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BOVE AND BEYOND Peter H. Putman KT28 84 Burnham Road Morris Plains NJ 07950 This month's column is somewhat anecdotal. It pertains 10 all the careful plans that contesters pUI together for the big ooethe January ARRl VHF s weepstakes-and how, despite your best intentions, Murphy still has plenty of surprises in store! I've been actively running the January58 for several years now, but have been plagued with all sorts of problem s ranging from equipment failures 10 power line trouble and adverse weather ceoomens. Every year, despite the numerous station improvements, something " gremlin" rears its ugly head and I'm back to the drawing board. Well , this year was g0ing to be diHerent, with all-new antennas, leedlines, power supplies for the high power ampl ifiers, and improved transceiving equipment. I took the perennial line noise problem into account and employed an ICOM 7408 with eejustable noise blanker to fight the electric heaters and blankets on 144 MHz. (Believe me, it's no fun trying to copy FM06 through 89+20 dB noise levels!) Not baing very active on 50 MHz, I secured the use 01 an 1e-551 0 for the contest as well as a KLM 7element beam. The 432 yagi array had been suffering from high swr after heavy rains which I traced to a marginal pigtail, and replaced with a more weather-tiqht version. A 220 MHz GaAsFET preamp went up on the tower, courtesy of lhe VHF Shop. What better way to test a prea mp than during a VHF Sweepstakes? t had eartier installed new runs of Proclelin 7/8 w Splr.Q-Une on 1296 MHz and also put a surplus Adler Electronics cavity amplifier to use for about 65 to 70 wens of power. The SSB LT23S 1296 MHz transverter was run through a MMT 144128transverter into my Kenwood TS-430S , allowing the use of scanning and memory channels for selting up schedules. New tubes and capacitors went into the 432-MHz power amplifier to improve its reliability and every switc h in the station was clearly labeled, lor a c ha nge. (This latter part is very important, especially when you are fra ntically jumping from one band to another to make skeds on the UHF bandsl) Having completed the improvements to the station hardware, I turned to creature comforts. My shack is in the basement in an unfinished room, and the walls and noor are coocrete. This is fine in the summer on a hot day, but makes an excellent refrigerator in the wintertime! A space heater in the right place took care of the heating problem (yes , n was prechecked for line noise) and I added several layers of foam insulation under a couple of pieces of carpet to keep the feet warm. A nice wooden chair with arms was selected for the long late night hours, and I installed low·angle lighting with 25- and 40-Watt bulbs to avoid eyestrain. The last area needing attention was the logging and duping position . I sec u red the use of a Hewlett-Packard HP 110 minicomputer with companion disk drive and printer from Charlie Rothschild WB2INB. Chal1ie has developed a very nice logging and duping program that runs on HP and IBM/IBM·compatible systems, and our club group SCORE has used it many times during our multi-multi contest efforts. The 11 0 uses an LCD screen and is well engineered for human comfort while typing. The computer was set up next to the main 144and SO-MHz stations, w ith the printer and disk drive on the side table for duping and backing up the memory during breaks. The addition of a footswitch and selector to assign it to the th ree main transceivers allowed me to remain in one JXlsition. The output of the sequencer box also went to a tour-ocsmcn switch to key the 220,432, 432 tube, and 1296 power amplifiers-again , all at the flick of a switch. 01 course, the transverters on the T8-430 could be swilched from 220 to 432 or 1296 through a selector panel, as could the CW keyerl My final act of laziness was to install another rotor with the 5Q.MHz beam and a second 32·1 9 Boomer for 144 MHz. This way, I could jump 180 0 at the flick of a coax switch to w0rkstations calling me off the back of my primary antenna. (This isn't a new trick. Steve WB2WIK and oth· ers have used it for years. II among them my first ever contact you've got a few extra dotlars and with FM28 on 220 MHz. We quickthe tower space, it makes your 2· Iy jumped up to 432 to duplicate meter con tact rate stay up there!) the con tact, then 10 144, and final- These modifications completed Iy 1296 MHz (no lUck). No maned the upgrade of my station to make The station was really hopping il contest ready. now. I was finally appreciating all Finally, all was ready. I'd those hOUrs 01 hard work during booked the date in my calendar the summer and fall! 432 yielded and the XYL made sure we had no more contacts and grids, includplans for the weekend. (We actu- in9 several in Maryland and southally did, except we didn't know it at ern Virginia. 