HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: gary@ke4zv.uucp (Gary Coffman)
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: Differences between IC-W2A DJ-580 FT-470 TH78A
Date: 13 Aug 92 02:36:15 GMT
Reply-To: gary@ke4zv.UUCP (Gary Coffman)
Organization: Gannett Technologies Group

In article <1992Aug10.101848.7900@news.Hawaii.Edu> dakujak@wiliki.eng.hawaii.edu (Albert Dakujaku) writes:
>
>        The FT-470 MAY have CTCSS decode ability (as well as encode), the 
>W2A does not have that feature, I am not sure on the other radios.

The FT-470 *does* have this feature.

>        Alinco and Yaesu have much cheaper accessories than Kenwood and Icom.
>Example: 12V battery packs ~$65.00 for Alinco and Yaesu, ~$90.00 for Kenwood,
>and ~$100.00 for Icom's low-mAH rated packs.

On accessories, Icom (not all), Alinco, and Yaesu accessories will work on 
each other's rigs. Things like headsets, speaker-mikes, etc. Battery packs 
aren't interchangeable, but much cheaper ones for all three are available
from third party vendors. Kenwood is, as usual, odd man out here. None of
their items will work with the other radios, and battery packs are harder
to get at a good price for the 78.

>        If I had the money, I would buy the Kenwood.  The Alinco is the best
>bargain (price vs. features).  Icom is noted for their customer service, very
>quick turn-around time for repairs.  While the FT-470 has just been around too
>long.

Another way of phrasing that is to say that the FT-470 is the most proven
and largest selling of the group. It's also user friendly, rugged, and
cheaper at current discounts. It's not without it's faults, and a new
model is rumored to be coming out next month.

Note that most of the trumpeted features of the Kenwood won't see much
day to day use and are mainly marketing gimmicks. The Kenwood doesn't
have a very good reputation for reliability either. Neither do the new
small Icoms for that matter. There's currently a recall in progress on
one of the Icom radios. For sheer reliability, the IC2AT, IC2GAT,
and IC32AT are tops. They're big, with big batteries, but you can club 
a mugger unconscious with one and then call it in. Only the FT-470 even 
*approaches* this degree of ruggedness among the current crop of radios.

Think carefully about what qualities you *need* in a radio for day to day
use before making your selection. A HT is not a good substitute for
a scanner, and wideband scanners generally make lousy HTs. The things
*I* rate a radio on are, reliability, ease of use, battery life, and 
basic ham band performance. I don't care if it can play Space Invaders 
on the LCD or listen to cellular phone conversations. As far as memories
go, the IC2AT has all the new radios beat with it's 800 *mechanical*
memories.

Gary KE4ZV
From: headrick@radar.nrl.navy.mil (James M. Headrick)
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Request for LP zig zag antenna info
Date: 17 Aug 92 13:04:00 GMT
Organization: UCSD Usenet Gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: ucsd.edu

The basic article on this antenna was in the May 1964 IEEE Transactions on 
Antennas and Propagation, titled "The Bent Backfire Zigzag - A Vertically-
Polarized Frequency Independent Antenna" by J. W. Greiser and P. E. Mayes.
The LP Zigzag is briefly mentioned in Jasik's latest edition Antenna
Handbook, but I do'nt know of any construction references.
			-- W3CPB
From: ron@pilot.njin.net (Ron Natalie)
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: QST Content
Date: 17 Aug 92 21:18:17 GMT
Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J.

> "QRM" on phone has always struck me as especially silly, since if there is
> any, you can't hear the difference between "QRM" and "QRN"...

I never say QRN, I always say that I am being troubled by
atmospherics.

I spent much of my early ham years wondering what atmospherics where
until someone pointed out they meant static.

-Ron
From: woods@glas.rtsg.mot.COM (Simon Woodworth)
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: Cellular Frequencies
Date: 21 Aug 1992 05:15:13 -0700
Organization: UCSD Usenet Gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: ucsd.edu

In Info-Hams Digest #865 George Hawkins writes:
>It won't matter about scanners once DIGITAL cellular gets
>implemented. GSM [Europe] is already selling encrypted cellulars
>today!

Damn right George!
   Not only are GSM 'phones encrypted, the voice signal is para-
metrically compressed, the transmission is time-slotted with 8
others on the same-frequency and the signal is frequency agile, 
i.e. it hops frequencies hundreds of times a second.
   Try scanning that!
   
