Minutes of Board Meeting, by Ron Zenone W6TUZ
The JPL Amateur Radio Club held a Board Meeting on November 28, 1979 at 12:00 noon in 238-543. Attendees included W6ABW, N6MP, WB6EMO, K6PGX, WA6PEA, K6SVP, K6GHJ, W6EJJ, N6BF and W6TUZ. With a quorum present, the meeting was called to order by W6ABW. Minutes of the October Board Meeting were read and approved without change.
Walt Diem reported that the club's autopatch was fully operational and in use. Members who have utilized the autopatch have commented on how well it works. Operating costs for the autopatch will be funded in total by members who subscribe to the service.
It was reported by Norm Chalfin that the World Space Foundation is looking for people with expertise in space technology to help their cause in a voluntary manner. This organization is interested in perpetuating the space program. In addition, K6PGX indicated that AMSAT needed volunteers to support Phase III test activities.
Through the efforts of Jim Lumsden, funding approval needed to obtain VOYAGER II QSL cards has been received. Cards are expected to be printed in the near future.
Activities of the nominating committee were reported by Dick Piety as progressing nicely. A list of nominees for the 1980 election of club officers will be presented at the next general meeting. The meeting was then adjourned by George Morris.
The following is the text of a recent message from Harry Dannals, W2HD, ARRL President, to League officials summarizing the outcome of WARC.
The World Administrative Radio Conference meeting since late September in Geneva has now finished its work with favorable results for Amateur Radio. In the bands below 30 MHz, all present allocations are retained, and there will be three new world-wide bands. They are: 10.000 to 10.150, 18.068 to 18.168, and 24.890 to 24.990 MHz.
In the 10 MHz band, amateurs will be allowed to operate if they do not cause harmful interference to fixed service stations operating in the band. Amateurs may be permitted in this shared band as early as January 1, 1982.
The 18 and 24 MHz bands will be exclusive, but before amateurs may operate here, the existing fixed service stations must be moved to new assignments elsewhere in the spectrum. This transition will occur between July 1, 1984 and July 1, 1989. Amateur operations will likely be allowed to commence sometime during that period.
In most of North and South America, including the U.S. and Canada, amateurs will enjoy exclusive use of the hands 1.800 to 1.850 and 3.500 to 3.750 MHz, which are presently shared with other services. In both cases, the remainder of the band continues to be available on the present shared basis. There were no changes to the allocations at 7.000 to 7.300 MHz. Amateurs in region one will have a new narrow, exclusive allocation in the 1.8 MHz band, 1.810 to 1.850 MHz in most countries and l.830 to 1.850 MHz in others.
Above 30 MHz, the amateur and amateur satellite services also did well. Several new amateur satellite allocations were made between 1260 MHz and 10.5 GHz, all on the condition that harmful interference is not caused to other services. They are: 1260 to 1270 MHz, uplink only; 2400 to 2450 MHz; 3400 to 34lO MHz, limited to regions two and three; 5650 to 5670 MHz, uplink only; 5830 to 5850 MHz, downlink only; and 10.45 to 10.5 GHz. For the Amateur service in region two, a new secondary, shared allocation was made at 902 to 928 MHz. The band segment 1215 to 1240 MHz was withdrawn from the amateur service to protect a new, radio navigation satellite system from interference. No other changes in present allocations above 30 MHz should effect U.S. amateurs. Several new amateur and amateur satellite bands were designated in the largely unexplored spectrum above 40 GHz. January QST will have more information, and February QST will carry a comprehensive report of the Conference and its results. (W6EJJ)
ARRL BULLETIN 121
December 3, 1979
To all Radio Amateurs:
The final plenary meeting of WARC 79 was completed on the evening of Monday, December 3, and amateur radio has fared extremely well. Because of the pressures on the spectrum, it would have been a victory to have maintained the status quo. But we have more than maintained the status quo. There are three new amateur bands, at 10, 18 and 24 MHz In addition, there have been significant improvements in our VHF status. Preliminary details will be found in the January issue of QST, and the February issue of QST will carry the full story. Our success is because of excellent worldwide amateur preparation prior to the conference and because of the excellent participation at the conference by many, many people. Our deepest gratitude to all of you who gave us your support and encouragement from the beginning to the end. (W6EJJ)
AUTOPATCH AND CLOSED REPEATER by Bill Wood, WB6FXJ
For those of you wondering what is behind the new club 224.08 MHz repeater, here is a brief rundown on it. One of the first things you will notice is the use of two different call signs, WB6IEA/A .and WR6APR. This was done to stay within the new, more strict, guidelines for telephone interconnects.
The FCC has been rightly concerned about autopatch abuses caused by uncontrolled access to repeaters with telephone capabilities. It is now necessary that a repeater control operator be available whenever an autopatch is used so that improper use can be prevented. After considerable research, the club repeater committee decided that the best way to meet the new FCC interpretations would be to use a remotely controlled auxiliary link for the telephone interconnect, rather than a regular repeater. This explains the use of the club auxiliary link call, WB6IEA. To prevent abuse of the autopatch, only club members who have received a briefing on the proper use of the system, and who are certified as control operators by the club repeater trustee, will be allowed to access and control the telephone interconnect. The equipment is the same for both repeater and auxiliary link operation. The change between the two modes is made only when a designated control operator brings up the autopatch for use.
The basic repeater equipment consists of a modified Midland 13-509 receiver, transmitter and the necessary logic and switching for remotely-controlled operation. The receiver is similar to that on WR6APS in the use of a two-pole crystal first IF filter to improve image rejection. Also used is a Motorola MICOR squelch circuit that features a variable squelch burst, depending on the input signal level (very short for strong signals and longer for weak ones). The received audio is processed and shaped by an integrated circuit compressor amplifier and op-amp, filters.
A unique bucket brigade analog delay line, using Radio Shack SAD-1024 chips, is used to delay the received audio signal long enough to allow the on-board Touch-Tone decoder to do its job before regenerating a new, noise-free, Touch-Tone signal for the telephone line. This permits weak signals to reliably dial telephone numbers. The audio delay line has a side effect that essentially eliminates the normal squelch noise burst by turning off the receiver audio before the noise burst is applied to the transmitter modulator or the telephone line. While the lack of a noise burst every time the mobile station stops transmitting is a definite plus when using the telephone, it poses a now problem when working in the repeater mode, in that you must listen closely to tell when the other station stops transmitting. On strong signals the only indication is a muting of background noise or the timer reset beep one-half second later.
The autopatch circuitry is completely solid-state and configured to operate in a half-duplex mode. This means that audio is passed in only one direction at a time, with the mobile station taking priority. This allows the control operator to interrupt or cut-off the telephone party to prevent improper use or to advise the party that the subject being discussed was not appropriate at that time. Half-duplex also simplifies the circuit by not requiring hybrid transformers or other means of converting the two wire telephone line to the four wire transceiver. Simple CMOS analog gates are used to control the direction of audio to and from the telephone line.
Any club members wanting to take advantage of this new system should contact either Warren Apel, K6GPK (X7733) or Walt Diem, WA6PEA (X3186).
REPEATER NOTES BY WALT DIEM, WA6PEA
220 MHZ FM SIMPLEX
It is common courtesy to QSY from a repeater to a simplex channel whenever all stations in a QSO are within simplex range. Repeaters are intended to extend the coverage of handle talkies and mobiles. Repeaters are like the old party telephone lines; they need to be shared.
The Club simplex frequency is 223.40 MHz. The National simplex calling frequency is 223.50 MHz and the secondary simplex calling frequency is 223.76 MHz. If you need crystals, contact Ron Ploszaj on extension 7447.
WR6APS REPEATER
The repeater has been plagued with frequent key-up from a spurious signal. Several members have been working on finding the source. Your cooperation will help.
Some users hear the repeater key-up from the spurious signal and conclude that other users are keying without ID'ing; so why should they bother to ID when running a test? These intentional keyups with ID make it more difficult to find the spurious signal source. Several members of the DF'ing effort have reported that they believe they have identified an unlicensed source for some of the key-ups. They are presently working on positive identification. Please help by ID'ing when you key the repeater. The other users will appreciate the courtesy.
GROUP PURCHASES
Have you been thinking of getting on 220? This may be your last chance. Midland no longer makes amateur equipment and Clegg's future plans are uncertain. The Autopatch is now in full operation. Thirty-one members are now using the autopatch and over 50% of Club members are operating on the Club 220 repeater.
Contact Ron Ploszaj on extension 7447 if you are interested. The price will depend on quantity. Anticipated price for the Clegg FM-76 is $157 including shipping.
CLUB CRYSTAL BANK INVENTORY
Do you need crystals for your Clegg FM-76 or Midland l3-5O9 220 transceiver? If so, contact the Club Crystal Banker, Ron Plosjaz (WA6TPW) on x7447.
The following crystal pairs are available from the Club Crystal Bank.
- REPEATER
- CALL
- INPUT/OUTPUT SUFFIX LOCATION
- 222.100/222.100 --- Crescents Valley, Dist. 12
- (RACES) Simplex
- 222.300/223.900 LHY Canoga Park
- 222.360/223.960 AZN Table Mountain
- 222.400/224.040 APS JPL
- 222.480/224.080 APR JPL - AUTOPATCH
- 222.620/224.220 HIL Long Beach
- 222.780/224.380 AVQ Carson
- 222.840/224.440 AOY So. Pasadena
- 223.000/223.000 --- County, Common (RACES)
- Simplex
- 223.140/224.740 ABJ Hollywood Hills
- 223.400/223.400 --- JPL Club Simplex
- 224.300/224.300 --- (RACES) Simplex
- CALL
Special crystals (those not in the Club Bank) can be ordered through Ron, but there is a 3-4 week wait.
Midland 13-509 Squelch Modification
Many owners of the Midland 13-509 and Clegg FM-76 220 MHz. transceivers have noticed that the squelch has a rather sharp attack and a noisy release when the mike button is actuated. Wayne Rankin, WA6MPG, writing in "73" magazine (Nov., 1979), has suggested a simple cure. The modification consists of the addition of a resistor and a silicon diode to the squelch circuit to keep the squelch switching transistor (TR-13) biased off during the transmit period. The circuit for the modification is shown below:
The keyed +l2 V dc bus may be picked up from pin 3 of the rear accessory Jack. An alternate connection spot is point 27, near the speaker on the transmit board. Readers desiring additional information should consult the original article in "73." (N6MP)
AMSAT Phase III OSCAR News by Norm Chalfin, K6PGX
The AMSAT Phase III Amateur Radio communications satellite launch will take place about May 20th from the European Space Agency Launch Facility on Kourou, an island off the coast of French Guiana. The launch vehicle is the Ariane LO-2. The transponder aboard the spacecraft will operate Mode B, 435.l to 435.25 MHz. input and 145.8 to 145.95 MHz. output. It will require about 1 kW ERP to access the spacecraft at apogee (approx. 22,100 miles). Perigee will be about 900 miles. The transponder output power will be about 50 watts.
Congratulations, Stan!
Stan Brokl, N2YQ, formerly K6YYQ and president of our club writes with his request for a Voyager II QSL that he has been elected to the North Jersey DX Association. It is an elite membership-limited group of 40 that handles the W2 QSL bureau as well as the usual DX affairs. Stan says he has a lifetime job with the club, sorting out the letter "M." It was unusual to be elected after being in New Jersey only such a short time, but Stan has been quite active since he got his first antenna up. He already has 225 countries worked from New Jersey. Stan uses an FTl101E with a GSB-20l 1 kW footwarmer and a 4-element tribander. He enjoys the snow in winter and has such plentiful harvests from his garden in summer (without watering!) that he had to buy a freezer to store the overflow. Stan sends his regards to all his friends (and enemies) at JPL and if you care to write, he would be glad to hear from you:
- Stan Brokl N2YQ
- 28 New Brunswick Rd.
- Somerset, N.J. 08873
- (N6NO)
- 28 New Brunswick Rd.
Interested in Solar Energy?
If so, contact Don Edwards (VE7AKU), who is interested in setting up a regular CW communications net to exchange solar energy news and information in Canada and the United States on a weekly "check-in" basis. Don's address is: 584 Victoria Avenue, Victoria, British Columbia V8S 4M6, Canada. Include your call, the specific frequencies you can use and the times you have available during the week. He will then reply by letter and arrange a CW exchange with you on the air.
Excellent 10-meter conversion material. An unmodified, new-in-the-box, Sears model 3826 SSB "Roadtalker". See conversion details in "W6VIO Calling", July, 1979. First $89 takes. Contact Bill Wood at x166-481 (Goldstone) or (7l4)-256-9576 (home).
Wilson hand-held transceivers for 144, 220 and 440 MHz., each with charger and crystals. $125 each. One Midland 13-509 and one Clegg FM-76 mobile FM transceiver for 220 MHz. $100 each. GLB 220 synthesizer for 13-509 or FM-76. $75. Contact Skip Reymann at (7l4)-599-3936.
Frequency synthesizer for Heathkit HW-202. Plugs directly into T/R crystal sockets without modification of HW-202. Manufacturer unknown. Contact John Morecroft, W6LFT, at x2094 or 248-5524 after 6:00 p.m.
Circuit diagram and/or additional information on Canadian Marconi Co. 100 watt, 2-meter amplifier model DT86. Contact Larry Rauch, W8FDG, at x6334.
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