HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: rliles@heimdall.mlb.semi.harris.com (Ray Liles)
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: Antenna drilling
Date: 13 Aug 92 04:03:54 GMT
Organization: Harris Semiconductor, Melbourne FL

Congratulations for deciding to use a Motorola antenna -- I think they are
the best!  (I have no affiliation with Motorola)

I would suggest the following for *punching* holes in roof tops, whether you
use a drill or punch:

  * Mark off the area with masking tape, forming an *operation area* of about
    3 in sq.
  * Use paper towels, taped down to extend the operation area, followed by some
    towels, to rest tools and drill(s).
  * After determining THE spot, use a small punch to make an indentation for 
    drilling.
  * If you can't remove the headliner, lower it so you can slip a sheet of
    aluminum, pc board or plastic sheet between the roof and headliner.  This
    will prevent the drill bit from puncturing the headliner and catch metal
    shavings from drilling.
  * After drilling, carefully vacuum the metal shavings, before they 
    mysteriously wind up scratching the paint.
  * Make sure to scrape or remove paint/undercoating around the bottom edge of
    the hole to ensure a good RF ground.  THIS IS THE PART MOST PEOPLE IGNORE.
    Use dental tool scrapers, if you have to work from the top side only.
    MAKE sure there is bare metal for the teeth of the antenna mount to *bite*.
  * With Motorola's o-ring, I find that RTV is not needed.  However, I do apply
    transistor type silicone heat sink compound in the area of the o-ring. 

Good luck -- take your time and go slow.  When drilling, keep a high rpm and
use light pressure to minimize warping and abrupt punch-thru.
 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  \  \  \                                         |  Harris Semiconductor     
   \--\--\                                        |  Mail Stop 58-032         
    \ |\  \                                       |  P.O. Box 883             
      |      WA4VME                               |  Melbourne, Florida 32902 
      |      Ray H. Liles                         |  407-729-4640 (Office)    
      |      rliles@heimdall.mlb.semi.harris.com  |  407-729-4029 (FAX)       
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
From: dearnsha@wizard.worldbank.org
Subject: 9D - Legitimate Operation?
Keywords: 9D0RR,9D2RR
Organization: The World Bank
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 1992 13:45:07 GMT

Two stations have recently been reported signing the 9D prefix. The
stations were: 9D2RR on SSB, and 9D0RR on CW. They haven't been too active
but the local packetcluster indicated that one of the operators name
was Romeo (no doubt of 3W0RR fame). The 9D prefix is allocated to Iran
(EP). Does anyone have any further information on this station? Is it
legitimate (I've not seen anything in the newsheets about it)?

Thanks... Darrell NR3Y/G4MZF
From: gary@ke4zv.uucp (Gary Coffman)
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: QST, in my opinion...
Date: 19 Aug 92 14:37:49 GMT
Reply-To: gary@ke4zv.UUCP (Gary Coffman)
Organization: Gannett Technologies Group

In article <428@arrl.org> ehare@arrl.org (Ed Hare - KA1CV) writes:
>In rec.radio.amateur.misc, gary@ke4zv.uucp (Gary Coffman) writes:
>
>>That's a sad commentary in itself. The number of amateurs in the US
>>has grown by about 25% over the last decade, yet the number of pages
>>in the ham magazines have declined. I guess all those hams are playing
>>Nintendo on their new Japanese handhelds. :-(
>
>Well, I got to thinking. Not to confuse the issues with facts, but here are
>a few stats:
>
>   September 1992 QST - 224 pages
>   September 1982 QST - 208 pages
>
>Now, to be fair, the July issues were a bit closer in size, but it seems to
>me that things are on an even par. Now if you want to go back to when we
>had small pages ...

Well I wasn't referring to just the catalog, er QST, when I made that
statement. Look at poor 73, it has shrunk from 200 pages to under 100
pages in the last decade. Look at skinny little CQ. And, relevant to
QST, throw out the ad pages and do another comparative count. Different
story huh?

Gary KE4ZV
From: gary@ke4zv.uucp (Gary Coffman)
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: Kenwood TH-78's Alpha-Numeric Paging
Date: 16 Aug 92 12:53:46 GMT
Article-I.D.: ke4zv.1992Aug16.125346.18751
Reply-To: gary@ke4zv.UUCP (Gary Coffman)
Organization: Gannett Technologies Group

In article <578@bongo.UUCP> julian@bongo.info.com (Julian Macassey) writes:
>In article <34195@cbmvax.commodore.com> sterling@cbmvax.commodore.com (Rick Sterling - Test Eng) writes:
>>
>>The paging function uses standard DTMF ... if your repeater passes or can
>>be programmed to temporarily pass DTMF then you could page through the
>>repeater. A typical message could be sent to a TH28, TH48 or TH78 like
>>this...
>
>	It would be difficult to to prgramme a repeater to block DTMF.

