FIELD DAY PROGRESS REPORT

de Stan Brokl K6YYQ

The Field Day site will be available under the same conditions as in the past. Easy entry will be available between 10 AM and 5 PM, Saturday and Sunday 28/29 June. Those not planning to stay overnight should be out of the area before 5 PM, Saturday. Tell the gate guard you are with the JPL Radio Club for Field Day and you will be admitted without charge.

Task assignments are:

Setup will start at 10 AM Saturday morning and operations will run from 12 noon Saturday until 12 noon Sunday. We will stay in the 3A classification, which is under 10 w, with 3 stations operating continuously. OSCAR and the Novice Station does not change this classification.

The solar panel will be used during all daylight hours as the primary power for the SSB station.

Individuals will be responsible for their own food and camping arrangements while on the mountain. If we can find a person willing to take charge of a cooking and dispensing facility next year, we will ask the Board of Directors for funds to support this part of Field Day.

All JPL Radio Club members are invited to come and see our operation atop Mt. Wilson. We will be just east of the big dome and look forward to having visitors, either to kibitz, or maybe to help.

73 & have a good Field Day -Stan

JPL PICNIC PREPARATIONS UNDER WAY

The JPL Picnic will again be held at Soledad Sands Park on July 12. As before, the JPL Amateur Radio Club has the opportunity to earn money for new Club equipment by selling hot dogs at the picnic. Over each of the past three years, the Club treasury has realized from $ZOO to $300 from this operation.

This activity does require people support. It is hoped that each Club member who attends the Picnic will volunteer a minimum of two hours at the stand. Those who normally don't attend the Picnic are also requested to volunteer their services so we can make this a successful venture.

You will find the stand is a good place to greet all your friends and you also will be helping the Club. Please call Jay Bastow/K6CV if you can help. We transport the stand from JPL with the food at about 7: 00 am, set up at the picnic about 9: 00 am and tear down about 3: 00 pm for return of the stand to JPL. If everyone participates, the load on any one individual will be that much lighter.

ARRL NOTES (de W6EJJ)

DOCKET 20282 - The FCC restructuring proposal was the major topic at the ARRL Board meeting on May 15-16. The Directors were guided by results of the membership survey, to which over 56,000 members responded. The Board accepted the concept of a new entry class license with limited VHF privileges but rejected the proposed dual-ladder licensing structure dividing amateur radio into HF and VHF "tracks." Consequently, the proposal to create an "Experimenter" class license was also rejected. Instead, the Board proposed a unified, logical progression up from a basic entry-level license, with each class of license including all privileges of those grades below it. The Board also rejected Commission proposals for reductions in power, mode, and special station license privileges for General, Conditional and Technician class licensees.

The ARRL-proposed entry-level license conveying limited VHF privileges would be known as "Basic Amateur" (rather than Communicator) and would carry the following privileges and requirements:

The following summarizes ARRL proposals for other class licenses:

Novice class power limit would remain at 75 watts and the license term would become 5 years non-renewable but reobtainable on the same basis as Basic Amateur. In addition, holders of the Novice license would have all privileges of the Basic Amateur class.

Technician class licensees would retain present power, mode, and special station privileges (club station, repeater, aux link, etc. ). In addition, they would be permitted to use all allowable frequencies and modes above 29.0 MHz and would automatically receive all privileges of the Novice class. Present Technician (C) licenses would be renewable as at present; new Technician licenses would only be issued upon examination before Government personnel.

Current Conditional class licensees would retain all present privileges including renewability but would be issued General (C) licenses on renewal, thus eliminating "Conditional" as a separate class. New General (C) licenses would be non-renewable as proposed by FCC, while General (D) licenses would be renewable. There would be no mandatory requirement for re-examination of current holders of Conditional licenses.

General class licensees would retain all existing privileges and would in addition be allowed Al operation on 50.0 - 50.1 MHz.

Advanced class licensees would retain all existing privileges, would be permitted A3 operation from 21250-21270 kHz, and could obtain a preferred "1 x 3" call sign, if desired.

Extra class licenses would be granted for life as -proposed by FCC, but there would be no change in present privileges and the written exam would be retained. In addition, A3 operation would be permitted from 14175-14200 kHz, and holders of the former Amateur Extra Class license would be given credit for the Extra Class written exam.

The following additional recommendations were made:

Power: Except for the Novice and Basic Amateur classes, the concept of transmitter power level as an incentive device was rejected. The Board recommended retention of present power limits and that the method of determining power level in the amateur service will continue to be based upon plate power input in lieu of peak envelope power output.

Frequencies: Retain Extra class CW subbands (per FCC 'proposal). Allow Advanced class use of 21250-21270 kHz for phone. Retain Extra class exclusive use of 3775-3800 kHz, and create a new Extra class sub-band at 14175-14200 kHz.

Mail Exam Supervision: Concurred with FCC proposal to require two proxy examiners, neither of whom is related to applicant. Recommended that General class licensees be allowed to supervise examinations for Novice and Basic amateur classes.

Code Speed Requirements: Recommended the following restructuring of code speed requirements:

Current holders of General/ Conditional and Advanced class licenses would be given credit for 15 wpm.

Call Signs: Concurred with Commission that no presently licensed amateur should be forced to change his call sign to reflect class of license. The Board further recommended that any system of prefixes to identify class of operator license be limited to the Novice and Basic Amateur levels.

