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751A
''ITS WHATS INSIDE THAT COUNTS!"
A Modern Amateur's Delight!
All HF Band Transceiver / Special attractions include an elec-
General Coverage Receiver tronic keyer, semi or full break-in
Advanced Circuit Designs rated to 40 WPM, panel selectable
All M o d e s Built-in USB, LSB, 500Hz/FL-32A CW filter, and volume
FM, AM, CW, RTTY control-tracking sidetone. sSB trans-
missions are enhanced with an RF
S u p e r b Frequency Stability one year warranty. There's more! speech processor and tone control to
Continuous Duty Operation The IC-75IA's receiver boasts 105dB produce sparkling clear audio. PLUS
dynamic range for superb listening. there's a new rubberized tuning
Crystal Clear Signal Quality The 100%duty cycle transmitter knob for velvet-smooth tuning and a
Midsize Masterpiece! The de- defies abuse and delivers 100 watts full lineof accessories and filters.
luxe IC-751A includes more high per- stableand 'lean RF RF Power Control, Varies output
formance features and professional output. Reliability. Quality. One
independent of mic gain, ALC and
circuitry per cubic inch than any year warranty. That's ICOM.
speech processor action. Enjoy
other HF transceiver. Its smooth-as- All Bands, All Modes Included. maximum "talk poweru at any drive
silk operation and long-term reliabili- Operates 160 through I 0 meters, it's level!
ty produce the ideal contesting, easily modified for MARS operation,
To see the IC-751A, contact your
DX'ing, mobiling and portable rig. plus it includes general coverage re-
local dealer,
Owning an IC-751A truly means ception from IOOkHz to 30MHz. No
"Going First Class!" compromise, no comparison!
Unsurpassed Quality and 32 Tunable Memories. Store
Reliability. Ouality and Reliability is both frequency and mode informa-
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First in Communications
/ 101
ICOM America, Inc., 2380-116th Ave NE. Bellevue. WA 98004 Customer Sewice Hotllne (206) 454-7619
3150 Premier Drive. Suite 126. Irving, TX 75063 / 1777 Phoenix Parkway. Suite 201. Atlanta. GA 30349
ICOM CANADA. A Division of ICOM America. Inc.. 3071 - #5 Road. Unit 9. Richmond. B.C. V6X 2T4 Canada
All Staled s~BcIIIc~IIOIIS approxlmale and sublect l o change w t h o u l natlce or obl8gat~on All ICOM radlos slgnlllcanlly exceed FCC regulallonP lhrnfllng ppurlous emlrsions 751Al87
THE ALL NEW PRIVATE PATCH IV BY CSI HAS MORE
COMMUNICATIONS POWER THAN EVER BEFORE
Initiate phone calls from your HT or mobile
Receive incoming phone calls
Telephone initiated control. . .
~JEN!
, Operate your base station with complete control from any telephone
H Change frequencies from the controlling telephone
H Selectively call mobiles using regenerated DTMF from any telephone
H Eavesdrop the channel from any telephone
H Use as a wire remote using ordinary dial up lines and a
speaker phone as a control head.
The new telephone initiated control , = NEW FEATURE Connects t o MIC and ext.
capabilities are awesome. Imagine speaker jack on any radio. Or
having full use and full control of connect internally if desired.
Y *I# o r n i ~ ~ l i ~ - ( l ~c ocrli ~r i tn c l l c l l s c o n
your base station radio operating rlect Can be connected to any HT.
straight simplex or through any re- ,, F u l l v r r ? q p n ~ l ; l t r dt o n o d ~ . i l l n g (Even those with a two wire inter-
peater from any telephone! From PuISE, < ! l ~ i l l r l i :
face.)
your desk at the office, from a pay Can be operated simplex,
Toll p r o t ~ ~ c l l ~ i r i
phone, from a hotel room, etc. You through a repeater from a base
S ~ c r 6 . tt r > l l r ) / i ~ r r l r l i 3 coil^^
can even change the operating station or connected directly to
channel from the touchpad! Busy slqnnl ll%r;onn~~cl
a repeater for semi-duplex opera-
, D l a l t [ ? r i i ~! j l r - , f : o n n r c t
tion.
Our digital VOX processor flips your CW ~ ~ l c n ! ~ f i c ~ ? t ~ o n
conversation back and forth fully 20 minutes typical connect time
A c t ~ v ~ tt l yr n r r
automatically. There are no buttons Made in U.S.A.
T l m e o u t Ilm,?!
t o press as i n phone remote
devices. And you are in full control ,, T e l ~ ' p h o n c~ r i i l l a t r ~ ci .! o ! i l r o l
. . . , a ' , .
FV Dual Banders Channels 'X and "b" establish upper r . : m , - !.; !-! !:.,t,..l or UPIDWN keyson
and lower llrn~tsfor progranimable band
Once again, Kenwood brings you m~crophone.(Encode bullt-~n, optlonal
scan. Channels "C" and "d" store transni~t
another Dual Bander First! The TSU-6 needed for decode.)
and recelve frequenc~esindependently '.
TM-621A is the first 144/220 MHz FM
.
- ~,
-,- .,I*,: -I:.- ,'.,, I , , ! . , < # ! ! I , , I , , ir-:!,? ,-
.
l!:,?, ,r,,,>;,,. \:I!: ;;r,:d * !
i , ,
,/ $
;, !.~!.~!,
.
,'!.>'I
channels, extended frequency L f p r r!.,-r..: ,~...l,l,;i..irl,s,,,i.-;\.
!,.f;:!c,,.,.
publishingstaff
J. Craig Clark, Jr., NlACH
m . ~.-
- .
65 The Weekerrder:
..
w Looe rractice Oscillator KSMLD, page 36
asststant publ~sher John Pivnichny, NZDCH N Z D C H , page 65
Over the years, a number FCC actions have created a tremendous amount of controversy in the Amateur
field.
The latest bombshell is assured of being one of the most hotly contested ever. On August 4, the FCC
decided to reallocate 220-222 MHz to the Land Mobile Service. The roots of this action are in a proposal
made 18 months ago by the FCC Office of Engineering & Technololgy to "address a need to promote
spectrum efficient technology and reduce overcrowding in the commercial services." During the formal
comments period, thousands of negative responses were filed by hams, concerned citizens, the military
and other government services. In addition, Congressional resolutions against the proposal were working
their way through both the House 1Resolution -317) and Senate (Resolution -127).
Then from out of the blue, six months after the formal closing date for comments, the United Parcel
Service, filed comments in support of the FCC proposal. Even more remarkable was the FCC's acceptance
of the UPS proposal - it was as if they were prepared and had been waiting for it. Is the FCC saying
to us now that the dates they put on proposals are flexible at the Commissioner's whims? One must wonder
what kind of anarchy rules the FCC or where the pressure is coming from ...
What's even more scary is the thought that this could only be the opening battle in the possible war
to take away all of our frequencies. Chod Harris, editor of "The DX Bulletin" editorialized in the August
2 issue that due to lack of operation on the 30-meter band, it will only be a matter of time before another
service proposes to take it away from us. There is the possible threat to 160 meters from the broadcasting
industry. If they can move the band up to 1700 KHz, why not 1800 KHz, or even higher still? And what
about 450 MHz? We've already lost part of the band on the Canadian border. What's to prevent a proposal
to take all of the band from us based upon this action.
Now is the time to act. There are three ways you can help. First, write your congressional representa-
tives and senators expressing support for the concurrent resolutions now before them. Second, the ARRL
is urging all Hams to support a proposed amendment (see below) to legislation to freeze the FCC's rules
as of August 3. Send your letters, telexes, QSLs in support of the amendment to Congressmen Markey
and Dingle and Senators lnouye and Hollings at the addresses below. Finally, stay informed of all develop-
ments in this and all other actions that could seriously affect our hobby1
There's no turning back now! What couldn't happen has. If we do not stand up to this threat, who knows
what we'll lose next.
Craig Clark, NlACH
Radio Spectrum Allocation Amendment Spec. The Commission shall enforce the regulations, rules, and policies in
effect as of August 3, 1988, as they relate to the Amateur Radio Service in the 220-225MHz frequency band as defined
in 47 CFR Section 2.106 (Table of Frequency Allocations).
4 October 1988
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r / 103 October 198B 7
EXPLORING
PACKET RADIO
WITH KlSS
B y Michael Pechura, WA8BXN, CIS to implement any new features you might like to put
Department, Cleveland State University, E. in your TNC.
24th at Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44115 There are some problems, however. With KISS you
can transmit your own packets, but you shouldn't
write anything to the TNC when you're in KlSS mode
Learn more about until you fully understand the process. If you don't and
what you're sending send out packets with errors, they will probably be
ignored by the TNCs receiving them. They also might
and how it works be illegal, particularly if there isn't a valid identifica-
tion transmission. Transmission of valid packets isn't
really very hard, but it's important to listen and learn
first.
October 1988 9
The details of KlSS mode C-64 and IBM PC. Make sure this is also the case for
any other computer you might use.
Because KlSS mode is simple, the description of Just about any TNC that supports KlSS mode can
its interface is short. Once in KlSS mode, strings of be used with these programs. The difference between
bytes are sent by the TNC to the computer for each one TNC and the next is the set of commands used
packet it receives. The beginning and end of these to get the TNC into KlSS mode. The TNC used to pre-
strings are marked by bytes of CO hex. These strings pare these programs is a Kantronics KPC-2, which can
are called frames and they all have this basic pattern: be used with either true RS-232 compatible computers
CO YY XX XX XX XX xx xx ... xx xx co or the TTL levels used by the C-64. When using
where YY is the type of KlSS frame (normally 0 in another TNC, refer to its operating manual for the
frames from the TNC) and the XX's represent bytes necessary commands.
that form a packet. These bytes might be header infor- The simplest (and sometimes most useful) program
mation or data being transmitted in the packet. The that can be written for KlSS mode is one that displays,
first byte after CO is a cornmand byte identifying the in hex, the bytes the computer receives from the TNC.
kind of frame. This byte willl be 0 for data received from This program lets you see everything there is in a
the TNC for single port 1-NCs. frame, including the CO bytes at the beginning and
A minor problem arises when a packet contains a end.
byte that is hex CO. You must not confuse this CO with The program for the C-64 is listed below:
the one that marks the en~dof the packet, so the TNC
will never send a byte that is within a packet with the 10 PRINT CHRS(147)+ CHRS(5);:POKE 53280,O:POKE
53281,O
bit pattern CO. If such a byte does exist it will send
20 OPEN 2,2,3,CHRS(7): GET# 2,AS
two bytes, DB and DC, indicating that a byte of CO
30 PRINT# 2,"KISS ON" +CHRS(13) +"RESETu
is actually in the packet. This solution for the CO prob- 40 HS = "0123456789ABCDEF"
lem gives rise to another one - how to have the bit 50 GOSUB 100: A=ASC(AS)
pattern DB in a packet. This is solved by never send- 60 PRINT MIDS(HS,A/16+ 1,l) + MIDSIHS,IA AND
ing a byte that is part of i3 packet as DB. In its place 15)+1,1)+" ";
two bytes are sent, DB followed by DD. The situa- 70 GOT0 50
tion above is referred to as the transparency problem, 100 IF PEEK6671= PEEK(668) THEN 100
or how to tell data from delimiters. (It's much like the 110 GET# 2,AS: IF AS = "" THEN AS = CHRS(0)
programming question of how to put a quote mark 120 RETURN
in a character string that is enclosed in quotes.) Go through this program line by line noting the sub-
Frames sent to the TNC by the computer also use tleties. This will help if you want to convert it to
this same format, with some different values for the another version of BASIC. Line 10 uses a print state-
command byte. You must follow the rules carefully ment to clear the screen with CHRS(1471and set the
for solving the transparency problem given above. For character color to white with CHRS(5). There are sin-
gle keystrokes that could be enclosed in double quote
the present, concentrate on what you can learn and
marks for these, but since they usually don't repro-
do by just listening in KISS mode; don't worry about duce well in listings the equivalent CHRS forms are
transmission details yet. used instead. The two POKE statements set the back-
ground and border colors to black. While these colors
Programs for your computer work best on my color monitor, you may change them
It isn't terribly difficult to write programs for KlSS if you prefer.
mode. They can be written in most languages. My Line 20 opens the serial port as device 2. The 7 in
favorite program language is C. BASIC is a much more the CHRS(7) specifies 600 baud operation. The default
widely available language!, however, and the programs of 8 data bits with no parity matches the format of
given here will use it. data from the TNC when in KlSS mode. Because 600
Because the bytes from the TNC in KlSS mode baud operation has been specified (the C-64 may not
arrive at the computer at times determined by the operate reliably at higher speeds), the TNC must also
TNC, the program runniing in the computer must be be set for 600 baud operation to the computer
ready to receive them. Interrupt driven serial 1/0 is (ABAUD 600 for the KPC-2 TNC). The GET# 2,ASS
required. turns on the interrupt system. Any byte actually read
Two popular compute!rs for Amateur Radio are the at this time is discarded.
C-64 and the IBM PC, and its clones. Because some Line 30 sends commands to the TNC as if they had
of the syntax for BASIC iis quite different for these two been typed during normal use of the TNC. "KISS ON"
computers, I've provided listings for both machines. tells the TNC to turn on KlSS mode. This actually hap-
You can adapt the programs for your own machine. pens when the TNC is reset. Using CHRS(13) is the
lnterrupt driven serial 1/0 is standard in BASIC for the same as pressing the return key after typing KlSS ON.
10 October 1988
Next, "RESET" is sent to the TNC. Because there is output, run the program during periods of low activity.
no semicolon at the end of this print statement, BASIC Pressing the RUN STOP key will halt the program and
also sends a return character to the TNC along with let you study what's on the screen. (By the way, don't
a line feed which the TNC ignores. attempt to modify the program to send the screen out-
Line 40 initializes a string to the hexadecimal digits put to the printer. Interrupts on the C-64 are turned
used later to display the bytes in hex. off when it's printing and this prevents bytes from
Line 50 calls the input routine that gets one byte being received properly from the TNC.1
from the TNC as the character variable AS. The deci- The output may include a few initial bytes that aren't
mal equivalent is also put in the variable A. in KlSS mode. This is simply output from the TNC
Line 60 prints the byte received in hexadecimal form before it was switched into KlSS mode. Turn the TNC
by using the high and low order 4 bits of the bytes, off to get it out of KlSS mode.
each of which selects a character from the string HS. The IBM PC version of the program is structured
This method is used to print a byte in hexadecimal as like the C-64 version:
C-64 BASIC doesn't include such a function. After the
two hexadecimal characters are printed, two blank 10 CLS
20 OPEN "COM1:600,N,8,1,CS,DSSCD" AS 2
characters are printed. A single blank could be used
30 PRINT R,"KISS ON" + CHRS(13)+ "RESET" +
between the hexadecimal values instead, giving more CHRS(13);
values on a screen, but two blanks keep the values 40 HS = "0123456789ABCDEF"
lined up in columns. You may change this as you wish. 50 GOSUB 100: A=ASC(AS)
After a byte in hexadecimal has been printed, Line 70 60 PRINT MIDS(HS,A/16+ 1.1) + MIDS(HS,(A AND
goes back to get the next byte from the TNC. 15)+1,1)+" ";
Line 100 begins the byte input routine. It's written 70 GOT0 50
as a subroutine for convenience in later programs, but 100 AS = INPUTS(1.2)
could be included where called in line 50 of this pro- 110 RETURN
gram because it is only called from one place.
Besides getting a byte from the TNC, this input rou- Each line performs the same functions it did in the
tine overcomes two problems found in the use of GET# earlier program. Although BASIC on the IBM PC does
alone. The first is that GET# always returns immedi- provide a function to convert to hexadecimal, it gives
ately whether a character is available or not. Locations only one hex character for values between 0 and F.
667 and 668 are addresses of bytes in the input buffer Because this would cause variations in the spacing of
of the interrupt routine. When these addresses are the the output, the same method used to convert to hex-
same, no characters have been received. The loop of adecimal in the C-64 program is used again.
line 100 waits for a character to be received. The sec- The input subroutine that begins at line 100 is sim-
ond problem with GET# is that it gives a null string, pler in this version of the program, since the INPUTS
both when no byte has been received and when the function found in BASIC on the IBM PC does all you
byte received is all 0 bits. need it to do. The output from this program looks
Since a byte of all 0 bits is valid when dealing with much like the output from the C-64 version, except
KlSS mode, line 110 replaces a null character string that now there will be 20 hex values per line. It's also
with a byte of all 0 bits. You can do this because at possible to substitute LPRINT for PRINT in line 60 to
line 110 a byte has been received. Line 120 simply send the output to the printer.
returns to line 50 with the received byte in AS. Suggested modifications
Output from this program might look like the fol-
lowing: Now that you can see all the bytes in the frames
and have verified that the format is indeed as
C O 0 0 9 2 8 8 4 0 4 0 4 0 4 0 0 0 A E described, what next? You can get a copy of the for-
82 70 84 00 9C 01 03 FO 4D 53
mat descriptions of the various packet types, and see
59 53 20 69 6E 20 4B 49 52 54
4C 41 4E 44 2C 20 4F 48 20 20
how the bytes displayed fit these formats by decod-
57 41 38 42 58 4E 2 0 31 33 2F ing them by hand. You can also make modifications
42 20 20 57 41 38 42 58 4E 2 0 to let this program help decode the packets. Adding
31 2F 4E 20 00 CO CO 00 9A C2 everything needed to fully decode packets results in
D2 D8 40 40 00 AE 82 70 84 BO a considerably longer program (about a page long).
9C 01 03 FO 40 61 69 6C 20 66 There are a few simple program changes that will allow
6F 72 3A 20 41 4C 4C 20 CO you to see some of the content of the packets more
Here there are two frames, each beginning and end- easily.
ing with CO. Because the C-64 uses a 40-column dis- Try substituting the following statements in the pro-
play, there will be only 10 bytes per line. To study the gram. They will work in either version.
October 1988 11
60 IF A > =32 AND A < = I 2 6 THEN PRINT AS;:
GOT0 50
Model AC 4.8-30 1.0 to 30 MHz 65 PRINT ".";
SWRMax21 141ovemgefrom18to30MHz These statements print as characters the bytes that
Can be ~mtalled
Inopaox~motelyaOflspace are received from the TNC. Those that are normally
Ideal fm commetclal rewlces for rnultl h e
unprintable will be displayed as dots. Quite a few
antenna tuners m addltlonal antennas msnm
Handles 1 KW 2 W R P ICAS
funny-looking characters may be displayed, but you'll
Higher power models ovallobka on recognize some strings of characters that make sense.
special order. Contact w r
dealer cu f o c t w You should be able to recognize the text portion of
"7 -m,,,z. ;limn *mW<*" the packets that would be seen if the TNC was being
/0mOCLWI.I.D II
used normally.
