HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: berger@atropa (Mike Berger)
Subject: Re: batteries on concrete
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1992 21:22:31 GMT

elmore@virga.ucar.edu (Kim Elmore) writes:
>each cell was quite sufficient.  We did this for two or three weeks,
>after being assured by everyone there that the "exposed" battery would
>be dead in about a week.  If we lost, we'd buy the batteries at full
>price and pay some amount to the participants.  If *they* lost, the

>	Needless to say, we won the bet; the two batteries were
>indistiguishable in their characteristics.  Whence the myth?  Well, as
*----
Two or three weeks?  That's hardly a useful test.  And if you only
used two batteries, it's not very scientific.

In my experience with used motorcycle and car batteries, the ones that
sit on the concrete floor tend to break down or calcify faster than
the ones sitting on a wood bench, all other things being equal.  I
have to admit I didn't bother to chart how the batteries were used in
an earlier life, or make daily observations, but I know the changes I
observed happened over a much longer period than two weeks.
--
	Mike Berger
	Department of Statistics, University of Illinois
	AT&TNET     217-244-6067
	Internet    berger@atropa.stat.uiuc.edu
From: miles@emx.cc.utexas.edu
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Amateur Radio News Service Contest
Date: 9 Sep 1992 06:25:57 -0700
Organization: UCSD Usenet Gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: ucsd.edu

The Amateur Radio News Service (ARNS) has announced its umpteenth-annual
contest for ham radio club newsletters. They call it a contest, but it is
actually a chance for club editors to get some unbiased feedback on what is
best and what could stand some improvement in their publications.

Criteria for judging are general format, appearance, and content. Three
judges fill out an evaluation form for each publication, with a couple of
dozen specific items. They get about 100 entries each year, so the judging
task is pretty arduous.

Judging sheets and certificates are returned to each editor along with
suggestions for improvement, and only the general rating categories
(Superior, Excellent and Good) are published. They seem to believe that
anybody who volunteers to put out a club newsletter each month for no money
has to be doing at least a "Good" job, and I agree.

The contest is open to all amateur radio club newsletters from anywhere in
the world, at no cost and with no requirement for ARNS membership.

Please tell your editors about this event. They can send a self-addressed
stamped envelope (foreign hams send an IRC) to Lee Knirko, W9MOL;
President, ARNS; 11 S. La Salle St., Suite 2100; Chicago Illinois 60603;
U.S.A. for a copy of the rules and entry blank. The deadline for receipt of
entries is December 31, 1992.

Our club newsletter has entered the contest for the last 3 years. The first
time we came in "Good," the last two we ranked "Excellent." In all cases,
reading the judges' comments was fun and informative.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Miles Abernathy, N5KOB
University of Texas @ Austin
POB 7580
Austin TX 78713
tel. (512) 471-6521
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
From: JMG%TNTECH.BITNET@cunyvm.cuny.edu (Jeff M. Gold)
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Good HF rigs
Date: 10 Sep 1992 07:22:28 -0700
Organization: UCSD Usenet Gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: ucsd.edu

This has probably been discussed before, but I am hopefully
going to purchase a new (or used) HF rig.

I work mainly CW, but also RTTY and AMTOR... and SSB in
contests sometimes, and some SSB ragchewing and DXing. I
like an ocassional CW contest also.

After investigating I think I would like something like the
Yaesu 990, or Kenwood 850 or Ten Tec.

What are peoples actually experiences and pros and cons.

Of course I would now be hesitant about the 850 if Kenwood's
service is so bad.

Thanks

73s de Cookeville, TN
Jeff, AC4HF
JMG@TNTECH
From: pazar@hpnmdla.sr.hp.com (Steve Pazar)
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1992 20:44:13 GMT
Subject: HELP:need advice on TR-2400 (Kenwood)
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Santa Rosa, CA
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc



Gents,
  I recently acquired a "project" Kenwood TR-2400 2 meter handheld.
  Its a project because the LCD's are shot...broken glass. Sooo, if
  anyone has replaced an LCD in one of these beasties and can offer
  some advice as to where to get parts, and how to do it (I'd like to
  do it myself rather than making an additional donation to the 
  Japanese economy), I'd like to hear from you. It has already been
  suggested that I toss it in the trash...not an option YET!