Not at all, in fact this is a standard feature on most repeater controllers
to avoid rebroadcasting access codes.

Gary KE4ZV
From: gary@ke4zv.uucp (Gary Coffman)
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: How do I view RF output?
Date: 15 Aug 92 13:28:26 GMT
Reply-To: gary@ke4zv.UUCP (Gary Coffman)
Organization: Gannett Technologies Group

In article <1992Aug13.051913.1440@cis.ohio-state.edu> pitonyak@cis.ohio-state.edu (Andrew Pitonyak) writes:
>
>How exactly can I hook up my oscilliscope to view the
>signal from my HF, VHF and UHF equipment.  I am not
>very knowledgable as to the use of an oscilliscope
>but it seems to me that hooking the RF output directly 
>to the oscilliscope inputs would be very bad.

Unless the o'scope is expressly designed for the purpose, transmitting
into it is not healthy. What you want is a 30 db coupler, or tap, that
goes in the line between your transmitter and a dummy load or antenna.
Coming off the tap will be a signal attenuated 30 db that your o'scope
can handle. If your transmitter is high power, say approaching the legal
limit, you may have to add additional pads in the tap line. Most scopes
with 50 ohm inputs will safely handle 1/8th watt continuously and 1/4th
watt intermittantly, but consult your manual to be sure. I use a 30 db
Narda coupler with my Tek 2445A at power levels up to 100 watts. Above
that, I put a 10 db pad in the line from the coupler to the scope.

If your scope is a good one, don't mess around with ad hoc coupling
methods. Get a real coupler. If you have access to a lathe and good
power measuring equipment, such as a Bird, I can tell you how to make 
your own couplers from a type N Tee and barrel that are good thru
500 MHz. If you try to use a random impedance coupling, you'll be
disappointed with the frequency response of the result, IE the scope
will lie to you.

A scope is a useful tool for looking at linear modulation modes and
for checking for hum caused by poor PA voltage regulation, but is
fairly useless for checking FM equipment. There a spectrum analyser
is a much better tool. Besides the coupler, another useful accessory
for checking linear mode signals is an envelope detector that you
can put inline between the scope and the coupler. This will let you
look at baseband signals. These are easy to build.

Gary KE4ZV
From: ron@pilot.njin.net (Ron Natalie)
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: HTX 202
Date: 17 Aug 92 21:24:36 GMT
Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J.

> This happened after the radio rode all day in my motorcycle saddle bag at 
> 103 degrees.  It was about 80 when I turned it on tho.

Did the nicad have much of a charge left to it?  I've generally found
that heat accelerates the idle discharge of the nicad.

-Ron
From: nagle@netcom.com (John Nagle)
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: How to power a PC motherboard from car battery?
Date: 18 Aug 92 18:02:02 GMT
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest)

alanb@hpnmdla.sr.hp.com (Alan Bloom) writes:
>In rec.radio.amateur.misc, dit@maths.aberdeen.ac.UK (David Tock) writes:
>>One of our collaborators (a company called Ford) has recently built some kit
>>for the work we are doing. This includes a 486 based PC. It runs off the car
>>supply, but they said they had to go through a DC-DC converter (and much else)
>>to remove to 300 to 400 volt spikes present in a car electrical system! They
>>found that simply filtering did not work. ...

>Wait a minute...  Two-way radios operate off car 12V systems all the time,
>and I can assure you that they do not use 400V-rated components!

>When I was designing radios at Drake (before they got out of the business)
>a simple L/C filter was all the power conditioning required.  And even
>that was mostly there just to clean up ignition noise.

        Analog radios don't lose data on power glitches.

        For a quick overview of designing for the automotive electrical
environment, take a look at the National Semiconductor LM2925 voltage
regulator.  This unit offers overvoltage protection to 60V to protect
against "load dumps" (presumably from inductive loads upstream of the
regulator), reverse battery protection, and the usual overcurrent/
overheat protection.  It also has over/undervoltage detection, and if
the output starts to go out of range, output power is cut.  On power-up,
the regulator's RESET OUTPUT pin goes high for an adjustable delay.

        This will protect the attached electronics, which is good enough
for, say, a radio or other entertainment electronics, but it won't keep
it going during transients.  If you run a computer off this output, it's
likely to reset during engine crank (during which voltages around 3V may
be observed momentarily), when the vehicle splashes through water and
momentary shorts occur (this happens), when power door locks are operated
(big, but brief, load) and other events occur in a car's life that momentarily
take the power well below the nominal 12V.

