PCARA Update September 2002
Contents
1. a repeat feature which which allows you to automati cally send a message up to ten times 2 An editing feature which allows easy recovery from errors when you load a message buffer 3 A built in sidetone oscillator and speaker with variable volume and pitch A phone jack and earphone is provided for private use 4 A thin 22 position keypad lets you select character formation speed character spacing charac ter weighting message repeat count buffer number and mode The sidetone is gated to provide audible feedback to produce a click Illegal entries and error conditions produce a warble 5 Integral capacitive touch paddles which reduce fatigue The paddles unplug and store inside the keyer when not in use Also a rear panel jack is pro vided for an external mechanical paddle assembly 6 Full iambic features 7 Five LEDs to indicate the current mode 8 A practice mode which allows you to send random code groups of random length and selectable types alpha alphanumeric and alphanumeric plus punctuation 100 different repeatable random se quences are available all of which are altered every time you turn off the keyer 9 A PC key which allows you to pause manu ally insert text into a buffer message being sent and then continue When you insert a pause character in a message or command string an automatic pause is made at that point so you can manually insert text An oldie but goody the2. NOAA weather radio stations on 162 MHz Don t laugh These stations make wonderful propagation beacons For example WWH26 on 162 425 MHz in Newport NC is an excellent indicator of long distance tropo into the Carolinas It is the only NOAA station on 162 425 along the Atlantic Coast When it breaks your squelch head for 2 meters 220 and 440 MHz for great fun Read all about it at http www anarc org wtfda All of these clubs have frequent newsletters and Internet reflectors to keep their mem bership up to the minute Each club produces extensive guidebooks for each of these band segments to help you identify your catches and help you plot your strategy If you are looking for new aspects to our hobby this may be your ticket Listen carefully You might really like it Editor s note Your editor is not going to let Karl s line about broadcast stations still operating on long wave in Europe and beyond go by without an explanation and a comment Over on the other side of the pond in Europe and in the ex Soviet Union long wave broadcasting is still alive stretching back in time almost as far as what is called AM broadcasting on this side of the Atlantic Traditional European broadcast radios did not have an AM button instead they had two buttons marked MW for medium wave and LW for long wave If your radio was likely to be used in a French speaking country it might also be marked with PO GO which
3. complex antenna arrays and phasing systems Yes Martha these guys still use TV antennas daily and swear by them Last year when conditions were especially good many members enjoyed watching wildly fading F2 skip on their televisions from South America and as far away as Australia and New Zealand FM reception can take you thousands of miles away via E skip aurora or meteor bursts This group keeps up with the times There is a growing faction that now DXes the new digital TV broadcasts that are now coming on the air There are some very interesting tricks to identifying TV NS PCARA Update September 2002 page 4 stations like positive and negative offsets of video frequency distinct characteristics of the station s vertical interval or even hidden levels of closed captioning data or other auxillary information Learn how to hear what piggybacks on TV signals exact time correction SAP and PRO audio even stock and sports informa tion FM signals have similar attributes Especially interesting is the recent incorporation of the BBC s RDS radio data service system which can pro vide you with an instant station ID if you are equipped to decode it You can also enjoy a variety of broadcasts that are transmitted on FM stations subcarriers Muzak background music and services for the blind and select ethnic groups are available if you know where and how to look for them There is a faction of the WTFDA that DXes
4. has nothing to do with jumping sticks The advantage of long wave broadcasting is that the coverage area is much greater than for medium CARDS RADIO DATA SYSTEM frequencies In the UK the BBC s main long wave transmitter at Droitwich in the English Midlands runs 500 kilowatts on 198 kHz and covers most of England day and night For comparison BBC Radio 5 Live uses six main transmitters rated from 10 to 200 kilowatts to cover roughly the same area on two separate me dium frequencies of 693 and 909 kHz The downside of long wave is that electrical noise can be more disruptive especially near TV sets or industrial locations and nowadays with most radios being manufactured in the Far East it is getting increas ingly difficult to purchase an everyday set with a long wave button However if you take a look at Radio Shack s DX 398 and DX 402 worldband radios you will find a LW button just waiting to be pressed Malcolm NM9J Mobile mount A a e ad p i a i ee x e ee at Fi The photo shows PCARA member Charlie WA2WGJ mounted on a camel while on vacation during June 2002 Charlie reports that he wore his DXCC pin throughout the visit to Portugal Spain and Morocco but did not run into any other radio amateurs PCARA Officers President Greg Appleyard KB2CQE kb2cqe arrl net Vice President Bob Tarsio N2CBH n2cbh arrl net Secretary Treasurer Joe Ellman KR2V k
