QRZ! Ham Radio 5/QRZ Ham Radio Callsign Database - Volume 5.iso/digests/infoham/940958.txt

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Date: Wed, 24 Aug 94 19:01:13 PDT
From: Info-Hams Mailing List and Newsgroup <[e-mail]>
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Subject: Info-Hams Digest V94 #958
To: Info-Hams


Info-Hams Digest            Wed, 24 Aug 94       Volume 94 : Issue  958

Today's Topics:
                     Code Learning s/w for a MAC
                     Cushcraft R7. Does it work?
                          GB2RS News format
                           Gel cell problem
                            Ham ftp sites
                         HELP! HOW TO IMPROV
                    International callsign server?
                             learning CW
                    Matamoras hamfest INFO WANTED
                    Mobile Radio Theft Insurance?
        PLSE INCLUDE SASE FOR DIRECT DX QSL CARDS!!! (2 msgs)
                                 Rohn
              Sept 17th: Commercial Radio License Exams
                               Welcome

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: 24 Aug 1994 09:21:38 -0600
From: mnemosyne.cs.du.edu!nyx10.cs.du.edu![e-mail]
Subject: Code Learning s/w for a MAC
To: [e-mail]

In article <338msb$[e-mail]>, TSTADER <[e-mail]> wrote:
>In article <3383kr$[e-mail]>, [e-mail]
>(Dick Flanagan) writes:
>
>>Doesn't this program come with=out= any files designed to teach the code?
>>If so, has anyone written any teaching files for it?
>
>I am pretty sure it is complete... have you checked it out and find it is
>NOT complete?
>
>Terry

I had this package suggested to me.  I got the package from Oak.oakland.edu.
It has a minimal learning package attached, along with the comments that what
is supplied is not designed to be used to learn the code, but rather as a
example of how such a package might be implemented.  Other than that, it looks
real nice.  does anyone have a full set of learning libraries for MorseTrainer??

Ted [e-mail]
KC5CUW

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

Date: 24 Aug 94 21:34:44 GMT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Cushcraft R7. Does it work?
To: [e-mail]

> I have a Cushcraft R7 antenna. It has never been satisfactory. It resonates
> on some bands and not on others.

>Yes!  I had an R5 which worked fine until it got hit by lightning and now
>have an R7.  Both worked right out of the box and resonated almost right
>where Cushcraft said they would.

While at VP8BZL, waiting for the boat to Peter I, we set up, amongst others,
an R5, 5" off the ground and used it for most of the phone contacts on 10,
15 and 20, and all of the cw and phone Q's on 12 and 17m. All of the
contacts were barefoot.
We used the same antenna on 3Y0PI as spare (for the A3WS we had) for a lot
of the phone Q's on 12 and 17.
So yes, it worked (part 1), for a compromise antenna that it is.

Recently, back in Belgium, we did a test with 4 verticals on one row (Gap
Eagle DX-VI, Butternut HF6V-X, a homemade vertical and an R7).
The SWR of the R7 was:
28.000: 1.3
28.500: 1.1
24.930: 1.3
21.000: 1.4
21.300: 1.5
18.130: 1.8
14.000: 2.1
14.250: 2.1
10.100: 1.85
7.040: 1.7
(eat your heart out - hi).
My guess is that with a bit of tweeking, we could get the swr on 20m lower.
Concerning performance, in comparison with the other 3 antennae, it came out
as "being comparable" to the Gap. The Butternut and the homemade antenna
(design ON4UN-hi) were, in general, better than the Gap or the R7, certainly
on the lower bands. That is the 'vertical' compromise: no radials=less
space=less performance.

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

Date: Tue, 23 Aug 1994 21:21:09 GMT
From: nmmc!demon!betanews.demon.net![e-mail]
Subject: GB2RS News format
To: [e-mail]

Can't see any partiular problem ith your proposal for UK amateurs as I
guess most will get the news from other sources.  Perhaps you could
continue the existing format here and mail the ax25 format directly to
those who have requested it.  This would get round your worry about it
being sent @WWW as you could obtain specific assurances from the
recepients.  The rest of us can continue reading the news here in its
existing format.

