Read about a local Ham’sexperience at the 2008Dayton HamventionOn Page 5

Volume 17, No. 6Web Site: www.w4gso.org

June, 2008Editor: Tom Forrest, N4GVK E-mail: info@w4gso.org

The Greensboro Amateur Radio Association

Feed LineFeed LineProviding Amateur Radio news for the Triad

NEXT MEETINGJune 23

The next meeting of theGreensboro Amateur RadioAssoc. will be June 23, at theGolden Corral Steak House, 4404Landview Dr, Greensboro, NC27407, off Wendover Ave., nearSam’s Club.The program will be a Field Daypresentation by John Doggett,ARES Coordinator for GuilfordCounty.

Soccer TournamentRead about it on page 4

Story and Photosby Thomas Ray, III CPBE,W2TRRVP/Corporate Director of EngineeringBuckley Broadcasting/WOR Radio NYC

Please turn to Page 2>

The following article appeared in Radio World newspaperand is reproduced with permission. Visit radioworld.com.

Part one of a two part seriesFORT COLLINS, Colo. I had theprivilege of visiting a radio station in anunrated market. This station has had pretty much thesame format for at least 35 years. Itsimulcasts on six different frequencies. Ithas no ratings but is one of the best-knownin the United States. Its programming isused by millions. A great manybroadcasters literally set their clocks tothem. Welcome to radio stations WWV andWWVB, Fort Collins, Colo. It was my privilege to visit them because

Many Ham Operators Set Their Clocks by WWV and WWVB

Feed Line Special Feature

regular tours of the facility are no longergiven due to staffing issues and securityconcerns. My gratitude goes out to ChiefEngineer Matt Deutch and RF EngineeringTechnician Douglas Sutton for allowingme in to write this article (and my wifefor not killing me for dragging her to aradio facility on vacation). The National Institute of Standards andTechnology runs stations WWV andWWVB, located at the northern end ofFort Collins, approximately 30 miles southof the Wyoming border. The site is 390acres of fairly flat land. The soil, being mostly clay, is fairlyalkaline and exhibits good groundconductivity. You might not think that asoil of mostly clay would have goodconductivity, but the alkalinity makes thesoil conductive. There is not much in the way of“civilization” in this area, which isrelatively open prairie, though there aresizeable houses popping up around theWWV and WWVB location.

WWV building Our tour first took us to the WWVbuilding. Here, in a copper lined, screened room,is where the Agilent 5071 Cesium BeamPrimary Frequency References are located.These units, five in all, do not appear tobe special at first glance; they look likedesktop computers with time displays onthe front. But it soon becomes apparent that thefive units are connected to an elaboratecomparator and control system. This

system constantly compares the output ofeach of the five units and detects drift. The five units are also compared to theU.S. Master Clock located in nearbyBoulder. One second has been defined as9,192,631,770 cycles of the radiation froma Cesium-133 atom. The original U.S. Master Clock wasdeveloped by NIST in 1949 and was basedon ammonia. The ammonia time base,however, proved not to be much moreaccurate than the time-keeping method ofthe time, which was based on themovement of the earth.

One of the five Cesium time standardsand its comparator system at WWVand WWVB. The Cesium standards areall referenced to the U.S. Master Clockin nearby Boulder, and one will betaken out of service with as little as 5nano-seconds drift.

Tip: Make a Coax CoilLearn how on page 7

It’s About ... Time

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Page 2 June, 2008

Above, the time code generation room at WWV.This is a shielded room that holds the three —primary, secondary and tertiary — time codegenerators and digital announcers used for theWWV stations. At the right, two of the three

Please turn to Page 3>

In 1955, the U.S. Naval Observatory, incollaboration with the National PhysicalLaboratory in England, developed the firstviable cesium time standard. By 1960, thecesium standards proved stable enough tobe incorporated as the official timekeepingsystem of NIST. An international consensus in 1967 madethe number of cycles of radiation from thecesium atom the official worldwide timestandard and definition of the second. Overtime, as technology has progressed, theCesium time standards have become moreaccurate. According to NIST, the presentstandard, used since 2002, is accurate towithin 30 billionths of a second per year. Know what’s really cool? You can reachout and touch these units, and you canliterally touch time. These units are partof what we know as time here in the UnitedStates. Another interesting fact imparted byDouglas Sutton is that the cesium in theFrequency References needs to be replacedapproximately every 5–7 years. Much like the plutonium used in nuclearreactors, cesium will deteriorate andbecome unstable. The symptom of unstablecesium is frequency drift. When the system detects that a FrequencyReference is drifting, it will take the unitoff-line and inform the staff that there isa problem. Timing stability is to within twonanoseconds

