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1979-12-31
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Today's Topics:
160 Meters
A Computing Decision: Apple vs. IBM
ICOM 25A pll debug
Mods for Bearcat 760XLT
Re^2: A Computing Decision: Apple vs. IBM
Russian Phrases for Hams, 2nd edition
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 4 Dec 89 20:48:23 GMT
From: hpda!hpwala!hpnjld!eyg@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Ed Gilbert)
Subject: 160 Meters
Message-ID: <4140004@hpnjld.HP.COM>
Are any of you in netland out there active on 160 meters? If
so maybe we can get some discussion going on antennas, DXing,
the 160M contest, propagation, etc.
Ed Gilbert, WA2SRQ
------------------------------
Date: 5 Dec 89 14:31:44 GMT
From: zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!ctrsol!IDA.ORG!roskos@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Eric Roskos)
Subject: A Computing Decision: Apple vs. IBM
Message-ID: <1989Dec5.143144.6728@IDA.ORG>
KENDALLG@VTVM1.CC.VT.EDU ("Gary F. Kendall") writes:
>My dilemma is whether a Macintosh
>would *really* be worth the extra $$$ in comparison to an IBM-compatible
>system, especially in terms of available 'plug-in' hardware boards ...
This is a hard question. I have both a Macintosh (but not a Mac II) and
a PC-clone, and there are advantages and disadvantages to both.
First, the only thing I use the Macintosh for (at all, nowadays) is with
my PK232. The reason I do that is that it generates much less EMI* than
the PC, so it interferes less with receiving RTTY (news & weather)
communications. I also wrote a (rudimentary) program to interface to
the Kenwood R-5000's serial port, and that was easier to do on the
Macintosh because of the graphical user interface. Also, the
Macintosh's linear address space (due to the 68000) is a lot nicer than
the PC's segmented address space, if your're doing programming, although
the resource manager in the Macintosh tends to put artificial
restrictions on the sizes of objects that defeats this to a certain
extent.
But aside from that, I prefer the PC. There is a lot more software for
the PC (although it doesn't look as nice, it tends to do more). Also, a
big advantage I find is that it is very easy to build boards for the PC
because you can buy prototype boards that have all the necessary interface
hardware on them at a very low cost from mail order places like JDR. I
recently built a high-speed (telecommunications-grade) A/D converter for
my PC, for example, to use in recording WEFAX transmissions. It's very
easy to do on the PC because the PC's bus is so simple. (I'm talking about
the old traditional PC bus in XTs, ATs, and most clones, not the new bus
in PS/2s. I don't know anything about those, but they seem to be a good
bit more complex.)
Also, the PC just costs a lot less, both at first and in the long run.
I gave up upgrading my Macintosh because Apple kept requiring you to add
new things to be able to run the latest software. This may not be the
case any more, but I bought a Macintosh fairly early and had to upgrade
the RAM (replacing the CPU board), then the ROMs, then the floppy disk,
and now I would have to buy a whole new machine to be able to run the
currently-popular software because I'm already at the maximum RAM size
for this machine (512K) and a lot of software now requires 1M. Apple
doesn't seem as sensitive to its established user base as IBM (this has
its pros and cons, but when you buy a machine it helps to know it will
be useful throughout its lifetime).
You can get parts to put together PC clones from mail order firms that
let you "mix and match" parts, and replace parts with newer ones,
without all this trouble. A lot of people seem not to like the PC
because it is an IBM product, but, these clones have little to do with
IBM other than following the de-facto standard in the PC, since IBM has
for the most part moved on to the PS/2 line now and left the XT and AT
to the clone manufacturers. (This is a generalization, but we're
talking here about PCs for use with radio, not a history of IBM. :-))
If you build your own, be sure to buy from a mail-order firm that is
fairly well-established and lets you return things if you don't like
them (JDR is currently my favorite; DoKay used to be but they went out
of business after many years).
One thing about the PC, if you choose it, is that you should definitely
buy a VGA board for the graphics adapter, especially if you plan to
receive weather (or press) facsimile. You can get (black & white)
images that are close to TV-quality with a good VGA board (color is
harder since there are a limited number of colors you can display at
once, and it's more noticeable; but FAX is in black and white anyway).
The VGA is a really well-designed graphics adapter. I use a monochrome
PS/2 compatible monitor (very inexpensive) with mine, and thus the cost
of the VGA wasn't that bad.
*On this subject of EMI, I've done a *lot* of work on the PC to shield it,
and the emissions from it now are relatively minor, but still not as good
as the Macintosh. Really I wish I could figure out some way to further
improve the shielding on the PC in that regard, but that's another story.
