In a message dated 95-10-02 07:57:45 EDT, you write:
>To: JE1CKA@nal.go.jp
>Subject: "50K WITH RUFZ
Hi Tack...
I have been a total failure at getting a copy of RUFZ.... Is there anyone who
can snail mail me a working diskette (PC clone, 3.5 inch).... I will be happy
to promptly send a few bucks to cover their costs....
Cheers ... Denny
>From richard.frey@Harris.COM (DFREY) Mon Oct 2 14:38:24 1995
From: richard.frey@Harris.COM (DFREY) (DFREY)
Subject: 9A1A RTTY score
Message-ID: <06ffda10@maila.harris.com>
<<< 550 <floydrj@nr.infi.net>... User unknown
Herewith we are sending to you the PRELIMINARY SCORE SUMMARY of
Croatian Dx Club (CDXC) 9A1A:
- QSO's 558
- Pts 1302
- QTH 35
- DX 62
- ZONES 23
- QSO's/Mult 4.7
- Total score 156240
- Frequency 7MHz
- Category Single band/Single Op.
- Operator Darko/9A6D
Best regards
73's Darko, 9A6D
via K4XU
>From David Robbins KY1H <robbins@guid2.dnet.lmco.com> Mon Oct 2 16:18:59 1995
From: David Robbins KY1H <robbins@guid2.dnet.lmco.com> (David Robbins KY1H)
Subject: m/s 10min rule
Message-ID: <199510021516.LAA26954@franklin.vf.mmc.com>
>new band. I really dislike this new rule in that it forces M/S
>stations to have three active stations available, if they want to
>push it to the limit.
>
>n3rd@ix.netcom.com
actually it means you can have 6 stations on the air at once, 5 calling
new mults and one running. we were having trouble getting enough running
ops for m/m here for cqww cw, maybe this is the solution... we can do m/s
with 6 stations, just have one op running on the hottest band and 5 others
hunting mults. really would be interesting coordinating anyway!
73, Dave KY1H Robbins@guid2.dnet.lmco.com
>From Eugene Walsh <0004504465@mcimail.com> Mon Oct 2 16:31:00 1995
From: Eugene Walsh <0004504465@mcimail.com> (Eugene Walsh)
Subject: N2AA a-p sprint
Message-ID: <02951002153120/0004504465PK5EM@MCIMAIL.COM>
LOG OF N2AA FOR A-P SPRINT
30 SEPTEMBER, 1995
ALL QSOs ON 20 METER BAND
GMT STN SENT RCVD
1239 YB0ASI 599001 599008
1240 VS6WO 599002 599007
1310 DU1HCX 599003 JO IN MANILA
1358 HS1KMZ/7 004 BOX 77, SUPSANDURI, 72000
1410 E21CJN 005 THAM IN BANGKOK
1415 HS1OVH 006 LIN IN BANGKOK
The score (Depending on the philosophy of the
sponsors) is either 2x2=4 or 6x6=36
(Without a number, is a Q really a Q?)
The only stations heard who were taking part
were YB0ASI, VS6WO and VS6BG. Heard VU2BK, A92Q
and hordes of UA9s, none of whom are in the described
a-p area. YB0ASI was coming through very well every
time I listened (Which was on and off for the 2
hours). The really amazing thing (Something amazing
ALWAYS happens) was that I heard 8 (EIGHT!) HS
stations! Would have worked a few more if I had
turned on the burner. East coast should be allowed
full power :-) (God help me I'm starting to send
smileys!).
73 Gene N2AA
>From Jeff Tucker <jefft@atlanta.com> Mon Oct 2 12:40:00 1995
From: Jeff Tucker <jefft@atlanta.com> (Jeff Tucker)
Subject: radio interface boxes
Message-ID: <199510021601.AA08624@A.crl.com>
Does anybody know who is selling generic computer-radio interface
boxes, i.e. RS-232 to TTL level convertors? I need three for the upcoming
CQWW.
OTOH, are the blank PC boards still being produced, so I can build my own?
Thanks for the info.