‘The ticks’ A walk across the hall brings us to anotherscreened room. This room contains thetime code generators that drive many

functions at station WWV. First and foremost, they produce thetransmitter carrier frequencies of 2.5 MHz,5 MHz, 10 MHz, 15 MHz and 20 MHz.Yes, you can literally set your frequencycounter to these frequencies. They are exactand stable. The time code generators also producethe ticks heard on the WWV broadcasts;the ticks are five milliseconds of 1000 Hz.You can reproduce this sound using adigital editor. All the tones heard on the WWVbroadcasts, in addition to the time code,which is transmitted on a 100 Hz subcarrier,are produced by the time code generators. The top-minute tone is exactly 1000 Hertz.WWV also transmits precise 500 Hz, 600Hz and 440 Hz tones. You can tune yourpiano to the 440 Hz tone transmitted byWWV — and that was one of the useswhen the station signed on in its originallocation in Virginia. The time code generators also triggerRacom digital audio storage devices thatprovide the time announcements on top ofevery minute of every hour of the day. WWV has been using digital storage fora long time, even before it was fashionable.Douglas told me that the time codegenerator room used to be filled withindividual audio storage devices, eachtriggered individually by the time codegenerators. There are three time code generators inthis room: main, backup and tertiarybackup. There is also a homemade controlsystem based on Z80 microprocessors. This system monitors the time code outputand will switch to one of the backups if it

detects a failure in the primary. It will alsosense the failure of a transmitter andautomatically put the backup on the air.The system will page WWV’s techniciansin the event of a failure.

The transmitters A short walk though the spotlessworkshop takes you into a horseshoe-shaped hallway where the transmitters arelocated, two for each frequency. WWVtransmits with 2.5 kW on 2.5 and 20 MHz. WWV transmits with 10 kW on 5 MHz,10 MHz and 15 MHz. Primary transmittersare modified CCA AM transmitters;backups are Technical Materiel Corp. andare Navy surplus. The TMC transmittersare military-type transmitters and were

Continental transmitters used by WWVB. Each transmitter outputs 38 kW of RF, and each feeds a separate antenna.Together, the two WWVB antennas are fed in phase to form a directional antenna, concentrating the signal to theeast/southeast.

The variometer in the helix house, thebase tuning unit for one of the twoidentical WWVB antennas. This is amoveable coil within a coil, andautomatically adjusts for changes inantenna reactance due to wind andweather. Because the antennas areonly a fraction of a wavelength at 60kHz, the feed point impedance is verylow. The cable leaving the top of thevariometer carries 300 Amps of RF —for 38 kW of signal.

Page 3

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June, 2008

installed in the mid-1960s. The CCAtransmitters were purchased in 1990. CCA is out of business; Douglas statedthat, if the NIST stations are confrontedwith the unavailability of a part neededto repair a transmitter, he and the othertwo electronic technicians that work withhim would simply manufacture it in theirshop, unless the Navy happens to havethe part required in its stock. These transmitters are well taken careof, are not heavily modulated — thoughI did spot an Aphex Compellor in the TimeCode Generator room — and are inextremely good condition. Outside, the HF antennas are lined upall in a row. The antennas are half-wavevertical dipoles, with the bottom of thetower grounded with guy wire skirtsforming a ground plane, insulators in themiddle, and the top half of the towerdriven. The 2.5 MHz antenna is tall enough torequire aviation obstruction lighting. Ifound it quite amusing to see an AustinRing transformer hanging off the side ofthe tower to jump and isolate AC over thecenter insulator. Up the hill from WWV, we find WWVB,a low-frequency station, operating with50 kW ERP on 60 kHz. My first questionto Matt Deutch was regarding the use ofthe 60 kHz LF signal. My guess was that it was used primarilyby the military. Matt pointed to the walland quickly set me straight. The 60 kHzsignal is used primarily by consumers andsets the “atomic” clocks and watches thatconsumers buy. At first, this didn’t make sense to me.After all, given the size of a typical watch,I would have expected it to be tuned forthe HF signals. But the propagation of 60kHz makes it ideal to reach all parts ofthe country relatively reliably.