1296 was even more the time. More on this in a mo- fruitful with contacts into Mary. ment!) The aplXJinted hour rolled land and northern Virginia. A around on Saturday and at 2 pm quick check back on 144 MHz KT2B was on the air on SO MHz yielded many more contacts as with 80 wens. stations wandered onto ee band. It became apparent quiCkly that I took another quick break at 10 my 6-meter station wasn 't going to pm and went upstairs to grab a make a big splash in the contest. snack. My wife was looking a ume Sure , the 80 warts and the 7LO funny and mentioned that she was beam worked fine , but anything having mild cramping sensations over 100 miles away was going to that evening. Unusual? Not il be VERY hard to work. The beam she's eight months pregnant. It was installed at 30 teet, which is seemed 100 early to be thinking of hardly optimum for6 meters. But it a babyll had this strange sense of was th
• biggest prank ever, after all the blown GaAsFETs, shOrted power supplies, and constant line noise. He's a resourceful guyl Makes yo u really respect him as an opponent. (And no, I didn't name my boy after hi ml) As 8 pm rolled around, there was nothing left to do but go home, as Gayle was tucked away safely in her hospital bed, while Ross Lewis Putman was the subject of much admiration and attention of the nurses. Feeling like a fifth wheel , I was about to leave when my shocked ears heard my wife say " Gee, there's still a few hours left in the conlest. Why don't you go home and operate them? II might relax you!" She had a point. Even though I hadn't had any sleep since earty saturday morning, the adrenalin was flowing like the mighty Mississippi. Whallhe heck! A quick stop at Burger King, and I was home again, wanning up the rigs. News spread last, especially when you've got guys like Steve Katz WB2WIK and tvars Lauzums KC2PX in your contest club. I think every fifth contact included a "Congratulations, Dad!" with the grid exchange, not 10 mention a few expressions of surprise that I had actually bothered to get back on the air. Well, you just can't keep a contester down, and at 11 pm I pulled the plug with 290 osos and 58 grids for my efforts. It wasn't what I was hoping for, but I'll take it. .. AM-6155 update : Well, Fair Radio is still out of stock on AM 6155s but is now getting rid of their AM·6154s at a fast rate. Many readers have called with questions on hOw to modify trese radios for a-meter operation! As they come from the box, they will tune the 144-148-MHz band, atthough you'll only see about 50- TTY LOOP 60 Watts out lor 10 Watts of drive. I do not have any specmc inlorma· non on modifying this unit and would welcome it Irom readers who have done the mods. A suggestion might be to work from the 144-MHz mods to the AM-6155 from last month's column, as the plunger is reset 00 the 6155 to get 2·meteroperation. The plunger 00 the 6154 is already sel for it, sothe grid compartment will have to be tweaked up. Basically, there are three places that will require attention: C1, the input coupling capacitor needs to be increased in value to about 10 pF. C2 and C3 will also have 10 be increased to about 30 pF and 100 pF respectively. (Reier to the schematic in the March COlumn.) The existing output tuning circuits need not be modified to result in about 300 500 Walls with 1-1 0 Walts 0 1 drive, depending on how tightl y you couple the input. Again , I could use input from you readers. Send along your schematics and notes and I'll publish them posthaste. Incidentally, l ordered one of the IAS-TUN.