***************************************************************************
*  STEVE PAZAR           DoD #702           Kawasaki KZ440A
*  E-mail:   pazar@hpnmdla.sr.hp.com
*  Ether:    WA4DUT/6
*  " Imagination is more important than knowledge "
***************************************************************************
From: bob@kc2wz.bubble.org (Bob Billson)
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: batteries on concrete
Date: 11 Sep 92 18:38:54 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: Color Computer 3: Tandy's 'game' machine

M.Willis@ee.surrey.ac.uk (Mike Willis) says:
>Perhaps there is truth in the myth. Concrete floors tend to get cold in winter.
>Lead acid batteries do not work well when cold. Therefore placing a battery on a
>concrete surface outside may cause it to loose capacity. Especially true for
>battery systems not designed for cold weather use.

Ok, than why is it that nobody worries much about the car batteries IN THE CAR?
Surely the average concrete floor is not as cold as outside (at least here in
NJ) in the winter.
-- 
  Bob Billson, KC2WZ                          | internet: bob@kc2wz.bubble.org
  $nail:  21 Bates Way,  Westfield, NJ 07090  | uucp:     ...!uunet!kc2wz!bob
               If you took all the economists in the world and laid
               them end to end, they would not reach a conclusion.
From: George_Lin@mindlink.bc.ca (George Lin)
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: Kenwood TH78A Charging HELP!
Date: 9 Sep 92 18:39:23 GMT
Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada
Distribution: world

> john s roberts writes:
> 
> My question: does the 12v cigarette adapter in anyway charge
> the battery.  I hope that it doesn't because then I have
> to make sure I don't use it unless the battery is completely
> dead and when I do use it make sure it charges for the full
> 12-15 hours.  What is going on here?


The 12V cigarette adapter charges the battery the same way the external adapter
does (should seem fairly logical, both plug into the same place on the radio).

There isn't too much harm in using a 12V DC source as long as you are not
repeatidly charging the batter between two points (ie. 1/4 full to 1/2 full
over and over again).

Go ahead and use the 12V adapter.
BTW, I dropped a battery pack once and one of the cells got very warm (probably
shorted).  Anyways, after that, the batter pack would no longer hold a charge.
--

 -------------------------------------------
| George Lin                  | 145.270 MHz |
| George_Lin@mindlink.bc.ca   |   VE7FKU    |
 -------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc,rec.radio.shortwave,sci.astro,sci.geo.meteorology
From: jcarroll@ferris.cray.com (Jeff Carroll)
Subject: Re: Watching Aurora/TV
Originator: jcarroll@ferris
Organization: Cray Research, Inc.
Distribution: na
Date: 11 Sep 92 15:18:34 CDT


In article <1992Sep4.134225.11052@eagle.lerc.nasa.gov>, snyder@ronin.lerc.nasa.gov (David B. Snyder) writes:
> Yesterday evening (3 Sept) about 7:30 (23:30UT) I was switching through
> the UHF band and found? Channel 31, apparently a Canadian station.  What
> makes this unusual is that I live in Cleveland, we don't normally pick up
> Canadian stations easily.  I'm guessing the reason for the reception 
> is the auroral activity.  

My experience is that unusually good TV DX in the Midwest in the summertime is usually due to thermal ducting. What was the weather like?
 
> Question for you in southern Ontario:  Where is Channel 31 broadcast from?
> as well as Channel 9 and 38 and 40?  I'm getting the impression CBC is not
> good about telling where the broadcasts originate.  

CBC doesn't give origination info because they're simulcast everywhere. At
signoff, CBC (in Vancouver, anyway) includes transmitter location and channel
info on all the repeaters. It's kind of a nice piece of graphic work, like
a weather map.
 
Jeff Carroll
carroll@reston.cray.com
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc,misc.misc
From: paulb@harley.tti.com (Paul Blumstein)
Subject: Re: CW Speed Contests?
Organization: Black Belt Motorcyclists Association
Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1992 18:29:54 GMT

In article <193e2fINNjob@darkstar.UCSC.EDU> haynes@cats.ucsc.edu (Jim Haynes) writes:
+
+In article <1992Sep14.140802.17099@dsd.es.com> alan@bambam.es.com (Alan Brubaker) writes:
+>CW contests are still alive and well. We had both a CW receiving
+Yeah, I know about the contests at hamfests; what I want to know about are
+the contests which McElroy participated in, which I gather were a much bigger
+deal.  There is a typical-of-the-period picture of him surrounded by
+trophies he had won.  I assume these were contests for commercial operators.
+
+This got me to thinking about contests of skill for people in other
+occupations.  It's been several years since I have read about a typing
+speed contest - the last one I heard about was won with a speed of 130 WPM
+or so.  Maybe there were shorthand contests for stenographers at one time.
+The rodeo continues as a contest of cowboy skills.  You just don't hear
+much anymore about contests where working people compete on their
+abilities.  I'm not counting things like the Oscars and competition that
+a professional photographers organization holds, nor awards and honors,
+because in these things people are not competing against each other on
+specific tasks.