Here's one output you might get while running on
IBM PC:
Model AC 3.5-30 3.5 to 30 MHZ ....@@@@. . . p.....M S Y S i n KIRTLAND, OH
WA8BXN-13lB WA8BXN-1 I N........@@...p ...... Mail
~lesrthan21horn35to30MHZ
Complete assembled Balun terrn~notedbdth
standard -239 connector
PowercapablllIy1W - 2 WPEPlCAS Higher
'1811;"
wRPING& ,-VI D L f f i
for: ALL .
p ~ w emodel
r on speclol or*
IS ava~loble ADD id W Note that the spacing on the screen will be some-
Designed tm 50 ohm feedllne what different. This output corresponds t o the same
Weother proof balunand balonclnon e w
bytes shown in the hexadecimal output examples
above.
Another change that you can make follows. Again
it will work with either version of the program.
60 A = INT(A/2):AS=CHRS(A):IF A > =32 AND
A < = 126 THEN PRINT AS;:GOTO 50
65 PRINT ".";
These changes will produce character output once
again, but it will look different. You should be able to
recognize the callsign portion of the packets (to and
from callsigns and digipeaters, if any). The callsigns
are shifted left 1 bit position in the packet, so the pro-
gram makes them printable by shifting the bytes right
I SMILE! YOU'RE ON TV 1 bit position (by dividing by 21. Sample output might
look like this:
Only '.ID .WA8BXN..x&),l.47.%$lX&' "..I$.. +
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MAC'S
'he 3CX80ua7
Varian ElMAC continues to com- 2'12 inches I(6.35 cm) high. Cool-
mit Its development of rellablc requirements are moclest
tubes for HAM radio. a ma)tching socket, air
- - -. . and
nney - --
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The new, rugged 3CX800A' ilable.
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ata shec!t and ml
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-?
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evervthine vou need to c o m ~ l e t cvour ham shack.
d - 2
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Heath Company 1
-- I "
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r
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,, , .. ' '
I
DESIGNING A
STATION
FOR THE MICROWAVE BANDS:
PAKT THREE
By Glenn Elmore, NGGN, 550 Willowside 1296 MHz-I0 GHz
Road, Santa Rosa, California 95401
in one compact
station
,
all of the microwave bands. You can achieve 1296-
MHz, 2304-MHz, and 10368-MHzoperation by adding
the signal mixerlfilters (a harmonic mixer with 1010-
MHz LO drive can be used on 2304) once circuits for zeo-zsounr
TRAYSK?RTER
zO.30uM~
WF TRANSCEIVER
the 100-MHz quartz oscillator, 1010-MHz coaxial oscil-
lator, and 10-GHz oscillator are functioning. Operation
is possible at 3456 MHz and 5760 MHz with the addi- Once the 10388-MHz station using the 280.290 M H z signal i-f
tion of an oscillator/downconverter and signal is built, 1296 and 2304 M H z are immediately available. The two
microwave bands in between, 3466 and 6780 M H z , may be
mixerlfilter. You can add more microwave amplifica- included by adding suitllble VCOs at 3170 and 5480 MHz, along
tion for transmit and receive on a band-by-band basis. with harmonic mixem and circuitry to convert their PLL i-f
Although Table 1, part 1 showed how to get on all to 20 MHz.
October 1980 17
standard (or ;he 1bO-MHZ h s t a l if it's operated
unlocked) by using another common phaselock board
and building a VCO at 260 MHz.
Obtain the W M H z PLL i-f by mixing the VCO out-
put with the third harmonic of a 100-MHz reference
signal. A standard double-balanced mixer (like an
SRA-1) works well because it's effectively an odd har-
monic mixer. A harmonic downconverter produces an
appropriate i-f for locking. The oscillator uses a junc-
tion FET. (Imake no claim that it's the best that can
be done.) It isn't necessary to have superlative spec-
tral purity in this application because, unlike the 1010-
MHz case, no higher harmonics are used for further
phaselocking; simplicity of design and ease of con-
Five-band operation is easily obtained using this phaselocked struction win. Even so, the spectrum of this LO when
transverter. locked is good, and doesn't contribute significantly to
microwave signal phase noise. The 260-MHz bandpass
the bands using the 1010-MHz signal, some of the filters and buffer stages are present only for isolation
alternatives result in inverted tuning (high side LO) and and to keep any reference frequency derivatives from
a 432-MHz i-f. If you include a frequency conversion showing up on the 260-MHz signal. If you take care
after the PLL harmonic downconverter, normal tun- to separate the PLL i-f signals from the main 260-MHz
ing and exclusive use of the 280-290 MHz i-f is feasi- output, any spurious signals are at least 75-dB down.
ble. Figure 1shows the block diagram for a five-band Photo B shows the oscillator.
LO. You don't need to construct additional phaselock You'll need a 40-MHz reference frequency to lock
circuitry; you can use the 10-GHz phaselocking circuits this oscillator. A 20-MHz ECL reference signal drives
for multiple bands as long as you provide similar oscil- a bipolar transistor frequency doubler, which drives
lator tuning sensitivities. To change bands, simply an extra ECL line receiver. These circuits are located
switch the power and PLL i-f to the desired oscilla- on the previously constructed 100-MHz reference
tor/downconverter. Photo A shows a phaselocked board.
transverter with provision for five bands, having little As with the 1010-MHz downconverter circuit, a 100-
more circuit complexity or size than previous single- MHz bandpass filter and amplifier keeps any lower fre-
band units. quency signals on the ECL output from passing
You can get immediate 10368-MHz SSB operation straight into the PLL i-f amplifiers through the har-
if you have a 148-MHz transceiver and proper refer- monic mixer.
ence frequency to give a 10220-MHz LO. However, All of the locking circuits are identical to the ones
you'll need a 280-290 MHz i-f to take advantage of the used before. Table 2, part 1 shows component values
potential multiband operation. Part 3 shows the cir- for the loop filter. Component values for the lowpass
cuits for the 260-MHz ohaselocked oscillator, and the
18 5 October 1988
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CAPACITANCES IN pF
EXCEPT OECIMAL VALUES IN r F
IODMHz AMPLIFIER
The 260-MHz phaselocked LO for the 280-290 MHz transverter uses a simple junction FET oscillator and two different amplifiers
- one for the signal mixer and the other for driving the harmonic downconverter.
1
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20 October 1988
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October 1988 21
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22 October 1988
40MHt
REFERENCE
TO 2 6 0 W r
LO BOAR0
- - - - -
280-290MHz
T/R
2~r""'
t
M4R-6 280-290MHr
BPF
" T.
i
280-290MHz
BPF
i
SRA-I
H MIXER
*TX i - l I M P OPTIONIL
PER RADIO USE0 TX
RX
OC
SWITCHING
CIRCUIT
pFb2 20-3OMz
T/R
-
TX
TR1*S
I I
The transverter uses a conventional double balanced mixer, broadband amplifiers, and appropriate filtering t o convert the
20-30 MHz hf transceiver to 280-290 MHz. Transmitlreceive switching is performed by PIN diodes and a dc switching circuit.
which provides bias for the appropriate stages. Transmit output power of about 0 dBm (1 milliwatt) and receive conversion gain
of about 8 dB is provided.
October 1988 23
RESONATOR OE T A I L
C,-4
5 5-IBpF
* I 6 BARE
-
TI
TI AMP
r - - - - - - - - ----- 1
OPTIONAL
I I SEE TEXT
I
I
I
-
SRA I
MIXER
2 [ / C C N T E R PARTITION
I
4 71 : I BFR-91 )
I I
- I I Z B O M H ~ @ ~ ~
LO INPUT
TRANS I I
0.001
PNPPPZ
OR S I M I L A R
T
I . - I"sc'flC11
: ..vc .ORCC
N o w available for m o s t I C O M .
-
KENWOOD, and VAESU radios and
accessories.
October 1988 25
The MARS is unconditionallystable, with better input
and output match. This is important because the 280-
MHz filter, if not the microwave signal mixer, requires
low SWR terminations for minimum ripple and inser-
tion loss. However, the MARS has lower gain at 280
MHz than the "resistor stabilized" MAR-8. This results
in a 0-3 dB conversion gain for the transverter with
the MARS, in contrast to about 8 dB with the MAR-
8. The extra gain with the MAR-8 helps the noise fig-
ure by overcoming the 280-MHz filter losses and inter-
stage amplifier noise figure. Measured overall, trans-
verter noise figure is about 3 dB with the MAR-8 and
5 dB with the MAR-6. If you use signal frequency i l P P 18 MHz
"iS RW 3 Cili ti*. 3 *HZ 5 W P
iTIlP
117
600 M H z
5PC
26 October 1988
91 stage which can be "programmed" for various feedline losses. Any band can now be selected from
gains. The values on the schematic are right for my the operating position by connecting the i-f from the
ICOM IC-751; it puts out about - 15-dBm maximum transverter. The local oscillator signals incur power
on SSB/CW transmit in transverter mode. If your losses on the way to the heads. But, excess LO power
exciter has more drive than this, you may need to elim- is generally available and microwave signal mixer con-
inate the stage or put in a resistive attenuator. As version efficiencies aren't much influenced by moder-
shown, the transverter puts out about 0 to + 3 dBm ate reduction of LO drive, as long as LO power is
on voice peaks of my IC-751. The PIN diode switch several dB greater than the maximum i-f power of zero
lets the full mixer output reach the receiver during dBm. Even at 10 GHz where losses are greatest, you
receive. If your station receiver has particularly low can probably locate the microwave head and antenna
gain, you could include another amplifier stage here. at least 10-20 feet from the operating position if you
This shouldn't be necessary for most applications use good quality coax. All that's required between the
using microwave preamplifiers. Even with a "barefoot operating position and the head for each band is the
mixer", the transverter as shown exhibits 8-10 dB con- connection of two coaxial cables, i-f and LO, and one
version gain on receive. This should make up for most dc power cable (where needed). This allows for con-
of the conversion loss from a microwave mixer. tinuing enhancements in the microwave heads,
The 280-290 MHz filter was designed to be easy to improved noise figure, and higher power amplifiers -
use and construct. The inductor is an extremely sim- without the necessity of impacting the local oscillator
ple and reproducible wire-over-ground plane. I was sections. Feedhordhead combinations can be quickly
concerned that most of the coupling between reso- exchanged using a single antenna during a band-
nators might be between the tuning capacitors them- change, if you provide a mount for a standard box at
selves, and too dependent upon construction tech- the feedpoint of a reflector antenna.
nique and layout. However, construction with a Because the 280bMHz transverter is electronically
number of different types of tuning capacitors switched, transmit turnaround time should be that of
produced similar results. the hf transceiver alone - unless there is a slower
mechanical T/R switch in the microwave head. Micro-
Other possibilities wave AMTOR should work with this arrangement.
Because this filter is the only block (besides the LO) Although Vcc may be indicated as 12 volts on some
which controls frequency, you should be able to obtab of the previous schematics, I actually run the entire
transverters for 144, 220, and 432 MHz by changing station from the output of a low-dropout 3-terminal
the filter elements. This might be attractive at 220 MHz adjustable regulator set to I I volts. This tends to keep
as a frequency doubler driven by the 100-MHz refer- gains and amplitudes stable, and allows operation on
ence could provide the LO. A 120-MHz phaselocked nearly discharged 12-volt automotive batteries. A sep-
VCO with a 100-MHz downconverter reference and 20- arate 5-volt regulator provides the power for the ECL
MHz PLL i-f would work for 144 MHz. The downcon- logic.
verter could be a conventional mixer. A fourth-
harmonic anti-parallel diode mixer with 100-MHz refer- Transverter construction
ence and 10-MHz PLL i-f would suffice to lock a 410- I built the 260-MHz VCO in the space on the com-
MHz VCO for 430-440 MHz operation. mon phaselock board allocated for the 100-MHz oscil-
lator and divider circuits. Because the board was made
Switching with lots of component-side ground plane, I soldered
Because of the number of possible bands, I devised right to the ground plane or mounted components by
a standard transmitlreceive interface - each with its their leads. Lead length was kept to a minimum. To
own microwave head (mixer, filter, amplifiers and TIR do this, use 118th or 1/16th-watt resistors, and other
switch). You should get full microwave output power physically small components. (I find that a large pair
on transmit, with zero dBm of i-f power. I chose to of tweezers is a great construction aid.) The lower
use Vcc on the rf signal line to indicate transmit; this impedance of the broadband amplifier stages tends to
allows "daisy-chaining" control. When the hf trans- make them less sensitive to parasitic capacitances,
ceiver signals transmit by pulling the NOT-transmit line which can be layout and lead-length dependent. Be
low or putting Vcc on its signal line, the 280-MHz particularly careful to connect directly the ground end
transverter amplifiers are turned on in the transmit of the capacitors and the coils on the 260-MHz band-
direction, and Vcc is passed to its rf port. As a result, pass filter. A clean, phaselocked + 10 dBm 260-MHz
the connected microwave circuitry goes into transmit. signal results if the phaselock downconverter and 260-
For this reason, hardware for each microwave band MHz amplifierlfilter portions are kept at a reasonable
can be located at, or near, the antenna, minimizing distance from one another.
October 1988 27
ASTRON Irv~ne.CA 92718
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October 1988 29
ceiver may be used, or the tenth of a 10-meter trans- field-effect transistors are currently the most readily
mitter. Hook up the 260-MHz LO and the station available and suitable devices. Recent volume produc-
receiver to the transverter. When you identify a suita- tion of 4-GHz N R O equipment has helped reduce the
ble test signal, couple it to the bandpass filter nearest price and improve the performance of these parts.
the interstage amplifiers on the MMlC side (280-MHz Gain elements aren't the only problem - losses in all
signal connector side). Tune the pair of resonators on circuit components whether lumped (like chip capa-
the mixer side for maximum response. Next, couple citors), or distributed (like microstrip transmission
the signal at the MMlC output side of the filter assem- lines), must be kept to a minimum. Another signifi-
bly and peak the other two resonators for maximum. cant problem (though not as noticeable at lower fre-
The transverter should now be roughly tuned and quencies) is radiation loss. Wires, lines, and connec-
operate on both receive and transmit. You can per- tions are no longer small in terms of the signal
form fine tuning to flatten the response over the full wavelength. Unless you take care to avoid it, a circuit
10-MHz range by peaking one of the resonators in can look more like an antenna than an amplifier. Build-
each pair on a 281-MHz signal and the other on a 289- ing a circuit on a 2-112" long circuit board at 10.368
MHz signal. If a 1290-1300 MHz transceiver is availa- GHz is comparable to building one on a full-size foot-
ble, generate these i-f signals by connecting the 1010- ball field at 40 meters. Packaging circuits at these fre-
MHz oscillator to a double-balanced mixer filter and quencies can be a challenge since cavities and
completing the 1296-MHz station. The Mini-Circuits resonances resulting from mechanical dimensions can
SBL-1X or TFM-2 mixers are only rated to 1 GHz for cause unexpected results. Can you imagine connect-
full specifications, but still perform reasonably well at ing one end of a coupling capacitor to a goal post and
1296 MHz. If you use this method, you can tune up the other to the 20-yard line?
the transverter on either transmit or receive. Ichose a NEC NE-710 for the input stage and a NE-
720 (or 2SK571) for the second stage. The 710 has
10-GHz amplifier lower noise and higher gain, while the 720 is relatively
This two-stage amplifier was the next logical step inexpensive. The 2SK571, which may only be availa-
in station improvement. Low noise amplificaticn ahead ble in Japan, is a bargain at about 500 Yen ($4 US)
of the mixer is necessary to reduce the overall receiver on the surplus market there. The 710 is matched and
noise figure on receive. Without it the noise figure is biased for near minimum noise figure while the 720
approximately: NF, = NFif + +
CEmix ( 3 dB). is matched for maximum gain.
Where: About 6 of these amplifiers have been built. Con-
NF, = receiver noise figure in dB sistency has been good with "tuned" gain between
NFit = 288-MHz i-f receiver noise figure in dB 15.5-17 dB and noise figure between 2.6-2.9 dB at
CEmiX = conversion loss of the microwave signal 10368 MHz, for the group.
mixer
Even with an amplifier you get the additional 3 dB Construction
because, unless an image reject signal mixer is used, Unless suitable microwave test equipment is avail-
the noise at the image frequency is converted to the able, you should construct this amplifier after a sta-
i-f and degrades the overall noise figure. The system ble narrowband 10368-MHz station is on the air.
noise figure can be essentially that of the amplifier Because it needs to be made carefully, the experience
alone by providing sufficient gain ahead of a bandpass gained in getting the downconverter and signal mixers
filter which passes only the signal frequency and not operational should be useful in completing this ampli-
the image. On transmit it's desirable to have more fier.
power than the few hundred microwatts the mixer The first circuits were made by "cutting and peel-
alone can achieve; gain is required to do this. Ampli- ing" the microstrip traces from a piece of woven
fier gain is worth more than low noise figure because double-clad 1/32" TFE (TelfonTM-Fiberglass-Epoxy)
it overcomes other hardware noise figure problems on board material. Rogers Corporation DuroidTMwith ran-
receive, and directly adds to output power on trans- dom fibers was used for the final version because it's
mit. This can mean 2-dB of station improvement for somewhat more uniform than woven board material.
every extra dB of amplifier gain. For these reasons, The woven board material can have a slightly differ-
the amplifier was designed to have a compromise of ent dielectric constant and shouldn't be substituted
good noise figure and maximum gain. for the Duroid.
Use the highest-quality 4.7-pF coupling capacitors,
Design considerations especially in the input stage. About 0.5-dB improve-
Neither low noise or high gain are as easy to achieve ment in noise figure was obtained by changing to high-
at 10 GHz as at lower frequencies. Gallium Arsenide Q capacitors from run-of-the-mill ones.
30 October 1988
I I
The two-stage 10-GHz amplifier uses a low noise NE710 in the input stage followed by a less expensive NE720 in the second stage.
