RADIOWAVES. MARCI Newsletter

Transcription

1 THE MANATEE AMATEUR RADIO CLUB, INC. February 2018 RADIOWAVES MARCI Newsletter FROM THE PRESIDENT: At the May MARCI meeting, we will vote on the new Board members for the upcoming term. If you are interested in serving on the Board in some capacity, please let me know and we will submit your name to the membership for consideration. Your participation in service to the club will be most appreciated. 73, George, K4AWA FROM THE EDITOR: As we (hopefully) get away from the frigid weather that arrived with the snowbirds and recover from Winter Field Day, a short reminder to anyone looking for new or used gear that cannot be found in our For Sale section. Hamcation 2018 is coming up very soon. Specifically February 9, 10 and 11 At the Central Florida Fairgrounds in Orlando. The second biggest hamfest in the USA, if you cannot find it there you will have to go to Xenia Ohio in May. While we are talking about hamfests, don t forget about the many smaller hamfests around West Central Florida this season. They may not have the size or scope of Orlando, but they provide a great opportunity to put faces to call signs and names you work all the time over the air and also to pick up that item you don t have in your junque box that you need for a future project. Also, don t forget the Winter Field Day at Bob s place on Upper Manatee River Road close by the Southern end of the Ft. Hamer Bridge. Food is pretty well arranged and operating is going to be fun. Page 1

2 ARRL Operating Manual N S E I T I N U T R O P P O O R N N L T I P F G N Q M F I F B N C V T N T M A B T R D L I L A Y O L O W C L B I A Z S E R V I C E C I T R E R H D R L L L D M P R V B N C O N S I D E R A T E A F D V F P J B C D T N L M K M L L M R X N M R A D C A L L Y N Q W A Y I K W Y M N E G G K R L A O T O P E R A T O R W A L T Z T N M J G Z M J Q B E I G P M H M U Q P T J C R C P R O G R E S S I V E R AMERICAN BALANCED CONSIDERATE FIELDDAY FRIENDLY LEAGUE LOYAL OPERATOR OPPORTUNITIES PATRIOTIC PROGRESSIVE RADIO RELAY SERVICE MARCONI Page 2

3 Our esteemed President presenting Dave KM4AJC with the permanent plaque for his Ham of The Year award from 2016 Page 3

4 Choosing Your First Radio By Geoff Haines, N1GY Choosing a first amateur radio to purchase can be an overwhelming decision. Being new to the hobby, it appears that there is a bewildering array of choices to look at. For the Technician Licensee, however, it is not as difficult as it first appears. Applying a few logical ground rules can cut hundreds of options down to three or four pretty quickly. The first thing to look at is your personal situation. How much can you afford to spend? A new dual band mobile radio will cost from $250 to $400. The antenna with coax cable to connect it to the radio can cost anywhere from $20 to $60. This sounds like a lot of money, but this is a purchase that should last for a long time, so its cost is spread over several years. You can pay less for a single band radio, but since there are many repeaters in the area on both 2 meters and 70 centimeters it kind of makes sense to get the most flexibility for the cost. The next aspect to consider is what kind of radio. It used to be conventional wisdom that the first ham radio for the Technician would be a handheld or HT type unit. These are very convenient; there is no setup for power, just program and go. The problem is that the community is expanding all the time and this means longer distances between you and the repeater. Sometimes that means that the HT, with a maximum of 5 to 6 watts output power, may be too far away to make reliable contacts. For those living close in to town, an HT is OK, but if you are well east of I-75, a mobile radio with 40 to 50 watts may be a better choice. This means of course, that it has to be installed in your car or in your house. Either way there are important things to consider. If mounted in the house, as what is termed a base rig, you will need a power supply to provide the 13.8 volts DC to the radio. In your car, that is available from the battery. In either case you will also need an antenna for the radio to transmit and receive through. Let s consider the power supply first. It needs to be able to provide 13.8 Volts DC at amperage that will operate the radio properly. That little 3 amp supply you have in the garage just will not cut it here. You will need at least 10 to 15 amps of available power at 13.8 v. to let the radio work. Less is not only poor procedure but may even damage the radio. Now let s consider the antenna. This seemingly simple device looks like nothing more than a metal stick on a mount with coax cable like TV cable to connect it to the radio. Nothing could be further from the truth. The radio antenna for the usual VHF/UHF ham radio is a very complex piece of engineering. It has to closely match the impedance of the antenna to the impedance of the radio and the impedance of the coaxial cable. Television, whether cable, satellite or over the airwaves, uses a characteristic impedance of 75 ohms. Communications equipment uses a characteristic of 50 ohms. The two are NOT compatible. The proper antenna for amateur radio in your car can be mounted on a magnetic mount, to a hole drilled in the body, or in the case of pickups to a suitable mirror mount. The antenna for a base installation can be big or small, mounted on a mast or hidden on a porch or a balcony. The cable has to be run in a certain way so that the radio does not interfere with the computers built into the modern car. Having said that and probably having scared you half to death, I must point out that all major car manufacturers have built their products to safely handle amateur radios up to 100 watts of power. They also have published guidelines to assist people in safely and properly mounting amateur equipment in their cars and trucks. Otherwise, every time you drove past a commercial radio station, your car would stall. It doesn t, so don t worry. Properly installed ham radio gear will not interfere with anything unless something is wrong with the consumer device that is getting the interference. Virtually every vendor of amateur radio equipment has a web site you can view. Prices, availability, shipping charges and often advice and comparisons between brands are available.. You may be confused and unsure. Ask a fellow club member for suggestions; in fact ask more than one. Find out which brand and model works well for them. Which ones are easiest to program? How does it hold up? Etc. etc. The answers can make your decision easy. 73, Geoff Haines, N1GY Page 4

5 SWAP / TRADE / SELL If anyone has gear they wish to sell or donate, please send the particulars to the editor for inclusion in the next issue. For Sale: VHF and UHF Antennas: Made with 3/32 welding rod and SO- 239 connector easy to assemble and mount on ¾ PVC pipe. $10.00 each Call Geoff at PowerPole Power Distribution Blocks in 4+1, 6+1, and 8+1 sizes $15, $20, $25 each respectively Can custom build to suit. Call Geoff at Foot operated PTT switches brand new from MPJA wired with 3.5mm mono plug on 8 cable. $10 Call Geoff at AH sealed lead acid batteries (2) in commercial battery boxes with float charger. Each battery box has two pairs of Powerpole terminals and a switch controlled digital voltmeter. They also have a heavy duty webbing strap for carrying. Cost: $70 each Call Geoff, N1GY at For Sale from Mike Wise, K4PRO (941) SteppiR Big IR MkIII VERTICAL Antenna Paid over $1000 new. Antenna is in excellent condition. $500 with 80 meter coil and the SDA100 controller. Hex Beam, paid $800 would like to get $250 for it. 6,10,12,15,17,20 meters. SWR under 1.2:1 across the entire antenna. For Sale: TYT 440 MHz 45 watt transceiver, $ Contact George, K4AWA For Sale: Fitbit Flex wireless wristband. New in box, never used. $ Contact George, K4AWA or E Mail K4AWA@aol.com For Sale: 5 band Hustler HF Antenna 24 feet high Contact Jerry, KC8NZL at Best Offer gets it. For Sale: Dentron 2k antenna tuner. $150 Ameritron AL-811H 800 watt amp. The tubes are a little soft but I have a brand new set of tubes that I will include with the Amp. $500 including the new tubes. Amp is wired for 110 but can be wired for 220. Page 5

6 Or I will sell all of the above (Tuner, Radio, Amp and tubes) for $1000 as a package deal. I also have a 700watt 70cm amp that I will sell for $600. Amp is wired for 220. I have a watt amp that I will sell for $200 Amp is wired for 110. Contact Burch, K4QXX via burchakin@verizon.net For Sale: New and used Equipment from Bruce Theroux KJ4IFH snip999991@gmail.com 1. Discone Antenna Stainless $ Opek Antenna, Aluminum $25 3. FT-2800M Yaesu New 65 w 2 m $ FT-8100R Yaesu New Dual Band $ Icom V82 HT 3 antennas $ FT-2200 Yaesu Mobile with antenna, Power supply and headset $ Kenwood SW100 Power Meter $70 8. New Diawa Power Meter $40 9. Uniden 300 Scanner $ DVD Player Free For Sale: Burch Akin, K4QXX has antennas for the serious operator. M2 2mtr antenna model 2M18XXX yagi Brand:M2 Antennas Manufacturer's Part Number:2M18XXX Product Line:M2 Antennas 2M18XXX 2 Meter Yagi Antennas DXE Part Number:MSQ-2M18XXX 2mtr Beam Antenna Type: Yagi Beam Antenna Elements: 18 Antenna Power Rating: 1,500 W Longest Element: in. Antenna Turning Radius: ft. Antenna Frequency Coverage: MHz Cost new from DX Engineering $ The antenna is 5 6 years old but in great condition. On the ground and ready for pickup. $75 Also has an M2 4329WL which is a 9 wave length ( 28 element) 432 SSB Antenna for FREE on the ground and ready for pickup FREE. DX Engineering sells this one for $ Brand:M2 Antennas Manufacturer's Part Number:4329WL Product Line:M2 Antennas 4329WL 432 MHz Yagi Antennas DXE Part Number:MSQ-4329WL Antenna Power Rating:1,500 W Beam Antenna Boom Length: ft. Page 6

7 Beam Antenna Turning Radius:11.50 ft. Wind Surface Area:1.600 sq. ft. Beam Antenna Frequency Coverage: MHz Antenna Weight:8.00 lbs. UHF Beam Antenna Bands:70 centimeters Beam Antenna Gain: 19.4 dbi Beam Antenna F/B (db): 24.0 db Call Burch at (941) Club Meetings Monthly Meeting February 6, 2018 Bible Baptist Church 2113 Morgan Johnson Rd Monthly Board Meeting February 20, 2018 TBA 7 PM Monthly ARES Meeting February 27, 2018 Manatee County EOC 7 Pm Club and Other Nets: MARCI Info Net Sunday 7:00 PM Hz. ARES Net Monday 7:00PM Hz. Manatee Skywarn Net Thursday 7:00 PM Hz. PLEASE PARTICIPATE IN ALL THE NETS ANY TIME YOU CAN. The nets on Monday and Thursday ( ) are logged for the Manatee County Emergency Management and create billable hours of Volunteer Participation which results in County provided equipment for ARES. WCF ARES & INFO Net Monday 7:30 PM Hz. WCF Eagle NTS Net Nightly 8:30 PM Hz. Page 7 WCF Skywarn Net Tuesday 9:00 PM Hz WCF Technical Net Thursday 9:00 PM Hz (The WCF nets are also available on Hz.) Do please try to remember to check into the nets, both local and regional. Participation will only take you a moment out of your evening but it is vital to the life of the net. Page 7