QRZ! Ham Radio 5/QRZ Ham Radio Callsign Database - Volume 5.iso/digests/infoham/940699.txt

Internet Message Format | 1994-11-13 | 17.5 KB

Date: Fri, 24 Jun 94 04:30:19 PDT
From: Info-Hams Mailing List and Newsgroup <[e-mail]>
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Subject: Info-Hams Digest V94 #699
To: Info-Hams


Info-Hams Digest            Fri, 24 Jun 94       Volume 94 : Issue  699

Today's Topics:
                  Anyone USE DTMF Paging ? (3 msgs)
                         Bitching and Moaning
        Frequencies near Kenndy Space Center during a launch.
                           Licensing delays
                          old advertisements
                        RADIO AMATEUR CALLBOOK
              Something different ... CW sent to MIDI !
                 Waiting for License? Wait some more

Send Replies or notes for publication to: <[e-mail]>
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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, 23 Jun 1994 19:49:09 GMT
From: ihnp4.ucsd.edu!sdd.hp.com!hpscit.sc.hp.com!cupnews0.cup.hp.com![e-mail]
Subject: Anyone USE DTMF Paging ?
To: [e-mail]

Paul Christofanelli ([e-mail]) wrote:
: Sanjay Uppal ([e-mail]) wrote:

: On DTMF paging...

: :    Unfortunately the current drain in receive with page mode
: :    on is the same as normal receive regardless of who is
: :    on the air (your callee or Joe Q. Random).

: But, the battery saver should still work when no one is talking.  And
: since there's no audio, the current drain should be somewhat less even
: when someone is talking.


You're right, but the difference in current drain is very small.
I measured 5-8ma is the difference between no audio and
audio on to a resonable level both with squelch open. Perhaps,
most of the audio circuitry consumes power
regardless of input signal  or maybe 8ma is reasonable (8ma*12V
is 96mW with 50% efficiency you get 48mW at the speaker).

Sanjay Uppal
NN9T

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

Date: 23 Jun 1994 19:55:34 GMT
From: ihnp4.ucsd.edu!usc!howland.reston.ans.net!noc.near.net!cat.cis.Brown.EDU!NewsWatcher![e-mail]
Subject: Anyone USE DTMF Paging ?
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Sanjay Uppal) wrote:

>
> I thought initially that the DTMF Paging feature was a useful one.
> (Enter your 3-digit code, that of the callee too and then your
> handie rings when your code is recognized. The handie also tells
> you who called). However, I am experiencing the following problems:
>
> 1. The alternate to getting paged is either sitting glued to your
>    handie, or setting up some time aforehand for a QSO. If you
>    do the latter, you conserve battery power  since your handie
>    is not on most of the time. In the paged mode, you get the
>    extra convenience of not having to pre-setup a qso time.
>    You do have to leave the handie on all the time and you would
>    expect that current drain would be minimal until you are paged.
>    Unfortunately the current drain in receive with page mode
>    on is the same as normal receive regardless of who is
>    on the air (your callee or Joe Q. Random).
>
> 2. The two repeaters I have tried do not pass DTMF codes. So while
>    the paging works fine simplex, I have not been able to get it to work
>    thru a repeater. Is there a list available of the repeaters that are
>    DTMF page friendly ? (actually if I find just a couple in the Bay Area
>    I'd be happy).
>


We used DTMF paging for a little while and occasionally still do if we
don't want to be disturbed by normal frequency traffic. Add CTCSS to that
and you're all set.

The problem is that some repeaters either mute tones, or the audio quality
is so bad that the remote radio doesn't recognize them.


--
== Tony Pelliccio, KD1NR
== [e-mail], Tel. [phone] Fax. [phone]
== The opinions above are my own and not those of my employer.

