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Internet Message Format | 1991-03-02 | 31KB

From wang!elf.wang.com!ucsd.edu!info-hams-relay Tue Feb 26 18:41:54 1991 remote from tosspot Received: by tosspot (1.63/waf) via UUCP; Sat, 02 Mar 91 20:59:45 EST for lee Received: from somewhere by elf.wang.com id aa10325; Tue, 26 Feb 91 18:41:51 GMT Received: from ucsd.edu by uunet.UU.NET with SMTP (5.61/UUNET-primary-gateway) id AA07274; Tue, 26 Feb 91 10:08:59 -0500 Received: by ucsd.edu; id AA14411 sendmail 5.64/UCSD-2.1-sun Tue, 26 Feb 91 04:19:04 -0800 for nixbur!schroeder.pad Received: by ucsd.edu; id AA14401 sendmail 5.64/UCSD-2.1-sun Tue, 26 Feb 91 04:19:01 -0800 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oc -odb -oQ/var/spool/lqueue -oi -finfo-hams-relay info-hams-list Message-Id: <9102261219.AA14401@ucsd.edu> Date: Tue, 26 Feb 91 04:18:57 PST From: Info-Hams Mailing List and Newsgroup <info-hams-relay@ucsd.edu> Reply-To: Info-Hams@ucsd.edu Subject: Info-Hams Digest V91 #188 To: Info-Hams@ucsd.edu Info-Hams Digest Tue, 26 Feb 91 Volume 91 : Issue 188 Today's Topics: Data Packet Radio Might be Censored After FCC Citation (2 msgs) Inside DX Ithaca Area foxhunt, W2CXM Cornell Amateur Radio Club MAJOR SOLAR FLARE ALERT - 25 FEBRUARY Packet BBS on CNN QRZ DX RTTY Help Please Scanner Frequencies Wanted TH77A TS-850: Good News / Bad News Want Collins S Line Console Send Replies or notes for publication to: <Info-Hams@UCSD.Edu> Send subscription requests to: <Info-Hams-REQUEST@UCSD.Edu> Problems you can't solve otherwise to brian@ucsd.edu. Archives of past issues of the Info-Hams Digest are available (by FTP only) from UCSD.Edu in directory "mailarchives/info-hams". We trust that readers are intelligent enough to realize that all text herein consists of personal comments and does not represent the official policies or positions of any party. Your mileage may vary. So there. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 25 Feb 91 09:48:06 -0600 From: dube@cpdvax.csc.ti.com Subject: Data Packet Radio Might be Censored After FCC Citation To: infohams@cpdvax.csc.ti.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 25 Feb 91 15:35:31 -0600 From: dube@cpdvax.csc.ti.com Subject: Data Packet Radio Might be Censored After FCC Citation To: infohams@cpdvax.csc.ti.com From: CPDVAX::DUBE 22-FEB-1991 10:05:37.35 To: INFOHAMS CC: DUBE Subj: Re: Data Packet Radio Might be Censored After FCC Citation The problem occurs when we try to wed the philosophy, doctrine and discipline of land-line activity with that of radio. The FCC doesn't get concerned about land-line activity but when it goes on the air, it is a different matter. It would be hard for the FCC to attempt to cite a BBS poster for violation of its rules, as Conway Yee suggested. Also, the BBS poster may not expect his posting to get on the air. Would you want FCC to come down on the poster in such a case? Wanna get a foul- mouthed poster in trouble? Just gate his posting to packet and notify Uncle Charlie. It'll be right there in print. The one who controls what goes out over the air is the one who controls the transmitter. That is who FCC will and, IMHO, should look to when violations occur. It behooves all of us to work out a policy governing the transmission of packet data so that FCC rules aren't violated. If we don't, we may someday see packet radio banned from the Ham bands. 73, Dube N5PDK ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 Feb 91 07:16:48 EST From: skitch@NADC.NADC.NAVY.MIL (M. Squicciarini) Subject: Inside DX To: info-hams@ucsd.edu 02/22/97 Inside DX No. 257 436 N. Geneva Street Ithaca, NY 14850 OMAN- Abdi, A41JT, and Salim, A41JV, will participate as a multl-op/single transmitter entry in the CQ WW SSB WPX Contest on March 30-31 using a special prefix callsign, A42A. Salim, A41JV, will use this callsign also during the CQ WW CW WPX Contest on May 25-26. This callsign will be active 10 days prior to each contest. QSL's for SSB QSOs via A47RS and CW via KJ4GK. (TNX A41JV & A41JT) A41KJ on 14195 at 1440Z via long path. COMOROS- JO3VUZ, JJ3IMX, JG4CLV, and others will sign D68YD, D68YH, D68KN, and D68TS respectively. Operation