Repeatable performance depends upon carefully quality bypass capacitors on the input and output lines
controlled grounding and component mounting. This to make sure no switching frequency signals get out
is particularly true relative to the transistors them- and contaminate the rest of the station electronics.
selves. The transistor source leads are soldered to the The SMA connectors flanges are soldered right to
circuit side ground trace, but front-to-back shorting the board material on both top and ground plane sides.
wires right at the transistor package and plated- The notch in the board lets the face of the connector
through grounding holes are present every 0.100" to flange be flush with the edge of the board. The pack-
maintain good grounding. Careful drilling and wire age is made from 0.030"copper sheeting cut to size,
front-to-back connections should work if a plate- drilled for the feedthrough capacitors or connectors,
through pc board process isn't available. The "half- and then soldered directly to the board as end and side
moon" radial transmission lines provide an easy way walls. The package adds rigidity to the relatively flexi-
to match impedances and connect bias at the same ble board material. Flexing can cause excessive strain
time. The bias wire can be a resistor lead or small wire and coupling capacitor breakage. Therefore, connec-
soldered right at the junction of the transmission line tor solder joints must be kept to a minimum. The SMA
and the radial line. I put a ferrite bead, held in place connectors are also soldered to the endwalls. Ground
by some silicone rubber, on each of these leads for the gate and drain the circuits of both devices until
insurance against lower frequency oscillations. The you complete the assembly. Carefully assemble the
other end of these bias leads connects to its associated transistors and coupling capacitors on the board with
feedthrough capacitor. Position the beads away from a microscope. Don't use a lot of solder. Take great
the circuit board and near the feedthrough capacitors. care with these components; once they're soldered in
A 5-volt zener is also connected to each of these capa- place there is little chance of removing and reusing
citors inside the compartment for static and over- them. lnterstage partitions can be made from 0.005-
voltage protection. 0.010" brass shim stock. Notch them just enough to
Figure 9 shows the circuit diagram for the ampli- allow clearance for the transistor package and source
fier and bias supply. The bias supply (designedby Bob leads. Carefully solder them in place after the side walls
Dildine, WGSFH), provided negative gate bias for this (with feedthrough capacitors and protection diodes)
amplifier and higher power transmit amplifiers during are on. The partitions should protrude about 0.100"
the 1987 10-GHz DX record attempts. The LM-10 above the sidewalls so that the covers can be soldered
allows good regulation without needing excess volt- on after you complete the tune-up. The covers for the
age and current to turn a zener diode on hard. Build interstage and output should have 20-40 ferrite beads
this supply in a separate shielded enclosure. Use good glued to their undersides. This suppresses package
October 1988 31
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XP-6BO whh Analog Meters $169.50 Slablllzed Crystal Own Dscllla1or. 8 Dlglt LED Dlsplily
BE UNDERSOLD!
COMMANDER I1 VHF
LINEAR POWER AMPLIFIER
October 1988 33
BOARD MATERIAL IS 1132in. D u R O I D ~
fig. 10A. The original pc board layout for the 10-GHz amplifier.
TUNER LOCATIONS
I LL Resistor Lead
FREQUENCY. GHz
I
TLl .083'W x .180f1 TL8 .22OS'Wx . I 8 8 2
TL2 .083'Wx.150'1 TL9 .083"Wx.2802
TL3 .078'W x .2772 TLlO .083'W x ,3502
TL4 .15'Wx ,1922 TL11 .O1 ' W x .250'l(Can be .210"L)
TL5 .039'W x . I 3 4 2 TL12 .O1 'W x .210'1
TL6 .039'W x 2 2 0 2 RTL .14!imRadius half-circle
TL7 .029"W x .3162 J1.2 Flanged SMA connector
I I
The measured gain and noise figure of a typical amplifier.
More than 15dB gain and under 3-dB noise figure is readily
BOARD MATERIAL IS 1 / 3 2 in. DUROIDT ' available.
34 October 1988
Summary a connection between the 9-volt zener and the 7-nH
inductor on the base of Q3. The drawing in fig. 2
Once the 3456-MHz and 5760-MHz local oscillators
shows this correctly.
are completed, further station improvements will come
Although the schematic of the 10-GHz signal mixer
in the form of better receiver preamps and more trans-
in fig. 11 is correct, the implementation shown in figs.
mit power for all the bands. I anticipate that the rapid
9.10, and 19 have an error in the positions of the sig-
bandswitch and good system modularity will provide
nal and the diode quad connections to the ring. Con-
a good contest station, as well as one which can grow
struction using the dimensions shown results in
with available technology. If you want to build a simi-
unnecessarily high conversion loss in the mixer at 10.4
lar station and try for an obscure record, QSOs on 16-
GHz. A corrected fig. 19 is shown here.
18 different Amateur bands in 2-3 minutes should be
possible with this equipment when augmented by a
longwire antenna for the hf bands and standard
VHFIUHF contest equipment. Another way to use this
approach is for 900-MHz band operation. Use a 620-
MHz VCO downconverted to a 20-MHz PLL i-f, with
n IOOeOMnz LO INPUT
FROM DOWNCONVERTER
BOAR0 MATERIAL 0 0 2 8 "
DUROID. DOUBLE CLAD
DIODE QUAD- HP H S C H - 6 9 1 2 OR
T l . T 2 - 9 TURNS BIFILAR
ON 1/4" VHF CORE OR
an anti-parallel diode mixer like the one used at 1010 4 : 1 T V BALUN -
R T L - 0.15" RADIUS. 6 0 . F 4 N
MHz. This would give 900-910 MHz operation with the J 5 - FLANGED
280-290 MHz i-f. CONNECTORS
J 6 - SMC CONNECTOR
I have ignored a couple of station components in 81
this series. Transmitlreceive switches are necessary
in any station using signal frequency amplifiers. Many
good units show up at flea markets and surplus stores.
I also haven't provided construction information for
@
a good ovenized frequency standard. Although the 82
October 1988 35
J MOBILE
:;p
TUNER
RG/JB
TO SWR
METER
I
I
WEEKENDER TO
ANTENNA '------/'
METER I
REMmE TUNER
FOR 75 METER
MOBILES I
CONTRDL BOX
36 October 1988
ing 12 volts from the ignition switch and routing it to
the box, I ran a two-conductor cable back t o the tuner
at the rear of my car.
A 20gauge two-conductor cable is all you need to
control the motor, as it draws only about 0.2 t o 0.3A.
Those of you who have automatic tuners in your rigs
have probably found that they are quite limited in the
amount of SWR they can handle; for those of you who
don't, this one will solve all your problems. I have used
VSWR response cuwes for the t w o capacitor values indicated.
three of these tuners in my car, my camper, and at
home at the base of my 3 5 f o o t vertical for tuning 40 inductance as you tune lower in frequency. On 80
and 80 meters. meters I was able to indicate a minimum SWR of 1.2
The tuner tucks away nicely in the rear of my car. to 1 at 4 MHz and 1.1 t o 1 across the band until I got
I have used this unit successfully in two automobiles t o 3.8, where it started t o rise again t o 1.2 t o 1.
with no additional changes. If you wish to operate on Increase the shunt capacitance t o 1200 pF t o shift the
40 meters, just change the shunt capacitance at the curve lower; change the cap to 1000 pF t o raise the
input to the tuner. Select this capacitor so you can curve (see fig. 3 ) .
tune the entire phone band with the appropriate induc- The last time I talked with Fair Radio there were
tance. On 80 meters I used an 1100-pF mica cap; on plenty of these tuners in stock. Let me know if you
40 you'll want to start with about a 500-pF mica cap. have any questions and/or enjoy this little tuner. '73
Remember t o tune your antenna at the top end of the for now and happy mobiling.
band with no inductance added, then increase the Article C HAM RADIO
*+ L,...$
c.
DATACOM, INT. HACTRONIX, INC. hll281-7773
Hwn
i
October 1988 37
HAM RADIO
TECHNIQUES
Bill Orr, W6SAI
2. Note that this height is much less
than that indicated in the layout of fig.
I.
A look at the ground- Although the execution of this
I
plane antenna ground system is slightly different from
In April I discussed "Vertical Mono- + VERTICAL
RADIATOR
poles With Elevated Radials" by
Christman, Radcliff, Adler, Breakall,
and Resnick.' Their work summarized I
c TOP V l E W
38 October 1988
the design shown in fig. 1, the con- I was advisable to obtain optimum Here's what Pat had to say about this
cept seems to be the same. Accord- results.'' conversation:
ing to Edward Laport, former vice In summary, G3VA points out that "He (Brown) told me that the
president of RCA and author of Radio the effectiveness of any vertical elevated ground-plane antenna was
Antenna Engineering, "All earth cur- antenna in providing low-angle radia- first devised in the thirties to meet an
rents should enter the ground wires as tion depends to a very marked extent early requirement for police communi-
displacement currents rather than con- upon earth conductivity. But an earth cations around 30 to 45 MHz. Its suc-
duction currents." system that really meets this require- cess was immediately evident when,
ment can't use a normal buried earth at the first demonstration, the trans-
Enter the ground-plane system because it should extend many missions reached well beyond the
antenna wavelengths around the antenna, in all anticipated service area. Now the
The antennas shown in figs. 1 and directions. important point was that the original
2 are similar to the conventional design had only two radials; however,
ground-plane antenna. Then why all when it came to marketing the design
the fuss? A closer look at the ground- the sales engineers reported that they
plane concept may clear the air. An could not persuade potential users that
excellent discussion of the ground- a two-radial antenna, with the two
plane antenna was given in the "Tech- radials looking like a half-wave dipole,
nical Topics" column by Pat Hawker, could possibly have an omnidirectional
G3VA, in the July 1981 issue of Radio radiation pattern. On the classic prin-
Communication. ciple that the customer is always right,
Pat points out that conventional George Brown and his colleagues sim-
wisdom (the ARRL Antenna Hand- ply added two more radials - and
book, for example) claims that in order everybody was satisfied."
to obtain an omnidirectional pattern, Pat's conclusion is that all that's
the ground plane requires a metal required for the ground-plane antenna
ground disc with a quarter-wavelength to function effectively is that the bulk
radius (fig. 3Al. The disc can be simu- of the horizontal radiation from the
lated with at least four straight radials radials is cancelled out - and this hap-
equally spaced around a circle (fig. pens with only two radials. This
38). This implies that, as with buried doesn't prove that four may not be
radials, the more above-ground radials better, but it is an indication that a
the better. It also suggests that such two-radial ground plane certainly
an antenna cannot be expected to serves the purpose the inventor had in
function efficiently with an omnidirec- - mind!
tional pattern with only one or two Solid ground plane having 11Cwavelength
radials. radius (A) can be simulated by four radials, Separating the two
Pat refers to R.C. Hills, G3HRH,
each 11Cwavelength long (8). problems
who asserts that the radial system of The experiments outlined in fig. 1
the normal elevated ground plane has Getting down to basics indicate that a radial system is required
little to do with the angle of radiation, The conclusion is that ground con- for a vertical antenna in the vicinity of
but only provides a convenient low ductivity is very important, but this the earth. They show that a low, but
potential connection for the shield of does not answer the puzzle of the elevated, system of radials is more effi-
the coax line. Hills states that the number of radials required. As G3HRH cient than a buried system. The data
radials are electrically very transparent pointed out, their prime job is to pro- of fig. 2 point to the same conclusion
and the ground below the radials is vide an rf ground point for the coax but indicate that a maximum of only
well illuminated by the vertical line and to bring the antenna system four radials need be used, as opposed
antenna, so the presence of a good to resonance. So why four radials? to a multiple radial design.
ground system is just as important as Why not five? Or three? Or perhaps Looking at Dr. Brown's comments
if the antenna were fed against one? with reference to his original design,
ground. Pat, G3VA, had the enviable oppor- it is safe to assume that his ground-
G3VA comments on Hills saying, tunity to meet Dr. George Brown of plane concept envisioned the antenna
"Here the casual reader would assume RCA, the man responsible for the mounted several wavelengths in the
that the use of four or more radials plus development of the ground-plane air. The frequency of operation and the
an extensive earth system buried in antenna. On Dr. Brown's visit to need for coverage to the horizon dic-
ground of good electrical conductivity England, Pat put the question to him. tated that as great a height as possi-
October 1988 39
ble be used. Two radials did the job in ing scheme like that shown in fig. 4.
this special case. Since the antenna This will permit the operator to switch
was high above the earth, the return - from the elevated ground plane (verti-
currents entered the radials as dis- cal polarization) to a dipole (horizon-
placement currents, and the conduc- tal polarization) from the operating
tion currents in the earth were quite .414 position. It might provide an answer to
low because of physical separation of the ongoing question: which performs
earth and antenna. best, a dipole or a ground-plane
-.
It seems to me that a ground-plane A 14 A /4
antenna?
I I
antenna for VHF and hf use, mounted
well above the ground, requires but The "Dead Band" Quiz
two radials for good omnidirectional Here's an age-old problem for the
GP-DIPOLE
performance. On the other hand, mathematics buff (see fig. 5). Engine
when the base of the antenna is A and engine B are on the same track
mounted close to the ground, the on a collision course. They are 60 miles
probability of return currents entering apart. Engine A is going 30 miles per
the ground as displacement currents I hour and engine B is going 50 miles per
is very high. hour.
Dr. Brown's original work on buried , A fast hornet starts on engine A and
~9
ground radials was done in 1936-37. As
Arch Doty, KSFCU, says in his article2
I flies to engine B, back to engine A,
back to engine B, and so on. Eventu-
"Dr. Brown's paper on buried radial ally the hornet is killed when the two
Remote double-pole double-throw relay
wires used with vertical antennas is a switches from ground plane to dipole engines collide. The hornet flies at 400
true 'classic' work, the excellence of antenna. miles per hour. Neglecting the turn-
which has established practices in the around time of the hornet, wind, and
field ever since. Unfortunately, its very other minor delays, how many miles
completeness discouraged further
research in the area, and the fact that
it considered only one of the several
possible methods of making artificial
ground systems was overlooked."
30 M P H --r
TRACU OF HORNET
-
-
cSO MPH
40 October 1988
talking S-meters, temperature, and battery volt- impedancematching network. The antenna's
age; any other
g
niyrav voltages can also be sam- linear characteristics give it excellent intermodu-
pled and spoken to the user. The PK8 increases lation performance, negative feedback, and a
to 16 the total number of external devices which low noise figure. Dimensions are 19-314" x
may be act~vatedfrom your touchtone com- 3-518" diameter; it can be mounted indoors or
products mands. Two alarm inputs allow real-time Macro
commands or may be used to execute alarm .;r '-*'"=y!@q
messaaes, whenever these alarm pins are
H A M PERFECT v 1.0 grounded.
The model PKB is priced at $149.95. For more
Action Software has released HAM PERFECT
information contact Enginwring Consulting, 583
a new MS-DOS program for the Radii Amateur.
Candlewood Street. Brea, California 92621.
The program will operate on all MS-DOS com-
puters using DOS 2.1 or later and 256 K of inter-
nal RAM. HAM PERFECT is menu driven and Kantronics KT series and
includes the following antenna design programs: 2.84 firmware option
long wire, vertical, inverted V, tuned transmis-
Kantronics, Inc. has introduced SSB, CW
*on lines, electrical length of harmonic wire, and
transceivers. There is one each for 80, 40,20,
dipole antennas.
15 and 10 meters.
A VSWR menu for system evaluation and out. The supplied lead-in coax is 25' long and
The Kantronics KT series features are noise
three DX programs - call area, grid selection, can be replaced by any length coax with PL-259
and bearing and d i i n c e - is also included. Call
blanker, 20watts PEP output, LED digital
readout of the entire bend in 100 Hertz steps, fittings up to 100'. The coupler terminates in an
area instantly locates any call area, city, or state N-type connector fitting scanners like the lcom
and receiver incremental tuning (RIT).
out of a data base containing 476 records. Dis- R-7000 receiver. Price including power adapter
Kantronics has also announced a 2.84 firm-
played are: distance and bearing, sunrise and is $189 plus $8 shipping and handling. It is dis-
ware option for KAM, KPC-4, KPC-1, KPC-2.
sunset times, and grid coordinates. Grid selec- tributed by Gilfer Shortwave, 52 Park Avenue,
and KPC-2400 units:
tion convens grid to coordinatesand vice versa. Park Ridge, New Jersey 07656.
Banery Backup for PBBS contents (0.0.
Bearing and distance gives great circle calcula- Circle CJlZ on Reader Sarvica Card.
"smart socket," and 32K RAM 62.256 are extra).
tions between any two points on the surface of
Protection of PBBS contents during soft
the earth.
reset (changing MAXUsers or NUMnodes will
HAM PERFECT sells for $49.00 and is availa-
not erase PBBS, battery backup not required).
ble from Action Software, P.O. Box 12519, Tuc-
Direct keyboard entry of messages into HamtronicsB 900 M H z
son, Arizona 85718.
Circle IJ)9 on Reader Sewice Card.
PBBS (limitedonly by RAM allocation to PBBS). transmitters
PBS subject field luser is prompted for a Hamtronics, Inc. has announced a series of
subject for message). transmitters for the 902-928 MHz ham band
Help available from PBBS and KA-Node
CODEMASTER O Morse (gives short description of how to use).
which complement the RW1 FM Receiver.
The new TA901 Exciter runs a minimum of 112
code software package Enhanced (JIHeard and (N)odes Heard. watt output, sufficient to run barefoot on short
Greenlight Sottware Development announces *KA-Node recognition of NETROMN network to medium length paths or to drive the new
CODEMASTERO - their new Morse code soft- nodes in its Nodes Heard list. LPASO1 Power Amplifmr. The TAW1 is basically
ware package. The program is IBM compatible All Kantronics customers who purchased a a r n o d i i version of the TA451 UHF FM Exciter
and designed for users, from novice to master. Kantronics TNC after March 1, 1988, are enti- but a doubler, driver, output stage line-up using
Key features include: tled to a free 2.84 EPROM. You must provide surface mount microwave transistors and capa-
Menu-driven program for easy selection and proof of purchase and request 2.84 when you citors replace the usual predriver, driver, and out-
use of all facilities. mail in your warranty card. Be sure to provide put stages.
One-touch online help function. the model, firmware level, and RAM pan num- The LPASOI Power Amplifier uses a standard
Windowed operating environment for simple ber. If battery backup of RAM is desired, the Bat- heatsink (as on the LPA 2-15 Power Amplifier
manuevering. tery Backup "Smart Socket" must be usedwith for the vhf bands) and a broadband power mod-
Escape key for interruption and backtracking. a M256static RAM! We strongly suggest using ule, which requires no tuning, to produce 8 to
CODEMASTERO is $19.95 postpaid and a 32K RAM even if you don't plan to use the bat- 10 warn output. It requires onw 100 mW to drive
available exclusively from Greenlight Software tery backup. Both of these are available at extra from the exciter.
Development, P.O. Box 2591, Eugene, Oregon cost from the factory. The TAW1 Exciter and LPASOI Power Ampli-
97402. Cost varies from unit to unit, and with the cur- fier are both available off the shelf at $28)each,
Circle 1310 on Raader Sewice Card. rent version level of each. wired and tested. (Because of their complexity,
Contact Kantronics. Inc., 1202 E. 23rd Street. these units will not be offered in kit form.) A 902-
Lawrence, Kansas 66046 for details. MHz version of the popular HamtronicsmREP-
New added feature card Circle 1311 on Reader Service Card. 100 Repeater is also available.
PK-8 for the CS64S Super For more information on 900-MHz transmit-
Comshack 64 ters, contact Hamtronics, Inc., 65 Moul Road.
