QRZ! Ham Radio 5/QRZ Ham Radio Callsign Database - Volume 5.iso/digests/infoham/941200.txt

Internet Message Format | 1994-11-13 | 15.5 KB

Date: Wed,  9 Nov 94 04:30:14 PST
From: Info-Hams Mailing List and Newsgroup <[e-mail]>
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Subject: Info-Hams Digest V94 #1200
To: Info-Hams


Info-Hams Digest            Wed,  9 Nov 94       Volume 94 : Issue 1200

Today's Topics:
                                (none)
                       Amateur and Comm. Exams.
                   DXbase Interface Problem Survey
                         Exams in San Diego?
                        Ham stores in London ?
                      No License to Extra Leap?
                            PK96 & IC-281H
                  Routing Coax into house? (2 msgs)
       Uniden HR-2600 10 meter rig/ Anybody got the Chipswitch?

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: 9 Nov 94 06:29:48 GMT
From: [e-mail] (Tom Staal)
Subject: (none)

add info-hams

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

Date: Tue, 8 Nov 1994 17:35:32 GMT
From: [e-mail] (Jim Worsley)
Subject: Amateur and Comm. Exams.

 Thanks for reading this message. The Suffolk County VHF/UHF Association,
(Long Is. NY,) offers both Amateur and Commercial Exams, which are
associated with the ARRL and WY5I VEC Groups.

On every second friday at 7pm, and every fourth saturday at 10am. Amateur
examsfrom novice to extra are offered.

After the amateur exams, all commercial exams are held. General Radio
Telephone, GMDSS/M and GMDSS/O and ships radar endoursement.

All exams are held at the Heneritta Acampora Rec Center in Blue Point, NY.
39 Montauk Hwy, 100 yardseast of Nichols Road.

Pre-registration is necessary for all commercial exams.  Cost is $15 per
book. Test fees will vary because of new FCC Regulartory Fees.  Please
call for test fees info and pre registration forms at [phone].



call for test fees info and pre registation forms
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
callfro test fees an info at [phone].

--
==============================================================================
 Email Address: [e-mail]
 Packet  Radio: n2lsj@n2bqf.#nli.ny.usa.na
"Playing all the hits for you....where ever you may be."
==============================================================================

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

Date: 8 Nov 1994 13:25:19 -0500
From: [e-mail] (The Signal Group)
Subject: DXbase Interface Problem Survey

I am posting this for K5ESW who has not arranged Internet access
since retiring from IBM. I have the same problem with DXBase and
have tried four different serial cards to try to accommodate the
flaky serial port routines provided with DXBase 3.0 for HF radio
control. I have purchased a buffered 16550 type serial card in
desparation , hoping it will be the "workaround" needed. This
problem exists in at least DXBase versions 2, 3 and 4. I have
NO other programs that have any serial port problems with my
hardware configuration (which is standard). My Hardware: 486dx2
(33 MHz), COM1 / COM2 / LPT1 used with standard addresses and IRQ,
200 MB IDE Hard Drive and VGA video card; HF Radio Kenwood TS950SD
with IF232 interface box.

 IF YOU CHOOSE TO RESPOND TO THIS SURVEY, PLEASE DESCRIBE YOUR
 HARDWARE (INCLUDING HF RIG INTERFACE) EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE
 THIS PROBLEM.

K5ESW's DXBase SURVEY / Problem Description follows.

****************************************************************

From: K5ESW  Date:  6-Nov 1453Z  Subj: DXbase & HF Rig Problem Survey

I use DXbase 3.0 and have been happy with it except for one problem.
When I first start DXbase I often get a message "Unable to link to
radio".

After this message the only way to get DXbase to talk to the HF rig
interface is to go to the QSO LOG menu, choose USER SETUP, choose
USER PROGRAM OPTIONS, and then hit Escape. This causes DXbase to
reinitialize communications with the HF rig. I usually have to
repeat the entire sequence several times before the rig interface
is successfully established. If I do not notice the "Unable to Link
to radio" message I sometimes log a QSO on the wrong band because
DXbase will use the last band logged if the HF radio link is down.

I called Dean, W8ZF, and asked him about the problem. He said this
was uncommon and suggested it might be due to an interrupt conflict.
I have looked my system over and cannot find an interrupt problem.
My hope was Dean would tell me they had improved the error recovery
in DXbase 4.0, but he said there have been no changes in this area.
I would like DXbase to retry initialization with the HF rig after an
error. This would save me from going thru the awkward manual method
mentioned above.

You can reproduce the above failure my simply leaving the radio off
at the time you start DXbase. The user's manual says that my situation
is expected but rare. Page 104 says,"4. Timing was out of sync at the
instant initialization was attempted. This situation is classified as
normal, but it should rarely happen." My failure is certainly not
rare.