will take Place on March 8-12 and March 20-21. Between the 12th and the 20th they will be active from Mayotte (FH) with the callsigns unknown. Operation will take place on 160-6 meters on CW and SSB. A beacon will beacon 50.120 for the 6 meter enthusiast. QSL via JL3IUX. (TNX S-9 and QRZ DX) ETHIOPIA- As Gomer Pyle would say on his old TV show... SURPRISE, SURPRISE. JACK, W4IBB, showed on February 18th on 15 meters. He was active freestyle on 21306 at 1520Z and latar that day was run in a list type operation on 21248 on/about 1900Z by K2EWB and WA2NHA. He was to show on 2/19/91 on this frequency at 1900Z. It is stated that he works for the Red Cross and will be in ET land until April, his license is good for one year, and renewable. It is also stated that a copy of his license has been faxed to tha ARRL. QSL's will be handled by WB2WOW. It was also reported that Jack had been trying for operating permission for quite some time before succeeding GOOD LUCK in the pileups with our usual policeman and jammers. (TNX WB2EBS, W2LT, KE2C, WB2DIN) SUDEN- Gerban is active again from the Sudan signing his usual callsign PA0GAM/ST2. He is active on CW on 4D-10 meters around the .025 mark on 10-20 meters. Try 21025 at 1900Z. QSL via PA0GIN. CAMEROON- TJ1BJ is now active on 75 meters. He shows on Saturdays at 0500Z on 3675 listening on/about 3795. At this time his sunrise is around 0525Z and he usually fades out at about 0540Z. Also try 21303 at 1230Z on Saturdays and Mondays. QSL via K4UTE. (TNX K4UTE) CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC- K4UTE meets with TL8JL, TL8RD, and Tl8SC on mornings at 1230Z on 21303 to exchange QSL info. After their sked these stations are available for QSOs. QSL all the above stations via K4UTE. ASIATIC RUSSIA- Nick, UB5UT, is now active from Lavrentiya, about 80 Km from Noma Alaska. Nick will be active until March 10th on CW and SSB on all bands. The callsign is US0UT and your DX editor worked him on 28024 at 0010Z during the DX Contest this past weekend. QSL via 3W3RR/LZ, Romeo Stepenenko. P.O. Box 812, SofIa 1000, Bulgaria. (This is the same QSL address for Romeo's recent YA0AA operation) (TNX KC7V) CHRISTMAS ISLAND- The following JA ops will sign VK9X callsigns from this one on April 2-10th on SSB-CW. JA0GPT-VK6BFV/VK9X, JH0PCO-VK6BFW/VK9X, JE0VAX-VK6BFY/VK9X, JR0CGJ-VK6BFU/VK9X, JH0CFK-VK6BFX/VK9X, JH0MBE-VK6BFZ/VK9, and JR0BQT-VK9AG. Operation will be on 160-6 meters on CW-SSB with a 6 meter beacon on 50.125. QSLS via homecalls(?) (TNX JAPAN DX NEWS) SOUTH ORKNEYS- Clive, G3POI, is now active from Lu signing /LU and will be arriving on South Orkneys in April where he will be active on CW and SSB. (TNX G4BUE) CHAGO- DXNS (RSGB) reports that Andy, VQ9AY, is usually active around 14188 at 18002 on Wednesdays. He will be active from downtown VQ9 for the next 6 months and QSL via G4RFV. VQ9AB has been very busy on 10-20 meters on CW and SSB and during the major DX Contest frays. Look especially on 20 meters during the 1700-1900Z time frame. QSLS for this one via WB4ECR, Mike Brown, 15640 SW 294th Terrace, Leisure City, FL 33033. CYPRUS-SOV. MILITARY BASE- Glynn, G4MVA, is now in Cyprus were he will sign ZC4CZ for the next two years on all bands emphasizing CW. SOUTH COOKS- HA9RE and HA8XX are now signing ZK1XL and ZK1XX from this one. They will operate from here for several weeks before returning to Hungary. For this operation they are asking QSL's to be sent to HA8XX and not DJ1ND. Try 28492 at 2345Z. CAMPBELL ISLANDS- Further info on this operation is that the operators will be ZL1OK, ZL1AVC, ZL2TPY, and JH4RHF. Operation will be on 160-6 meters with JH4RHF handling most of the low band activity. Modes will be CW-SSB-RTTY and the operation will be from March 5th to the 9th using the callsign ZL9DX. (TNX W6RGG) Relayed by KB8NW/OBS and BARF-80 BBS online at 216-237-8208 2400/1200/300 8/N/1 ------------------------------ Date: 25 Feb 91 14:52:16 GMT From: vax5.cit.cornell.edu!v6dy@cu-arpa.cs.cornell.edu Subject: Ithaca Area foxhunt, W2CXM Cornell Amateur Radio Club To: info-hams@ucsd.edu The Ithaca Foxhunt Saturday, March 2, 1pm Information & Rules ------------------- - Kevin, WB2EMS, will