Engineering Consulting's model PK-8 adds
Dressler ara 900 VHFIUHF Hilton. New York 144689535. A catalog of other
new features to the Model CS64S Super Com receiving antenna fm transmitters, receivers, repeaters, converters,
Shack repeater controller for the C-64. The PK- The Dressler ara 9M) is a VHFIUHF active and preamps for vhf and uhf is available. Send
8 option card makes user-defined talking meters receiving antenna capable of capturing signals $1.00 to cover postage or $2.00 for overseas
possible. Up to 2 meters per parameter file may from 50 to 900 MHz. The ara 900 cylinder has mailing.
be defined (up to 18). Inputs are provided for an etched circuit board, wideband amplimr. and lconrinuedon page 421
October 1988 41
The suggested retail price for the EX427 is
$315.00. For more information contact ICOM
America, Inc., 2380 116th Avenue. NEIP.O. Box
C-90029, Bellevue, Washington 98009-9029.
Circle 1303 on Reader Service Card.
42 October 1988
NEW BOOKS
ARRLANTENNABOOK
by Jelly Ham, KlTO. N W 15th Ell(*n
The all new 151h edlllon 01 lhls antenna classr represents oMr
NO years of hard work by edllor KlTD It s dwbled In stze loo
--Iran over 300 lo over 7W pages b1g1 9% l~guresand charts
m e r l u s ~about every sublec~~magtnabh Some 01 the h~ghl~ghts
are Chaplets on Lwp anlennas mul11-bandanlennas, low Ire-
quency antennas, portable antennas. VHF and UHF systems
coupllng Ihe antenna lo Ihe lransmlner and the antenna. plus pl-
en-I-y more Llke Ihe 1988 HANDBOOK and new OPERATING
MANUAL Ihe new ANTENNA BOOK IS golng lo be a smash hll
Order ywrs loday 151h edttlon 900 + pages @)I988
AR-AM SDnband $17 95
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by Owp h M a w WIFE
Nw~ceshave long wondered whal IS the 8es1 all around antenna
tor them to ~nslall Up unltl now, th~swas a d ~ n r u lquestlon
t lo
answer Almed at the newly licensed Ham. DeMaw wrlles lor Ihe
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OSL's are a very lmponanl pan of our hobby. All sorts ol
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dresses are belng added dally lor Hams In Ihe USSR and other
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DATATEL 800"
(ORDERS ONLY)
I ne verdicr 1s in and the opinion of HF Packet o~erators
is clear I b ST-7001
Packet,commun lcatlons world I! .es of the ST-7000 include:
her featu~
.:.-
c-I. c.
lulylvllly. d ~ l c c l l r cluding,
noise, and
H new runing indicator design assures auick
~nterferencecoupled with poor tuning
and accurate tuning of HF Packet si
indicators and simplistic phone l ii ~
e
modems contribute to the poor p e rformanc CD (carrier detect) and threshold level clrcutls
f pocket controllers on t"7 r. designed specifically for300 baud HF Packet
Work A sine-wave synthesized transmit tone
.. ,,
Ihe 5; 1-/UUU IS deslgned speclbcally to greatl)
generator assures minimum phase distortion
ond splcitter
nprove the 300 baud HF Packet performoncc
N f all packet and multi-mode controllers. Easily interfaces vvith all packet an(
echniques developed for our government an' --A-
,,, ,, , ,via RS-232C. TTL,
rr.n+r-llsrr
-
HA 1 COMIMUNIC.
..a
CORP.
-.om,-., ,
P.u. tlUh 505 ILUI W. R t N T U N K U A U
...AS,
I 1
Reader Service CHECK-OFF Page 118 v 124 October 1988 6
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46 October 1988
PAM TWO
By Ron Todd, K3FR, 7 Hillcrest Road, Windham, Maine 04062
Add output option menu into PATHFINDER to allow either case specific or global
access to this data file. The case specific feature
and file access functions eliminates the need to maintain a desk referencewhen
using PATHFINDER in a point-to-point mode. Global
for complete operating aid access lets PATHFINDER generate the world bearing
and distance report, or report all QTHs on or near your
grey line. I've added an expanded hard copy function
w
which is accessed through a second menu level when
hen I originally defined PATHFINDER1I you want printer output. The menu provides selection
wanted a programthat would bring together of either a chart or tabular format report of the latest
three major utilities regularly usedto map hf MUF run, ora listing of the current conditionsand loca-
operating activities: MINIMUF2,bearingldistance, and tions defined.
grey-line summary. Part 1 showed how these three
seemingly differentfunctionsall rely on the same basic Getting more Out
set of mathematical routines, and presented the core The chartingfeature of the expanded hard copy func-
program of PATHFINDER. If you've read part 1, you tion is, like the current list feature, built aroundthearray
know that PATHFINDER isa menu-drivenprogramthat MOUT which is loaded during each analysis run. The
reportsbearingand distance, home and target termina- current list option of the top level menu sent the data in
tor events, MUF for short and long path to the target this array to your printer. The charting option does the
specified, and the radial MUFfor a given timeand path same, but presents the MUF data in a simple graphic
length. Conditions may be changed and analysis form by tabbing your printer to a specific column. In the
selected at will to providea general view of propagation MOUT (36) array the index is equivalent to the indepen-
modesand conditions. However, PATHFINDER is cum- dent variable of the analysis, while the array content is
bersome to use because coordinates must be entered the analysis result for each increment of the independent
manually. variable. Choose the hard copy report function after
The ARRL Antenna Handbook is a handy reference each MUF run to get your report. The tabular report is
for your target coordinate^.^ At the back of the book is still presentedon screenas the analysisis running, so you
a listing of DXCC countries with their geographic coor- can choose to output the report or run further analyses
dinates. But, when using a reference table of location until you have one you want to keep.
coordinates, there's still the chance that you might enter Those of you usingthe hardcopy function havenoted
a coordinate incorrectly and waste time rerunning a that the conditions under which the MUF is reported
simulation. There are two other features PATHFINDER aren't listedto the printer. A third option isaddedto the
might provideonce you've establisheda latitude/longi- new hard copy second level menu to allow printout of
tude data file. Theseare a globalsummary report of grey- this information. With only the output enhancements
line conditionsfrom your home location toany location added, the new top level menu looks like:
in the data file which has terminator concurrency, and Opt: 1 = Input 2 = Anal 3 = Output 4 = Quit
a summary listing of bearingand distancefrom the home and the output function select menu shows the selec-
QTH to all locations in the data file. tions available:
This month I'llgive you a programto generatea data Opt: 0 =Top 1 =Table 2 = Chart 3 = Data
file of prefix, location name, and geographic coor- Figure 1gives the steps and lines required to add
dinates. I'll also include the appropriate code to insert these featurestoyour copy of PATHFINDER, along with
October 1988 47
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Ilodlficatlon. to FATWIINOCR to add chart and data Outpot to
line printer routines.
.
e1
p line 200 rlth:
200 INPUT "Opt: 1-Input 1-Anal 3-Output 4-Qult ";I0
I ~odif1c.tlon.
Change 1ln.m
to P m r I N D l R to mc.1.r.t.
1300 and 1310 to,
1300 NO-NIX L O - L ~ , aosu. 51ooi r u i n 'at home an'i
GRIY-LINI eomput.tIon.
W ~ U loo0
.
1310 o u u a 84201 NO-1121 L O - ~ a r WUU. 51001 PRINT . ~ t t u g am.
~ e p l a e e 1ln.a
290
290 thru 320 with:
INPUT 'Opt, 0-Top 1-Table 2-Chart 3-Dats"110
1 Replac. 11n.s 5000 thrv 5040 rlthi
I .
I
don't use your word processor for this task, input new 340 I? LENIB$I-0 TREN 330 ELSE 750
400 W S U B lOOl I? EO?11) T?EN 760 'DELKTE RECORD
lines to your BASIC rather than using its RENUM com- 410 INPUT "DELETE PIEPIX: ~ P Y S :WSUB 900: I T ~ o r ( 1 1 THEN 160
The grey-line daylight characterization routine in Program to create or edit a sequential data file.
PATHFINDER wasn't optimizedin the original version.
This makes littledifferencewhen yau're doing individual
specific grey-line evaluations, but will slow down the was that you had to know the geographic coordinates
grey-line summary when it's added. Figure 2 shows of the target station. Many serious DXers keep a listing
modificationsthat create a separatesubroutineto com- of bearing and distance informationbn their desks, or
pute the solar events and mergethis routine into the one use some other operating aid to help point their
needed to determine the solar driven parameters for antennas. Sometimes these indexes include the geo-
MUF computations. Again, the changes may be done graphic coordir~ates at the locationof interest; often they
with your word processorworking on an ASCII version do not. Your computer gives you an excellentcard box
of the program. in which to keepthis information. Next, I'lltell you how
to get this information into PATHFINDER.
Data makes THE difference Your compulter keeps its information in files on tape
PATHFINDER'Sprime limitation in its original form or disk. When you save program data to one of these
October 1988 49
files, the operating system arranges and catalogs the name), separateeachfield with a comma, and terminate
data for you so that you can find it later. Generally there each linewith a carriage return. GENDAT may not beas
are two types of files used for this information storage: fast or as flexible as a word processor, but it does order
sequentialand random. Sequential files can usually hold and delimit the data for you. If you do use a word proces-
any type of information in any order, but data must be sor, make sure you build a small program to create the
accessed in the same order aswritten from beginningto key file. The code for this is in lines 1000-1090of GEN-
end. Randomfiles can be accessed at will, but may con- DAT.BAS. Without the key file, PATHFINDER will
tain only strings (characterdata) of fixed format. While either fail to function or, at the very least, will take more
random files allow quicker access to data storeddeep in time in finding a OTH for you. If you are a good typist and
the file, more complex operations are usually required feel comfortable with your word processor then go
to get the data into and out of it. Additionally, some ahead and use it; otherwise, I highly recommend that
dialectsof BASIC don't even implement random access you key in and use GENDAT.
files. I'll present only code to generate and access Whichever way you choose to create your data file,
sequential files. the prefixmustuse capitalsforallitsalphabetic charac-
When generatingyour data file, you can choose from ters! Another thing to remember when preparing your
several sources of geographic coordinates to createthe data file is that you must group all locations according
locations contained in that file. My own data file was to the first character of the prefix (allG's together, all U's
taken from Overbeck and Steffen.4 In addition to the together, all l's, etc.) Though it's not necessary to
ARRL publication mentioned previously, a world atlas arrange these groups alphabetically, it'seasier to do so
(likethose publishedby the Rand McNally Company or as the searching process will run a little faster and the
EncyclopediaBritannica, Inc. can provide a source for bearingldistanceand grey-line summarieswill print out
the data you need. Your local library should have one of in order. I haven't worked out a simple way to access a
these references. country without an assigned prefix (Abu-ail), so you'll
The listing in fig. 3is the codefor GENDAT.BAS. This have to code it as some strange numeric or alphabetic
program creates and edits a sequential file called LAT- call; try "ABU" for instance. Do not, however, use an
LONG.DATthat will hold thedata PATHFINDER needs asterisk (+I for these calls; GENDATusesthis character
to set a target QTH. At the end of the program, GENDAT as a default to terminate searches.
readsthe file just edited and createsa key listingfile. This
file tells PATHFINDER approximately where in the data The keys to the kingdom
file it can find the prefix you enter, based on the first Now that you have data and key files, how does
character of that prefix. The program requiresthat both PATHFINDER usethis informationtoset QTHs?Inorder
LATLONG.KEY and LATLONG.DAT beon thedefault to minimize the search time on the sequential LAT-
disk. This must be the same disk you are using to run LONG.DAT file, I have implemented a key file called
PATHFINDER and BASIC. LATLONG.KEY. This file has up to 36 integer pairs
GENDAT prompts you for the information it needs to which tell PATHFINDER how far into the data file it must
build the data file. At the end of each entry, you'll be read before reaching an entry with the same first charac-
askedtoverify the informationyou have supplied before ter as the prefix you're looking for. The keys are based
the data is written to disk. Take this step seriously; any on an ordinal value assignedto the lettersof the alphabet
error in the data will reflect on PATHFINDER1saccuracy. and the numerals (lettersfrom 0-25and numeralsfrom
Select NEW (item5) at the first menu prompt the first 26-35).The first integer in the pair isthe ordinalvalue of
time you run GENDAT. This assures the program that the first letterlnumber of the prefix; the second integer
it will find a file when it needs to. After that you can add is the number of records that must be read before the
totheend of the file, edit an entry, insert an entry in the program can read a record with the same prefix first
middle, or delete an entry by making the appropriate character.
menu selection and answering the prompts. You When you enter a prefix to PATHFINDER'Sprompt,
needn'tfinish the job in one session; that'swhy thereare the programtakes the first character in the prefix, deter-
selections for all functions. If you already have a satis- mines its ordinal number in the same way GENDAT
factory LATLONG.DATfile in the specifiedformat, just does, and then looksin the array IKEY for the index num-
invokeGENDATandthen select QUIT (item6)at the first ber corresponding to this character. Using this index
menu prompt. This will generate the key file from your number the program will open the LATLONG.DATfile,
current data file without changing the data file. read and discard that many locations, and then start
You can usea word processor in the program-writing checking the prefix of the data file location for a match
mode instead of GENDATaslong as you enter the data to the prefix you requested. When the program finds a
in theorder of prefix, QTH name, latitude, and longitude. matching prefix, it displays the location associatedwith
But you'll have toquote the string fields (prefixand QTH it and checks with you to see if it's the one you want.
50 October 1988
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54 [irP October 1988
/
handles thissituation by preloadingthe IKEY array with
a default value which is overwritten by those locations
~.thfind.r m o d i f i c m ~ l o n s to add data fll. acc.ss and .uuacy menus
which do occur. When you input a nonoccurring prefix
Replace I
l
"
. 100 and 210: PATHFINDERextracts thedefault value from thearray
100 INPUT "opt: I - I ~ ~ U 1.L~n.1 3-output 4-rile 5-aatt .IIO
210 OW 1 0 GOT0 220.140.180.460.9999: GOT0 200 and, knowing that the prefix does not exist, it then exits
~ d d1in.s 11 thrv 78. the search function.
I I
11 01" IKEY1351: OPEN "I..l,'LATLONG.IEY' 'LOAD ICY A R M Y
14 ?OR IP-0 T O 35: IRlYlIPl--1: NIXT IP
16 1 1 NOT E01l1) THEN INPUT II.I?,IKEYll?l: W T 0 76
Now add the code for the data file access. Figure 4
78 CLOSE *I
detailsthe changeswhich must be madeto the top level
( ~ d d1tn.e 460 and 410. I menu - the additional lines neededto declareand load
I 460 INPUT 'Opt: 0-Top 1-B/D I-Gray 3-TaI9.t
410 OW 1 0 GOSUB 500,600.800: GOT0 200
'810
I the key array and the additional program lines that define
and implement the file level menu. These changes are
PATHFINDER modifications to add data file access and sum-
rather simple. The new top level menu looks like:
mary menus.
Opt: 1 = Input 2 =Anal 3 = Output 4 = File 5 = Quit
and -..- file
-. .- the - - - . .menu
...- .level ..- ..- .is:
--
Opt: 0 = Top 1 = B I D 2 = Grey 3 = Target
Note that the QUIT selection in the top level menu
I PITRPINDEl .odIfic.tlon.
~ d dline.
500
510
520
OPEN .I..I.mLATLOm.OAT.
to edd data file acs.ls
500 thru 510. 6 0 0 thru 710 and 8 0 0 thru 940.
function..
'BURING/Dl8TAMCL LIBT
LPRlNT "QRErIXm TAB1151 "QTH' TABI481 'SRORT PATH. TAB(68) 'L'ONG PATH.
LIRINT TAB1451 'DURING DISTANCC" TAB1651 'BURING DISTANCE"
I changesto 5 to make a sensiblespacefor the fileopera-
tions.
This is a good time to do some checks. After saving
530 IL-O: 1 1 uor(l1 THEN 510 ELBE INPUT I~,PX$,O$.LT.IIT
540
550
LPIIWT 111 T A ~ 1 1 0 1 ~ l l T S ~ O b . 3 O l ~GOSUB
GOSUB 3000: I - i ~ : I A - S I ~ ioaun 580: XL-I
i 8420
the program, type in lines 500,600, and 800 with a sim-
560 GOSUB 3000: 1-65: 11-73: G08UB 580: LQRINT: GOT0 530
ple print statement and a return statement to show
LI S T
which target you have accessed. Now run the program
and exercise the menu selections. It isn't necessary to
save the program here unlessyou have to make correc-
tions.
610 r r LR1,-14 THEN IRR-~lX+241<-LR21: IR8-llY+l4l<-L~ll
615
680
11 LS1,-24 THEN 1SR-1IX+l4l<-LSll: ISS-1IY+l4l<.LIlI
I t I I I On IIS THEN 690
Figure 5 gives the code to accomplishthe file-based
685
690
I R R - ~ X > - L ~ l I A M D l X < - L R 2 1 :IRS-(7,-LRllAMO(Y<-Lull
I ? ISR OR I68 THEN 700 functions. Insert these lines into the big hole of program
695 ISI-OO-LbllANDIX<-LSlli Ib8-IY>-LSllAHDIY<-LSII
100 I r 1 1 1 1 01 I I S 01 IS" OR ISSI GOSUB 720
--.--.. line numbers preceding the hourly MUF driver at line
720 LPRINT PX$ TABIIOI LErT$(Q$,301 TAB(4511
130 1 1 IRR TWIN X-SIIII: A51.51.:
115 1 ? In8 THEN X-SSIIl: A$-"68": GOSUB 710
GOSUB 110: 1000. The space provided in the original PATHFINDER
140 LPRIWT TA816018
150 1 r ISR T H I N X-$1111: A$--511.: GOSUB 710:
755 11 ISS TWIN 1-ss111: As--SS.: W S U B 110
coding ended up being a little too tight to maintain
760 LPRINT, RETURN
170 LPRIHT INTl4O*INTll~r60.1~/1OO~"Z ';A$i; RETURN MODULO 10 line numbering (particulartyin thegrey-line
780 CLOSE 81: RETURN
800 INPUT 'PREFIX TO 81ARCW ?01"111$
810 I.-ASC(LEm$lQY$,LII-65:
'TARGET rlOl FILE
I ? II)31 THEN IP-IP-31
list section) but, with a littlesqueezing of line numbers,
810 I ? IP,15 THEN PRllll "ERROR.: GOT0 800
(130 ~ $ - ~ ~ R $ 1 6 5 r l PI~I : ( I s < - 1 .LWD ,I>-181 THEN IP-IP+43
840 I t III<010111P>351 THEN PRINT .ERROR.: GOT0 800 ELSE IP.
the code fits. The function of this code is broken down
850 OPEN "I",l,"LATLONG.DAI": I T IItO THEN 930
860 ?OR 1-0 TO IP: IWUT II.PXS,~$,LI.WI. NEXT 1: GOTO 8 9 0
810 I r LOIIII THEN 930 ELSE INPUT Il,PXf,Q$,LI,W~
into three main subroutines. Lines500-570generatethe
8 8 0 I, LI?TllPl$,11>.L$ THIN 930
890 I F P X $ O P Y S TUEN 810 ELSE PRINT 'Pound: .PX$" I n 'Q$ bearing/distance report summary; line 580 isa subrou-
900 B$-.": INPUT < C R > i f OK, N f o r NEXT, else to QUIT8 US
910 I r LCWIBSI-0 THEN-LT-Lr: YT-W?: GOSUB 8410: GOT0 940
910 IF IB$-"N")ORlB$- ""1 THEN 810
tine which is called to print the bearing and distance. The
930 PRrNT "NOT round"
940 CLOSE I1I 1-1: RETURN code from lines600-780doesthe grey-linesummaryand
calls the subroutine in lines720-760to printa line. If the
PATHFINDER modifications to add data file access functions.
location is on your grey line, this subroutinecalls another
at line 770 to print the time and condition of the target
grey line. The routine tosearch for a location in thedata
Some prefixes have more than one location file is in lines 800-940.
associated with them; you may check each one in
sequence until you have selected the one you want. The finished product
PATHFINDER continues thisactivity until the prefix no You'll have a fairly sophisticated operating aid after
longer matchesand then closes the file. You can cut this making all these modifications to PATHFINDER. Any-
process short by telling the program to terminate the thing comparable costs a lot more than two copies of
search. When you accept a location, PATHFINDER HAMRADIO, and chancesarethe MUF algorithm isn't
copies the latitude and longitude to the target location as good and doesn't run as fast. PATHFINDER can do
and then returns to the top level menu. a lot for almost any Amateur who has his own hf equip-
The index array is built once at the beginning of the ment. Irecently discovered one application in the field
programexecution by readingin the key valuesfromthe of antipodal DX.5Afterentering thedateand solar flux,
LATLONG.KEY file. Some prefix first characters (M, Q, executea radial MUF projection with a path-length hop
etc.) may not occur in the data file. GENDAT doesn't value of 5 and any hour you choose. The radial report will
store a data pair for these characters; PATHFINDER show you the MUF for each bearing to your antipode.