Time code My kids got me a Casio Waveceptorwatch, which receives the official U.S.government time via a time calibrationsignal from the atomic transmitter in Ft.Collins, Colo. The watch has provenreliable in setting thus far 50 miles northof New York City. It’s interesting to note that there is noaudio modulation on the 60 kHz signal.The time code generated is different fromthe time code on WWV in that ittechnically CW modulates the transmitter.

It takes 60 seconds to transmit an entireframe of time code, one bit per second.

Carrier power is dropped 17 dB torepresent a digital “one” exactly at thestart of each second, and the time thecarrier is low determines whether amark or space is transmitted. The station ID is accomplished byphase shifting the WWVB carrier by45 degrees at 10 minutes past the hour,returning to 0 degrees phase shift at 15minutes past the hour. WWVB has three Continental LFtransmitters. Two operate at any giventime, with the third being a standby.The two operating transmitters eachfeed a separate antenna with 38 kW. The WWVB antenna is interesting.One wavelength at 60 kHz is roughly5,000 meters long. Obviously, it wouldbe impractical to have a quarter-waveantenna 4,100 feet long. So the antenna consists of a drop wiresupported by four 400 foot towers,which also support wires forming acapacitive top hat. There are twoidentical antennas separated by 2,810feet, or one-half mile, or 0.17wavelength. Each transmitter feeds 38 kW to oneantenna each, which feeds each antennaa 1:1 power ratio in phase. This formsa directional antenna system whichproduces a 50 kW ERP signal that isapproximately east/south east for themain lobe. The short antennas have a very lowinput resistance, around 0.42 ohms. Thetuning houses, called helix houses,contain a relatively normal sizedcapacitor and loading coil to match tothe 50 ohm transmission line, and anextremely large coil, known as avariometer, to cancel the capacitanceof the antenna. The variometer consists of a moveablecoil within the very large main coil, andits inductance is constantly varied byan automatic control system whichmonitors reflected power at thetransmitters, as the wind can changethe capacitance of the antenna and causegrief. The variometer is huge, as is thecable connecting the variometer to thedrop wire. At 38 kW, this wire carries300A of RF. That watch of mine has tended to bereliable; there are only a handful ofdays, usually during the winter, whenthe watch cannot grab the WWVBsignal overnight and synchronize. I livein an area between two mountain ranges,and when a front moves into the area,the weather it brings along will

sometimes split and hit north and south ofmy location, with nothing occurring at home.

This makes for some interesting signalpropagation, particularly at low frequencies.I have noticed, though, that there are places,usually in hotel rooms here on the EastCoast, where the watch simply cannot grabthe signal. As Radio World reported in January, theNational Institute of Standards andTechnology, owners and licensees of WWVand WWVB, are considering putting an EastCoast low frequency station on the air. Theproposed frequency is 40 kilohertz, and Ipersonally think that this station will greatlyimprove reception of low frequency timesignals on the East Coast. There is some speculation that station MSFin the U.K. could cause some unintendedinterference to the WWVB signal, as MSFalso operates on 60 kHz, but my feeling isthat it is simple physics; New York is a longway from Colorado, and there simply isn’tenough signal strength to be fully reliable. Since my visit to WWV and WWVB, NISThas increased power on WWVB from 50kW effective radiated power to 70 kW, whichwill help with East Coast reception, but anEast Coast station would work out very well. Seeing the WWV and WWVB operationhas given me a slightly different perspectiveon the AM broadcast band and the directionalantenna at WOR. The facility is interesting,starting with the cesium time standards toseeing an LF operation. I can truly say that I reached out and touchedtime.

Many thanks to Tom Ray (above) forallowing us to use his feature.

