An ARRL Special Service Club RACES ARES. P O Box 1442 Ridgecrest California

Transcription

1 THE AIRWAVES March 2012 SIERRA AMATEUR RADIO CLUB An ARRL Special Service Club RACES ARES P O Box 1442 Ridgecrest California BOARD President Harry Stephens K6HLS K6HLS@webstephens.com First VP Linda Finco KF6CMW fincolj@aol.com OF Second VP Mike Herr WA6ARA wa6ara@gmail.com Secretary Bill Burns WA6QYR bburns@ridgenet.net OFFICERS Treasurer Julie Stephens KI6YRA KI6YRA@webstephens.com SARC OWNED AND MAINTAINED REPEATERS Randsburg WA6YBN MHz (-), PL Hz, Wide Area, Emergency Power Ridgecrest WA6YBN MHz (-), Translator, No Squelch Tail, Emergency Power Ridgecrest WA6YBN MHz (+), PL Hz, Local, Emergency Power SARC Committees Technical Assistance: Mike, WA6ARA Public Relations: Linda, KF6CMW Program: Mike, WA6ARA, Airwaves Editor: Mike, WA6ARA RF Interference: Bill, WA6QYR Emergency and Public Service: 14 Mar SARC Board Meeting 7:00pm Heritage Inn 14 Mar SARC General Meeting 7:30pm Heritage Inn Program CW! 17 Mar T-Hunt see info inside Every Even Month, Second Saturday 14 April Volunteer License Exam Session Location: Guns 4 Us, basement classroom 417 East Ridgecrest Blvd, Ridgecrest CA No handicapped access Pre-reg by 9 April. Limited to 9 applicants All must register at 9 AM Contact Elvy Hopkins NØLV <lvrh7589@iwvisp.com> 15 Apr Rookie Roundup 28 Apr Emergency Readiness Block Party 23, 24 Jun Field Day

2 RENEWAL TIME! Yep, it's renewal time. If you have renewed, THANKS! If you haven't, please take the time to send in the renewal for If you haven't renewed, this will be your last newsletter! Hi all! President's Shack I haven t written a President s Shack column since November, so I guess it s high time to start up again. In terms of recent events, I d like start by thanking the folks who volunteered to work the 20 Mule Team horse ride (last weekend as of this writing). We nearly were unable to give support, which I found very disappointing. Thanks to a few hearty individuals who worked very long hours we were able to pull it off. All who volunteered, in whatever capacity, have my gratitude. The Technician class is rolling along well and we have, in terms of technical background (or lack thereof), a very diverse group. The USO building is a terrific venue, and I hope we can continue to use it in the future. What s happening in my shack? Well, I finally got on the air with the Retro 75 rig I built. With my hokey under the eaves antenna I was only able to contact Mike WA6ARA for our Monday net, but I did hear some folks on another 75m net a little earlier in the evening. Speaking of said antenna I ve made contacts in Winnipeg on 15m and Tucson on 40m. I m way behind the Richard kids, but a contact s a contact, right? Mike WA6ARA and I have an idea for the Strange Antenna Challenge this year. We ll kick it around a bit more before making an announcement. I hope to see you all at the March meeting on the 14 th. Daylight Savings Time starts up on the 11 th, so don t be late 73, Harry K6HLS@webstephens.com Minutes from SARC 8 Feb 2012 board meeting Mike needs to supply a due date for newsletter inputs. Julie to pick up some gift certificates from ARRL, Local dinners, AES for raffle at each meeting. Cost to be $20 limited. Hope to gain better attendance with more activity at meetings. Harry to talk to Gene N5DQ about loaner rig recommendations and the SARC/BARC picnic. Copies of the new ham guide are to be handed out at the VE sessions to new hams. Submitted by Bill Burns WA6QYR Secretary.

3 Minutes from SARC 8 Feb 2012 meeting Mike WA6ARA reported having 16 members in Tech class to start on 16 Feb. 10 New Tech books were ordered from ARRL. Treasurer Julie KI6YRA reported a treasury balance of $5, SARC had received a $100 donation. There would be no Death Valley Walk this year. Volunteers are needed for the Emergency/ Public Service Committee. President Harry K6HLS reported on the Fire Mountain 50 Horse ride. A number of folks talked about how easy it was to run the base camp position. President Harry K6HLS requested volunteers for the 100 Miler 20 Mule Team horse ride on 25 Feb. Show and Tell time had Gene W5DQ talk about the ARRL book Low band DXing ; Hal N6HAL talked about his book that Staples had assembled on his TS710 radio; Ryan KJ6HBY talked about his WAS certificate and his first place in the CQ WW WPX contest for Rookie 15 meters. Ryan and his Worked All States Award Ryan wins 1st place CQ WW WPX contest Rookie on 15 meters! Hal N6HAL provided the program on Win Link It is an RF computer program. Thanks to Julie KI6YRA for providing the cookies. 20 people were present.