October 1988 55
Try those bearingswhichshow a MUF nearthebandyou
intend to work.
Intheglobal modes PATHFINDER accessesthe data PATUrtUDER un.. prompts and their functions
file one locationat a time and uses these locations as the m r ..nu:
opt: I-!"put I - A ~ ~3-output
I I-ril. ~-~uit
operating habits, and queue for a file name to use in "UI ..1*rtion .*nu:
Opt: 0-Top I-Shoct 2-Long 3-11edia1
than a prefix. These tactics would be particularly benefi- PRE?IX M SEARCH rOR
enter a prefli to find for a new target
cial if you use the grey-line summaryfrequentlyor want < C R > If OK, N for NEXT. else to QUIT
enter: a carriage return to accept this location
"N. to reject thin location and see other.
to separate bearingldistance reports for each region. any orher character retucns to TOP level menu
What GMT hour for display
Just remember that you'll haveto loadthe key array cor- enter the ..it for a cadial projection
Idecimal hours1
respondingto the data file selected. 1 Hop - 2488 11 14000 1.)
. Long Path beyond 5
How many hop. for display 10.1 to 9.91
Sorts can become complicated and, with the amount enter number of hops to u.c
1deci.e.l values 0 k 1
for radlal path length
.
enter a "-1". for .o1.r flux
tial format. If you wish to convert the data file to a ran- Sun Spot Number I0 to 2501
enter value for sunspot numb..
dom accessfile, note that the key array and keyfile offer Targat Latitude I - south. 89.9 maxl
enter th. tacget latitude in decimal deqcees .nd then
an open door to a significant improvement in perfor- Target L o n ( l i t ~ d I-
~ east1
mance and expanded utility. A revision of the grey-line mnter the t.1g.t longitude in decimal degrees
Home Lstltude l- south, 89.9 mail
test ranges is another customization you may want to antar the horn. latitude in decimal dcgrses and then
womc Longitude I- east1
consider for your copy of the program. You can do this rntec ths h0.e longitvdc in decimal degrees
code. There are lots of little program blocks defined as NOT round
rcq"e.t.d prefix not found
subroutineswhich are executed by the main program or
by other subroutines. There might be a little more code I
56 October 1988
I GINDAT menu and data prompt.
GINDAT IENUI
Opt, I-Add 1-ldlt 3-Insert 4-Delete 5-New 6-EXIT
I
1 ADD C.cOrd. to end of fil.
1 SDIT an erlstin record
I I N s n T record. In middl. of ~II.
1 4 DELETE .n .sl.tlnq r-cord
5 Inittall.. a MEW data Ill.
I 6 gen.rat. the k.y flle and EXIT the propram
<C"> to CO"t1"Y.. ..I. Don.
enter a c.rr1.g. return to contlnu. rlth funetlon.
0th.rw1.e geturn to menu
EDIT PRErlX: GENDAT messages.
enter th. prmfli you r1.h to .dit
ADD ATTER PKETlX:
entar the pr.fIi you rlsh to In..rt r.sord. after be glad to report them along with suggested code revi-
DELETE sRcr1x:
enter th. preflx you r1.h to .t1d sions. If there's sufficient interest, Imight be talked into
D to Delete: el. Rejest
enter a D. If you really want to delete thl. record
organizing a PATHFINDER user's group dedicated to
Prlfli
.nt.r the w s o z d pr.fix
maintaining and supporting the program.
October 1988 57
., .- .- - .-.. +
lpdates t o PATHFINDER
Answers ro some common ques-
ti PATHFIND lncorpot.ate the following changes into your pru-
gram as wc311 as makcing the changes noted in the grey-
line enhancements in fig.2 of PATHFINDER-Part 2.
Line 1200: The back slash " \ " is the inte!ger divi- I 'M!CROSOFT BASIC version, Release 1.15,
sion operator. It is used to assure an integer index for '12/88
the array MOUTO. If your language does not support 140 IF K91 3 THEN 2!I00 ELSl
. . .
this feature then force the result of a normal division +EN m
via the INT function: MOUT(INT(AOI10))= J9. 120 M9 = M9): IK = INT(GIIPS)+ 1:
Line 3420: This is recursive code, not arI infinite = 1/(2*IK
loop. The line serves to force all computed longltuaes
.. . These revtstons WIII correct some PATHFINDER
.
int o the range - 180< =LON < = 180 If the LON is oblems. Here is a new PIroof simulation which, if
01 utside th,e range, then 360 degrees (PI) is added or rerything matches: within 1.O MHz, will demonstrate
LA...-..
su~rracredand the test repeated. When the LON is correct function.
in range, execution passes on to line 3430. Date is: Dec 21
Lines 8300 and 8320: These lines were re1ferenced Solar flux = 150.0
in the text of the article and several have fobl ,
.
.
A ,U *I.^*
ll 9 m e QTH: Lat = -,,., - ,.
8320 does not exist in the listing, while 8300 is actu- lrget QTH: Lat = 80.0 Lc
ally the start of the SSN input routine. This mixup is ~ t hbearing = 0 degrees
in the article text and not in the listing. The text should .~ t length
h = 12920 miles
refer to lines 8400 and 8420 respectively.
Lines 300, 1040, 1160, and 1170: The STE,P option
ING PA'r H
. .
on the FOR loops is a way of controlling both tne Incre-
IMT
..." ---
MUF GMT
".."
MUF
.-..- I;MT
. MUF GMT MUF
7
29th ANNUAL
TROPICAL HAMBOREE ,
Registration: 55.00 Advance - 56.00 Door. Valid Both Days. (Advance deadline January 30th.)
Swap Tables, 2 Days: 516.00 each. Power: 510.00 per User.
All swap table holders must have registration ticket.
Campsites: S12.00 per Day Includes Water, Power, Sanitary Hookups & Showers.
(All RV vehicles, tent campers, vans, trallers welcome - no ground tents, please.)
Make Checks for Registration, Swap Tables & Campsites Payable to:
Dade Radio Club & Mail A s Follows:
Tickets & Hotel Info Only: Evelyn Gauzens, W4WYR, 2780 N.W. 3rd St., Miami, FL 33125
Swap Tables, RV, Tickets & Hotel: John Hall, WD4SFG, 8670 S.W. 29th St., Miami, FL 33155
RV & Tickets Only: Dick Lelsy, W400H, 650 W. 63rd Dr., Hialeah, FL 33012
Exhibit Booth & General Info: Evelyn Gauzens (address above) or Call (305) 642-4139 or (305) 233-0000
(BROCHURE WITH FULL DETAILS AVAILABLE DECEMBER 1st)
\ J
Virginia COMDay
Saturday, November 12
Super Fall Values New Hampshire
New Store Location
k
RESTRICTIONS APPLY.
+libtwprim.
n g b dnb e i n ~ U ~ W M
Spedbl good for o
m i ~ b n i s ~ ~ m CALL
h plrced
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FmSNppingarI*m.hlpp.d Model
fkoncept/
FOR
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TS440AT HF Transceiver
MCBO Desk Mic
Astron RS2OA Power Supply
UPS Brown Shipping
6
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Orders & Quotes Toll Free 800-444-4799 Pdg. rre wbject to change without notiw or obllgmdln
EGE VIRGINIA
14803 Build America Drive, Bldg B
Woodbridge. Virginia 22191
Information: (703) 643-1063
Service Dept: (703) 494-8750
EGE NEW ENGLAND
224 N. Broadway
Salem, New Hamshire 03079
New England (NH Included)
Toll Free: 800-444-0047
ma Ezzl
Our
Lawrfim Distributors
Fax: (703) 494-3679 Info & Service: (603) 898-3750 S(~~~~zOn Road
New Fall1988 Buyerr ~ac~rfim Loulshna
. 70445
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Store Hours: M F 10-6; Sat: 10-4 Store Hours: MTuWF: 10-5 Phone: (5043 882-5355
AvailablaSend $1 -
Order Hours: M F 9-7; Sat: 10-4 Th: 12-8; Sat: 10-4 10 1 8 ~
o eamcraana monitor nnt avatranrr rmm Yaesu ann not sunorled with
Seriously
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CALL FOR ORDERS
1 (800) 231-3057
1-713-520-7300OR 1-713-520-0550
TEXAS ORDERS CALL COLLECT This 2411-1 laboratorylportable.compact, dual function digital frequency
FAX 1-713-771-7759 munterlwanmeter makes frequency and power readings easy.
ALL ITEMS ARE GUARANTEED OR The optional battery pack converts Model 7510 to a portable field sewice
SALES PRICE REFUNDED instrument. The frequency counter measuringrange is 10 Hz to 1.25 GIHz.
New Icc,~, I( -8' Trades wanted The wanmeter power measuringrange is 100 mW to 5 kW over 2 to
Kenwood T H Z I 5A TH25AT Trade ~nyour old HT
New Kenwood TM 621A 1 4 E M H z FM Call 1,000 MHz, determined by standard elements ordered se~aratek
Contact us for your nearest
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representativeor
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EFFICIENTLY LAUNCH
By Hal Silverman, W3HWC, 14004 Prospect nents of coax to make an impedance transformer that
Avenue, Mt. Airy Maryland 2177l will serve for any frequency within that Amateur band.
For example, if you havea helix antenna and a length
of 50-ohm coax cable, the input impedanceof the helix
is approximately 140 ohms. The mismatch that would
Simple geometry accompany a direct connection would cancel out the
determines antenna's gain. if you choose to use a quarter-
wavelength coaxial transformer for matching, it would
impedance match device need a characteristic impedance of:
t=dEiiz)
m)
T he Amateur bands below 30 MHz are becom-
ing crowded; consequently, many operators are
moving to the VHFIUHF spectrum.
With higher frequencies come shorterwavelengths,
distributed components, and shorter antennas. Shorter
=
= 83.66 ohms
which is not a standard value. By using a launcher, you
can effect a more efficient match between the cable and
the helix.
wavelengths allow for easier impedance matching The launcher dimensionsincludethe input diameter,
between the transmission line and the antenna, or output diameter, and length. The length is not critical -
betweentwo transmission linesof different impedances. but it should be longer than a quarter wavelength at the
In the mid-fifties an article about a device called a G- lowest frequency of operation. The two diameters are
line appeared in Radio and TelevisionNews. Itconsisted a function of the impedances.
of a single hard-wire line with launchers to match The input diameter, for a 50-ohm cable is found asfol-
impedances at each end. The G-line never becamevery lows:
popular, but the launcher has some nice qualities at Zi, = 138 Log (D21D1)
higher frequencies. It looks like a funnel and works on Let D l = 1
the same principle as coaxial cable. Then 50 = 138 Log 0 2
The impedanceof coax isfound by the ratio of the cen- 2.303 = D2
ter conductor diameter to the inside diameter of the The narrowend of the cone is2-113times larger than the
shield, using the following formula that disregardsthe wire of the helix antenna or the center conductor of the
dielectric: cable.
Z = 138 Log (D21D1) (11 The output diameter of the cone for a 140-ohm
Where 0 2 is the inside diameter of the shield and D l is antenna is as follows:
the outside diameter of the center conductor. ZOut= 138 Log (D3/D1)
By changing the ratio of D l to 0 2 you change the Let D l = 1
impedance of the transmission line. If the transmission Then 140 = 138 Log 03
line impedance changes gradually, say over a quarter 10.33 = 03
wavelength, the transition won't create a standingwave The wide end of the cone is 10-113times the wire of the
sufficient to cause appreciable loss. In short, you can helix antenna or the center conductor of the cable.
match two impedanceswith minimum loss. This same Usethe information above to construct the launcher.
concept is used in the G-line launcher. First draw a template as shown in fig. 1. I used No. 12
The wavelength at 450 MHz is 66.66 cm, just 2/3 of AWG wire (diameter = 0.08081 inches) for D l . Cut
a meter. A quarterwave length isonly 16cm. Thisshort along the curved lines and roll it onto itself to form the
wavelength allows you to use the distributed compo- cone. If you have a compass with a 9-inch span, scribe
October 1988 63
Helix antenna with launcher.
RELY ON JAN
FOR 3-WAY HELP: I f posslble e l ua know four to six weeks
before you move and we will make sure
1. TECHNICALLY your HAM RADIO Magaz~nearrlves on
CORRECT CRYSTALS schedule Just remove the rnalllng label
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2. QUICK TURNAROUND other correct~ons)In the space prov~ded
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ham Allow 4-6 weeks for
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troductory price $79.95
A CODE PRACTICE
OSCILLATOR
M a n y code practice circuits have been published.
Most will do an acceptable job, but tend t o have a very
rough " b u n saw" tone. They don't sound anything
like a CW signal received off the air. This code prac-
tice oscillator has a pure sine wave 800-Hz note. It's
a joy t o use.
October 1988 65
PHONE
--lm
Construction
All comoonents are mounted on a 1-314" x 3"
I I 1 I piece of perfboard. The lamp is mounted with a sin-
gle fuse clip connecting it to the outside of the base,
and a No. 30 gauge wire is soldered to the base cen-
ter contact. The two batteries are held in place with
spring clips fastened to the bottom of the enclosure
with 4-40 x 114" machine screws. All other compo-
nents are attached to the circuit board by their leads.
I used insulated No. 30 gauge wire for the intercon-
nections.
The box is 4" x 2-114" x 6"with a gray finish and
black plastic side panels. A 3" diameter speaker is
I fastened to the top cover. Seven 114" holes, drilled
as shown in fig. 3, form a speaker grill. There are also
cover.
four 1/16" holes for speaker mounting machine
screws. The front panel holds two 114" phone jacks
this part provides 60-80 dB attenuation. This may not
for the key and earphone plugs, a DPST power switch,
be enough to completely eliminate a backwave sig-
and the volume control. Dry transfer lettering with a
nal. A feed-forward path using a 0.01 pF capacitor,
protective coat of clear shellac completes the job. See
1 meg resistor, and a 470k resistor in series cancels the photograph for details.
any residual backwave signal. Note that the signal
going through IC2 is inverted while the feed-forward Operation
signal is not; the two cancel out during key up. Dur- Keying is done with a hand key, keyer, or semi-
ing key down IC2 provides 13-dB gain and can accept automatic bug. The built-in speaker and batteries make
a maximum of 0.5 volt peak-to-peak signal at its input this oscillator compact, easy to use, and portable. Why
(pin 1). The resistive voltage divider at its input
not build one up for your next project?
decreases the oscillator amplitude to an acceptable
level. References
Power amplifier IC3 is a conventional 386 circ~it.~." 1. Tom Schuln, "Audio Oscillator," OST, "Hints and Kinks." November
There is enough power gain to drive headphones or 1974, page 43.
a small speaker. Figure 2 shows the keyer and audio 2. Rick L i i i e l d , KIBQT. "Construct an Audio Amplifier ...," QST, April
1983, pages B 3 1 .
amplifier circuits. Two 9-volt transistor radio batter- 3. J. Rusgrove, "A General Purpose Audio Amplifier," QST, November 1976,
ies supply power. The positive supply is decoupled at page 32.
each IC. (This may be unnecessary as all circuits are
very stable.) Article G HAM RADIO
66 October 1988
The NEW Generation of T.T.& T. Hand Held Transceivers
-vp&yj$
From Alinco Are Just Around the Corner!
Introducing The DJ-10012 Meter Hand Held Transceiver
*.Tiny = 1-3/16" D x 2-3/8" W x 6-5/8" H
Tough = 6.5 Watts (With Optional EBP-8NAZ Nicd Battery Pack)
Terrific = Features and Benefits
LCD with Switchable Backlighting
10 Memories
BNC Antenna Connection
16 Button DTMF Pad
Easily Accessible Dip Switches For Encoding
Sub kudible Tones
Battery Save Draws 15mA For Extended
Battery Life
v 1 .20uV Sensitivity
144.00 MHz to 147.995 MHz
CAP and MARS Modifiable - Simplex only
Standard Battery, EBP-9NAZ
Has DC/DC Converter Built In
Stores Standard Repeater Offsets In Memory
Full Range of Accessories
220 MHz and 440 MHz To Follow Shortly
.
AES MllmIYUee. w
-
mm. n c . sm ... FLM EkStronica- Grbon.0
-
Floyd Etknonks Cdllnnil
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nsc S u n w a
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d a r r n r r r * . ~ m s~eamn.r~ "
"WUv Llrnlulnrm
-- -
R l m d e l l A n m+as. 4.Nb
ruvlllllylu
.
AES Orlendo. FL -
The Ham Stmion Erensvlll@ .
Jun's Elenrmles CvlMr CW. wen's E I ~ C I ~ ~ I E -. WllllnmUx
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AES Clesr-me,, n .