(;AV assemblies from Fair Radio and it showed up today, so I'U give a brief report on what I've found out so far: The unit does contain a 4CX250B and also contajns a type 6816 tube, which won't be used. The i nput connector is a type SMA, and the hole it's in can be drilled out to take a BNC or N connector. The cuptut is type BNC and can be left alone. There are several adjustments, including a "PA FREa ADJ" control, which resonates the caVity, and an output coupling control next to the tube using a flapper. The outpuI of the 6816 also has a tuning ccntror which could be used to resonate the grid 01the 4CX250B. Some kind of input grid circuit will have to be made up and I'll Marc I. Leavey, M.D. WA3A.JR the Model 15, and it. also, was 6JennyLane good. Soon thereafter came the Pikesville MD21208 Model 19, and it was vety good. And then came the Model 2B, and I don't do this often, but in the it was vetygood, indeed! But then spirit of this month's holiday, I cametheModel33,anditwaslhe hope you'll bear with me. best yet. Ouch! In the begi nning, the Teletype Well, you get the idea. Here I Corp. created the Model 12, and it am with notes from many of you was good. Next came the Model about lhe Teletype Model 33. Ma- 14, and it was good. Then came jorGene Pfeifterof New YorX asks 80 73 for Radio Amateurs • April, 1986 pass along my notes 00 this as I proceed. Ahhough there is a hole marked " VHF-UHF PA BAND SWITCH," there is nothing in it so the cavity is tuned for one band range. I'll determine that also by the next column, but most likely it's set up lor around 200 MHz. This unit also needs a blower and power supply voltages of +2000 VOC, +360VDC,-135adjustable VDC and 6.0 VAC lor mements. This might tum out to be a nice amplifier asse mbly, especially if you' ve got the power supply already built up. A single 4CX250B on 220 MHz should be good for around 300-400 Watt s output with 2-6 Watts of drive. The cavity might also make a good repeater amplifier. The cavity design lends itself to a HI..Q tuned circuit, important in repeater installations to avoid desense. And 4CX250' s are rugged and easily replaced. You can often find them at flea markets for as low as $10 apiece. C0ntrast that with 8930's which retail brand new for over $130! READER INPUT DEPT.: Aside lrom the usual letters asking for more information on Fair Radio Amplifiers, I get newslett ers from radio clubs. One of the strangest and fu nniest I've seen co mes from the PittSburg Repeater Organization and is called (appropriately) the PRO·Crastinator. Published by KCQES, George Willard, it's a loose collection of local news, excerpts from the W5YI Report, and some funny articles on topics of general interest. This month's deals with the absurdities of mathematics in which the author proves that among other things, everything is white , and Alexander the Great did not exist while having an infinite number of limbs. What does this have to do with amateur radio? Beats me but I laughed pretty to be counted in, "at least 10 votes. I would like to do away with all unnecessary components ... all I need to know is where I can cut in the external loop 10 drive the keyboard. " Louis Hutton K7YZZ of Bellevue WA is another ham who has tried to hook up a Model 33 to a computer. He has " been able to successfully modify the TTY to run from TTL ouput signals from the CoCo's serial ItO port. But like anything you try, there are problems." Down sou th, B o b Furlo ng WOOCBN in Miami FL would like hard when reading the newsletter. The Southern California Six Met er Club is sponsori ng the Southern California Six Met er a s o Party on May 10 and 11. The purpose is to generate and maintain high activity levels on the sixmeter band using any mode of communication. It runs from noon till noon PST, and entry forms are available from the club. Write them at: PO Box 448, Cypress CA 90630. In future columns, I'll be discussing power measurements and tackle the subject of swr and what it means to you on the VHF and UHF bands. I'm also worKing on gelling one each of the 1
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® A WGE Publication DA ON '86 Will
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1 ETTERS WELCOME BACK Congratulatio
Page 21:
John Wood WA4BPI IIOJ Liale Elfon u
Page 31 and 32: Pamcia WinurN6B1S PO Rod)7 Mrnlo Pa
Page 38: exactly solar noon. and the shadow
Page 50: plane and solid tantalum capacitors
Page 62: MOVING? SUBSCRIPTION PROBLEM? Get h
Page 79: ONTESTS Robert W. Baker WB2GFE 15 W
Page 85: Fig. 2. The nomograph for the H-p/a
Page 89: - meuon. contact Gay Rembold W30FW,
Page 101: 73 NTERNATIONAL Justeeceese I start
Page 105: -----------------------------1 orie
Page 113: - TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE? PAKRATT'M Mo
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