73 de Jeff N9HZQ
--
Jeff Tucker, N9HZQ
jefft@atlanta.com
>From mraz@rdxsunhost.aud.alcatel.com (Kris I. Mraz) Mon Oct 2 22:49:17 1995
From: mraz@rdxsunhost.aud.alcatel.com (Kris I. Mraz) (Kris I. Mraz)
Subject: KT-34XA Rebuild Kit
Message-ID: <9510022149.AA13464@maverick.aud.alcatel.com>
I understand there is a rebuild kit for the KT-34XA. Can someone tell me what
the kit contains and what it costs?
73
Kris AA5UO
mraz@aud.alcatel.com
>From sm3bdz@pobox.com (Lars Harlin) Mon Oct 2 22:50:30 1995
From: sm3bdz@pobox.com (Lars Harlin) (Lars Harlin)
Subject: TS-850 DRU-2
Message-ID: <199510022150.WAA08941@www.itz.se>
Have just installed the DRU-2, digital recording unit, into my TS-850. The
servicemanual says that the unit, besides from recording from the mic, can
record received audio (from RX), but not how to do it.... Anyone know the
trick??
73 s de Lars, sm3bdz@pobox.com
>From zs6nw@lia.infolink.co.za (Jan van Niekerk) Tue Oct 3 03:33:12 1995
From: zs6nw@lia.infolink.co.za (Jan van Niekerk) (Jan van Niekerk)
Subject: CQWWSSB Parrot
Message-ID: <199510030233.AAA14251@lia.infolink.co.za>
Hello Everyone!
I have CT, 2 PCs and a Soundblaster card. Any ideas on how to make a parrot
for the CQ WW SSB contest?
Regards,
Jan
>From n3rr@cais.cais.com (Bill Hider) Tue Oct 3 00:16:35 1995
From: n3rr@cais.cais.com (Bill Hider) (Bill Hider)
Subject: more on guywires and insulators
Message-ID: <199510022316.TAA16269@cais.cais.com>
At 02:19 PM 9/29/95 +0000, Bill Turner wrote:
>At 09:57 AM 9/28/95 -0600, Audio/Visual Helper wrote:
>> The only sure way to prevent guy wire interaction is this: Make
>>your sections less than 1/4 wave of the highest frequency you will be using
>>on that tower. Yes, that's a lot of insulators , but my tests show no
>>interaction when using this method. I still had interaction when using
>>supposedly non-resonant lengths that were beyond 1/4 wave.
>> Of course phillystran is the alternative and probably cheaper when
>>compared to breaking the guys at less than 1/4 wave for say 10 meters. I
>>have had no experience with the bead method but it should work also.
>>
>>Bill Thomas - KC9AL
>--------------------------------------------------------
>Does it have to be 1/4 wave? I would think slightly shorter than 1/2 wave
>would do.
>
>73, Bill W7LZP
>wrt@eskimo.com
>
>
The proper lengths are in a table in the ARRL handbook and they tell you
what to do based upon the frequency bands you want to operate in.
Bill, n3rr@cais.com
>From Greg Becker <gb546@bard.edu> Tue Oct 3 01:53:08 1995
From: Greg Becker <gb546@bard.edu> (Greg Becker)
Subject: 40 beam questionaire
Message-ID: <Pine.A32.3.91.951002204830.53996A-100000@core.bard.edu>
Here's one for y'all (Been hanging around Righard too long...) -
I'm side-mounting a Mosley 2el 40m beam at 75' on Rohn 25, with one face
of the tower oriented due north-south. The station is located in the
Hudson Valley of New York, and I plan to be active during both stateside
and DX contests.
Here's the question. The IIX RM-16 sidemount allows 300 degrees of
rotation about the tower. This leaves a 60 degree "blind spot". The
following is my list of blind spots. Please pick which one you thing
would be best (or least bad), and tell me why. I'll try to summarize, or
forward the replies to someone who can (listening, Scott?).
Thanks for the info.