ThsnamHul Amalllo. TX
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, W l E M r o n U Hamon. n: Solalllla Cny Mlnneqdlr. MN
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omm M a Dsnra. CO- HRO- Anah, am, CA -
Mlcnqan Radio MI. C l e m s . VHF Communk m m s Jeme.11 -
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HRO Bvrlir>game.CA MISS& RMioCenla K S I M -
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EGE. INC - -
HRO San l ' m l n Sari J m- Tenpro S.l= m
HRO. Van I - M-ld. MN (416) 332-5914
Create messages just by talking. Speak any phrases or
No other repeaters or controllers match
Mark in capability and features. ~h~~~~ words in any languages or dialect and your own voice
why Mark 4 is the performance leader at is stored instantly in solid-state memory. Perfect for
amateur and cmnmercial repeater sites emergency warnings, club news bulletins, and DX
around the world. Only Mark 4 gives you
Message Masterru real speech 0 voice alerts. Create unique ID and tail messages, and the
readout of received signal strength, ultimate in a real speech user mailbox - only with a
deviation, and frequency error 4- Mark 4.
channel receiver voting clock time
announcements and function control 7-
helical filter receiver extensive phone
patch functions. Unlike others. Mark 4
even includes power supply and a
handsome cabinet.
I !T
, >,,#I "<I,,.I,.,. ti,,!>,IO,3~,,, 1 L,,,,>Ic~xWI.
w,tr,Ou, f'.ll"!llr.tl (March 1968 thru December 1987.
and March 1977 thru December
6, 6, CIRCUIT'" FILTERS
TT -7 1980, respectively), is now avail-
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ONE AMPLIFIER MANY
APPLICATIONS:
Dt e
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Everything from front to back
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will be offered for $10.
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ham bends wllhm the dynamlc range-Low noise. ($5 shipping per order. USA)
hequency range of 30
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or flnal ..lwatt Your satisfaction guaranteed, or
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Galn 15dB f 1dB
IP3 + 44dBrn Sendor caN order to:
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I
Post Office Box Ten
connectors BNC
t
g WACOM PRODUCTS. INC.
PRICE $199
M d $4 w a l p USA
CA A a .M 6%
ADVANCED MlLLlWAVE
f l 146
Mineral, Virginia 231 17
(800)282-5628
(703)894-5777
I - P.O. BOX 21145
WACO. TEXAS 76702.81718484435
I LABORATORIES, INC.
620 HAMPSHIRE RO.. A3
WESTLAKE VILLAGE. CALIFORNIA 91381
TEL (005) 495-7050 VlSAlMC accepted
r / 1U
68 October 1988
313-469-4656
28360 South River Rd.
Mt. Clemens, MI 48045
SALES i SERVICE
" rn
'ALL PRICES SLIBJECTTO CHANGE
HAVE (_I
Ylall-COY Y W N W marrr~rnr~wrww.r-uur~rrm~lrrna-r~~r~~~!
NwLuor IHIC~CIS(PL,I~ ~i simx .COMPLETE clwr a e r N w a a rccrsswmrs
IC-731 Allma :n.*..,. ImPm m* IICOUULNnlllONS INnOURIOI(.rllCCSa-%
IC I1Y
t R l C I 0 I O U I I I T*Z"OU"
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I C . ~ ~ W wew I U - * ~ ~ U , - * , ~i t . ~ . . d ~ p ~ ~ . m
l m m <I?.*
~t ~m mtlma
TEN l C C
YU P~IWGON SYP HFII.~T.~. THE I*.- 2mm
US7 -I
-
tc MCL ,m r .m*>r.im anawl tllrr llrm lcoul ~ r w mI ~ P Da %I COYSIHII H+ clan~...w 9 ~ - , m3 n ~
ICAIU "EL iam.~<nmns>>lrp ~ m Im,*$, ~~SO~RGOSV I ~ ~- , I~ F il.rc.we. ~ r , m awl%
IC.,~ ~ r r r ~ ( ~ l i o r - , , i ~ n m u ~ , m n - (*m+uur, 15-m n r r 91 R X VI ~ ~ t ~ n ~ " - ~ ~m m
~ ~
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K om w ~ . . ~ ~ . ~ -- ~, ~. .~r ~ ~ ~ Y~~ A~T ,~ ,, u Us 19m
U U UY P Y ~ 1110 I.(.",,.
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'C I11 mI,.. .m,r..,e "7 ,<em 2,495 mrrmx rue r v l k ~ ot r ~ r ~ ~ r ~ ~ r c c c ~~ i s~ mu s ~n ys l
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CILl ~ d o . ~ ~2 A~r ~ o ~ e ~ ~ ~ I.Ym mS, F! $ 6 , lupf~rnlw.llmrU m s m a W X I I H T h i W l9Am 1 W 1*1
IC.92.T ?-,<,,?a -...,,,tC~,a7"F .mm us95 FT 1 5 l l l *l, m r x a c 4 n l m )ll ".*PS 91.3,
n #riBX WEW~Fromnr"'ICUY IYnn ,5493
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w11"I,X"~111CO"IU(Y!I! :.*9,
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C.*.".rl.,,m,ni.aa-w L ...Y.C..... I O . - , U ~ ~ ~ , , ,P.., 6mm TT . s , ~ * I ~ ~ ~ ~ u ~ ~ ~ Y ~ w E P u ~ T ~ . u ~ u4 3~1 1u%~ I3 5w0 9w
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"ICIO*..M. 6,7,,< M," > - " T <?>"$ ,,A,, ?*)-
n 3," U,",,(T*I I'IUF X W 9, L ?9?
tlll 1-
xrw-
WTSIWI.FI~~C L ~ ~ ~ ~
lNFOllUIIlON ICCOUUCNDIIIONL A N 0 OYY DI$COUMTID PRCES''
#.I>7, am.o,fi
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POCKET ~
HANDHELDS
~ r ~F T :an ~ ",",.a*> w L,TMF
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'I.e C-, .r*m-m. n .l..",l *~~l.rn,l.'O---.. 4-95 .Y 95
I O l 6 b d N N nl*!I.!. t,n- ,lees
-,,*w, ., ,,r,% mew H 148 WT s i ~ ICOUD,<~T
n L~NIO( V A C S U A C C ~ S ~ L X ~ ~ C S ~
1 5 I- ConwIm'I"O.c' SP* 21)(1\ O L L "l~tPI"IOI1MIIIII14 UICW~1IO.IIOUSA*DOUI11OWP(IUS"~
D.n,,.qw.""' illl.6-16
Cleveland Instltuee
WEATHER STATION ClE of Electronics
I ;ir, t.w 7 t h 5 , . tlr,.rlrnd. tXlu. 44114
/ 148
October 1988 69
R9100 SUPER ROTATOR
The Advanced Radio Devices (ARD) R9100 is the heavy duty antenna rotator designed for the big gun with antenna loads to one
ton. A11 components are designed and selected for durability and long life, a quallty often over looked.
The cohtrol system provides both analog and digital readout of direction to within f 1 degree. Provisions for external computer control
which allowa rotor positioning by the mere keyboard entry of a target countryb prefix. Software is provided for uae with most
popular computers.
Thia quality rotor is the most capable and powerful unit designed for the amateur market today. You can pay more and get less.
4*&
'PI
SPECIFICATIONS
Rotating torque: 10,000 inch lba
6e" &-% Braking torque: 24,000 inch Iba
Vertrcal load: 2000 Ibs.
-
Mast smes: 2.0 to 3.5 inch O.D.
Motor: 113 HP
- Rotation speed: 1 RPM
Welght: 230 Ibs.
Slze 14.9x25xlS.l inches (wlh)
NEMAL ELECTRONICS
==B- - THE MULTIPLE RECEIVER SOLUTION
Wompkte Cabk Assemb facilitks MILSl'D-45208
'Lo
*Commercial Accounts we me- Qumntily pricing Same day shipping mod orden
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Call NEMAL tor compuler cable, CATV cabk, Flat cabk, semi-rigid cabk, telephone mbk.
crimping tools, D-sub connectors, heat shrink, cabk tics, high voltnp connectors
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70 October 1988
HF WORLD
, SSB transmission
As if the problems of CW transmis-
sion weren't bad enough, enter an
SSB transmitter and you have a whole
new ballgame. By nature an SSB sig-
nal has a broad bandwidth, typically 2-
3 kHz at the half-power point, when
carrying voice intelligence.
In the good old days, SSB signals
were generated by the phasing
IMD and splatter the signals if you have a good narrow- method because it was low cost and
Interference has always been one band i-f filter (typically 500-Hz band- had good fidelity. Phasing exciters
of the greatest impediments to com- width) in your receiver. characteristically have wider band-
munications, regardless of frequency. There is a very basic reason why CW width because the filtering and phas-
If an Amateur with a strong signal signals can be so easily separated. A ing required is more complex.
transmits right on a frequency where good clean CW signal occupies very Most modern exciters generate SSB
a weak signal is present, there is vir- little bandwidth - less than 500 Hz, by the rf-filtering method which
tually no way you can copy the weaker as shown in fig. 1A. This is only true employs well-controlled crystal band-
signal unless the stronger station stops if the oscillator in the transmitter is very pass filters. However, even these filters
transmitting. stable and doesn't have any "phase are seldom specified over more than a
But, interference isn't confined to noise." 40-dB range.
the simple case described above. Phase noise is a form of frequency The local VHFIUHFers can tell
Often there are other circumstances modulation that is often superimposed when I alternate between my phasing
like IMD (intermodulation distortion) on the carrier frequency. As a result, and filter SSB exciters. The phasing
- often referred to as splatter on SSB. a transmitted signal is broadened or exciter has good audio fidelity, but the
The latter may be transmitted, or spread out in frequency (see fig. I B ) . IMD outside the passband is at a
locally generated in the receiver. This phenomenon is particularly evi- higher level. The filter exciter has
This month I'll review the subject of dent in the modern-day synthesized poorer audio fidelity, but outside the
IMDIsplatter, answer some of the transceivers. I often refer to phase passband IMD drops off at a faster
most often asked questions, and dis- noise as the "aurora" affect. If you rate.
cuss some recommendationsand test tune a few kilohertz off the carrier of What most Amateurs tend to forget
methods. a CW signal with phase noise, it is that SSB signals, by their v e v
sounds like keyed white noise which nature, have "controlled" IMD.
CW transmission is similar to the signal returning from Amateur SSB exciters and power
Using CW provides a partial solution the auroral reflection. amplifiers are often specified to have
to the interference problem. Even if Further complicating this phenome- a typical IMD specification - 26-30 dB
two signals are on exactly the same non is that the local oscillator in your at a specific PEP output level. This
frequency, you can achieve partial receiver may also have phase noise, means that the third order IMD prod-
copy of the weak signal when the exacerbating the problem. It will be ucts (the ones generated closest to the
strong signal is "key up." Also, if a difficult, if not impossible, to deter- desired signal but outside the 2.5-3
weak signal is on a slightly different mine whether the transmitter or the kHz passband), are only 26-30 dB
frequency from a strong one (perhaps receiver, or both, are the culprits! For below the peak power level specified.
as little as 1.0 kHz away), and the those who want more information on Higher order sidebands are also
strong signal is not blocking your this communications bugaboo, I'd present, but usually at a lower level.
receiver, you may be able to separate recommend reading reference 1. Figure 1C puts all this in perspec-
October 1988 5 71
What about the higher order side-
bands? The 5th, 7th, and 9th order
IMD products are still only down 48-
60 dB. They will be very noticeable on
0 O 0 O- a strong local station which is typically
60-80 dB out of the noise!
10. I0 -
To the average HFer, these
20 -- 20 - - - I "
problems may be an annoyance. With
heavy interference, local noise, and
" 0 AT THE
APPROPRIATE ORDER
intermittent operation (like a "DX
z L E V E L -,
0
30 30
pileup") you can learn to "live with it."
2
However, to the VHFJUHFer who
40 --- 2 40
often listens on a relatively quiet band
over a limited frequency range, IMD
- -
50
can be difficult to tolerate.
6 0 . - -- -.
SSB splatter
So far I've been talking about the
'-05 0 +5
FREOUENCY IN kHz F R E Q U E N C Y IN kHz idealized transmitter case. What's it
like when the IMD levels of an SSB
transmitter are at Amateur specifica-
tions? Worse yet, what happens when
an Amateur is trying to "eek out" the
0" 0 O' last bit of transmitted power by shout-
ing into the microphone or turning the
-- --
10 10 -
gain control up too high?
Figure 1D shows one possible spec-
20 20 -- - - --
-. - A
72 October 1988
r
I
This table shows some of the most popular VHFIUHF high power transmittingtubes used by
Amateurs. The ratings are extracted from manufacturers'data sheets. See text for further expla-
nation.
Tubetype
Triodes
Dissipation
in watts
Peak envelope
power output
IMD
specs
Remarks
selves become a major problem.
The use of higher voltage transistors
like the 28-volt types will improve
linearity, but require higher supply vol-
tages at lower current. The develop-
3CX400A718874 400 590 35
ment of MOS (metal oxide semicon-
3-4002/8163 400 590 28 ductors) power FETs is a promising
3CX800A7 800 750 36 field. These devices usually require a
25-60 volt supply, although some
lower-power types operate at 12-14
supply voltages.
Tetrodes
4CX250R 17580W 250 470 23 Proper amplifier operating
8930 350 350 27 Formerly DX393 parameters
7650 600 680 31
4-1000/8166 lo00 1540 NA IMD Estimate Now let's look specifically at power
25 dB amplifiers. It should be obvious why
23 just about all Amateur amplifiers, espe-
NA IMD Estimate
25 dB
cially the commercial types, operate in
4CX150OB18660 43 linear service. Linear amplifiers are less
NA: Not available
likely to abruptly change power and
can be used on any emission type:
CW, FM, SSB, or ATV.
unfairly targeted as "splatter genera- there is a large voltage difference Vacuum tubes are still the favorite
tors." More on this shortly. between the typical operating voltage source of linear power, especially
Operating each stage of a transmit- on the anode and the minimum vol- when good IMD and power levels over
ter in class "A" would be ideal for tage across the anode when saturation 100-200 watts are desired. But, the
linear operation, but the power con- occurs. If you go back to old vacuum fact that an amplifier uses a vacuum
sumption would increase. The power tube literature you'll find lots of discus- tube is no guarantee that it will be
dissipation of each stage would also be sion about "load lines." In the typical linear. Certain operating parameters
high, making the cost of the appropri- vacuum tube application the load line must be met. Many of them are
ate high power amplifier devices pro- operates over a very wide voltage described in references 3 and 4. Fur-
hibitive. On the other hand, operating swing before saturation and distortion thermore, what is often ignored is that
each transmitting stage in class "C" occurs. Furthermore, vacuum tubes for good IMD performance, the type
would raise efficiency, but distortion usually operate with output impedance of tube selected is often more impor-
would be prohibitive. levels of 1-5,000 ohms. This is a tant than the operating parameters. If
As a result, most vacuum tube moderately easy impedance to match the tube you choose isn't specifically
amplifiers are operated in class "AB" to 50 ohms; it's often done with a pi- designed for linear service, you prob-
with moderate idling current. Vacuum network. As a result, impedance ably won't obtain good linear output
tubes are usually large and, if they matching losses are usually low and characteristics - regardless of the
can't dissipate heat easily by them- efficiency is high. operating parameters and circuitry
selves, heat dissipation can be assisted Contrast this with the typical solid- employed.
by a fan or blower. state power amplifier used by Generally speaking, at VHFJUHF
Cooling solid-state devices with their Amateurs. It most often uses transis- frequencies, tetrodes have the highebt
very small geometry is still a problem, tors specified for 12-14 volt operation power gain and are usually operated in
but one that is improving. Large heat because this is the voltage usually used the grounded-cathode configuration.
sinks and special compounds are used in mobile operation, and therefore in However, the newer high-mu triodes
to thermally bond the devices to the Amateur shacks. These devices typi- driven in the ground-grid configura-
heat sink. Also most solid-state cally saturate at 1-2 volts, so the load tion, while having less gain, will gener-
devices are ,operated in class "B." line operates over a very narrow vol- ally deliver the best IMD performance.
However, they are more prone to dis- tage range. Table 1 shows the expected linear
tortion. The operating impedance levels of performance from some of the most
Another reason vacuum tubes are the typical rf solid-state transistor are popular tubes Amateurs use. Data has
so linear is that they operate with high low, usually 1-10 ohms1 This makes been gleaned from manufacturersdata
voltages on the anode. Consequently, the matching networks more complex sheets and l i t e r a t ~ r e . ~ , ~
October 1988 73
mation on older tubes (prior to 1970) shorten the life of your tubes. Further- cause a large voltage drop on the
is almost nonexistent. From the table, more, you'll gain the ire of every power supply lines, with a commen-
it is obvious that the newer high-Mu VHF/UHFer in your area who'll be tell- surate decrease in output power and
triodes generally have better IMD per- ing you how badly you're splattering. IMD as described above.
formance. Additional parameter infor- Solid-state power amplifiers are As mentioned earlier, solid-state
mation is available in reference 3. popular, especially those delivering 10- power amplifiers have developed a bad
One further caution. The IMD 160 watts. They are generally small in reputation with regards to splatter.
shown in table 1 is an optimized tar- size and only require a single power There are many reasons for this. As I
get figure and will vary somewhat with supply voltage. Reference 7 describes noted above, the power supply and
different tubes. These numbers were them in detail, along with recom- supply voltage are sometimes to
probably derived under tight laboratory mended circuitry. As stated above, the blame. But, the biggest offender is
conditions with good instrumentation. 12-14volt transistor types are the most probably the user and his or her
Table 1 is by no means complete. common. Some precautions are interpretation of the manufacturers'
Always get the exact parameters advised. The power supply should be specification.
directly from the manufacturers data fairly well regulated and, preferably, For example, a typical amplifier
sheets, not "Joe Ham" down the adjustable. specification may say "100 watts out-
street. Deviating from the specific Most solid-state amplifiers are speci- put with 10 watts of drive." This
operating voltages shown on these fied to operate at approximately 13.5 implies that the amplifier has a true
data sheets will probably degrade the volts. Dropping the power supply vol- gain of 10 dB.
IMD. tage to 12 volts will usually drop the In reality, the 100 watts of output
If a tube is driven to higher power output power by 10-20 percent! Like- power may be the maximum output
levels than shown, the IMD will drop wise, the IMD will severely degrade. power possible from the amplifier, not
accordingly. As a rough rule of thumb, Pay special attention when wiring the maximum linear output power.
every time the power output is dou- the power supply to a solid-state Also, the gain may be much higher at
bled, the IMD will degrade by at least power amplifier. Large diameter wire, the lower output power. Lastly, you
6 dB. Going above the output power no. 14 or larger AWG, is recom- may be overdriving the amplifier.
shown on -table 1 is strongly dis-
couraged, unless you want to severely 1 mended since these amplifiers draw
from 5-20A. Small diameter wire will Testing and evaluating
power amplifiers
Up to now I've been describing
operating parameters. Now let's dig in
and see how to test, evaluate, and
operate a linear power amplifier. Then
you'll be able to better apply this infor-
mation to your own station.