Yves

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

Date: 24 Aug 1994 06:50:07 GMT
From: elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!usc!cs.utexas.edu!news.unt.edu!hermes.oc.com!merlin.etsu.edu![e-mail]
Subject: Gel cell problem
To: [e-mail]

   During a recent move, I accidentally let one of my Gates 25 Amp
hour 12 Volt batteries fully discharge and stay that way for some
( appearently to long ) length of time. Now the best voltage I can
charge it to is about 10.5 Volts. I assume from that measurement
that I have let a cell go bad. ( This type of battery has 6 cells
rated 2.1 Volts, 25 Amp-hours each.)
   I remember seeing a discussion about this some time ago in which
someone said that the fix was to charge the bad cell individually
at relatively large current and voltage ( V > 2.1 Volts, can't
remember what the current was supposed to be ).

   Does anyone out there have that information handy ? If not that,
my second choice would be an address and/or phone number for Gates.


Any help will be appreciated.
73's de KB5ULN
Todd Caldwell
[e-mail]



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

Date: 24 Aug 1994 10:26:26 -0000
From: ihnp4.ucsd.edu!dog.ee.lbl.gov!agate!howland.reston.ans.net!cs.utexas.edu!chpc.utexas.edu!news.utdallas.edu!feenix.metronet.com!tucker![e-mail]
Subject: Ham ftp sites
To: [e-mail]

An employee here is looking for sites that have ham related files (current
software
for g8bbq and fbb bbs sofware specificly).  Could someone please send site
names to
me so that I can forward to him.

Dennis Little
Tucker Electronics

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

Date: Wed, 24 Aug 1994 12:43:44 -0400
From: ihnp4.ucsd.edu!agate!howland.reston.ans.net!newsserver.jvnc.net!rohvm1![e-mail]
Subject: HELP! HOW TO IMPROV
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]>,
[e-mail] (Laurence Gene Battin) wrote: [heavily
edited]

> In article <[e-mail]>, Gary Coffman ([e-mail]) wrote:
> > In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Laurence Gene Battin) writes:
> > >
> > >The method of passing the test by transcribing the dots and dashes and
> > >then transliterating them into letters during the time allotted for
> > >"correcting" your text is _specifically_reccommended_ by Wayne Green in
> > >one of his editorials this year. ...it certainly
> > >seems to me to be wrong to do so during the exam. ... it seems to me
> > >that this method depends implicitly on misusing that portion of the
> > >exam time which is supposed to be used for correcting relatively straight-
> > >forward errors, and, IMHO, _not_ to be used to perform some intermediate
> > >transliteration step.


> As far as I'm concerned, there is a line somewhere between using pencil and
> paper to form an intermediate storage step in _decoding_ morse, and using it
> to form an intermediate step in _storing_ the decoded material before answer-
> ing test questions. On one side, IMHO, is cheating, and on the other is
> "shorthand".
> How to tell when such a line is crossed, is, the more I think on it, not so
> easy. Perhaps, if I were King, I'd let people use only a common, previously
> known form of shorthand for trancribing their test reception, and declare that
> any _privately_ defined shorthand is not allowed.

You made a very well-reasoned reply on a subject that may fall in the
"so-what" category (IMHO!!).  If you haven't learned 5 wpm for the
Novice/Tech plus exam, and have to resort to inscribing dots and dashes,
there's still hope.  You still haven't too much effort invested in that
dead-end technique to learn to actually copy code for the General exam.

Anybody who can pass 13 wpm by any method of writing dots'n'dashes has
invested a _lot_ of effort getting good at that.  Effort that would have
been _far_ better spent actually learning code, and effort that would have
led to an ability to _use_ code, e.g., on the air, or to later pass the
20-wpm Extra exam.  Anybody who wants to go down this dead-end route has my
sympathy, my awe (it's a _lot_harder_ than learning code), and, if he can
answer his seven-out-of-ten questions correctly, a passing grade from this
VE.

I acknowledge that not everybody who passes a Morse code exam is going to
ever use Morse again.  Clearly anybody who learns to copy code as Gary
described has no intention of using it on the air.  So he passed his
test...so what.

Wayne, on the other hand...no I won't even get started on that! :-)

--
John Taylor    (W3ZID)     |  "The opinions expressed are those of the
[e-mail] |   writer and not of Rohm and Haas Company."

