is on. switch it o tT-it isa real contributor to th is type of inter­fe rence. This particular problem. andits so lutions, arc not unique to theMKII-most other rigs suffer fromsimilar se lec tiv ity problems under likeconditions .

l\lemories

"Thanks for memories" is the onlyph rase that ca n de scribe what theMKlI's memory features can do. Therearc 99 operational memories (can beused for simplex or split operation ),IwO scan edges (top and bottom ). and aca ll channel (as found on man y HTs).

The ma in memories store the fre ­quency and all the paramete rs in usewhen programmed, such as mode,preamp, attenuation, and split opera­tion sett ings . They arc complete ly IUn·able . meaning yo u arc not locked ontoa memory 's freque ncy or mode whe nselected . You can tu ne from it and thenreturn with a simple cl ick of thememory switc h.

I use memories for e ve rything fromrecalling my favori te nets to sca nningthe VHF bands.

The mike problem

The hand mike that comes with theMKII is de signed to be noise cancel­ing. In practic e. I found it to be voicecance ling . The signal reports I re­ceived were among the worst I haveever received with any rig/mike com­bination I have ever used. Bu t the fi xwas easy !

I purchased a n ICO\1 SM-6 deskmi ke and an adapter cable. The adaptercable (O PC-SS9) is necessary to gofrom the SM-6 \ standard round plugto (he modular plug used hy the M KILThis adapte r ca ble is a req uiremen t forusing most optiona l ICOM mikes withthe 706, e xcept for the standard ha ndmike . In the fu ture, ICOM will be of­fering a wider selection of mikes with

modu lar plugs on them.Was the so lution e xpensive'? Yes!

T he mike and cab le cost me over $ I SO,hut it sure was worth it. The signa l re­po rts I now get arc j ust like those I amacc ustomed to hearing when using myYaesu Ff-99O--and those arc great.Many ops who know my voice wellsay that they can te ll no difference be­tween the sounds of the two rigs. Tome that is a great compliment for thereOM.

I do not operate HF mobi le-justportahle and home- so I ha ve no needfor a hand mike . However, ICOMmakes se veral hand mikes that sho ulddo we ll for mobile applications-inlieu of the stock mike .

External speaker

The audio coming from the 706 isve ry good, considering the size of thespeaker (about three inches, fromsc rew to screw). Great improvementcan he made , howeve r. hy sending theaudio to an extern al speaker.

In my shack. I use bookshe lf-typewooden-cased speakers . As I men­tioned previous ly, one is hooked to theFT-990 and another to the ICO M . Tryth is setup, and you won ' t be disap­pointed-no matter what rig you are

usmg.

PJlOtoA.ICOM 's IC-7061I,IKll.

W hen portable in the travel trailer Iuse a set of SI0 Sony headphones(with a mi ni p lug). They are very light,give great so und, and take little space .

Using an amplifier

Althoug h there is an accessorysocket on the rear of the 706, and aplug comes with it. the MKII has noprovisions for directly keying an am ­pli fier. Some form of so lid sta le switchor mecha nical re lay interface must gobetwee n the 706 a nd the amp lifier forkeying . T his is not a maybe- it is re­qui red ! Direc t connection to a namplificrs keyi ng c ircuit will damagethe MKII .

I usc an Ameritro n ARB-702 12.wh ich pick s up its control vo ltages andsigna ls from the accessory socke t. Inturn, it ke ys my amplifier. After in itialwiring of the accessory plug, the op­eration has been fl awless. You ca nconstruct a switchbox should you beaverse to pu rchasi ng one.

Shack-in-a -box

To summarize, the K'O'M 706MKIIis a complete shack-in-a-box. It is anHF rig , a two meter multimodc rig, asix meter multi mode rig , a VHF scan­ner, an AM/FM broadcast rece iver,and a grea t SWL recei ver. Plus , it hasan interna l DSP unit. And look at thesize of this rig- its c igar box "size re­place s a des kful of equ ipme nt.

Want to use eve n less space '? Re­move the fron t pane l and hide the rigand power supply up to 16 feet away(requires optio nal separation cable ).

Do I recomme nd the 706MKII toothers '? You bet!

Continued 0 11 p age 54

73 Amateur Radio Today· February 1999 29

Num~r 3C (>11 yo ur FHdblJclt ClJrd

Mods for the OHR 100AHere 's holt' to make a popular QRP rig el'en better.

J . Frank Brumbaugh W4LJDP.O . Box 30 - clo Defendini

Salinas PR 00751-0030

The Oak Hills Research Mode lOHR IOOA monobund C Wtransceiver kit is extreme ly we ll

designed. easy to build and a lign. andputs a solid fi ve watts on the a ir. Un­usual for a QRP rig, the ](XJA has fiveknobs on the panel : Tuning. Band­wid th. A F Ga in, RIT, and RF Gai n(actuall y. IF Gai n).

The tuning range is in excess of 70kH /.. IF bandwidth can he varied from> 1.1 kl lz to <4-00 Hz. RIT is variableup a nd down > 1.5 kHI. Two aud io am­plifiers are incl uded : an LM380:-O; ~ 8

for phones, wh ich drives a n L~080

for an exte rnal speaker. The rig drawsless than 90 rnA on rece ive, and lessthan one ampere wi th five watts outusing a +U.8 VDC supply. A drivecorurol accessible from the rear deckallows reduc ing. power dow n into thernicrowatt level .

The lOOA incl udes a twin-T sinewave sidctonc oscillator variable infrequency and level. Becau se I prefersampling the RF output for sidc tonc(bei ng congenitally unable to match twopitches), I considered changing the cir­cuit to usc the RF output fo r sidctoneinstead. Inspecting the schematic. I d is­covered not one but three rece ive r

30 73 Amateur Radio Today · February 1999

mule transistors-e-Q fOt. Q 107. a ndQ Il l . I could not determi ne why suchapparent ly redundant mu ting wasdeemed necessary, and I'm not aboutto try to second-guess Dick WitzkeKE9KL. the designer. so this is onechange I did not attempt.

Howe ver, hy including an audiopeak circuit and tuning for the loudestsignal. I'm guaran teed to he transmit­ting into the ce nte r of the other ham 'sreceive filter. a nd I don ' t have tomatch 1\1,:0 pitches. More about thiscirc uit later.

w hile most hams might not thinkmuch if any thing wo uld really beneeded to make the IOOA eve n bette r. Isaw an opportunity to make this excel­le nt kit into a superior one. mucheasier to use and practically idiotproofIt is now impossib le to tunc onto thewrong sidehand. Noise is greatl y rc­duccd . and the minimum discerniblesignal ( ~1DS ) is dropped in to the ee l­lar. I am unable to measure MDS hut itis cons iderably better than stock.

Because my kit is fo r 30 meters, I rc­stric ted the tuni ng range to approxi­matel y 32 kH I. to cover just the CWportion of the ha nd with a small over­lap at each e nd. I a lso replaced the 10 k

pot supp lied for tuning with a Bourns10 k f O-turn pot ($3.95 from Elcc­ironic Goldmine ). Add itiona lly, [ built

the K I MG LCD Dia UUTC C lock kit(available fro m M ike Gide K IMG.Blue Sk y Engineering Company, 400Blossom Hill Road. Los Gatos C A95IJ32. $29.95 plus $5.IJ5 S/H. as thi sis wr itte n; pri ces ma y cha nge in thefuture , so check before you order).

Although all the changes I made arcdesc ribed here. you are, o f course, i n ~

vitcd ( 0 pick and choose , incorporatingonly those changes you wish. At fi rstg lance it may seem that I gutted therig-the fina l rig has bu t two knobs onthe panel (Tuning a nd AF Gain). apush-button to activate the d ock func­tion of the LCD dial. and a togg leswitch to insert or remove the peak cir­cuit from the audio cha in- I did notmake any rea l circuit cha nges beyondthose which can he du plicated by turn­ing the Bandw idth a nd RF Gain (actu­ally. IF Gain) contro ls fully clockwise.Both were mechanically programmedas if they were bo th clock wise becauseboth had to be removed to make roomfo r the LCD Dial/Cloc k.

There are two minor additions be ttermade beneath the ci rcuit board. There

is very little headroom beneath theboard, about one quarter of an inch, souse care.

Solde r a 4.7 ~F tantalum capacitorbetween pin 8 (+) and pin 4 (-) ofU107, an LM380N-8. Be sure there areno shorts. This may not be necessary, butit is generally recommended because itdecouples the internal circuitry fromthe DC supply.

Locate the trace along the rear of thebottom of the circuit board which con­nects the center conductor (+) of theDC jack JI04 and the center pin of1'100. Cut thi s trace, and scrape thesolder masking off a section on eitherside of the cut. Tin these spots . Thcnsolder a IN5818 or IN5819 Schottkydiode across the cut, making sure theanode faces JI04 and the cathode facesPl OO.

The Schottky diode has a very lowforward voltage drop and will ha ve al­most no effect on the DC voltage. Inaddition, an acc idental reverse vo ltageapplied will have no effect whatsoever.However, Dl OO (lN4007) on top ofthe c ircuit board is in shunt with theapplied DC and reverse biased. Thiswould have sufficed for re verse vo lt­age protection if yo u have a one-ampfuse upstream. I don 't, so this is why Iinstalled the Scho ttky diode .

All the remaining changes and addi­tions will be done on top of the c ircui tboard and on the front and rear pane ls.

With the front of the circuit boardfacing you , locate Dl oo j ust to thcright of J104 at the right rear. Althoughit is no longer necessary for protection,it will provide terminals for the by­passing to be applied on the DC lineto preven t any e lectrica l trash from

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entering or leaving the 100A. Again ,this may not always be necessary, butit is always valuable insurance.

Parall el-connect a 10 ~F 16 volts orhigher, a 0. 1 ~F, and a 0.001 Jl F ca­pacitor together and solder the ir leads,cutting off the extra leads and leavingjust two: positive and negative. Be­cause the re is very limited spacearound 01 00, a tantalum capacito r ispreferred over an aluminum electro­lytic . Sl ide the leads from thi s parallelcombination under the leads of 0 100,making certain the posit ive lead is atthe end facing the inside of the circuitboard . Solder both connections and re­move extra lead lengths. C heck verycare fully so you are certain there is nodanger of a sho rt circuit.

To make room for the LCD Dial/Clock, both the Bandwidth and RFGain (actually, IF gain) contro ls mustbe removed. 1'103 (Bandwid th) musthave the center and right-hand pinsshorted together. A jumper may beused if you have any, or you can solderthem together with a short piece ofwire. See Fig. 1 for detail s of changesto plugs on top of the circuit board.This connection mechanically pro­grams the IF bandpass to its narrowestpoint.

O n 1'1 01 (IF Gain), so lder a shortwire from the ce nter pin to the left endof R129, which is j ust for ward ofPlO t. This DC grounds pin 5 of the IFamplifier V IOl (1350P) which is alreadybypassed by C 135. This programs the IFstage at its maximum gain.

Because the RIT wi ll have no func­tion once the peak circuit is added, itcan be removed at this time. Note thedetail in Fig, 1. The jack is cut off thewires to the RIT pot and the insulationstripped from all three . Connect a 2.4 kresistor to the short end of the red wireat the jack and bend the resistor downtoward the bo ttom. Solder another 2.4k resistor to the short blue wire andbend it down the same way. Bend thewhi te wire down between the two re­sistors and so lder the leads from bothresistors to the white wire . Plug thejack just pre pared into 1'1 02, with theresistors on the rear side of the jack.

2.4K

J102~..!..!..!.B .

P102 P103

2.4K :

R129

I oh

P10l

Fig. 1. Programming board connectors. Cont inued on page 32 CIRCLE 160 ON READER SERVICE CA i'lO

73 Ameteur Radio Today. February 1999 31

Fig, 2, Peak circuit, with switching and connections to At" cirelli! , designed hv Jim Pep ­per W6QJF. Opening the switch activates the peak circuit. Closed, the switch preventspeak [ram lI'orki1/8 .

32 73 Amateur Radio Today. February 1999

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If the LCD Dial/Clock ami peak cir­cuit arc 10 he insta lled . you will wantto e liminate a number of hlack silk­scree ned calihration marks and controlidentifi cations from the panel. Fortu­nately, this is very easy to do as long asyou arc extrenielv care ful.

With a sharp knife with a very sharppoint- a small penknife is preferred.or possibly an XvActo" knife with anumber e leven blade in ir-e-usc a lighttouch, and slowly and carefu lly scrapeI'cry lightly until the unwan ted blackmarks d isappear.

Done carefully, the markings willcome off without affecting the creampaint finish on the panel. If yo u alsointend to usc the dial and/or a IO-turnpot, or restrict your tu ning range , thecalibration markings arou nd the tuningpot must a lso he removed . When youarc finished. you may he able to sec avery faint "ghost" image of the marksremoved. but they will he diffi cult tosec unless you are looking hard forthem. Be sure to leave intact the mark­ings assoc iated with the AF Gain co n­trol, and the man ufacturer and modelnumber on the panel.

If you have rub-on letters, you maywish to put "UTC" ove r the top of thehole from which the Bandwidth con­tro l was removed. and "Peak" or "PK"above the hole formerly occupied bythe RIT control.

If you decide to restrict the tuni ngrange by using a smaller value pot, orby shunti ng the existing pot with a re­sistor, make sure tha t the total resis­tance between the red and blue wiresconnecting the pot with P 104 has es­sentially the same value as beforemaking this change to avoid upsettingthe circuit and the designer's intent.F ig. 3 shows how I reduced the tuningrange of my 30-meter IOOA from over75 kH z to about 32 kHz.

P ig. 3. Restricting tuning NII1Kl'.

12V

bandwi dth and the high gain, even sig­nals otherwise down in the noise canbe put completely in the dear. T he nar­row bandwidth also e liminates a greatdeal of while noise as we ll as nearbyQRM, and resu lts in a very low MDS.

Because the ci rcuit board is opaque.I could not determine if there were anyhidde n traces where I wished to mounta standoff just forward of C 152. so Idid not drill a ho le there. Instead. I ep­ox ied a 4-40 threaded brass standoffone-quarter-inch high at the edge of(he circuit board forward of C 152, andwith a long 4·40 screw and hollo wstandoff, I mounted the peak circuitconstructed on perfboard at one corne rat the brass standoff. T he SPST togg leswitch is mounted in the hole fromwhich the RIT control was removed.

100

J105

The peak circuit is illustrated in Fig. 2and includes the wiring ( 0 the toggleswitch and the AF Gain pot and JlOS .It can he co nstructed on a small pieceof pcrfb oard. The hack- to-had diode sacross the input must be germaniumtype. not silicon. Their fu nction is to pre­vent high signal levels from overloadingthe peak circuit.

The peak circ uit itself is a simp lecontrolled positive feedback circuit.Gai n is es tablished at 20 dB hy thecirc uit componen ts. The 10 k trim pote nables tun ing the peak from about300 to over 1000 HI,. The peak is 160Hz wide at the -0 J B points and 360Hz at - 12 dB. Because of the narrow

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73 Amateur Radio rcaev » February 1999 33

Now that your transmitter is set at ex­actly 10.100,000 MHz, the LCD displayshould indicate 100.0. If it is off a fewdigits. use the Up and Down buttons todisplay the correct frcquency. Refer tothe manual for the LCD Dial/Clock tomake certain you have the correct offsetprogrammed into nonvolatile memory,

The peak circuit must be tuned to theoffset you use. Radiate a 100 kHz sig­nal from a crystal marker generator tothe OHR 100A. Be sure the peak ci r­cuit is switched off Adjust C l 46 assuggested in the 100A manual for theoffset you prefe r while listening o n thelower sideband . T hen. without touch­ing the tuning dial, adj ust ClU3 whiletransmitting into a dummy load andmeasuring the output frequency at theSO-239 with a frequency counter.

Unkey the rig when you have an out­put frequency of 10.1(X),(XXl Now switchthe peak circuit into the audio channel.With a small screwdriver adjust the 10 ktrimpot on the peak circuit for the loud­est signal by ear. This assumes you havenot touched the tuni ng knob and are stilllistening to the marker generator signa l.You will probably have to adjust the AFGain control to reduce the signal level be­cause of the high gain of the peak circuit

Now your audio peak is and will re­main at the offset frequency you se­lected. Your transmitter is offset high hythis amount. When you tunc in a signalat its loudest while using the peak cir­cuit. your transmitter will automaticallybe zero heat with the transmitter provid­ing the received signal, and your signalwill be in the center or the other receiverpassband.

Fina l dial adjustment

Adj us ting the peak circuit

If you have made all these changes.now you not only know where you arein the band, hut you also can tune inany signa l for its loudest leve l in head­phones or speaker and know tha t whenyou touch the key you will bore a QRPho le in the cente r of the other guy's orgal's recei ve filter. And you will al­ways have the correct UTC time foryour log ! Fa

A final comment

You will probably want to changethe connector provided for your key. Aboard-mounted RC A jad (1102) at therear panel is supplied. Because itwould be difficult to remove from theboard, I dr illed a hole in the rear deckabove J 104, installed a standard 3.5mm mono jack, and wired it in parallelwith Jl O4.

The four-digit LCD Dial/Clock isactua lly a microprocessor-co ntrolledfrequency meter with a maximum in­put frequency of 32 M Hz, combinedwith the funct ions of a 24-hour clock.It operates at a clock frequency of32,768 Hz and at 5 V to VCC to pre­vent RF hash when mou nted in a re­ceiver. It is supported by a corn­prehensivc 5S· page manual . step-by­step instructions similar to the oldHeathkit manuals, and clear ill ustra­tions. It is three and one-half inches byone and one-half inches and normallymounts one-quarter inch behind thepanel. The display is viewed by ahorizontal rectangular cutout in thepanel.

As many as 3 1 different offsets canhe mechanically programmed into thedial/c lock, so it is suited to muhihandrigs. However, with monobanders onlya single offse t need be programmed.Offsets are retained in nonvo latilememories and no backup batte ry isneeded except for the clock func tion.The clock requires a 6 V lithium bat­tery for backup to keep the clock ontime when the rig is not bei ng pow­ered. This battery is not supplied withthe kit.

Defau lt and normal readout showthree digits of kHz, a decimal point.and a single digit of he rtz. wi th a reso­lution of 100 Hz. A MH z button sup­plied displays two MHz and two kHzdigi ts momentari ly. I omitted th is be­cause I know I' m on 30 meters withmy lOOA.

T he C lock button displays UTC intwo digits on either side of a colon in a24-hour fermat . Up and Down buttonson the rear of the dial/clock are usedhoth to set the offset and to adjust theclock to the correct time.

RF to this dia l is taken from thejunc tion of C2 11 and C2 12 through ashort piece of RG 174/U coax.

Here Comes the SunParr 2: Geomagnetic monitoring .

Thomas M. Miller WABYKN314 South 9th StreetRichmond IN 47374

[thomil@bioelectrifier.coml

Even though it' s possible to gelgeomagnetic data from theGOES (of and GOES 9 satellites

via the Interne t. it's a lot of fun tomonitor the effects of solar activit),with your own equipme nt. Whi le thechanges in the magneti c fie ld arc muchsmaller on the surface than ut an alti­tude of 23.000 miles. they still can bemeasured. Also, since it's impracticalto monitor the Interne t 24 hours aday. it would he handy to have a de­vice 10 sound an alert whenever astrong geomagnetic event is de tected .

One of the easiest effec ts to measureis "Earth Currents: " Whenever thegeomagnetic field changes . electricityis induced in all conduc tors within it.and this includes the Earth itself. Bydriving a pair of long copper rods intothe ground 100 feet or more apart, avoltage di ffere ntia l can he measuredbetween the m when the field shifts.Connect each rod to the meter withshie lded cable. a nd ground the shie ldat one e nd only. The meter mu st he azero-center type . since the po lar ity de­pends on the d irection of the mag neticshift. A sensitive zero-center microarn­meter with several switchable seriesresisto rs could he used to set different

34 73 Amateur Radio Today · February 1999

ranges . You could al so usc an auto-po­larity digital mu ltimeter set to the mVsca le .

A second method of monitoring geo­magnetic shifts is to usc a compass.Since it's no fun to sit stari ng at thelittle blue arrow all day. we can builda circ uit that will do this for us. The

eas ies t way is to drill a small hole. III 0­inch or less. through the compass d iskncar the rim. at the EAST position .Drill a matching hole at the WEST po­sition so that the disk wi ll still balanceon the needle.

By shining light from a n infraredLED through one of these holes andreceiving it with a phototransistor be­low the disk . we can te ll if the compassdisk rotates even slightly. The circui tsho wn in Fig. 1 can be used to activatea small piezo a larm when the light isc ut off. You don 't need the entire com­pass- just the disk and needle. Imounted mine o n a sma ll piece ofpine hoard which I cou ld then rotateslowly unti l the hole in the d iskmatched the position of the LED andphototrunsistor.

This device. though simple to theextreme. is actually quite se nsitive . asyou ca n prove by wa ving a sma ll

magnet around the room. You willneed to put a box over the whole thingto pre vent a ir c urrents from distu rbi ngthe compass.

An e ven more sc nsitive device is themagnetometer. Orig inally designed asa " UFO Detector: ' th is device has aniron rod that se rves the same functionfor the magnetic field as an antennadocs for rad io wa ves . The lines of tluxfrom the geomagnetic fie ld are con­ce ntra ted in the iron. and a coil con­sisting of many turns of fine wire iswound arou nd the rod. Changes in themagnetic flu x induce a voltage in thecoil. whic h can then be amplified a ndused to trigger an a larm.

Iron rods are not commonly foundaround the house. hut for our purposes.milled steel will work just fine. (It is,after a ll. more than 90% iron .) For por­table devices. a # 10-32 bolt passedthrough the center of a coi l from asmall relay wi ll make a good se nsorthat will fit inside the enclosure usedfor the electronics.

Increasing the size o f the rod and thenumber of turns will make the de vicefar more sensitive. The best one I' vebuilt consisted of a n e ntire one-quar­ter-pound spoo l of #36 magnet wire. I

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73 Amateur Radio Today· February 1999 3S

Fig. 3 shows the circuit diagram ofthe magnetometer. One stage of a dualop amp amplifies the signal from thesenso r, which is then fed to a windowcomparator using an LM339. The out­put from the comparator triggers a 555timer connected as a one-shot. whichturns on the piezc alarm for severalseconds. The gain of the amplifierstage is set with a one-megohm pot.which is adjusted just below the pointat which the alarm sounds.

The second section of the dual opamp is used as an audio amplifier. The2. 2-~F capac itor couples any audiofrequencies detected by the sensor tothe op amp. which can then he heardvia headphones or connected to an ex­ternal ampli fier and speaker. Some verystrange sounds can occasionally beheard from this device, especially beforea thunderstorm. (Of course, if you' reusing an outside-mounted sensor andAC line power. do /lot use this de viceduring a thunderstorm ... especiallywhen using headphones!)

The switch in series with the piczcalarm lets you turn the alarm off. Thisis handy for adjusting the gain. andalso so that you can ad vance the gainto maximum and li sten to the audiowithout being driven insane by theconstant beeping.

Fig. 4 shows the printed circuitboard pattern for the magnetometer,and Fig. 5 shows the parts layout. Hesure to orient the integrated circuits,

didn' t wind the coiJ-I j ust fi shed outthe inner end of the wire and used thewhole spool as it was. The plas ticspool had a one-inch diameter holethrough it. so I used a piece of one­inch round steel bar stock 18 incheslong. passed through the center o f thespool. Coated with urethane varnishand mounted inside a piece of plasticPVC pipe. it made a very sensitivesensor when mounted on the roof,away from stray magnetic fields.