Stay tuned for the second

part of this series to be

published in the July edition

of the Feed Line

GARA Meeting MinutesRegular Meeting Minutes

May 26, 2008The monthly meeting of the Greensboro

Amateur Radio Association was held onMay 26th at the Golden Corral restaurantlocated at 4404 Landview Drive besideCracker Barrel off Wendover avenue. Themeeting was called to order at 7:15 PM.President Chris Thompson asked everyoneto identify himself or herself.

Chris then asked the board members ifthere was any business to discuss:Roy Smith N4BYU spoke about the recentsoccer tournament that GARA providedcommunications for and the upcomingfield day to be held on June 28&29 at theSummerfield community center.Roy also thanked the volunteers whohelped with the triathlon at Belews Lake.Roy also mentioned that he saw in thepaper that C.W. Bovender had become asilent key. He had been a GARA memberin the 1990s. If you know someone whois not active anymore, give him or her a

call and say “Hi.”

Vice President John Strandberg AJ4BTspoke about the open house that theGARA is going to sponsor which will beheld about two weeks after field day atthe Lewis Recreation Center.

Engineering chairman Bob MorrisW0EG said that he had purchased a calldirector box to use at the repeater site soboth repeaters can share one phone line.He also spoke about the VHF repeaterhaving developed a problem at the end ofthe soccer tournament and this will bechecked out as soon as possible.We are currently operating on our backuprepeater.

Treasurer Ernie Wall NC4EW saidfinances are good and checkbookbalanced. Al Allred K4ZKQ gave thefinancial report stating that everything isin line with the forecast.

Gerald Donnelly KD4EQZ made amotion to accept the minutes from the lastmeeting. The motion was seconded andpassed. The minutes were approved aspublished.

Allen and Madeline Bradley arrived justin time to give the official soccer report.The tournament went well with no errorson our part as usual. They thankedeveryone who helped and presented anaward GYSA had given to GARA.They answered questions and gave somehistory on our involvement with GYSA.

John Standberg introduced JesseLindley, N4BFD, who gave a greatprogram on the Flexradio SDR 1000 hehas been using.

Bob Mays made a motion to adjournand Roy seconded. The meeting closed at8:15 PM.

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Page 4 June, 2008

Ham Radio Plays Vital Role In Soccer TournamentThe Wrangler Jeans / McDonald’s Youth

2008 Soccer Cl;assic was held May 24 &25 at various locations in Greensboro.

Once again Ham Radio operatorsprovided scoring reports to a centralscoring/command point at Bryan Park.Those participating in the event were thefollowing:

Madeline Bradley, KD4SVJAllen Bradley, KD4IUNAnn Gibson, N4AIGJohn Doggett, AJ4DVClark Doggett, KG4HOMMary Doggett, KG4ZQLJane Doggett, KG4ZQK(the Doggetts like to make it a family affair)

Bob Mays, KE4MOWBill Blackwell, KM5DWJohn Standberg, AJ4BTGreg Spencer, KG4UQVLarry Pike, KI4PRTRoy Smith, N4BYUChan White, KJ4ADX

Thanks to all that participated!

Right photo: ChanWhite, KJ4ADX and

Greg Spencer,

KG4UQV, call in

scores. Below, Roy

Smith, N4BYU works

one of the stations at

Bryan Park. Bottom

left, action during the

torunament. (Photos

by Tom Forrest)

(Photo by John Doggett)

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Page 5June, 2008

The "Nin th Annua l "DaytonHamvention by Motorcoach" departed theGreensboro area at 0730 hours on May15, 2008 chauffeured by Bill Lundy,NC4BL. Bill drives for several tour buscompanies and manages each year to rentone of the coaches for the trip. DeweyCorbin,W4DJC of Franklin, Virginia wasthe first one to board the bus at exit 141on Interstate 85 near Burlington. JohnpaulHarris, KI4ZVX, who lives near Asheboro,boarded with me at the Four Seasons Mallin Greensboro. In Kernersville, RickGrubbs, N4QLX, Keith Tucker, KD4KDQand Andy Tucker, KG4YGV joined us. Atotal of 24 ham operators were eventuallyon board with the remainder joining usalong the way in Winston-Salem, MountAiry, Hillsville, Va. and Wytheville, Va.

After a quick stop in Wytheville to fuelup the bus and grab some coffee andbiscuits from McDonald's, we were allfinally on board and settled in for the "nostress travel" by an entertaining andexperienced chauffeur.

Two videos were shown along the way;one featuring Jeanne Robertson, a formerMiss North Carolina, entitled "Flat OutFunny" which was taped earlier this yearat the Elon University Theatre. The othervideo was also by a well know comic,Carl Hurley of Kentucky.

A stop for lunch was made at a BobEvans Restaurant in the Huntington, WestVirginia area. Another rest stop was madealong Highway 35 near Winchester, Ohio. We arrived on schedule around 1800 hoursat the University of Dayton. In the lastfew years of the Dayton trip, Bill hasmanaged to reserve dorm rooms there forthe group. The word has apparently spreadamong the Dayton attendees as hams fromall across the country were staying therethis year. Our group was housed on the8th floor in the "South Dorm", a high-risefacility, and each unit has three bedrooms

with two single beds, a kitchen withrefrigerator, stove and microwave, andtwo lavatories, two showers and two stallsin the bathroom.

The dorm also featured a recreation areawith pool tables and two televisions forus to use while we were there.

On Friday morning, as on each of thetwo additional days, we ate breakfast atthe cafeteria on campus. After breakfastwe were off to Hara Arena, the site of theHamvention. As in previous years, thosewho wanted to visit the U.S. Air ForceMuseum were dropped off and picked upthere. Bill brought that group back to theHamvention around 1330 hours.

One of the best reasons for going onthe bus trip is that you don't have to worryabout parking. The group is dropped offat the front entrance in the morning andpicked up for departure each afternoon at1700 hours. Also, the bus is convenientlyparked near the arena so you can loadyour purchases during the day. Anotheradvantage of the group trip is that Billknows the best eating places and makesreservations for the group each day.

The Dayton Hamvention is the largesthamfest in the world and all of the majormanufacturers and dealers are here eachyear. And it's not just ham radio.Electronic equipment of all kind isavailable here, including the best dealsaround on computers, video cameras,HDTVs, and other electronic gadgets andgismos.

Unless you've been here, you can notimagine the size of this place. Truly, youcan not see everything in one day.Numerous annex buildings have beenadded to the original arena floor over theyears and there are acres and acres ofoutdoor space for "tailgate" vendors andflea market types.

As with any other purchase you areconsidering, be sure to shop around forthe best deal. The only item I was looking

for this year was a replacement batteryfor my Alinco DJ-V5 handy-talkie. Oneof the battery companies had it listed at$59.95 in their catalog. During theHamvention most battery dealers had thisparticular one on sale for $45.95. Ieventually found and bought one for$43.95. I also bought some "power pole"connectors. Larry King, W4VEN, whocould not make the trip this year, wantedme to pick up a Hy-Gain hf verticalantenna for him. He had done his researchon a particular model which covered 10,15, 20 and 40 meters and supplied mewith the funds to pay for it. I went to theHy-Gain booth the first day and got theantenna for Larry.

A few other Greensboro hams whocould not make the trip had me do someshopping for connectors and other smallaccessories. I took care of all of that thefirst day. The second day, Saturday, I justwandered aimlessly throughout thecomplex,taking in all the sights andsounds. As a general rule, I hate shoppingfor anything. But I took care of that thefirst day, so this was like an unguided tourof the facility and it was quite an enjoyableday.

Sunday: On the bus at 0700, stop at thecafeteria for breakfast and depart for homeat 0800 hours. We arrived on schedule inGreensboro at 17:45.

If you would like to take this trip nextyear, Bill is planning to do it again. Hewill be advertising in the SERA Journaland getting the word out to the local clubs. The cost this year, which included alltransportation and lodging was a verynominal $250.00 per person. You cancontact Bill Lundy by email at:nc4bl@surry.net. Let him know you areinterested. He will email everyone laterthis year with the details of next yearstrip.