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

Date: Thu, 23 Jun 1994 16:45:00 EST
From: ihnp4.ucsd.edu!usc!howland.reston.ans.net!gatech!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!wariat.org!dreaml![e-mail]
Subject: Anyone USE DTMF Paging ?
To: [e-mail]

[e-mail] (Sanjay Uppal) writes:

>2. The two repeaters I have tried do not pass DTMF codes. So while
>   the paging works fine simplex, I have not been able to get it to work
>   thru a repeater. Is there a list available of the repeaters that are
>   DTMF page friendly ? (actually if I find just a couple in the Bay Area
>   I'd be happy).

Well, most of the repeaters I use have ACC RC-850 controllers. They are
configured so that if you key up and press '#', then all other tones you
press until you un-key will not be muted. That way, I can sit in DTMF
squelch, and my friends can key up with '#225' for example, and it will
open my squelch and tell me somebody is looking for me.

-j

--
Jon Anhold N8USK   - PGP Key available on request -   ([e-mail])
Dreamland Network Systems                                     Cleveland, Ohio
"Where you come from is gone.. Where you thought you were going to was never
there, and where you are ain't no good unless you can get away from it."

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

Date: 23 Jun 1994 21:24:05 GMT
From: ihnp4.ucsd.edu!swrinde!gatech!newsxfer.itd.umich.edu!zip.eecs.umich.edu!panix!news.columbia.edu!tintin.cc.columbia.edu![e-mail]
Subject: Bitching and Moaning
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]>,
Chris Thomas <[e-mail]> wrote:

>What many new hams don't realize is what it was like before
>the volunteer (VE) system when availablity of amateur exams
>had dwindled to (in many cases) 4 exams per year in a couple
>of dozen cities -- back then, lots of hams had to travel
>overnight to take their exams, etc. etc.  Makes a couple of
>extra weeks of waiting not such a big deal...

Just because people had to walk 50 miles, barefeet, uphill both ways,
in the middle of winter, to get to the test session back then doesn't
mean that the current system can't be improved.

                        --Fuat

Columbia University                             [e-mail]
703 Watson Labs                                 212-854-4804
612 W115th Street                               212-662-6442 (Fax)
New York, NY 10025                              N2YGN

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

Date: 23 Jun 94 23:27:58 GMT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Frequencies near Kenndy Space Center during a launch.
To: [e-mail]

Does anyone have a list of frequencies
near Kennedy Space Center that are in use during a shuttle
launch.

Lad Nagurney WA3EEC
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

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

Date: 23 Jun 1994 19:26:34 GMT
From: ihnp4.ucsd.edu!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!geraldo.cc.utexas.edu!astro.as.utexas.edu![e-mail]
Subject: Licensing delays
To: [e-mail]

[e-mail] (Bob Levine) says:

>-->>wait for licenses.  ARRL VEC is now saying 16 weeks from the
>-->>time the FCC gets the paperwork.  Egads!  No wonder attracting
>-->
>-->    some more bitching and moaning deleted for brevity....
>-->
>-->You add in about 10-15 days cycle time for the VE's and VEC'd to do their
>-->thing and you are looking at about 18-20 weeks turnaround.
>
>It's for free (the FCC/ARRL/VEs make no money from Ham applications)
>and the service is provided by volunteers, yet the masses
>continue to complain.

Furthermore, why don't people use this several week delay to do something
positive?  The day I passed the General exam, I went and bought the Advanced
and Extra study guides and started memor^H^H^H^H^H preparing for those exams.
As soon as the General license came, I upgraded to Extra.

It's rare for anyone to go from nothing to Extra in one day (hi Trevor),
everyone else should be so flushed with success that they should start
working on a higher code speed or studying the next license class stuff.

People could even - gasp! - listen to the radio in the intervening weeks,
to see how HAM works (hi Julian), then perhaps we would have fewer posts
that say "I just got my HAM license, what is a repeater and when should
I listen for Australia on 160m?"

I have this vision of thousands of people who pass the tests and then
just sit and stare at the wall for 12 or so weeks, with occasional
breaks to call the FCC to find out what happened to their license
application.

Sure, it's a long time to wait, but you can always go round to a local
and do HAM from there to get the feel of things.  If you are turned
off the hobby because you have 12 weeks of staring at the wall ahead
of you, you need to find another hobby anyway; you need a lot of
patience in everyday operating - people won't answer your CQ, you
won't break a pile-up in an hour of calling, the bands will be
dead for several days and so on.   Nothing happens as soon as you
would like it to in HAM.