Are any other users experiencing this failure? Send me your comments
and I will post a summary message.

Also how many of you are using DXbase but DO NOT use HF rig control
at all ? Maybe the DXbase developers think the problem is rare because
most of the users don't use the HF radio control features and
therefore never experience the problem.

I checked with the developer of Logic4 to see how they handle the radio
interface. He said they do not try to remain in sync with the HF rig.
They initialize the interface every time Logic4 needs to communicate
with the HF rig. I ordered a demo disk to try it out.

My particular setup here is an ICOM 765 with the rig interface on COM3
using IRQ 5 (normally reserved for LPT2). My TNC is a PK-232 connected
to COM2 using IRQ 3. I have a data/fax modem on COM1 using IRQ 4. I
run Windows 3.1 and use DXbase in a DOS window.

73  Paul  K5ESW

Posted by :

Mike Wood            Internet: [e-mail]
The Signal Group     Amateur Radio: NT4O
P.O. Box 1979     ***Avoid company disclaimers by owning the company ***
Wake Forest, NC 27588

Phone: [phone]       Fax: [phone]



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

Date: Mon, 07 Nov 94 20:35:52 PST
From: [e-mail] (Tuck Miller)
Subject: Exams in San Diego?

> Are there any VE exams scheduled in the San Diego Area this weekend.
>
> I am going to be in that area and I wanted to take the test this weekend.
>
>

Hi Michael, we have a different exam site each weekend here in San Diego.
You can call 619-465-exam for a recording on where the site is located.
However, they usually like 10 days advance notice. It can get crowded,
and some sites do not take walkins. The SANDARC VE prg gives there exams
on Sat mornings, and the SANDARC group does not charge!! That is where
the proceeds go from our convention that is held here about every 4
years. If I can be of any further help, please let me know.
73, Tuck KC6ZEC
Public Information and Affiliated Club Coordinator
American Radio Relay League, San Diego Section

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

Date: Tue, 8 Nov 1994 12:28:39 +0000
From: [e-mail] (Nigel Horne)
Subject: Ham stores in London ?

In article <[e-mail]>
           [e-mail] "Dmitry E. Sorokin" writes:

Hi Dmitry,

>   Can anyone let us know where can we find the hamradio related places in
> London ? Our friend will be there from the 10th of November and we'd like
> to prepare some information for him. We are looking for:
>     - ham radio magazines;

The amateur radio magazines available at newsagents are:

Practical Wireless
Ham Radio Today

you may also like to look at
Shortwave Magazine.

-Nigel

--
Nigel Horne, G0LOV. SoftCare Media Systems Ltd.
Internet: [e-mail]; Fidonet: Nigel Horne @ 2:250/408;
Packet: QSP Via G4LUE@GB7WRG; Phone: [phone].

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

Date: 7 Nov 1994 20:21:50 GMT
From: [e-mail] (Brian Suggs)
Subject: No License to Extra Leap?

In article [e-mail], [e-mail] (Stephen Modena) writes:
>In article <[e-mail]>,
>Shel Darack <[e-mail]> wrote:

>>Arthur Chandler ([e-mail]) wrote:
>>:  Has there ever been anyone who walked into a licensing examination with
>>: no license at all, passed everything, and walked out amateur extra?

>>Sure, some guy walked in and did the 20 wpm cw and theory exams
>>through Advanced.  It was getting late so they told him he would
>>have to come back next time for the extra theory.  Which he did.

>Ditto experience here as a VE:  a U.S. naturalized Swede ( now deceased )
>who had been in various places (like Reunion Ils.), started with 20 wpm
>and did all the theory Novice thru Advanced...simply ran out of time.

>Ditto for a Russian-born op, immigrated to Canada and licensed, and now
>here simply didn't have time to it all done in one session.

>In both cases, they came to another session and wrote the Extra Theory.
>And, need I say it, nearly perfect scores on all the exams also.  :^)

>Really, the limitation is time, time, time.

Earlier this year I passed the five written and one of the code tests,
as well as taking the other two code tests which I didn't pass, all in
one session and the total time was two and a half hours.  That's
including the time for the VE's to grade my exams, along with all the
exams of the other candidates, as well as waiting for all the forms to
be filled out and signed.

Four months later, I passed 1c to get my Extra. :-)

-Brian

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

Date: 8 Nov 94 19:19:23 GMT
From: [e-mail] ()
Subject: PK96 & IC-281H

Darren Leno <[e-mail]> writes:

>I'm having trouble getting my Icom IC-281H and AEA PK-96 to work at 9600 baud packet.  Works fine at 1200 baud, and transmits fine at 9600.  The problem seems to be with receiving.