5. 1 PCARA Update Volume 3 Issue 9 Peekskill Cortlandt Amateur Radio Association Inc September 2002 Remembrance and preparedness As we approach the first anniversary of one of the most tragic series of events in our country s history it is a time for resolute remembrance and reflection Let us never forget As amateur radio operators it is a time to evaluate what we have learned and to determine if we are now better prepared to deal with such events than we were one year ago We need to continue to be ready and to hone our skills A way in which we can continue to be proactive is in the form of our Emergency and Disaster Response Team EDRT Over the next few weeks a Resource Manual as well as a preliminary Response Plan will be drafted From our membership we will need a listing of any equipment that would be available for use by the association in the event of an emergency or disaster in our service area as well as contact information This will be covered in more detail at September s meeting To all of the members who have made generous contributions toward the 2m repeater upgrade project a very big thank you We still have a long way to go If you haven t made a contribution yet please consider doing so The upgrade will substantially improve our ability to provide services in our region I hope to see each and every one of you at the September meeting 73 de Greg KB2CQE Repeater Fund A
6. Heath SA 5010 uMatic Keyer photo by WA2ZEWP 10 CMOS memory with battery backup to retain the buffer contents as well as the last selected speed spacing weight and repeat count while the Keyer is turned off and unplugged 11 Selection of either right handed or left handed operation from the keypad 12 Built in diagnostics that check the micropro cessor each time the keyer is turned on and test RAM when batteries are re placed or when the Keyer is reset 13 Automatic shutoff after more than approxi mately 15 minutes of non use 73 e Don WA2ZEWP Scratched display Do you have a piece of amateur radio equipment where the liquid crystal display has become scratched Maybe the display is difficult to read now scratches certainly spoil the look and they might reduce the resale value Here s a hint I discovered recently you can take out light scratches in plastic faceplates with a product called Krazy Kloth available in the paper towel aisle of our Cortlandt Town Center A amp P Krazy Kloth is a cotton cloth impregnated with super activated chemicals Simply rub the scratched surface with Krazy Kloth for a few seconds then polish the surface clean with a paper towel Scratches usually disappear completely Take a look at the before and after pictures of a Radio Shack scanner with a scratched LCD display i Gia ies Fumtis That I 11 Load Cho bs ras L Quick Convesient Aeusa
7. bla Bas gm eSO gt Tea EA LARGER SIE a Cadie Products Krazy Kloth Scratch on plastic scanner dial indicated by arrow left was largely removed by rubbing with Krazy Kloth right This technique also works for plastic watch faces but you might want to be far more cautious with the ultrathin face of a computer LCD display Krazy Kloth can be used for removing stains and for polishing copper brass and steel It is also recommended by Cadie for cleaning tools and auto chrome NM9J PCARA Update September 2002 page 2 to hold different size packs in place In addition to the Why I packed away my AC power supply a vehicle power adapter is included which makes this a useful ARES RACES piece of wall warts Joe Ellman KR2V equipment One final note the user manual was clear and to the point a well written document that was easy to understand and allowed me to get my first battery on the charger in about five minutes Speaking of time the instruction manual for my Icom T7H dual band HT calls for a 15 hour charge for the 9 6V 650 mAH NiCd battery pack included with the radio Since Sean and I both have T7H s that s 30 hours of battery charging One hour for each T7H battery was all it took to reach full capacity on the C777Plus II For more information visit Maha s web site at http www mahaenergy com If you re like most modern day hams chances are you have a host of wall warts lying around your s
8. d American Legion Hall Outside in the hot sun Joe organized another club table where several mem digital cameras camcorders etc plus with a special bers successfully disposed of their older amateur radio adapter the unit will charge AA AAA C and D re equipment chargeable batteries In addition to the recharge function the MH C777PLUS II will analyze and condi tion your battery packs The LCD display keeps you up to date on what s going on with the battery pack during the charge function and includes the elapsed time voltage and capacity There is a heat sensor that is placed on the battery while charging that will shut down the unit in the event the battery temperature reaches an unsafe level Once a battery pack reaches its capacity the MH C777PLUS II will automatically switch to a trickle maintenance function and the battery can L i a Et be left on the unit and removed when it s convenient i for the user a EE J i _ al ar 7 a i i Sig z l gt k i i i pn a k E E a N MAASTA m a floating pin system which adjusts and is capable of Bob N2CBH Sean KC2IDN Gary WB2HNA and Joe KR2V handling what seems to be any size battery pack man the PCARA club table at the Ramapo Mountain ARC within its specified range A large internal magnet helps Ham Radio and Computer flea market Since no two HT s and other devices seem to use the same bat