   Simon Woodworth.

=================================================================
Simon Woodworth.                |  woods@glas.rtsg.mot.com
Motorola (Ireland) Ltd.,        |  Don't blame my employers
Cork, Ireland.                  |  for anything I say! :-)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Real men don't set stun! - Star Trek bumper sticker
=================================================================
From: mancus@norm.jsc.nasa.gov (Keith Mancus)
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: RS-10 on 10m
Date: 13 Aug 92 13:44:07 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: nasa-jsc


  Last night I attempted to tune in RS-10 for the first time.  I had
a number of problems and no conclusive success.  Any help or suggestions
would be appreciated.  Note that I was attempting to receive only,
particularly concentrating on the beacons.
  The Rig:      Uniden HR-2600 (no filters, sad to say)
  The Antenna:  CB vertical whip (magmount) cut down for 10m
  The Ground:   A metal foldup chair sitting in my apartment

  This may sound pretty lame, but I have used the magmount-and-chair
method for all 2m operations with good success, and have received 10m
packet from very long distances with this same 10m rig and antenna.
(I can't transmit packet with it yet because of some oddball connectors
I haven't dealt with.)

Problems:
  Around 9:30pm CDT I started monitoring the RS-10 beacon frequency
29.357 MHz.  To my great surprise, there was a continuous tone there,
although the satellite was not due to rise until after 10pm.  I checked
back on this frequency every so often throughout the RS-10 pass, and
there was always a strong signal here.  It was difficult to say if it was
shifting due to Doppler.
  I never heard a distinct CW signal anywhere in the passband.  I *did*
hear some USB speech up above 29.39, but the SNR was so low I couldn't
hear what was being said.  The S-meter never showed any significant signal.
  So, what is wrong?  Do I need a rig with better filters?  Is my antenna
too much of a joke?  I live in an apartment, so there are serious limits
to the possibly deployable antennas.  Or would just getting the antenna
outside make a big difference?  I could move the chair out onto the
second-floor patio pretty easily.
  I have also listened to the NOAA and Meteor birds pass overhead by
slapping the 2m magmount on the roof of my car and plugging it into my
FT-470.  These show as nearly S9 for most of the pass.  Of course, this
is not the same antenna, and it *is* outside.

| Keith Mancus    <mancus@sweetpea.jsc.nasa.gov>                         |
|                 N5WVR                                                  |
|  "If I owned Texas and I owned Hell, I'd rent out Texas and live       |
|  in Hell." -General Sheridan                                           |
From: alanb@hpnmdla.sr.hp.com (Alan Bloom)
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1992 19:11:20 GMT
Subject: Re: Tek 502 scope has no HV
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Santa Rosa, CA
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc

In rec.radio.amateur.misc, pazar@hpnmdla.sr.hp.com (Steve Pazar) writes:

>Dave,
>  Check the filter capacitors in the HV filter. These go bad quite
>  frequently. They may be breaking down at some voltage considerably
>  higher than your ohmmeter will supply, so the best thing to do is
>  replace them. 

I second this.  I have had both 500 pF high-voltage filter caps go
bad in My old Tek scope.

AL N1AL
From: pete@zehntel (Peter Danan)
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Need info on HEATH company
Date: 20 Aug 92 16:22:01 GMT
Reply-To: pete@zehntel (Peter Danan)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Zehntel, Inc. Walnut Creek, CA

A while back there was a discussion about whether the Heath company had
partially or completely folded.  If they have not folded completely, I 
need to contact their parts/service department.  Anyone have their 
(hopefully still in existance) address or phone number ?

Tnx,

Pete
KC6IPR
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 
It would be a good idea.         -- Mohandas K. Ghandi, on western civilization
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 
 Pete Danan     =>   =>    (decwrl | varian | sun | ucbvax) !zehntel!pete
From: FBCABAC%CFRVM.BITNET@VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: EMPIRE OF THE AIR - The Book
Date: 14 Aug 1992 07:10:30 -0700
Organization: UCSD Usenet Gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: ucsd.edu

Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio
Lewis, Thomas S. W.
ISBN 0-06-018215-6
TK6548.L48 1991
621.384'0973-dc20

Hope this helps those looking for the book.  I found it at the USF
library - don't know if the public library has it.  Good luck in
your town!