Has anyone ever seen a rating of various CPU boards for PC clones on
how "clean" they are with regard to RF emissions? The emissions from the
CPU board I have seem to come almost entirely from the RAM array. I'm
not sure if it is unavoidable (the Macintosh has many fewer RAM chips than
the PC, so that alone could make the difference) or if there is some way
to further improve it.
--
Eric Roskos (roskos@CS.IDA.ORG or Roskos@DOCKMASTER.NCSC.MIL)
------------------------------
Date: 4 Dec 89 12:58:23 GMT
From: hpda!hpwala!hpnjld!eyg@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Ed Gilbert)
Subject: ICOM 25A pll debug
Message-ID: <4140003@hpnjld.HP.COM>
> My father, KA1YZ has an IC25A mobile rig that he is trying to fix. The
I don't know what the problem is, but a friend had an IC25H with the
same symptoms. He tried unsuccessfully to have it repaired locally,
and ended up buying another used one. This may be a common problem
that Icom knows about. You might try calling their service number
to see if they can help you.
------------------------------
Date: 4 Dec 89 15:29:21 GMT
From: ucsdhub!hp-sdd!hp-pcd!hpcvca!hpcvck!mcross@ucsd.edu (Minor Cross)
Subject: Mods for Bearcat 760XLT
Message-ID: <5440010@hpcvck.CV.HP.COM>
Please post the mods. Thank you
Insert Standard Disclaimer notice here:
___
/ / Minor Cross KD7YJ
/ / Hewlett-Packard Northwest IC Division [ NID ]
/ /_____ _________ 1020 NE Circle Blvd.
/ ___ / ____ / ___ / Corvallis, OR 97330
/ / / / /___/ / /__/ / -------------------------
/__/ /__/ / ______/ AT&T: (503) 750-2044
/ / HP telnet 750-2044
/__/ }inhp4!hplabs!hp-pcd!hpcvca!hpcvck!mcross
------------------------------
Date: 5 Dec 89 14:35:13 GMT
From: zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!ctrsol!IDA.ORG!roskos@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Eric Roskos)
Subject: Re^2: A Computing Decision: Apple vs. IBM
Message-ID: <1989Dec5.143513.6806@IDA.ORG>
phil@diablo.amd.com (Phil Ngai) writes:
> of course there's always OS/2 ...
Oh, no, did you have to say that?!? :-) For the money I'd rather buy a
PC Unix, but for use with radio, DOS is better since you can get it "out
of the way" when you need to do real-time programming. (Well, you can
*mostly* get it out of the way, if you're careful.)
--
Eric Roskos (roskos@CS.IDA.ORG or Roskos@DOCKMASTER.NCSC.MIL)
------------------------------
Date: 5 Dec 89 06:12:01 GMT
From: sumax!amc-gw!pilchuck!ssc!tad@beaver.cs.washington.edu (Tad Cook)
Subject: Russian Phrases for Hams, 2nd edition
Message-ID: <303@ssc.UUCP>
SB ALL @ ALLUSA $W6HJK1289
Soviet Ham Phrase Guide & Tape
BID: $W6HJK1289
RUSSIAN PHRASES FOR AMATEUR RADIO: UPDATE
This new 20-page digest compiled by W6HJK helps amateurs better
communicate with their Soviet colleagues. A 90-minute audio cassette
has been added to help with pronunciation. You need not be an expert in
Russian, only interested in trying.
The book provides (1) English words and phrases for QSOs, accompanied by
(2) Russian translation and (3) English transliteration, to assist you
in pronouncing the Russian.
The guide follows the natural sequence of a QSO. Additional sections
are on the Russian alphabet, phonetics, CW characters, numerals, and
given names. Suggestions are made for addressing mail to the Soviet
Union.
The author undertook this project out of a personal interest in
improving the quality of his QSOs with Soviet hams and to enhance
USA-USSR relations.
The original guide was given away, with the author asking minimal
donations to cover the costs. Now that several thousand have been
distributed, the cost is known and the following donations are
requested. A nominal cost of $5 ($7 international) for the booklet, and
$6 ($8 international) for the audio cassette, are requested to Beyond
War Foundation, who financed the reproduction.
Requests should be sent to:
RUSSIAN PHRASES FOR AMATEUR RADIO
Len Traubman, W6HJK
1448 Cedarwood Drive
San Mateo, California 94403, USA
Relayed by Tad, KT7H @ N7HFZ.WA.USA.NA
/EX
(Please use the BID $W6HJK1289 when posting to packet)
------------------------------
End of INFO-HAMS Digest V89 Issue #975
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