September 2009
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THE OHM TOWN NEWS Voice of the Bridgerland Amateur Radio Club September 2009 >>>>>>>> http://www.barconline.org <<<<<<<< PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE HAM PROFILE I hope everyone has had an enjoyable summer. Val Campbell, KE7QHT Fall is almost here and it seems that the summer al- by Brent Carruth AD7VF ways go too fast for me. As usual, I haven’t got all the things done on my list. Oh well, they will be there for Val's father was in the Signal Corps in WWII next year. working with radar in its earliest days. When Val was There have been some exciting things happen this young he enjoyed discussing radios and electronics summer. A repeater funding drive was started back in with his father who would explain these topics to him, 2007 to help replace equipment at the BARC repeater which he found very interesting. A neighbor, Lonny sites. Along with this funding and funding from the Paul (spelling?), W7DLW, gathered weather informa- VHF society and other outside sources, new equipment tion from the region and for Mt Logan was obtained. Some of the equipment around the world with his HF on Mt Logan was over 30 years old. The new equip- radio and reported the ment includes Tait radios for the UHF 449.625 re- weather on Utah State Uni- peater, Motorola radios for the VHF 146.720 repeater, versity's radio station KVNU a TE Systems 160 watt VHF power amplifier for the for Bob Welti (a well-known 146.720 repeater, a Rig Runner 80 Amp DC power weather reporter for KSL-TV distribution system, a News in Salt Lake City) Duracom 70 Amp DC when he lived in Logan and triple redundant power who is a USU alumnus of supply, a Telewave UHF 1948. Val visited Lonny's antenna for the 449.625 radio shack and found this to repeater, a SWR sensor be very interesting. He had alarm to monitor forward an interest in the radios that and reflected power on were available at the time, their capability was nothing the VHF repeater, and a like those available today. Years went by then one day Telewave VHF antenna in mid-2007 Kevin Reeve, N7RXE, called Val and for Mt Logan digipeater invited him to earn his amateur radio license, which he (digipeater is courtesy of did and received his current call sign of KE7QHT on the National Weather 11 Dec 2007. His radio today is the dual band Ken- Service). There was a wood TH-D7A. He choose this radio because of its lot of work in obtaining, configuring and testing the built-in terminal node controller (TNC) and its auto- new system. I would like to thank those who provided matic position reporting system (APRS) capability. donations and time to replace the equipment. With a separate GPS unit the radio is able to report its Also Bill Neville WA7KMF has his D-Star re- position, a great asset for LOTOJA and for many other peater fully operational. This system is only useable purposes. with a D-Star type radio or a DV-Dongle with a com- Val studied math, physics, chemistry and business puter. D-Star is a digital radio system. Bill’s repeater administration and graduated from Utah State Univer- is the first D-Star repeater system in Utah that has a sity with a degree in chemistry wanting to become a gateway to the internet. The gateway allows a D-Star chemical engineer. After graduation he met and married (Continued on page 2) (Continued on page 3) SEPTEMBER 2009 OHM TOWN NEWS Page 1 UPCOMING ACTIVITIES 2009 BARC Pot Luck Fall social — 10 September, 6:30 PM At 360 East 450 North in Millville BARC Club Officers ———–——– LOTOJA — 12 September ———–——– President Top Of Utah Marathon — 19 September ———–——– Cordell Smart KE7IK RACES HF Net — 19 September, 8:00 AM [email protected] ———–——– (435)245-4581 BARC Board Meeting — 24 September, 7:00 PM ———–——– Bear 100 — 25-26 September Vice President ———–——– Swaptober Fest — 10 October, 8am to 3 pm Tyler Griffiths N7UWX In Pavilion at Cache Count Fairgrounds [email protected] ———–——– (435)752-7269 RACES VHF Net — 15 October, 8:00 PM ———–——– Jamboree On The Air — 17-18 October Secretary ———–——– BARC Club Meeting — 14 November Tammy Stevens N7YTO ———–——– [email protected] RACES HF Net — 21 November, 8:00 AM ———–——– (435)753-2644 BARC Christmas Party/Club Meeting— 3 December 6:30 PM At The Bluebird Restaurant at 19 N. Main in Logan Treasurer Kevin Reeve N7RXE <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> [email protected] (Presidents Message Continued from page 1) (435)753-1645 radio to connect the repeater via the internet to another D- Star repeater or reflector. A reflector is basically a confer- Board Members ence bridge which allows multiple D-Star repeaters and Ted McArthur AC7II DV-dongle users from around the world to be joined to- [email protected] gether at a single point and whatever information is trans- (435)245-4904 mitted across one of the repeaters is repeated across all of the connected repeaters. To find out more about D-Star, Roger Ellis KE7HTE you can join the BARC DSTAR Users Google group and [email protected] ask questions (http://groups.google.com/group/barc-dstar- (435)753-7807 users). The repeater call sign is NU7TS (Northern Utah Technical Society) and the frequency is 449.575-. Some- Jacob Anawalt KD7YKO time this fall, the repeater will be moved to Murrays Hill, [email protected] which is southwest of Wellsville. At this location, the re- (435)753-9033 peater will have very good coverage to the valley and east bench. Newsletter Editor We have our end of summer BARC Pot Luck Fall so- th Dale Cox KB7UPW cial on September 10 @ 6:30 PM at 360 East 450 North [email protected] in Millville (Providence South Stake Center Pavilion). (435)563-3836 Everyone is invited to this social. You don’t have to be a member of BARC to attend this social. This is a way to Web Page Editor get to meet those voices you have talked to on the radios in person and have an eye-ball QSO. Just bring a food item Jacob Anawalt KD7YKO to share with the group. Please bring your own plate, eat- [email protected] ing utensils, and cup. Hope to see you all there. (435)753-9033 <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Answers to questions on page 8: 1-C, 2-A, 3-B, 4-C, 5-C, 6-D, 7-A, 8-B Page 2 OHM TOWN NEWS SEPTEMBER 2009 (Ham Profiles Continued from page 1) Radioskaf-2 is expected to be live for at least six months. Jeanette. He worked for several years as a senior chemist at Due to storage considerations, the two surplus Orlan space suits in Thiokol in process and controls. He liked the people he storage on the ISS were discarded via the Progress Cargo Vessel ear- worked with. lier this year. One of these suits was to be used to house the electron- ics for the upcoming SuitSat-2 mission; the batteries were to be Val enjoyed making the two-meter, three-element Yagi mounted inside the suit, solar panels attached to the extremities with tape measure antenna which was the May 2008 activity organ- the electronics, video cameras and antenna mounted on the helmet by ized by then Bridgerland Amateur Radio Club president Jacob the ISS crew prior to deployment during an extra-vehicular activity Anawalt, KD7YKO. Val participated with the Little Red Rid- (EVA), commonly called a spacewalk. The removal of the Orlan ing Hood women's century bicycle ride 7 June 2008 and space suits from ISS removes the "Suit" component of the deploy- worked with Bob Humpherys, KD7BHB, on Cache Valley net ment and the new name reflects the change in configuration. control for LOTOJA 6 September 2008. He really wanted to White told the ARRL that the ARISSat-1/Radioskaf-2 team, participate in other public service events but his health took a through Gould Smith, WA4SXM, made the final decision for the serious downturn. He has cystic fibrosis and had a life expec- satellite to be square, with solar panels on all 6 sides. "The team is mounting a 70 cm quarter-wave whip on the bottom and a 2 meter tancy of one year in 1989. He is now one of the longest living quarter wave whip on the top," she said. "All of the hardware and survivors of this disease. Jeanette has been by his side all these software goes inside the square, and cameras go on the outside." The years often not knowing if today would be his last day. Val experiment being developed by Russia's Kursk State University is and Jeanette's story is one of determination, indomitable spirit expected to be integrated into the electronics once the US-produced and of hope. equipment is delivered to Russia this fall. Breathing, and breathing easily, is a gift of life. For cystic AMSAT <http://www.amsat.org/> and ARISS pointed out that the fibrosis sufferers breathing is extremely difficult. Val required importance of this project to both organizations is not diminished. 6500 calories of energy per day just to breathe. One doctor "ARISS sees this mission as an important component of education likened it unto running a marathon 24/7. outreach, as it will provide an opportunity for students around the world to listen for recorded greetings from space, as well as learn Shortly after LOTOJA 2008, Val was fortunately placed about tracking spacecraft in orbit," White said. on a lung transplant list and he and Jeanette found temporary The ARISSat-1/Radioskaf-2 transmitter and receiver will be based housing in Salt Lake City where they lived for essentially all on a Software Defined Transponder (SDX) system.