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

Date: 24 Aug 1994 09:53:49 -0700
From: enews.sgi.com!wdl1!ltis.loral.com![e-mail]
Subject: International callsign server?
To: [e-mail]

Is there an international callsign server accessible via email?

Thanks,
Howatd
[e-mail]


--

  [e-mail]

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

Date: 24 Aug 1994 09:34:33 -0600
From: mnemosyne.cs.du.edu!nyx10.cs.du.edu![e-mail]
Subject: learning CW
To: [e-mail]

Well, as one of those in the process, _and_ the latest requester for code
s/w :) , it seems to me that there are two skills here.  One is learning the
code itself, and the other is copying QSOs.  True??  Not true??  Anyway,
it would seem that the computer would be a good substitute for a code
practice machine to learn the code and get your speed up a bit.  Then you
would be able to start making sense of what you hear on the air.  This may
be utter nonsense, but thats the theory.  Anyone have contrary opinions?

73

Ted [e-mail]
KC5CUW

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

Date: Tue, 23 Aug 1994 21:07:04
From: ihnp4.ucsd.edu!agate!library.ucla.edu!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!news.umbc.edu!eff!news.kei.com!travelers.mail.cornell.edu!newsstand.cit.cornell.edu!cornell.edu![e-mail]
Subject: Matamoras hamfest INFO WANTED
To: [e-mail]

>I am looking for information on the Tri State Hamfest this Sunday 8/28/94,
>in Matamoras, Pa. Good, bad or ugly. If you know anything about this fest
>please Email me at [e-mail]
>Thanks;

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

Date: 24 Aug 1994 14:02:19 GMT
From: ihnp4.ucsd.edu!news.cerf.net!nntp-server.caltech.edu!netline-fddi.jpl.nasa.gov!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!swrinde!howland.reston.ans.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu![e-mail]
Subject: Mobile Radio Theft Insurance?
To: [e-mail]

I had a claim under the Albert Wohler Insurance (ARRL) recently due to a
lightning strike.  I filed it, sending receipts for replacement and all that -
I purchased at a hamfest to keep the cost down.  They informed me I had to
send written proof that the items were not able to be repaired from a service
shop.  I called and asked if that cost was covered and I was told, yes it is.
For 3 items, I spent almost $60 to have a shop verify that, yes, indeed, the
melting down of parts caused the items to be not able to be repaired.  I then
submitted the statements and the receipts for the inspection.  I received my
check for the replacement cost of the items less the deductible, but nothing
for the inspection.  There was a note with the check that "we require the
owner to provide the repair estimate and we do not reimburse for that."  I
am not pleased as I could have used some other service for the estimate.  I
also could have purchased items at new retail prices instead of shopping at
a hamfest.  The claim was processed quickly, however.  I guess the insurance
is worth having, but I am not happy about the estimate cost.  In the future,
if I have another claim, I will certainly replace with items at whatever cost
for brand new.

de K9QZI

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

Date: Wed, 24 Aug 1994 15:08:26 GMT
From: world![e-mail]
Subject: PLSE INCLUDE SASE FOR DIRECT DX QSL CARDS!!!
To: [e-mail]

[e-mail] (David Stockton) writes:

>slm ([e-mail]) wrote:
>: I am dismayed, however, by the number of cards that are coming in direct
>: without return postage.
>:
>: For the DX-ing newcomers out there:
>:
>: IF YOU HEAR A DX STATION WORKING BIG PILEUPS, AND YOU WANT THE CARD DIRECT,
>: PLEASE INCLUDE A STAMPED, SELF-ADDRESSED ENVELOPE!!!
>:

>     Difficult !       How available are US stamps in other countries?
>As some DXpeditions originate in countries other than the US, this means
>that we all need ready access to valid postage stamps of several
>countries, and also to know the correct value.

>   I thought this was what the IRC was supposed to fix

You are right, of course, I directed the STAMPED, self-addressed
envelope to the American audience here .... a self-addressed
envelope and IRC are quite welcome from overseas! The request is for
return postage ... and, by the way, the self-addressed envelope is
highly appreciated as well. If you have a pile of 100 cards to do one
night, having to write out envelopes is quite time consuming.