        So, if the computer has to keep going, you need some energy storage
and voltage up-conversion capability.  Big capacitors are one possibility.
If you're regulating 12V nominal down to 5V, caps plus a regulator with
automotive-quality protection circuitry probably would do the job.  Of
course, you throw away half the power in the regulator.  An automotive-grade
DC-input switching power supply would definitely be better.  Anybody
know of any?

					John Nagle
From: Mickey_Baker@FDC100.CEO.DG.COM
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: CEO AM reply to: Info-Hams Digest V92 #860
Date: 20 Aug 1992 07:06:33 -0700
Organization: UCSD Usenet Gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: ucsd.edu

I will be on vacation and unreachable through Labor Day.  If you have 
an emergency or an order, please contact Randy Giordano or Cynthia 
McPheeters via CEO for resolution.  (Automatic PreWritten Reply) 
  :-)
From: jkearman@arrl.org (Jim Kearman)
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Author's Guide: Who Asked?
Date: 18 Aug 92 00:18:34 GMT
Article-I.D.: arrl.443
Organization: American Radio Relay League

Someone on Internet recently asked me to send him a
QST Author's Guide. I bounced the message to our
secretary, and deleted it. Unfortunately, her computer
lost the file or something. Please e-mail me again, and
I'll personally send it this time. Thanks.

****************************************************************

JIM KEARMAN, KR1S                    Voice: 203-666-1541 ext 279
ARRL Assistant Technical Editor	     FAX:   203-665-7531
Author of `The DXCC Companion'	     ARRL Headquarters
Editor of `Now You're Talking!,'     225 Main Street
ARRL License Manuals,		     Newington, CT 06111
ARRL Instructor Guides		     e-mail: jkearman@arrl.org
Author of `Wally and Mike' stories

*****************************************************************
From: jfw@ksr.com (John F. Woods)
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: QST, in my opinion...
Date: 17 Aug 92 11:17:31 EDT

rja@batcomfs.Eng.Sun.COM (rja@sun.com) writes:
>    I've seen this "let's list the dead" stuff before in other hobbies,
>    and I've always wondered about it.  Surely these people who are
>    dropping off weren't REALLY the saints their "silent key"/"broken
>    wand", etc., listings make them out to be?

Check out the Obits page of your local newspaper, you'll probably conclude
that the newspaper was delivered by UFOs...  :-)

I suspect one especial reason that Silent Key listings are of interest to
some hams is that there is a much higher probability that much of the general
readership will have "met" the individual in question; in (say) the radio-
controlled airplane hobby (just to pick on a random hobby), it would actually
be necessary to have attended the same conference to meet someone on the other
coast...
From: oxenreid@chaos.cs.umn.edu
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: Neat-o new license (stock)
Keywords: Don, Mon, Turn, Tur, Hic, Joc, Hoc
Date: 19 Aug 92 01:52:42 GMT
Organization: University of Minnesota

In <1992Aug18.210920.23113@convex.com> tonyp@convex.com (honey bunny) writes:


>For those of you due for renewal of your license:

>You've probably got that faded yellow piece of paper
>that is barely readable, and was filled in by a 33-ASR.

>It looks like one of those circa-1970's "you may already
>be a winner" things - where the cover was offset litho'd,
>and then a teletype typed in your Dog's name and a semi-
>correct address. Mondo impressive!

>                         -BUT-

>The new license is done on wheat-yellow parchment-looking
>stock - almost like the background of a business check.

>It is printed on a laser-writer - excellent font.

>It is a two-fer: the top is the wallet-sized license - 
>complete with a picture of a scissor - so you know where
>to cut it out, and a 7x9 station copy. 

>                     LOOKS KILLER!!!

>FCC - you folks did an excellent job!

Yup just over 8 months ago, I got mine, and I am going to get another one soon.  This 
is the trouble being 25 and moving every 6 months.  Neat huhhh.   Beats the 
General Radio Telephone all to * (the new one that is ).  Do you think that the FCC
is a bit sarcastic when it put the scissors on the new form with the advent of 
the no-code licence????  Its kinda like a stamp idiot box on letters and bills.

73 de n0mld
.
From: JMG%TNTECH.BITNET@cunyvm.cuny.edu (Jeff M. Gold)
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: PVC Antenna - Beam
Date: 17 Aug 92 19:32:52 GMT
Organization: UCSD Usenet Gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: ucsd.edu

Help??