be the fox. He will hide within a 10 mile air radius of the Ithaca Commons. He will be stationary. - Frequency used will be in the 2 meter band; probably be 146.61 (input). - Teams are encouraged. Teams must generally work as a unit (e.g. not split up except on foot). -- All communication between teams or other stations regarding the hunt should be on 146.61 for all to hear. - Teams should be at Stewart Park by 1pm to sign up. Check-in/talk-in on W2CXM repeater, 146.61. Teams will be asked to record some basic information, including initial auto mileage. - Kevin will give 30 second transmissions on request. He will record the number of transmissions requested by each team. - After all teams have signed in, the foxhunt will begin. Kevin will make no transmissions until 10 minutes have elapsed. This will allow stations to get into position for an initial bearing. - There will be no scoring system, and thus no winners or losers. When teams find Kevin, he will record the time and the auto mileage. We will use this information, along with the number of transmissions requested by the team, to develop a scoring system for future hunts. - If you have any questions or comments about the hunt, contact Andrew Payne, N8KEI: usually on 146.61 during evenings at home, 277-1055, evenings Internet e-mail: payne@theory.tn.cornell.edu Packet mail: n8kei@w2cxm-1 - Remember to have fun! This is our first foxhunt, so there will no doubt be some rough edges. The post-hunt wind-down will be at The Chapter House. Reposted By Will, N2KNU, copied off of the amateur_radio bulletin board on vax5.cit.cornell.edu This is our first attempt at a foxhunt, and we are in it more for fun than to have lots of competition going on. Please send suggestions to either andy, or myself. Will N2KNU ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 25 Feb 1991 20:00:50 -0500 From: oler@HG.ULeth.CA (CARY OLER) Subject: MAJOR SOLAR FLARE ALERT - 25 FEBRUARY To: info-hams@ucsd.edu -- MAJOR SOLAR FLARE ALERT -- FEBRUARY 25, 1991 Flare Event Summary Potential Impact Forecast SATELLITE PROTON EVENT OCCURRED -------- MAJOR ENERGETIC EVENT SUMMARY A major proton flare exploded off the southwest limb today. The event began at 08:06 UT, peaked at 08:19 UT and ended at 09:51 UT on 25 February. The flare was rated a class X1.2/2N Tenflare and was associated with strong Type II, III and IV sweeps. Rich radio emissions were observed from this flare. Solar protons arrived and produced a satellite proton event at 12:10 UT on 25 February. The event was short-lived, however, and officially ended a little over an hour later at 13:35 UT on 25 February. This major X class flare was spawned by Region 6497 which is now crossing behind the western limb. The largest regions on the disk (6509 and 6508) are relatively dormant, despite their Beta-Gamma magnetic configuration. POTENTIAL TERRESTRIAL IMPACT FORECAST This flare was a major event and did produce a coronal mass ejection, as is evident by the strong Type II and IV sweeps which were observed. However, this flare was near the western limb and therefore probably will not produce anything too significant in the way of terrestrial impacts. There is some uncertainty regarding this, however, as events which occur near the vernal equinox can become amplified more than expected. Preliminary analysis suggests that there is a moderate possibility that planetary geomagnetic activity could increase to near minor storm levels on 28 February. An increase in activity is likely, but the amount of coupling which takes place is uncertain. Geomagnetic activity is expected to increase on 28 February to planetary A-index values between 20 and 35 for middle latitudes. A lesser impact over lower latitudes will likely be observed. High latitudes will suffer the worst conditions, with low to moderate intensity minor storming occurring on 28 February (A-index values between 25 and 38). Middle latitude K-indices could range from 3 to 5 on 28 February. High latitude K-indices could range from 4 to 7. Magnetic fluctuations between 400 and 750 gamma could be observed over high latitudes, while middle and low latitudes will likely