I got a letter from an S9 ham, who saw my article in QST in May
(also urging people to include return postage) ... she said she
really doesn't like it when people don't include the self-addressed,
return envelope, it's quite time-consuming and "breaks the rhythm"
of working on a big stack of cards.

>    I think that a lot of this hobby revolves around cardboard and
>postage rather than radio equipment and propagation. I could just
>imagine the stir caused if I did a non-QSL card DXpedition   ;-)

As could I! :-)

73,

Sharon KC1YR

--
electronic address: [e-mail]

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

Date: 24 Aug 1994 16:49:39 GMT
From: ihnp4.ucsd.edu!dog.ee.lbl.gov!agate!darkstar.UCSC.EDU!news.hal.COM!olivea!ncd.com!newshost.ncd.com!sheridan.ncd.com![e-mail]
Subject: PLSE INCLUDE SASE FOR DIRECT DX QSL CARDS!!!
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (David Stockton) writes:
|> slm ([e-mail]) wrote:
|> : stuff deleted from Sharon
|> : IF YOU HEAR A DX STATION WORKING BIG PILEUPS, AND YOU WANT THE CARD DIRECT,
|> : PLEASE INCLUDE A STAMPED, SELF-ADDRESSED ENVELOPE!!!
|> :
|>
|> Difficult ! How available are US stamps in other countries? As
|> some DXpeditions originate in countries other than the US, this means
|> that we all need ready access to valid postage stamps of several
|> countries, and also to know the correct value.
|>
|> I thought this was what the IRC was supposed to fix

First, my bonafides.  I've been on 4 different DXpeditions in the last
decade and a half running the gambit in expense.  So I've been on
the same end as Sharon.

What I see here saying here is for STATE SIDE QSL's to use an SASE.
She didn't say anything about what you do to get a QSL from a
foreign station!  By all means...use an IRC or two.  Also use
some common sense!

|> : I don't expect people to include "green stamps" ($1 bills) in addition, to
|> : help with QSL expenses -- it's very, very nice, the few people who do that,
|> : and much appreciated. I am willing to pay the costs of my own
|> : QSL cards, that's part of the DX-pedition cost.
|>
|>
|> This is rare indeed in DXpeditions, some seem to want to make a
|> profit on cards, most seem to want all their card-related costs
|> covering. Those who wish to EXCHANGE cards are a delight to meet.

You managed to run into another bone of contention with me.  MAKE MONEY
on an expedition?  Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

The first expedition I went on was in 1980.  We went to Mauritius,
Rodriques, the Comoroes, and Tromelien.  The expedition worked
something like 30,000 Qs from these different locations.
Total Cost was $30,000 to the three individuals that made the
trip.  (I only went to Rodriques and Mauritius while AA6AA and
N6ZV went on to the other locations.)

Even at a $1 a Q, the guys would have broken even!  That isn't why they
went!  The simple fact is that that we collectively spent better
than $10,000 on this expedition after any income from the QSL cards.

This just isn't a money making venture in most casses!

Money wasn't the object of the exercise, fun was!

|>: But I can't afford 2 weeks on the air at $65/hour in postage costs! The cards
|>: that are coming in direct without return postage will probably be answered via
|>: the bureau.
|>
|> The bureau is fine, anyone wanting a card in a hurry is trying to
|> impose extra work on you for their own advantage, expecting them to
|> cover the extra costs seems fair and proper to me.

Sharon's reaction makes alot of sense to me too.  It is rediculous to expect the
DX station to go even further out of the way than they already have.  The
bureau is the right response to folks who are QSLing in the manner that
she is describing.

|> Just think of what will happen to those cards....
|>
|> They will be valued more highly than the actual QSOs
|> They will be displayed and flaunted
|> They will be used in applications for awards (to be displayed and
|> flaunted)
|>
|> I think that a lot of this hobby revolves around cardboard and
|> postage rather than radio equipment and propagation. I could just
|> imagine the stir caused if I did a non-QSL card DXpedition   ;-)
|>
|>     Cheers
|>            David

I suspect you wouldn't be a very popular operator at DX club meetings ;-)

Steve KA6S(/3b8 /3b9 /FM0 /KH8 /KP2)

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

Date: Wed, 24 Aug 1994 15:57:36 GMT
From: newsfeed.pitt.edu!gvls1![e-mail]
Subject: Rohn
To: [e-mail]

In article <33e7tl$[e-mail]> [e-mail] (J. D. Delancy) writes:
>Can someone give me the mailing address and phone number(s)
>for the people at Rohn towers?