I recently built the portable vertical antenna from a recent
CQ article.  It is only 10 foot tall and only has 16 foot of
wire on the mast and (2) 16 foot radials [which should make
it a 1/4 wave lenght].  Somehow it works fine and I have had
a lot of sucess taking it portable for QRP work on
mountains, motels, my driveway, etc.

This month's issue has a beam version of the PVC antenna.
Of course I am excited about the prospect of gain and
directionality. The article has the antenna wound with a
full wave lenght of wire (33 feet each half of the driven
element).  The article says something about the additional
wire compensating for helically winding the elements.

I am puzzled for 2 reasons (I am relatively new at all this
stuff, love to try new antennas... but I am learning by
doing and reading at the same time)

        1.  how come there is such a descrepency between the
            wavelenths of wire used?

        2.  in the article on the beam the author built a
            driven element and then a director.  All the
            articles and books show a 2 element beam to
            have a driven and reflector.  What is the dif.
            in performance?


Thanks in advance for any help.

73s de Cookeville,TN
Jeff, AC4HF
From: alanb@hpnmdla.sr.hp.com (Alan Bloom)
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1992 00:45:59 GMT
Subject: Re: Re: But wait! There's More!!!
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Santa Rosa, CA
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc

In rec.radio.amateur.misc, zlau@arrl.org (Zack Lau) writes:

>In rec.radio.amateur.misc, gary@ke4zv.uucp (Gary Coffman) writes:

>lots deleted
>>
>>Note in case it isn't clear that the output network of a transmitter is
>>itself a transformer made up of inductors and capacitors. It's job is to 
>>transform a nominal 50 ohm load impedance to the output impedance of the 
>>final amplifier's active device. ...  

>Gary is assuming that amplifier's active device is truly linear. I don't
>believe this is normally the case.  Warren Bruene took the time to write up
>an experiment he did in the November 1991 QST, with a further clarification
>in a Technical correspondence item (May 1992 QST).  

>It is not true that the impedance presented by the transmitter 
>is necessarily 50 ohms when the system is operating as designed (operating
>with a 1 to 1 SWR into a 50 ohm load).  

>This is a case of using the wrong equations/theory.  Linear theory is fine
>for approximations, but can and does fall apart when carelessly applied to
>nonlinear circuits.  

In other words, the optimum load impedance of the output amplifier stage
is not equal to the output impedance of the stage.  Consider a transistor
amp driven far into the class-C range.  You can model the transistor as
a high-speed switch that is always either completely ON (zero ohms) or
OFF (infinity ohms).  What is it's RF output impedance?  Not a very
meaningful question.  However, for a given supply voltage and desired
output power, you can certainly calculate the required load impedance.

AL N1AL

Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
From: mikemr@microsoft.COM
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Excellent customer service story
Date: 22 Aug 92 15:51:02 GMT
Organization: UCSD Usenet Gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: ucsd.edu

I recently bought an old, used Bird model 4314 peak-reading
wattmeter. It worked fine in average-power mode (equivalent
to the model 43) but didn't work in peak-power mode. I called
Bird and spoke with one of their customer service people. He
not only researched the problem and called me back with several
possible solutions, but he found an old manual for the meter
(it's been out of production for a long time), photocopied it
and mailed it to me. All this for no charge, for a meter that
Bird didn't sell me. This company definitely know the meaning
of "service."
From: tom@aro-emh1.army.mil (T-DOLIGALSKI)
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Mobile mount in Caravan
Date: 12 Aug 1992 06:56:07 -0700
Organization: UCSD Usenet Gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: ucsd.edu

Owen Adair writes:

>BTW I have a 732 and it wows me.  The intermod on 440 is a problem in
>densely populated areas, but I *love* the radio.  A fellow netter, Fred,
>wrote an excellent review on the 732 if you are interested. FRED - Care to 
>send it to him?  
>

I would be interested in getting a copy of the 732 review also. Looks like 
I'm in the market for a new dual bander.

73, tom@aro-emh1.army.mil (N9CGD)
From: grady@public.BTR.COM ( )
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: IC-735 spare parts
Date: 14 Aug 92 13:47:04 GMT
Organization: BTR Public Access UNIX, MtnView CA. Contact: Customer Service cs@BTR.COM

Before the Icom 735 HF rig reaches the end of its
life cycle, I'd like to make sure that I can repair
it for many years to come.