witness magnetic fluctuations between 55 and 140 gamma. Auroral activity will be most intense over the high latitudes and extreme northern middle latitudes. There is a very slight chance that the impact from this flare could be higher than expected, perhaps with brief periods of major storming over middle latitudes. Please note that this is not very likely, but is slightly possible. If impacts are greater than expected, auroral activity could become visible over the northern latitudes north of about 42-44 North latitude. HF propagation should remain above normal until sometime on 28 February when the interplanetary shock is expected to arrive. An SSC should be observed with the passage of this shock, sometime on 28 February. Thereafter, MUF's should drop combined with increased fading and absorption (particularly over the middle to high latitudes). High latitude propagation has become degraded due to a polar cap disturbance which commenced on 24 February and remains in progress. Things could get significantly worse over the higher latitudes on 28 February if we are in fact affected by this flare. Polar propagation paths will suffer strong absorption and strong flutter and fading if terrestrial impacts materialize. There is a chance for VHF auroral backscatter conditions to materialize over the middle and high latitudes on 28 February, particularly during the late afternoon hours and again near midnight. However, signal qualities will likely become degraded for most VHF DX signals over the middle and high latitudes. A recovery is expected on 01/02 March to generally unsettled conditions. We are nearing the vernal equinox now, so geomagnetic activity should become a bit more active soon. A potential geomagnetic storm warning may be issued within the next 24 hours. There is a slight risk for another major flare from Region 6497. This risk may exist for the next 24 hours (until 27 February). No major flares from the larger regions on the disk are currently anticipated. Low-level M-class flaring could occur from Region 6504, 6508 or 6509. ** End of Alert ** ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 25 Feb 91 10:04:52 -0600 From: "Henry A. Treftz" <a10hat8@mp.cs.niu.edu> Subject: Packet BBS on CNN To: info-hams@ucsd.edu Future Watch a show on CNN talked about the citation some packet stations recived because of passing a message about a 1-900 number against the war. The FCC felt that it was of a commercial nature. I saw it this weekend. Henry Treftz KA9RMK A10HAT8@MP.CS.NIU.EDU ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 Feb 91 07:16:01 EST From: skitch@NADC.NADC.NAVY.MIL (M. Squicciarini) Subject: QRZ DX To: info-hams@ucsd.edu 02/25/91 QRZ DX (91-08) P.O. Box 832205 Richardson, Texas 75083 4K1ZI - Is it real or not? We're getting conflicting stories about the legitimacy of 4K1ZI (4K1ZM has also been reported), the Soviet station reported to be active from the South Sandwich Islands. George, W8BKP, checked with a group of friends in the Soviet Union (UC2) and was told that official sources know nothing about this station. Also, George learned that RB5JBU, the callsign of the QSL manager, is not a valid callsign. However, G4DYO, editor of DX News Sheet, reports that UA2AO confirms that the callsign is correct and that a Soviet scientific team should be there for 4 months. UA2AO also mentioned that 4K1ZI is operating from the Zavodovski Islands. G4DYO reports that the station has been reported in Europe on 14003 and 14300 kHz at around 2200 UTC. This station may not be legitimate, but until we know for sure ... WFWL. Please call the QRZ DX Hotline (recorder) if you hear this station. A little research at the University of Texas at Dallas provided the following information about Zavodovski Island and the group of islands called the South Sandwich Islands. According to a set of Soviet World Maps, the South Sandwich Islands are comprised of several small island groups and individual islands. From south to north they are Southern Thule Islands, Bristol Island, Montagu Island, Saunders Island, Candleman Islands, and Traverse (also known as Traversay) Islands. Zavodovski Island is one of three islands in the Traverse Group and it is the northernmost island in the South Sandwich Group. Also of interest is the fact that the South Sandwich Islands are part of the British Falkland Islands and Depencencies, in other words, part of Great Britain. This raises a question. Will the DXCC Desk accept QSLS from a Soviet station operating from British territory? Yes, the DXCC Desk will probably accept 4K1ZI QSLS if the station is truly operating from the South Sandwich Islands. A precedent was set with the LU3ZY operation (circa 1980). The Argentines did not have permission from the British government yet the operation was accepted for DXCC credit. PY0 ISLAS ROCAS PY0PT, who was reported to be operating from St. Peter and St. Paul Rocks, gave his location as "Isle de Rocas." The operator was probably referring to Atol das Rocas (IOTA SA-38), which is located closer to Fernando de Noronha than to St. Peter and St. Paul Rocks (there are no rocks or islets in the Rocks called "Rocas"). A contact with Atol das Rocas does not provide DXCC credit for St. Peter and St. Paul Islands. ST0 SOUTH SUDAN Dennis, ST0DX, is training two South Sudanese to be operators so that the station will continue after he leaves. Donations to support the club station will be appreciated (via WB2WOW). K7EG, reports working Dennis on 75 meters at 0345 UTC after an initial contact on 15 meters. ET ETHIOPIA There is a station on the air from Ethiopia! We've been getting bits and pieces of rumors during the past few months about a possible ET operation, but nothing worth printing ... until now. The station is ET2A and the main operator is Jack, W4IBB. Jack's wife and another operator named Scott may also operate the station from time to time. Jack has been trying to obtain a license for a year and a half! There is a written license (which may be renewed) and it is in the hands of Peter, WB2WOW, who will forward it to the DXCC Desk. The station consists of a TS-140S transceiver and various antennas. Initially, or at least for the first few days, Jack, may be active with a list operation on 15 or 20 meters, but can be expected to be operating free-style at any time. Don't expect much, if any, CW activity. WB2WOW notes that Jack's operation is being monitored by the Ethiopian authorities. QSL via WB2WOW. Thanks AA5ME and WB2WOW. TY BENIN Pat, I8QLS, will be active from Benin February 24-March 5. He will sign TY2AB, but may sign another callsign during the ARRL International DX SSB Contest. He'll be active on SSB only. QSL via IK8DOI. 8J ANTARCTICA Members of the 32nd Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition will be active as 8J1RL (Syowa Base, IOTA AN-15) and 8J1RM (Asuka Observation Base). Thanks DX News Sheet. Syowa Base is located on one of the islands in Lutzow-Holm Bay. 1C4 IOTA NA-110 Dr. Rick, NE8Z, will sign NE8Z/1C4 from one of the islands in the South Carolina Group (off the Coast of South Carolina) April 20-27. Suggested frequencies: (SSB) 14260, 21260, 28460; (CW) 14026, 21026, 28026 kHz. QSL via K8LJG. Rick and K8LJG will be trying a new approach to QSLing called "instant QSL." Logs will be sent to K8LJG daily via packet radio and all QSLS will be answered the same day received. XV VIETNAM K7PXV and WA1SWV report activity by XV5XA on 21013 kHz at 0030 UTC (W1) and 21029 kHz at 0350 UTC (W7). WA1SWV, who later worked XV5XA's QSL manager was told that XV5XA is running low power. QSL via JA1AH. Relayed by KB8NW/OBS and BARF-80 BBS online at 216-237-8208 2400/1200/300 8/N/1 ------------------------------ Date: 25 Feb 91 22:28:31 GMT From: hpda!hpcupt1!tomg@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Tom Graham) Subject: RTTY Help Please To: info-hams@ucsd.edu I have a Commodore C-64 which is not being used currently ( the PC clone is used by my son and wife ) which I would like to use for getting into RTTY. I would appreciate any pointers to software and/or hardware, preferrably (sp) shareware/freeware, ftp access or other that might help. Please email as I don't think C-64 RTTY stuff will have that great an interest level. Tom Graham tomg@hpcupt1.cup.hp.com N6WLF Hewlett-Packard Cupertino, CA ------------------------------ Date: 26 Feb 91 07:48:27 GMT From: magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!watserv1!wkirk@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Bill KirkD.c.s.Mc1087 x6456) Subject: Scanner Frequencies Wanted To: info-hams@ucsd.edu I have recently purchased a used Radio Shack Pro 2002 scanner and I am interested in finding out active frequencies in southern ontario as well as elsewhere. Iwould be happy to share the very few frequencies I already have. If anyone could help me out I would appreciate it. My e-mail address at the University of Waterloo is wkirk@watdcs.uwaterloo.ca Thanks in advance for all who take the time to respond. ------------------------------ Date: 26 Feb 91 04:45:04 GMT From: dog.ee.lbl.gov!hellgate.utah.edu!caen!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!src.honeywell.com!msi.umn.edu!cs.umn.edu!sialis!orbit!pnet51!hca@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (H. Atlas) Subject: TH77A To: info-hams@ucsd.edu A while back the modifications for the TH77A dual band HT were posted. One of the things mentioned was if the two resistors were removed and the jumper wire was NOT replaced that the radio would receive 136-174 and 400-512, aircraft, and cellular. With this Mod. in my radio it will only receive 136-164, 430-450, aircraft, and cellular. Is there something different with my radio, or was the posted information incorrect? Also, the person that originally modified this radio completely removed the jumper wire (green). Can someone post/send me a diagram or good description of where this wire should be run? Thank you, Howard UUCP: {amdahl!bungia, crash}!orbit!pnet51!hca ARPA: crash!orbit!pnet51!hca@nosc.mil INET: hca@pnet51.orb.mn.org S.S.D.D. ------------------------------ Date: 25 Feb 91 22:48:16 GMT From: usc!cs.utexas.edu!convex!texsun!west!L1-A.West.Sun.COM!flloyd@ucsd.edu (Fred Lloyd SUN Phoenix SE 602-275-4242) Subject: TS-850: Good News / Bad News To: info-hams@ucsd.edu CW MEMORY KEYER During the past couple of weeks I've gotten a few more surprises from this great rig. The biggest single surprise is that each and every unit comes with a MEMORY CW keyer built in! Contrary to the manual (which is the bad news...), which states unequivocaly that the DVR (Digital Voice Recorder) is needed to give the keyer memory. The manual is simply incorrect out-of-hand on this matter. I didn't notice that the memory keyer function existed until a friend of mine, AA7GU told me about it. I had still been using my external keyer which had it's own memory. I hadn't noticed the feature because 1) the manual said that it wasn't there, and 2) because the 850's CW memory keyer function only works with the internal keyer. So there you have it - a memory keyer with three separate memories which can store modestly sized CW phrases like CQ's and other standard stuff. And it works exactly like it states in the manual, except that the manual says that it only works when the DVR option is added. MEMORY CHANNEL SELECTION A real oddity with the radio is that you cannot place the radio in memory mode and then use the 10 key pad to select a desired memory channel number. To select any memory channel, you have to turn the memory channel scroll knob. On the other hand, when you are storing VFO data into memory, you can use the 10 key pad to specify a channel number. The reason that it's odd is that the TS440 was able to directly select a memory channel by number and so we're all stumped as to how this one got left out in this rig. THE MANUAL Overall, I'd have to rate the manual a 5 on a 1 to 10 scale. I would have expected much better from Kenwood on this one. The problem is that the original documentation was written in Japaneese and the English version was written by a native Japaneese interpreter. The translations are "hard" and you can almost hear a Japaneese accent when you're reading it. It would have been soooo easy for them to hire a native English speaking person (preferably a ham) to do the final editing. I would have gladly done it for them myself, in exchange for a demo unit :-). The manual contains awkward phrases like "Grounding this pin allows transmission". In this