If, as someone said recently, there are 16,000 applications waiting
to be processed and just one person doing them once a week, there is
going to be a delay.  The easier it is to get a license, the more
people who will do it and the longer it will take.  For the amount
you pay for the FCC work ($0.00) you get good value.

Best best wisheseses,

Derek Wills (AA5BT, G3NMX)
Department of Astronomy, University of Texas,
Austin TX 78712.  (512-471-1392)
[e-mail]

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

Date: 23 Jun 1994 21:22:38 GMT
From: ihnp4.ucsd.edu!usc!howland.reston.ans.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!newsrelay.iastate.edu!news.iastate.edu![e-mail]
Subject: old advertisements
To: [e-mail]

There were a couple of postings lately about ads in the old ARRL Handbooks
which reminded me of the following ad.

In the 1955 edition of the ARRL publication, Learning the Radiotelegraph
Code, is an ad from Dale Electronic Distributors.  Entitled: Dale Answers
the Questions on Single sideband.  The first question is, "Why go to Single
Sideband?

He, Bill Cummings W1RMG, goes on to state that he has used his own 10 watt,
SSB rig, to work all call areas W1 thru W0!    WOW! :)

Thought you might enjoy it.

73, 74 (whatever it takes)

Ken




--
Ken Anderson   N0ZEM         [e-mail]     PH: 515.294.8996
126 Soil Tilth Bldg., Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011

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

Date: Thu, 23 Jun 1994 21:54:30 GMT
From: ihnp4.ucsd.edu!usc!math.ohio-state.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!newsxfer.itd.umich.edu!nntp.cs.ubc.ca!unixg.ubc.ca!quartz.ucs.ualberta.ca!gov.nt.ca!ve8ev@network.
Subject: RADIO AMATEUR CALLBOOK
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Andy Sennitt) writes:
>RADIO AMATEUR CALLBOOK ADDRESS CHANGE
>
Effective immediately, Ted Misa has assumed total responsibility for
>the complete Radio Amateur Callbook line including the North American
>and International editions plus supplements, the Radio Publications,
>and the Gordon West Radio School.

(stuff deleted)

Boy, wouldn't it be nice if someone combined the International and North
American Callbooks and added in the DX QSL route databases and put it
all on a convenient CD rom?  How hard could that be?  (hint hint)

CQ FD VE8EV 1B NWT...
=============================================================
John Boudreau VE8EV     INTERNET: [e-mail]
Inuvik, NWT, CANADA       PACKET: VE8EV@KL7GNG.#NAK.AK.USA.NA
=============================================================

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

Date: Thu, 23 Jun 94 12:13:06 PDT
From: ihnp4.ucsd.edu!swrinde!gatech!newsxfer.itd.umich.edu!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!sundog.tiac.net!news.sprintlink.net!crash!slic![e-mail]
Subject: Something different ... CW sent to MIDI !
To: [e-mail]

[e-mail] (Mike Stramba) writes:

> Here's something that may be different.
>
>
> Now I can listen to CW on my Korg M1 !!!!!!
>
> I kinda like the rythym to hearing 'the end' played at 20wpm ;)
> .... Also the letter 'q' <g>

That's a good idea for those with MIDI or SoundBlaster/Adlib devices.
Could you post the code to output to the MIDI port?  I imagine it could
be adjusted for the sound cards as well.

--
     [e-mail]
     SLIC Public Service BBS   San Diego, CA  USA

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

Date: 23 Jun 1994 21:26:05 GMT
From: pa.dec.com!src.dec.com!src.dec.com![e-mail]
Subject: Waiting for License? Wait some more
To: [e-mail]

I, too, am waiting for a new license but have only been waiting 2 weeks. Gee,
I'm sooo excited about having to wait another 14! This is ridiculous. It's
summer - why doesn't the FCC just hire some students to work on the cheap
and clean up their backlog? I do pay taxes, don't I? I've never had my
passsions inflamed by government beaurocracy, as some have, but then this
is the first time I've ever had personal dealings with a goverment beaurocracy.
It's enough to make me vote Libertarian...or for Howard Stern for President...
or both!

