Iota Thanks Yaesu
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Volume 73 No 11 November 1997 The Journal of the Radio Society of Great Britain Ri313113 O N LIN E: http://w w w.rsgb.org % eit ti 4111111> cliokie e 1, U IOTA THANKS Or tiE iroti/iit ,f)j) ke.t? iiiittz , VI (jilt -,, t ki'fri FT.50—&, i YAESU --/c›,, • ; - rI•Siti ''--"'-.:-;- .. 4. FT-iON Fr.43toiN pre•=4.- ,r-,,,, • -:...... FT-1 -vii FT4100 r '•..; 11M•715N F173641 . • FT•7:1.:1. el> M el b> _ «Bp ••• NEW FRO M THE RSGB OUT THIS MONTH Kenwood started making rigs in 1955. " 4 2 ears- I Iàt e haven't forgottorrwhy. You'll probably remember how and when you got interested in amateur radio. We do. It was in Tokyo, 1955. The amateur radio market seemed an obvious choice for a fledgling electronics company to become involved in. For a start, it was a natural expansion of the technology we were innovating at the time. Secondly, there would be some things learned from exploring this avenue that could help us in other areas of our work. Also, the challenge appealed to our technicians, who were spurred on by the thought of trying to make someone in the next country sound like someone in the next room. But above all, we got into amateur radio because we wanted to. Because we were enthusiasts. (After all, most people with even a passing interest in electronics have made a radio at some time or other.) And today, our passion remains. Whilst we've seen some manufacturers in the last 42 years turn on, tune in and drop out, we're still going. We've come up with some of our best products yet, including the formidable TS-570D. We've introduced fashion to the shack through a limited edition jacket. And we're trying every bit as hard as you to bring new enthusiasts to the hobby (take the Freedom of the Airwaves competition, for instance). After all, it's the next generation who'll allow us to continue our hobby. For information on the Kenwood Amateur Radio range (01923 212044 or fax 01923 212905) [email protected] KEN WOOD COVER PICTURE: Managing Editor Jun Hasegawa receives a plaque from Mike Dennison, G3XDV Neville Cheadle, G3NUG, at the Tokyo Production Editor HamFair. The plaque reads: "Premier Jennifer Crocker, 2E lENT IOTA Award. For outstanding service to the IOTA Com munity. Presented by the Technical Editor Peter Dodd, G3LDO RadCom RSGB IOT A Com mittee to Mr Jun Hasegawa, President Yaesu Musen, News Editor Radio Co m munication Tokyo, Japan, August 1997." Stephen Telenius-Lowe, G4JVG Features Editor N E W S A N D R E P O R T S R E G U L A R S Deniz Huseyin, 2E1EJQ Technical Illustrator 8 THE RADCOM LEADER 23 VHF/UHF NEWS Bob Ryan, 2E1EKS • General Manager Peter Kirby, GOTW W, reports a financial surplus. Production Assistant • Wai-Yee Man • g RADCOM NEWS 28 PROPAGATION Editorial Secretary • CDXC Plans Spratly Island Expedition • Attention Clwyd Clubs • Samantha Ralph • Masirah on the Moon • New LF Band Soon! • Insert • Young 29 HF NEWS All contributions and • correspondence concerning the • Amateur Looks to the Future • LF Nets on HE and MF • BARTG 1997 content of Radio Communication • AGM • WAB News • Wedmore Winner • BBC Experience Marconi 31 SWL NEWS should be posted to: • • RSGB's Name 75 Years Old • Datong LF Award • London •• The Editor Christmas Show • WACRAL Activity • 136kHz Band Next Year • 32 OSL Radio Communication Operate in ZF • Amateur Prosecuted • Microwave Round Table • Lambda House, Cranborne Road • Atoll Order • Meet the RSGB. Potters Bar, Herts EN6 3JE 32 HELPLINES Tel: 01707 659015 61 RSGB ACCOUNTS Fax: (Editorial only) 01707 649503 The RSGB Accounts for the year ended 30 June 1997. 33 107A RadCom Advisory Panel 84 RSGB NATIONAL FIELD DAY 1997 Peter Kirby, GOT W W Generally good conditions and weather meant this year's Field Day was 34 CONTEST EXCHANGE General Manager • enjoyed by all participating groups. Dave Lawley, G4BUO, brings us the Mike Dennison, G3XDV story of NFD '97. Managing Editor 77 73LF John Forward, G3HTA T E C H NI C A L F E A T U R E S T I 'Smudge' Lundegard, G3GJW 78 MICROWAVES Dick Biddulph, G8DPS Chairman, Technical and • 16 MAGNETOMETERS FOR AURORAL PREDICTIONS 80 SATELLITES Publications Advisory Committee • • gem The changes in magnetic field that precede an aurora can be detected Malcolm Taylor, GOUCX • using a magnetometer. Kevin F Scott, GM7WJL, describes the opera- Advertising Agent 81 DA7A STREAM a tion and construction of two types of this instrument. Marcia Brimson, 2E1DAY Marketing Manager 45 EXTREME NARROWBAND RECEPTION 86 CONTEST CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING Successful reception of very weak 73kHz amateur signals over a 393km All display and classified path was accomplished using extreme narrow bandwidths. Peter Martinez, 90 RSGB BOOK SHOP advertising enquiries (excepting G3PLX, describes how DSP techniques were used to achieve this. Members' Ads) should be directed to our advertisement agents: 52 EUROTEK 92 MEMBERS' ADS Malcolm Taylor Associates An all driven two-element delta-loop antenna, by Ruedi Werner, HB9RZ, Ashley Business Centre was described in OldMan, 10/95. Translated and edited by Erwin David, Briggs House, Ashley Cross 94 CLUB NEWS Poole, Dorset BH14 OJR G4LQI. Tel: 01202 735 999 94 RALLIES AND EVENTS Fax: 01202 735 585 54 IN PRACTICE Ian White, G3SEK, answers readers' questions on 'Mystery Power RadCom is published by the Transformers'. Radio Society of Great Britain as 94 GB CALLS its official journal on the first day 69 TECHNICAL TOPICS of the relevant month and is sent 94 SILENT KEYS free and post paid to all members Tuned Loop Transmitting Antennas • 'Ugly' Constructional Tip • of the Society. Antennas Here & There • Antenna Efficiency • MOV as Protection Against Supply Faults • Professional Morse Decoder • Comparing 95 THE LAST WORD Closing date for contributions, unless otherwise notified, is five Digital Protocols. weeks prior to publication date. P R O D U C T S 79 TECHNICAL CORRESPONDENCE All material in RadCom is subject to Technical Correspondence deals with a solution to the problem of earth editing for length, clarity, style, connections. 20 DISK AND BOOK punctuation, grammar, legality and taste. CHOICE D O W N T O E A R T H The RSGB has just No responsibility can be assumed launched two important for the return of unsolicited material new publications: the (if in doubt, call us first!) 35 NEWS FROM AMATEUR RADIO'S NEWCOMERS 1998 RSGB Yearbook and Compiled by Esde Tyler, GOAEC. 0 Radio Society of Great Cal/Seeker 98 on Britain 1997 36 THE "PILE-UP MONSTER" CD-ROM. They are Articles are accepted on the strict The story of one new licensee's first operating experiences — on a described by RSGB HQ understanding that they are not • DXpedition with a special event callsign! By Rosemary Barron, GI6ISQ . Staff. currently on offer to any other ors publication. Unless otherwise 38 SOLAR DATA EXPLAINED 56 SOFTWARE REVIEW indicated the RSGB has purchased There has been a recent explosion in the amount of data from satellites all rights to published articles. Neville Cheadle, G3NUG, which it is hoped will help us to predict auroras. Charlie Newton, Filmset by JJ Typographies Ltd, • looks at the latest Southend, Essex. G2FKZ, explains what the satellites are telling us. • Turbolog Station Printed by Southemprint (Web • management program. Offset) Ltd, Poole, Dorset. 40 A PORTABLE 3-ELEMENT 6M YAGI A lightweight antenna that is easy to construct with the minimum of RSGB membership 68 PRODUCT NEWS tools, and can be dismantled for transportation, is described by D A Reid, • at 30 April 1997: 28, 221 News from the amateur ISSN No: 0033-7803 PA3HBB / GOBZF. radio trade. RADIO COMMUNICATION November 1997 3 See our other adverts in this issue YAES11 PRODUCTS ' me_Yaesu , FT-1000MP/AC fet . Vet? good price. L still pays £199 towards your deposit! • _ oth --:»11_4rae.sf s aftd you will be e lfgpre4éi!'with Confirmed as the worlds best selling HF Base station, In a s U ery good. •-•< it's little wonder Yaesu are still the Number One man- -or ufacturer of Amateur radio products. HF &Siplelqiisceber, 400 le'Sfeont on MI bands. DSP e -Of as stalks/gull. Fel b (,iard optional. Did you know that most of the top CDXC DX'ers in the UK operate FT-1000MP's supplied by Martin Lynch? RRP: £19fr ML PRICE: £1499. Better still, until the end of November we're still Deposit only £38.60 & thirty-nine payments of £50. paying £199 towards your deposit, leaving Yaesu FT-8100 you less than £50 to End as a down The latest remote head dual band mobile. Excellent payment. PX characteristics (it ignores pagers) and display. Monster 310 memories and true dual channel (vhf, RRP: £2499 ML 1rM vhf+uht/uhf) receive capability. „ PRICE: £2199. Only £46.08 RIM £499 ML PRICE: 449. Only £21.04 deposit and deposit twenty payments of £25. (we pay the addi- e 6,* e tional £199 sixty payments of VL-1000 New from Yaesu. the VL-1000 is a solid-state Linear Amplifier that provides a full 1000 Watts output power on HF and 500 Watts on 6 Metres. It incorpo- rates a built-in High Speed Antenna Tuner with 2 Antenna Inputs & 4 switchable outputs. The Amplifier and Power Supply are separate units to facilitate easi- er installation. Yaesu VX-1R The smallest, tiniest. weeniest wireless in the world! Even if you:ve got a bunch of bananas for fingers, Yaesu have made the operation of this minute transceiver very easy to use.