Ross F. Wilder (the only one that's N4OJU)  FBCABAC@CFRVM.CFR.USF.EDU
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: "Destinated" (was RE: QST Content)
From: julian@bongo.UUCP (Julian Macassey)
Date: 14 Aug 92 06:08:50 GMT
Reply-To: julian@bongo.info.com (Julian Macassey)
Organization: The Hole in the Wall  Hollywood California U.S.A.




In article <1992Aug13.114625.16201@genrad.com> dls@genrad.com (Diana L. Syriac) writes:
>In article <5515@transfer.stratus.com> fms@sw.stratus.com (Faith Senie) writes:
>>In article <1992Aug11.192121.21070@xn.ll.mit.edu>, tom@xn.ll.mit.edu writes:
>>This from a fellow we've nicknamed "Timeout Tom", who runs 80 watts mobile 
>:-)  I know who she's talking about!!!!
>>
>>> many nouns have become verbs to enliven our modern language
>>> we need a new word to describe a good time out on repeaters
>>> and there must be hundreds of other spots open for them
>>> how about a smiley encapsulated list submitted by the good
>>> people out there?
>>> 
>>Gee, Tom, as soon as I figure out what you just asked for, I'll see
>>if I can't dream something up... :-)
>
>And you know, the funny thing about the above paragraph?  That's exactly 
>how he talks on the radio too!!!  :-)  Ah, it's nice to see that some people
>still know how to ramble without hurting anyone (or saying anything?)....
>:-)


	Content free communication. Something so many alleged masters
of communication are so good at. Of course the usual word used for
content free communication is "waffle". Some politicians are superb at
it. PR flacks are of course masters at it. They never offend, they
never inform, they never enlighten, they never make you think. This 
is applied dullness. 

	Never be dull, to be dull is to be mediocre.












-- 
Julian Macassey, julian@bongo.info.com  N6ARE@K6VE.#SOCAL.CA.USA.NA
742 1/2 North Hayworth Avenue Hollywood CA 90046-7142 voice (213) 653-4495
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
From: pschleck@cwis.unomaha.edu (Paul W Schleck KD3FU)
Subject: Re: QST, in my opinion...
Organization: University of Nebraska at Omaha
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 1992 16:42:34 GMT

ewing-martin@CS.YALE.EDU (Martin Ewing) writes:

>One thing that QST might do would be to have a "My turn" column for
>general opinion pieces, including hopefully some from Fred.

>73, Martin, AA6E 

They do, it's called the Op-Ed page and was just recently added.  Maybe
some E-mail to the league at 2155052@mcimail.com (with your US Mail
address) might send a writer's guide to a prospective author.

73, Paul W. Schleck, KD3FU

pschleck@unomaha.edu
From: adams@chuck.dallas.sgi.com (Chuck Adams)
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: MFJ quality?
Date: 12 Aug 92 18:56:09 GMT
Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc.

as an additionaly data point to this thread.  i just purchased the model
815b swr bridge at the Oklahoma City Hamfest.  had it sitting in the box
until last nite.

took it out and connected it between the yaesu ft707 and the heath dummy load.
to my surprise my dummy load suddenly has a swr of 2.0!!!  connected up
the daiwa swr meter and the swr was 1.0, as expected in the first place.

took off cover (mfj), adjusted trimmer cap and got the meter reading correctly
on both the 200 and 2000 watt scale.  then proceeded with the original mod
i planned to use the swr meter for in the first place.  jumpered across
the 10k resistor on pot2 (HI position) to get sensitivity up for qrp work.

best i was able to do was 10watts full scale.  no more sensitivity left.
back to the drawing boards.

on the quality.  i would give it a 3 out of a possible 10.  the soldering
looks to be done by a 100 watt iron and leads were not trimmed on the foil
side of the board.  for a $89 (list price, $52 at the meet) instrument,
i would have expected better QC.  IMHO.  may get the w1fb board from FAR
circuits and put in the case and use the meter.  

