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September 2013 Oscillator

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September 2013 Oscillator The Oscillator ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Published BI-Monthly by the Tri-Town Radio Amateur Club, Inc. PO Box 1296, Homewood, IL 60430 Volume 59 Number 5 Sept 2013 Club Call W9VT Tri-Town Meeting and Program Information Jim, KB9VR Tri-Town September 20 Meeting and Program on Fox Hunting This meeting will be held at the Hazel Crest Village Hall at 8 PM. There will be a business meeting, refreshments, raffles, and Jim, KB9VR, will present a program on Fox Hunting. Please be sure to attend and bring a friend. Real Interference – A Fox Hunting Road Trip! By John N9DWE A couple of months ago, Jim (KB9VR) and myself had noticed some interference on one of our local chit chat frequencies on 2 Mtr simplex. On my mobile radio it was coming in about 20 over 9 in Monee, so I headed east toward Crete, signal got lower, okay now I headed south toward Peotone and again signal was much lower. So now, I was thinking, (I know that THINKING is dangerous for me) that it must either be North or West of Monee. So I went over to Jim's (KB9VR) and told what I found out so far. So he put together his 5 element yagi to his van along with the rest of the equipment, we were now on a mission. I want to mention that Jim and a few others had been participating in Fox hunting at the KARS (Kankakee Amateur Radio society) from time to time. Second thing I wanted to mention is, that this interference happens only once a minute, a burst of data lasting about 3 seconds. We pulled into the bank parking lot, and the signal was coming from the Northwest, so we followed the path and low and behold It pointed us to the dish earth station, well when we pulled straight east of the earth station, uh-oh, where did the signal go? So pointed the antenna Northwest again, there is the signal. So to we went on to find the interference in a Commonwealth Edison Substation, it appeared the signal was coming from a Microwave Tower on their property. Jim (KB9VR), opened a trouble ticket with Commonwealth Edison and with in 2 days, the interference was gone. Now it would have been nice, if they would have called back and thanked Jim (KB9VR), but no they did not. The good news is no more interference. So it can be done and it was actually fun. Special Raffle The Club is holding a special raffle for a Baofeng ultra-compact dual band transceiver with wide band coverage Model UV-5RA. The unit comes complete with charger stand, computer programming cable and antenna adapter. Tickets for the raffle will be sold at all Tri-Town meetings with the winning ticket being pulled at the December 2013 meeting. Tickets sell for $2 each or three for $5. Check out the Club Website: WWW.W9VT.ORG Officers, Board Members, & Committee Heads for 2013: Scott Heath, KC9TGG President 708.481-4882 [email protected] Matt Schumann N9OTL VP, Chair. of Board 708.423.7066 [email protected] Jim Everand WD9GXU Secretary 708.748.6798 None @ No I’ dont have one Trish Jaggard N9WDG Treasurer 708.957.1973 [email protected] Todd Schumann KA9IUC Director 708.423.7066 [email protected] Tom Gunderson W9SRV Webmaster, W9VT 815.466-0245 [email protected] Bruce Haffner WD9GHK W9VT Trustee, Dir 708.614.6134 [email protected] Brian J. Bedoe WD9HSY Repeater Trustee, 815.469.1383 [email protected] Oscillator Editor, Dir. Members of the Tri-Town Radio Club Inc. publish the Oscillator 6 times a year. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the Officers or members of the Tri-Town RAC, but of the contributors. All articles may be reprinted as long as full credit is given. Other publications are asked to reciprocate their newsletter. Some Articles printed here are from AMSAT, ARRL Letter, TAPR, World Radio, QRZ.COM, Eham, and Other Amateur Radio Publications. Club Meetings & Nets Club meetings are the 3rd Friday of each month at the Village of Hazel Crest Village Hall, 170th and Holmes. All are welcome and refreshments will serve. Don’t forget to bring a Friend. Official Club 2 Mtr hangouts: 146.49 Simplex, & The Club’s Repeater 146.805 WD9HSY/R Unofficial Club Hang Outs: 442.375 Homewood, 441.300 Grant Park WA9WLN/R, “Waldofar” 443.325 Frankfort WD9HSY/R & 147.165 Kankakee Co. WD9HSY/R All UHF’s use a 114.8 PL & All VHF’s use a 107.2 PL Club Nets 2 Mtr FM 49’ers Net Wed, 8:00 PM Local, on The Club’s Repeater 146.805 -600kc 107.2 PL 10 Mtr SSB Net Thursdays, 8:00 PM Local, 28.490. 2 Mtr FM Weather Net Sundays, 8:00 PM local, on The Club’s Repeater 146.805 -600kc 107.2 PL Tri-Town Alumni Net Monday through Friday, 2200 UTC on 7.285 MHz SSB Hamfests in the Area SEPT 20-21 NIDXA Elk Grove Village www.w9dxcc.com 20-22 Peoria AR Club Peoria www.w9uvi.org OCT None Locally NOV 16-17 ACARTS Fort Wayne http://www.acarts.com/hfmain.htm Check out the Club Website: WWW.W9VT.ORG N9DWE and his “Oh Fudge” moment! John N9DWE Anyway we finally had some storms the other week, so I unplugged all the antennas and radios, just in case. The next day I plugged everything back in and I operate a crossband arrangement. It is getting harder and harder going up and down those stairs. So Randy was coming in real weak (kb9lil), did not think too much of it since he was mobile. So later that evening Randy said " I can barely hear you, are you sure your crossband was hooked up correctly" I assured him it was, Jim (kb9vr) was hearing me good. The wife was listening to this conversation at this time. So I thought about it and decided to check it anyway. I had talked to Jim earlier and he was on the Kankakee - Will county line coming back to Monee. He sounded good. Well, I checked and "Oh Fudge", I made a boo-boo. I had hooked up the 2 meter side to a horizontal polarized yagi pointing south. Randy lives North of me. Well I got it hooked back to a G7 Hustler and lo and behold it was magic, so remember I said the wife was listening earlier. She told me to fess up, before Randy had his radio boxed up and sent out for repair, because it was my fault. Now for anyone interested DB stuff, here is the low down. The 2 meter yagi has a front to back ratio of 24 DB, remember Randy lives north of me, now it was very fed by horizontal element which compared to Randy' vertical was at least another 20 DB down. Add the 2 and you get 44 db down. So let's make it easy, if I was cranking out 10,000 watts at my place, because of the oops configuration at my QTH, Randy would be seeing about 1/4 of a watt. I only run 50 watts, so you can see why Randy could not hear me. Sorry, about that Randy. The real bad part was the cables were labeled another oops. Oh well. Another CB Retailer Comes Under FCC Scrutiny For the second time this month the FCC has cited a retailer — Radio Master, a CB shop catering to truckers — for illegally marketing unauthorized RF devices. According to a Citation and Order released August 20, FCC agents from its Dallas office in February inspected the Radio Master shop at a truck stop in Rockwall, Texas, where they observed a used Palomar 250 RF amplifier offered for sale. “The unit did not have an FCC identification number to confirm that the model had been granted an FCC certification,” the Citation said, noting that under its Part 2 rules, external RF power amplifiers capable of operating below 144 MHz “may not be offered for sale unless they have first been authorized in accordance with the Commission’s certification procedures.” Radio Master website says the shop carries “a variety of 10 meter & citizen band radios.” In addition to its website Radio Master operates another bricks-and-mortar shop at a truck stop in Weatherford, Texas, the FCC said. The Commission cautioned Radio Master that, pursuant to its Part 15 rules, “intentional radiators” such as CB transmitters may not be marketed in the US or its territories “unless they have first been authorized in accordance with the Commission’s certification procedures. In addition, the FCC pointed out, its Part 95 rules procribe making “any internal modification to a certificated CB transmitter.” The FCC ordered Radio Master to immediately remove all unauthorized RF devices from display — including online display — and to cease marketing such devices in the US, or face possible fines and seizure of equipment. The Commission directed Radio Master to provide certain information to it within 30 days of the Citation’s release, regarding the online store of Radio Master. “A failure to respond in writing, or an inadequate, incomplete, or misleading response, may subject Radio Master to additional sanctions,” the FCC said. On August 15 the FCC issued a Citation and Order to DNJ Radio of Fremont, California, for violating its rules by marketing non-certified amplifiers and kits via its Internet website. In June, the FCC issued a Citation and Order to a Nebraska-based online retailer for illegally marketing unauthorized RF devices — including 10 and 12 meter amplifiers capable of putting out up to 8200 W.
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