The Salami Merchant. Current Officers: President: WB0IQK Mark Gilger. Vice President: K8PQ Ray Irwin. Secretary: AI8P Dennis Conklin

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1 The Salami Merchant Newsletter of the Silvercreek Amateur Radio Association Monthly Meeting: 3rd Saturday of the month. Place: Buehler s Resturant Wadsworth, Ohio Time: 7:30am All are welcome! Current Officers: President: WB0IQK Mark Gilger Vice President: K8PQ Ray Irwin Secretary: AI8P Dennis Conklin Treasurer: KI8B Barry Youmans Trustees: Debbie Conklin KD8DEB Bob Bohn W8IJG Willard Houston W8WDH Barry Youmans KI8B The Association operates two open repeaters: PL M PL Nets are every morning except Sunday at 7:25 am and Tuesday nights at 8:00 pm. VEC Exams are given quarterly by the club. Usually the time is 9:15am at the Rittman Library. Be sure to bring a photo id or some other positive form of identification and the present examination fee. If you are licensed be sure to bring a copy of your license. See the web page ( for details. The Barometer Net operates Monday thru. Saturday. starting at 7:25am. This and the Tuesday night net are run by Ron KD8CVS The Barometer Net goes until all have signed out. Ron says that there have been numbers pushing 20 joining the net with participants coming and going as their time permits. The Tuesday night net is a controlled net. When checking in give your call, name, location., and whether or not you have traffic for the net. Speak slowly and clearly so Ron has enough time to write down your information.. INFORMAL 10 METER GROUP An informal group meets with some degree of regularity nightly on 10M at The group usually starts at 7:30 pm and runs until 8:00. There are usually only 3 participants AB8GO, KI8B, and W8WDH. More participants are sought. Sometimes N8OGK and WB0IQK show up. If you hear no one after 7:35 it is because no one showed up or only one person showed up. Page 1

2 HAMFESTS August 19th: Warren, OH, 899 Everett Hull Road Trumbull County Fairgrounds SeSep 9 - Findlay Hamfest, Findlay, OH - WA8EFK, KI8GW, Sep 15 - Richmond Hamfest **(QSL CHECKING)** - Richmond, KY, KY4Z Sep 16 - Greater Cincinnati ARA Hamfest **(QSL CHECKING)** - Cincinnati, OH, K8JE, Ohio Cabinet Sep 16 - Adrian Hamfest, Adrian, MI - WB8R Sep 23 - Cleveland Hamfest and Computer Show **(QSL CHECKING)** - Local hams meet every Saturday morning at Buehler s in Wadsworth. Everyone is invited to meet with us. We usually meet at about 7:30, gab, order, eat, and gab some more. Join us if you can. Have some pictures you would like to share? Send them to W8WDH, address: willardhouston94@gmail.com Here is John our webmaster. John keeps the webpage looking good. Thanks John for the fine job and thanks for the help in getting the first edition out. Other nets or news that might be of interest to the membership? Other links that might be interesting to the group? Send me the information and I will try to get it into subsequent SALAMI MERCHANT editions. Willard Houston W8WDH Willardhouston94@gmail.com For Sale: Yeasu FRG 7000 Reciever. $50 willardhouston94@gmail.com. Page 2 Next Edition September 15. Submissions should be sent by September 1. Send to willardhouston94@gmail.com.

3 Mark sends along this information about SWAP NETS that you might be interested in. If you would like to add to the list, send your additions to SWAP NETS TUESDAY (Drake Antique Tube Net) :00 PM WEDNESDAY (Scars Swap) :00 AM WEDNESDAY (Ecars Swap) :00 AM WEDNESDAY (Swap) :00 PM FRIDAY (Texas Traders) :30 PM SATURDAY (Old Gear) :00 AM SATURDAY (Swap Net) :00 PM SATURDAY (Marconi Net) :30 PM SUNDAY (Georgia Traders) :00 AM SUNDAY (Texas Traders) :30 AM SUNDAY (Ontario Swap) :00 PM SUNDAY (Continental Traders) :30 PM Are there any VHF Swap Nets? Send me the info! Page 3