Fig. 2. A very large coil offtne wire woundaround a bar of iron or steel will detect\'ery small fluctuations in the geomagneticfield.

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Fig. J. The .~d/('m{/ tic diagram of 'he " UFO De/ector" magnetometer. This circuit will mlll'lify me .f iX" tll [mm rill' .H' Il .WT am/triggera" alarm,

rectifi er, cupucuors . and piczo alarm asshown, since they will he damaged ifreversed.

The circuit shown is AC line-pow­credobut you will probably need to uscnne or more AC line filters ahead of thedevice to prevent stray line noise fromtriggering the alarm. Even so. it may rc­act (0 the occasional light switch or a

motor starting up somewhere in thehouse. Using battery power (a pair ofnine-volt butteries ) e liminates the noise,hUI this makes long-term monitoring aproblem. since the batteries will only lasta few days. I' ve found that AC powerworks best for continuous monitoring, andI've also built scveral battery-powereddevices which arc great for portable usc.

The magnetometer, used wi th an ex­ternal se nsor, is very sensitive 10

cha nges in the geomag netic fie ld . Be­sides sola r-induced effec ts. it will alsorespond to large. moving ferrous ob­jeers. such as nearby ca rs and trucks.It will a lert you to an approaching

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Fig , .I, Pr;IIf('(/ circuit board pattern for the "UFODetector " fIIax"elOmeter.

36 73 Amateur Radio Today • February 1999

Fig. 5. Pon s layout[or the magm.'lometer circuit board, Be sure to orient thecomponents as shown,

Nilmoo, 37 011 rOil' FHdback card

SPEC I RL EUENTS

Listings are free of charge as space permits. Please send usyour Special Event two months in advance of the issue youwant it to appear in. For example, if you want it to appear inthe May issue. we should receive it by February 28. Provide aclear, concise summary of the essentiaf deta ils about yourSpecial Event.

ANNANDALE, VA The ViennaWireless Society will conduct its23rd Win lerfest on Sun.. Feb.28th , 1999, at the Annandale (VA)campus of the Northern VirginiaCommun ity C o ll eg e. in thegymnasium 01 the Ernst CulturalCenter. Admission $5, XYLs free.Tailgating starts at 6 a.m. in meparking lot south of the ErnstCultural Center. The $10 tailgatefee includes admission. VE examsbegin at 8 a.m. sharp. Walk-inspermitted. For more info , call JimParsons WA4LTO at (703) 392 ­0 150. or E-ma il {k3ml @ero/s.com]. The Web site is at {http ://www.erots.comlk3mtlvws].

[hamfest@/imarc.org}: Web [http://www. /imarc.org}.

NEW WESTMINSTER, BC ,CANADA The Burnaby AR C's11th Annual Fleamarket will beheld at New Westm ins te rArmouries. 6th 51. and QueensAve.• New Westminster, BC.Opento sellers at 9 a.m .. buyers 10a.rn-a p .m. Tables available inadvance; please phone between7 p.m. and 9 p .m . PT, HarryVE7HNC. (604) 530-3962. Talk­inon VE7RBY 145.35(-) or 442.85.

FEB 27

MILTON. VT The Radio Amateursof Northern Vermont will sponsorth e Northern Vermont WinterHamfest and AARl Vermont StateConvention on Feb. 27th. 8 a.m.­3 p .m .• at Milton High Sch ool ,Route 7 in Milton. five miles northof 1-89 exit 17. Features includeIlea market , forums , a uction ,dealers. book sa les, and exhibits.VE exams wilt be given at 9 a.m.and 2 p.m. Commercial exams at2 p.m. Admission is $3. free forunder 18 years old , Tables arefree while they last. Call for largesetups . Talk-in on 145 .1 5 rpt r.Contact WISJ at (802) 879-6589:E -m a i l {w l sj@ vbim a ilmail.champlain.edu]. The Web site isat [http://www.ranv.together.com}.

FEB 28

Registrations received on or afterFeb . 14th will be held for pickupat me door, Participants 13 yearsof age or older must be registeredto ente r ttie hamtalr. For pre­registration, co ntac t Evan Bur­roughs N7/FJ at (503) 585-5924(be fore 8 p .m.), o r E -mail to[n7ifj @leleport.com]. Swap tablesetup will be Fri. night. 6 p.m.-9p.m . and Sal. morning at 7 a.m.Sen-ccntaoeo RV spaces avail­able . Features inc lude: swaptables ; commercial dealers: andmeetings-AAAL. AAESlAACES.and others as announced. No VEtesting is planned. For more infocontac t the Web site at [http://srs.go/dcom.com/sraf/yer.htm].Talk-in on the 146.86 rptr.

FREEPORT, NY The Winter 1999Long Island Indoor Hamfest will beheld 8 :30 a.m.-1 p.m., Sun., Feb.2 tst a t Freeport Arm ory, 63Babylon Turnpike , Freeport NY.G eneral admission $6. Vendors$25 pe r space by advanceregistration only (no day-of-eventsales). Each space includes onesix-foot table and adm its onepers on . Spec ial close parkingand/or dropeff area fo r vendorsopens 6 a.m. for vendors only.Free parking for buyers. The fleamarket will feature amateur radioequipment, computers. ham equip­ment dealers, AARL irlformation ,lIMAAC informa tion. and CBequipment. There will be a freeVHF tune-up clinic. Walk-in VE CUYAHOGA FAllS, OH Theexams at 10 a.m. fo r all classes Cuyahoga Fa lls ARC, Inc., will(one session) . Talk-in on W2VL. hold its 45th Annua l Hamfes t146 .85 rptr., 136.5 pI. For further Elect ronic and Computer Showinfo . call the L1MARC za-nour Sun., Feb. 28th, al Emidio & Sonsinfoline: (5 16) 520-9311 , or write Party Center. 48 E. Bath Ad. atLlMARC Hamfest. P O. Box 392, th e co rn er o f S ta te Rd . inLevittown NY 11756. E-ma il Cuyahoga Falls. The eventwiU be

73 Amateur Radio Today · February 1999 37

FEB 21

FAR MINGTON HillS, MI TheLivonia ARC will present its 29thAnnual Swap 'n' Shop, Sun. Feb.21 st , 8 a .m.- 3 p .m.. et TheWill iam M. c ostic k ActivitiesCenter, 28600 Eleven Mi le Ad.(between Midcllebelt and InksterRoads), Farmington Hills MI. Talk­in on 144.7515.35. For info, send4 x 9 SASE c/o Nei/ CoffinWA8GWL, Livonia ARC. P o. Box5 1532, Livonia MI4815 1-5532; orcall the club phone line, (734) 261 ­5486, The club Web page is at[www. larc,mi.org]. They can alsobe reached by E·ma il at {swap@larc.mi.org].

FEB 20

ELMIRA, NY The ARA of theSouthern Tier will present its 18thAnnual Winterfest on Sat., Feb.201h, at the Elmira Colle ge MurrayAt hl eti c Center Dome s, NYSRoute 14 , live m iles north ofHorseheads NY. Talk-in wi ll be on147.360(+). There will be dealerdisplays of new equipment. and ahuge indoor flea market. Break­fast and lunch will be served onthe premises . Admission is $5 atthe door, children to and underadmitted free. The event win runfrom 8 a .m .-3 p.m.. w ith VEexam s s ta rt ing at 9 a.m. Fordealer and table rental inquiries,contact Gary N20KU at (607)739-0 134.

Computer Show will be held at theCCCA Expo Center, 2621 4 thAve., Rock Island IL. which fea­tures a large, open exhibition floorwi th wide ais les , amp le freeparking . and one-revet handi­ca pped accessibility. The hamfestfeature s a large indoor fleamarket, cownercarexhibits. food,and door prizes. Ta lk-in on theWOBXR 146 .281.88 and 146.041.64 rptr s . Ti ckets a re $5 inadvance, $6 at me door (under 14free). For more info on ticke ts ortable reservations. send an SASEto Kent Williams K9UQI, 424510th St., East Moline fL 61244­4 154. Voice: (309) 796-0718 (4­9 p.m. only, please). FAX: (309)796-0629 (24-hr). E·mail: [k9uqi@arcsupport.com].

RICKREALL, OR The SalemRepeater Assn . and OregonCoast Emergency Repeater. Inc.,w ill present the 1999 Sa lemHamfair & Computer/ElectronicSwapmeet. Sat., Feb. 20th , at thePolk Co unty Fai rgrounds inRickreall. Doors open at 9 a.m.Pre-registrat ions pos tmarked byFeb. 5th will receive an extra doorprize ticket with each registration.

NEGAUNEE, MI The HiawathaARA will hold its 20th annual Swapand Shop Feb. 13th from 9 a.m.­3 p.m. at the Negaunee TownshipHa ll , 42 M35. Nega unee MI.Admiss ion $2 , tables $6. Foodand beverages will be availab le atthe site . For more info , contactBob $ertas N8PKN, (906) 226­9782: or John Veiht N8RSE, (906)228-9417.

FEB 13

TRAVERSE CITY, MI CherrylandARC's 26th Annual Swap-n-Shopwill be held 8 a.m. to noon at theImmaculate Conception MiddleSchool. VE exams. Pre-register orregister at the Swap. Talk-in on146.86. For more info. call JoeW8TVT at (616) 947·8555: orChuck W8SG R at (6 16) 946­5312.

FEB 14

ROCK IS LAND, IL The 28thAnnual Davenport RAC Hamfestl

HARRISBURG, PA The HarrisburgRadio Amateur Club will hold aValentine Hamtest. set.. Feb .13th, at the Oberlin Fire Companyin Harrisburg. Directions: 1-283 toSwatara PA-441 Exit ("1). Tumnorth onto PA-441 (toward BobEvans Restaurant). Tum left at thetraffic light onto Eisenhower Blvd.Tum right at the next traffic light.remaining on PA-441 . Tum rightat the stop sign. The Fire Hall is0.2 mi. on the right. There will besigns from 1-283. Genera l ad ­mission a t 8 a.m. , $2 ; swe et­hearts. XYLs,and harmonics free.Table setup at 6 a.m. Friday nightsetup if needed. VE exams will beconducted nearby at 9 e.m. Tablesare $8 in advance. Very limitedtailg at ing . $2. Fo r table reg­istration, contact N3NJB. 2501 S.2nd St. , Steelton PA 17 113-3009,Phone (717) 939-4825; or E-mail[n3njb@juno,com].

NEW PORT RICHEY, FL The 3rdAnnual 'Hamteet Uncler the Sun" WEST ORANGE, NJ A HamlestAmateur Radio & Computer Show for Amaleur Radio oos. computerwill be sponsored by the Gull buffs, SWLers , and elect ronicsCoast ARC at the Fred K. March- hobbyists will be sponsored by theman Technical Educational Center, Roseland Radio Club at Wesl7825 Campus Dr. Gates open Sat. Orange High School , 600Mar. sth . 8 a.m.-5 p.m., and Sun" Plea sant Vall ey Wa y, WestMar. 7th, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. No alcohol Orange NJ, exit 7 off Interstateor drugs permitted on the Aoute 280. Free parking, groundpremises. Admission 54, tab les level access. Rain or shine. All$4 , tailgaters $4. Each table ancl indoors. Admissioo $5 at the doorta ilgate space inc ludes an (no advance tickets). XYUchildrenadmission tic ke t. Co mmercial under 12 admitted free. Tablesspaces are available. For further reserved in advance are $12 forinfo. contac t Rick KF4GXS. (8 13) the f irst/$9 each addit ional. At the

38 73 Amateur Radio Today · February 1999

held 8 e.m-z p.m. TICkets are 54in advance, $5 at the door, andare available from club members.Free parking . Rent eight-footlables for $8 each: reserved tablesmust be paid for in advance.Contact Carl Hervol N8JLQ. 11192Cottingham Circle. Uniontown OH44685-9 185: (330) 497-704 7.Talk-in on 2m 147.87/.27 MHz.

MAR 5-6

PASCAGOULA, MS The JacksonCounty ARC wi ll hold its 5thannual hamlest in the PascagoulaMS Civic Center. located on theJackson County Fairground.Hours are 5 p.m.-9 p.m. Friday,Mar. 5th , and 8 a .m .-3 p.m .Saturday, Mar. 6th . Tickets are$2 .50 for 12 years and older,under 12 l ree . Table rental is $8/ei ght· foot table. RV park ingavailable on site. VE exams at 9a.m. Saturday. Mar. 6th. For moreinfo on the hamlest or VE exams,contact Hamfest Chairmancnenes F. (Kim) Kimmer/y. 19000Busby Rd., Vancleave MS 39565.Tel. (228) 826-5811. Talk-in on theW5WA rep ea te r, 145.110 (.) /146.880 (-).

MAR6

KNOXVILLE, TN The Shriners 01Kerbela Amateur Rad io Serv icewill sponsor their annual hamfestat Kerbela Temple, 315 MimosaAve., in Knoxv ille, from 8 a.m.-4p.m. Ad missi on is $5. Indoorvendor tables are $8 each, plusadmission of $5. Setup Friday 4p.m.-8 p.m., and Saturday 5a.m-a a.m. Ovemjqht security Willbe provided. Talk- in on 144.83/145.43 or 14 6.52 simplex.Smoking indoors is permitted indesignated area only ,

MAR 6-7

842 ·2127: E-mail /richar@gte.net]. Make checks and moneyorders payab le to Gulf CoastAmateur Radio Club. and mail toP.o. Box595, New PortRichey FL34656-0595. Talk·in on 146.670 or145.330 MHz club rptrs.

MAR 7

WESTFIELD, MA The Mount TomAmateur Repeater Assn., Inc., willsponsor the 14th Annual MTARAFlea Marke l at the Wes tf ie ldMiddle School, RI. 202/10, WestSilverSt.,Westfield MA. Doors willopen at 7 a.m. lor vendors, and9 a .m . for bargain hunters .Admission $4, children under 12free. Tables $15 in advance only;tailgating $5.120 VAC available.Amateur radio equipment , corn­peters. and parts. Help providedfor loading and unload ing. Handi­capped parking , no stairs .Amate ur and comme rcial V Eexams given at10 a.m.: contactJim WAtZUH at (4 13) 245-3228for deta ils. Contact SIeve NISRat (4 13) 593-6554, lor GROL.GM DS-O/M . ship radar, etc .,exams. Talk-in on the 146.940(·)rp tr . Fo r tab le reservat ions ,con tact Jim NIRUT, (4 13) 536­5182,or{jim.allen@lhe·spa.comJ.See the Web site at /www.mtara.or9J for more info ancl for drivingdirections.

MAR 13

SCOTTSDALE, AZ The Scotts­dale ARC will host a Hamfest atScottsdale Community College,101 North - Exit Chaparral Rd..9000 E. Chaparral Rd.. ScottsdaleAZ.Admission $2, tables $5. Talk­in on 147.1 8 and 440.00. ContactRoger Cahoon KB7ZWI. 8501 E.Edward, Scottsdale AZ 85250 .Phone : (602) 948- 1824; FAX:(602) 943-3548.

door, tables are $15 for the firstone/$12 each addit iona1. Youmust RSVP by March 1st. Aftertha t. f i rst co me, firs t served ,Sellers only are adm itted at 7a.m., no except ions. There is aspecial vendor parking lot. Talk-inon th e W2QR rp tr. system at146 .415(+1.0) 85.4T: 224.480(­1.6) no tone; 447.875(-5 .0)156.7T; or 146.520 simp lex. VEexams. For more info contact JimHowe N2TDIor Uz HoweN2WGHat (973) 402-6066.

MAR14

STERLlNG,IL The Sterling-RockFalls ARS 39th Annual Hamfestwill be held at the Sterling HighSchool Fieldhouse, 1608 4th Ave.Free parking , including areas toaccommodate se lf -conta in edca mpe rs and se lf -conta in edmobile homes. There will be alarge indoor flea market featuringradio , electron ic, computer, andhobby items. Tickets are $3 inadvance, $4 at the door. Tablesare $5 without electricity, $6 withelectricity. Bring your own coro .Setup Sal. 6 p.m.-9 p.m. and onSun. beginning at 6 a.m. Doorsopen to the public at 7:30 a.m.Sun. Use only the north doors onMiller SI. Talk-in on 146.25/.85W9MEP rptr. For info and advancet icketsflables , contact LloydSherman KB9APW, Sterling-RockFalls ARS, eo.Box 52 1. SterlingIL 61 081·0521 .. or call (8 15) 336·2434. E-mail [Isherman@essexl.coni. Advance ticket deadline isMar. 1st. Please include an SASEwith payment.

MAR 21

JEFFERSON, WI The Ttl-CountyARC will present "Hamtest 1999"at the Jefferson Coun ty Fai r­grounds Activity Center, Highway18 West. Jeffersoo WI. 8 a.m.-2p.m. Vendors admitted at 7 a.m.VE exams for new licensees andupgrades. Electric ity available.Equipment test table. Handicapaccessible. Talk-in on the 145.49rptr. Admission $4. stx-toot table$5, eight-foot table $6. To reservetables , sen d your SASE toTCARC, W9MOB, 71 1 East St.,Ft. Atkinson WI 53538. Phone(920) 563·6502 eves.; E·mail[tn'countyarc@globaldialog.comj.

MAUMEE, OH The Toledo MobileRadio Assn. will hold the 44th

Annual Hamfest/Computer Fair 8a.m.-2 p.m. at the Lucas CountyRecreation Center, 2901 Key St.,Maumee OH. For details sendSASE to Paul HansJik N8XDB,P. O. Box 273. Toledo OH 43697­0273. Phone: (4 19) 243-3836.

HA MILTON TOWNSHIP, NJ"Hamcomp '99" hamfest will besponsored by the Delaware ValleyRadio Assn., and held at the TallCedars of Lebanon picnic grove,Sawmill Rd" Hamilton Twp., NJ.Take 1-95 North 10 1-295 South:exit 60A to 1-1 95 East: exit 2 toYardville; South Broad SI. to end,approx. 3.7 miles; go left at Yieldonto Old Yorl< Rd., next right ontoSawmill Rd. The site is 1.1 mileson the right. Open to sellers at6:30 a.m. Open to buyers at8a.m.Adm ission is $6 , non -hamspouses and children admittedfree. Tailgating space $10 , in­c ludes one admission . Freeparking . ARR L ta ble . Coveredtable space $15 . includes onetable and one admission. someelectrici ty. Advan ce coveredspace reservations are available.Talk-in on 146.67(-). More infoavailable at (609) 882-2240 or[ www. slac.coml w2zqJ. Se ndpayment with SASE to Hamcomp'99. DVRA, P.O. Box 7024, WestTrenton NJ 08628.

MAR 27

MICHIGAN CITY, IN The annualMichigan City Hamfest andComputer Flea Market will be heldSat., Mar. 27th at Michigan CityHigh SchOOl, 8466 W. Pahs Rd.,Michigan City IN. 8 a.m.-1 p.m.CST. Early se tup provided forvendors. Admission is $4, childrenunder 12 admitted Iree with a paidadu lt. Tabl e reservation s andgeneral info is available from RonStahoviak N9TPC, 5802N 400 W,Michigan City IN 46360. Phone(219) 325-9089.

WATERFORD, CT The Rad ioAmateu r Society of Norwich willsponsor their 27th Ham RadioAuction, starting at 10 a.m. Setupat 9 a.m. The auction will be heldat the Waterford Sen ior Center.From Hartford , take RI. 2 Southto Rt. 11 to AI. 85 South. From theshoreline, take Rt. 95 to Rt. 85North. Talk·in on 146.730(·), Bringyour gear to sell (10% commissionto RASON). Free admission. Freeparking. Contact Tony AA1JN al

VHF and Above Operation

Num~r 39 on your Fe«1bat;It ClltV

RBOUE ~ BEYOND

C. L. Houghton WB61GPSan Diego Microwave Group6345 Badger Lake Ave.San Diego CA 92119[clhough@pacbeH.net]

10 GHz fun , 1999 update:the Ramsey FR-10receiver

Quite a fe w years ago. I wrotea n art icle covering a 30 ~I H z

receiver using a sing lc chip re­ce iver from Sig ne n c s. theTDA70m). The purpose of thisrecei ver and assoc iated modu­lator was to pro vide a simpleand effec t ive me thod 10 ge tstarted on 10 GHI. with wide­hand F~t communications usingsurplus Gunn diode osci llators.The Gunn diode oscillators wereo btai ne d fro m ga rage d ooropeners and from burg lar alarmcircuitry.

The conversion of the burglaralarms and the door openers wasmainly to t05S away everythingexcept the metal cavity contain­ing the microwa ve osci lla to rand detector d iode . While theseunits arc not as plenti ful today.they can still he located in sur­plus. e ither at swa pmccts o r byscrounging in electronics j unkhins.

Ano ther source for Gunn di ­ode units is SHF M icrowaveParts Co.. 7 102 W. 500 S.• LaPo rte It" ..J 6350 (FAX ( 2 19)785-45 52 or E-m ail throughth e ir web page a t {www.

shfmicro.com t for details]. To­ge the r. A la n and hi s w ifePierrett have put together a greatsource for G unn diode tra ns­ce ivers of various mode ls forboth 10 a nd 24 GHz frequenc yra nges . Tak e a look on the irInternet page for c urrent mate­rial. The 24 G Hz Gunn oscilla­tor is available for S58 wi thvaractor contro l (±170 I\I Hz) at24. 150 M HI. (a lso include.. adetec tor). Qu ite a bargain for anew unit!

' These de vices are listed onthe SHF Mic rowave Web page.The unit is pictured. and speci­fica tions tell you in detail whatyo u are look ing a t. Other item sre la ted to m ic rowave ope ra ­tion are a lso listed. pro vid inga comple te list o f all they of­fer, Be sure to check out SHF

30 MHZ FM WIDE BAND .,flG.174 COAXRECEMR +/- 100 KHz

lourIFBANDWIDTH -HEADSET AUDIO - 30 MHzRECOMME:NDED PREAMP

RG-174 COAX-4> IN

. 10VDC ..",

MO l'" """17 T ......, .001 , Fe""-'ATO< /'741 OR ALOO

2N2222 -~

NOOJ.ATO< - ,..;

~10GHz

~ GUNNEUCIR£I "'" XevR~ 's",....,

GUNN DElKTOR """"DlOOE DlOOE

Fig. I . Block. diagram of 10 GlI: system showing 30 MHz IF re-ceiver with preamplifier. d iode detector ill cavitvfor receive , andG IIIIII diode in ("(I l'it)" for transnut. Modulator for Gw m diode issimple power 5/1PI'/Y voltage regulator;audio amp. (lilt! electret mike,

Micro wave Pa rts Co . You' ll he related to varying frequency ofg lad yo u did . ope ration.

Available items incl ude ne w Gunn di ode oscilla to r sys~

Gun n-type oscillator de tectors. terns are inexpensive to start off

and once in a while used items with. using wideband F~l rather

pop up. The-e units vary in com- than a more sophisticated SS B

plexity from simple Gunn diode sys tem. Well , the mai n differ-

oscillator detecto r d iode units to ence among them is price an d

those that are filled with a third the test equipment needed to

de vice . a va rac tor d iode . T hemod ify and tes t an SS B-ty pesystem. The cos t for a working

varac tor d iode allows fo r a nwidcbund FM system is about

easy frequen cy adj ustment that SHO, assuming that you purchaseis contro lled by a DC voltage the components new. This di f-applied to it. While Gunn cavities fc rs fro m SSB -type sys te ms.that em ploy varac to r d iodes are whose cost could run as high asmo re cos tl y, th e y a re m uc h $250 for a kit of parts that yousought after fur ease of operation stil l ha ve to mod ify fro m com-

MHz, 14.240 MHz sideband and10.110 MHz or 18.080 MHz CWoFor an 8-1/2 x t t-mch certificate,send est, and SASE 10 MVARC,P,O. Box 7234. Alexandria VA22307.