4 Hal, N6HAL, discussing WinLink 2000 Treasure's Report Beg Bal $5,721 Income 630 Expense (500) End Ba $5,851 Income is membership and class fees. Expense is for class supplies. Julie Stephens SARC Treasurer KI6YRA

5 March Meeting Program "CW - the essential Mode" I have been approached by several individuals about learning cw. The program will go over the history of CW, it's uses (besides amateur radio) and how to learn it. This will be the start of a regular CW over the air practice and training program. If you are interested in CW, great, but even if not, this should be an informative program. April Meeting Program "Handhelds, the good, the bad and the ugly" It's a question we all hear all the time, what rig should I buy. To answer at least part of that question the April meeting will be a show and tell on handheld, one that I will title, "Handhelds, the good, the bad and the ugly". Several different hams who own and use various handheld will present information on handhelds form a variety of manufactures in more or less the same format. Presently I have folks to represent Yaesu, Alinco and Wuxwon. I am looking for others to do Kenwood and Icom. I will supply a simple 4 or 5 page viewgraph template to be used for the presentation. Each person's portion of the presentation should only be about 5 minutes long. If you are willing, please contact me at wa6ara@gmail.com or (760) SARC T- Hunt The next T-Hunt of 2012 will be held on 17 March. The time will start at the normal 0900 at Crest Donut. Hope to see you all there! Emergency Readiness Block Party There is a Emergency Readiness Block Party the city will sponsor on April28. This event will take place on Balsam between Argus and Ridgecrest Blvd. from 1000 to 1400 hours. The purpose of the block party is to bring our emergency services community together to inform the general public. We are looking for volunteers to set up several ham radio stations and demonstrate the capabilities to the public. Do I have any volunteers to help with this? Thanks Mike Cash W6PM cash.mike@verizon.net 20 Mule Team 100 Mile Horse Ride Ed, KI6PSP The 20 Mule Team 100 Mile Horse Ride of Feb 25th went well. The ride covered the hills around the college, as well as the El Paso Mountains, consisting of one hundred riders that entered into the event. Over the course of the event, we had several pulls, including one 35 miler, two 65 milers, and seven 100 milers. The lead 100 miler was #116, Michele Roush, arriving in the fairgrounds around The event started at 0600 with a temperature of 61.5 F and wind gusting from the WSW at 24mph. As the day progressed, the wind died down, and temperatures peaked at 76.5 F with a calm wind around 1300.

6 I wanted to try something a little different for repeater use this time. I created a one way cross-band link from the 147 machine to the Randsburg machine. I accomplished this with my TM-V7A, tied to the UHF link side of the 147 machine. This allowed the operators to call Net Control over either repeater, and Net Control could respond through 147, and be heard on both repeaters. This bridged the communications with Vet2, near Garlock, which would be inaccessible by the portable Here is Tammy, KG6VYA, keeping track of horses and riders repeater. This also improved communications with 395 South, and 395 North during the day. Another advantage to using this system, was the ability to use Echolink. A bi-directional crossband link was not practical, due to a loop from the courtesy tones of both repeaters. Greg (WA7IRW) assumed Net Control in the morning, with Ed (KI6PSP) taking the afternoon, and Jack (NL7SX) taking an extended graveyard shift, closing down around 0430 as the final horses arrived into the fairgrounds. Jim (KI6PTA) and Dave (AI6S) both had some difficulty locating their respective operating points, but were aided by other participants with the ride. Bill (WA6QYR) acted as a safety for the 395 crossing near Searles Station. Tammy (KG6VYA) operated for extended hours on Vet 3/5, located at Brown Road and the 395 intersection into town. Harry (K6HLS) and Julie Note the fine horseshoe repair