Regards,
Ira

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

Date: 23 Jun 1994 21:38:33 GMT
From: ihnp4.ucsd.edu!usc!howland.reston.ans.net!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!uhog.mit.edu!news.kei.com!ssd.intel.com!chnews!scorpion.ch.intel.com![e-mail]
To: [e-mail]

References <[e-mail]>, <2u9ndj$[e-mail]>, <2ub3h3$[e-mail]>du
Subject : Re: "73's"

In article <2ub3h3$[e-mail]>,
Jesse L Wei <[e-mail]> wrote:

>Well, actually, it is a continuous wave--unchanging frequency phase and
>amplitude--the only thing that is changed is the actual presence of the
>wave--um I think, at least.

Hi Jesse, do you think maybe changing from present to absent changes the
amplitude and it is not a continuous wave when the key is up?

>There is no modulation of the cw, suppsoedly, except maybe for the rise
>and fall times of the signal maybe. . .--jesse

Keying a carrier on and off does indeed modulate the RF and generate
sidebands. You can't copy 20wpm CW through a 100 Hz wide IF filter
because some of the sidebands do not make it through the filter.
Keying a carrer on and off is actually Amplitude Modulation, not Continuous
Wave. The faster the rise and fall times of the RF, the wider the sidebands,
and the more key clicks you will have.

My point is, quite often, usage determines definition. Back in the '50's,
an AM conversation might end with, "73's, OM, and lay some 88's on the XYL".
This weekend is really the next weekend that will occur and next weekend
is the one after that, which is not next... figger me that one. :-)

73, KG7BK, [e-mail]

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

Date: 23 Jun 1994 22:48:39 GMT
From: ihnp4.ucsd.edu!sdd.hp.com!col.hp.com!fc.hp.com![e-mail]
To: [e-mail]

References <2u9ndj$[e-mail]>, <2ub3h3$[e-mail]>, <2ucvcp$[e-mail]>
Subject : Re: "73's"

On the meaning of CW:

F. Everybody's I., there's an interesting article in a recent QST that
explains why it was originally called CW.  From what I can remember, the
older (back in the early part of the century) somewhat tunable transmitters
could only generate a decaying rf sine wave when they were "keyed".
A new type of transmitter was able to generate a "continuous" rf wave
when it was keyed, these transmissions began to be called "CW" transmissions.
So, apparently, the name "CW" had nothing specifically to do with Morse code
when it was originally coined.  Morse code back then was a given.

See the article for the real story...

-Paul C.   KG0CZ

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

Date: 23 Jun 1994 22:31:16 GMT
From: ihnp4.ucsd.edu!sdd.hp.com!col.hp.com!fc.hp.com![e-mail]
To: [e-mail]

References <[e-mail]>, <2uci95$[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>
Subject : Re: Anyone USE DTMF Paging ?

Sanjay Uppal ([e-mail]) wrote:
:
: You're right, but the difference in current drain is very small.
: I measured 5-8ma is the difference between no audio and
: audio on to a resonable level both with squelch open...

For another data point, here are some quick measurements on an FT530:

   Signal received (squelch open), volume at a reasonable level:    ~105 mA
   Signal received (squelch open), volume at quiet level:             90 mA
   Signal received, paging mode on (squelch closed until code recvd): 80 mA
 * No signal,       paging mode on (squelch always closed):           70 mA
 * No signal,       non-paging,    squelch closed                     70 mA

In the last 2 modes (the * modes), the "smart" battery saver very
quickly drops it to 60 mA; within a minute or so it's down to
~30 and at 2 minutes its down to around 20.

Bottom line, having it in paging mode with a received signal versus
non-paging mode with a received signal saves anywhere from 10-25 mA.

-Paul C.

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

End of Info-Hams Digest V94 #699
******************************