MACON, GA The Macon ARC wiltoperate W4BKM 1500-2300 UTCon Sat. Mar. 27th . at the 17thannual Cheny Blossom Festival inMacon GA. Phone: 7.235, 14.240and 21.335; CW 7.1 35. 14.035and 21.135. For a certificate, sendyour OSl and a 9 x 12 SASE toMacon ARC. P.O. Box 4862.Macon GA 31208.

(860) 859-0 162 , or see th eRASON Web page at [www.ims.uconn.edul-rasonj.

MAR 28

MADISON,OH The Lake CountyAR A will hold its 2 1st annua lHamfesl on Mar. 28th, 8 a.m.-2p.m.. at Madison High School onBurn s Rd. in Mad ison . Thehamfest will feature new and usedamateur rad io , compute r. andassorted electronic equipment.amateur-radio- related forums, anequ ipment test bench , and V.Eexams for Ihose inte rested inearning an amateu r radio license.Admission tickets are $5 at the

door. Table space for vendors is$8 for a s b -Joot tabie: $10 for aneiqnt-toot table. Reserve tables bycalling Roxanne at (440) 256­0320 . Tal k-In on th e LC A RA147.21 rptr.

SPECIAL EVENTSTATIONS

FEB 13-14

ALEXANDRIA, VA The MountVernon ARC will operate K4US1600 l -2100l Feb . 13-14 tocommemorate George W as h­ington's Birthday. Transmissionwill take place from Mt. Vernon(VA) . Frequencies include 7.240

MAR 27

mercia) frequencies 10 10 GHz.The re are fully assembled trans­ceivers available from Europeanmanufac turers in a ready-to- usca sse mbled unit fo r $600 toS IOOO. depending on RF poweroutput.

W hil e ) ope rat e o n bo thwidcband FM and SS B. I stillreco mmend wide hatul FJ\.1 for abeginning taste of mic ro wa veope ration. As a mailer of fac t, Iam in the process of cons truct­ing a 2.J G Hz widcba nd FMtransce iver for usc in the AR RL10 Gl-lz-and-up contest and toupda te wi th the Ram se y 30M Hz FM recei ver system.

As I sta ted ea rlie r. I beganusin g a S ig ne tic s T D A7000sing le-c hip FM receiver tuned

73 Amateur Radio Today · February 1999 39

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MHz fo r earlier rranscciv- 10 obtain. and the scroungi ng o f IYOMhe modulator is nothing component part s has created a

than a voltage reg ulator dclav factor for many amateurs HIGH RESISTANCE• •

OR OPENhas its adju st termi nal in getting on to GHl quickly.

1""-tared with a low-leve l mi- not 10 mention ::!~ GH1, which i:-.

~one-drive n ampl ifie r. The even more difficult,1+ I 1amp c an he as simple as a Considering all this, I sta rted r ...

-+I-transistor o r op amp. wit h to loo k at designing a ne w 30

availabi lit y determin ing ~1H I. rec e ive r lI F), h ut a ft e r

(-I(/)ow the l'OS\. loo king at what W<lS available on LOW RESISTAN CEI+I'II then ca n he im proved the comme rcial market . I have

Goc irc uit designed earl ier? reconsidered de sig ning a ne w ~ x10today lhcTDA7(XJOsingle- receive r, w hat I d isco vered was RED

<;FM rec eiver d esign still a kit from Ramsey Electron ics BLAC K

- well and is still in my ...hack for a I O.mctcrF~1 receiver,This

ioning. However. several lit from Ramsey was \ e r)' rea - F ig , J, Diode ohmmeter check to Iwify diode polaritv, Appli. have come to my attention sonahl )' priced. making it aurae- (ion the same regardless of wnemer regula r diode rectifierrning paris availabili ty uve . Looking at Ram sey' s ,-am eror diod e.

' O SI in general. The TDA litera ture and de..ign specifl ca-used earlier is gelling hard linn... I was quite take n by this

very fine and inexpensive FM tha t wa... pre se nted. It was qrecei ver, T he Ramsey FR·] (\ su fficie nt 10 enable a bcgiunit wi ll inte rface well fo r the with limited construction a

BAND I a1 30 M H! FM recei ver portio n o f ity tn fin ish thts kit and rn aPASS ....1 RE CEIVE the GUIlIl transce iver with a few operational. T he con..truer

Fil TER PRE- AM P s im p le modificat ions 10 the was presented in the Heato rig inal de..ig n. fa ..hion fam iliar to many a

Fig, I ..hows the func tional le urs. An introduction is10 .7 MH z ut block diagram of a basic wide- lowed by a " how to constFILTER NE60 2AM PLIFI ER

~Rband F~t microwave system. your work area,•• a c ircuit

---------------~-----This month, let's limit our ~opc scri ption, and block di agram10 the 30 ~tHl widcband F~t o peration, a ll providing eno

10 .2 4 MHz ~ SE COND L3, C12. 0 1 rece iver, co vering the assembly detail fo r familiarizationl OCAL IF M IXER: vea a nd modification of the Ramsey the FR -IO.OSCILLATOR TUNED

-i. 10 .7 MHz Elec tronics FR-I O rece iver. After a rev iew of the iHIGH ER THAN Next time, I will cover the co n- documentation. the compol

6 -POLE THE RECE IVED strucnon a nd assembly o f the parts are chec ked . I might _4 5 0 KH z SIGNAL

remai nder of the sys tem-c-r hcFi l TE R gest a sorting proced ure 10 a

LI M ITERpo..... er supply mod ulator- and con fusion whe n stuffi ng thdescribe some testing me thods . board with co mpo ne nts.SQ UELCH

Ramsey FA~10 FM component parts on to piece

receiverpaper with a pencil notatio10 individual value . Place

I obtained two FR+ 10 receiver torv on o ne paper so marked

kits to construct I \l, O ..cparare c upact to rs o n anoth er.

tran scei vers. o ne fo r Ke rry makes for s im p le a s sCIFM RE CEIVER :\6 IZW and o ne for myse lf. 10 without having to iden ti fy

DIS CR IM INATOR MU TIN Ga ll o w te sting o f the finish ed colo r cod e o r val ue o nce

prod uct o ve r a te st range of begin construction. In so

----- ---------- ----- about three mi le s. Perf01TI1UnCe re sistors. I a lways usc a sin

testing is kind o f difficu lt witb- o hmmete r chec k to verify \

M 38 61U3i'}4 ... out a partne r, he it on 10 or 2~ these eyeg lasses and mag

GHJ" or SOIllCw here else. It's kind ing lenses d ecod e from the eAUD IO SPE AKERAMP o f hard 10 ta lk 10 yourse lf. mal- hand s.

ing a partne r very impo rta nt for A little preparation at the

e xperimentatio n on microwave. g inning mig ht sa ve you I2. Block diagram (if Ramsey Electronics FR-IO 30 Mil: re- The Ramsey kits arrived. and later wh en you test the syr t ir with internal preamplifier. ( III excellent bargain that construction evaluation began o ut. Fo llo w th e c o nstr ues wim all c OIIIJwllent.{ needed 10 form an operational FM re- right away as I was anxious to de ta ils outlined in the Rar. This receiver interfaces quite well with the Gunn diode gel started. Looking over the lit- li terature . T he consuu cuoce iver .{yJ1('/11 fl IT d iller 10 Gff: or 2-1 Gti: operation reou ir- eraturc supplied with the kit. I q uill' easy, as each compo

/ 30 MH:., widchand FM receiver system, was su rprised with the d etail pari numbe r is printed o n t

--

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40 73 Amateur Radio Today . February 1999

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73 Amateur Radio toasy » Februa ry 1999 41

the circuit board to furthe r en­

sure thai you are placing thecorrect co mpo nent in the properloc ation . T he o n ly e rror yo uco u ld make is mis ide ntify ingand mi svalidarlng resistor co lorcode s o r o the r part s val ues

which arc cit-ad )' marked .I fo llowed the instruction

manual. and found thai the pre­sorted components helped speedcons truction . A ll co mpone nt swe re p laced wit h c ase-eve npol ari ty-se nsiti ve cu pacttors .Ie... a nd transistors were plai n lymarked a s to ori entation Oil thetop o f the circuit hoard. Such a

quality PC board makes errorsavoidable if you take the timeto read and loo k at parts k tc uu­fic at ion on the hoa rd and inRamsey ' s literature .

There was con fusion regard­ing o nly one part in the kit-avaractor diode's correct oncn­ration. the cathode/anode posi­tioning on the board. While theboard was clearly marked wi thwhich end wa s which. the d iodewas not . To verify wh ich leadwa s the anode. I used my benchVOM me ter, With most ohmmc­

tcrs. you sho uld use the x 10..ca lc (cu rrent-limited) and the

meter 's red lea d on what yo uth ink is the anode. T hat's posi­ti ve side of the diode to the red

lead and the cathod e to the blackle ad (negative ). Th e d iodesho uld indicate a fe....· hundredo hms: if not, reverse the diode.

when you gel a reading o f a fewhu nd red ohms. you kno w whiche nd is the cathode. as it is o n theblac k lead o f the ohmmeter inthis si mple le st. Re vers ing themeier leads, there should be no

indi cation o n the ohmmeter.To prove your test is accura te

and that your meter is posi tive

on the red lead. grab any ma rkeddiode, put the blac k lead o n thec athode and the red on the an­

ode. and ve rify a reading o f afe w hundred o hm s. See FiJ;f, ,'\.

Thi s wa s no big deal. Onlyone pan. and minor confu sionsolved by a si mp le ohmmetercheck. Eve n if the d iode wereinse rt ed back wards i t wo u ldo n ly ha ve di sabl ed the fre ­

quency luning control, A simple

voltage chec k on the diode sideof RS would prove a fixed volt ­age o f 0 .6 volts when the d iode

was reversed o n the ho ard .when the diode is mounted cor­rcc uy. the voltages wi ll readfrom ze ro to six volts wh en thetuning rol is rota ted .

A minor problem. but one that

will not cause things to "go upin smoke" when power is ap­p lied. Give the PC board a goo dgoing over for so lder bridgesand c lippings from com ponentparts be fo re proceed ing . Makesure Ihat the DC powe r inpu t isfree o f sho rts 1'1), using the ohm ­meier, again on the ..d O sca le.Check the DC <) V in pu t lead sand tum on the po wer switch.T he oh mmete r sho uld indicatelo w resistance and then rise 10 a

much higher reading . W ha t ischanging is that the electroly ticcapaci tors are charging and the

o hm mete r. in a few seco nds.sho uld be in the U l range s, :':0"you're ready to apply power andcheck o ut the receiver.

I used my old URM-25 sig­nal generator to vcnfyoperationand sensitivity at 30 MHz. BOlhrec eivers construc ted performedas advertised. and sens itivitywas less than a microvolt for fu llq uietin g . Follow Ra msey 's in­

struc tio ns and all will be we ll.M y two rec e ivers worked rightfmm the start. The on ly adj ust­ment wa s U fo r a udio output and

L3 for proper frequency rangeadjustment. Ramsey thought ofeve ry thing: T hey even provideda tuning too l to ma ke the adjust­mcrns. What a kit! All I had toprovide was Ill )" lime and some

so lder !Once I adjusted the RF fre ­

quency oscillator coi l. I wanted10 sec how well the onboard RFpreamplifier functio ned , Wa.. Isurprise d that the se nsi tivi ty wasin the tenths o f a microvo lt for fu ll

quieting! There was some pickupof commercial FM broadcast inthe 88 to 108 M Hz range o nve ry strong local stations. I hadobserved this before with o the rsy ste ms- eve n the T DA7000c ircuit de sign. years ago . Notetha t at th is stage of tes ting I haveno t pl ac ed the re ce iver a nd

modulator in to a metal cabinet.wh ich is necessary from a shield­ing standpoint. Any receiver thatis goi ng to he co-located o n a hill­top with commercial high -po werradio and TV transmitters callget into tro uble if shie ldi ng isnot used.If yo u usc good shie ld­ing techniques. interference willbe minimized.

I can't give more impo rtanceto shie lding a nd to proper leadbypassing with fccdthrough ca­pad tors . A ll power leads tha ileave the cabinet sho uld be tiedthrough a feedrhrough capacito r.not a rubber grommet. T his goe sfor the hot speaker lead a s we ll.With a metal cabinet and feed­through capacitors used. the in­terference from commercial FMwas eliminated.

Modifications forwideband FM

There are modifications thatneed to be made o nce you ha vedeter mi ned that your recei vcr isoperat ing properly. T hese modi­f ic a t ions arc ne c e s sary fo rgreater bandwid th than the re­ceiver comes stoc ked with . Theconversion is simp le and in­cludes removi ng B _2 (-1-50 HIIfilt e r) and re placi ng it with a0.01 ~IFdiscc apad tor. This makesthe passband about I(X) kl-lz wide.Shunt resistor R 1-1- (33 kQ ) with

a 3.9 k o n the bo ttom o f the PC

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Quartz Clock

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hoard ,This fu rther broadens the

pa ssband to about 200 kHz.T he o rig inal luni ng range o f

the fR -1 0 is about 5 ~1Hz wide.We need to reduce this 10 abo utS{K) kH/.• ccmc rcd atabout30 M Hz.

Remo ve C il (56 p I-') and re­place it with a 15 pF disc capaci­tor.A second 15 pfdisc capacito ris added under the PC board.shunting across 1.3. the oscillatorco il.

To add fine r freq uenc y tun­ing. remo ve 10 k pot R IO andrep lace it with a tu-rum 10k pOIand calibrated readout d ial forreall y fine frequency adju st­ment. Al so, my headphones didnot fit the headphone jac k thutwas supplied wit h the kit . so Ijust j um pcred the bonom o f theboa rd to a panel -mounted jack tofit my mike/headset connec tor.

T he PC bo ard wa.. fill ed wi thfour stando ffs to position it ofTthe chassi s by a small d istance .T he cabinet was ccnnecto rizcdwith different connecto rs foreach of the termination leads toavoid connecting the wrong de­vice to the wrong jack. For in­stance, I used a two-connector

cord for DC powe r. and by­passed the leads inside the cabi­

net wi th fecd tbrougb capacito rs.The headset has both a mi nia­

ture one-eighth-inc h connecto rand a standard quarter-Inch ste ­reo con nec tor. Thi s allo ws a

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Radio Direction Finding

HOMING IN

Joe Moell P.E. KOQVP. O. Box 2508Fullerton CA 92837[Homingin@ aol.com][http://members.aol.comlhOminginl)

Mobile T-hunting,international-style

"won't you run OUI of top­ics?" T hat' s what a runner cdi­tor of 73 MaKed llt' asked wh enI proposed a monthly column onradio direct ion finding (RDF).better known as fcxhuming . It'sbeen ove r 10 years since then.and there arc more potential top­ics than ever. If RDF is one ofyo ur ham radio interests . youcan alway s find something newto do. There are project s tobuild . noise sources 10 elimi­nate. jammers and bootleggersro catch. wild li fe 10 truck. air­

c raft ELTs 10 loc ate. a nd hiddentransmitters 10 lind.

Recent " Homing In" columns

have em phasized Ioxhuntingunder lme mn uonal AmurcurRadio Unio n (lARU) rules. T hiso n-foo t sport, whic h usuall y

takes p lace in large forests and

parks. is called foxtalltng. fox­teering, ARDF and radio-orien­teering . Many d ubs in North

America are adding it to theirhidden transmitter hunting ac­tiv ities. T hey are looking forways to ge t T-hunte rs ou t o ftheir cars and into the woodso nce in a whi le . One way to dothat is to have mo bile T-huntsthat fo llow the foxtaitmg fo r­mat. but with foxes spread outso that h unte rs c an dri ve tothem. at least most of the vvuy,

I first heard ubour mobile ver­sions o f international -rules hunts

Irom hams in Australia . (T heycull it CarDE ) Jay Hennig anWB6RDV and Dennis Schwen­diner WBbOBB of Santa Bar­

bara. Ca lifo rnia . were probab lythe firs t stateside hams to try it.Accord ing to the report fro mMarvin Johnston KE6HTS. e v­eryone thought it was fun . So Idecided to give it a try when itwas my duty to put o n the Fi rstSaturd ay Night 'It-hunt here inFullerton last Se pte mber. Apri l

Moell WA60 PS . Tom CurleeWA6 UZZ. a nd David C urleeKE6IPY helped o ut.

Not enoughtransmissions

IARU fc xtailing rules call forlive transmitters o n th e sa mefreque ncy. eac h transmitti ng asimple :>.ICW message for o nem inute in seq uence. Fox # 1sends :>.IOE ~1OE ~1OE for 60seconds; then it goes o ff and #2sends MOl MOl MOl fo r 60seconds. Then #.1 sends MOSMOS :>'105. and so o n until #5goes o ff and # I immed iate ly'Hans the sequence over again .That's the wa y my fi ve Ts wereprog ra mm ed . Eve n w ithou tkno wing Mo rse. it's easy to de­termine which T is on the air bycounting dits .

In radio-orienteering, the goalis to walk o r run to a ll fo xes.then get to the fi nish line firstand within the time limit. usu­

ally abou t two hours. Late arriv­al s a rc d isqu ali fied . Fo r thisF irst Saturday mobile hunt .which is traditionally scoredby odome te r mileage . we an­nounced that the winner wo uldbe the team that had the lowestmileage a mo ng those find ingthe greatest number o f Ts.Mile­age would be taken at T5. soteams had to find it last .The oth­ers could he found in any o rder.All Ts were programmed to shutoff at midnight . e xac tly fi veho urs att er the start of the hunt.Tea ms not report ing to T5 bythe n would be d isqualified .

Traditional southern Califo r­nia mobi le 'It-hunts are hoth a

" h ide r versu s hun ter" and

" h unte r versus hunte r" game .T he hide rs do their best to foilthe hu n te rs usin g mo untainbou nces . not-on-the -map fi retrails. camouflage. and so forth .

But an international-s tyle huntis supposed to be a competitiono n ly a mong hunters. not be­tween hiders and hunters. It's

intended 10 leach hunters to tak ebearings carefully. plot them. planan effi cient route. and execute the

p lan .In that spi ri t. we made every

effo rt to ha ve the hidi ng spotshe relat ivel y easy to find. wi thnone uf the usual signal tricks .All Ts \v e re eopyable at the

starting po int. though it was nee­essary to move around the stanhill top to get optimum signal"

o n all o f the m. The Iox boxeswe re rtgfu ne xt to roads acces­sib le by passenger car, e xceptfor two that were in pub licplace s less tha n 250 feet fromm ads. A ll of them were withi nI I airline mi le s of the stan .

T he c le ar le sson from th ishunt was that IARU' s fo x tim­

ing is nut o ptimum for mohileT-hunting . The one-minute-on/four-minute s-o ff transmissio nratio gives o nly 12 u ansmt s­"io ns per hour per fo x. Only oneteam fou nd all fi ve foxes. huturrivcd at the last fox 10 mi n­

utes afte r the midnight deadline .If we do it again. we wi ll usc a12-seconds-o n/-IS-seco nd s-o ff

cycle fo r each fo x. which will

c ho ice betwe e n usi ng a mrm rush to gel o n the air. You can­headse t o r my dua l padded '>11.> no t m ake a wrong connectionreo headse t fo r noisy locatio ns. . .. un le s s yo u u se a pipeTh e m ike j ack is a stan d ard wre nch !three-pin miniature of di fferent What is my recommendationsize tha n the recei ve headset o n the Ramsey Electronics FR­

j acks. avoiding confusion. 10 .10 MHz receiver kit'? If yo uThe modulator that provides are interested in 10 Gi ll or even

DC power to the diode is fed via 2-1 GHl wide hand o peration.coaxia l cable and appropria te th is is a most ine xpensive kitconnectors to easily te ll the volt- that perform s even better than Iage su pp ly from the d etec tor ex pected . You cannot ask for(recei ver diode) . I used a ANC better value in a kit. Ra mse yon the voltage connector and an eve n tossed in the ali g nme ntS~IA. for the input to the Ramsey tool. to be sure yo u could adj ustFR- 10 30~IHl receiver,Thi s fur- the two coils in the Kit properly.thcr avoids confusio n when in a That in itse lf shows that Ram sey

42 73 Amateur Radio Today · February 1999

should be proud o f the kits theyproduce . T he FR·IOcomes no to nly with a q ua lity PC ho ard ,bu t also with tools and easy-to­fo llow in str uctio ns to ensurethat the kit will function as ad­

vertised.I constructed IWO kit s. Both

were si m ple to asse mble andhoth functioned better than Ie xpected . Sen sitivity was a keyissue and the 0. 2 microvo lt sen­sitivi ty for fu ll qu ieti ng o f thereed vcr at 30 MHz was veryimpressive. Order yo ur FR-IOreceiver kit no w and tc readyfo r th e com p le t io n of th i s

proj ec t in Part .2 ne xt lim e .Ramsey Electronics is located at793 Cann ing Parkway. Vietor:-.JY 145M. Their order phone isI (HOD) 4-16-22Y5. while ques­tions or order status handling isavailable at (7 16 ) 92-1--1555.

Ne xt time. I plan to completethis transce iver and cover theinterface of the recei ver and thetra nsmi tte r mod ulator c irc uit.T he bottom line is that thi s re­ce iver ca n he interfaced withe ither a 10 GHz o r 24 GHz os­

cillator/detec tor c avity for greatwldeba nd FM fun . 73. ChuckWB6IGP. Fa

give hu nters a c ha nce to gel ahea ring on each o ne everyminute.

T he winning team was C larkeHarr is WB 6ADC and RichardClark N6UZS , After the hunt.

Richard explained. "We foundT2. T I. T4. and T5. in that or­der. After four hou rs. we were

really close to T4 and decided10 forget about T3 so we couldgel 10 T5 by mid nig ht. Wc flg­urcd it would lukc ~O minu tes10 drive , p lus sniffing time. sowe ....'ere mo ving really fa... I: ·

Ghosts and goblinsto track

Another ham who has discov­e re d r ndi o -orte nt ce rln g a ndwants to get mo bile 'J-huntc rs to

uy it is Bo nnie Crystal KQ6 XAof San Matco, California ( I~holo

A l. Her method was simila r 10mine. hu t her e xecutio n was farmore crea tive.