CLASS E CB - On May 15 the FCC recommended to OTP that all or part of the 216-220 MHz band be allocated to Class E CB, thus alleviating frequency coordination problems with Canada (who have proposed a similar service in that band) and removing the pressure to take away part of our 220-225 MHz band. The views of OTP/IRAC were requested. This is a very hopeful development in this matter; now we will see how OTP responds!

RFI BILL - A new bill, HR 7052, has been introduced by Congressman Vanik of Ohio to help alleviate RFI problems. If it becomes law, this bill will give FCC the right to regulate manufacture of electronic home entertainment devices such that the susceptibility of these devices to signals from nearby radio transmitters is reduced. The bill has been referred to the Subcommittee on Communications of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce. The bill must receive a subcommittee hearing before it will be brought to the House for a vote. If the bill is to receive a hearing, Congress must be made aware of our support for such a bill. Write the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Communications as follows: The Honorable Torbert H. MacDonald, Room B331, Rayburn House Office Building, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. 20515. A note to your own Congressman asking him to support HR 7052 would also be helpful. Copies of the bill have been sent to all who requested the RFI packet of the ARRL's RFI Task Force. Additional copies are available from W4UMF.

JPL ARC SPINOFF

At the last Club meeting, Bob Schlesinger, K6LZM, gave a very good talk on home application of solar energy. Many of us were quite excited by the talk.

Since that time, our VP, Bob and a few others have been working to put into action some solar energy projects that will be of interest and benefit to us all. It is a bit too early to make any announcements, but watch for some new developments at the Credit Union and ERC -and when something does happen, remember it all started with the JPL Amateur Radio Club.

Gil Yanow/K6TOS

WHAT'S OSCAR DOING?

Have you heard our amateur satellites yet? Here are some selected evening orbits for listening to Oscar 6. The period is about 115 minutes, so there are orbits that much before and after the indicated times when you may be able to hear. Start listening a few minutes before the indicated times to hear the satellite rise above the horizon. In some cases, you may not hear the satellite until several minutes after the time indicated.

Call Skip Reyman/W6PAJ (office 799-9161, home 714-599-3936) for any other later orbital information you want.

BY- LAWS BEING REVISED

Work is progressing to revise and upgrade the Club's By-Laws. Specific improvements being sought are:

1. To clarify the conditions under which non-employees may become members.

2. To advance the date for elections so that new officers are elected in December and installed in January.

3. To change the title of the Director now called "Immediate Past President" to "Director at Large." (But the person filling the position will continue to be the immediate past president. )

4. To clarify which officers are in charge of Club affairs during the transition period between elections.

It is expected that these changes will be submitted to the members for approval as soon as the wording is agreed upon. Merv MacMedan is heading this activity and comments and suggestions to him are welcome; call Merv on X7264.

FOR SALE

Drake R4 rcvr, T4XB xmtr, pwr supp, spkr, mic, SB-200 linear, Johnson 275w Matchbox, AR-30 rotator, SWR bridge and 15m beam. Prefer to sell as pkg. R. Schlesinger/ K6LZM, X2541.

MEMBER ACTIVITIES

Club member Jim Kahlert/W0CRW just passed his advanced class exam and has applied for a W6 callsign. Congrats, Jim, and welcome to the land of the California Kilowatts.

Richard Spear, one of our new Club members, just received his call sign -- WN6MBW. He is setting up on 80m CW (3739 kHz to start with) using a HW-16 and vertical antenna. The loan of 80 & 40m Novice band crystals would be greatly appreciated. Dick's phone is X6450. He also plans to be with us for Field Day -- how's that for enthusiasm?

K6YYQ Gets Some Muscle

There I sat one Thursday evening, on 2O meters, with my DX 150B receiver and 3 -element beam headed slightly northeast listening to UT5's, UC2's, UAl's UB5's and a UA9. All were coming in 579. I tried in vain to work them with my 310B, but no luck. That was it -the end of 75w on 2O meters with a low sunspot count!

I decided a trip to Henry Radio was needed, so away I went. Found a Gonset GSB-201 that uses four 811A's and runs 1 kw input on CW, 1500 w on SSB.

Been using it now for more than 2 weeks and have succeeded in working Europe on 4 occasions. I've noticed now that when I call CQ, stations always come back to me, which wasn't the case before. Also, in pileups, I'm one of the first to get a report; no more waiting 1 or 2 hours for an answer.

Maybe it's my imagination, but high power has cut down the amount of time needed to secure a contact and has increased my contact per hour rate when working DX.

Unfortunately, when I told George Williamson about my new high power status, he was disappointed. I guess I understood his attitude, but as long as the sunspot cycle is down and I want reliable QSO's with the other side of the world, it looks like high power is really the only way to go. I can't afford to buy enough real estate to support the antenna system needed on the HF bands for getting a 10 dB boost to my signal.

CU on the Bands, Stan

SWAPPORTUNITY

RTTY equipment - will trade for general coverage rcvr, or ? Take a look at it and make an offer. Includes TTY, table, pwr suppls, modulators, tape reader, keyboard tape perforator, monitor, etc. , everything but the xcvr. Paul Lecoq, X5517.

WANTED

Used 2m FM xcvr with as many xtals as possible for local repeaters. Small size preferred, for mobile use. Price not to exceed $125.

Stan Hench XZ475

HERE'S HOW...

To find the internal resistance of a meter, see the diagram on the right [above] and follow these steps:

1. Attach R1 and the battery.
2. Set R1 so meter goes to full scale.
3. Attach R2 as shown.
4. Adjust R2 so meter is half scale
5. Value of R2 across meter is the internal resistance.

(From Radio- Electronics News)


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