>If you've been successful with this combo, I'd appreciate hearing from you.

>Thanks.

I have done test with the IC481H, the 430 MHz version. I found it to
be totally unacceptable for 9600bd :
- tx-rx turnaround times are more than 100ms
- tx is a VCO modulated PLL transmitter. There is a big peak in the
  modulation response around 41 Hz.
However, receiving was ok. So i guess our tests are'nt compatible..

73 Joop

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

Date: 7 Nov 1994 16:20:33 -0500
From: [e-mail] (David Tiller)
Subject: Routing Coax into house?

Robert J. Raymond ([e-mail]) wrote:
: I would like to obtain some suggestions on how best to route several coaxial
: cables, rotator control cables, etc., into my new house. The thought of
: drilling a hole in the wallboard and T111 makes me feel ill. Is there any
: reasonable way around this. If not, ways to do it best would be appreciated.
: Thanks.

I went down.  I busted a hole in the floor of my radio room (concrete slab)
that corresponds with 3 runs of 4" PVC - 2 heading for the tower, one back
into the basement.  I sealed it up with concrete, and sucked a 'mouse' thru
the pipes with a shop vac.  Works like a champ!   Before I got the outside
hole completely sealed I had 2 Carolina Wrens visit my radio room after
having eaten everything in sight!  (They left the residue everywhere).
--
David Tiller                | Network Administrator | Voice: [phone]   |
[e-mail] |  n2kau/4  | Randolph-Macon College| Fax:   [phone]   |
  Don't let your SKS get    | P.O. Box 5005         | ICBM:  37d 42' 43.75" N |
"Tainted with Defilement!"  | Ashland, Va 23005     |        77d 31' 32.19" W |

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

Date: 8 Nov 1994 21:05:36 GMT
From: [e-mail] (Jeff DePolo)
Subject: Routing Coax into house?

In article <[e-mail]>,
Joe Landis - Systems & Network Mgr <[e-mail]> wrote:

[several good ideas deleted]

>Some hams replace a window pane with a plexiglass sheet that they then drill
>feedthrus in. Some also make a false window sill, that is split and drilled
>for the cables.

For apartment or other installations where you can't/don't want to drill
through walls or windows, you can make a simple feedthrough using two
pieces of lumber, which you then close the window on, keeping
drafts out.  Sandwidth the two pieces of lumber together with C
clamps, and then drill holes of the appropriate diameters for the
cables you need to pass through, with the holes centered at the junction
of the two pieces of wood.  Sample:

      |                     |
      |   SLIDING WINDOW    |
      |_____________________|
      |_______/\_____/\_____|  <- top piece of wood
      |_______\/_____\/_____|  <- bottom piece of wood

(The diamond-shape holes are supposed to be circles, but as we all know,
programmer's shouldn't attempt to do art.)

Drill more holes than you need initially to save labor later, and plug
the unused holes with pieces of rag or dowels or corks from wine
bottles.  As you need to add/remove cables, you lift up the window,
take off the top piece of wood, and lay down the new cable, and
reassemble.  Doing it this way instead of drilling holes in
a single piece of wood allows you to get cables in/out while
the connectors are attached.

If you pick two pieces of wood that are narrow enough, the window will
still shut enough so that you probably won't have to do anything special
to keep drafts from coming in where the top half and the bottom half
of the window meet (where the latch is).

For drilling, the dimensions of the common sizes of cables are listed below:

RG-58 size - .195"  (use 13/64" or 7/32" bit)
RG-8X/RG-59 - .242" (use 1/4" or 9/32"  bit)
RG8 - .405" (use 13/32" or 7/16" bit)

(The smaller of the two bit sizes listed above should make a tight fit to keep
the cables from pulling in/out).

                            --- Jeff
--
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
 Jeff DePolo  WN3A              Twisted Pair: H:[phone]  W:387-3059 x300
 [e-mail]    RF: 443.800+  442.400+  442.200+ MHz  PL 3B
 Claim to Fame: I got the first speeding ticket on the information superhighway

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

Date: 8 Nov 1994 14:48:46 GMT
From: [e-mail] (Galen Watts)
Subject: Uniden HR-2600 10 meter rig/ Anybody got the Chipswitch?

In article <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]> writes:
>Anyone out there have any experience with the Uniden HR-2600 10 meter-only
>mobile rig?

I have one.  I've converted it to 10 mW output for driving transverters,
which I build myself.  I've almost bought the Chipswitch uProc, but I'm
using my IC-726 as a 50 MHz XVTR Driver, so the Uniden gathers dust.

Anybody have the Chipswitch uProc in yours?  How do you like it?

Galen, KF0YJ

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

End of Info-Hams Digest V94 #1200
******************************