Last October 31. Bo nnie puton the monthly Pad -a-LunchT·hun t in Fremont. Ca liforni a .near San Jose . Considering thedate. a Hanowecn-tncmc hu nt

was most appropriate . In doi ngit.... he gave hu nte rs somethingthey had nOI done before . hutmade it fun for e veryo ne. AI: ·

cording to long-time hunter JimSakanc KD6DX. -u was one ofthe most elaborate and finest T­hunts I hav-e ever participated in: '

Plwto A . Bonnie CrvstatKQ6XA holds one of her s i.t

Halloween fox transmittersand the fa ke cumpcugn sign1!lIIt concealed one of them,

(Photo by Jessica Slel'el1 .1' .J

Although new to hid d e ntransmi tter hu nting on the hamband s, Bonnie wo n both of her

fi rst two Tt.hun cs. making it her

re spo nsib ility 10 be the hiderthat month . "I've used both lowfreq uency and VHF directio nfind ing for many years for otherrad io o peratio ns:' she to ld me."Now I wanted to sian o ff hid ­

ing with a spla...h . The h un tershad no prior kno wledge of thestyle o f hunt to ex pect. Al l mypreparation was do ne in corn­ptcrc secrecy. The only indica­tion I gave the week before theh u n t wa s tha t I was wo rkingon a T. and hoped 10 have itto gethe r in time for the hunt: '

Seve n te a ms assembled a t

the star ting po int. wait ing forBonnie's signa l 10 appear at 10AM . At the appointed hour. hervoice appeared o n the local re­peater. te ll ing the hun ters tochec k under nearby rocks for in­suucuons. Ron Suszrar ~7TVEwa s 11 rs l to spot the stack of pu­pers containing a crypti c poe m(sec Trick . . . (II' Trear?).

T he po e m d isclosed nothingabout boundari es o f the huntarea. nor did itreveal how marrytrcnsnuners there would he. Buthiders who had read about in­

tcrnanonal-stylc fo xhu nting rc­all zc d tha t Ih is m e th o d ofsignal in g an d identi fic a tio nwould be follo wed . Be..ide sthe !\fO d esig nations. Bonnie

helped the hu nters di sti nguishbetween transmit ters by givingeach o ne a different CW lo ne

pitch. To add to the intrigue, so me­of the tra nsmit te rs a lso played

so und e ffec ts. so und ing like ahaunted ho use. O thers had sen­si tive microphones to cause au­

dio feed back a s hu ntersappro ac hed with Ihe ir handie­talkies on .

A ll o f Bon n ie ' s fo x boxesused PicCon con troll ers (sec" Homi ng In" for March 19( 7).programmed to start and cropthe transm it seq uenc es auto­maticul ly, Only two of the foxes

(T I and T2) came on the air atthe IOA;-'1 sta n time . T2 (M Ol)wa s cle ve rly co ncea led inside

a stee l post j ust 100 fee t fro mthe start poi nt in a vaca nt 101

Trick .,. o r Treat?A Hallow een Transmitter Hunt

by b onnie Crystal KQ6XA

Strange and mysteriou s! From anot her dimension!Th is little hunt ta kes a ll your atte ntio n .A fox of a witch waits for yo u to arri ve .The radio, it's haunted o n 146 .S6S !

The mind p lays tricks and fools the eyes:Belie ve your eq uipment- it never llcs." Always trust yo ur initial bearing .'You might go astray whe n yo u' re feeling daring .

Why walk away from yo ur listening posts?Clue s will he there in sp ite of the ghosts.Point your antennas and tune your receivers.The path to the fox isn ' t paved with dece ivers!

" Ho w many," yo u ask. "wi ll the re he 10 flnd?"Quite eno ug h just 10 d rive you right o ut of you r mind!W ho are "~10E." ··~10 1 :· and the re st '!Just a Iox in the trick-or-treat transmitter nest.

··M OE·· is o ne and "~Io r' is two .

" MOS" is th ree. on and on like a zoo.WiII "MO H: ' " MOS," maybe more appear?

Keep you r cars open fo r what yo u can hear!

Always save your spccialli'I wrappers.Or you'I l wind up like WI morning na ppers.If yo u' re a-fakin . or you ' ve been mistaken.The .... itch will object to some good ies you' vc tak en !

Get hack to the start point for e leventh the ho ur ...When witch casts her spe lls with even more po wer!Then tl y like a bird to the witch' s la ir.Whe-n the cloc k strikes three. make sure yo u are there !

(P ho to B). It pu t o ut on ly onemilliwatt and the antenna was aone-Inch holt ! T I ( I\-t OE) W,IS

about a quarter-mile aw ay. run­ning 10 milfiwaus into a quar­ter-wa vc whi p. Both o f themshur do wn after one hour.

J im Sakane wrote. "The in­st rucuo ns sta ted . ' Why wal kaway from your listening posts?"S o I decided 10 stay and get ,II:·

curate initi al hearings. Lucky Idid. as I found the MOl tran s­miner in the fence post. with amlcrcphoue . I kic ked it by ac- Ph oto H. Ron Susaar NnVEcidcnrandeverybody heard il on is amazed that fo.t # I is some­the ir two-meter radio s: ' where imide this fence pO.H!

After that, it was off to lind (A r least thcu s what his RDFTI, wh ich was emitting ghou l- equipment indicates ' ] (Photoish so und effects. Bonnie had by Jim Sakunc KDMJX.)

73 Amateur Radio Today · Februa ry 1999 43

thi rd si g n a l nu xmg with thestrong MOS and MO B sound scom ing from ou r receivers. Wegot into o ur cars a nd he ad ednorth o n Skyline. where themi xed signal was gelling louderand stronger than T3 and Tot. We

parked o ur car in a bike trailpar kin g 101 and h u n te d t hemixed signal. wh ich turned o ut10 be T5 mounted o n the hackfence .

" At tha t time we heard sti llanother signa l mi .'(ing in," J im

added . " W it h a ll these foxestransmit ting at the same time ,

we were gelling pretty con fu sed.I d isco vered tbuttbc c loser yo uge t to even a weak transm itter,

it w ill eve ntua lly o verta ke astro ng trans mitter. Rich Har­rington KN6FW wa s the o nlyperson to go after T 6. He fo undit about 3(X) feet up on a ridgeoverlooki ng the parking lot ,"

A s the h un t e nde d a t th e

stro ke of 3 P~1. a ll hunters gath­ered in the hilltop parki ng 10 1.

They tu r ne d in th e ir c a ndywrappers and waited 10 lind o ut

who had won. But lirst. Bonniehad a surp rise fo r Slime ofthem.S he o pe ned the am m un ition

'an- the one that W :lS o n theRO AD CLOSED sign-to re­vea l no thing bu t so me hea vyrods ! It was a decoy.

T he real T3 was heavily cam­outl agcd in nearby brush withits circ ularly-polarized yag! an­tenn a poin ted to the sta rtingpo in t. T he decoy box was di ­rectly in the sig na l path. Any­o ne w ho turned in a wrapper

from the decoy was penalizedby h a vin g one fox deduc tedIrom the team 's score. B)' theway, the candy next to the de­w)" was aptly named "Trix'","

KK6 F\\' was the undispu tedwi nner of the hunt. Accordingto Bonnie , " He turned in a ll sixwrappers from the real fo xe sand was smart e noug h 10 kee p

the decoy cand y wrapper in hisc a r. H is mi leage was lo we sta lso . On the ot her hand , (hewors t mi leagc wa s ove r toO

mi le s. On e hunte r chased themountain re lleet io n from T3'sbeam to a mountaintop areaabove Oakland ab out 25 mile s

were expected to cal o ne andsave the wrapper. 10 be tu rnedin as proof that they had foundthai particular fox .

According to KQtiXA. "1t to ok

them the entire hour to lind T Iand T2. O ur video tape shows

them wal ling around in circlesand then walking away severalrimes. totally befuddled ,"

How m any more?

At I I A M , T l and T 2 disap­peered from the ai r, replaced byT3 (t-.lOS) and T4 (MOH ). Bothwere about 25 mile s away, o n

"',~ I lhe west side of Sail PmnclscoBay, " Ma ny hunters searc he dthe same area on foo t fo r T 3 andT4 at fi rst : ' Bo nn ie reponed."T heir signal strength " 'as sim i­lar to the earlie r ones . d ue ttltheir muc h hig her powe r andhigh locat ion ,"

"T he ~10S signal was verylo ud: ' KD6D X wrote. "1some­times received it fu ll -scale . Idrove around the "tart poi nt areaa nd the di rectio n did not changeat all. This told me that it wasnot d ose. G reg Ottria KEb PTPand I headed otf the hi li to c atchHi g hway 10 1 nca r M ountainView. We pic ked up lunc h inSunnyvale and co ntinued north,ending up on Skyline Boulevard.'

Upo n e xiting the ir vehicles.most hunters quic kly spotted a nammunition box with whip an­tcnna sticking out. faste ned to a"Trai l Closed" sig n (Photo C ),

They grabbed a candy har fromthe hag ne xt to it and beaded o ff

into the woods to 100" for thesour..-e o f lhe weake r ~IOH sig­nal , '1'4 was a little harder tofin d : ' KD6DX reponed , "1hada lo t o f signa l rell ec-uons a nddidn ' t k now where to go .KEtirrTr and I walked up a tra ilunri! the sni ffer pinpointed itbelo w trail level (Photo H).

Ji m conti nued . "As we too kt he Mr. Goodharw c a ndies .Bonni e walked up behind us inhe r witch costume , She asked ifwe had fi nished looki ng for thethree to eig ht transmlncrs. Wegathered from her cryptic slate ­mer uthat there were more fo xe sto hunt. With careful auemion.we di sco vered that the re was a

EL ECf FOXX: ' The line printunderne ath was " Pa id fo r byCa lifo rnians fo r Bay Area T­Hunts Committee."

Instead of the traditio nal sign­in s hee t. a hag of Ha llo wee ncandy was near eac h of Bonnie 'sfo xes, Each bag had a differentbra nd o f cand y bars . Hunt ers

Photo C, H IIIIII III " . Anonnmmition CtlII with 1II11ef//U/ lItot' 1I siK II

hoard. Andthe signa/ is reallv strongt Call this he fox #J? (Ph01(lby KD6DX.J

taken advantage of ihe sign clut­tcr that decorate, the fences o fmo st Ca lifomia vacant lo ts atelection time . TI was inside herow n fak e cam pa ign sig n . T­hunters ' an he mesmer ized h)'watc hing thei r sniffing devices.so they mi g ht hav e missed thefac t that th e stgn read " RE-

Photo I) , Rich Harrington KN6FW just fou nd fox #4 deep ill theII'Of/ciJ . tts beam ol/fenno caused the signal 10 haunce from 0

1II00111Will to the north , (Photo by KD6lJX .J

44 73 Amateur Radio Today · Februa ry 1999

QRP

Michael Bryce WB8VGESunlight Energy Systems955 Manchester Ave . SWNorth Lawrence OH 44666[prosolar@sssnet.comj

Hov.... many hours have youspent worki ng on the li ner de­tails to pea k the fronl e nd of aQRP receiver'? Then. after hou rsof ..... ork . you co nnec t yo urdream ri g up 10 a he-hum audio

am plifier. Kinda trashes all yourwork , doe sn 't it '? Well. th ismo nth we' ll luke a closer loo kat so me o f the many d iffe rentaudio amplifier chips availableto the horne builder. We 'll a lsolook at the o ld sta ndby-s- theLM386.

Keeping it s imple

Everyone likes to keep thingssimple . no matter what theproject. However. in an audioampli fie r. sometimes simple isthe not the best way 10 go. Iguess it all depends 0 11 wha t theend prod uct will be . If you ' reo nly after eno ugh audio 10 drivea pair of walkthing headphone s,

th en yo u can gel by wit h afew resi stors and a couple o f2K2222s! If you want to en­hance yo ur aud io so you loan lis­te n to the rig for hours on end,then you"ll have to come up withsomething a hit bet ter.

Set up some guidelines

If you a re working o n the

Low Power Operation

aud io section o f a receiver. yo ushould put some design goals o npaper. If. fo r example, yo u ' regoi ng to be using the receiver(or transcei ver} fo r portable use .then current co ns um ptio n israther important. Likewi ..c. ifyo u're planni ng fo r portabl euse , do you really need a two

watt output amplifier? Wh ileyou and your family may likeCW in the backg round whi le

you camp. those o f Us a roundyou may be camping to gelsome peace and quie t !

Anothe r gu ide lin e i s theamou nt of space , and thus thepa ri COU nlS needed to produceyour desired output If you 'rebuildi ng a super-s ma ll rig. thenyou' H have 10 design your au­di o section using the mi n imumnumber of parts . In this case,pe r ha p s t he use o f s u r fac emount components may be re ­q uired , And if that is so. then

\ 'OU oucc aeain have to 100" at• e

theoutput power you can safelypu ll out o f an SMT audio am­plifier. On the other hand . ifyou're p lan ning on bui lding arig that wilt ne ver see the greengrass o f a national park , rbcnyo u may want to go with lots ofaudio . If that i.. the case, thereare many hybrid ICs that have

ve ry lo w internal di stort ionnu mbers. Wc 'lI 100" at a nu m­ber o f the se chips in a moment.

A s home-brewe rs. we ca nlake advantage of sOI1l~ o f thespecialized audio Ie chips thathave sprung up from consumergoods. There arc audio ICs thatsupport up 10 the watts o f veryd ean audio. In addition. you candoubl e up the power becau se

these chips al so produce grea t­so und ing audio. To really makethings more interesting, some o fthe se speci ali ze d aud io c hipsha ve an onboard auenuaror. Youcan remotel y control the volumeby varying a DC voltage Insteado f running audio a round yourchus..is! A lthough most o f thisis o verkill fo r most of us, thetechno logy is there none thel ess.Let's gel going!

Th e LM380N

T he L:'>13 8 0K is a n audioamplifier in a I-t-pin DIP pack­age that requires w I)' few addi­tiona l exte rna l components 10make a complete 2.5 wall am­p lifier. T he gain o f this IC isfixed at 3'" dB . T he LM3l\O:"c hip has a un ique inp ut stagethai allows inputs to he g round­referenced. The output is auto ­matically se lf-cente ring 10 oneha lf the suppl y vo lta ge , T heLM 380N has outp ut short ci r­c u it prorecnon wi th i nte rn a lthermal limi ting. Since this chiphas the internal thermal heal sinkco nnec ted to the middle pins. itallows for easy heat sin" designusing the PC board traces.

The LM388

Thi s audio chip is very similarto the LM380 :". T he g a in is

internally set at 20 dB . Ho w­C\'Cr. by c ha ng ing a few extcr­nat components, (a resistor and

a capac itor between pins 2 and6) . the gain can he inc reased upto l ou d B, T he inverting/non­invert ing inputs are ground- ret­e rcnccd. whi le the output is au­romanculty biased 10 o ne ha lfthe DC powe r supply voltage .The Lf\1388 will operate withlow d istortion all the way do wn

10 '" VDC.

The LM384

If yo u' re locking for so me­thing to rod your nei ghbors.this is the o ne thaI will do it !TheL:'>1J8-1 will produce fi ve wa lls.Ha ving the same I -t-pin co n­fi guration, yo u co uld swap outthi s c hip with eithe r the L~1J80o r the LM388. with mino r pinc ha nges o n your PC hoard.

The L M386

He re ' s o ur o ld friend ! Prima­ri ly. this chip is designed forlow-volt age . bat te ry-operatedapphcuuons. With pins I and 8open. ci rcuit gain is inter nall yse t 10 20 dB . Wilh a IO ~F ca­pacitor between pins I and 8, the

gain is then set to 200 dB . T hegain of this chip loan be SCi 10

just about anything in be twee nthese two levels hy adding a re­sistor in seri es with the capaci­tor connected belween pin I andpin 8.

The TDA2040

Here is a chip that will alsora tt le yo ur windows with its 2()­watt out put. T he T DA2040 is inthe fi ve-pin S IL (s ing le inlinc jpackage . It's a good thing thai

nwuy 0 11 the cust side o f the hayand eventually gave up, notifyingthe hunt group via a repeater."

As I have written before. Ithink the best hidden transmit­rer h unt s include s ur p rises.Bonn ie certa inly fulfill ed thatrniv..ion. and she gave the Pack­a-Lunch bunch a good introduc­tion to in te rnationa l-sty lefoxtailing in the process. KD6DX

procla imed. " 1think Bo nnie andher helper Je ssic a shou ld begi .... e n a fi ve - sta r rating a ndmade the exc lusive fox for a llPad -a-Lu nch Tvhunt s . ButBonnie. it doesn't have 10 he th ishard every time! "

Bonnie and he r friends a realso p lan ning some all-on-footfoxhunts follo wing intc mmionalradi o -o rien tee ri ng rul e s. She

hopes to put toget her a team to For more information o n howcompete at the 1999 Friendship yo u and you r fe llo w hams canRadiosport Garn e s (FRO -I)!)) hold inte rnational-style fo xhun ts

foxhunts in Portland Oregon. this a nd participate in FRO-99, visitcoming Au gust. As I reported last the " Homi ng In" Web site. URLmonth. competitors from Russia. abo ve . If yo u ha ven "t ..uc ­

Japan. Canada. and perhaps other cumbed to the lure o f the Web.countries are e xpected to attend send a self-add ressed stampedthis event. which has been dcsig- e nvelope to my posta l addressnatcd as the first lA RU Region 2 above and I' ll se nd yo u the in-ARDFChampionships. fo rmation by ret urn mai l. fa

73 Amateur Radio Today · February 1999 45

Mobile, Portable and Emergency Operation

ON THE Go

Steve Nowak KE8YN/41011 Peacock Ave. NEPalm Bay Fl 32907·1371[pangen @compuserve.com)

A value statement

There 's a saying. ofte n uttrib­uted to Henry Ford. that goessomething like. "Whether youbelieve you can. or you believeyou can' t-a-you're right." Thereis a 101 of truth in that . We tend10 achieve wha t we believe wecan achieve.

Someti mes . fo r example, Ihear from other amate urs thatthey have been intri gued by

mobile or portable o peratio n.but feel tha i it is too expensive.In fact. most of us have heardof prospect ive ham s who arcinte rested in the hobby hUIdon" , pursue thei r interest be­cause o f this pe rce ption that iti s prohlbirl vel y expe nsive .This may he one of the mostin accurat e ussurnpuo ns we

face tod ay.I ma y not have t he best ­

eq uipped ham sh a ck ill t heworld. hut I've go t equi pment

that suits my needs and providesthe capabilities I' m interestedin . Al on gside t he com p u te r

mo ni tor sits my low-band rigand a two-meter transcei ver aswe ll as my TNC. which allowsme to com mu nicate nut only bymice or C W hut a lso hy packet.tel etype CRTIY), and slow scanTV (SST V). Almost all o f theco mponents were purchased newand cost around $1500 total.

I know what yo u' re thinking:I j ust pro ved your point thatamateur radio is a very expen­sive hobby. But wai t a minute.ldid not purcha se all o f thi se q ui pme nt at o ne tim e , butadded, upgraded. and traded upover the years .These arc the lat­est acq uis itions that I ha ve , ande xcept for the di g it a l power/S WR meter (bought o n a c lose­o ut for $20). the other eq uip­ment is be tween 13 and 16 yearso ld.

II' s interesting to no te that theprices for today's comparablepieces (whic h d o ha ve a fewmo re horns. he lls. and com put­cnzed whis tles) are about thesa me in actual do llars 01<' theywere for my eq uipme nt when I

purchased it. Ye s, I'm talking

new, second - or third-tier-from­the-top eq uipme nt. Thi s meansthat an excellent high-frequencyrig c an be purchased fo r lessthan $ 1000, and a medium-pow­

ered VHF transce ive r for le ssthan $500.

Again. thi s may seem like alot o f money, hut there is o ne

o ther factor. Remember how Imentioned that my statio n sitsnext to my com pute r? Th esedays a compute r seems just asnecessary as a telephone . Obvi­o usl y, " the k id s ne ed it fo r

school: ' My older son typed onescho ol ass ig n men t for everygaz illio n ho urs of com p ute rgames he played (and he ' s nowmajo ring in computer science in

college). so r wonder about thatlinc of logtc. f or whateve r rea­

son, a computer is conside red anece ssity.

Since I bought my current HFrig in the' mid -' SOs. I have had

an SOSO-based co mpute r. u 386­bused compu ter. and a Pentium"and a K-6. These computers costan a v-erag e o f twice whut m y

ri g cos t , not c o u nti ng up ­g rades. ad di tional memory. andconsumable supplies. It i.. wellac know ledge d th at we go

through a computer generatione ve ry 18 mouths . So, since the' 80s we' ve been through the

800S, the 286, the 386, the 486,the Pe ntium, and the Pentium

Pro. And you can only upgrade

a system so far before it has to

he replaced, because new soft­ware won't run on most previous

platforms.On the o ther hand, an ama teur

rig represents a great value . Fig­uring the cost over time, my HFrig has cos t me just over $ 100per year, while my computershave L"OSt me over $6{X). Have Igotten 21 e value from my HF rigper day'? Yep. Can I still UM: allthe modes? Agai n, affi rmative.

Some fo lks may prefer to lookat the cost as cash flow ruther than

calc ulate the value overtime.Theinitial outlay of money ma y bethe concern. I full y understandthat issue as well, especially asit re lates to mobi le or portable

operatio ns. After all, if you havea decent rig at hom e, the mobile

may represent a duplicate e x­pen se . That' s wh y we hav e

bamfcsts.My mobile rig was purchased

011 a hamfcst and incl uded therig , microphone, a 20 A powersupply, and a phone pat ch- foebe tween $200 and $300. If I had

bee n so incli ned . I co uld haveso ld the patch and power sup­ply to further reduce m y cost . IfI had been faste r 10 react at that

hamfest I could have pic ked upa multiband Ourbackcr antenna

for less than $ 100.Odds are that most automobile­

mo unted two-meter rig s costmore than S300- S-KX) if you in­cl ude the antenna. So. all things

es ting st uff There's a UALRlookup. QRZ, and Buckmastercattslgn look up search engines.

But what I find the must in­teresung is the ability to viewreflector postings of the Q RP.Topband. CQ·Con te s t , a ndTower Talk. You can view andsearc h reflec tor archives. too .

Thcres a ls u an ac tive OXcluste r si te fo r all the HF hamhands. Why, there ' s e ven TelnetPacket G ateways o n the site !Thi s is a slick way to keep into uch wit h o the r QRP o pera­ters-e-chec k thc hand co nditionswhile you search for OX fro mthe cluster gateways. fa

CW and ill SSB. You 'llnced theReal Audio p layer plug-in foryo ur Web browser. Tha t's not aproblem, as you can down lo adthe plug-in from the ARRL cite .

You may wa nt to check outmy Web site, too: [www.seslogic.co m ]. I'll be installing somelinks to some of the QRP sites .Ha ve yo u ever wanted 10 checko ut what is happening with yo urQRP b uddies on the QR PL re­Fleeter? But you don 't want tome ss with subscribing to thenews reader? T hen po int yo urwebbrowser to: lwww.qth.ccnvsta m pcr/searc h/baf00 f.h tmJ.There you'll fi nd lo ts of inter-

hcut sink for its rat ed o ne wallo utput po wer.

T here' s no t e nough mom to

puhlish the p inouts o f each ofthese chips. but any good refer­e nce book will do . I used the one

by National Semiconductor.He re would be a good chip to

replace the tired LM J Xo. Thi s Tidbitsone -watt mo no a mpl ifi er isbund led in an e ig ht- p in DI P Are you a mem ber o f thepackage.ThcTOA7052 features ARRL'~ If SU o check o ut the new

internal short circ uit protection. members section o f the League'slow power consumption. and Web site. They arc at [www.arrl,good ovcralloutput stabifity. No org ). O nce yo u' ve ente red theex terna l componcrus are rc - members-only section, check out

qu ircd for c irc u i t tuncuon . the review o f the SGC2020 rig.There is no need fo r an external Yo u can listen to the rig in both

46 73 Amateur Radio Today . February 1999

The TDA7052

thi s chi p has a bu ill -in over­tem perature sh utdow n. It has

internal sho rt c irc uit protection.100.