Years ago, there were programming contests.  Each contestant was given
a task to code.  Judging was on the basis of elegance, readability and
accuracy (if I remember correctly).  Haven't heard of any in recent
years, though.
____________________________________________________________________________
 Paul Blumstein, paulb@harley.tti.com, DoD #36, ABATE, AMA, HOG, KD6LAA
            Transaction Technology, Inc., Santa Monica, CA
From: asqp-nbf@zama-emh1.army.mil (ASQP-NBF)
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re:  Info-Hams Digest V92 #955
Date: 14 Sep 1992 13:22:43 -0700
Organization: UCSD Usenet Gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: ucsd.edu

Thanks to all who replied to my request for the callsign of Indiana
University club station. Maybe if I send the daughter Packet messages
she will get off my case about writing letters. :)
Thanks again.
73 de Roland 7J1AKI/WF4P
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
From: josemj1@aplmail.jhuapl.edu (Marshall Jose)
Subject: Re: batteries on concrete
Followup-To: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Organization: JHU-Applied Physics Laboratory
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 92 20:44:49 GMT

In article <1992Sep8.201202.18782@cs.rose-hulman.edu>,   
derry@NeXTwork.Rose-Hulman.Edu (John Derry) wrote:
> 
> 
>In article <1992Sep8.152052.8141@EE.Surrey.Ac.UK>
>M.Willis@ee.surrey.ac.uk (Mike Willis) writes:
>> Perhaps there is truth in the myth...[that] placing a battery on a
>> concrete surface outside may cause it to loose capacity.
>
>I think that at one time the myth probably came from some type of logical  
>reasoning, but no one seems to know what it is.  You may be close.
>
I'm not buying it. From all I've read, lead-acid batteries die from sitting
without a charger on them (as well as from overcharging, but that mechanism
is a little different). Sitting in the attic, on the garage floor, or
even
in an engine compartment, they will slowly expire unless periodically
charged.

Marshall Jose
JHU-APL
josemj1@aplmail.jhuapl.edu
From: rogerm@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Roger Mitchell)
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1992 20:39:37 GMT
Subject: Wanted ICOM P2AT mods.
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Fort Collins, CO, USA
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc

Looking for ICOM P2AT mods. Does anybody out there know of any for this HT.

				Roger Mitchell
				N0MCR
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
From: kenw@col.hp.com (Ken Wyatt)
Subject: Re: Ham UHF
Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1992 22:49:26 GMT
Organization: HP Colorado Springs Division
From: leadfoot@bigbootay.sw.stratus.com (Mark Curtis)
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: Kenwood TH-28A ? or Standard C168A ?
Date: 8 Sep 92 19:05:00 GMT

In article <1992Sep4.014944.20716@access.digex.com>, og@access.digex.com (Gary Goldberg) writes:
|> My wife and I purchased two of the Standard 168As at Dayton. We surveyed
|> the Alinco, Icom, Yaesu and Kenwood little units, and we liked the
|> combination of features in the Standard the best. Like the previos guy,
|> there are good and bad -
|> 
|> Good - most everything. Easy to program. Solid buttons, knobs, good
|> sound. Rugged. Logical placement of controls. I can key all the digits
|> of the frequency, which is useful for the extended receive.
|> 

|> 3. Accessories are somewhat more expensive than other manufacturers, and
|> harder to obtain.

Their battery packs are way out of line.  Hard to find and very expensive.
On the other side of this their drop-in charger is cheaper than most.

|> 4. The power supply cord is positive on the outside of the ring, which seems
|> like a short circuit waiting to happen.

This is totally brain dead.  I couldn't beleive it when I noticed this.
There is no way I'm going to power one off the cig lighter and use an
outside antenna.  Are their engineers Brits or something?

Mark
From: zlau@arrl.org (Zack Lau)
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: RG 8 atten @ 20 Mhz?
Date: 11 Sep 92 11:45:33 EDT
Organization: American Radio Relay League

In rec.radio.amateur.misc, gary@ke4zv.uucp (Gary Coffman) writes:
>In article <514@arrl.org> zlau@arrl.org (Zack Lau) writes:
>>
>Well, it can't be the forward gain, Zack, so it has to be the radiation
>angle that makes the 20 db difference. I think most of that is due to
>the fact that the monster stations use towers that are at least 1/2
>wave tall to mount their monster beams. Probably a little 3 element
>job would be nearly as good up there. Getting up above the near field
>effects of ground should lower the main lobe, and allow taking advantage 
>of the 3 db ground reflection gain in the far field at low takeoff angles
>which should improve performance on long paths. If the low angle means
>one less hop to the destination, then you're really talking.