By Jim Hightower, W4JLH

2008 Dayton Hamvention A Lasting Experience For Local Ham

Photos Courtesy Jeff Davis, KE9V; Panaroma Composite Art by Tom Forrest, N4GVK

2008 Dayton Hamvention

Got something you’d liketo submit - send it in -we’d appreciate it!n4gvk@bellsouth.net

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Page 6

Git urnewzhear

Ham HappeningsbriefsNEWS

Field Day is around the corner, June 28-29. Roy Smith, N4BYU, said that VEexams may be given, but you need to getyour information into either him atn4byu@bellsouth.net or Glenda atag4nc@bellsouth.net. It depends on howmany requests for the exam. Don’t delayand send in your request.

Get Well

VE Exams At Field Day

“The Feed Line” is ©2008 by the Greensboro AmateurRadio Association and published monthly. Our addressis P.O. Box 7054, Greensboro, NC 27417. The purposeof the newsletter is to provide the club and prospective members information about the club and amateurradio in general. Material and information shouldreach the editor by the first Friday of the month forthe next edition of the newsletter. Opinions expressedin “The Feed Line” do not necessarialy represent theviews of the officers, directors, editor or members ofthe Greensboro Amateur Radio Association. Materialmay be reproduced, provided proper credit is givento GARA.

President Chris Thompson, K4HCVice-President John Strandberg, AJ4BT

Treasurer Ernie Wall, NC4EWSecretary Greg Spencer, KG4UQV

Financial Al Allred, K4ZKQEngineering Chairman Bob Morris W0EG

Operations Roy Smith, N4BYUMember at Large Clark Doggett, KG4HOM

Member at Large Dave Touvell, KN4ZOAppointed Positions:

News letter editor and Webmaster:Tom Forrest, N4GVK

The Greensboro AmateurRadio Association

June, 2008

Information from Don Harris, W4BUZabout Rusty Hughes, WA4SAD.

Rusty’s wife Sue reports about Rusty’srecent fall, “ The wrist is more arthritispain and is now in a splint to keep it fromflopping. We are using a sling to rest hisshoulder. He is no longer able to walk onhis own, and I was not strong enough tokeep him from collapsing to the floor.Even the "soft" fall was enough to injurehim and he is pretty fragile now.”Rusty is suffering from Lou Gehrig'sDisease, otherwise known as ALS.”

Please keep Rusty in those prayers.Rusty is in good sprits. You can call himat 292-0227 and chat with him, or E-mailat rdh60@bellsouth.net and chat with himthat way.

SympathyIt is with sadness we report the following

deaths of friends and family among theHam community. Our thoughts and prayersgo out to these families.

• Coleman Wade "CW" Bovender,Jr., KD4KOX. became a silent key May26. He was GARA member during themid 90's.

• William H. Phelps, Jr., father of VashtiForrest, KA4DGS, passed away June 8th,after a long struggle with dementia and abroken hip.

• Maude Honeycutt, wife of BillHoneycutt, W4WRH and mother ofDavid Honeycutt, N4AXV, passed awayafter a long illness June 11th.

• Steve Rawls, K4SER, of Williamston,(Martin County) passed away June 7th.He was the trustee of the Williamston145.41 repeater and was a radio engineerof the NC Highway Patrol.

So I'm gearing up to get back on the air.I found a used Johnson LowPass filter oneBay. When it comes I notice theconnectors are black. That's good and it'sbad! Good in that they are silver platedbut bad in that I doubt the connectionquality.

I have this ultra sonic cleaner that Ipurchased at Harbor Freight for a songand a dance with a little green sprinkledin. I put half water and half Ammoniafrom the laundry department of thesupermarket in the thing and then danglein the end of the filter to just cover thebottom connector. It comes out lookingpretty good! So I dumped all my otherconnectors in they also came out lookinggreat after a little brushing up with astainless steel tooth brush! I figure to letthis connectors sit in the sun for awhile tomake sure they are all dried out beforeusing them.

Connectors andUltra Sonic Cleanersby Ray Swan, NV2AStrykersville, NY

If you're interested in one of those ultrasonic cleaners I paid something $59.00for mine. I had to return the first onebecause it quit on me after a few days. Isuspected line issues so I put one of thosecheap suppressor computer cubes in thewall socket and this one has given me noproblems. You should see what they doto eyeglasses, jewelry and other smallitems!

Found these connectors on eBay andthey were pretty cheap. Well they werecheap on both counts, monetarily andconstruction wise!

The adapters would not fit the PL259.I've never had an easy time of usingPL259's with adapters but this wasridicules. I actually ended up busting theconnector by using two pair of pliers andthe adapter was nowhere near seated.These are all I have to work with at thistime so I tried to fix them. I took out a7/16 - 14 tpi thread cutter and had to cleanthem all up! Now they work, but, I stillgot cheap connectors. HI HI

This month has been really busy forsome GARA and ARES members. ARESgot an urgent call to assist with a bike raceJune 21. the race will be starting atKernersville going through northernGuilford County.

The following weekend is Field Day,June 28-29 in Summeerfield.

Later GARA members will host an openhouse, with plans still in the organizationalstages.

Also planned for the near future is atechnicial class license “Boot Camp”weekend, with a tentative date Aug 9, 8-5 and Aug. 10, Sunday 12-5, presentedby various instructors.

Please keep check with the GARA(www.w4gso.org) and the ARES(www.guilfordares.org) web sites forfurther updates.

Special Events PlannedFor Local Hams

Got something you’d liketo submit - send it in -we’d appreciate it!n4gvk@bellsouth.net

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Page 7

Calendar of Upcoming Events

June, 2008

The engineering committee has been busy this past month trouble shooting a problem with the VHF2 repeater power amp.The amp apparently failed near the end of the soccer tournament and the back-up repeater VHF1 was immediately placed inservice.

Engineering Chairman Bob Morris, W0EG said, “It looks like the solder connection failed on the jumper between the finaland the filter board. I can see a gap between the jumper and the trace. The ceramic capacitor is coated with soot but most likelystill OK, as is the Teflon mica DC blocking capacitor on the RF trace. The area needs cleaning and then I'll re-solder thejumper.”

“Chris and I visited the site and looked over the amplifier in VHF2 and initially did not see the problem. We then briefly putVHF2 back on the air and it showed only 10 Watts output and began to smoke and smell. On second inspection, the problemarea was more obvious as we found a charred ceramic bypass capacitor near the power amplifier board output. We removedthe PA and I took it home for further troubleshooting,” Bob added.

The problem is still in a repair mode. More will be reported when the information is made available.

On page 5 of the May edition of the"Feedline", a statement is made that "Ourcurrent 442.875 repeater is not compliantwith control regulation". This is deadwrong, and here is why:

1)- There are three modes of controlacceptable to the FCC for a repeater.Namely (a) Local Control, (b) RemoteControl, and (c) Automatic Control.

2)- 99.999% of the time, the machine isunder the FCC Automatic Control rule.Courtesy of the RC-96 controller.Provisions have been made so that (i)the machine transmitter does not comeup on rogue input carriers (use of an 88.5Hz CTCSS tone on the input), and (ii)should somebody sit on his microphonePTT, and trigger the machine, there is a3 minute transmitter timer which willshut off the TX. Those two provisionswill eliminate 99% of the problems.

3)- Now, should the machine need to beshut down remotely (FCC RemoteControl rule - somebody is swearing onthere), this can be accomplished throughover the air commands which should bekept confidential to Control Operators,who are those individuals officiallydesignated in writing by the Trustee.When doing that, a Control Operator radio

Engineering Report ...

Letter To The Editorinstantly becomes an "Auxilliary Station",per FCC rules. It used to be that AuxilliaryStations could not be operated below222.1 MHz. Although this is irrelevant tothis case (input of 447.875 MHz), youcan now do that down to 144 MHz, asthe rule changed about 2 years ago. Thereare two (2) Control Operators locatedwithin a mile from this machine (N4DFAand K4HC). They will override anyother signal on the input of the machine,even on low power. I would estimate at90% the number of UHF repeaters whichare controlled on their input in similarconditions.

4)- And then, there is the last remedy.Should everything above fail, thereis still the third option, the FCC LocalControl rule. The two Control Operatorsmentioned above have access to therepeater site within 15 minutes, and theywill pull the repeater plug if it needs tobe. Within 45 more minutes, there aremore Control Operators who can make itthere and do the same thing. This is nota machine located on a tower platform at1500 feet above ground.

Need to pick the right battles.Arch - KT4AT - GARA EngineeringChairman 2002-2006

The N4QVI, 224.96 repeater has beensold to Harold Clapp, KD4TPJ of Julian.Jerry Kanoy, N4QVI, owned the repeaterfor a number of years. According toHarold, the Icom repeater was completelyoverhauled and a new controller installed.The machine is located atop the libraryon the UNC-G campus. There is a tone of107.2 to access the repeater.

Local 220 RepeaterUnder New Ownership

Parts needed:

2-Liter pop bottle (empty)CoaxSuper GlueBaking soda (you'll see why)

1) Wrap the coax around the pop bottle2) Adjust coax for neatness3) Apply superglue between the turns

The last step is the baking soda -- sprinklea pinch on a wet superglue joint andbingo! Glue is dry.

When you're done, open the pop bottlethen crush it to get it out of the coil.

Last step -- stand back and look at thebeautiful coil you just made.

73 de Ken Bessler, KG0WXWichita, KS (Via E-Ham)

• June 28-29: ARRL Field Day• July 12: Salisbury Firecracker Hamfest• July 26: Western Carolina Hamfest. Waynesville, NC - www.wcars.org/hamfest.html• Augist 2-3: Technician Boot Camp• Augist 8: Tour de Furniture

• August 30-31: Shelby Hamfest• Sept 6 & 7: Tour to Tanglewood 2008 Bike Ride• Sept. 20: Doggett Picnic, “Doggettville”• Sept. 20 & 21: Virginia Beach Hamfest• Oct. 12: Maysville, NC Hamfest

Need to Make a Coax Coil?Here's a Tip:

OTHER ACTIVITIES :

FIRST MONDAY – The Guilford County A.R.E.S.monthly meeting is held at 1002 Meadowood St. off W.Wendover Ave, in the EMS building, beginning at 7 PM.

THIRD MONDAY – at 6:30 PM The Guilford AmateurSociety holds their monthly meeting at the GreensboroPolice Western Sub Station at 300 Swing Rd in thecommunity room. Refreshments at 6:30 PM and thebusiness meeting begins at 7 PM.

THURSDAY – at 11:15 AM, Greensboro Hams gettogether for lunch. Thursday lunch group is meeting atthe K&W Cafeteria, 300 Forum VI Mall at FriendlyShopping Center. Talk-in is on the 145. 150, W4GSOrepeater with a 100 Hz. tone.

EVERY FRIDAY – at 8 PM (approximately) GreensboroHams get together for coffee at Guilford College (summerlocation till Daylight Savings time changes)• Hams at Hams every Friday afternoon, Cone Blvd.restaurant, at 5:30 - Talk-in on 145.150 repeater.

Area ActivitiesFOURTH MONDAY – at 6:30 PM, the GreensboroAmateur Radio Association have their regular monthlymeeting at the Golden Corral, 4404 Landview Dr,Greensboro, NC 27407, off Wendover Ave, near Sam’s Club.Please plan to gather at 6:30 PM for dinner. The meetingis scheduled to start at 7:15 PM

CLUB NETS:

SUNDAYS – weekly at 9 PM, the GARA News andInformation Net. This net features NewsLine and is onthe 145.150, W4GSO repeater. Roy Smith, N4BYU isalways looking for net controls. Contact him if you wouldlike to help.

THURSDAYS – The Guilford County ARES Net meetson the 145.150 repeater (100 Hz. tone) at 9 PM.

TUESDAYS – at 8 PM, the 2 Meter SSB Net meets on144.225 Mhz. USB. Chris Thompson, K4HC is the netcontrol station. (Not operational present time)

WEDNESDAYS – The Guilford Amateur Societyholds their weekly net on the 145.250, W4GG repeaterwith an 88.5 Hz. tone. Jim Hightower, W4JLH is the netcontrol.

Greensboro Amateur Radio AssociationP.O. Box 7054Greensboro, NC 27417

The Official Publication of GARA

Web:www.w4gso.org

FIRST CLASS MAIL

June 28 - 29, 2008