  ROHN
  6718 West Plank Road
  P.O. Box 2000
  Peoria, IL  61656
  PH : 309-697-4400
  FAX : [phone]

When you call them, they will ask you for your location and then give you
the number of their sales rep for that area.  The sales rep can usually
provide most of the information you need.

=================================================================
Pete Rossi - WA3NNA                  [e-mail]

Unisys Corporation - Government Systems Group
Valley Forge Engineering Center - Paoli, Pennsylvania
=================================================================

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

Date: 24 Aug 1994 05:00:53 GMT
From: agate!howland.reston.ans.net!math.ohio-state.edu!magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu!csn!jabba.cybernetics.net!cybernetics.net![e-mail]
Subject: Sept 17th: Commercial Radio License Exams
To: [e-mail]

Our next Commercial Radio License Examination Session has been
scheduled for:

    September 17, 1994  --  Saturday  -- 9:30 AM

    SW Branch of the Durham Public Library
    3605 Shannon Road, Durham, NC

    Offering:  Elements 1, 3, 7, 8 & 9

These elements, in various combinations, are required for

    MROL   GROL   GMDSS/operator   GMDSS/maintainer  Radar

For more information and specific directions, contact:

    Steve Modena, AB4EL, NRE Test Center Manager
    tel. [phone]
    email: [e-mail]



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

Date: 24 AUG 94 12:46:25
From: pa.dec.com!nntpd2.cxo.dec.com!nuts2u.enet.dec.com![e-mail]
Subject: Welcome
To: [e-mail]

    This file has been restarted again.

    -tl

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

Date: (null)
From: (null)
So, yes, it works (part 2)

Some tips (might seem ridiculous, but...)
Check the coax line.
For swr checks, and adjustments, connect the swr meter to the antenna itself
with a 2x male connector.
Start adjusting the traps from bottom up or top down.
As the traps are cascaded, check for faulty traps of the highest low band
which works - 40 in your case - or lowest high band which does not -30 m in
your case, I think.
Check the matching unit (the big black box).

If nothing works, turn one of the radials to Mecca. hi.

GL! Peter-ON6TT.


[e-mail]

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

Date: 24 Aug 1994 04:51:20 GMT
From: agate!howland.reston.ans.net!wupost!udel!news.sprintlink.net!indirect.com![e-mail]
To: [e-mail]

References <[e-mail]>, <32s6l6$[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>ⁿ
Subject : Re: Bottle Verticals (was Re: Where did Beverage come from?)

Michael J Dower ([e-mail]) wrote:
: Will a resistor of approx. 10 times the magnitude of the feed point impedance
: help as a static bleed?  Connect it between the antenna base and a ground
: stake.  It won't survive lightning, but it might help eliminate that 10
: seconds when your receiver is busy discharging the antenna.

It probably would have, but it's academic at present.  Let me get
someplace where I can have an antenna outside again, and I probably will
put a static bleed on any other verticals I put up - at least, any I make
with bottles for insulators.

de kg7yy

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

Date: 24 Aug 1994 15:04:04 GMT
From: ihnp4.ucsd.edu!agate!howland.reston.ans.net!noc.near.net!hopscotch.ksr.com![e-mail]
To: [e-mail]

References <[e-mail]>, <32p4qg$[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>│╧
Subject : Re: 2m/11m crossband QSO: legal?

[e-mail] (Dave Bushong) writes:
>[e-mail] (Charles A Daley) writes:
<>Then again, just for the sake of discussion...
>>This suggests that if the repeater in question had a link to 11 meters
<>>(perish the thought...:) ) then all would be okay???  The one-way
>>transmissions would be gone and the repeater would complete the
<>requirement for an amateur station.
>I'd rather tap a direct feed from talk.bizarre through my TNC than
<put up a 2-meter to 11-meter link using my license.

Hey, I'd KILL to be able to get a talk.bizarre feed through a TNC.

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

End of Info-Hams Digest V94 #958
******************************