9. ep 1 Oct 6 Yonkers ARC Yonkers Police Dept 1st Precinct East Grassy Sprain Rd 9 00 A M Contact Daniel Calabrese 914 667 0587 Sep 9 Split Rock ARA Hopatcong HS Hopatcong NJ 7 00 PM Contact Sid Markowitz 973 724 2378 Sep 10 Crystal Radio Club Rockland Co Fire Trg Ctr Firemans Memorial Drv Pomona NY 7 00 PM contact Robert Chamberlain 845 354 7340 Sep 20 Bergen ARA amp Fair Lawn RC Fair Lawn Cultural Center 12 56 River Rd Fair Lawn NJ 7 30 p m Contact D C Younger 201 265 6583 Sep 23 Columbia Univ ARC Watson Labs 612 W 115th St New York NY 10025 6 30 PM Contact Alan Crosswell 212 854 3754 Sep 28 Putnam Emergency ARL PEARL EOC Putnam Co Office Bldg Carmel NY 9 00 a m Contact NM9J 736 0368 Peekskill Cortlandt Amateur Radio Association Inc PCARA Update September 2002 page 6
10. gnals to reveal the ones beneath Sunrise and sunset skip and the wee hours of the overnight all are important times to increase your totals The Aurora Borealis and the full moon can create miraculous openings where all stations within 2000 miles are attenuated yet you can be riding in your car listening to Mexico Venezuela The Caribbean or beyond Seasoned DxXers like legendary Mark Connelly WAI1ION in Billerica MA near Boston rou tinely logs medium wave stations from Europe The Middle East and Africa His West Coast counterpart Patrick Martin pulls in India Indonesia and beyond trying to dodge those annoying pest stations from Australia and Japan all on good old AM The best broadcast band BCB DXers have thousands of stations in their logs There are two domestic clubs that em brace medium wave the International Radio Club of America and the National Radio Club Both offer endlessly inter esting books and reprints of technical articles that are quite applicable to low band amateurs who enjoy 160 80 and 40 meters I highly recommend the IRCA I am a former President Look for medium wave broadcast AM DX action at http www ircaonline org index html and http www nrcdxas org If the world of six meters and above is your pleasure you ll enjoy what the Worldwide TV FM DX Association has to offer Several hundred DXers exchange loggings and technical information regarding a variety of experiments involving primarily
11. hack A couple of days ago I counted no less than six today I count just two one each for the two different cell phones my wife and I have and these may go as well No I haven t given up on my many battery powered devices HT s cell phones digital camera etc Nor have I found an alternate source of energy for these rechargeable battery gobblers Instead I purchased a device I long thought about and after one day of use Pm hooked and wish I had done this sooner The device I m referring to is the Maha MH C777PLUS II Universal Charger and Analyzer This is one amazing charger that can handle Lithium Ion 3 6V to 14 4V NiMH and NiCd 1 2V to 14 4V The hamfest habit battery packs not only from HT s but also cell phones Joe KR2V PCARA members have been heading for the hamfests recently August 11 saw several vehicles crossing the border at Port Jervis into Pennsylvania for the Tri State Amateur Radio Association hamfest at Matamoras Airport Park Entrance to the park is by driving down what used to be the main runway Joe KR2V organized a club table and various items were sold for the benefit of PCARA funds Bright and early the following Saturday morning members converged on Oakland New Jersey for the Ramapo Mountain Amateur Radio Club hamfest This was a somewhat larger event with KJI Electronics selling the latest equipment from inside the air condi Maha MH C777PLUS II universal charger and analyzer tione
12. n a voluntary basis and a larger donation would help to offset those who are unable to make a donation at this time A special PCARA fund has been established to earmark the donations for the new repeater work Any assistance you can provide would be most graciously accepted Member contributions to the Repeater Fund will be recognized with a certifi cate of appreciation Please send your donation to PCARA Repeater Fund PO Box 32 Crompond NY 10517 Donations so far have been received from Charles WA2WGJ Malcolm NM9J Ray W2CH amp Marylyn Ed WA2AXP Karen WA2CVU Armen N2PLZ and Sean KC2IDN Motorola Micor repeater being transformed into the new PCARA 2m repeater at N2CBH 73 de Greg KB2CQE Bob N2CBH Joe KR2V PCARA Update September 2002 page 1 A CW treasure Keep your eyes open for one of these at a hamfest Self contained can be powered by a DC Wall Wart Programable speeds from 1 to 100 wpm Capacitive touch not mechanical and much more The SA 5010 uMatic Keyer is a compact unit with modern design in electronics and styling The Memory Keyer uses a microprocessor which keeps compo nent count low and reliability high Features of the Memory Keyer in clude 1 Up to ten buffers for storing text or commands These are variable length buffers which elimi nate wasted memory space Available memory is also effec tively increased by the use of command strings and by