Yes, it is the radiation angle, which is why I referred to the vertical
pattern.  But, I guess we have different opinions on what a "monster"
antenna is.  I always though W3GM's "little 3 element" job on 40 meters
qualified.  It was the only antenna I used on 40M SSB in a DX contest
and really had fun.  I still remember that VK telling me I was off
frequency (he turned it back before I could set my transmit frequency
properly) but it didn't matter because I was so loud ...  

>I used to have a 3 element beam at 70 feet, and it worked remarkably
>better for long haul work than the G5RV in the trees that I use now.
>Much better than the 7 db of forward gain would indicate. However,
>on the domestic paths I normally work, the G5RV is better, so down
>came the tribander and up went the satellite antennas.
>
>Gary KE4ZV
>
But, at my Hawaiian location in poor conditions, stations with 3 elements at 
70 ft were often in the noise.  The really big stations with aluminum 
at 140 or 200 ft would come through when nobody else was.  And, 
since they heard my QRP station, I knew it was antennas in a good 
location, and not just power.   Of course, there aren't many 
stations like this--I'd only work a few East coast stations operating
much of the weekend.

Zack Lau  KH6CP/1

Internet: zlau@arrl.org           Busy building 10 GHz SSB/CW gear     
			          Operating Interests: 10 GHz CW/SSB/FM
US Mail: c/o ARRL Lab				       80/40/20 CW
	225 Main Street		  Station capability: QRP, 1.8 MHz to 10 GHz
	Newington CT  06111	               modes: CW/SSB/FM/packet
						      amtor/baudot
Phone (if you really have to): 203-666-1541
Xref: sparky rec.radio.amateur.misc:15544 rec.radio.shortwave:6946
From: paul@n3eop.pgh.pa.us (paul)
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc,rec.radio.shortwave
Subject: Re: Mods to Icom radios
Keywords: IC260A IC280 R7000 MARS ICOM
Date: 15 Sep 92 01:33:25 GMT
Organization: CrossRoads in Elizabeth, PA

michael@vk2bea.UUCP (Michael G. Katzmann) writes:

> I have a need to modify a couple of ICOM VHF tranceivers for MARS use
> (i.e. extended frequency range above and below the 2M amateur allocation).
> 
> I contacted Icom but the technician was less than helpful, especially
> as these rigs are a few years old now.
> Is anyone aware of the mods to allow MARS ops on these tranceivers?

If you would list the radios, I may be able to come up with the mods...
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
From: wa2ise@cbnewsb.cb.att.com (robert.f.casey)
Subject: Hurricane hits Hawaii
Keywords: public service
Organization: AT&T
Distribution: usa
Date: Sat, 12 Sep 1992 04:07:02 GMT

Just saw on ABC's Nightline About ham radio operators being the only
form of communications with the island of "Kauai".  According to
the report, the phones are out, and the only contact is with hams
with VHF radios.  Must be with adjacent islands.
Nightline interviewed an amateur (think his call WD8JDY, was in backround 
in his what looked like a HF station), and he told of what he had monitored
about the hurricane in Hawaii (the stuff above).  And that a ham saw
a house loose its roof. 

Looks like good publicity for amateur radio.  Looks like someone (ARRL?)
did some good work getting the word to the news media that hams are
useful for some emergency communications.
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
From: rdewan@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (Rajiv Dewan)
Subject: Re: Of PL259 on 9913 and other sins.
Organization: Northwestern University, Evanston Illinois.
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1992 02:14:22 GMT

In article <1992Sep9.170923.514@miki.pictel.com> wpns@miki.pictel.com (Willie Smith) writes:
>
>Rajiv,
>

Thanks for the personal note Willie.  BTW the email address that 
I include with every post does work...

>9913 and UHF connectors don't mix for a number of reasons:
>

I think you missed the thread on this one.  The issue was about connectors
and not about 9913.  The thread started with some one _else_
enquiring about PL 259's on 9913 and that resulted in a huge spate
of comments about using PL259 on HF.  My remark was a tongue-in-cheek
            ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
one about the miniscule impedance mismatch at HF that results of using
UHF connectors instead of N connectors on HF.

