THE CIRCLE CITY COMMUNICATOR
A MONTHLY
PUBLICATION OF THE
April 2011 – Editor & Rumor Monger: Fred Roberts, froberts-w6tkv@att.net
APRIL MEETING PROGRAM
The evening's program will be about "Working Amateur Satellites with your HT" and it will be presented by Clint Bradford, K6LCS.
This program should be of great interest to all members
... especially to our Technicians who may be weary of QSOs via Repeaters.
MY ATV PROJECT de Norm-KN6CV
For those who missed a demonstration of my ATV Project a few months ago, it seemed a good idea to provide a review of that information to all CNARC members.
I began my venture into the Amateur Television world with the installation of an ATV station at the Norco Fire Station EOC (also known as our Club Meeting Place and our Ham Shack). After a short time at the ATV station in our "Club Ham Shack", I soon realized I wanted to have an ATV station at my home QTH.
So, I purchased a used TC70-20 Transceiver and gathered all of the hardware necessary to complete my installation, i.e. power supply, video camera, microphone, antenna, and coax. I soon recognized there were just a few simplex ATV stations in the area. And so, the best chance for any reliable contacts with other stations would be to gain access through one of the local ATV repeaters. My repeater of choice was W6ATN which is located on Santiago Peak.
I already owned a YAESU FT-736R, with a 1.2GHz module and an external modulator/ demodulator unit which enabled me to monitor one of the outputs (1253.25 MHz) on an analog video monitor. With the crystal controlled transmitter set at 434 MHz and connected to a vertically polarized antenna, I was able to connect, key-up, the repeater.
I wasn't happy with the quality of picture that I was transmitting/receiving on the 434 MHz band, and so I decided to upgrade to a 2.4 GHz transmitter which was used by many of the members of the repeater. I was told that picture degradation on the 434 MHz band was caused by interference from at least one of the many commercial transmitters mounted on the same tower.
With the help and advice from several of the members of the ATV net, I purchased a 30 watt RF amplifier and also a PLL (Phase-Locked Loop) exciter (transmitter). I found an old piece of test equipment and gutted it to use the chassis for housing the 2,441.5 MHz hardware. After installing the major components and running a smoke test (hooray, no smoke), I connected the unit to a dish antenna and attempted to key-up the repeater, but as luck would have it I couldn't bring the repeater up. One of the club members checked out my unit and tweaked it a little. He said it was performing properly, and had about 20 watts of output power.
That isolated the problem to the transmission line or the antenna. Erick, W6GEV, donated a section of hard-line to the project. And, EUREKA! I was able to bring up the repeater! The picture from the repeater was of good quality, and there was no interference noted.
But, there a new problem had surfaced. There was no audio on the transmitted signal.
So my project is still a work in progress, and I will report both my progress with the audio problem, as well as any new problems which pop up.
This project has proven to be a very interesting aspect of amateur radio, but then the variations and new aspects of the hobby is a part of making Ham Radio the wonderful hobby that it is.
If any member would like to get a ATV station up and running, I will be happy to help and share any of my ATV knowledge. One thing that is certainly true, you sure learn a lot as you face problems.
Norm-KN6CV
WHY ARE YOU A HAM?
Amateur Radio is an absolutely wonderful hobby filled with many great hams who share the hobby with you. We describe this to our non-ham friends and acquaintances as the ability to talk to other hams in the U.S. and around the world. And, we also describe some of the many life long friendships you have which started with just one QSO on Amateur Radio. Sometimes, a person may not be satisfied with your comments and stories about ham radio. If that happens, you can always tell them:
"Well, it keeps me at home, out of bars, off the street, and away from loose women."
While this may not be the very best possible answer, it is certainly both a true and satisfying answer.. There usually are no more odd questions and that in itself can be pretty satisfying. At the very least, it will leave you with a smile on your face.
ABOUT OUR CLUB TREASURY
When any long time club member hears our Treasury balance announced at each of our meetings, they know much of our monies came from CNARC's active participation in the ARRL 1997, 2001, and 2005 Conventions in Riverside.
CNARC was an active member in IECARO (Inland Empire Council of Amateur Radio Organizations) with club members served both as officers of IECARO, and as key players in each of the 3 conventions.
IECARO offices held by CNARC members were Chairman, Vice Chairman, and Treasurer.
The Convention tasks for each of our 3 ARRL Conventions were:
1) Getting money-paying Exhibitors to sign
up and show their latest wares.
2) Handling incoming moneys, payment of
bills, and distribution of monies to
participating clubs (CNARC being just one
such club).
3) Creation of the Convention Booklet which
was distributed to all those attending the
convention.
4) Arranging rental of tables, drapes, etc.
5) Arranging the first-ever use of ARRL's
W1AW/6 at an ARRL Convention (not
staffed by ARRL personel).
6) Arrange loans of radios from exhibiting
manufacturers for each of 6 bands.
7) Arranging a Special Event station in a
top-floor hotel room for 80M, 40M,
20M, 10M, 2M and VHF (including the removal of all hotel furniture and addition of tables and chairs.)
8) Installing antennas for all bands on the roof of the hotel, including hauling both antennas and towers from/to ground level.
Setting up a multi-band ham station in a top-floor room.
Installing station computers for each of 6
bands.
9) Obtaining and distributing W1AW/6 QSL
cards, 7) having W1AW/6 T-shirts for all
operators,
10) Setting up Vendor booth locations and
assisting smaller vendors with their
installations.
Those club members who are the keys to CNARC's current financial state are all old timers - Norm-KN6CV, Gwen-KJ6KOF, Fred-W6TKV and Joe-KO6XB. They spent a great many hours to earn several thousand dollars for CNARC.
Don't think for a minute that our current Treasury all came from just Annual $15. Dues from each member.
TSUNAMI
It certainly has been hard to fully grasp the magnitude of the disaster which occurred in Japan. But, can you believe that it also reached Santa Cruz and Crescent City on our coast too?
The tsunami waves impacted the coast and did an estimated $15 million of damage to the Santa Cruz Harbor. More than 100 boats -- including fishing vessels, pleasure boats and yachts -- were either damaged or sunk as a result of the waves.
Santa Cruz was not alone in receiving significant damage as a result of the powerful waves. Crescent City, located approximately 500 miles north of Santa Cruz, also received heavy damage, causing Governor Brown to declare these areas disaster zones. One person died as a result of being swept out to sea with the high waves - so much for being a "looky loo".
The hams in Japan have advised they are operating on 3.525 Mhz, 4.500 Mhz, 7.030 Mhz, 14.100 Mhz, 21.200 Mhz, 28.200 Mhz. In any event, be sure to listen whenever you get on the bands and start calling CQ. While it's unlikely you will hear any JA's, it's better to listen first than unknowingly intrude on anyone.
This event sure is scary, isn't it?