13. r2v arrl net PCARA Update September 2002 page 5 Peekskill Cortlandt Amateur Radio Association Information Fax line 914 737 0348 E Mail w2nyw arrl net Web site http www pcara org PCARA Update Editor Malcolm Pritchard NM9J E mail NM9J arrl net Newsletter contributions are always very welcome PCARA Information PCARA is a Non Profit Community Service Orga nization PCARA meetings take place the first Sunday of each month at 3 00 p m in Dining Room B of the Hudson Valley Hospital Center Route 202 Cortlandt Manor NY 10567 Drive round behind the main hospi tal building and enter from the rear look for the oxygen tanks Talk in is available on the 146 67 repeater PCARA Repeaters W2NYW 146 67 MHz 0 6 PL 156 7Hz KB2CQE 449 925MHz 5 0 PL 179 9Hz N2CBH 448 725MHz 5 0 PL 107 2Hz Y y PO Box 32 Crompond NY 10517 PCARA Calendar Sun Sep 8 September meeting 3 00 PM HVHC Presentation by SATERN Sun Oct 6 October meeting 3 00 PM HVHC Visit from ARRL Hudson Division Director Frank Fallon N2FE Hamfests Sat Sept 7 Saratoga County RACES Saratoga Cnty Fair grounds Ballston Spa NY 7 00 A M Sun Sept 15 LIMARC Hamfest Briarcliffe College 1055 Stewart Ave Bethpage NY 8 30 A M Sun Sep 22 Candlewood ARA Edmond Town Hall Rt 6 Newtown CT 9 00 A M Sat Oct 12 Bergen ARA Hamfest Westwood High School 701 Ridgewood Rd Washington Twnship NJ 8 00 A M VE Test Sessions S
14. s many of you know PCARA under the direction of Bob N2CBH with assistance from Malcolm NM9J is undergoing a major overhaul of our main 2 meter repeater 146 670 W2NYW This repeater receives the daily use of many members and has served us well however this upgrade is needed in order to ensure the continued availability and reliability of this machine for our members and others Major portions of the costs associated with this undertaking have come from the pockets of a couple of members We re now down to the final stretch and would like to have this project com pleted prior to the settling in of cooler weather it s hard to imagine that cooler weather is around the corner after a full week of close to 100 degree days Below is equipment that has been donated by members and assembled for the new repeater project 1 Motorola Micor 110W repeater consisting of unified chassis PA receiver and power supply N2CBH 2 Repeater Controller with voice recorder and remote base interface NM9J 3 Interconnecting harness supplies N2CBH 4 Sinclair Cavity set which has proved to be unsuitable N2CBH 5 Crystals N2CBH PCARA currently has 55 members on its roster The estimated cost to finalize this project sits at 2 000 which is needed to upgrade the repeater cavities Two thousand divided by fifty five members equals 36 36 each as a contribution to this project Of course this donation is strictly o
15. te ground systems to make their own beacon transmitters success ful When you re on the receiving end great lengths are taken to null out noise probably the biggest challenge in this range Many LW DxXers use amplified loop antennas to provide gain and tight nulls away from noise In some cases experimenters even skew several loops to provide very selective gain in a precise direc tion Ground wave propagation and conductivity rule here This a fascinating group taking on great engineer ing challenges Refer to their web site http www lwca org for more information Remember Field Day There were pile ups of several stations per frequency all trying to rapidly exchange information and identifying every 30 seconds or so If you think this is chaos you should try being a Medium Wave DxXer On Field Day the strongest station may be as much as 1 000 watts Try to imagine what it would be like if there were dozens or even hundreds of stations all transmitting with incredibly compressed audio on the same frequency all at once with up to 50 000 watts Even worse some of them barely identify once an hour This is the challenge of Broadcast Band DXing also known as good old AM radio This hobby requires saintly patience and skill yet all you need is a five dollar radio to get started People use mile long Beverage antennas and arrays of phased long wires and loops to simple ferrite loops You learn quickly how to null out powerful si
16. tery the MH C777PLUS II utilizes a PCARA Update September 2002 page 3 Listen to me Watch this xan n2Kz Let me introduce you to some of my best friends All of them love DXing but they almost never transmit These are people who just love to listen and have developed expert skills and home brew equipment and modifications to eek out the last dB Many of them have never been amateur radio operators nor do they want to be It s a world you should know and learn from If you start at the very bottom you ll discover the Long Wave Club of America This is a diverse group of experimenters and DXers ranging from advanced hams to engineers to geologists Some members listen to the natural sounds of the earth at frequencies down as low as just a few kilohertz Others experiment with two way communications or operating beacons in the license free 160 to 190 kHz band Many try to log TWEB transcribed weather broadcast stations aeronautical and marine beacons and even broadcast stations still operating on long wave in Europe and beyond Beacon stations provide an easy way to prac tice Morse code at very slow speeds These stations do nothing but identify themselves by repeating two or three Morse letters over and over again One of the most famous beacons is TUK in Nantucket off Cape Cod Antenna and ground design is in the forefront here Serious experimenters design and install enor mous loading coils and complex and elabora
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