73,

-- 

   Chuck Adams, K5FO @ 65wpm cw 
   adams@sgi.com
From: michaeln@hpcvnb.CV.HP.COM (Mike_Nason)
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 92 02:20:55 PDT
Subject: Re: Radio Shack does *not* sell crystals in the 70cm band
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Co., Corvallis, Oregon
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc


this is probably a dumb question, but why don't you try some place like
ETL ? I'm not sure they sell scanner crystals but they do sell business
band and ham radio crystals. 
   In fact I ordered some 10 meter mixer crystals from them for an old
Tempo One rig and they made them up and had them to me in a week, 2nd 
day air for about $7.50 each. I didn't think that was too bad. especially
since I've heard all of the horror stories of people waiting 6 to 12 weeks
in the past for crystals out of Jan's. 
   If anyone's interested I can dig up there phone and address. There in 
S.D. I think. I found them easy to get along with. 
                  Mike Nason KA7HBB

Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
From: whs70@dancer.uucp (22501-sohl)
Subject: Re: Cellular Frequencies
Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 92 16:48:30 GMT

In article <BtC69u.IME@news.cso.uiuc.edu> tlc20700@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Thomas L. Carney) writes:
>jab0684@usl.edu (Boudreaux Jean A) writes:
>>As far tas the morality of listening to these calls goes, that's something
>>that you'll have to decide for yourself.  But, remember that these
>>people are transmitting their calls to the world everytime they 
>>pick up the phone.  If they are unaware of this, it is due to their
>>own neglegence/stupidty.
>
>Actually, I don't think it's all negligence/stupidity...  how many
>cellular users actually know how it works??

Sure seems to be a case of negligence of understanding, stupidity...

>  How many of the cellular
>users even care how it works? 

Sure seems to be a case of negligence of understanding, stupidity... 

> Many of them are yuppies, and not
>radio/tech/engineering types. 

Sure seems to be a case of negligence of understanding, stupidity... 

> If they knew how it works, and knew
>how easy it is to tap, they wouldn't be so careless.

Sure seems to be a case of negligence of understanding, stupidity... 

>  The cellular
>vendors "assure" their customers that cellular communications are safe,
>when in actuality they are not. 

Sure seems to be a case of negligence of understanding, stupidity... 
Kind of like the king that wore invisible clothes...

> You can thank Stuart Crump, Jr., and
>his cronies for lobbying the hell out of Congress for passing the 
>Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986, the greatest legal joke
>and most unenforceable law to come out of the Goon Squad on Capitol

The problem now is that this cellular lobby is now attempting to
eliminate any future production of receiving equipment that covers
cellular freequencies.  If they eleiminate the cellular frequencies
today, then the "cordless frequencies will likely be asked for next,
followed by the police requesting all police frequencies be eliminated.
It won't end there.....

Standard Disclaimer- Any opinions, etc. are mine and NOT my employer's.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bill Sohl (K2UNK) BELLCORE (Bell Communications Research, Inc.)
Morristown, NJ             email via UUCP      bcr!dancer!whs70
201-829-2879 Weekdays      email via Internet  whs70@dancer.cc.bellcore.com
From: charlier@hplsla.hp.com (Charlie Panek)
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 1992 21:41:21 GMT
Subject: Re: PL-259s on 9913 Coax
Organization: HP Lake Stevens, WA
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc

wstrahl@cbnewsg.cb.att.com (wayne.a.strahl) writes:
>
>A recent question regarding putting PL-259's on 9913 coax prompted
>me to give my technique for handling these buggers.
>
>1.  Drill the PL-259 connector braid soldering holes out as large
>    as possible between the adjacent flanges..VERY HELPFUL!!!

  A variation of this that I use is to file across the holes with a
flat file.  This makes the edge of the hole thin, and easier to heat
up without melting the coax inside.


  But really!  PL-259's on 9913?  Use N connectors if you're going to
spend all that money on coax.


Charlie Panek 			Hewlett Packard Company
charlier@lsid.hp.com            Lake Stevens Instrument Division
KX7L                            Everett, Washington
From: pdh@netcom.com (Phil Howard )
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: FAQ - do you prefer the long form or the short form
Date: 17 Aug 92 18:45:09 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest)

jfw@ksr.com (John F. Woods) writes:

>It is over the 64K limit which is administratively imposed by many UUCP sites.
>There are some uucp sites which won't get it.  It is over the 32K limit imposed
>by some ancient implementations of UUCP which people still run because spending
>money to make netnews work better makes too little sense to them.

>This is a network here, right?  How about giving a little thought to
>interoperability?