Numbef 41 t;HJ your FHdN d c.rd

THE DIGITRL PORT

Jack Hetler KB7NOP.O. Box 1792Carson City NV 89703-1792(jheUer@ sierra.net)

BUdget portable/mobiledigital

Some of you have wondered.I am sure, when I was going tolake the SSTV, RTTY, c tc ..down the road . I finall y did it,and it is well worth the effort.cons idering the time J spendaway from home,

The only mi ssing element Ineeded to come 10 grip s wi thwas a mobil e ante nna . Thestores and ham magazine adsolTer many choices, and I lookedat them. There is nothing wro ngwith buy ing ready-to-bolt-onequipment. It is well wort h themOlley. Ham equipment is a bar­gai n when you consider Ihat theex pe rimenting is pretty we lldone by the time you buy it.

But you faithful readers knowme bcucr than tha t. If it can he

made by a pair of huma n hands,surely I can do it as well. Justseems to be an att itude. and if ithasn' t been cured by thi s timein my life , it is without douht ahopeless case , Besides. these arclearning exe rcises. No on eshould leave this earthly exist­ence wit hout a knowledge ofmobile an tenna fabrication.

Just a quic k aside : Today.when I made the firs t 40 metercontact to get a re port on theantenna, I hooked up with DaveW7DE in Palo Alto. and Forrest

K6HY, who is a hit far ther northin Ca lifornia. These ham s to ldso me old war stories about mo­bile antennas of yore that werenot only educationa l. but alsohelped put some of my recentefforts into perspective.

Here ' s a quick ru ndown onthe project. Though it is success­ful, I feel the dimensions arc notquite ideal. Therefore, I won'tgt ve exact meas urements lestyou copy the m and end up witha less than perfect product. WhatI am saying. simply, is that af­ter careful adj ustme nt I have anantenna with a re latively highSWR that requires an antennatuner.

This is okay by me, since anymobile antenna, other than theco nstan tly va riab le "sc rew ­dri ver' variety, requires a tune r10 work more than a narrow seg­men t of th e band . I have atheory, and don't lake thi s as"fro m the horse's mouth: ' thatthe rea son you can ge t good sig­nal reports from these dink ylinle antennas is that the vehicleis part of the radiating device . Ihope I don ' t draw cri ticism onthat point , but it makes sense.How else can we explain greatperformance from a sixteenth­wave whip'?

Thi s budget mobile antennacosts less than 20 to assemble.The real problem with saving

money is that you have to workfor it. The first part was fairlysimple. I purch ased a scrap o fhal f-inch PVC for less than abuck to use as a coil form. Togo with that, I picked up some14-gauge copper wire for about15c a foot. ano ther $3 or so .

An idea was forming aboutspacing on the smooth surface.rca lculated the number of rumsI wan led on the form. chuckedthe pipe in the meta l lathe, andcut a shallow thread along itsle ngt h at s i x a nd o ne- ha lfthreads per inch . T hat madewinding a neat coil easy,

T he standard thread dimen­sion for mounting mobile hard­ware is three-eigh ths diameter at24 threads per inch. I wanted tousc that standard because. in theend. it might prove pruden t topurchase a commercial stainlesssteel stinger. Real-life reasoningshowed this to be wise because .for the experime ntal version. thestinger was first made by weld­ing three pieces of e ighth- inchgas welding rod end-to-end.

Vertical with a droop!

This was brazed to a short boltwith the proper threads, and aninteresting phenomenon rai sedits head. Though this work of artap peared fairly straight, when itwa s he ld vertical . th e topd roo pe d o ve r lik e a wi ltedflower. This was remedied bys li pp ing abo ut 50 inch es o fquarter-inch stee l tubing o verthe bottom half and brazing itat both ends.

Also. afte r realizi ng this rela­tively stiff assernbty could strikesome low bridges , the lengthwas reduced 10 seven and a halffeel. A three-ei ghths nut wasground to a press fit and epoxied

into the top of the coi l with thecoil wire attached during thi soperation. This made one end ofthe ante nna complete .

The o the r e nd of the coi lneeded a coax fi lling. This wasaccompli shed by fi tting andpressing a barrel connecto r intothe coil form with the properconnections in place before ap­plying epoxy. This project wastaki ng s hape rat he r nicel y­nothing to this home-brew stuff.

Then came the rude awaken­ing. There was no easy way tomount thi s co ntraption w it hreadily avail able ha rdw are , Iwas going to have to roll myown.

A fler a quick search throughthe sc rap bi n. the on ly materialt hat was close to w ha t wa sneeded was a piece o f half-inchaluminum plate . Sounds simple,except that this was 7075, aboutthe toughest a lumi num avail­able . It is nearly indestructibleand, consequently. difficult tocut. S li1I, it was the best qui ckchoice.

Bra cket s we re formed toclamp to the upper and lo werends of the coil and mount to thec urved side of the van . T hatcurve can really mcs.. with yourmind . Inside of a foo t. the re is athree-inch variation from verti ­cal. I learned thi s when auach­in g ot he r appli ance s to th einside of this old van. Ifyou eve rdecide to build your own RV,lake it from me: Build it intosomething shaped more like ashoe bo x.

Aft er ge tting through a ll theto ugh detai ls o f for ming th isa lumi num and ge tt i ng itmounted 10 the side with some

Cont inued on page 50

considered, the price is nowherenear as prohibitive as you mightthink to operate HF mobiling.

And what do you ge t in te­tum? First. you' re not limited hyrepeater coverage. and many HFmobi le operato rs have rn ainc,rained a contact ove r a distanceof a hundred miles. Su re there 's

some signa l fad in g , but notmuch more than I experiencewith my fixed rig at home. Rag­chewing with a foreign stationseems to male a trip seem muchshorter than a sim ilar d iscu s..ionon a local repeater. Plus. you ' renot ty in g up a repea te r rrc­quency in the process.

If you read this column regu - co nsider. If you do, drop me alarry. you know thai I have a line and let me know about yourpassion for emerge ncy and di- expe rie nces. I enjoy hearin gsasrer comm unications. Think about different aspec ts of theabout how much more you can hobby and passing them along.con tribute wi th additional bands Even thoug h we provide a lot ofat your fingertips in the car. public service. ham rad io is, uf-

T hink about it. It j ustmtght {cra l l,a hohby,andth us mai l~

b e so me th i ng you wan t to a whole lo t of fun. ij

73 Amateur Radio Today ' February 1999 47

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The Adonisof the Airwaves

So und coo lly profess io nalwith the AM· 7500E am plifieddesk to p mike. The fo ur-handgraphic equalizer provides toneco ntrol uvcr your trcnsnuucdvoice. whi le: the three -stagespeech compressor and audioamplifier co rnrct the strengthand consis tency of your trans­mined audio. You 'll also find

that Adon is US A's AM-7500E

has a highly se nsitive electre tmicrophone element. o utputlevel cont rol. momentary andlocking PTf switches. batterytest cr-c-und rn o rc , a ll in asharp-looking. anodized al umi­num 1)00)' with metal goose­ned mi ke .

T he A~1 -7500E is poweredby AA batteries (4 ). an op­tio nal DC adapte r (mode l PS­6A) or directly by some radio...It usc .. Adonis adapter cables.available separately.to connect10 your transcei ver. makingswitching radios a snap. All th isand a fu ll one-year warranty for$269 .95!

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48 73 Amateur Radio Today • February 1999

AOUERTI SERS' I NOEHR.S.I page R.S.I page R.S .I page R$.I page

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-' ':II!:' open repeaters throughout the U.S., Canada andI~;P "",,"""':=1" Mexico.These detailed maps show all highways(;:11 ;''": "....-- , and major cities in each state. If you travel

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1'~. IB.~ t'Im> •rfJ fM.;~ •• " ", will he the best Investment you ever made!~ --' - """'. R' ;"", $9.95

-

con tinuedJrom fXl!Je 47

THE DIGITAL POA T T hin k a bo ut j ust th is o ne

ite m, Kenwood sees it is neces­sary to put a lillie pizzazz in theHT FM mode. so what do they

do? They build a great new digi­tal came ra that interfaces withthe ir handhe ld s so SSTV pic­

tures can be taken and , withinmo ments. sent o ver the air too ther hams in full -quali ty co lor.That is very nearl y instant grat i­fication. plus the ability to useo ne of the ne w tech no lo g ies

ava ilable in conju nctio n wit hham radio .

I t s ho u ld n't be up to themanufacturers to design eq uip­

ment that will bring ne w heightsof inte rest to ham radio . bu tKenwood has made a step in theright d irection . T hat is the VC­H I , It costs money, about $500.

hu t so does any o f this hi-tec hSluff, and people are buying it.

I still recall the pro fessiona lprogrammer sluing in my shackwatching a packet connection inoperat ion . He was marveling athow thi s was being done with

no connec tion throu gh rele­phone lines. We can display thesame fascinatin g stuff with all

the d igital mode s.Consider ho w yo u might im­

pre ss your technically-orientedfri ends if they could sec packetrun over the ai r or. better yet.

SST V. RT T Y, PACT O R o rW EFAX. Th ink o f the possibili­ties as yo u te ll them , ..... and

you could do this and more . Do

you realize that. as hams. we canmake contact with o ur o wn sat­elli te s and pass some of thesesame kinds o f me ssage s backand fo rth through them? I would

like you to get into this so wecould do these things together:'

And the re lies a little secret.Most peo ple aren ' t really lonerswhen it come s to learning some­thing new. T hey may be com ­petitiv e and wa nt to learn mo reand faste r than o ne ano ther. butthat is the ad vantage o f two

people wo rking together. Try it.Of course, that may mean in­

vesti ng 30 or audollars and get­ting into RTIY o r SSTV. butthat is generally within the rangeof those who read this column,If you will refer to Ta b le I , you

the mode as we ll as those whowould like to do SSTV o n lowpower. I even ran across o neham who had tired o f the usual

propagation and interfere nceproblems who heard us o n 7 .190during an early afternoon session.

He had become more enam­ored with th e In terne t eve n

though he had assembled a rc­spect ah le ham sta tion, T h isle ads me to a painful subjec t.T his Internet is one o f o ur great­

est asse ts when it comes to reli ­able comm unicatio n and datatransfe r. b ut it has become o urgreatest competitor for the chal­lenging mind that was o nce bestsuited for ham radio activi ties.

The reasons are based aro undc hoice s, Suppose yo u can e x­plore wh at goes on in o the rlands by simply co nnecting to aserver through a tele phone lineand runn ing a searc h fo r thatland , and yo u can do this immc­d iate ly wi tho ut pas s ing a nytests . (Some o f the fo lks usi ng

the Inte rnet should have to passa te st o n co mmo n se nse andcourtesy, bUI if they don 't have

to pass an)' such te st to get adri ver 's license . ,. well? Ano ther

subject.)And o ur natural rebutt al as

ham s is that what we do is morepe rsonalized and we get to talkto the natives and ma ke fr iends.e tc . wesay there is a challe nge

to using ham radio that showsw ha t we a re made of. Kid s

co unter b)' sayi ng the y ha veplenty o f othe r challenge s al­ready- they want some imme­diate action ,

A ll right , so th is is a n o ldstory and it goes o n. back andforth. and no one really wins.Let's face it. It ain' t about wi n­ning , i t' s abou t what we ca n doto ma ke ham rad io mo re fas­cinating to the up and comi nggenerations.

The po in t 1 wo uld li ke tomake here is sim ply th is. We

have. at o ur fingertips. a mostattractive package of technologyth a t is d isg u ised a s an o ldfo ge y ' s ho bby. Ham radi o ismuch more than a ticke t to pur­chase an HT and access the local

repeater.

same thing. I knew that 3: Icould be tuned o ut with a tune r.so I brought o ut the massivedesktop tuner and. sure enough.

it handles it nicely.The final test to determi ne if

a ll this was worth it. if it wastime to start over or scrap thewhole project and go commer­cial, was to see if I could heheard . Th is was late e ve n inglime. there was a con test inpro gress and my li tt le pe anutwhist le ....u sn' I q uite noticeab le.

The nex t day. at the appropri­ale lime. I drove a wa y from thehouse and the side o f the hill thatso effectively shields me fromsome of my best ham contacts.Wit h the van pa r ke d in themiddle o f the valley aw ay from

any o bvious obstruction . I madethe fi rst contact with the newanten na a nd the signal re po rtwa s vc ry e nco ura g ing . T he

other operator was using a deltaloop and the signal reports buthways were in the S8 t09 category.

1deci ded to keep the not- so­perfect anten na just as-is and

use it . Other priority projectswere getting "behinder." and atleast thi s works,

I learned at least one thi ngbeyond the obvious problemsfac ed wh e n making do , One ofthose is tha t the g rid d ipper

me thod o f tuning an antenna hasbecome pretty we ll antiquated.I ha ve been read ing the ads fo rthe super antenna analyzers that

are purported to te ll all you needto know t o get an an te n natrimmed correctly. simply, andquickly. I need o ne of those if Iam going to e nga ge in suc hprojects, (Maybe I should b uildone")

Now. it is possi ble to be awayfrom home and keep ac tive con­

Photo A . This is the assembled tac t in the various HP modes , Imobile antelllla \l'ilh temporary have not tried this antenna on 20clips ill place for testing , The meters. The d ip meter said i tmounting was the most chalieng- resonated there a nd o n 15.1 willing task. The des ired position. have to lo ad it with the tuner and

high on the side, required some see how well it radiates. If thateffort to gain a vertical installa- makes it work, I will be a happytion, The aluminum brackets camper.were bored and nit. then Speaki ng o f d igita l amateurthreaded for clamp bolts. A modes, the SSTV activ ity o n 40weather corer is ("om;IIX as soon is drawing attention . I get E-mai las the project is completed, telling me ahout new interest in

50 73 Amateur Radio Today . February 1999

to p lug the ICOM 735 into 12volts and the antenna to c heckthe SW R, The had ne ws: T he

best reading was about 3:I. withthe built-in me ter on the 735 . 1

brought o ut a separate meter-

angle brackets. it was time to

run the coax. Thi s was fa irlysimple, since I am at liberty todri ll holes wherever I w ant o nth is vehicle . With an appropri­

ate-si te gromme t in place, thebusiness end of the coax wasinsertedthrough the side of thevan and I was in business. (SeeI'il iltl) ilL.)

The ne xt step was to deter­

mi ne wh ere to plate the taps o n

the coil. O ut came the trustyHeathkit dip meter that had been

gat hering du st si nce the la stmajor tunc-from-scratch project.

A fter fina lly gett ing the meterto dip in the m idd le of the ~O

meter hand . I became painfullyaware that I sho uld have madethe coi l a h it lon ge r. Tha t is

why there is no list of abso luted imensions given here .

The next to last e xercise wa s

Numb« 5 1 on your FHdbecl e.nJ

HAMS WITH CLASSK7UGA Retired senator Barry

Goldwate r. SK in 1998W B6AC U Ro ck Mu si ci an

Joe Wal..h

Carole Perry WB2MGPMedia Mentors Inc.P.O. Box 131646Staten Island NY 10313-0006

I.U ISM President of Argen­tina Carlos Sau l Menem

W6EZV USAF General CurtisLeMay, SK in 199 1

K20RS Wri ter. humoristJcanShepherd

K6DUE Retired NBC sciencereporter Roy Nea l

Famous folks

It is always nice to be in thecompany of accomplished , suc­cessful people. As amateur radiooperators. we arc al l in the COIll­

pany of some very famous per­sonalities. The kids in my radioclasses always enjoy hearing sto­ries about the many people fromdifferent walks of life who claimamateur radio a.. theirhobby. Pcr­hap.. you can u..c the followi ngInformation to enhance a lessonat scbcol or to have fun with at aclub meeting.

Writing to some of thL'SC folksmay lead to some interesting ex-

penerces for you and your group.Be sure to let me know ifyou havea good success story to share .

KA7EVD Do nny Osmo nd,who let his call expire-write tohim

EAOJC King of Spain JuanCarlos I de Bourbon

H S I A K in g o f T ha ilandBhumiphol Adulayadej

JY I King of Jordan Hussein I

IO f CG Pre sid ent o f Ita lyFrancesco Cosstga

K4LIB Enter ta ine r ArthurGodfrey. SK in 1983

KA6HV K Singer Burl lves.SK in 1991

K 16~1 Comedian Stew Gilliam

KN4UB Rock mu sician LarryJunstrom

W6UK Musician/bandleadcrAlvino Rey

WA4CZ D M us ici an Che tAtkins

WB4KCG Musician RonnieMi lsap

KB 2GSD Retired CBS an­chonnan Walter Cronkite

N4KET CNN anc ho rm anDave French

NK7U Retired Major Leaguebaseball player Joe Rudi

KB6LQS Pilot Dick Rutan

KI JT 1993 Nobel Prize win­

ner Dr. Joe Taylor. Jr.

Info rma tio n courtesy 1994CQ A.R. Almanac via TSRAC

ARNR. III

will fi nd a number of opportu­nities to get involved in thesefun activities- and they won' t

kill tile pocketbook.If you haw questions or com­

ments a bout this col umn. please

E-mail me a t Ijhell e r@sierr a .net ) and/o r CompuScrve1721 30.1352). I will gladly share

wha t I know or fi nd a resourcefor you . Fo r now. 73 , JackK B7NO. III

Table 1, Current Web addresses. If yeJll enCOllnter a problem WI/h a European address . tile network IS often at f ault. Try (lgom later.73 Amateur Radio rcasy » Februa ry 1999 51

Current Web Addresses

Source for: Web address (UAL)

HF seri al modem plans + software http Jlwww.accessone.com/- lmayhanlindex.htm

PCFlexnet communications free programs http l /d lOtd.afthd.th·dannstadt.de/-f1exneVindex .hlml

Tom Sai ler 's info on PCFlexnet http://www.ife.ee.ethz.chl-sailer/pcfl

SV2AGW free WingS programs http://www.forthnet.gr/sv2agw/

BayCom - German site htl p:l lwww.baycom.del

Pasokon SSTV programs & hardware htlp:/Iwww.ultranet.coml- sstvllite .html

Winpack shareware for Windows htlpllwww.duckles.demon.co.uklhamlwp.htm

Baycom 1.5 and Manual.zip in English httpllwww.cs.wvu.edul-acmlgopherISoftwarelbaycoml

Source for BayPac SP-2M htlp:ll www.ligertronics .coml

Tucson Amateur Packet Radio- where packet started- newhttp: //www.tapr.org

modes on the way

TNC to radio wiring help htlp:l/prairie .lakes.coml-medcalf/ztxlwirel

ChromaPIX & W95SSTV http://www.siJiconpixels.coml

Timewave DSP & former AEA prod htlp:/Iwww.timewave.com

VHF packet serial modem ki t http://www.ldge lectronics.com.

Easy Antenna ReferenceQuick basics for a quick decision.

Kei th Woodward V K2AT19 Dolphin Ave.

Taree NSW 2430Australia

The most basic antenna is the half­wave dipole. Most amateurs just runtheir half-wave dipole up the flag mastand see how it waves. The results thatmay be achieved wi th thi s si mple an­tenna deserve some consideration. Ifyo u refer to Fig, 1, you will notice thatthe radiation pattern of the anten nawi ll vary considerably with height. Inthe case of a quarter wave leng th aboveground, a large amoun t of your trans­mission wi ll be confined to high-angleradiation. Increasing the he ight to onehalf-wavelength will lower the radiationang les considerably.

If you wish to confi ne yourse lfmainly to close contact, within. say,1000 miles, then the lower he ight is ofno concern . To extend this range then,if possible , elevate the antenna toaround the half-wavelength mark. Ref­ere nce to Table 1 wi ll show approxi­mate he igh ts above ground for the

common HF bands . You can see whysome tall trees, o r artifi cia l supports,will be handy for the lower frequencybands. Another considera tion with an­tennas close to the ground, and otherobjects , is the loss fro m absorption orshie ld ing. If th is cannot be a voided,the n go a head and enjoy the res ultsobtai ned .

I personally ha ve e njo yed manyQSOs using very low dipoles. neces­sary because of the restric tions of cityand suburba n allotments. Howe ve r,long-di stance contacts over 1000 mi leswere the exception rather than the ruleon the lower freque ncy hands then be­ing used. O n occasion I have deliber­ate ly used very low dipoles on 3.5 and7.0 MH.-: to ohtain " local" coveragewith exce llent results.

With reasonable e levation, ang les ofradiation can he lowered by verticallystacking two dipoles. A simple method

If you' re a beginner. or find your­self moving to a new QTH. a mostimportant consideration is what

antenna can he erected for the handson which you intend to operate. Thepurpose of this article is not to give de­signs down to every last nut ami bolt.hut to discuss some bas ics and pointyo u in the di rection of an antenna thatmay meet your needs. And while thesesugges tions arc mainly related 10 theIIF bands. a ll the ante nnas here mayalso he used for VHF operati on .

HEIGHT

1/2 WAVE

1/4 WAVE

160

83.3

41.7

80

41.7

21.0

40

21.1

10.6

20

10.6

5.3

15

7.1

3 .6

10

5.3

2.7

Fig. 1. Top: dipole 1/4 lI 'llI "e over ground .Bottom: 1/2 1I'1lI"e over ground,

52 73 Amateur Radio Today • February 1999

Table 1. Typical heights fo r horizontal dipoles . All figures are in meters and rounded offto one decimal place.

•2

CARDIOID PAmRN

50 n

2

vertical antennas, separately matchedto 50 ohms, are spaced a half-wave­length apart at the operating frequency.The same stacki ng harness as sug­gested for the stacked horizontal di­poles is used. A figure -eight polardiagram is the result of this combina­tion and ach ieves approx imate ly 2.5to 3.0 dB gai n over a single verticalantenna.

In Fig. 5 the two verticals are spacedone-quarter of a wavele ngth apart andconnected together with a three-quar­ter-wave length matching harness madeof 50-ohm coaxial cable. This phasingof the antennas produces a cardioidunidirect ional pattern , which gives again in the most favored direc tio n ofapproximate ly 4 dB over the singlevertical antenna. In accordance withthe principle of not getting something fornothing , the rad iation in the oppositedirection is noticeably reduced.

Return ing to horizontal antennas ,there is a need to provide for more thanone band of operation . The easiestmethod is to parallel two or more di­poles from the same feedpoint. I sug­gest , if possible , separating the dipolesby some distance . In one case I erecteda fi ve-band dipole, spac ing the ele­ments for each hand approxi mately sixinches apart with plastic spreaders.Thi s operated quite successfully on 40,30,20, 15, and 10 meters . As with alldipoles, I made all the elements toolo ng at the lower end of the band andpruned each band 's eleme nts un til Iachie ved resonan ce at my favoredfrequency of operation .

It's time for an unpaid commercialannouncement. Over the last nine

3/ 4 I-

50 n

•

,T

1/4 x

i

Fig . 5. Unidirectiona l phased ground planes: gain approximately 4 dbgp,

73 Amateur Radio tcaey » February 1999 53

F ig. 4. Phased vertical d ipoles. Spacing =J/2 wavelength, phasing = 0 degre es .. gain= approximately 2.5-3 d Bd.

wire ground planes cut for resonanceon the bands in use. The main advan­tage of the vertical antenna, other thanits omnidirectional coverage. is its lowangle of radiat ion. This exp lains why asimple vertica l, well-matched, cangive res ults which sometimes outpcr­form those from horizontal antennas.In Fig . 3, a vertica l antenna is shownwi th its radi ation pattern . This is thetheoretical pattern whe n the cen ter iso ne-quarter o f a waveleng th abo veper fect ground.