73, Greg
Greg Becker NA2N
gb546@bard.edu
>From Linda Luther <Lbylll@LBY.pcmail.levels.unisa.edu.au> Tue Oct 3 23:55:00
>1995
From: Linda Luther <Lbylll@LBY.pcmail.levels.unisa.edu.au> (Linda Luther)
Subject: vk/zl contest
Message-ID: <3071EBE2@itu-pcmailgate.levels.unisa.edu.au>
TO: ALL CONTESTERS
FROM: MARTIN, VK5GN
HI ALL,
THESE ARE THE RULES FOR THE VK/ZL/OCEANIA CONTEST THIS YEAR.
THIS IS AN ABREVIATED FORM BECAUSE I'M TOO LAZY TO TYPE OUT
ALL THE FIDDLY BITS!! HOWEVER, IT SHOULD BE ENOUGH FOR YOU
TO GET ON AND MAKE A FEW QSO'S AND SUBMIT A LEGAL ENTRY.
NOTE FOR THE WEST COAST OR EVEN MID WEST, THIS IS YOURE CHANCE
TO BEAT THE DREADED NEW ENGLANDERS TO TOP SPOT IN THE USA!!
FOR THE MID WEST YOU CAN OPERATE THE CALIFORNIA QSO PARTY AND
THE VK/ZL AT THE SAME TIME WITH MORE OR LESS ONE BEAM HEADING!!
DO GET ON AND GIVE US A POINT OR TWO OR EVEN A NEW MULT.
1995 VK/ZL/OCEANIA CONTEST 1995
PHONE: 1000UTC 7 OCTOBER TO 1000UTC 8 OCTOBER
CW: 1000UTC 14 OCTOBER TO 1000UTC 15 OCTOBER
EXCHANGE:
RS(T) PLUS THREE OR FOUR DIGIT SERIAL NUMBER STARTING AT 001
OBJECT:
THE OBJECT IS FOR STATIONS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD TO CONTACT AS
MANY STATIONS AS POSSIBLE IN VK,ZL AND OCEANIA. CONTACTS BETWEEN DIFFERENT
COUNTRIES IN OCEANIA ARE PERMITTED ON ALL BANDS AND CONTACTS WITHIN OCEANIA
COUNTRIES ARE PERMITTED ON 80 AND 160.
SCORING:
FOR EACH CONTACT SCORE 20 PTS ON 160, 10 PTS ON 80, 5 PTS ON 40,
1 POINT ON 20, 2 PTS ON 15 AND 3 PTS ON 10. tHE FINAL SCORE IS THE TOTAL
QSO POINTS MULTIPLIED BY THE TOTAL NUMBER OF PREFIXES WORKED. THE SAME
PREFIX CAN BE CLAIMED ON DIFFERENT BANDS.
MULTIPLIER:
THE NUMBER OF PREFIXES WORKED ON THAT BAND. CQWPX RULES APPLY.
FOR REST OF WORLD PREFIXES ARE ONLY FROM OCEANIA.
OCEANIA CAN CONTACT AS IN OBJECT ABOVE.
CATEGORIES:
SINGLE OP ALL BAND
SINGLE OP SINGLE BAND
MULTI OP ALL BAND
SWL
(SPOTTING NETS ETC MAKE YOU MULTI OP)
LOGS:
SEPERATE LOG FOR EACH BAND, SHOW NEW MULTIPLIERS, ACCOMPANY WITH
THE USUAL SUMMARY SHEET, DECLARATION ETC. lOGS CAN BE SUBMITTED AS ASCII
DISK BUT PAPER SUMMARY SHEET MUST BE PROVIDED
SEND LOGS POSTMARKED BEFORE 17 NOV FOR PHONE AND 24 NOV FOR CW TO
PETER NESBIT VK3APN
P O BOX 2175,CAULFIELD JUNCTION,VICTORIA,3161
AUSTRALIA
AWARDS:
CERTIFICATES TO TOP SCORERS ON PHONE AND CW IN EACH CONTINENT
COUNTRY AND VK, ZL AND JA CALL AREA.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Linda Luther Phone 08 302 2348
Associate Librarian, City Campus Fax 08 302 2135
University of South Australia Email Linda.luther@unisa.edu.au
>From ni6t@ix.netcom.com (Garry Shapiro ) Tue Oct 3 10:39:42 1995
From: ni6t@ix.netcom.com (Garry Shapiro ) (Garry Shapiro )
Subject: 91B info in response to W0UN
Message-ID: <199510030939.CAA09818@ix6.ix.netcom.com>
You wrote:
>
>BTW-- I build high power RF amplifiers at HF and VHF for atmospheric
>research so I have a strong background in transmitting tube technology
and I
>also own two 87As and an 86.
Broz,
I am certainly not going to question your expertise re amplifiers.
However, since I was one of three users of the infamous Conway Reef
amplifier, one of two users on the low bands, and the person who
obtained it and shipped it to and from Fiji, I can comment on the
correlation (or lack of it) between your observations and what happened
on Conway.
>
(snip)
>There are two issues of interest that relate to the perception of
problems
>with the amplifiers.
(snip)
2) There have been reports of relay dropout
>during operation that were reported to be due to running from poorly
>regulated generators. I believe that this is a mis-diagnosis of what
>happened on Conway Reef and what was also an issue on Easter Island.
All
>VSWR sensing circuits are right at the antenna (of course) but none
are
>smart enough to be able to determine if that big signal coming back
from the
>antenna is really reflected energy due to high VSWR on the antenna or
pickup
>of energy from another nearby transmitter. Something that is common
in
>multi-tx operations--especially on expeditions where the antennas are
low
>and close to each other. After watching the amplifiers shut
themselves off
>and then back on again after a few seconds it was obvious that it was
due to
>RF from a nearby rig that was causing the problems.
>
>For example the EI operation had two sites about 500 ft apart. The CW
site
>had two rigs and amps as did the SSB site. The SSB site had a number
of
>antennas that were all pretty close together and when one rig was
running
>15M on the tribander and a second rig was running 20M on the 20M
monobander,
>the 20M signal would get into the VSWR sensor on the 15M rig since its
>tribander provided no inherent rejection of the 20M sig. The sensor
would
>shut the rig down for three seconds, reacting to the perceived VSWR
fault
>and then reset itself, but this sequence only occurred if the other
rig was
>transmitting at the moment.
What you say is plausible in general and clearly correlates with what
you observed on Easter. However, in our case, the amplifier was
operated both under the conditions stated above--two stations using
tribanders---AND with one station using a tribander and the other using
a lowband vertical.
In the latter instance, the typical late-night scenario had a station
with a TL922 putting out 300-400W into a north-beaming C3 tribander on
20m SSB, while the 91B drove an 80m quarter/wave/160m droop-wire
inverted-L, mostly ENE of the tribander. I would argue that the amount
of power induced in the lowband vertical was not large, although the
combination of coupling and feedline length may have produced an
unexpected voltage level at the 91B.
Unaddressed by your argument was the progressive nature of the 91B's
failure in our case. When first deployed, our unit was reluctant to put
out full power, but did provide at least 500W without turning itself
off. We blamed the AC supply because we had 100 feet of power cord from
the 3 kVA Robin diesel generator. The power cords were the beefiest we
could find in Suva, but were not very heavy gauge--14 at best (maybe
even 16). This corresponds to a 2.5 kW load capability, at least--but a
static load. We ran a separate power cord for the other loads, to
minimize the current in that power cord; no difference was noted. We
felt that the ohmic drop in the lines was not sufficient to cause the
demise of the amp, and looked for dynamic causes.
We did observe that the meter on the generator was steady during
keying, but this of itself proves nothing. After all, a sudden change
in load is not instantaneously compensated by an electromechanical
system with high inertia, such as a diesel generator. Ehrhorn, at
Visalia, offered the opinion that the short-term difference between
what the amplifier demanded at key-down, and what the generator could
provide at that moment--i.e. essentially the current it was providing
before key-down--was confusing/confounding the protective circuitry.
Had that situation remained as first observed, that would have been the
plausible and total evaluation. However, the amplifier's performance
worsened over several days, manifested first by a delay between
key-down/relay engagement and the appearance of output power. This
delay was a fraction of a second, resulting in clipping of the first
part of callsigns sent. This created considerable confusion, especially
on 160m! The delay appeared to worsen, and our next step was to install
a footswitch to manually engage the amp before sending characters. This
served for a day or so. Finally, the amp failed outright.
It took quite a while for the shipped amplifier to reach San Francisco
from Suva--over a month--whereupon it was returned to ETO. When
considerable time passed with no word from Colorado about what had been
found, I inquired about it to Ray Heaton. Several times, in fact. Ray
did not know or would not say---a response which has been noted and
commented upon by others who have called ETO with inquiries/problems.
Finally, I was connected to an engineer, whose name and title escape
me. This individual claimed some knowledge of the evaluation of the amp
but seemed--to me--somewhat vague and imprecise about it. He did state
that he "thought" they had found that all five paralleled emitter
degeneration resistors had popped, presumably in sequence, which would
plausibly explain the progression of the amp's demise. He added that
those resistors had since been changed in all production units, but I
have no idea which ones might have been in the EI/SyG units. He offered
no intelligence as to why the initial problem had been experienced.
I should explain to those less familiar with amp design than yourself
that emitter degeneration--resistance in the emitter lead in a
grid-driven amplifier--provides negative feedback, resulting in
somewhat higher plate efficiency, slightly compromised IMD and lowered
power gain--a safeguard in cases where too much drive is available. A
portion of the drive voltage is developed across the emitter
resistance, so more drive is required.
In summary, I am not convinced that coupled power from our other
station was the cause of our 91B problem on Conway Reef, although I do
not doubt your observations on Easter Island. Nor am I satisfied that
our problems were the result of a single cause. Nor am I convinced that
generator dynamics were not a factor, even if the perceived situation
was not successfully recreated at ETO.
(snip)
>
>Now that I have explained the issues that have been questioned about
the
>reliability of the ETO Alpha 91Bs let me summarize it by saying that I
was
>very impressed by the general quality of the design and the
construction.
>They seemed to be relatively easy to tune and virtually idiot proof.
They
>will protect themselves from most forms of abuse, but if you keep the
drive
>below a level of about 15 watts you are below the threshhold of the
>protection circuits and you can tune to your hearts content without
worry of
>damage and without the protection circuits shutting you down.
Presetting
>the tune and load to the values in the manual resulted in a "good
enough"
>tuning for most circumstances--needed only a little tweaking when
>used with some of the low antennas.
>
This parallels my own experience. The amp appeared sturdily built,
although it appeared that it had already been found that the internal
blower was not quite enough to provide the famous Alpha
"brick-on-the-key" output capability for steady-state (RTTY) operation
at 1500W. Our unit had the optional axial "supercharger" fan fitted to
provide extra cooling air volume. Tuning the amp was straightforward
and, as you said, virtually idiot-proof.
I had used the amplifier for several days at my home QTH before packing
and shipping it. I had found that it had plenty of reserve power
capability and--except for the added fan--was reasonably quiet. Home
and commercial mains are, of course, not a coral reef. The DXpedition
group had planned to fire it up with the generator and transceiver in
Suva for a full-bore test before embarking for Conway Reef.
Unfortunately, the air shipment from California including the amp was
delayed and arrived--with me tearing my hair-- barely in time to be
loaded on board the Te Ni and that shakedown never occurred.
>Would I buy one? YES, but I already own two 87As.
Well, I might, after the early problems settle out. But--since I am
poor but proud--I am going to build an amp instead. It will have a
Russian tetrode.
The unit we had was the very same unit used with no problems on South
Georgia Island a few months earlier. Why it crapped out on us remains a
mystery, in my mind. I hope---as does Jun, JH4RHF, a fellow
DX-peditioner at Conway who is is Heard Island-bound---that the Heard
Island gang will have the same good fortune you experienced on Easter
Island.
Garry, NI6T/3D2CU
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