Are their any custom chips (for example) that I
might consider stocking now in the admittedly
reml}ote possibility that they might fail?
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
From: datwyler@javelin.sim.es.com (Doug Datwyler)
Subject: Re: questions about G5RV antenna
Reply-To: datwyler@javelin.sim.es.com
Organization: Evans & Sutherland Computer Corp., Salt Lake City, Utah
Distribution: na
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 1992 19:45:14 GMT

My 1/2 G5RV does not have a balun. Read the "Antenna Compendium, Volume 1" by
the ARRL. It includes an article about the antenna by Louis Varney, G5RV. This
may be of help to you.


-- 
Douglas L. Datwyler, WR7O
Evans & Sutherland Computer Corp.
datwyler@javelin.sim.es.com
From: MROWEN%STLAWU.BITNET@cunyvm.cuny.edu (Mike Owen W9IP)
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Sci.space?
Date: 20 Aug 1992 05:31:33 -0700
Organization: UCSD Usenet Gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: ucsd.edu

I understand that there is a newsgroup called "sci.space" or
something like that.  I'm not very adept at e-mail (I read
INOF-HAMS digest, that's all), but I'd like to receive more
space-related information, too.

Could someone out there tell me where/who is the listserver
for sci.space?

Mike Owen W9IP
MROWEN@STLAWU
From: randall@informix.com (Randall Rhea)
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: Empire of the Radio (PBS)
Date: 12 Aug 92 01:15:32 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: Informix Software, Inc.

m14494@mwvm.mitre.org (Mike White) writes:

>Michael G. Katzmann writes:
>> I grew up believing that a French inventor (who's
>> name escapes me) was responsible [for the superhet].
>> Does any one know the real story?

>[...] Saying that
>the Frency guy invented the superhet would be a bit
>like saying that the airplane was invented, not by
>the Wrights, but by the first person to make a
>paper airplane.  The book from which the PBS
>film was derived, also called Empire of the Air,
>goes into considerable detail on this issue.

Armstrong was certainly the inventor of the superhet
receiver.  This made radio communication a reliable, 
practical medium.  Almost every radio and TV owned 
by everyone uses superhet technology.  To me, (and to Ken Burns, the
maker of the film) Armstrong is just as much of a hero
as other inventors like Edison.  It is too bad that so
few people have heard of him.

His story would also make a very interesting movie.  

-- 

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Randall Rhea                                        Informix Software, Inc. 
Project Manager, MIS Sales/Marketing Systems    uunet!pyramid!infmx!randall
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
From: fdvlba@zia.aoc.nrao.edu (Fort Davis VLBA site)
Subject: Re: QST Content
Organization: National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Socorro NM
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 92 20:07:32 GMT


Peter J. M. Lucas writes-

>IMHO far worse than people saying ~I'm Destinated~ are those who insist on
>using Q-codes etc. on phone. I consider this to be a form of reverse
>elitism more suitable for use on 11 meters.
>
>
>   ---G6WBJ--- Peter J.M. Lucas   pjml%swmis.nsw.ac.uk@nsfnet-relay.ac.uk
>                                  Conserve water - swim in the shallow end
>                                                   of the pool.

I have heard this before, and I still fail to see what harm cw abbreviations
or q-codes do the phone bands.  I wonder if Peter never, ever says q-codes
on phone like "Gee, John, great QSO" or "Sorry, Phil, the QRM took that, try
again".  The usage of OM, QSO, QRM, QSY, etc  seems well established on phone.

Comments, anyone?

Steve Cowell, KI5YG
From: oo7@ut-emx.uucp (Derek Wills)
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Paddles, portable
Keywords: backpackers for the use of
Date: 20 Aug 92 04:22:23 GMT
Organization: The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas

JMG%TNTECH.BITNET@cunyvm.cuny.edu (Jeff M. Gold) writes:

>I am looking for a rugged set of paddles to put with my QRP
>backpacking setup.  Schurr in Germany makes a set of
>mini-paddles that are fairley expensive, but look real
>solid.  G4ZPY makes some but they don't look rugged enough.
>The Vibroplex brass racer and certainly the Benchers would
>never hold together.

If this mini-paddle is the one I have an ad for, it weighs 1.5 kg 
(or 3.3 lb in real money), and might be a bit too heavy for a long
backpacking trip.   It says "three non-slip rubber feet and the 
large mass of the keyer provide a solid stance".  This version is
actually called "Wabbler-profi", does this really mean "wobble-proof?
And yes, pricey it is - $180 it says here.  

Perhaps you could do what the boy scouts do, and make a paddle out
of two twigs that you can leave behind at each camping site...


Derek Wills (AA5BT, G3NMX)
Department of Astronomy, University of Texas, 
Austin TX 78712.  (512-471-1392)
oo7@astro.as.utexas.edu 
oo7@emx.utexas.edu