A similar pattern will be achievedwhen a good resonant ground plane isprovided wit h an elevated vert ical an­tenna. Many commercial vert ical an­tennas arc available and cover morethan aile band. Wh ile these antennasserve a purpose. do not expect thesame radiation effic iency as with asingle-band vertical. As with the hori­zontal dipo le, it is possible to combinetwo vertical antennas to increase theradiate d signal stre ngth in selecteddirections.

Two ways , out of many, of combin­ing two vertical antennas are illus­tra ted in Figs . 4 and 5. In Fig. 4 two

Fig. 3. Top: vertical dipole with center 114

WQ\'C above perf ect ground. Bouom: themme. but center 1/2 wGI'e above perfect

ground.

fEEDPOINT50 0

F~;;;

lin

Fig. 2. Stacked dipoles. Appmximmely 25-3(18 gain . lowered angle of radiation, sill/pie

matching , broad horizontalfigure-S lobes.

of doing this is sho wn in Fig. 2. Pleasenote that when calculating the match­ing harness, the correct velocity factormust be taken into consideration. Witha nominal veloc ity factor of 0.66, thentwo 5/4 wavelengths are required forthe matching harness. With a highervelocity factor such as 0.80, it wou ldbe possible to use two 314-wavelengthsections. The size of this array doeslimit it to the higher bands. The gain of2.5- 3.0 dlid plus the lowered angle ofradiation make this a very useful an­tenna. It is simple to match and has abroad horizontal lobe extending in bothdirections broadside to the antenna.

In restricted space circumstances,due consideration must he given to theuse of vertical antennas. Vertical an­tennas, usuall y quarter-wave or loadedquarter-wave, requ ire a good groundplane for best resu lts. In restrictedspace, it is usuall y easier to elevate thebase of the antenna and use several

• 16.7 METERSz ~ 200n

16.7 METERS

The IC-706MKIIShack-in-a Boxcontfnuedjrom page 29

• 12.35 METERS 12.35 METERSParting comments

balun, or two leng ths of coaxia l cable.The last meth od is claimed to reducenoise pickup by the feeder. The twolengths of coax ial cable shou ld be ex­actly the same lcngth- RG-58CUwould be suitab le for reasonably short

run s. Gro und th e two braids at theshack and join the braids at the an­tenna end . The lWO inner cond uctors

are joined to the an tenna and to a 4 : Iba lun at the shack.

While theoretically the antennashould have an impedance o f approxi­mate ly 200 ohms on all fi ve bands, youwill probably need an antenna tuner toachieve a good match.

Th is docs no t exhaus t th e antenna

possibilities for HF operation , b uthopefull y will he suffic ient to help you

exam ine your optio ns fo r a q uick startwith a new antenna setup. fa

Fig. 6. Mil/riband antenlla.

months, I have been in antenna heave nwith my new M FJ-259 Antenna Ana­lyzer. Thi s has been a joy to use andhas saved m e untold hours during an­tenna cons truc tion and tes ting. Other

methods o f SWR tes ting may be used.h ut quite frank ly m y other test equi p­ment is tending to gathe r dust.

Fig. 6 shows an antenna whic h q uitea few ofmy amateur friends have triedwith good re sults. Whi le I ha ve not

tried this a nte nna myself, th ose whomI ha ve worked on the air using the an­tenna have been quite happy wi th itsperformance . The clements are chose nnot to be self-resona nt on an y band .b ut to exhibit a m ean impedance o f ap­proximate ly 200 ohms at the fccdpointon 80, 40 , 20 . 15. and 10 meters. Itm ay be fed with an ope n-wire. such asair-spaced 300~ohm line. a four-to-one

The new TCO M 706 M KIIG mode l

will include the 440 MHz band. Thi scan be cons idered normal model pro­gression. ICOM mu st compete w iththe new Yaesu Fr- I00, which incl udes440. A nything e lse earthshaking ly newabout the G model'! Not really. Am Igoing to run out and get a G model'!Nope- I don ' t ha ve a need for th e ad­

d itiona l coverage. But the G mode l isevidence of the cont inuing tre nd to­ward m ore power in smaller boxes.

There are two after-market item s Iwish were available to use with the

706MKll:• A h igh/ low cut audio filter-with ­

out th e o the r DSP frills (t he refore in­ex pens ive) .

• A keypad for d irect frequency en­try-a la Stone Mountain Engineering'sQSYer (no longer prod uced).

If any o f you are interested in design­ing/markcung such devices, remember:

They could he applicable to not j ust theICOM 706 series. but also the new YaesuFT- IOO and whatever else Kenwood is

------ - - -------- - --- - - - - - - - - - - - - --1 cooking up to compete with, too . fl1

NEUER SRY DIEcontinuedJrom page 4

speakers arc now almost 50 years old.It' s been a while since I told the story,

but this all started when I was worki ng atAirborne Instru ment Laboratories onLong Island (NY) as an engineer. Well, Iwas putting in time while looking for ajob as a tele vision producer-director. IgOI started in tha t busi ness as the chiefcameraman at WPIX. Channel 11 In

New York. Then I pu t KBTV in Dallason the air as the director of their liveshows . When that station went 10 all filmto save money. I was out of work. so Iwent hack into engineering.

One of my projects had an engineer,John Karl son, who'd invented and pat­ented a wideband microwave antenna.Hmm, says I. microwaves and audio havethe same wavelengths, so this ought tomake a good speaker enclosure. too.When a TV directing job opened up atWXEL in Cleveland. I lent my audio testequipment to Karlson so he could getbusy developing a co mpletely new kindof speaker system. About a year later, I

54 73 Amateur Radio Today. February 1999

got really fed up with my directing job,whic h turned out to he strictly routinenews and sports shows. and moved backto New York. There Tfound that Karlsonhad done nothing. So, with me pushing ,we spent the summer using an open Heldas a laboratory and designed a speakercabi net using his ante nna pri ncip le . Itssize was main ly determ ined by the sizeo f my car door so we co uld carl itaround . The sound it produ ced wasawe-inspiring.

we took it to Avery Fisher (you'veheard o f Avery Fisher Hall at LincolnCenter"). He lis tened and offered to sellit with his Fisher audio eq uipme nt andgive us a 4 % royalty. Karlson wanted 10go for that, but I saw this as an opportu­ni ty 10 build our own business.

Neither of us had any money, so I har­rowed $1,000 from the bank on my carto ge l some sample units made at a localwoodshop. We wrote an article for RadioNews which brought in a bunch of prepaidorders. and we we re in business. The hi­n stores took one lis ten and ordered

Con.tinued on page 57

Here Comes the Suncon.tinuedJrom page 36

thunderstorm m any m iles away. Anum ber of these devices are in use as" UFO Detectors," and the portable de­

vices might eve n he useful in in vesti­g ating stra nge phenomena suc h ascrop circles or polte rgeist ac tivity.

More in formauon on these and other

de vices can be fo und o n the In ternetby going to my site at lhttp://www.bioclcctrificr.com] and clicki ng

on the SOLAR link . You can alsoreach me via E-mai l at the address attop or by clicking on the " hot key" o nmy Web she . fa

73 Ad SalesCall

1-800-677-8838

Tracking Dual-VoltagePower Supply

Build something handy while you wait for the year 'sfirs t hamfest!

Hugh Wells W6WTU1411 18th Street

Manhattan Beach CA 90266-4025

Upon more than one occasion aham experimenter will find aneed for a uti lity power supply

that will provide a variable voltage aswell as equal values of both positiveand negative voltage to power aprojec t. Such an occasion occurs. forexample, when you are experime ntingwi th op amps, which usuall y require± 15 volts. BUI even when a dual vo lt­age is not required. it is nice 10 have avariable voltage supply available.

The power supply she w'n in Fi~. Iprov ides a reg ulated variable vo ltageoutput which is adjustable from 2 to 16V per side and 4 10 32 V between theouter voltage rails. Being a utility sup­ply, it is not intended (0 be a real pow­erhouse, hut the design concept couldhe used to deve lop one. In the config u­rat ion shown. the 2 to 16 V output onone or the other side is capable of pro­viding a ma ximum current of 300 rnAinterm ittently, but should be limited toabout 100 rnA to keep the transistors'heat ing to a mi nim um.

Even with the high load different ialbetween sides. the vol tage betweensides will remain within about 10 mY.Whe n the load is either d ivided be­tween the two sidcs. or the tota l load istaken from the outer vo ltage rai ls.

about 450 rnA is available. The gov­c rning factors invol ved in the amountof current a vai lable arc the powertransformer. regulator. and transistorsQ I ,and Q2. However. transistors Q Iand Q2 govern the output c urre nt onlyw he n there is a c urre nt differentia l he­tween the two sides .

The principle of operatio n is basedupon fl oating a common refere ncepoint between the two outer voltagerai ls and shift ing it to maintain anequal value bet ween each side . To ac­complish that. as shown in Fig. I ,comple menta ry transistors Q I and Q2arc "pass" tran sistors. each carryingthe re turn path current for indi vidualloads tie d be tween the rails and thecommon point. An LM741 op amp isused to "sense" the vol tage differentialand shift the common re ference po intby driving the bases of Q I and Q2 asneeded to maintain equal (+) and (-)values. Most any typica l NPK andPNP TO-220 transistors will work inth is appl ication.

Hcatsinking for Q I and Q 2 is notnecessa ry unle ss the power supply willhe intentionally operated with a highdifferential current between sides.Placi ng a one- or two-inch-square alu­minum plate on each transistor tah will

pro vide adequate emergency heat pro­tection for the transisto rs as they arenormally cool. because they handleonly the di fferential current.

I recommend that a heat sink be usedon the voltage regu lator because itha nd les the total load current. In theprototype project. a pressed shcet metalheat sink (Therm alloy #(025 ) wasused. with the legs so ldered into theboard for mecha nical support.

A vo ltage balance between the twosides is created by connecting the potR4 between the two voltage ra ils andusing it to locate the center va lue . Aminiatu re 10- 15 turn pot was selectedfor the application to achieve a fine ad­justment se tti ng ; however. a sing leturn pOI will work OK. The actualvalue of the po t is not critical. bUI avalue between 25 k a nd 50 k is pre­ferred. Should it be necessary to use a10 k. as ind icated in the parts list . two10 k fixed resisto rs should be added tothe ci rcui t by placing them in se rieswith one on each side of the to k pot.The objective of the added resistanceis to reduce the amoun t of curre ntFlowing th rough the pot.

The balance is adjusted typically atfull voltage output by alternately mea­suring the voltage between the common

73 Amateur Radio Today · February 1999 55

011<4001

e 1A""+

Q=t. "~

2,.ICl N +

IM317

" C8SW1 R3

, "'" es,01~

'" "V 1K270 I" •n

2S.2V,

COMMONC1& C2 "a

0,45 A 1000"R4 '''''101( 25-501< "VSOVeoch V BAl +

AD.lJST ... 1e>d1 CS pI" .. C,

lK .OV

Fig . 1. Schematic of the tracking dual-voltage power supply. Positive and negative outputs track within 10 m \.~

reference poin t and each rail while thepot is adjusted to crea te equal voltagevalues. An output load on the powersupply is not required during the hal­ance adj ustment. fo llowing the ad­j ustment, a load may be used toverify that the circuit will main tain abalance while under a load. The 0 .1 J.l Fcapac itors connected across the ba l­ance pot help reduce the noise voltagethat might enter the input of the opamp. Any noise voltage. or hum. ap­pearing at the balance pot in put tothe op amp wi ll appear in the ou tpu tvo ltage.

Power supply regulation is accom­plished by util izing one variable volt ­age regulator. and in this project. anLM3 17T was selected. The advantageof using the op amp and the comple­mentary transistors is that only onevoltage regulator is required. In the ab­sence of the op amp. two regulatorswould he required. one for each rail.and getting them to track over a widevoltage range wou ld become a realtechn ical issue. The regulator estab­lishes the maximum available totalte rminal vo ltage whic h is then di ­vided between the two sides. As theregu lated vo ltage is reduced . thevoltage on eac h side will also reduce .but they wi ll remain eq ual in value .

Here is a technical point that must beconsidered separately. although it mustbe considered for other supplies aswell. In this case . there is a high in­rush current when the power switch isclosed. As a result. the fuse selectedmust be able to handle that current.56 73 Amateur Aadio Today ' February 1999

The actua l fuse current value is typi ­cally much larger than the operatingcurrent. The high in-rush current iscaused by the two 1000 Il F niter ca­pacitors connected directly across theoutput of the bridge recti fier. Uponturn-on. the capacito rs exhibit essen­tially a short across the transformer 'ssecondary. The capacitor charge cur­rent decreases after turn-on. allowingthe in-rush current to subside. Where a0.5 A fuse would be typical for thetransformer used in this project. the in­rush current dictates that a 1 to 1-1 /2 ASIB fuse be used.

Constr uction

Parts for the project arc readilyavai lab le from many sources {Hosfclt.Mouser. Radio Shack. erc.).

Construction of the Tracking Dual­Voltage Power Supply is straightfor­ward. with no special mounting orcritical wiring requirements. Parts maybe mounled using any desired method.Perhaps the only critical item in theconstruction of the power supply is avertically mounted heat sink for thevoltage regu lator. as it must be used(or the regu lator could be mountedagainst the chassis and insulated fromit) to achieve adequate cooling. If theregulator is remote ly mounted . ca­pacitor C3 must be placed right atthe regu lator term inal and not on thecircuit board . The purpose of capaci ­to r C3 is to reduce the gain-band­width of the regulator to prevent itfrom osci lla ting.

As an aside. capaci tors C6 and C7were selected to he axial lead for con­vcnicncc and availability. However.you may choose to lise radial mountcapacitors. Any reasonable front-panellayou t can he used. The panel will sup­port the voltage adjust pot. bindingposts. LED. and power switch. Cali­bra tion marks are placed on the frontpanel using a marking pen. with themarks placed around the adjustmentknob. The positioning of the marks isdetermined using a digital voltmeteras a reference for each value to bemarked on the panel. Al though themarked voltage values won't be to­tall y accura te. they provide a suit­able re ference for ballpa rk voltageadj ustments.

Capacitors C8 and C9 are mountedbehind the panel and direct ly on theterminals. Their objective is to reducethe output terminal impedance to anRF environment should the powersupply he used around an RF circuit.

Wiring between the front panel andthe board is divided between the ACpower line ami the rest of the wirescarry ing DC. The wires from thepower switch are twisted and lie alongone edge of the circuit hoa rd. travelingback from the front panel toward therea r panel. All remaining wires carry­ing DC arc routed across the backside o f the panel and along the oppo­site edge o f the board. It is importantto separate the AC power from theDC circu it in orde r to red uce the

Contfnued on page 57

Table J. Parts list , Parr numbers listed art'from Radio Shack,

Tracking Dual-VoltagePower Supplycceurnuedjtom page 56

81 Toggle switch

Miscellaneous Parts

Fuse holder, panel mt (270-364)3 5-way binding posts (274-662)1" diam pointer knob (274-416)Cabinet (270-253)Power cord (278-1255)Cord grommetS.pin IC socket3 1/4" standoffsHeat sink (see text)Circuit board (as required)

1:\IAX Lays An E~~

Most o f the 1M AX T heater fi lms I' veseen have been outs tanding , so their lat­est re leases surprised me , For my birth­day, we went to Boston 10 the 1t\1AXTheater in the Museu m o f Science,where we saw TItanic and Everest, Ti­tanic was a bo mb. What a waste of lime .Boooo. Everest was a lillie better. but nota 10 1. Okay. it's a bitch to cl imb andpeople keep getting kil led tryi ng .

The TV ad s for their newest release.I\ma.:on. loo ked more promising. so wedrove down 10 Boston agai n. This waseven worse than TItanic.' T he camerawork was had. with closeu ps of animalsthat spread them across the huge sc reen.Endless pictures of old boats on ther iver, SOIllC nati ves doing a tribal dancethat they obviously had never rehearsed.But I learned noth ing much about the na ­tives. the dest ruction of the rain forest.and so on. It was a bore.

At the start ofe very show. they demon­strate their 70,lJ(X}..watt sound system. Asan audio expert I can te ll you that itsounds crappy. They 've tried to make upfor the mismatch o f loudspeaker conesto the air o f the theater by using dozenso f them. Thai doesn 't cu t it. You have to

Con t in ue d on page 58

73 Amateur Radio Today · February 1999 57

in trod uction o f hum into the regulator

and op a mp c ircuits .

Conclusion

There is a lways a need for anotherpower supply whe n yo u are work ingo n a project. The advantage of theT rack ing Dua l-Voltage Power S upp lyis that it functions both as a uti lity sup­ply and a s one thai wi ll provide simu l­

taneo us posi tive a nd negntivc vo ltagesw hich track within a few m illivolts .T he dual voltages are su itab le whenexperimenti ng with op amps a nd e the rci rcui ts where a sp lit voltage source isnceded .

Construction of the power supply iss imp le and uti lizes readily ava ilable

parts from man y sources. Build it, andyou'I l always have a suitab le utilitypower supp ly available! fa

NEUE R SRY DIErontinuedJrom page 5 4

units . T hey were made o ut of 3/4· inchplywood and buill like bricks. with mostuni ts covered in either blond o r ma­hogan y Formica". We a lso had plainp lywood units and kits.

Karl son. who was an engineer at heart.kept working for Airborne while I we ntto work marketing the enc los ure. Thaimcunt build ing a nat io nal rep orguniza­lion. demonstrating it at hi-f shows allaround the co untry, and trying to keepup wi th the demand . All aud iophi les hadrc do was hear the un it and they had theirwallets ou t. Be fore long it was the best­se lling speaker cabinet in the country.wit h seve n wood fac tories turni ng themout fo r me. I had the Kits all made in LaJolla (C A ), with mo st of them beingshipped via the Panama Canal to my castcoast warehouse in Brooklyn. I had anoffi ce in Al tadena. run by the chapwho 'd hired me to work on a G uggen­heim Grant project a few years earlier.Soo n o ur sales were well ove r a milliondollars a ye ar. which is more like $20mi llion in 1999 dollars. I did the usualPorsche . airplane. yacht. and Arabianhorse stuff. You know the routine .

But all through this I'd been ha ving aha ll with ham Teletype. I' d started myAmateur Radio Frontiers j ournal whileat the TV sta tion in Cleveland and wasputt ing it out o ffset-printed every month.doing my best 10 get more hams in ter­ested in the fun I was having with RTT Y.

That led 10 an RlTY column in CQ.Then. when I got CQ's editor a better

job {as the editor of Popular Electron­ics). l got offered the editor's job at CQ.I figu red that would be more fun thanloudspeakers. so I turned Karl son Asso­cia tes over to Karlson to run. We'd teen50/50 partners and the company wasgrowing like crazy. so what co uld gowrong '?

Karlson ran the company his way andign ored any advice fro m me, so it wasdead in less tha n a year. PITt . and my50% was worth zilch. Well. money neverwas important to me. so what the heck. Iwas having a hall at CQ, talking athamfests. going on DXpcdit ions. and soo n. But that's another story.

M y pitch righ t now is that no one ismaking the Karl son Enclosure today andthis presents a wide open opportunity foran entrepre neu r, II doesn' t take a 101 toget started, as I proved . And , if theywork with me , J know so me ways tomake the cabinet so und eve n better.Well , I've learned a 101 more aboutacoustical design since building my own

r----- - - - - - - - - - - ---\ recording studio. A few small cha nges inthe cabinet design should make it akiller.

Bu t then you're too busy commutingto work and worrying about beingdownsized to gel involved with startingyour own company. right '?

Parts List

1000 JlF radial cap(272-1032)

0. 1 JlF 50 V disc ceramiccap

0 .01 JlF 50 V disc ceramiccap

220 IlF 35 V axial lead cap(272-1017)

2 .2 k 1/2 W resistor(271-1121)

10 k pot, linear (271-1715)

270 n 1/2 W resistor(271- 11 12)

10 k- 50 k pot (271-343 =10k)

1 k 1/2 W resistor(271-1118)

LM31 7T adj volt regulator(276- 1778)

LM741 op amp (276-007)

TIP29 NPN TO·22Q trans(RSU11371168) orTIP31 NPN TO-220 trans(276-2017)

TlP32 PNP TO·220 trans(ASU11371218) or(276-2027)

1N4001 diode (276-1101)

Aed LEO (276-04 1)

1 A 50 V bridge rect(276-11 52) or (276-11 46)

25.2 V 450 rnA pwr trans(273-1366)

1-1 /2 A SIB fuse (270-1022)

IC2

0 1

IC1

C4. C5

C3. C8.C9

C6.C7

A1

AS. A6

A4

C1. C2

02

F1

Tl

01

0 2

SAl

IA2

A3

Continued on page 59

bot's addresses? Simple: Justfind someone with a phoneROM and look at the ad­dresses near his. For instance,one of the ops said to be along-time jammer o f 72·mkHl. is KK6RS. I looked hisaddress up on my RO~l,

which was 9255 N, Magn ol iaAvenue, Space 2, San Diego .I then looked at tha t addressand fou nd the names of tenother families living in thatsame mobi le park. Ano the rreported repeated offe nder on7240 is N2ENY in Buffalo. Ihad no problem find ing thenames and addresses o f hisneighbors.

Another approach, which Ifind inexcusably reprehen­sible, is the se nd ing o f lettersto neighbors of the really se­rious offenders, usin g a letter­head suc h as the PedophileNeighborhood Alerting Group(P-NAG) and ask ing if the yhave been alerted by thei r lo­cal po lice of the moving intothe ne ighbo rhood o f a rc­pcated pedophile offender atsuc h and suc h an address.They ' re not saying anyone atthat address is a pedophile:the y ' re j ust a sk ing i f thepo lice have not i fie d the m ,

I'm sure there are lessnasty ways to deal with nut­fa rm escapee hams who arcinfec ting our hobby. It j usttakes a fiendishly creativemind. What has your groupfound to work in a situationwhere some old crank is spew­ing filth on our hands'! ;';0 , theARRL or the FCC isn' t goingto help - we are supposed tobe a self-regula ting hobby, rc­member? So get busy andself-regulate,

Years back, when I was liv­ing in Brooklyn , we had aSpanish-speaking Brooklynham who re fused to talk withlocals, and was abus ive aboutit, saying what he thought ofgringos. He would only tal kwith Spanish-speaking sta­tions. A few members of a lo­cal club got together o neevening and visited him toexplain about being morene ighborly', After his brokenarm healed, he couldn' t havebeen nicer to the locals on theband, Well. no one has ever

What can yo u do aboutsome nut-farm escapee whoin sists on making your hobbya nightmare'! One solution,I' ve proposed before .. . but,knowing how short oldermemories can get, particu­larly wi th those who've beenusing alum inum antiperspi ­rants. or drinking beer or softdrinks from aluminum cans,I'll repeat it. This consists o fmaking recordings of themore o ffensive garbage theperp ha s been transmitti ngand sending cassette copies tohis neighbo rs, along with anexplanatory note.

How do you get his neigh-

is, just doesn 't provide u... withthe words we need to commu­nicate when our thoughts getaway from the concepts oflife, sc ience , mailer and time,

In my Guide to IHsdom , Irecommend Michael Cric h­ton's Travels. in which he de­scribes his experience in spmnbending and with aura... . I rec­ommend Scott Adams' UiibcrtFuture fo r the las t chapter onthe po wer o f the mind. T henthere' s Allan Boone' s Kinshipof All Life, which explainshow you can communicatewith almost any living thing ,I ci te Dean Radin ' s The COII­sc ious Universe. where heshows that scientifi c researchhas proven beyond the doubtof the most cement-mindedskeptic that our minds ca ll in­fluence matter, that we CYlII

predic t the fut ure, and th atwe call commu nicate mi nd ­to-mind .

