V - Free and Open Source Software

Bill Brown WB8ELK
% 73 Magazine
Forest Road
Hancock NH 03449
Take to the Road
Number 32 on your Feedback card
Photo A. The W8BJN HAMCAM ready for action .
Now that Field Day is approaching,
you mighllhink about taking your ATV
station on the road . Each year a number
ot ATVe rs set up at Field Day sites
and have fun exchanging pict ures .
If you plan to operate ATV during
Field Day, alert the locals and rack up a
few new points. It's also a lot of fun to
show those who decided to stay home
j ust ho w much fu n yo u're having
(mosquitos don't show up well on
video). Who knows, maybe a close-up
camera shot of some of that fantastic
food may convince some more folks to
come out and operate! The ATV crew
at last year's Nashua (New Hampshire)
Amateur Radio Club (NARC) site spent
a lot of time filming their complete onsite
kitchen, That way they were close
by when the next batch of goodies appeared.
Not only did they have a fullsized
electric range (they even baked
Ham Television
cookies!), but they brought along a refrigerator
stocked with ice cream. I understand
that next year they'll include
a kitchen sin k!
A Field Day site is also a great place
to demonstrate ATV to your club members
and any visitors. A couple of years
ago, we encouraged a number of area
groups to bring out ATV to their Field
Day locations. To ensure that they had
something to watch , Mel Alberty
KA8LW R and myself went up in his
Cessna 172to about 10,000 feet. We
had a blast work in g several si tes
across Ohio and Michigan.
Portable Demos
You don't have to wa it for Field
Day to set up an ATV demonstration.
Summer is a great time to put on a
show at your lccet county fair or special
event. Rod Fritz WB9KMO did an interesting
demo for the Brooks Institute
of Photography in Santa Barba ra, California.
He set up a ri nk from the institute
down to a nearby shopping mall
via 434 MHz ATV. One of the students
at the institute put on a skit about re-
Photo B. The ATV operating position inside ofthe HAMCAM.
pairing appliances. Down at the mall ,
people crowded around the TV set to
watch " Mr. Fix-II Man." lillie did they
realize that the fix-il man could see
them via a 10 GHz link back up to the
Institute. In the middle of his spier he'd
point at one 01 the audience and ask
them a question . You can imagine the
shocked reaction. Some pretty lively
exchanges resulted, all done via a fullduplex
ATV link.
If you plan to do a number of " road
shows," you may want to organize
your equipment to allow for a quick
setup. Members of the Bayonne Emergency
Management Amateur Radio
Clu b (BEMARC) in Bayonne, New
Jersey, have been giv ing demos to a
number of area rad io c lubs. John
WA2QYX, Danny N2EHN and Mike
KB2EQQ have mod ified Danny's van
for some portable ATV action. When
they arrive for a club demo, they usually
set up the van at a nearby interesting
location, such as a busy intersection or
shopping area .
The club jumped at the cneoce. and
proceeded 10 refurbish the aging vehicle.
After a little body work and some
fresh paint, they were ready to put in
the radio equipment.
They installed a PC Electronics ATV
transceiver (TC7D-1 ) and beam antenna,
vidsoswitcher, three rack-mounted
video monitors, sound board , tape
deck, VCR , ampl ifier and two video
cameras. Next they installed a KWM-2
for HF, a 2 meter FM rig , a CB and a
Civil Defense radio. They had a lillie
room 'eft over, so they threw in a scanner
to monitor emergency service frequencies
as well.
The completed HAMCAM has two
operating positions. One is dedicated
to HF communications and the other
operates on ATV and 2 meter FM. Each
position is designed lor easy access to
the equipment and is quite comlorable
for extended sessions due to the large
plush chairs and air-conditioning (a
neater is available during the winter).
Once at their destination, it just takes
Photo C. Inside of the HAMCAM showing fhe A TV transceiver and 2m statiOn
nesfted on shelves in the back ofthe van.
Mik e KB2EQQ usually starts the
ATV program inside the club and then
has Danny and John transmit an outside
view back into the clu bhouse,
Usually a few 01 the club members
come out to be momentary TV stars . A
l ew random interviews of innocent
pedestrians may have the potential of a
" David Leiterman" style show. See
" Hams with Class" in the February issue
01 73 for more on the BEMARC
club's activities.
It you plan on doing a lot of ATV road
shows, you may want to build up your
own dedicated rntrncam truck just like
the commercial TV stations. Amateurs
in central Ohio have done just that!
The HAMCA M
Gene Kirby W8BJN received an interesting
oHer back in July of 1989. A
fellow ham who worked at a nearby
commercial TV station (WBNS) explained
that their station was retiring
one of their RAPIDCAM remote TV
trucks and wanted to oHer it to the
Union Co unty Amateur Radio Club
(Marysville, Ohio).
a few minutes to swing the antennas up
to their operating position, set up the
two TV cameras on tripods and put the
HAMCAM on-the-air . After that , the operator
uses his video switch panel to
select between the two camera views
and to watch any incoming ATV si9"
nals. The two camera views are continuously
displayed on two 01 the monttors.
The third monitor is usad to
receive ATV from a remote site or command
center. They even have big
flood lights installed on top of the van
lor night duty!
Emergencles/Demonstretions
The Union County club plans to use
the HAMCAM to help out in emerqencres.
demonstrations, parades, fairs or
anywhere a portable command station
is needed.
You don', need an actual TV minicam
truck to build your own HAMCAM.
Good-sized vans can be obtained fairly
reasonably il you're willing to do a lillie
maintenance. It sure makes a good
club project and can really help out
your community in an emergency.III
73AmateurRadio roasv » June, 1991 85