>1) 9913 cable is of no practical use for HF in terms of attenuation.
>RG-8 is nearly as good (0.3 dB more attenuation per 100 feet), costs a
>_lot_ less, is more flexible, and is more weatherproof with PL-259
>connectors.  9913 is only useful in 'real' VHF and UHF work, above say
>30 MHz.
>

Since _you_ bring up the topic of use of 9913 type coax for HF, let
us discuss that for a moment.  Your figures are correct only if
the SWR is 1:1.  The effect of line attenuation gets substantially
worse as SWR gets higher.  As in my case where I use a 80m full
wave loop for all the HF bands.  The SWR on the line gets higher
than 5:1 (especially on 30m) and I use an antenna tuner in the shack.
Now if the line were lossless, by the Conjugate Matching Theorem, it
would as good as having a tuner at the feedpoint of the antenna.
Now introduce line loss.  The story gets really interesting:
   For line attenuation:  1.0db    power loss: 2.2db (at 1:5 swr)
                          0.6db    power loss: 1.4db (at 1:5 swr).

(These are approximate figures read from a graph in a hurry.  The
exact number can be determined using formulas.) 

>2) PL-259s are not suited for UHF work, above say 300 MHz (2M is
>marginal, IMHO).  The impedance discontinuity you discussed becomes a
>_lot_ more significant at (say) 450 MHz, so you must use a decent
>connector like N-type.  At these frequencies the attenuation of RG-8
>is about 2.0 dB per 100 feet, and 9913 is a lot more widely used.
>
>Therefore, if you are talking about HF, you shouldn't use 9913, and if
>you are talking about VHF/UHF you shouldn't use PL-259s.  Hence the
>question of using PL-259s on 9913 shouldn't ever come up.  If someone
>_gave_ you some 9913 for use on HF, I'd suggest you sell it and buy
>some RG-8.

Thank you for the suggestion.  In any case, I will sell all the 9913 
that I have.  Which is none. :) I do have some International 9086 
(similar to Belden 9913) that I use on HF and have no intention of 
selling that.  I would have liked to use open wire feed line and 
cut down on losses from using the loop even further, but running 
it close to metallic gutters and down spouts did seem like a good idea.  
So I chose 9086.

Rajiv                                 
aa9ch    
Address: r-dewan@nwu.edu
Phone:   None. Only CW.
From: abfhb@stdvax.DNET.NASA.GOV
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: SAREX Packet Frequencies
Date: 15 Sep 92 04:04:26 GMT
Organization: UCSD Usenet Gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: ucsd.edu

SB SAREX@AMSAT $STS-47-007
SAREX Packet Frequencies

This is a reminder that the SAREX payload on STS-47 is operating in
a split frequency mode with separate uplink and downlink frequencies.  

To connect to the packet robot, transmit on an uplink frequency of 
144.70 MHz.  The downlink packet frequency is 145.55 MHz.  Use this 
frequency to receive the TNC packet data from the Shuttle.  

Also, the packet robot operates using the callsign W5RRR-1.


This message is from the SAREX working group.

Submitted by Frank H. Bauer, KA3HDO
AMSAT V.P. for Manned Space Programs
E-Mail:        ka3hdo@amsat.org
Alt E-Mail:  EAST::"ABFHB@STDVAX.GSFC.NASA.GOV"

/EX
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
From: rice@ttd.teradyne.com
Subject: Re: New Topic
Organization: Teradyne Inc., Telecommunications Division
Date: Sun, 13 Sep 92 03:05:37 GMT

In article <1992Sep10.154526.1@pomona.claremont.edu>, jhenderson@pomona.claremont.edu writes:
> In article <01GOMJBSL77M91VZDB@IRIS.uncg.edu>, MOSIER@iris.uncg.EDU writes
>> Thus, in the public interest, I propose that we open discussion on
>> #6 flat washers.  (My hope is that we can ascertain how various metallurgical 
>> treatments affect the generation of magnetic micro-fields through dissimilar 
>> metal contact and how these fields might affect junction performance in some 
>> mosfet receiver front ends.)
> 
> Not to mention the government consipracy in allowing TV's to be manufactured
> (their CRT's produce Xrays, which are bad for you, and the electromagnetic
> field generated by the flyback transformer will give you cancer).
> 

That, plus Late Night Programming has been known to cause brain damage
in Laboratory Animals.

-- 
   John Rice        K9IJ     |  "Did I say that ?" I must have, but It was
                             |   MY opinion only, no one else's...Especially
                             |   Not my Employer's....
   rice@ttd.teradyne.com     |   Purveyor of Miracles,Magic and Sleight-of-hand
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
From: jfs4892@zeus.tamu.edu (John Steele - N5ZKC)
Subject: Mods for IC-2sra
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    
Organization: Texas A&M University, Academic Computing Services
Distribution: usa
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 1992 00:33:00 GMT

Does anyone have any internal mods for the IC-2sra?  (extended Tx?)

John, N5ZKC
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc