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| Father-Son team operates the 20m FD Phone Station as main operator Jere’ KC7DXT (center) looks on. We didn’t catch their names, and if anyone knows them we’d like to hear from you. |
Participation was lower this year compared to last year due to conflicts for many of our members and guests. Those who were able to attend did a great job! A big THANKS! goes out to all who helped make Field Day a success this year. More Field Day reporting will follow in future issues.
Tom N2WLG operates 80 CW station late into the night relieving Lea AL7W.
Greetings one and all. Here is a quick update on the ARES activities within the county and District One. First off, the meeting schedule for the group meetings has two variations in it. There will be NO August meeting, and due to the holidays, November and December will be compressed into December 12 @ 7PM. Otherwise, we still will be meeting on fourth Thursdays @ 7PM. As always we meet at the Portland Fire Bureau’s Training Center, 4800 NE 122nd Ave just North of Sandy Blvd. Sessions last generally two hours.
Also, don’t forget that the 8th annual ARES convention is coming up on Oct 26th in Rickreall. The statewide SET is tentatively Nov 16th. Don’t forget the Portland Marathon on Oct 6th, this is an excellent training opportunity and I strongly encourage all ARES members able to participate, do so. Any changes or updates to any upcoming events will be put out on the nets and through club publications.
I have gotten several good responses to my question ‘what do YOU want to have as training topics’ and I am looking for more. Drop me a line with your ideas. My email is kk7ue@arrl.net and my phone # is 503 280 2283. Stay safe, remain vigilant.
-Eric Stephenson kk7ue
All hams are invited to attend!
(ARES is the Amateur Radio Emergency Service which provides vital communications during natural and man-made disasters.)
A board meeting is scheduled for Monday, July 22nd at 6:30. The meeting will be held at:
Round Table Pizza 6250 SE Foster Rd Portland(Intersection of Foster and Holgate at 62nd)
Talk in on the 146.840 repeater and 145.730 simplex
At W7NI’s urging, I’ll relate a rather embarrassing incident that took place many years ago with a crank-up tower I had in California. A little different twist, no pictures of guys looking at amputated finger stubs, but maybe this story will save somebody from serious injury or worse.
I had a lightweight 48-foot crankup tower on which I had a 2-element 40-meter beam. One pleasant Sunday afternoon, I decided to lower the tower so that I could safely do some tree trimming. The antenna had gone up quite easily, but I violated a fundamental antenna erection principal about keeping such devices away -FAR AWAY- from power lines.
When the beam went up, it was turned parallel to the power lines, providing adequate clearance. However, when I went to crank the tower down, the antenna elements were perpendicular to the power lines. And I had failed to allow adequate clearance in all situations. When the tower had been lowered about halfway, about 3 inches of reflector came to rest on the 12,000 volt lines at the back of the property.
Fortunately, I was wearing gloves while cranking the tower down, otherwise I might not be writing this today! I let loose of the winch handle, jumped free of the mass of the electrified guy wires that were sparking around my feet, and watched the antenna fry on the power line until the line finally broke, fell onto a chain link fence to which one side of the lower section of tower was guyed, vaporized that guy wire, finally hit a cement sidewalk and melted some sand in the cement. The tower telescoped the rest of the way down, but somehow remained standing, even though it had lost one of its lower guy wires.
When I went inside the house, I was greeted by a radio room full of smoke, fried rotor control box and charred eaves along where the coax was. The incident also knocked out power to at least 100 houses, as well as to a traffic signal at an intersection 2 blocks away, and while the power was out for 5 hours, there was a traffic accident at the intersection due to the signals not being functional.
When the power line separated and fell to the ground, it also nicked a phone line, wiping out telephone service to a good portion of the neighborhood. I was a pretty popular guy around there for awhile.
Lucky? You bet! I should have been fried, the tower should have come down, the house should have caught fire. The warnings you read about keeping antennas and towers away from power lines are actually there for a purpose. Proper guy points aren’t a bad idea either.
73 – Phil N6ZZ
Reprinted from Portland Amateur Wireless Association, Portland Maine Jan ’99 newsletter.
President George Bush has sent his greetings to all Amateur Radio Operators, acknowledging their role in emergency communications and in generating international good will. The White House letter came as hams in the US marked Amateur Radio Week June 16-23 and prepared to participate in the ARRL Field Day weekend, an emergency preparedness exercise.
“I salute amateur radio operators for your work on behalf of public safety officials,” the President said in a letter dated June 18. “I also commend you interest in communicating with persons in other parts of the world and learning about other cultures and countries. Your involvement builds understanding and goodwill around the globe.”
For the first time, Field Day will be open to participation by amateurs throughout the Americas and the Caribbean.
The President’s letter acknowledged ham radio’s “important role in emergency communications, assisting law enforcement personnel and other emergency services as they carry out their responsibilities.”
ARRL President Jim Haynie, W5JBP, expressed his delight at the Presidential communication. “I’m extremely pleased that the President has decided to recognize the accomplishments of Amateur Radio operators throughout America,” he said. “Amateur Radio is a real asset to America, and even more so after September 11. Amateur Radio has always played a big role in disasters and emergencies, and I’m very proud of it.” President Bush said First Lady Laura Bush “joins me in sending our best wishes.” Governors in several states have issued proclamations designating Amateur Radio Week or Amateur Radio Month.
ARRL Newsletter.
President - KC7GFX Ed Burress, KC7GFX@arrl.net
Vice President - K7ZSK John Pinkerton
Director 1 Year - WA7AXO Bert Younglove
Director 3 Year - K7RUN John White
Recording Secretary - vacant
Treasurer - W7PR Pete Rodabaugh (503)-771-1773, W7PR@arrl.net
Membership Sec. - KD7HDP Pat Kennedy, KD7HDP@arrl.net
Station Trustee - KI7GA Tony Thornton
Repeater Chair - K7RUN John White
Social Chair - Vacant
Publicity/Newsletter Chair - Vacant
Finance Chair - W7PR Pete Rodabaugh
Net Manager - W7PR Pete Rodabaugh
QSL Card Manager - VACANT
Editor/Publisher - KC7GFX Ed Burress
The July PARC Meeting will include a presentation on Amateur Television (ATV) by guest speaker Ed Mellnik, WB2QHS. Ed is the President of Oregon Amateur Television Association (OATVA). They operate an ATV repeater with the antenna at the 375 foot level on the KGON Super Tower atop Portland's West Hills. Their web site is www.oregonatv.org
Please join us and learn more about Amateur Television on Friday July 19th at 7:30 PM.
One Liberty Center 650 NE Holladay Street Portland, Oregon(A few blocks SW of the Lloyd Center)
Enter on South side of building, use the intercom to gain access to the building.
All hams are welcome to attend. Updates and changes will be announced on the PARC Net, Monday at 7 PM on the 146.840 Repeater. All hams are encouraged to check in!
All Hams are welcome to check in or listen to any Net
Kevin WA7VTD banging out the calls on the 40/15 Meter CW station using his vintage Vibroplex Bug during FD.
I’m told that Field Day is the chance we get each year to set up under simulated emergency conditions, and make as many contacts as possible in the 24 hour period. In a real emergency, a lot of things simply won’t go right, but you do the best you can. This year was no exception to that rule, and as a training exercise was perhaps the best FD I’ve ever been involved with. Early reports were that we would be down by several of our members due to schedule conflicts. We had some additional members who were unable to make it due to personal, professional, and work related emergencies.
My involvement with Field Day was no exception to the rule. While I was giving our local State Senator a tour of our operations and answering his questions, I received a phone call from Cheri who was at the bottom of Kelly Butte. The driver of another vehicle had run a stop sign and broadsided her mini-van. I excused myself politely and asked Bert Younglove WA7AXO to show State Senator Frank Shields around the rest of our operation and perhaps give him some time on the air.
I found Cheri sitting next to her car which was clearly totaled, Portland Fire and Rescue, Portland Police, and American Medical Response teams at the site. Also several members of the club who were on their way to the top were there offering support. The driver and passengers of the other vehicle were taken to a hospital as was Cheri. After a few hours, they released her to go home, and she decided to go back up to Field Day, although she wouldn’t be leading any tours or being “our gopher” as she originally planned.
Considering all the possible outcomes, I am very thankful after seeing the condition of both cars that no one was killed. Cheri is still having some pain and is going for physical therapy now, but the most important thing is that she’s still here. Seeing the professionalism of Portland Fire and Rescue, the AMR crews and Portland Police Department up close was impressive, but next time, I think I would prefer to watch it on television.
My special thanks to all the members of our club who helped out, both at the accident scene, and at the Field Day operations, keeping everything going while I was away.
73 Ed Burress KC7GFX
(This is the first installment of a multi-part article reprinted with permission of the author Peter O’Dell, WB2D. CQ Magazine April and May 2002)
I joined a local radio club last night. This is a club I had visited before but had not joined. As far as I’m concerned, if you are going to use the repeater, you should pay your dues. What I found amusing was the business-session part of the club meeting. “We are having problems with the repeater, and maybe it’s time to consider buying a new one….”I have heard this same discussion about a hundred times in the last 30 years, and there is good reason why this topic comes up again and again.
Have you ever listened to how hams describe their local repeaters? Not just the words, but the inflection and tone of voice. Sometimes it is done with the reverence normally reserved for deities (self proclaimed and otherwise). Just listen a bit and pay attention to how they are talking more than what they are saying. They talk about the repeater or the machine. As they mention it, their eyes glaze over a bit, their voices become softer, fuller, and you may even notice their faces becoming a little more symmetrical. You’ll have to look really close with this last one, but it is there. It is as if they are in love with the repeater. I think repeaters are wonderful, and I think ham radio would have died off if not for the FM “craze” of the 70’s. Old timers would snarl at the guys with handhelds and grumble, “this won’t last.” Excuse me? However, I also believe we need to recognize repeaters for what they are- a technological communications system that takes a lot of abuse. Specifically, it is an automatic relay station designed to boost the communications range of portable and mobile stations (primarily). The more you know about how a repeater is constructed, the better you can use it and benefit from it. This knowledge also could save you from sounding like a greenhorn, even if you are one. To be sure, there are many different kinds of repeaters around.
Most TNCs can serve as digital repeaters, or digipeaters as users often call them. You can also have single-frequency repeaters that use time delays for store-and-forward operation (the only common examples are a few amateur satellites). There are also ATV (amateur television) repeaters. Again, however, these are relatively rare. Let’s then limit the discussion to voice repeaters on the VHF/UHF bands. Most towns bog enough to have a post office of their own have one or more of these repeaters in the area. The one aspect of repeater operation that sets it apart from other stations is that it must, by definition, transmit and receive at the same time-all the time it is in use! The technical implications for this are profound. Many repeaters are exposed to temperature and humidity extremes, too. The typical site is often on a hill or on top of a tall building. Housing varies, but it ranges from a heated/cooled room, to a shack with a tin roof, to a metal box strapped to the side of the tower. “Heated/cooled” is a good thing…The poorer the housing, the more durable the equipment should be. There are four main sub-systems of a repeater – a transmitter, receiver, controller, and antenna. Each of these sub-systems has a set of “needs” associated with it that will set it apart from your home station. We’ll go through each of these.
The Transmitter
The transmitter has to be capable of transmitting for a long time without stopping. It transmits while you are listening, but it also transmits while you are talking. That is called a 100% duty cycle. The average off-the-shelf rig is not designed for this kind of treatment, so most transmitters are ones which have been specially designed and built for this use, or they are heavy-duty units “retired” from commercial service. Since the transmitter is always transmitting when the receiver is receiving a signal, RF isolation becomes a major issue. If any stray RF finds its way out of the transmitter and into the receiver – say, along power leads – it is going to degrade the performance of the receiver. Shielding, bypassing, and decoupling have to be bullet-proof. The only RF coming out of the transmitter must be that coming out of the antenna connector (theoretically, it should be that way for your home rig, too – not always the case, but it should be). Also, the only RF coming out of the transmitter should be that of the transmitting frequency. This sounds silly, I know, but you’d be surprised how many transmitters do have small spurious signals. At a repeater site it can be a disaster.
---To Be Continued Next Month---
PARC’s new Motorola MSR-2000 with shielding removed for viewing. The exciter is on the left, receiver on the right. The original power amplifier can be seen at the top, control cards and cardcage at the very bottom. A more modern design PA is being assembled for replacements in the club’s repeaters.
-Pete W7PR
We extend our heartfelt condolences to member Fred Winter on the recent passing of his son. Fred’s callsign, KD7T belonged to his only other son, who became a silent key at age 16. Please keep Fred in your thoughts.
NO7V Returns to Oregon
Former PARC President and Lifetime Member Steve Crouch, NO7V, has recently motored back to Portland in the motorcoach he and his XYL Jodie (newly licensed as KD7QQW) have travelled to U.S. in. They also have just returned from a tour of Italy, Czechoslavakia, Germany and Austria with other family members. Say hello to Steve and Jodie if you hear them on the air.
K7BT Enjoying New Home in Hawaii
Ron Mayer, K7BT, another PARC past President, writes to us from his new QTH on April 23rd 2002:
“It has been a year that we have lived here in Kaillua-Kona. It is on the lower slopes of Mt. Hualalai which is an 8200 ft volcano which hasn't erupted for 200 years. Just 100 miles away on the other side of the "Big Island" Kilauea continues on an 18 year eruption. At the moment lava has stopped flowing into the sea but we get the smell of volcanic at times.
My home is about 1200 ft elevation and a little cooler and damper than downtown at sea level. I look out over the Kona coastline and directly at the Kona International Airport which is about 5 miles west near the edge of the ocean. From this elevation we can see for many miles out to sea. This island is the southernmost of the Hawaiian islands and here in Kona usually a bit warmer than the others including Honolulu up on Oahu. Today was up to 86. Fairly dry but some showers up here. Things sure grow well. I have papaya, banana, avocado as well as garden veggies. Lots of bugs, too. Geckos and spiders all too common. No snakes but the mongoose is everywhere.
Living costs a bit high but there are bargains to be had. Food high priced but using bread machine and watching loss-leader sale items we get by OK. Being on a hillside where the road into this housing area is marked with a 19 degree hill sign means brakes don't last long. Just had mine fixed last week.
I haven't put up any outside antennas yet. There are some CC&R's but I could get away with some antennas. The local club not very strong -- they have a good 2-meter repeater on to of this mountain. I can also bring up repeaters on Maui and through links could talk to Honolulu on 2 meters.
Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on this island are 13,700 ft mountains that limit 2-meter contact directly to the other side of this island. 2-meters not very active here although in an emergency they do get used.”
QRU for now. 73,
Ron. K7BT k7bt@hawaii.rr.com
Bert WA7AXO shooting antenna lines as high up in the trees as his compound bow and keen eye will put the arrow. This is still the most expedient method we’ve found for Field Day antenna installation.
PARC has quite a number of QSL (contact confimation) cards that need reply QSL’s from us. If you would like to take on this task please contact Pete, W7PR. These are primarily foreigh stations we have worked as a club over the past few years.
New 220-band repeater is on the air
Our 220-band repeater is on the air. On Sunday, June 9, Loren Flindt, KB7APU, Frank Masure, KA7CGG and Wayne Schuler, AI9Q installed the CCARC new 1.25 meter repeater at the Memorial Hospital at 33rd and Main Street near downtown Vancouver. The repeater output is 224.36 MHz with a minus 1.6 MHz offset (222.76). The repeater is located on the top floor of the hospital in an area previously vacated by other radio services. New tower mounting brackets were fabricated by Loren to support the antennas. Lorens 440.775 repeater (tone = 136.5) and the new UHF link antenna for the clubs 2-meter remote receiver are also located at that site. The remote link will soon forward our 2-meter signals from the downtown area up to Mt. Livingston.
The new 224.36 repeater is designed for IRLP, Internet Radio Linking Project. By sending DTMF tones to the repeater, a connection can be made through the Internet to another repeater elsewhere in the world. We’ll have full details on how that works in an upcoming meeting and in a future issue of the Rocking Chair Copy.
The new repeater consists of two Tait 2615 mobile transceivers controlled by a NHRC-2 controller. The high quality commercial duplexer was manufactured by TX-RX. The vertical antenna is a Diamond X-2200 with an omni-directional gain of 7.8 db. The effective radiated power of the system is 94.2 Watts.
Other CCARC repeaters are 147.24+, 443.925+ (162.2) and 1291.06-. In north Clark County you can access the KJ7YG repeater on 443.125+ (100.0) from our Yacolt, WA site.
Several manufacturers supply reasonable cost 220 mobiles and HT’s. Older models are frequently available on Ebay at www.ebay.com. The 220 band is growing in popularity as more radios are becoming available with this band. The new Yaesu VX-7R hand-held radio also covers 1.25 meters but on low power (300 mw). The 6-meter, 2-meter and 70-cm bands will transmit up to 5 watts. Alinco makes a single-band DR-235T mobile transceiver for 25-watt operation.
Reprinted courtesy of Clark County Amateur Radio Club’s “Rocking Chair Copy” July 2002
May & June 2002
Date Net
Control Station
Check Ins
Traffic
May 6 K7ZSK
John
15
None
May 13 KB7TMH
Max
19
None
May 20 K7MBI
Mel
18
None
May 27 W7PR
Pete 15
None
June 3 K7MBI
Mel
16
None
June 10 K7ZSK
John
22
1
June 17 KB7TMH
Max
17
None
June 24 W7PR
Pete 16
None
July 1 W7PR
Pete 11
None
July 8 NO7V
Steve 19
None
More Net Control Stations (NCS) are needed. If you would like
to join those stations who are available to run PARC Net, or want
to learn more, please contact Pete, W7PR, acting Net Manager,
at 503-771-1773, or at W7PR@arrl.net
All it takes is 20 to 30 minutes per session you conduct. This
is an excellent way to learn the basics of conducting a directed
net, in a friendly setting. Give it a try.
A Big THANKS! to our current volunteer PARC Net NCS operators.
KD7HDP Pat
K7MBI Mel
W7PR
Pete
KB7TMH Max
K7ZSK
John
NO7V
Steve (When in area)
If you have suggestions or ideas about how PARC Net could better
serve you, or be improved, please contact the Net Manager. This
is YOUR net. Thanks for joining us Monday
nights at 7 PM on 146.84.
Patty Hopkins (left), Emergency Management Office of Portland Fire and Rescue stops in for a visit at PARC Field Day. Pictured with Club President Ed Burress.
Mike Schlabach KB7YVM
West Linn, OR
Namon Nixon
We're pleased to have you join PARC and look forward to meeting you on the air and at club activities.
Thanks for the Membership Renewals since our last issue!
Bruce, N7XB racking up FD contacts on the 20M PSK31 Station