But the best book I' ve everfound which provides an in­sig ht into what we think o f asthe "next world" is MaySewall 's Neither Dead NorSleep ing . You need to readthi s book . Your friends needto read it. Anyone you knowwho has had a recent familydeath absol utely should read it.Fortunately, Dr. Lydia Bronte,the author of The Mercury illYour Mourh, has ju...t reprintedthis 1920-publ isheJ book forus . You can get copies fromQ uicksilver Press, 10 East87th SI.. ~ew York 10 128. It -,~o nly $ 15, plus 53 sib per order,which i... very reasonable.

Revolting

Life Arter Death?

the most part. dread ful. Theschool books are beyond de­scription in bad. And thenthere arc the administrators.In New York. about 80f.k o fthe school budget goes for ad­ministnnion. In New Hamp­shire. we're doing belief ­it' s only 50%.

I' m exaggerating? Forhea ven's sake, read some ofthe hoo ks I review in my Se ­cret Guide 10 Wisdom . Readsome of Thomas Sowell'sbooks. Please! Read RitaKramer's appalli ng report o nthe 13 teachers" colleges shevisited. Read the eight booksJ recommend about theSudbury Valley School. Readabout the Montessori schools.Please turn off the TV j ust fora little while and find outwhat you 've let happen to ourkids. How much of yo ur lifeis ei ther work or enterta in­ment'! How much time doyou spend improving youredu cation'! M y wisdo m guideat least makes it so you canget a max imum of informa­tion with a minimum of ef­fort. I've done the hard workin finding these book gems,now you do the easy part.

And don' t fo rget to readGatto's Dumbing Us 0 01\'11 .

It comes down to this: Ifyou send your kid s to a publicschoo l. yo u don' t deserve tohave kids. And don ' t whineabout how were yo u to know'!I' ve been writing abou t thi sfor years, and so have Gatto .Sowell , and a bunch o f oth­ers, It ' s your fault if yo u areignorant. but it's your kidswho will have to pay thepnce .

Wh ile at the Peori a Super­Fest I met a lot o f hams whowere obviously al ive andthinking. But I also saw hun­dreds o f hams wanderingaround with no one see m­ingly at home upstairs .. . thewal king, working stiffs whoare slowly poi soning them­sel ves and their famil ies, andwho never will either makemuch money o r leave any­thing significant behind tomark this particular visit toEarth.

No, it isn ' t their fault.T hey' re the victims of ourpu blic schoo ls, like the ir par­en ts before them . It' s an ex­perience that few survive withany creativity or mot ivati on .Eve n if I went up to thesewalking dead and shook themhard I don 't think I' d be ableto wake them up.

How bad arc our publicschools? Hey, if you don ' t be­lieve what I've been writing ,atleast read what John TaylorGatto has been saying. He 'sthe pri ze-winn ing New York In my dictio nary, definitionteacher who quit after 26 #4 of "life" includes spiritua lye ars as a teacher - because life after death. It also in­he just couldn' t do that to el udes, as #7 under "death,"kids any longer. The Ameri- the death of the spi rit. Thus,can public school system is a while life as we understand itcrime. It's crue l and un us ual ends with death. there is morepunishment for your child ren, than enough reliable informa­and sho uld o nly he used if tion about the sp irit world toyou truly hate yo ur kids and con vince all but the most un ­want to make sure they will read or pathologically skepti­never-think or amoururo much. cal that life as we understandIt' s also the most expensive it does not totally end withschool system in the world. death ... that the spirit. soul,by a wide margin. or whatever, endures.

Our school huildings arc O ur Engl ish langu age. asaw ful. Our teachers are, for marvelous and extensive as it58 73 Amateur Radio Today · February 1999

have an air-matching trans­former to do the job.

The I~tAX theaters cou ldenormously im prove theirsound if they woul d get rid ofthat junk they have and puttheir speakers in Karl son­type enclosures - like theones I used to make .

Mi ne were so outstandingthat many hi-fl stores used awall of them to demonstratethe speakers the)' were se lling- since they made everyloudspeaker sound fantastic.

C r uelty

NEUER SRY DIEcontinuedjrom page 57

One Size Fits All

radio, ball games, sex scandals,a media obsessed with repon­ing bad news in depth and end­lessly. and so on. Hey. "it sellspapers."

When I see a kid wearingbig loo se pants and a baseballcap on bac kwards, I kno wI'm looking at a tota lly brain­washed yo ungster who hasn'ta shred o f or iginality le ft inhis head. He 's probably smok­ing. too. And cruising with hisfriends, throwing beer cans Quio f the car or pickup as theyfini sh chugalugging them.

This drive to turn us into asnearly identica l cogs in thewheel as possible is also adri ving force in the medicalind ustry as well as with psy­chiatrists. Each tries to fit usinto a diagnosis pattern they' refamili ar with .

BUI. despite every effort tomake us ident ical. even start­ing with bi rth where we areseparated from our mothersand put into a nursery, thesystem has fa iled . We are alld ifferent. Our genes are di f­fe rent. We look di fferent. O urvoices are differen t. Our fin ­gerprints are different. We 'reallergic to different things indifferent intensities. The firs tfew years of our lives exposeus 10 a much less structuredfo undation for the deve lop­rnent o f o ur live s, though thegrow ing use of daycare ccn­ters is gradually closing thisleak in the drive to make usident ical. Like the interchange­able parts for our machines.

We pUI all of our kids intothe school hopper. Nevermind that thei r IQs rangefrom genius potential 10 trog­lodyte. that so me kids havebeen g iven every opportunityto develop their brains andbodies duri ng the ir first s ixyears by enlig htened parents ,and others have been impris­o ned in playpens. That somehave been allo wed to learn 10speak fl uently and acccntlesslyin severa l langu ages , ando thers have only a vaguegrasp o f one. T hat some havebeen fed healthy die ts andothers have been brought upeating Froot Lo ops and Count

Bra inwa shing

you and your fami ly get can­cer, or have heart attacks orstrokes or not. bur at least havesome compassion for yourdog .

You . I. All of us have beenth rough a lifelong brai nwash­ing experie nce, and part o fthe brainwashi ng is that wehave accepted the whole ideathat brainwashing is good.Yeah, I' m talking about ouracceptance o f universal incar­ceration for a minimum oftwe lve years in a governmentinstitution known as publ icschoo l. Nol that most privateschools arc much better.

Where did the idea comefrom that a composer. a writer,a plumber, and a mi litary rae­tician all should have the ex ­act same education? I' ll tellyou where if you promise notto get mad . Bu t tha t accep­tance has resulted in our nolo nger havi ng bri llian t com­posers. write rs, plumbers , ormilitary tacticians. O r, a las,br illianl anything else. Theydid it to you. you' re doing orhave done it to your children,and so on .

What' s happened in musicis typical o f what' s happenedin all of the arts. And what'shappened in science, invent­ing. politics, and every otheraspect of our civilization. We'vemanaged 10 almost to tal lystunt init iative, mot ivation.determination. perse vcrance.and creativi ty.

I keep tryi ng to wave read­ers in to my tent. where I askthem (yOU) to think . I' mbrushed off as crazy, co ntro­versial. and a troub lemaker.But I feci like I'm trying toplant the seeds o f wisdom ina desert. The ground has beenmade sterile . There are nominerals left in the mental so il.only bal l games. sitcoms. andJerry Spri nger as artific ial fer­tilizer. Tbe equivalent of usingtotal ly dead chemical fertiliz­ers on our croplands instead ofcrushed live rock.

we're kept in line by ouraddictions being fed. Keepingus thoughtless and busy. We'readdicted 10 drugs like alcohol.caffeine. nicotine. sugar. fataspirin. rock "n' ro ll, TV, talk Continued on page 60

73 Amateur Radio Today · February 1999 59

How to Kill Your Dog

kids. I see kids hanging aroundin (he shopping malls smok­ing. I SI..."'C the local high schoolkids walking by the door o fmy company in Peterboroughsmoking .

Hack in 1965, I was distrib­uting matches a t hamfestswhich read on the cover thatthey were cancer-free marches.I got the . local march com­pany 10 make them so theycouldn't be lighted.

When Siskcl and Ebert rec­ommend a lousy movie, I sus­pect that so me money haschanged hand s. When I secgratuitou s smo king in themov ies and on T V, I kno w thecigarette companies arc stilla t it.

Yo u can slow ly and pai n­fully kill your dog the waymillions of other good- intcn­tioncd pet o wners do - byfeed ing the poor defenselesscreature commercial dog food.I' m talking can ned food andthose bags of pelle ts .

Unlike humans. who havebeen eating coo ked food forseveral thousand years. dogshave been eating raw meatuntil j ust fai rly recently. Thei rdigestive systems aren 't able10 cope with cooked meat,nor with Ihe filler the com­mercia l dog fo od compani esusc 10 keep their costs down.

W hat can yo u do about it?That 's simple : Make friendswith a local butcher and askhi m to save his meat scrapsfor you instead of throwi ngthem out.

Dr. Bruno Comby. o ver inParis, noticed that in one re­port after another, dogs andcats fed coo ked food livedsho rter lives and came downwith human-type ailments.including cancer. But. whenchanged to raw meat. theyquickly gOI well again.

Hmmm . thought Bruno , ifthai works mag ic for animals ,how about humans? So he triedputting some of his sicker pa­tie nts on all-raw-food diets andthey miraculously were cured,even whe n in the last stageso f cance r. Dr. Lorraine Dayconf irmed this when she curedher own cancer the same way.

Now, I'm conv inced youdon' t give a damn whether

If you arc a smoker. pleaseskip this - you aren't going10 like it.

With what \I. e know aboutthe destruct iveness of smok­ing. anyone who continues tosmoke must either be incred­ib ly ignorant. a weak-willedspineless wimp, and/or a re­ally stupid perso n. I' m afraidthat I have li ttle respect forsmokers.

Thus I' m offended by theincreasi ng number of moviesthai have their characterslighting up. This is no t some­thing an intelligent persondocs anymore. so when I seeit in a movie, my fi rst as­sumptio n is that the writersarc signaling me that this isa vill ain . Smoking is likewearing a black hat in a west­ern. But when I SI,."C nonvillainslight ing up. I know thai thecigarette companies must havepaid a bunch of people allT here ' s no o the r lo g icalex p lana tio n .

It 's been brought out inhearings and court cases thatthe cigarette companies haveknown for decades tha t theirprod uct is a killer, and thatthey' d gone to a lot of troubleand expense to keep this in­formation from the pub lic . sothere 's an excuse for the writ­ers and actors in the o ld mov­ies to smoke. But today, noth­ing but payola can expla in it.

One of my grandfathers diedof pneumonia when he was inhis 50s . He smoked pipes, ci­gars. and cigarettes. and theyki lled him while he was stillrel atively young . My dadsmoked Camels . When , in his60s, he began fa inting, thedoctors told him to stopsmok ing or he could die atany time. But it was too la te- he lived on fo r a few yearswith emphysema and hearttrouble. having to have anoxygen lank or generator withhim 20t hours a day.

TIle cigarette companies arespending whatever it takes to tryto make smoking anra..ctive to

NEUER SRY DIEcon tinued from paqe 58

accused Brooklyn hams ofbeing subtle.

Dribery

(Waco ) people? And so on,Did their leaders manage tofi nd people different fro m therest of " us"? T here 's nothingto be smug abo ut - there,hUI for accidents of chance,go you and I. Ir s worse thanthat.

T he same aspec t of o ur hU4man minds is at work withthe religious fanatic s in theMidd le East in Ind ia, Japan,and everywhere el se aroundthe world. Including fanaticshere in America. That's right.the same human-mind pro­pensity 10 believe in th ingswithout proof that's makinglife miserable for people inAfghanistan. Syria, Lebanon,Pakistan, Iraq , Iran, and Tur­key is alive and wel l here inAmerica.

We usc the term "brain­washing: ' bu t it 's the oppo­si te of that. It's mass hypno­s is. It' s brain po lluting, notwashing, and we ' re all vic­tims of it every day in everyway. We are "brainwashed" 10believe that ball games are im­portaru. thai Mo nica Lewinskyis important. Our TV. newspa­pers, magazines. radio, the In­ternet. and all med ia are busytryi ng to infl uence what webuv what and where we cat., ,what we do, where we go,what church we attend. andso o n. It ' s an efficien t ...ys tcmand we 've all been suc keredinto it.

We ' re used to being foo ledby special effects from Holl y­wood, so we' re not too sur­pri sed when we lind o ut thatmany of thc shots whichlooked so real of the Titanicfooled us. Hut any lime wethink the Germans who wereconvinced by Hitler 10 help killnine million peo ple were dif­ferent from us, we' re foolingourse lves,

So here's Wayne Green.lifting the flap o f the tent .saying hey, take a look overhere behi nd the scenery. Seehow we've been fooled intoour belief in our school sys­tem. our health care system,our jobs, the (ha, hal war onpoverty and war on drugs.and (you're going 10 reallyhate this) our relig ious con­victions.

The sorry fac t is thai we' reall prisoners like the Heaven's

(with skins on). ami a quar te rof a cabbage into my Cuisinartand chopped it all up to­gether, Li ke everything e lse,with some cole slaw sauce onit. it's great! And that's raweverything. not boi led.

C hopped cabbage with thesauce on it is cole slaw, sothat's good, too. I'm findingmore and more th ing" that arcgood raw. How about yo u ex­perimenting and letting mekno w what you fin d'!

If you've 10"1 my cole slawsauce recipe it 's simple: twoparts of extra virgin o live oi l.two parts of apple cider vin­egar, one part of honey, fiveparts o f plain yogurt, "ornesalt. pepper, and a hand ful ofcelery seeds, Whip it all uptogether. It 'll keep for a wee kor so in the fridge . II maykeep lo nger, but my supplyruns o ut in about 10 days so Idon ' t know if it will spoil orno t.

Dr. Campbell (Second Opin­iOIl) recommends eati ng threeapples a day, one before eac hmeal. Hey, if one will keepthe doctor away, j ust thinkwhat three can do ! They alsotend to cut down yo ur ap pc­tile. so you don' t cat as muchduring the meal.

I'm s til l eating a li ttlecoo ked food , but I' ve alwayspreferred my meal almostraw, so these days I j ustbarel y s inge it. I like it a lotbetter that way. Have youever tried liver coo ked about15 seconds a side'? 1\10 re andmore peop le arc di scoveringhow good raw meal is . T herest are so revolted by theidea . they'J l never taste itand will help keep our SocialSecurity problem minor.

Piercing the Veil

How could the Germanpeople have gone along withHitler in his kill ing of s ix mi l­lion Jews, plus another threemill ion of other undesirablesthai we don't hear about asmuch'! Or the Chinese withthe millions ~fao killed. and(he Russians with the millionsStalin wiped out?

For that matter, what couldhave been wrong with theHeaven's Gate group'! TheJones fo llowers? The Korcsh

Raw Food?

If you care for your male,lake a couple evenings andtake a CPR course - it couldmean the diffe rence betweenlife and death. W hen a hearta ttack hi ts, yo u have o nly afew minutes to get oxyge ninto the person or irs too late.Aftcr the heart attack happe nsis one heck of a time to try tolearn C P R.

O f course . if you changeyour and your family's die t,there aren' t goi ng 10 be anyheart attacks. but I' m prettywell convinced that you 'drather die 50 years soonerthan necessary than change toa healthier diet. Wel l. at leasta heart attack can lead to afast and painless exit fromlife as compared to most ofthe other routes our diet Istaking us.

N EUER SRY DIEconunuea from page 59

CPR

Chocul a crapola. Well. yougel the picture.

Yes. there nrc a few schoolsthat are breaking the mo ld,where kids learn what theywant when they want. with­out the stress of tests andgrades la king away the funand cxcircmcm of learni ng.Kids. when allowed. lo ve tolearn. I remember when I hada software dcvclopmcrulabo­rarory with over thirty com­pu rer systems set up and weallowed an)' interested localschool kids to come in afterhours and have fun , My pro­grammcrs said that these kidswere like indu... tria l vacuumcleaners when it came to ask­ing quest ion s and teachingthemselves how to program.Some brought their ... lccpingbags so they could keep at itunti l they dropped. Well. bananas, app les, or­

ungcs and grapes arc easyw hen you' re considering araw food diet. but what about

Sherry and I took a C PR stuff like potatoes, turn ip, andcourse at a nearby Red C ross so o n'? Raw po tato doesn' tfacility, well. heck. you never sound all tha t great. Ugh.know. I'm do ing my best to O ne of my first tries wasrebuild my hody wi th a raw chopping up cauli flowe r, car­food d iet aft e r the 75 years of rots, and broccoli in thedestruc ti on I' ve done 10 it C uisinan and eati ng the mix­through not knowing any bet- ture with some of my grand­rcr. You know, with co ffee mother 's cole slaw sauce on it.and dough nuts aft e r ham club That was a winner.meetings and at the Dayto n Sal ads arc easy. I cut upHamvcnt ion (they ' re free in some spinach, wat ercress,the exhibitorsfoungc). pizzu. beet greens, bean sprouts. al­pasta. French fr ies . and so on. falfa sprouts. some pine nuts.It ' s a wonde r I' ve survived lill ie chu nks o f Kraft ' s Babythis long ! Swiss cheese. and golden rai-

Anyway, my cousin Sanger s ins, again with some co leand his wife Carol stopped by slaw sauce for dressing. Ito vis it a few weeks ago, and generally have a large bowlSherry was te lling them abou t o f salad with both my lunchthe C PR course. Carol rolled and dinner meals.her eyes. saying that she'd But what about the o thernever do C PR. Ugh! Sanger vegetables? I gOI 10 thinkingsa id. "But whal about me'! ' how good a New Eng landCarol ignored him. boiled dinner is, with boiled

Carol called a couple nights potatoes, cabbage, beets. tur­ago 10 say thai Sanger. who nip. and carrots. Then thewas 70, had suddenly ... lumped next night you chop the left­over with a heart attack. over veggres into red flannelShe'd called 911. but by the hash, warm it up. and pop atime the emergency learn got soft-boiled egg on it. Nowthere. it was too la te. I don ' t that's good stuff.think she remembered her Well. maybe you do n' tdi sgust o ver learn ing C PR, have to boil the vcggfcs . rbut if she'd know n how to do thought . So I put a potato,it. it's likely that Sanger would skin and all. a beet. also withbe alive today. its sk in, a couple of carrots60 73 Amateur Radio Today • February 1999

More Y2 K Data

to New Hampshire, one of mybe tter decisio ns.

When I was personallymaintaini ng the subscri ptionrecords. which I did for thefirst couple of years, I markedthe life subscribers as "LIFE:'At that time subscriptions werecu t into little pape r s tenci ls,an d I p rinted the addresseso n pa per wrappe rs for thesubscription cop ies.

T hen the com puter age hitand I invested in an IBM sys­tem using punched cards . My"iny-biny-mechire" demanded anumber for expiration. Well,this was 1965, so I put theproblem off into the far dis­tant future by using 00. Thi swas fine unti l I mo ved the o p­eration to a subscription ful­Iillme nt co mpa ny and theydecided to use 99 for lifers ­s ince their system read 00 as1900. A couple years ago. wewarned them that they' d bet­ter get the life time subscribersit uation straightened OUI.And we kept warning them .Not knowing what to do aboutthe problem, they ignored it.Big surprise.

Sure enough, come thetime for renewal notices forsubscribe rs whose subsc rip­tio ns ended in January 1999,out we nt renewal letters tothe lifet ime subsc ribers .

T he bright side for me wasthat this was an easy way tofind out how many lifeti mesubscribers are still actuallyalive. I suspect that at least90% have been ignoring mynagging about poisons andge tti ng the righ t nutritio n. sothey may well have o ffedthe mselves many years be­fore their bodies wo uld haveworn o ut if they'd given themmuch cons ideratio n. So, I'llsec how man y po lite remi nd­ers or angry acc usations o fbei ng a crook I ge l.

Yes. of course we shouldhave checked the lifetimesubscriber list every now andthen to make sure that the sub­scribers weren' t frusu utedlytrying from the "next world" tomake contacts with their si­lent ke ys.

Y2K Str ikes!

thing I have on them, so I'llbe keeping a mi nimum bal­ance . The stoc k market co uldbe hit very hard, so a prudentperson might ge l o ut of themarket ear ly, just in case . Oryou might sell so me o f themore sensitive stoc ks sho rt,hoping that the market will beahle to survive. What wouldhappe n to the stock exchangesif all our cities closed down forweeks or even months'!

Ho w would our civilizationfun ct ion if a third or more o fthe people in our cities do n' tsurv ive? T here could be law­lessness on the order of whathappened recently in Rwandaand not too lung ago in Cam­bodia. What would Americabe like if 50 millio n peopledied in a few weeks? Therewould n' t eve n he any way tobury the dead .

One approach is to pooh­pooh the whole thi ng . Hey,nothin g like that could hap­pcn. At the worst, Y2K willj ust be a lillie bump in theroad . BUI I do wish that Icould read an encouraging re­port on the situation by an y­one who has done a signifi ­cant amount of research intoit. II seems as if the experts areseriously worried and only theignorant are unconcerned.

Many years ago, not reali z­ing that . unli ke all but a veryfew magazines, 73 would bearound for decades. I sold life­time subscriptions. Cheap. Itstarted at a Miami bamfesr.where a doctor pushed me fora li fe time subscription price .With a co ver price of 37c(two for 73.:) and $3 for ayear, 57 for a three-year sub­scriptio n, I so ld the firs t life­time subsc riptio ns for $37,one of the best bargains in thehistory of ham radio .

Well , who knew? I startedthe magazine in October1960 with just barely enoug hmoney to prin t and mail thefirst issue, so the fut ure wasanything bu t certain . M y pub­Iishing office was a little oneover a grocery store in thelow-rent outskirts o f Brook­lyn. A little over a year later, Ipacked every thing up, inc1ud- Enough already with theing my ham shack, and moved Y2K scare baloney, rig ht'! It' s

73 Amateur Radio Today · February 1999 61

pushing state and fed eral leg­isla tors to po ur more moneyinto our school system, whichthey do, despite the need tocontinually lower o ur stan­dards . T he re's been a lot o fNEA pressure to have smalle rclasses. yet there are no stud iesshowing that smaller classesactuall y result in be tter cdu­cation s. Well , it sounds rea­sona ble, so never mind allthose stud ies showing thatsmaller classes j ust mean thehiring of even more poo r­qual ity teachers.

What is it going to take toge t you fed up with you andyour children being fleeced "?•

Someone shou ld start aparents' union and lodge aSIO tri llio n class actio n suitagainst the NEA for the dam­age they' ve done to our kids,our families, and o ur country.

Even More Y2K

After reading more bookso n the SUbject. plus listeningto more experts o n the ArtBell show. I can' t help won­de ring what might happen toour country - to our wholecivi lizat ion - if what theseexperts arc predict ing actu­ally happen s.

What if the power goes offall around the country ? Notfor hours - not even fordays, hut pe rhaps for week s'!Th is would mean no lights,no heat. no food . no water, inman y ci ties no sewers, no po­lice. no gasol ine , no naturalgas, and so o n. A few hundredthousand people might be able10 escape from the ci ties, hutto where ?

How man y families in NewYork City, for example, wouldhave e mergency water setas ide to las t for a month?Food for a mon th? Food thatdoesn' t have to he cooked oreven warmed ? Wann clothingto be ab le to live thro ughJanuary and February witho utheat'!

Just how serious the Y2Kproblem is going to be won'tbe known until after it's over.But a prudent person mightwant to plan no t to take anyunnecessary chances.

Will the banks surviveokay? Probably, but I surewouldn 't want to het every-

Our go vernment see ms tohave its ability to wastemoney developed to a highart, and particularly when itcomes to the so-called educa­tion field . Congress, whippedinto this insanity by one ofthe most powerful un ions inthe country, the ~EA, hasbeen blowing billions of yourdollars and mine . The NEAsee ms to have as its main goalprotecting the jobs of inco m­pe tent teachers and the bui ld­ing of administrati....e empires .

Anyway. you've heard aboutProject Head Start, a well-in­tentioned effort to give kidsfrom extra-lousy backgroundsa way to at least keep up withkids who have more caringparents. Billions of our moneyhav e been poured into thisbeaut - and it's still happen­ing, despi te endless surveysshowing thallhe positive resultsof the program have rx)( providedany l ong-term benefits.

Well, hec k, if Head Standoesn' t provide long-term ben­e/its, then let' s throw a few bll­lio n more into the programwith Proj ect Follo w Throughand sec if that docs the job. Anumber of different teachingapproaches were tested to seewhich might be best. Someprovided short- term improve­ments, some ways turned outto be quite negative by com­parison with contro l groupsof students. Did the negativeresul ts s low down the n ow ofmoney into the ncgative sys­tems'! O f course not Did thelack o f any significant posi ­tive long-range benefi ts stemthe funding for the proj ect?Not in our world it didn' t.

While our kid s have notbenefited from the Head Stanor Follow Through programs,Congress is continuing to fundthem, with only the :\EAmembers who are be ing paidto do this nonproduct ive workgett ing an y benefit.

T he NEA, via its hundredsof well-heeled lobbyists, keeps

Follow Through

Gale, Jonestown, and Korcshpeople. We don't want to lookbe hind the stage scenery atthe real world. "All the world' sa stage," was more on targetthan even Shakespeare knew.

Numb¥ 62 0 11 yOIJf FHdbilcli Cl'uJFebruary 1999

PROPRIiRTIONSUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT

Jim Gray Wl xun I 1 VP 2 VP-P 3 P 4 P-F 5 F , F-G

210 E Chateau Circle11 8 G IPayson AZ. 85541 G O G 10 G 11 G 12 G 13 G-f

Uimpeg@netzone.com)!14 F-P 15P 16 P 17 P·D 18 P-VP 19 VP 20 ve-e

121 P 22 P 23 P 24 P 25 P-F 26 f · P 27 P-f

A glance at the calendar will dayli gh t hours. peaking toward28 F

tell you that February is not ex- Europe and the east in ea rly

peered to be a good month for morning, toward the southern

Hl- radio propagation . (Note: hemisphe re in the afternoon . and east around midnig ht, and Don't forget 10 work the dark-

we have added ··0:· for di s- and toward the west. South Pa- to other directions j us t before ness pam (±30 minutes around

turbed. this month .) Your best c ific and Australasia in the late dawn. Daytime short skip to 500 local sunse t).

days for success will he during afternoon, with daytime short miles and nighttime openings to Check the bands above and

the second week of the month. skip from 1000 to over 2000 2000 miles or so. be low the suggested ones for

mil es..

possible OX surprises. It' s of-when the geomagne tic fi eld andionosphere are expected to be 160 meters ten a good idea to park your re-

quiet. Un fortuna tely, they arc20-30 meters cc ivcr on a seemingly unused

expected 10 be disturbed and at Openi ngs 10 Europe and theDX po ssi bl e during ea rly frequency and j ust wait. A OX

minor to major sto r mlevels dur- evening and hours of darkness. station is very likel y 10 pop upeast during late afternoon hours,

ing the tirst few days and the last with the bands remai ning open;';0 daytime short skip, hut ex- before an y one else hears him,

tiro f ull weeh of this month. to various areas of the worldeellent possi bi lities at nigh t and you can snag a good catch.

During those periods of mag- duri ng hours of darkness untilfro m 500 to about 1500 mites. Good hunti ng. WIXUn.

ne t ic field di sturbances and short ly after sunrise . Daylightaccompanying ion ospheric short sk ip (0 1000 miles andstorms. remain alert for very bad 2000 miles or so at night . EASTER N UNITED STATES TO:

weather and other terrestri al ~. .," ~

., .," " .. '. " " aa

upsels .. . particularly on days 40 meters '~ " eo eo " "surrounding the 2nd and the

,ARGENTINA " ~ ~ ~ " " " '. " "Generally low noise pre vails.

AUSTI\AUA " ec " ~ ~ ~ " " "19th. CANAlZ~E " ec " " ec " ec " " " rs "and openings toward Europe ~~, ~ ~ ~ eo " rs " " " "10-12 meters and the eas t beginning. in late

HAWAII " eo " " " " " tsINDIA ec ac

a fternoon , with the band re- JA PAN " eo ec ac rs

Possible openings to Europe ma ining open all night unti l uf- MEXICO ao ac ac ec eo ac eo ts " " " ts

in the morning. midday open· ter sunrise to various areas of thePl-I ILIPP'NES eo ecPUERTO AICO ec eo ec ec " " so " " " " "m g s to A frica aod So ut h wo rld . Daytime short sk ip to , R U~A (C.I-S,) eo " eo "

America , and late afternoon about 1000 miles and over 1000iSOU'Tli AfAICA ec ~ " " " " ts eo,WEST COAST ,~

"'~ oo ,oo ,oo 'ro " " ",

openings to Au stralasia and the mi les at night. This could be CENTRAL UNITEO STATES TO:

South Pacific . Daytime short- your best OX band this month!~ -s '" "skip openings between 1000 and ~,~ " " " ~ ~ " '" " " rs "

2000+ miles arc likely a" wel l. 80 meters ~. " " ec ~ " ",""'" roM " '" ~ ~ ~ " " " " " "OX to all areas of the world ""'"'"" ~ ~ eo " " " " ~

15-17 meters HAW"', " ec ~ ~ eo eo " " " " "between dark and da wn with

I~"ec

Worldwide OX possible during signa ls peaking toward Europe e~ " " rsMEXICO " so ~ ~ ~ ac ts " " " rsIPl-I ILIPPINES rs ao so ";PUERTO RICO " " .. .. ~ ec " " " " rs·RVSS'A rc.i.s.r ec " eo

justSOUTH Af AICA ac ao " " " " "more C hicken Li ttle that they would not fly on a WESTERN UNITED STATES TO:

crapola . T he sky isn ' t going to commercial ai rli ne on Jan. I.fa ll. The power grid isn ' t go- 2000. H mm? """". " " '" ~ ~ ~ '"80% of Ihem AFIGE NTINA " '" ~ ~ " " " "ing to go down. The countrv ' s arc documenting their finan· AUSTRAlJA " " '" " ~ ~ " " " "•fooo-distribution system won't c ial rec ords . 13'k arc upgrad- e" .., roM '. " " '" " " " "

,be di srupted . The millennium their """'"" " ~ ~ '. '. " "mg personal security ~WM " " " ~ ~ ~ " '" " " "bug:, as it' s called, will j ust (alarm systems, guns), 11 % ~. " " '"l urn out to L'ause a few stockpi ling and -~ " " " ~ ~ ~ ""arc water ,,,,,",,, " " " " " " " "sneezcs. not a plague . canned goods, 9% are buying Pt1Il 'PPl"ES " "" ,,~ ~ ~ ~ '" "However, in a reccnt poll of generators and wcxxl. stoves, PUERTO RICO " " " ~ ~ ~ "high-tech execs reponed

AUSSIA lC.I S.l " '"In ,SOUTH AFAICA '" " " " " "Ne'ol.'sweek, 60% o f them sa id Continued on page 64 EA$TCOAST '''' "'~ .. ", ,oo ,oo " " "62 73 Amafeur RadIo Today. Fe bruary 1999

I :'rr;ame C all Phun t> II Add ress II II C iI, ·Sl.Ilte- Z ip II

t lC'_ orde~ · IN' lrno:n "'COPY pace &lid man boob ",...!td. {)n.b- JJUJ-pI... 53 "" ill US.~.... ILiSS'---,-- ,------I Forft{!1l orden: 510 ..... ourr~ >hiJlPtllg . Lord knoooo . "'hal airmait "" UCOIl -~~ gcul .- . II i\lkM 4..eeb for doli'~" .'<qll r"""gn. IIlouI" "'" try 11>,,,, _ onh's Ullppod In a d.yOf lVoU. I

MCI\'" . le.. ""<Je" o'e' SllJ . • h I"'" _ _I Phone orde rs: 603-924-0058 • 800-274-7373 • fa~ : 603-924-8613 II Yes! Put me down for a )'ear of 73 for only S25 (a s teal ). Canada US532. IL Foreign US$-44 b}~a. USS67.!!l air. Whe~ .J

73 Amateur Radio Today · February 1999 63

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1990,1 Jan-Aug F.ditoria ls : 188 pagesin two 55 \·olumes. Bringmg )'OU upto date. 510 W)l la m·to·llam : 45 of m y ham -ori·ented editoria ls, T hese will help youhone up on ham histo ry. Grea t stu fffo r ham club newsletter fi ller. Yes. ofcoul"ie Ihe ..... are contro\'l'rs iaL 55 (Q)

I 'Iillion Sales \'idl'O: How 10 ge n­erate e ltra mi llion in sales u,ing PR oThis "ill be one of thl' !»;:sl im'esl­ments your busincsse\'1'T malk.5-B (V)

O ne H..ur C \ \ ' : Usi ng this sneakymethod ewn yo u can learn the :SlorS<'Code in one hour and pass thai dumb5wpm Tech·Plus ham leSI_55 ,leW)Code TIlpl' (T5r This lape .... iII leachyou lhe leiters, numbers and punctua-

lion ) 'OU need 10 know if you are go­ing on to learn Ihe code 3t 13 .... pm or20 ""plll. 55 (T5)Code TII IK· (T n ): Once you know thecode for the letters (TS) )'OU can goimmediately to copying 13 wpm rode(using my systemt. This should onlyta ke 1w0 or mree davs. 55 (T1 3)C ode Tape (T :!U): SIan right o ut at20 wpm and master it in a weekendfur vour Ex tra Clil' ~ license. $5 (1'20 )C ode Ta pe (TZS) : Same deal. Itdoe sn'ttake any longe r to hand le 25wpm a, it does 13. Or use the ARRlsystem & take sh month•.55 Cf2 5Jwayne Talkf> a t Ua}lon: This is a 'X).

minute tape of the talk I'd have givena t the Daytun. if'invited. $~ (W I )Wa } n" Talks at Tampa , This is thetalk I gave a t the Tampa G lobal Sci­ences conference. I cov er cold fusion.amateur radio, health. books )'OUshould read, and so on. S5 / W2)S1ulIl.didn· t wrjle. bUI yu.ll..Jlrnl;:"oO A5 A. M enn ed ,\ m e r ir a : Renemakes an air-tight case tha t NA.SAfaked the ~ Ioon landings. This bookwill convi nce even you. 525 IR I)Las t Skep tic of Scsenc e : T his isRene ' s book where he debunks ahunc h of accepted scienu fie belicfs _such as the ice ages. the Earth beinga magnet . ue Moon causmg the tides.andelc .S25 (R2 1Uemental Enequ Sub<ocription : Ipredict this is going to be the largestind ustry in thl' world in about 20- 30years, T hey laughed "t me wh~n I p rt: ­die led the pl'l'Sonal com putt:r growthin 1975. PC s are now the thi rd larg.est indus try in Ihe .... orld. 1bt: elemen·tal enerS)' ground noor is sti ll .... ideopen, but then thaI might mean giv ­ing up ..... all;hmg ball games and talkshows on the booh tuhe, 530 for sixissues. (EE) , A sample issue is S10.T hree (;a llo Talks : A pri ze· .... inn ingteacher e, plai ns w hat' s wrong withAmerican sc hools a nd .... hy ou r k:idsa re not being etJu catt:d . Why areSwedi.h younp lC:rs. who s ta rt schoolat 7 years of age, kaving our kids inthe dust? Our kith are imt:nlionallybeing dumbed do .... n by our sc hoolsl s tem - Ihl' lea'l effecti\'e and moste~pen,i\'e in the world . 55 ( K)

.... ..'U'~

Number 64 on your Feedback card

Barter 'n' Buy

Great New Reference Manual withover 100 pgs of PIS. transistor. ra­dio. op-amp. antenna designs , coilwind ing tables. etc. See details at[www.ohio .netl-rtormetlindex.htm]or send check or M,O. for $19.95 +$2.00 postage and handling to RMTEngineering. 6863 Buf/ ham Rd.•Seville OH 44273 , BNB202

lando HamCatlon ... . P.O . Box547811. Orlando FL32854.

BNB213

ASTRON power supply, brand-new wiwarranty, RS20M $99. RS35M $145.RS50M $209. RS70M $249, AVT.Call for other models. (626) 286-0118.www.aventrade.com. BNB41 1

WANTED: NYE VIKING STATIONMO NITOR RFM- 003. RFM -005.Paying $600. Randy Ballard N5WV.(903) 687-3002; [TMT @Prysm.netl.

BNB5001

scary when you understandthat, as unprepared as ourcomputer people are for theprob lem. we're way ahead ofall the other coun tries.

Let' s see , should I cal lWayne and see if he 's gotsome space on his farm I canrent 10 park an RV for nextyear-end? January One comeson a Saturday - what wil lthe world be like by Monday,the third '? We can' t sendBruce Willi s to gel rid of thisthreat.

Oh yes, Ed Yourdon. theauthor o f Time Bomb 2000,so ld his New York apartmentand moved to New Mexico.

Editor ial Reprints

It's highly unl ikely that youknow anyone who is intoreading and thinking, but ifyou do know any suchweirdos you could help en­co urage this deviant behaviorby laying reprints of my edi­torials on them. I' ve reprintedmy complete edito rials for1997 and 1998. eac h in threefour-month volumes. They' re$5 per volume. The 1997 edi­torials run to 320 pages. 1998runs 240 pages. When I getsome time I' ll separate theham -radio-oriented stuff andreprin t the rest. as I have withthe pre- 1997 edi torials _Grist I and Grist II.

If yo u meet any ham s whoare into thinking. please let' em know about 73, fa

NEUE R SRY DIEcOlltinuedJmm page 62

Orlando aemceuen > and Com­puter Show Feb. 12- 14, Centra lFlorida Fairgrounds. ARRL NorthFlorida Section , Commercial areasfeature over 200 vendors. and swaparea includes over 400 fables. 'ran­gating, forums. testing. Overnight RVparking with electric and water. Com­merciatlntormation, Tim Starr. (407)850 -9258. E-mail [AE4N J @aol.corn], visit our Web Pages at [WWW.OARC.ORG] or send SASE to: Or-

TELEGR A PH COLLECTOR 'SPRICE GUIDE: 250 pictu res.prices.$12 postpaid. ARTIFAX BOOKS,Box 88. Maynard MA 01754. Tele­graph Museum: [http://witp.coml ,

BNB113

HEATH COMPANY is selling photo­copies of most Heathkit manuals.Only authorized source for copyrightmanuals. Phone: (61 6) 925·5899. 8­4 ET. BNB964

and 3% are relocati ng to anon urban environment.

A prudent person mightlook at those statistics andwonder: What do all thosehigh-tech execs know that Idon ' t?

No one kno ws what's re­ally going to happen. but itseems as if the more peopleunderstand the depth of theproblem, the more they arelikely to be preparing fo rsome preuy bad sluff.

I hope the pollster comin­ues to chec k high-tech execsto see whether the prepared-

. .ness curve IS gomg up ordown as the critical day ap­proaches and the po tential forserious trouble soaks in.

Unfortunately. jus t the fearof what could happen can beenough to make our financialsys tem collapse .. . i f enoughpeople sell their stocks ­just in case . If enough try 10withdraw their savings fromtheir banks - just in case .Do wn cou ld come thc wholefi nanci al house of cards. Thestock market only workswhen there arc more buyersthan se llers. And hanks onlystay in busi ness if you don' ttry to ge t you r money back.And this run on the stoc kmarket and banks could hetriggered from anywhere inthe world, which is really

METHOD TO LEARN MORSECOD E FAST AND WIT HO UTHANGUP S Johan N3RF , Send$1,00 s SASE. SVANHOLM RE­SEARCH LABORATORIES. P.O. Box81, Washington DC 20044 USA.

BNB421

WW Il MI LI TA RY TE LE VIS IONWANTED: Army/Navy SCR, ATJ.ATK. ARK. ARJ, CEK. CRY. Receiv­ers, cameras , monitor. trans mitters.dynamotors. Maurice Schec hter.590 Will is Ave.. Williston Park NY11596. PIF (51 6) 294-4416.

SNS69

aSL CARDS. Basic Styles; Blackand White and Color Picture Cards;Custom Printed. Send 2 stamps forsamples and literature. RAUM·S.8617 Orchard Ho., Coopersburg PA18036. Phone or FAX (215) 679­7238. BNB519

WANTED: High capacity 12 volt so­lar panels for repeater. [kk4ww@fairs.o rg] or (540) 763-2321,

SNS2630

President Clinton probably doesn'thave a copy of tonnets ElectronicsBench Reference but you Should.c hec k it out at [www.ohlo.net/- rtorm eUlndex .h tm) -over 100pages of circuits, tables. RF designinformation, sources. etc.

BIOELEC TRIFIER"" 5 Hz microcurrent supply for plant and animalresearch. Semi·K it $38.00. As·sembled complete With batteries andsilver electrodes $89.50. Add $2.50postage. Thomas Miller. 31 4 South9th Street . Richmond IN 47374.

BNB343

RF TR ANSI ST OR S TUBES2SC2879. 2SC 1971. 2SC19 72 .MRF24 7. MRF4 55. MB8719 .2SC 1307 . 2SC2029 , MRF454 .2SC31 33 . 4CX250B. 120 0 6 ,6KG6A. etc. WESTGATE, 1 (800)213-4563. BNB6000

BNB530

Turn your old ham and computer gear into cash now. Sure, you canwait for a hamfest to try and dump it, but you know you'll get a farmore realistic price if you have it out where 100.000 acti ve ham po­tential buyers can see it, rather than the few hundred local hams whocome by a flea market table. Check your att ic . ga rage . cellar andcloset shelves and get cash for your ham and computer gear beforeir s too old to sell. You know you're not going to use it again. so whyleave it for your widow 10 throw out? That stull isn 't gell ing anyyounger!The 73 Flea Market . Barter 'n' Buy. costs you peanuts (almost)­comes to 35 cents a word for individual (noncommercia l!) ads and$1.00 a word for commercial ads. Don't plan on telling a long sto ry,Use abbreviations, cram it in. But be hones t. There are plenty ofhams who love to fix things. so if it doesn't work, say so.Make your list . count the words , including your call. address and phonenumber. Include a check or you r credit ca rd number and expiration . Ifyou're placing a commercial ad . include an additional phone number.separate from your ad.This is a monthly magazine . not a daily newspaper. so figure a couplemonths before the action starts; then be prepa red. If you ge t too manycalls, you priced it low. If you don't get many ca lls, too high.So get busy. Blow the dust off. check everything out. make sure it stil lworks right and maybe you can he lp make a ham newcomer or re­tired old timer happy with that rig you're not using now, Or you mightget busy on your computer and put together a list of small gea r/partsto send to those interested?

Send your ads and payment to: 73 Magazine , Ba rter ' n 'Buy, 70 Rt . 202N, Peterbo rough NH 03458 and get se t forthe phone calls . The deadline for the May 1999 classi fied adsec tion is :\1an:h 10. 1999.

Cash for Colli ns : Buy any CollinsEquipment. Leo KJ6HI. Tel.lFAX(310) 670-6969. [radioleo @earthlink.net] BNB425

MA HLON LOOMIS, INVENTOR OF COLLOIDAL SILV ER GENERA-RADIO, by Thomas Appleby (copy- TOR! Why buy a "box of batteries"right 1967). Second printing avail- for hundreds of dollars? Current requ-able from JOHAN K.V. SVANHOLM teteo. AC powered , fully assembledN3RF. SVANHOLM RESEARC H with #12 AWG silver electrodes ,LABOR ATOR IES. P.O. Box 81. $74.50. Same, but DC powered .Washington DC 20044. Please send $54.50. Add $2.50 shipping. Thomas$25.00 donation with $5.00 for S&H. Miller. 314 South 9th Street. Rich-

BNB420 mono IN 47374. BNB342

64 73 Amateur Radio toaev » February 1999

~RC

•160-10 Meters PLUS 6 Meter Transceiver

1 All-Mode Operation (SSB,CW,AM,AFSK,FMj on all HF amateurbands and 6 meters, JST·145, same as JST-245 but without 6meters and built-in antenna tuner.

* JST·145 COMING SOON *2 MOSFET POWER AMPLIFIER· Final PA utilizes RF MOSFETs

10 achieve low distortion and high durability. Rated output is 10to 150 watts on all bands including 6 meters.

3 AUTOMATIC ANTENNA TUNER· Auto tuner included asstandard equipment. Tuner settings are automatically stereoin memory for fast osv.

4 MULTIPLE ANTENNA SELECTION. Three antenna connec­tions are user selectable from front panel. Antenna selection canbe stored in memory.

5 GENERAL COVERAGE RECEIVER· 100 kHz-3D MHz, plus 48­54 MHz receiver. Electronically tuned front-end filtering, quad­FET mixer and quadruple conversion system (triple conversionfor FM) results in excellent dynamic range (> 1ODdS) and 3rd orderICP of +20dBm,

6 IF BANDWIDTH FLEXIBILITY. Standard 2.4 kHz filter can benarrowed continuously to 800 Hz with variable Bandwidth Control(BWe). Narrow SSB and CW filters for 2nd and 3rd IF optional.

7 QRM SUPPRESSION. Othe r interference rejection featuresinclude Passband Shift (PBS), dual noise blanker, 3-step RF allen­uation. IF notch filter, selectable AGC and all-mode squelch.

8 NOTCH TRACKING· Once tuned, the IF notch filter will track theoffending heterodyne ( ::,: 10 Khz) if the VFO frequency is changed.

9 DDS PHASE LOCK l OOP SYSTEM · A sing le-crystal DirectDigital Synthesis system is utilized for very low phase noise.

10 CW FEATURES· Full break-in operation, variable CW pitch. buillin electronic keyer up to 60 wpm.

11 DUAL VFOs· Two separate VFOs for split-frequency operation.Memory registers store most recent VFO frequency, mode, band­width and othe r important parameters for each band.

12 200 MEMORIES · Memory capacity of 200 channels, each ofwhich store trequency, mode, AGC and bandwidth.

13 COMPUTER INTERFACE· Built-in RS-232C interface foradvanced compute r applications.

14 ERGONOMIC LAYOUT · Front panel features easy to read colorLCD display and thoughtful placement of controls for ease of oper­ation.

15 HEAVY-DUTY POWER SUPPLY · Built-in switching powersupply with "silent" cooling system designed for continuoustransmission at maximim output.

[.JRCI 3e;panRadio CO.,.ltd.430 Park Ave., 2nd Floor New York , NY 10022 Phone: (212) 355-1180 Fax: (212) 319-5227

CIRCLE 159 ON READER SERVICE CARD