7 (KI6YRA) relieved Jim (KI6PTA) at the 395 North safety crossing in the afternoon, followed by Mike (N6PYM) and Paula (N6OQQ). The Trestle was manned by Mike (WA6ARA) and Paula (N6VGW) until relieved by Eric (KJ6NYS). With the detailed information provided by the ride organizers, I was able to built accurate logistics packs for everyone. With this information, I was able to estimate the arrival times of riders, based on their average speed. The only issue during the event, was the inability to communicate with the water truck due to cell phone problems. The water supply at Vet 3/5 was nearing depleted when the truck finally arrived. Maybe next event, I will deploy an APRS tracker onto the water truck, so we can at least see its location, if we cannot communicate with it. We had a total of 14 radio operators, and a few guest operators from the current Technician Class,to support this successful event. Due to high operator participation, we only had 4 operators that had to work more than 8 hours, with most operating for about 6 hours. A Big Thanks goes to those that did operate for this event, especially those working the extended hours. With continued participation from the club, we can reduce the operating hours required for each person during the planning phases of these events. 73 Ed, KI6PSP (note from the editor - I've done the walks, runs and bicycle ride but hadn't worked the horse ride in a number of years. We had a great time, and the best part was that just about every rider thanked us for being out there) 2012 Technician Class SARC Technician license class is going well. We have 18 students this year, with a couple of them working on their General as well. Harry, K6HLS, at the 2012 Technician Class

8 News from the North There will be a social and swap meet on Saturday, April 28 at the Lone Pine Town Park on the north end of town by Carl's Jr. It will start at 9 am and go until about 1 pm. If you have a name tag, you are encouraged to wear them. The Bishop ARC guys will be down from Bishop. Bring anything you want to sell or give away. Most of us have stuff that we probably won't ever use but someone else might be able to use it, so this is the time. There will be lots of QST's from 1980 onward to be passed on to guys that can use them. Also a bunch of QSTs from the 50s and 60s. On another note, they are working to link the Little Lake to the Bishop for our evening net at 8 pm. Hopefully it will be operational by summer time. And lastly, the Bishop ARC (N6OV) will have Field Day at our cabin three miles west of Lone Pine opposite the Horseshoe Meadow Road. Changes to the 60 meter Band Condensed from the ARRL 60-Meter Operations New Privileges and Recommended Practices - the full text is at %20Version%206_4.pdf Effective March 5, 2012, there are numerous changes to the 60 meter band. Specifically a change in one of the channel frequencies, the addition of CW and digital modes and an increase in power. General, Advanced or Amateur Extra class are permitted to operate on five frequency channels, each having an effective bandwidth of 2.8 khz. See Table 1 below. Table 1 USB, PSK CW Channel 1: khz khz Channel 2: khz khz Channel 3: khz khz Channel 4: khz khz Channel 5: khz khz The maximum effective radiated power has been increased to 100 W, relative to a half-wave dipole. This means you have to take into account the transmitter power, antenna gain above that of a dipole and any losses such as feed line. If you are using anything other than a dipole, or are taking credit for extraordinary feedline losses, best to calculate the gain and keep the results in your station records. In the past only upper sideband (USB) was allowed. But now we can use CW and Digital modes, provided they meet certain requirements. USB operation is the same as before, tune your rig to one of the channel frequencies shown in Table 1 and operate, being careful that you do not overmodulate and create splatter that would fall outside the 2.8 khz channel bandwidths. For CW operation you must be at the center of your chosen channel. This means that your transmitting frequency must be 1.5 khz above the suppressed carrier frequency as specified in Table 1. This can cause some confusion. Some transceivers transmit CW at the exact frequencies shown on their displays, but others offset the actual transmission frequency by a certain amount (for example, 600 Hz). If your manual is not clear on this point, contact the manufacturer. A frequency counter, this

9 is an excellent tool for ensuring that your CW signal is on the channel center frequency. Again, this means one QSO per channel! Digital operation is now allowed but the signal must be less than 60 Hz wide. This is too narrow for RTTY, only modes such as PSK31 meets this requirement. With PSK31 you must operate on the channel center frequencies, the same as CW. The easiest way to achieve this is to place your transceiver in the USB mode and tune to one of the suppressed carrier channel frequencies shown in Table 1. With your PSK31 software display configured to indicate audio frequencies, click your mouse cursor at the 1500 Hz mark and leave it there. You can't move around looking for a QSO, only one per channel! Even though with PSK there is plenty of room for additional QSOs and staying within the USB audio bandwidth, you must transmit at one and only one frequency, the center. So, only 1 QSO at the center at a time! Tips for Avoiding Interference Because amateurs are only secondary users on 60 meters, we are required to yield to other services. If you suddenly hear a non-amateur transmission on the channel, you must cease operation on that channel immediately. Always listen before transmitting. - Keep your transmissions as short as possible with frequent breaks to listen for other signals. - Although split-channel operation (transmitting on one channel and listening on another), is permitted under the rules, this is considered poor operating practice on 60 meters because it effectively ties up two channels at once and increases potential interference. If you must operate split channel, monitor your transmit channel for other signals. - To locate a clear channel, USB operators should begin at Channel 5 and move down (if necessary) to Channels 4, 3, 2 and 1 until a clear channel is found. CW and digital operators should reverse this pattern, beginning at Channel 1 and moving upward until a clear channel is found. - If you hear a digital signal and you re not sure if it is an Amateur Radio signal, don t transmit; move to another channel instead. - Take care when using narrow receive filters, such as when operating CW. To be in compliance you need to be able to hear other stations that may begin operating on the channel. - Over the years, Channel 5 has become a de facto international DX channel. With that in mind, avoid domestic QSOs on this channel when possible. For Sale Glen Martin 4-1/2 ' Roof Top Heavy Duty Tower (new), Rotor Plate included $ Thrust Bearing (new) $ Will fit GM Tower "M" squared 6 meter beam (in the box) 5 Element beam - 18 foot Boom$ call N6NPG Tom Ryan,

10 For Sale Local Ham is leaving the area! Tel-Ex model M-51crank up 55 tower available. It will take some work taking it down. $200, will consider other options. Contact Mark Rowell KC6BPH For Sale Table mounted wood router $15 16 element 2 meter skeleton slot antenna $10 10 to 20 ft aluminum thin wall pipe diameters from 1 inch to 4 inch (old HF full sized beam parts) 120 v 20 amp variac $20 Struthers RF Directional Wattmeter with 3 slugs (2-30 MHz, MHz, MHz) each slug has 10, 50, 100, 500 watt ranges $75 Roll-a-round camera mount with quickset head $25. Call Bill WA6QYR bburns@ridgenet.net Check out the SARC Web Page SARC on FACEBOOK

11 Local Repeaters Status Location Call Freq in MHz Tone Notes Distance Wide Area, Emergency Power UP Randsburg WA6YBN (-) CT S 18.6 Mi Translator, No Squelch Tail, Emergency Power UP Ridgecrest WA6YBN (-) NoPL Area Emergancy Net 7:30 PM S 2.5 Mi Allstar #27178, Echolink #518309, Info *510 UP Ridgecrest WA6YBN (+) CT ARRL Audio News on 7 PM W 2.5 Mi Standby Ridgecrest WA6YBN (+) CT Club Portable Repeater, used only for events SW 1 Mi DOWN El Paso Pk WI6RE (S) NoPL Packet Digi S 10 Mi UP El Paso Pk WI6RE (S) NoPL APRS W1 Digi, iwvaprs.net KI6PSP@gmail.com S 10 Mi UP Trona K6YYJ (-) PL RF Linked to m Remote Base on FM call frequency MHz - Controls: Rx 61, Tx 62, Off 63 E 15.9 Mi UP Little Lake W6TD (+) NoPL RF Linked to Mazourka Peak NW 24.9 Mi UP Bird Springs KF6FM (+) PL Wide coverage of Indian Wells Valey - swrrc.org WSW 27 Mi UP Mazourka Pk W6TD (-) NoPL RF Linked to Little Lake N 96.5 Mi UP Hauser Pk K6OX (-) PL Near Palmdale, Wide coverage of Antelope Valley SSW 80 Mi UP Keller Pk KE6RYZ (+) CT kpra.net - Near Big Bear, Wide SoCal Coverage SSE 104 Mi UP Ridgecrest W5HMV (-) CT RF Linked to Input is about -4 KHz off. SE 2.6 Mi UP Ridgecrest WI6RE (S) CT IRLP-3741, contact tiplerek@iwvisp.com for codes W 2.8 Mi UP El Paso Pk WI6RE (-) CT IRLP WinSystem.org S 10 Mi UP Ridgecrest NC9RS (-) PL 88.5 Input: Linked to others - NC9RS SW 2.0 Mi Last Update: September 18 th 2011 Contact Ed, KI6PSP, for changes and corrections