To better illustrate the point of
linearity and specifications, I've plot-
ted on fig. 2 the true output versus
input power on a typical Amateur
commercial 100-watt VHF solid-state
power amplifier. Figure 2 shows that
an input power of 1.0 watt yields an
output power of approximately 23
watts - a gain of 23 or 13.6 dB. At
3.5 watts input, the output power is
approximately 64 watts, a gain of 18.3
or 12.6 dB. Finally, at 10 watts input,
the output power is approximately 100
watts; the gain is 10 dB.
Note that the gain isn't constant.
What went wrong? The answer is
nothing. This output versus input
characteristic is typical of the solid-
The graph shows the input versus output power from a typical VHF Amateur commercial
state power amplifiers used by Ama-
amplifier. See text for further informationon how to interpret the results and perform your teurs. They are linear, but only up to
own tests. a point.
74 October 1988
Group A
Freouencv accuracv.
8 2 , + I Hz maximum - 40°C to + 8S°C
All tones in Group A and Group R are included. Tone length approximately 300 nis. May be lengthened.
Output level flat to within 1 .Sdh over entire range selected. shortened or eliminated by changing value of resistor
Separate level adjust pots and output connections for each
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In a true linear amplifier, a 1-dB the peak power to register, if in fact insuring that you are not splattering
input power increase would yield a 1- 1 it ever does. This means that on SSB, excessively and will still be transmitting
dB output power increase. In the case the peak power you are running should full power on peaks!
of solid-state power amplifiers, linear never show on the meter. If it is, you're If your power amplifier has too
operation is generally acceptable up to driving the rig too hard! much gain (the most typical case)
the "1-dB compression point" - the When using a typical power meter, you'll have to be careful to keep the
output power level where the gain of you should be averaging about 25-30 microphone gain turned down, or
the amplifier drops l .O-dB below the percent of full linear power I1-dB com- place an attenuator between the
low-power gain. pression point) capability. Never exciter and amplifier, or both. You can
Said another way, the 1-dB com- exceed 50 percent (see reference 7). use a piece of RG-58 cable as an inex-
presssion point is the output power Test your linearity, then advance the pensive moderate-power attenuator."
level where the amplifier output microphone gain on your exciter and At about 4-5 dB per 100 feet at 2-
increases only 9 db for a 10 dB input observe the output power. If you ever meters, you may only require 25-75
power increase. Above this power reach a point where output power no feet.
level distortion and IMD increase longer increases with increasing micro- If you have ALC capability, use it!
rapidly. phone gain, back it down! It's a great way to control the tendency
Fine you say, but how do I test com- Say you have an amplifier that puts to overdrive a rig, especially if the
pression?The easiest way is to use two out 100 watts of linear power, after amplifier has too much gain.
power meters, one at the input and measuring it according to the methods
one at the output of your amplifier (see described above. Set your gain control Other tips
fig. 3). Measure the output power at on the rig so that on average voice it Never use an amplifier unless it's
5-10 different power levels. The greater is indicating 25-30 watts, as shown in necessary. Remember the FCC regu-
the number of data points taken, the fig. 4. This goes a long way towards lation that Amateurs should use the
minimum power required to maintain
October 1988 79
tweaked. In rare cases, power ampli- of a receiver, the signal should decrease Although it's shown as a 6-12 volt
fiers may have to be re-peaked. by the same amount of dBs as the inverter, the instruction sheets clearly
RF actuated power amplifiers can attenuator. However, if the receiver show howto use itfor a negativeground
often cause a problem at lower power IMD drops by a greater amount, some 12-28volt inverter. Many thanks to Bill
levels because they may not turn on or all of the IMD is generated by the Murray, K2GQI, for bringing this to my
properly. If possible, try to hard wire receiver. attention.
the switching on these amplifiers to Asa rule of thumb, IMD that isgener-
the station or exciter T/R line. ated in a receiver decreases 3 dB for
Important VHFIU HF events
RF compression is another topic every I-dB decrease in signal level. A 3- October 1-2 International Region
that is really beyond the scope of this 1 UHF Contest
10 dB 50-ohm attenuator pad is a nifty
(7Gcm and up)
month's column. Suffice it to say that test device. If you suspect a station is
if you have it, try it, but only when causing IMD, note the signal strength October 1-2 Mid-Atlantic States VHF
Conference, Warminster,
necessary on weak signal paths. and IMD level on the signal strength
Pennsylvania (contact
Adjust it carefully and don't use any- meter.
more compression than necessary! WBZNPEI WC2K)
Next insert a 3-10 dB attenuator
Remember that rf compression signifi- ahead of your receiver1preamplifier. October 9 Predicted peak of the
Draconids meteor
cantly increases dissipation in the The signal level should drop by the
shower at CIWX) U TC
power amplifier, which could destroy amount of attenuation introduced. If
or shorten device life. October 10 New moon
the IMD also drops the same amount,
Finally, for many years VHf/ UHFers October 20 Predictedpeak of the
the transmitted signal is probably at
Orinonids meteor shower
have been gathering at conferences to fault. If the IMD level drops more than
at 1 4 0 UTC
shoot the bull, measure noise figures, the amount of the attenuator, your
and antenna gains. Maybe it's time we receiver is partiallyatfault. If the receiver October 23 EMEperigee
add a new wrinkle to these confer- IMD drops3 times the attenuator value, October 22-23 A RRL lnternational EME
contest, first weekend
ences by setting up workshops to test the IMD is probably all generated within
amplifier power and linearity. November 3 Predictedpeak of the
your receiver.
Cassiopidsmeteor
You can try one final, simple test. By
Receiver considerations carefully watching a station on the sig-
shower at 0245 UTC
So far I've concentrated mostly on November 3 Predictedpeak of the
nal strength meter, you can often see
Taurids meteor shower at
the transmitter IMD. I feel that it's overdrive by observing how much the
dj#x)UTC
most often the culprit and is the easi- meter wiggles. A station that's clean will
est problem to deal with. This, of November 9 New moon
generally cause a typical S meter to
November 16 Predictedpeak of the
course, isn't always true. move rapidly. A station hitting their
Leonids meteor shower
Many of the transceivers used on transmitter too hard will cause the S
a t m UTC
VHFIUHF, and to a lesser degree meter to sort of hang near thesame level
November 20 EMEperigee
those used on hf, have very poor because they are in compression.
November 26-27ARRL lnternational EME
dynamic range. This is especially true
of those that were designed before Summary contest, second week-
end.
1985. Furthermore, transceivers and This month's column was primarily
transverters often have poor sensitiv- devoted to improving linearity and References
ity. The latter is not a problem on hf decreasing IMDIsplatter. Try never to 1. John Grebenkemper, KIGWX, "Phase Noise and its
where noise levels are high. But, the run more power than required. Remem- Effects on Amateur Communications," QST, March
1988, page 14.
typical 6-8 dB noise figures on 2- ber that a true linear doesn't exist. 2. E.W. Pappenfus, et al., "Single Sideband Principles
meters and above often require an Sooner or later it will run out of gas as and Circuits," McGraw Hill Book Company, 1964.
external low-noise preamplifier. When the power output is increased. Test your 3. Joe Reisert, W1JR, "VHFIUHF World-VHFIUHF
High Power Amplifiers: Part 1," ham radio. January
such a preamplifier is added, the transmitted and received linearity as IS,page 97.
dynamic range of the receiver drops detailedabove and, if you like, try some 4. Joe Reisert, WlJR, "VHFIUHF World-VHFIUHF
dramatically. of the other suggestions I've made. High Power Amplifiers: Part 2," ham radio, February
1985, page 38.
Low noise preampsdon't usually suf- 5. Bob Sutherland, W6PO. "Care and Feedingof Power
fer from IMD. However, they usually Note: Grid Tubes," Varian Eimac, 1982.
overdrive the rxfollowing it. The rx has In reference9,l described circuitry to 6. Eimc Power GridTubes Quick Reference CatalogZB4.
Varian Eimac .
insufficient dynamic range and crashes. obtain 28 volts from a 12-volt power 7. Joe Reisert, WIJR, "VHFIUHF World-Medium
If you usean external preamplifier, con- supply, primarilyfor operating relayson Power Amplifiers," ham radio, August 1985, page 39.
figure it so that it can be easily bypassed portable operation. I've been informed 8. Joe Reisert, W1JR, "VHFIUH FWorld-Transmission
Lines," ham radio, October 1985, page 83.
especially if you suspect IMD. that there isa commercial devicealready 9. Joe Reisert, WlJR, "VHFIUHF World-Microwave
Receiver IMD can usually be tested available - a Radio Shack Voltage PortableOperation," hamradio, October 1987, page 75.
simply. If you placean attenuator ahead Inverter, catalog number 22-129B. Article H H A M RADIO
80 October 1988
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and utilized in many terminal pro- the program itself. To access this lation - the program treats predefined
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I'm using an IBM PC for my packet menu. exclamation point is interpreted as a
82 October 1988
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GREENVILLE, NH 03048 603-878-1441 @m
84 October 1988 r/ 158
SPEAKING
Joe Corr, K4IPV
to an inflexible wall (1A). If a pulse is produces a series of waves. When an When incident end reflected waves inter-
fere, the resultant is the algebraic sum of
initiated by wiggling the free end of the incident wave crosses a reflected wave the two.
rope (161,the displacement wave will the two will add algebraically as shown
propagate down the rope (1C) until it in fig. 2A. The amplitude at any given
hits the wall ( I D ) . At this point the point is the sum of the two wave
wave is reflected (1E)and repropa- amplitudes; it may be either greater or
gates back down the rope toward the less than the individual waves.
source (IF).In this case, there is a 180- Figure 28 shows a situation in
degree phase reversal, but that only which the oscillations are recurrent in
happens in some transmission line sit- such a way that they produce stand- Oscillations on the input give rise to stand-
uations (in other cases the reflected ing waves on the rope. In this case, an ing waves.
October 1988 85
or GWR
I--
absorbs some energy and reflects the = 2:1. VSWR can also be
rest. The interference of incident (for- expressed in decibel form:
Z L ' 20
ward) and reflected (reverse) waves VSWR = 20 log (VSWR)
0 )
creates standing waves on the trans- The SWR is important in systems
mission line. 0 A/4 A/2 3A/4 A/l r o W ~ ~ o for several reasons. At the root of it all
LOAD E N 0 SOURCE
The voltage or current measured is the fact that the reflected wave
along the line vary, depending on the
load (see fig. 3). The voltage-vs.-
length curve for a matched line is
b, i ZL n o
represents energy lost to the load. For
example, in an antenna system less
power is radiated if some of its input
shown in fig. 3A, where ZL = &. The 0 A/4 A/P 3A/4 A// TOWARD
power is reflected back down the
line is said to be "flat" because the LOAD E N D SOURCE
transmission line. This is because the
voltage and current remain constant antenna feedpoint impedance doesn't
along the line. Figure 3 6 shows the c) match the transmission line charac-
voltage distribution over the length of teristic impedance. Now let's take a
the line when the load end of the line look at the problem of mismatch
LOAD E N 0 SOURCE
is shorted (ZL = 0).At the load end losses.
the voltage is zero, a result of zero
impedance. The same impedance and Mismatch (VSWR) losses
voltage situation is repeated every half The power reflected from a mis-
wavelength down the line from the I * matched load represents lost energy
0 A14 A/2 3A/4 A// WAR^
load end towards the generator. Volt- LOAD E N 0 SOURCE and, depending on the situation, will
age minima are called nodes, while 1 I have implications that range from
voltage maxima are called antinodes. (A1 Voltage vs. Length characteristic of negligible to profound. A result might
The pattern in fig. 3C occurs when transmission line: (a) flat line (ZL=Zo), (b) be anything from a slight loss of sig-
shorted line, (c) open line, (d) mismatched
the line is not terminated (open); that nal strength at a distant point from an
line.
is, ZL is infinite. The pattern is the antenna, to destruction of the output
same shape as fig. 3 6 (shorted line), From transmission line voltage meas- final amplifier device in a radio trans-
but phase shifted 90 degrees. In both urements (fig. 3D): mitter. The latter problem so plagued
cases the reflection is 100 percent, but early solid-state transmitters that
the phase of the reflected wave is VSWR = Vmax
Vmin
- (21 designers opted to include shutdown
shifted 90 degrees. circuitry to sense high VSWR and limit
Figure 3 d shows the situation output power proportionally.
From load and line characteristic
where ZL is not equal to Z,; it is nei- VSWR on the transmission lines
impedance: interconnecting devices under test,
ther zero nor infinite. In this case the
(ZL>Zo) VSWR = ZL/Zo (31 instruments, and signal sources can
nodes represent some finite voltage,
(ZL<Zo) VSWR = Zo/ZL (41 cause erroneous readings in radio sys-
Vmi,, rather than zero. The standing
From incident (Pi) and reflected (P,)
wave ratio (SWR) reveals the relation- tem measurements, making them
power:
ship between load and line. invalid. This problem is important,
If the current along the line is meas-
VSWR =
I + [Pr/PJ'/2 (51
especially at VHF and with microwaves
ured, the pattern will resemble the pat- 1 - [Pr/PJ"' where transmission line lengths
terns of fig. 3. The SWR is then called between signal sources, amplifiers,
ISWR, to indicate that it came from a From reflection coefficient (p): and indicating instruments are either
current measurement. It is called an appreciable fraction of a wave-
VSWR if the SWR is derived from volt- VSWR = (6) length or greater than a wavelength at
age measurements. VSWR is the term 1 - P those frequencies. For my MMlC
most commonly used, perhaps column a few months back I built an
It's also possible to determine the
because voltage is easier to measure. amplifier that worked from near dc to
reflection coefficient (p) from knowl- 1 GHz or so. After making measure-
VSWR can be specified in any of
edge of VSWR: ments above 400 MHz, I came up with
several equivalent ways:
From incident voltage (Vi) and VSWR - I a situation where there was more gain
(71
reflected voltage (V,): = VSWR+I than the amplifier could offer. The
"free" signal was actually wave com-
VSWR is usually expressed as a bination in phase and not the gain of
ratio. For example, when ZL is 100 the MMlC amplifier.
86 October 1988
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88 October 1988
You must take two VSWR situa- p2 is the reflection coefficient at the
loss = 10 log (141
tions into account when determining load end of the line, (VSWR2 -
VSWR losses. Consider a transmission 1)/(VSWR2) + 1)
line of impedance Z, interconnecting Note that the solution to eqn. 10 loss =
a load impedance (ZL) and a source
with an output impedance (&I. There PIP^)^.
+
has two values: [I (p1p2)1and [ I - 10 log
[ h)
(I.
1.04)2 - (0.25)2
- ((1.04)(0.25)2) ]
is a potential for impedance mismatch The preceding equations reflect the
loss =
at both ends of the line.
Where one end of the line is
matched (either Z, = Z), or (ZL =
Z,,),the mismatch loss due to SWR at
mismatch loss solution for low loss or
"lossless" transmission lines. They are
close approximations, but there are sit-
uations where they are insufficient -
10 log
[ 1.082 - 0.063
(I.04) - ((I.04)(0.063))
loss = 10 log
I
the mismatched end is: namely when the line is lossy. Though 1.04 - 0.066
not very important at low frequencies,
loss becomes significant at VHF
SWR - 1- 2
[I-(SWl?+J ] through microwave frequencies. Inter-
ference between incident and reflected
waves produces increased current at
certain antinodes (which increases
loss = 10 log (1.046)
loss = (10)(0.02) = 0.2dB
This can also be written as:
ohmic losses) and increased voltage at
ML = - 10 log (1 - pZ)
certain antinodes (which increases die- Compare the matched line loss (A =
Example lectric losses). The latter increaseswith 0.15 dB) with the total loss (loss = 0.2
frequency. Equation 11 relates reflec- dB), which includes mismatch loss and
A coaxial transmission line with a
tion coefficient and line losses to deter- line loss. The difference (loss - A) is
characteristic impedance of 50 ohms
mine total loss on a given line. only 0.05 dB. If the VSWR were con-
is connected to the 50-ohm output
siderably larger, the loss would rise.
(Z,) of a signal generator, and also to
loss = 10 log (111 Work through some basic examples
a 20-ohm load impedance (ZL). Calcu-
using VSWR values seen in Amateur
late the mismatch loss.
Radio work; the answers may surprise
Solution: Where:
you. Considering that an S unit is
First find the VSWR: loss is the total line loss in decibels
either 3 or 6 dB depending on which
VSWR = L I Z L p is the reflection coefficient
receiver you own, it isn't necessary to
VSWR = 50 ohms/20 ohms = 2.5:l n is the quantity 10(A/10)
tweek out every litle bit of VSWR. In
Mismatch loss: A is the total attenuation in dBs
fact, the only reasons to worry about
presented by the line, when the line is
it are that: the VSWR low point indi-
properly matched (ZL = Zo)
cates resonance on the antenna, and
Example solid-state final amplifiers are not too
happy with VSWR.
A %-ohm transmission line is termi-
Trimming the transmission line does
nated in a 30-ohm resistive impedance.
not lower VSWR, despite what non-
The line is rated at a loss of 3 dB/100
ideal instruments may lead you to
feet at 1 GHz. Calculate the loss in 5
believe. To reduce VSWR, you must
feet of line, the reflection coefficient,
either resonate the antenna or insert an
and the total loss in a 5-foot line mis-
impedance-matching device between
matched as above.
the line and the antenna. The only time
solution:
ML = - 10 log [ 1 - (0.43)*1 that transmission line can reduce
ML = - 10 log [ 1 - 0.185 I VSWR is when it is used as a match-
ML = - 10 log I0.8151 ing section, as discussed last month.