4 If you have any nets to add to the list, send them to me and I will try to include them in the next edition of the SALAMI MERCHANT. (willardhouston94@gmail.com) I m sure there must be some VHF Nets that the readers would like to know about. Send the info to me. HF SSB/AM NETS AWA SSB Net Sunday 1600z AWA SSB Net Sunday 8pm Eastern AWA AM Net Sunday 1300z AWA SSB Net Wednesday 1130z Brothers Net Daily 9pm Eastern Collins Net Tuesday 9pm Eastern Collins Net Thursday 9pm Eastern Collins Net Sunday 2000z Drake Net Sunday 2000z Drake Net Tuesday 8:00pm Kenwood Hybrid Saturday 3:30pm Eastern Kenwood Hybrid Sunday 1800z Hallicrafters Net Saturday 1pm Eastern Swan Technical Net Saturday 2 pm Eastern Swan Technical Net Monday 2300z Swan Users Net Sunday 2100z Heathkit Sunday 2200z DX-60 Net (AM) Sunday 8:00am Icom Sunday 1700z DX Net M-F ECARS Daily 7:30am 2pm SCARS Daily 8:00am 2pm MCARS Daily 8:30am 2 pm ARUFON (UFO) Saturday 8:00 pm ARUFON (UFO) Tuesday 8:00 pm Page 4

5 The club has received these old radios from a SK. We have had them for several years and they have been stored by Bob (W8IJG) in his shack. It is time to give Bob his space back. We have thought about sending them to the Estes Auctions. The fees involved may be more than the radios are worth so we are offering them to members first. If you are interested or have any questions, please contact W8IJG at kb8uhu@aol.com. They are examples of the radio art of their time. Bob has more pictures available. him if you would like to see them. I couldn t publish all of them in this issue due to the size of the files involved.. These radios were sold at the Randolph Hamfest! Page 5

6 HAMFESTS The following hamfests are coming. Try to attend one or more of them. Remember, one man s junk is another man s treasure. :August 19: Warren, OH 899 Everett Hull Road Trumbull County Fairgrounds Sep 15: Richmond Hamfest **(QSL CHECKING)** - Richmond, KY, KY4Z Sep 16: Greater Cincinnati ARA Hamfest **(QSL CHECKING) Cincinnati, OH, K8JE Sep 16 : Adrian Hamfest, Adrian, MI - WB8R Sep 23 : Cleveland Hamfest and Computer Show **(QSL CHECKING) Berea Fairgrounds Page 6

7 Field Day Results (Unofficial) To see the unofficial Field Day results go to our webpage and view the addendum to the August Salami Merchant Page 7

8 Del N8OFP Walt AB8GO Barry KI8B Mark and Del Dan KB8MXC Field Day 2012 Willard W8WDH Page 8

9 Mark WB0IQK Field Day 2012 Gary N8OGK Dennis AI8P Page 9

10 Kenwood TS-520 Written by: Mark Gilger The Kenwood TS-520 radio was introduced in It is mostly solid state with the exception of a RF driver tube and 2 RF final tubes. These make fine radio s for new or seasoned hams that are affordable and fun to operate. They typically provide 100 watts output on meter bands, possibly a little less on 10 meters. They were produced in 3 models. The TS-520 was the first in the series. It covered meters and could be operated from the mobile if desired. The TS-520S included the 160 meter band. The TS-520SE was the last in the series and covered and included capability for switching the CW filter in and out as desired. You can usually find these at Hamfest anywhere from $100 to $300. All three radios give you the capability of running split mode using the optional remote VFO-520. Starting with the TS-520S, capability was provided to run an DG-5 external digital frequency counter to give better frequency accuracy. The SP520 speaker matched all three radios and gave good overall frequency range. One of the best things about the Kenwood hybrids is the receiver audio. It s very pleasant to listen to and you don t get tired out after operating it for hours on end. Guess we should expect this from a company noted for it s quality stereo receivers. There are still plenty of people specializing in repairing these so they will be around for many more years as long as parts can be obtained. Even though parts are no longer being manufactured they are available on the used market for reasonable prices. Next month I ll review the TS-820 which was the predecessor to the TS-520. Page 10