Just how many sites with such and such a limit constitutes the least
common denominator.  Yes I know that sites do have these limits.
They are certainly NOT limits of disk space, since the original
partitioned FAQ would take more space for all parts anyway.

When will we give them some incentive to come out of the dark ages?

Will they remove their 64K limit by the end of 1992?  Maybe a compromise
would be to do that?
-- 
/***********************************************************************\
| Phil Howard  ---  KA9WGN  ---  pdh@netcom.com   |   "The problem with |
| depending on government is that you cannot depend on it" - Tony Brown |
\***********************************************************************/
From: jjw@precipice.chi.il.us (John Welch)
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: Where to find 455 if filters?
Keywords: filters, if, Penstock, Digikey
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 92 19:00:48 CDT
Organization: Welch Research

tlc20700@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Thomas L. Carney) writes:

> 455 kHz IF filters????  Biggest selection that I know of is Surplus
> Sales of Omaha Nebraska.... their selection of all kinds of IF filters
> covers a page and a half in small print.  Great place for hard to find
> items...  I just got a 72 uH roller inductor for an antenna matcher
> for for going below the AM BCB band...  They have all kinds of stuff!
>
> Call info in Omaha... they're prompt about getting catalogs out too.
>
> 73,
> Tom  WB9RXJ
>
Yeah, they probably have 455 IF filters, too.  The TOKO ceramic
filters from Pennstock (DIGIKEY has them as well) have 4KHz bandwidth
at 6db, and cost about $3.50.  They are also available in wider
bandwidths for the same price.
     Murata Erie has similar filters, but they are not carried by
Penstock (Midwest at least), and cost about $9 ea.
     BTW, on the phone with Penstock yesterday, they are changing
their minimum order to $100, and no more CODs.  For small qty it looks
like Digikey if you want Toko ceramic filters.
From: kd2bd@ka2qhd.DE.COM (John Magliacane)
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: N5QWL Reports On STS-47
Date: 16 Aug 1992 21:42:32 -0700
Organization: UCSD Usenet Gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: ucsd.edu


SB SAREX @ AMSAT < KD2BD $KD2BD0816
N5QWL Reports On STS-47


It still looks good for a September 11 launch of STS-47.  The folks
at Kennedy Space Center have overcome a number of problems, and
the orbiter Endeavour is set to roll out of the hanger in the next
day or so to be mated with the external tank and boosters.

Please pass the word especially to our friends in the Eastern hemisphere,
since that's when I'll be awake and doing most of the voice QSO's.
Packet should be strong over the US.  As a reminder, we will operate
split.

Packet (Call sign W5RRR-1): 145.55 downlink, 144.70 uplink

Voice (Call signs N5QWL, 7L2NJY): 145.55 downlink,
uplink (except Europe): 144.95, 144.91, 144.97
uplink (Europe only): 144.80, 144.75, 144.70

73!

Jay Apt  N5QWL

/EX
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
From: k9jma@cbnewsc.cb.att.com (edwin.m.schaefer)
Subject: Re: For something fairly ancient...
Organization: AT&T
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 12:26:02 GMT

In article <harp.59@bnr.ca> harp@bnr.ca (Alan Harp) writes:
>In article <103360109@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM> wayne@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Wayne Covington) writes:
>>Recent items on old/obscure vacuum tubes reminded me of something...  How
>>many of the old-timers amongst us remember what a 0Z4 is, what equipment
>>it was typically found in, and how it worked?  No fair looking it up until
>>you've thoroughly searched your memory!
>
>>Wayne
>>KD0EA
>OK an OZ4 is a voltage regulator tube.  It works much like a zener diode
>does today only at higher voltages.  I will sink current from a power
>source until the desired voltage is achieved.  The more current it 
>has the brighter it glows.  Zeners are very dull.  They don't glow
>until their power rating is exceeded.
>
>
>****************************************************************************
>* Alan Harp K4PB     *     Bell-Northern Research      *   CW FOREVER      *
>* mail: harp@bnr.ca  *   Research Triangle Park, NC    *                   *
>****************************************************************************

I recall the 0Z4 as a cold cathode gas filled rectifier tube mostly used
in "vibrator" type B+ supplies for mobile equipment (car radio) supplied
from 6 or 12 volt batteries.

73 de K9JMA
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc