QRZ! Ham Radio 3/QRZ Ham Radio Callsign Database - Volume 3.iso/digests/infoham/940005.txt

Internet Message Format | 1994-06-04 | 26.1 KB

Date: Thu,  6 Jan 94 03:42:33 PST
From: Info-Hams Mailing List and Newsgroup <[e-mail]>
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Reply-To: [e-mail]
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Subject: Info-Hams Digest V94 #5
To: Info-Hams


Info-Hams Digest            Thu,  6 Jan 94       Volume 94 : Issue    5

Today's Topics:
               CMOS Super keyer (ARRL Manual) (2 msgs)
                   Disability Waivers for CW scam
                 Free access to digital terrain data
       Ground loops in Packet Gear (Re: WHERE ARE ALL THE YOU)
                       Ham club at a University
                 QST question OK - NO MORE REPLIES!!!
                        RAMSEY KITS NOT TOO G
                          Repeater database?
                       TOYOTAS AND MOBILE RIGS
                     WWV Seems to Have a Problem.

Send Replies or notes for publication to: <[e-mail]>
Send subscription requests to: <[e-mail]>
Problems you can't solve otherwise to [e-mail].

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: Thu, 6 Jan 1994 01:07:55 GMT
From: sdd.hp.com!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!usc!howland.reston.ans.net!news.intercon.com!psinntp!gdstech!gdstech![e-mail]
Subject: CMOS Super keyer (ARRL Manual)
To: [e-mail]

 Dick, I built this keyer a few years ago, and love it. I
sm looking at the manual for the keyer from Idiom Press,
and there is no phone number listed on it. I believe this
'company' might be a 1-person operation, a part time
job for somebody who works nites from his basement. So,
they don't want any phone calls. If you write to them for
infos, be sure to send them a SASE or they will yell at you.
The address I have is Box 583, Deerfield, Ill., 60015, USA.

--
*-----------------------------------------------------------*
*     Pat Masterson   D12-25  | KE2LJ@KC2FD                 *
*     Grumman Data Systems    | 516-346-6316.               *
*     Bethpage, NY 11746      | [e-mail]     *

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 05 Jan 94 20:07:25 GMT
From: agate!howland.reston.ans.net!EU.net!sun4nl!bsoatr!bsdihi![e-mail]
Subject: CMOS Super keyer (ARRL Manual)
To: [e-mail]

I am very enthousiastic about the CMOS Super Keyer II as described
on page 29-6 from the 1994 ARRL Manual. Is there a european distributor for
the part kit of this keyer?? I tried to figure out the phone number
of Idiom Press in Deerfield, but the Dutch PTT could not find the
company in their phone books. It seems rather risky to me to send
USD 50 in an envelope and pray that everything comes right!

Any sugestions welcome!
73's


Dick Hissink  PA3DSP
Email:[e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 06 Jan 94 03:38:08 GMT
From: netcomsv!netcomsv!bongo!skyld![e-mail]
Subject: Disability Waivers for CW scam
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]> kevin.jessup writes:

  > What if I'm paralyzed from the neck up?! ;-))

  You'd fit right in with the rest of the

              "CW forever and the can have my key when
              they pry my cold dead fingers off of it"

  types that haven't figured out that CW is a mode like anything else and
  not the be all to end all.

  Yeah, I've been a ham since 1968, had to take the test for novice, had
  to go downtown and copy AND send correctly to upgrade. I operate CW on
  an occasional basis. I enjoy the challange and the simplicity of it.

  Meanwhile, I maintain a packet BBS with an e-mail gateway. Go on field
  day. Chase RTTY contacts and yack with the locals on 2 meter FM. Big
  deal. I enjoy the privilege the FCC granted me when they issued my license.

  73 es GE from Jeff



 Amateur: WA6FWI@WA6FWI.#SOCA.CA.USA.NA  |  "It is difficult to imagine our
Internet: [e-mail]          |  universe run by a single omni-
 US Mail: PO Box 4425 Carson, CA 90749   |  potent god. I see it more as a
   Phone: [phone]               |  badly run corporation."

------------------------------

Date: 5 Jan 1994 21:53:08 -0500
From: digex.net![e-mail]
Subject: Free access to digital terrain data
To: [e-mail]

Well, it's back! A long time ago, I offered free HAM access to
perform point-to-point terrain profile. A lot of people
used it, it became a pain-in-the-butt of Communications Data Services,
and we killed the offer. But due to demand, and a few more modem
lines, we can once again make the offer.

UPDATE: 1/5/94  SORRY to many who have tried to send me mail, and
who have tried to call into the system -- we choose the Xmas and
New Year holiday to try to upgrade to the evil SOLARIS. Beware
the SOLARIS which lurks! Everything should (!!) be running the way
only Scott would want it...

Here is the deal:

Email me ([e-mail]) a short (2 line will do it) note about
what kind of project you are working on -- just so I know it is
related to amateur radio -- and I'll mail you back instruction on
using the system. You get 5 accesses for the asking, and more with
a good argument. Right not you need to call our computer in Virginia.
If someone can help me figure out telnet "ports", I'll have it up for
telnet too!

FREE ACCESS TO THE US GEOLOGICAL SURVEY's / DOD 3 ARC SECOND
DIGITAL TERRAIN DATA BASE

You get a tabular list of distance and height (sorry - metric ONLY!).
Getting Fresnel Zone and 4/3 Earth is your problem -- at least for now.

Right now, I am only willing/able to let single terrain radials out.
If there are some interesting repeater coordination issues, or
some high-tech left-winged wild ideas about propagation and antennas
you want to talk about, please drop me a note. I have all kinds of other
toys, but they are a little more commercial -- I can run them for you
and send you the results or something like that.

Cheers.
Rich

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 5 Jan 94 15:58:40 GMT
From: qualcomm.com!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!math.ohio-state.edu!cyber2.cyberstore.ca!nntp.cs.ubc.ca!alberta!adec23![e-mail]
Subject: Ground loops in Packet Gear (Re: WHERE ARE ALL THE YOU)
To: [e-mail]

[e-mail] writes:

>Am I missing something here? is there a reason why a TNC and a VHF/UHF
>radio can't share the same 12v power supply?

Not in the KPC3's case, I think it runs on a 9V battery ...

There are times when you set up a ground loop by connecting all the equipment
together, on VHF/UHF flea (<25W, if you are running this much, I hope the
local community calls you an a**h***) power it is not an issue.

However, on HF Packet, I have had to decouple the mic and power connections
to get rid of pickup induced in the microphone line from ground loops (the
HF rig I had thought had an isolated microphone input, but if you ground
one of the sides of the microphone input, the Icom 751A whirls into a flurry
of noise once keyed up ...). An interim measure was using separate supplies ...

The answer for the original poster, no problem connecting them together, and
if there is, you will be learning an aspect of RF power decoupling ...

Ciao, 73 de VE6MGS/Mark -sk-

------------------------------

Date: 5 Jan 1994 22:48:36 GMT
From: hearst.acc.Virginia.EDU!portal.gmu.edu!fame![e-mail]
Subject: Ham club at a University
To: [e-mail]

 I've started to put together an amateur radio club here at
George Mason University.  I was wondering if anyone out there had any
words of wisdom/expereince in starting such clubs.  Please e-mail me to
keep the bandwidth usage down.

Thanks and 73,

 Shawn (KE4GHS)

--
Shawn C. Masters
[e-mail]

 I speak for myself, not my department or institution.

------------------------------

Date: 5 Jan 1994 17:24:54 GMT
From: haven.umd.edu!cville-srv.wam.umd.edu![e-mail]
Subject: QST question OK - NO MORE REPLIES!!!
To: [e-mail]

Thanks to all of you who have responded (4 in last 45 minutes!).

I most definitely did NOT get my January 1994 issue.

Scott NF3I

--
73,             _________   _________  The
       \ /  Long   Original
Scott Rosenfeld  Amateur Radio NF3I  Burtonsville, MD  |   Live    $5.00
  WAC-CW/SSB  WAS  DXCC - 119 QSLed on dipoles __________| Dipoles! Antenna!

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 6 Jan 1994 01:15:26 GMT
From: fluke![e-mail]
Subject: RAMSEY KITS NOT TOO G
To: [e-mail]

[e-mail] writes:

>As the unproud owner of an non-working Ramsay 40m receiver, I would
>rather the damn thing worked! It didn't even have so many parts that
>troubleshooting was a big problem, but I thoroughly checked the wiring
>and swapped out parts, including the NE602 chip ... nothing.

>Ramsay kits may be cheaper, but since they seldom work, and if they do,
>seldom work well -- it's just not worth the trouble.

>Steven Rosenberg, KC6FYL

[lots of stuff deleted]

I purchased a Ramsey Shortwave Receiver kit for my 8 year daughter
this Christmas.  We haven't built it yet, but studying the schematic
shows several fundamental design errors.  Clearly their circuits are
designed by people who know enough electronics to design "home projects"
but not enough to come up with a marketable product.  I suspect that
the receiver may work to some degree, but I've already planned a few
mods.  Too bad I didn't take the time to design one myself.

The LM358 op-amp with both inputs at Ovolts bias, with an AC signal
coming in was the first clue.


          Steve Swift, Sr. Staff Engineer
  Domain: [e-mail]
  Voice: [phone] (Voice mail), FAX: [phone]
  UUCP: {uw-beaver,microsof,sun}!fluke!swifty
  US mail: Fluke Corporation/ P.O. Box 9090/ MS 266D/ Everett WA  98206

--

          Steve Swift, Sr. Staff Engineer
  Domain: [e-mail]
  Voice: [phone] (Voice mail), FAX: [phone]
  UUCP: {uw-beaver,microsof,sun}!fluke!swifty
  US mail: Fluke Corporation/ P.O. Box 9090/ MS 266D/ Everett WA  98206

------------------------------

Date: 5 Jan 1994 23:26:11 GMT
From: koriel!newscast.West.Sun.COM!abyss.West.Sun.COM!sunspot![e-mail]
Subject: Repeater database?
To: [e-mail]

In article [e-mail], [e-mail] (Richard Mitchell 1026) writes:
>In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Jay Maynard) writes:
>|>
>|> It's real simple: lat/lon/haat information is enough to walk up to the tower
>|> or building the repeater is on, and therefore enough to get the repeater
>|> stolen, or for someone to talk to the site owner and get the repeater kicked
>|> off of the site. Sites are very, very hard to get unless you're willing to pay
>|> commercial rates - and very few hams are that rich.

One local repeater was kicked out of the commercial site it was in when the
trustee/owner of the repeater started hitting on the site owner's wife.

Jay is quite correct about sites being hard to get; if you'd like,
I can tell you some of the things commercial site owners have told me
about amateur tenants.  It doesn't surprise me that site owners aren't
anxious to have amateurs in their buildings.

>If someone really wanted to steal the repeater (or whatever), why
>wouldn't they just go on a foxhunt to find it?  I dunno, but
>around here the physical locations aren't kept secret.  In talking
>with other club members, its usually pretty easy to find out where
>the repeater is.

Well, yes, people can try to DF a repeater, but most high-level sites
are located at the end of roads with locked gates, often on private
property.  Furthermore, there are often several buildings on high-level
sites, and you likely wouldn't be able to figure out which one had the machine.

Sometimes, people get into a site as a favor, and they don't want the site
owner to start getting a lot of requests for the same favor...

---
 * Dana H. Myers KK6JQ, DoD 466 | Views expressed here are *
 * [phone]   | mine and do not necessarily *
 * [e-mail] | reflect those of my employer *
 * This Extra supports the abolition of the 13 and 20 WPM tests *

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 5 Jan 1994 22:03:54 GMT
From: agate!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!noc.near.net!gateway-gw!newshost![e-mail]
Subject: TOYOTAS AND MOBILE RIGS
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:
>I RECENTLY PURCHASED A 1991 TOYOTA PREVIA.  AFTER INSTALLING A KENWOOD
>2 METER RIG AND TRANSMITTING AT ABOUT 45 WATTS FOR A FEW MINUTES, I
>DISCOVERED THAT THE AM/FM RADIO WAS NOW DEAD.  I CANNOT STATE WITH
>CERTAINTY THAT THE RADIO WAS NOT DEAD BEFORE TRANSMITTING, BUT BEING
>PARANOID...  I SEEM TO RECALL A FLURRY OF INFO A FEW YEARS BACK ABOUT
>TOYOTAS AND MOBILE RIG S.  ANYONE OUT THERE RECALL THE BASIC SCOOP?
>TNX ES 73, BRIAN, WY2G

Toyota recently changed their reccomendations from "You can't have a
2-way radio and a warrantee at the same time" to "You must follow
certain reccomendations, available on request."

--
Willie Smith [e-mail]  [e-mail]
Some people you don't have to satirize, you just quote em - Tom Paxton

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 5 Jan 1994 16:49:36 GMT
From: swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!math.ohio-state.edu!magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!news.csuohio.edu!garfield.csuohio.edu![e-mail]
Subject: WWV Seems to Have a Problem.
To: [e-mail]

[e-mail] (Charles R. Hohenstein) writes:
: In article <[e-mail]>,
: [e-mail] (Martin McCormick) wrote:
: >
: >
: >  Has anybody noticed how distorted the audio is from WWV on 2.5MHZ?
: > I have noticed this off and on for several months and first thought that
: > it was my receiver.  The distortion is worst on 2.5MHZ but is also found
: > to a lesser degreee on 10MHZ.
: >
:
WWV comes from Fort Collins, CO on 2.5, 5, 10, 15, and 20 Mhz. Keep in
mind that on 2.5 and 20 Mhz they transmit at 2.5Kw and on 5, 10, and
15Mhz they transmit at 10Kw.  I found this by looking in Passport to
World Band Radio Blue Pages.  Since you are picking up distortion more on
2.5Mhz than 10Mhz it may be due to 2.5Mhz being the weaker signal (lower
transmitter power).  I happened to be listening last night, and
could only hear 5 and 10Mhz WWV, both sounded fine.  I very rarely
am even able to hear 2.5 and 20Mhz, since the signal does not make it
to Cleveland very often, so I don't know the quality of the signal
from 2.5Mhz.  Could still be distorted regardless of transmitter power.

You might check to see if there has been any local electrical interference
introduced lately at your location.  New power lines nearby? Did you put
an alarm system or other electrical device in your home?  I have found
they create considerable trash noise on HF from 2 to 5  Mhz.
--
___---^^^---___---^^^---___---^^^---___---^^^--- Catch The WAVE ---___
Michael Mayer, Senior Technical Support Engineer
Visual Numerics, Inc.  32915 Aurora Rd. Suite # 160, Solon, OH, 44139  USA
Email: [e-mail]   Human: 216/248-4900   Fax: [phone]

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 5 Jan 1994 21:53:27 GMT
From: elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!usc!howland.reston.ans.net!paladin.american.edu!constellation!osuunx.ucc.okstate.edu!datacomm.ucc.okstate.edu![e-mail]
To: [e-mail]

References <2gc4b3$[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>.oks
Subject : Re: WWV Seems to Have a Problem.


 As the person who started this thread, I must say that I am a little
red-faced, today.  Last night, when I listened to the 2.5MHZ signal, it was
quite normal.  In Oklahoma, the 5MHZ signal is usually the best one after
dark in the Winter time and the 2.5MHZ signal is a close second.  During
sporadic E openings, the 20MHZ signal is audible.  Several years ago, when
WWV transmitted on 25MHZ, that signal was a good propagation indicator
for showing that 10 and possibly 6 might be open.

Martin McCormick WB5AGZ   Stillwater, OK
O.S.U. Computer Center Data Communications Group

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 5 Jan 94 18:43:15 GMT
From: ncrgw2.ncr.com!ncrhub2!torynews![e-mail]
To: [e-mail]

References <[e-mail]>, <2g4bc8$[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>m
Subject : Re: Repeater database?

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Steve Watt -- KD6GGD) writes:
>
>If someone has the desire to go talk the various repeater coordination
>bodies out of their data (they must know the exact location of all repeaters
>in their jurisdiction, after all, to coordinate them reasonably) then
>it might be worthwhile resurrecting the repeater database.  Until that
>time, I'm afraid, not much will happen.
>

Our local 2 meter coordinating body may know the location of all the
repeaters, but even they don't use that information to determine which
repeaters to coordinate.  Coordination involves on-air testing of a new
repeater to determine whether it interferes with existing machines on the
frequency.

I have attended one of the coordination group's meetings and was very
unimpressed.  No spirit of cooperation, only ugly ranting and raving.
I have heard that some of these meetings have literally come to blows,
and judging from the meeting I attended I would believe it.  So I can
see why the coordinators would be unwilling to cooperate: their job is
hard enough as it is without people second-guessing them using information
from a haat/la/lo database.

--
                                          ___________
  Kevin Sanders, KN6FQ                   |    ___    |
  [e-mail]    |o o \_/ o o|     Try Boatanchors
  [e-mail]                |o o  @  o o|     For A Real Lift
                                         |___________|

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 5 Jan 94 20:35:17 GMT
From: mnemosyne.cs.du.edu!nyx10![e-mail]
To: [e-mail]

References <2g4bc8$[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>
Subject : Re: Repeater database?

[Followups to .policy.]

In article <[e-mail]>,
Kevin Sanders <[e-mail]> wrote:
>I have attended one of the coordination group's meetings and was very
>unimpressed.  No spirit of cooperation, only ugly ranting and raving.
>I have heard that some of these meetings have literally come to blows,
>and judging from the meeting I attended I would believe it.

If you only knew.

The basic problem is simple: People think they have a right to put on a
repeater, and not to have that repeater interfered with. This works fine until
all of the channels have repeaters on them in a given area; after that,
there's conflict - sometimes very ugly and violent, sometimes merely legal and
expensive.

Frequency coordination in the amateur service today is not a technical job -
it's a political one.

>  So I can
>see why the coordinators would be unwilling to cooperate: their job is
>hard enough as it is without people second-guessing them using information
>from a haat/la/lo database.

This is a secondary consideration - we have enough of a problem now with folks
who assume that, just because there is no listing for a given pair in an area,
that the pair has not been allocated. As I said in another message, though,
the primary consideration is more basic than that: if we didn't keep the data
confidential, we wouldn't get it in the first place.
--
Jay Maynard, EMT-P, K5ZC, PP-ASEL | Never ascribe to malice that which can
[e-mail]      | adequately be explained by stupidity.
        "A good flame is fuel to warm the soul." -- Karl Denninger

------------------------------

Date: 5 Jan 1994 22:56:25 GMT
From: ucsnews!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!emory!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!news.umbc.edu!haven.umd.edu!cs.umd.edu!skates.gsfc.nasa.gov!aol14![e-mail]
To: [e-mail]

References <2g4bc8$[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>
Subject : Re: Repeater database?

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Jay Maynard) writes:
|>
|> It's real simple: lat/lon/haat information is enough to walk up to the tower
|> or building the repeater is on, and therefore enough to get the repeater
|> stolen, or for someone to talk to the site owner and get the repeater kicked
|> off of the site. Sites are very, very hard to get unless you're willing to pay
|> commercial rates - and very few hams are that rich.
|>

If someone really wanted to steal the repeater (or whatever), why
wouldn't they just go on a foxhunt to find it?  I dunno, but
around here the physical locations aren't kept secret.  In talking
with other club members, its usually pretty easy to find out where
the repeater is.

Maybe we just get along better over here...or maybe i'm just niave.

--
Richard Mitchell            |   Learning to Do   Doing to Learn
[e-mail] |   Earning to Live  Living to Serve
N3LNK                       |

------------------------------

Date: 5 Jan 94 09:34:46 -0700
From: sdd.hp.com!math.ohio-state.edu!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!hamblin.math.byu.edu!yvax.byu.edu!physc1.byu.edu![e-mail]
To: [e-mail]

References <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <2g1l4a$[e-mail]>th.byu.
Subject : Re: Repeater database?

In article <2g1l4a$[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Matthew Rapaport) writes:

> Well I think it doesn't have to be full-blown to begin with. For example
> a good start could be made by scanning the ARRL book, and then enhancing
> the information with additional material reported from users (as opposed
> to secret material best kept to the coordinators and owners). I have
> some experience designing database records for related purposes if I can be
> of assistance. All of the characteristics you mention could be reflected
> in the records gradually, as users step up to help fill them in.
> Estimates of Repeater usage, coverage descriptions, etc. Note that it is
> not necessary that a repeater be used heavily to be a good emergency
> connection. It is only necessary that someone be listening most of the
> time.
>
> For these reasons, I'd like to see something running in a telnet-able
> system where a user can link in and perform searches in various ways.
> For example list all repeaters covering a square bounded by a set of
> coordinates (Mil grid or lat./long.). Ftp access to the DB by sections
> or sorted in verious ways would also be valuable. Some of the
> information one would want to keep (usage patterns for example) might
> require frequent updates. An online system would be more condusive to
> this.
>
>
> --
> matthew rapaport       Philosopher/Programmer at large       KD6KVH
>      CIS: 70271,255                      Internet: [e-mail]

I got a little tired of trying to find things in the ARRL book so I did
create my own database of repeaters in the areas I cover.  This includes
all the information in the ARRL book plus notes on location (USGS quad
map name and lat./long./alt. as near as I could get it).  I can now
produce list sorted according to desired parameters (for instance I have
one list I carry in my radio kit that is sorted by lat. and long. so I
can estimate where I am and know where I fall in the list).  Also I have
a program that will give me a list of the repeaters according to distance
from a certain location (again specified in lat./long.) along with the
compass heading to that repeater.  It has been very useful for my travels -
especially for when I go backpacking since I can generate some lists for
strategic locations along the route and always know approximately where
the repeaters are located.  I haven't tried to tackle the question of
actual coverage yet but that may come up yet.

I think a similar database that is generally available would be very
useful.  Possibly arranged as a set of ascii files in a standard format,
separated by state or region, that could be downloaded and imported into
my favorite database program if nothing more exotic is done.  I don't
see how this could violate anyone's privacy if the information is just
what is in the ARRL book that everybody has access to.  And it would
really help if each state coordination group would include in this list
their suggested local simplex frequencies.  This would remove the need
to publish the various "hidden" frequencies since you would then have
locally acceptable simplex frequencies to choose from rather than just
taking a stab in the dark at one.

I consider this an idea whose time has come.  It is not unworkable.
And it can be done in such a way as to provide the needed information
without compromising any link or control frequencies that are not
already public.  If no official body wanted to do it there is nothing
that would stop individuals from submitting already public information
to someone who wanted to archive it - it is public information so there
can be no complaints about making it available in another form.  In
fact I would have no qualms about putting my current database for Utah,
East Idaho, West Wyoming, and West Montana on an anonymous ftp server
since it is all public information.

Bryan G. Peterson, ki7td
[e-mail]

------------------------------

End of Info-Hams Digest V94 #5
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