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12 An All Time New One, by AI8P I have about 45 minutes before I have to leave for the ham radio meeting, so I turn my attention to the DX spots. Wow, South Korea is on! I can never hear that part of the world on my modest antenna, but as a defiant yet futile gesture, I turn on the radio and click on the spot. Holy ionosphere, Batman, I can (barely) hear South Korea on 20M RTTY. They are quite faint and MMTTY is having trouble decoding them, but I can hear them. I crank in 2 cascaded 250Hz crystal filters on the rig and effectively negate the existance of everything in the universe except for this one signal. Now the software can decode them, if imperfectly. I try to A/B between my vertical and my wire, only to confirm that the vertical hears them better. Safely ensconced in the well grounded Faraday cage at the operating position, I remotely switch on the Amp. The earth rumbles, but I know it's no earthquake. At scores of power plants east of the Mississippi, generators are spinning up to keep the grid from dropping under the enormous load of the Amp's starting current. There is a crackle of over-excited electrons, and the smell of ozone slowly fills the room as giant electrical bolts leap out of the Amp and strike down trees in the yard. Thus begins another installment of "the longest 2 minutes of my life". Ordinarily I would sound the alarm so that my XYL and 1st Harmonic can retreat to the safe room in the basement, but this is South Korea, an alltime new one for me, and there is no time for such niceties. This Amp warmup period represents a barrier as daunting to me as the "Four minute Mile" was to an earlier generation of runners. After half a minute the lights in the neighborhood begin to blink back on, having been extinquished when I energized the FlameThrower. Around Northern Ohio, thousands of families are frantically gathering together their flashlights to prepare for the power outages which likely will follow. One full minute in and I can still hear South Korea. I see an 8 call signing "73 from N OH" and my excitement builds. My face is contorted with exertion as I focus my mental energy to generate a rift in the Time Space continuum (the only known method of overcoming the warm-up requirement of the Amp). Failing this, I wait the entire 2 minutes and the Amp gives the green light - we are ready to transmit. And miracles of miracles, I can still faintly hear South Korea!!!!! I wait for the station to sign clear from their QSO and I click the macro in MMTTY. And nothing happens!! The earth doesn't rumble; the neighborhood lights don't blink out; the rig doesn't transmit. Cursing my ill fortune, I frantically try to diagnose the problem. The Microham router is blank! I've seen this once before, and it meant the sound card drivers were corrupted. Quickly, I reboot the PC to see if this will reinitialize them. And all the while South Korea seems to be growing weaker. After the reboot there is no change, so I know that I have to re-install the sound card drivers. One crazy, desperate chance is to go into Control Panel and try to get it going by changing the defaults and accessing the mixer from there. Fortune smiles on me as this actually works, and the router screen comes up normally. Now, I only need the station to sign clear, and I can incinerate the ionosphere with my signal. But wait, I don't hear South Korea. I don't see South Korea in MMTTY. South Korea is gone! I listen for another 15 minutes but either he went QRT, or the ionosphere has played another of it's cruel jokes on me. Murphy yet lives. The good news is that the rolling brownouts in NE Ohio are cancelled for today. (Continued on page 13) Page 12

13 QRP ops may believe that this tale is factually correct, exactly as told; it merely confirms what they have always believed! QRO ops and most others will likely realize it is seasoned to taste with a liberal sprinkling of artistic license. de Dennis, AI8P Postscript: I tried to print a draft copy of this article on my laser printer, which sits on a shelf just above the Amp. For some reason, I can't get the paper drawer open on the printer to add paper. Investigation reveals that the plastic paper drawer for the printer has melted and sagged under the influence of gravity. Apparently, the heat given off by the Flame- Thrower has been sufficient to soften the printer drawer and allow it to deform. For now, I can make it work by removing a bracket and only opening the drawer part way. SARA Meeting of 2012 June 16 Minutes: The minutes were approved as ed. Treasurer: $357 - no change Old Business: Field Day will be at Rittman Park - no group food - every man for himself Estes Auction - Mark will ask them about selling the Wanzie radios New Business: None Respectfully submitted: Dennis Conklin AI8P Page 13

14 Minutes of the July 21 S.A.R.A. meeting at Buehler s. Secretary: Minutes of the previous meeting approved as published and e- mailed. Treasurer: $357 - no change Old business: The Wanzie radios disposal - Estes Auctions takes 20% if they sell them. Mark and/or Bob will take them to Randolph and try to sell them there. Field Day log is being submitted by Barry today. Our score is not yet available. 175 QSO cards have arrived from Field Day. Barry needs SARA cards and postage to reply. He will set up LOTW account for SARA and the group approved up to $100 expenditure by Barry to handle QSO replies from FD. New Business The Salami Merchant newsletter is back at: The latest version will be on the web on July 15. Please submit your articles by the first of the month. Pictures from meetings, hamfests, etc are welcome. Send submissions to: willardhouston94@gmail.com Respectfully Submitted: Dennis Conklin, AI8P Page 14

15 It was a sparse breakfast group on August 11. Present are Bill, Walt, Mark, Rex, and Larry. You can t see Rex well, but we will get a better picture of him next time. I took the picture. Join us if you can. SEE YOU NEXT MONTH! Page 15