case the sentence means: "Grounding this pin keys the transmitter". There is a subtle difference in the two statements that a non-native English translator could (and did) fail to recognize. In the end, the native English user can be easily confused by ambiguities in the manual's wording. FSK OPERATION Several people, including myself, have run into a case where a lot of distortion is produced when the radio is fed audio from a TNC. At first, I thought that the audio level was just too high and so I installed a pot in the TNC to correct it. What turned out to be the case, however, was a ground loop condition between my TNC and the 850. ------------------------------ Date: 25 Feb 91 18:37:34 GMT From: hpfcso!billf@hplabs.hpl.hp.com (Bill Flynn) Subject: Want Collins S Line Console To: info-hams@ucsd.edu A friend of mine, Steve Moore, W0SM, (some of you may recognized the name and call as the of the official 'keeper of the list of HP hams') recently picked up a Collins S line at a local hamfest. The seller didn't have the S line console though, and Steve is looking for one. If you know of someone who has one for sale or if you come across one at a hamfest somewhere, give that person Steve's name, call sign, phone number, etc. I know he'd be interested to hear. You can reach Steve at T-649-5556, or as W0SM@W0LFJ.#NECO.CO.USA.NA on packet, or on HPDESK as Steve MOORE / HP2411. Thanks, Bill Flynn, AI0C billf@hpfiomb.fc.hp.com ------------------------------ Date: (null) From: (null) I also found that my TNC, an MFJ-1278, already had a TTL level FSK OUT pin available on its rear panel. I've also discovered that the 850 is perfectly happy with the TTL level signal and now I've abandoned AFSK altogether. The direct FSK works flawlessly in all modes and the amount of carrier shift is easily set using one of the setup menu subfunctions. In my last article on the 850 I mentioned that the passband was not centered over the signal when one was attempting to receive RTTY with the rig set to LSB and the 500 Hz filters were engaged. After doing some reading I've learned that the centering realized in the FSK mode had to do with the relationship of the BFO frequency and the passband, and not to the passband's itself as I may have led some to believe. This shifting (offsetting) of the BFO occurs automatically when the FSK mode is selected. The setup menu allows you to specify this shift as either 1225? or 2125? Hz to allow for two types of shifts. Neither one of these helps you receive FSK in LSB since 1225 is still way outside the passband of a 500 Hz filter. In the end, I'm very glad that I went ahead and hooked up to the direct FSK input - it's very clean and the recieve as well as transmit is completely reliable and hassle free. BITS AND PIECES There's still no DSP option (as shown in the magazine ad's) available. They are mysteriously lagging in the supply pipeline. I'm aware of none that have been shipped to anyone. I'm really curious as to what, if any difference it could possibly make. There is still no brochure available (I collect brochures). The salesman at HRO said that Kenwood would only be wasting money to print one right now, because they are already selling as fast as they hit the shelves. The service manual, rumored to cost $50, is not yet available. Judging by the latest manuals for the 950 and the 140, it will be a very sizable document containing lots of information, drawings and lists. Looking at the schematics, it appears that there may be upwards of 64 kBytes of firmware in this machine... Boy, I'd love to see the source... :-) Love to hack it too :-) SUMMARY Well, there a few minor gotcha's to this radio but then there has never been a rig that didn't have it's fair share of them. Overall, I'd have to say that the bad points greatly outweigh the good ones by an overwhelming margin. I would certainly buy the rig again without hesitation based on what I know now. 73's -fred AA7BQ -- | Fred Lloyd AA7BQ Fred.Lloyd@West.sun.com | | Sun Microsystems, Inc. ...sun!flloyd | | Phoenix, AZ (reality -- what a concept!) (602) 275-4242 | ------------------------------ End of Info-Hams Digest ******************************