ML = ( - 10) ( -0.089) = 0.89 Editor's Note: This material was der-
When both ends of the line are mis- ived from Joe's forthcoming book,
matched a different equation is Practical Antenna Handbook. Joe
required: Carr, K4IPV, can be reached at POB
+
ML = 20 log [ I (pl x p2)1 (10) 1099, Falls Church, Virginia 22041;
Where: he'd like to have your comments and
pl is the reflection coefficient at the suggestions for this column.
source end of the line, (VSWR1
-l)/(VSWR1 + 1) Article J HAM RADIO
October 1988 89
MORE FIXES FOR THE
IC22S VHF RADIO
By Brian J. Henderson, VEGZS, 23 Deermoss Place SE, Calgary, Alberta T2J 6P5 Canada
135 3 MHz
T~ TR*NsMm
----t 10 RECEMR
more than a circuit diagram;" Ididn't find it particularly
helpful. Some of the problems I've encountered and cor-
rected are outlined here. l13.ee MHz
OMDER
quencies required for the receiver and transmitter. The X I . IC 3 IC 1
receiver injection. The components used for phase Block diagram of the PLL in the ICPS.
detection and division won't operate at these high fre-
quencies. The signal is mixed with a fixed frequency of Frequency alignment
133.69 MHzgeneratedby crystal X2and 07, which oper- Make adjustmentsin the following order using a fre-
ate asa tripler. The difference between these two is 1.61 quency counter, signal generator, and a plastic tuning
MHz. This signal is further divided by 2, by IC 6, and tool.
passed on to the programmable voltage divider, IC 1. Reference Oscillator
The division of the signal by IC 1 is set by the diode matrix Connect the counter to test point CP1 on the PLL
board and associated logic. The divided frequency is board (locatedon the lower left corner of the PLL board).
passedon to the phase comparator, IC2. The frequency Adjust C2for a frequency of 7.68 MHz (Europeanver-
at this point should beabout7.5 kHz. Phase iscompared sion 10.24 MHz).
with a reference 7.5-kHzsignal produced by crystal X1 Receive Frequency
and fixed divider IC 3. The difference in phase and fre- Using a signal generator, inject a signal on a channel
quency betweenthe fixed referenceand thevariable sig- the radio can receive. The wire originally connected to
nalfrom theVCO is convertedby IC 1to a dc voltge (off- pin 1of the accessory socket is the discriminatoroutput.
set error voltage). The dc voltage is used to control the Adjust C38 on the PLL board (lower left corner of board
capacitance of D3 in the VCO. Changing the capaci- next to crystal X2) for zero discriminator current as rneas-
tance in the VCO will change its output frequency. The ured between this point and chassis ground.
correction process continuesuntil the VCO has the cor- Transmit Frequency
rect output frequency. This isachievedwhen the phase Most radios are usually on frequency and require no
error betweenthe referenceand divided generated fre- adjustment; should yours need it, transmit on a known
quencies is reduced to zero. The PLL is then said to be frequency. If the radio is off frequency, as displayedon
"locked." When changing channels, or going from the counter, adjust L41 (locatedat the front, near the left
transmit to receive, repeat this process to give the corner of the main board) for the correct transmit fre-
required frequencies for the radio to operate. quency.
October 1988 91
VCO adjustment Common 4000 or 14000 series chips can be used as
direct replacementsfor ICs7,8,9, and 10if removedor
I've hadseveral problemswith cold weather and PLL
damaged. After installing this extra circuit board, I've
lockup. Nospecificationsweregivenin the manual. Set
had virtually no further intermittent problems with the
the radioto 147 MHz (orthecenter of your desiredoper-
PLL board.
ating range).Monitorthe voltage betweenpin 1of IC2
and ground. Adjust L7 (insidethe VCO can) for a volt- Microphonics
age of 3.5volts. This won't affect the frequency of oper-
One of the largest problems with frequency syn-
ation if the radio has been adjusted according to the
thesizers isthe mechanicalvibration of the components
previoussteps. Notethat the radio's maximum operat-
in the synthesizer. Thisvibration can be heard as audio
ing bandwidth is approximately 2.5 MHz. Bear this in
on an FMtransmitter. It can also be heard in the speaker
mind when choosing the center frequency.
as an "echo" or hollow sound during receive. These
PLL board jumpers vibrations are called "microphonics" and can result from
speaker or microphoneaudio beingcoupledto the syn-
Itraced a number of intermittent PLL lockup problems thesizer. This means that everything inside the VCO
to the jumpers connectingthe top and bottomof the PLL must be "glued" together so it won't move mechani-
board. The original board didn't use plated-through cally.
holes, andthesejumpers connectedthe topand bottom. There is a resin or hard material inside the VCO
Stainless steel wire was used originally; it doesn't sol- shieldedbox holdingeverythingtogether so that it won't
der well. Remove all these jumpers and replace them vibrate. If you removeit, you must replace itfor the radio
with tinned copper wiring. There are about 20 jumpers to operate without these microphonics. Beeswax is the
to replace. easiest materialto use. It'schemically inert and meltsat
PLL logic
The radio will work in simplex mode below 146 MHz
if the VCO is adjusted as I explained above. However,
the logic won't add the correct offset for the 600-kHz
shift normally requiredif it'sin theduplex mode. Iadded
IC 11 (two gates) to correct this design problem. The
gates can be installed by cutting traces, but I've had
numerous problems with broken circuit traces on the
PLL board. Iremoved allfour existing ICsof the logic cir-
cuit (ICs7,8,9, and 10) and built an entirely new logic
board. I used wire-wrap techniques to construct the
board and mountedit with L-brackets. The L-brackets
attachto the sides of the chassis towardsthe rear, under-
neath the normal position of the speaker. Be sure to
leave a I-inch (2.5 cm) space between IC 7 and 8, and I I
IC 9 and 10 for the speaker coil. Ifound that the wire- Schematic of the duplex offset logic board showing the addi-
wrap pins were too long and interfered with the solder tion of IC11.
side of the main board when mounting thisextra board.
Icut off the excess pins so there was sufficient clearance temperatures low enough that it will not damage corn-
for mounting. ponents. You can find beeswax in sewing and fabric
Wire the extra board to the diode matrix board plug- stores.
in connection block on the PLL board. ResistorsR36and The beeswax can be melted in a small container,
R37 are shown in fig. 2. These resistors are already poured in, and allowed ta set. Don't fill the VCO can
installedin the radio. You don't have to add them if the completely - just enough to cover the componentsand
input wiring to the logic board (DO-D7)is wired directly keep them from vibrating. If it becomes necessary to
to the diode matrix board plug. remove the beeswax for further servicing, remove the
Wiring out of the logic board ( DO-D2, P3-P7)connects VCO can and heat with a candle. The beeswaxwill melt
to the input pins of the programmable divider (IC 1). and run out.
These connectionsare shown on the originalschematic.
DO, Dl, and D2 don't go through the logic board. They
Component substitution
connect directly to pins 1,2, and 3 of the programma- The original componentscan usually be replacedwith
ble divider. substitutes from any cross-reference book. One corn-
October 1988 93
I
Every month MonitoringTimes brings ponent I found particularly difficult to replace was the
everything you need to make the most varactor diode in the PLL circuit. Cross-referencing the
of your general coverage transceiver: original part was next to impossible. By trial and error and
the latest information on international
some calculations, Idetermined thatthe diode Ineeded
broadcasting schedules, frequency
listings, international DX reports,
charts, and tipson how to
I was a 1N5441A. M V 2101, or ECG610 varactor diode.
Transmitter tuning
/ P.O. Box 98 A
Brasstown. N.C. 28902 I Six trimmer capacitors are involved in aligning the
transmitter. Set the radio to a frequency belowthe mid-
point of the desired operating range - for example,
146.5 MHz if the center of the operating range is 147
MHz. Adjust C97, C100, C92, C91, C85, and C81 in that
order for maximum power output intoa matched load.
Repeat these adjustments at least once.
published by Bill Orr, W6SAl and Stu Cowan, W2LX Other adjustments
Hereare some other common adjustments inside the
BEAM ANTENNA HANDBOOK
Complete1 revised and updated wtth the latest computer generated ~nforma. radio:
non on BZAM Antenna destqn Covets HF and VHF Yagls and 10. 18 and 24
MHz WARC bands Everything you need to know 204 ~llustrahons 268 Deviation-R112-located nearthe front center ofthe
paqes 1985 Revlsed 1st pd111on main board
t IRP-BA Soflbund $11.95
Low Power- R149-located t o the right of R112
Mic Gain-R132-located near the front of the main
SIMPLE L0W:COST WIRE ANTENNAS board near the right side
Pr~meron how to build m p l e law cost wlre antennas Includes lnnwble
deslqns for apartment dwellers Full 01 d~agrarnsand schemahcs 192 Power Meter-R73-located nearthe back of the radio
pages 1972 2nd edlllon
1 RP-WA Softbound $11.95 in the shielded can
S-meter-R23-located near the front center of the
ALL ABOUT CUBICAL (IUAO ANTENNAS main board
S ~ m p klo bulld. Ihghtwelght, and h~ghperformance make the h a d at DX'en
dellght Everqihlng from Ihe slngle element to a mulhelement monster A
wealth of lntormatlon on construchon. leedlng. tunlng and lnstalllng me
Conclusion
quad antenna 112 paqes * 1982 3rd edltlon
RPXO Sollbound $9.95
I've gained a lot of experienceover the years from ser-
vicing a number of these radios. A service manual is
unavailable, and theowner's manualcontains little infor-
THE RADIO AMATEUR ANTENNA HANDBOOK
A wealth of projects that covers verticals, long wlres, beams as well as mation pertaining toserviceability. These changesand
plenty of omer interesting designs. It Includes an honest ludgemenl of gain
figures, how to slte your antenna for the best pertormance. a look at me notes should help you fix some of the minor problems
Yagl-Ouad conhovers baluns slopers. and delta loops Prachcal antenna which can occur in an older radio.
projects that work1 lrlb pages: * 1978. 1st edttlan
! IRP.IH 8 0 W O ~ d$11.65 "Icom USA verifies that no service manualswere printed
for the IC22S. Schematics can be provided by lcom
Aease enclose $3 X
I tor smptng and handling
rgb upon request. Ed.
HaM Article K HAM RADIO
RADIO BOOKSrORE
\
94 October 1988
Uncle Bill's
Commodore C-64
Computer Software
by Bill Clarke WA4BLC
CODE COURSE
Thls computer program is broken into
three user lr~endlyparts. Part one In-
troduces to the beglnner the d~tlerent
morse characters The student slmply
presses a key and the character IS
sent and displayed on the screen Part
two generates the morse character
and the student IS requ~redto press
the correct key on the computer II
the student answers ~ncorrectly.the
character IS automal~callyresent. Part
three sends morse characters In ran-
,dom groups of llve The student can
tallor what 1s sent to thelr part~cular
needs. numbers only, letters only or a
comblnat~onot both Speeds are lrom
5 to 20 groups per rnlnule The com-
puter can also be conllgured to send
the Farnsworth method (high speed1
slow spaclng code I V 2 2
UB-CC (For C-64) 59.95
1 Nmrona.NI.V~kl~.
",.,<F?, 1W.f F?,<A',C,,<&, 7 1 I ? :I,," U~ItettAr.9. Palrn~r.RFPlod~~.R.dalrnalWl
whlle ellmlnatlng much of the drudgev MrRCHANillSZ TAKFN ON CONSIGNMENT
M # ~ , # . , " , ,\ t a n , a . , ,
ce~~mol. snurr. ~a8a.. ~ s m pT W ? ~TO*W HI P-1. lranm
01 anlenna calculations Part one FOR TOP PHICES m,,,,,/,".I~,~". I l " l l " * l S TURES W 2 I U Warn,. W l y n . l . s s u Ham and CmmarClal R&*lm. V-.
covers standard deslgn antennas- *. CI*., "II.n,r r\c Y,.ro~s.. C"",, ,,,.EX Wamrn 0u.la.ars R w . l s r r . Pnclpa wga.
dlpoles, vert~calsand Yag~deslgns. ...
Mimi.,
',,..I.,*
'.,,(a+
I ..,,ill*
i l U I..8 * D M
Greenville, NH
03048
w
603-878-1441 October 1988 95
i
OX FORECASTER
Gorth Stonehotker, KORY W
is initially caused by the electrons that "hard" into the E region or "soft" from
were ejected outward by the sun's flar- the tail into the F region, the trough
ing. These electrons are usually lower widens and moves down even more
in energy than protons so they don't toward the equator. How does this
have the proton's speed, but they are affect propagation and DX? The
more numerous. Being charged parti- propagation paths at midlatitudes in
cles, the electrons are constrained to east-west directions, like the United
follow the solar magnetic field as they States to Europe or the Orient, go
leave the sun. They travel with the across higher latitudes. When the par-
solar wind, increasing its number den- ticles arrive, the auroral oval and
sity greatly and its speed a little. Those trough come down right across your
High sunspot coming close enough to the earth's path, and the fade out has hit. Two
magnetic field veer into the polar things happen: the increase in the
propagation regions along those magnetic field number of particles weakens the sig-
part 2 lines. Most of the electrons are high nal trying to get through, and the
Events that originate with solar and weak enough to be fed into the trough's lower density causes a
flares cause propagation problems for geomagnetic field tail, captured, and decrease in maximum usable fre-
Dxers and ragchewers alike. A then released at lower latitude into the quency (MUF). These decreases are
sequence of events happens after a ionospheric F region at night. It takes not smooth, but variable (in
flare. Some (like sudden ionospheric electrons some 1 to 3 days after the seconds/minutes), and fluctuate over
disturbance, SID) occur shortly after flare to affect the ionosphere due to the 2 or 3 day period. The one differ-
the flare, some (like polar cap absorp- their lower energy, the long solar path, ence between SID and fade out is that
tion, PCA) appear several hours later, and the delay caused by the earth's SID has a smoother decrease. The K
and the final event (fade out) occurs capturing some to release at night. figure broadcast at 18 minutes after
from 1 to 3 days following the flare. The latitude ion density distribution the hour over radio station WWV is a
The first two situations and remedies in the F region is normally at its highest measure of the geomagnetic-field
for them were discussed last month. in the equatorial latitudes from 30 ionosphere variations compared to the
These events will occur more fre- degrees south to 30 degrees north. normal 3 hours of the day. It can be
quently with the increased probability This is because the lower regions (D used to calibrate a path during non-
of large flares as the II-year solar cycle and E) are where the largest produc- disturbed periods which is used, in
reaches higher sunspot numbers and tion of latitude ions from sunlight turn, to forecast how bad the propa-
solar flux; be prepared with a remedy. exists. When these ions drift to the F gation is when a fade out occurs. Fade
region up the field lines, the maximum outs from flares are more intense but
Fade out density changes from its position along of shorter duration than those from
Fade out is the most complicated the geographic equator to one along thin coronal solar wind increases.
and encompassing o f all the the geomagnetic equator. The other The weak, variable signal strength
ionospheric disturbances. It can affect ionospheric production region comes and decreased MUF are hard to
propagation paths during the day or from the polar particles. Moving remedy. Ordinarily, the weak signal
night, but the effect is worse at night. slightly toward the equator from the remedy for absorption is to increase
It lasts at least a day or two and is auroral zone (an area of no production) the operating frequency as you would
generally worldwide in extent, you'll find the F region trough, partic- in the SID's remedy. But here MUF is
although the effects and severity differ ularly on winter nights. However, decreasing on the propagation path,
with latitude and longitude. Fade out when the electrons start coming which calls for decreased operating
96 October 1988
OCEANIA
r r w r r ~ r u u ~ r u h , b h , ~ N N N r - + rr
AUSTRALIA
JAPAN P ~ N N N W L J L J L J L J L J L J L J L J W N N N N N
p m 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
S. AMERICA
ANTARCTICA -r C.L C U ,
mm N
OCEANIA
w r r r r N b V N N h , h , b b h b N * ~ ~ ~
AUSTRALIA N O 0
JAPAN N N ~ N W Q A Q Q W W A Q Q Q W W W W W W
u
- 2 4
0
is" 5
S. AFRICA
CARIBBEAN
r r
3
ANTARCTICA r w I- I- r r r r r r P N ru ,L
, LJ t~ N N L
n , r u ~ N r \ ) m m c n v l m m ~ o o O o ~ ~cnrnL+"'
~ m v ,
C
r r r r r r r N tu N IV N tu tu h, IU N N V V)
NEWZEALAND
o o ~ ~ ~ l m r n O o O O O ~ o o o 0 o Q O 0 ~
OCEANIA ~ ~ r h , b b I-' N N
AUSTRALIA O O N N U l O O O O O C n U l O 0 O O O 0 ~ 0 ~ U l
JAPAN N N N N W Q Q Q Q W W W W ~ Q A Q O W W
o ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ o o o o o O O O O ~ ~ 0
O Q O O O
The italicized numbers signify the bands to try dur~ngthe transition and early morning hours, while the standard type provides MUF during "normal" hours.
'Look at next hlgher band for possible openings.
October 1988 97
2x42 BASE
REPEATER
ANTENNA
THE HIGHEST GAIN
DUAL BAND
BASE/REPEATER ANTENNA
HIGH POWER 200 WATTS
CENTER FREQUENCY
146.500 MHz
446.500 MHz
GAIN:
VHF - 8.2dB
UHF - 1 1.5dB
VSWR - 1.-1.2 or less
CONNECTOR:
N TYPE FEMALE
LIGHTNING PROTECTION
GROUNDED DIRECT
LENGTH: 16 FT.
WEIGHT: 5 LBS. 3 OZ.
WIND LOAD: 90 MPH
MOUNTING: UP TO 2 IN.
MAST
CAN SIMULCAST ON
BOTH BANDS
WATERPROOF
CONNECTING
JOINTS '
IT'S BIGGER !I IT'S BETTER !!
UPS SHIPPABLE AFTER 35 YEARS. NOW IT'S TWO DAYS, AND INDOORS!!
98 October 1988
1 DOWN EAST MICROWAVE i
frequency. You can try a combination
of the two t o determine which part of
the problem is worse and go from
there, or try VHF frequencies that may
be getting through on auroral scatter.
A n alternate route south of the usual
beam bearing (called side scatter at hf) MICROWAVE ANTENNAS AND EQUIPMENT
.- .
. -.
Loop Ywle. P o w r M u l d s n L i n e r A m p l W n Complete
may work, or long-path propagation
may exist.
Arrays. MlcmwavsTnnsvsrtem GmAsFET Pnarnpa
TROPO EME .Weak Slanal OSCAR. 902.1269
2304 2400.3456MHz-
. 12%
ICOM
2345LV I Ian Y . p l l?whlM 2OdBl So7 IC-781 New Deluxe HF Rlg Call S
1345LV I IoopVmgl 23MMM 2WBl 581 IC-761 Loaded wllh Exlras Call $
3333LV 33sl IOopVagl WZMHZ I 8 MBI 197 IC-735 Gsn Cvg Xcvr Call S
Last-minute forecast ~ m u s~ennsl;arsanbka
e nna talsd n,tq n r a l l a ~ IC-751A Gen Cvg Xcvr Call $
A M $8 UPS SIH $1 I W 0 r l o I the Mtb~obs#pp~ Reelvers
The lower bands, 30 to 160 meters, MICROVUVE LINEAR AMPLIFIERS SSB. IC-R7Wo 2513001 MHz R N r Call S
A N . REPEATER. OSCAR IC.R71A IM) kHz-30 MHz Rcvr Call $
are expected to be best the first and 2318PA lwln 111-~11 1 2 4 0 - 1 3 0 0 ~ ~ 13.8V
~ SZ55
VHF
2335 PA IO. ln35w oul 1240-1300 MHz 13.8V $305
third weeks of October due to a dip in 3318PA lwln2Owout OW-930 MHz 13.8V $155 IC.228NH
IC.28NH F M Mob,@ 2 5 ~ 1 4 5 ~
Call
Call
$
I
3335 PA (Ow ln4Ow oul 900.930 MHz 13.W 1305
solar flux. Lower thunderstorm noise 23LNA pnamp O.7dB N.F. 1296 MHz S 110 IC.02AT FM HT Call $
33LNA preamp 0.9dB N.F. 902 MHz S 110 IC.2GAT 2m 7w HT Call S
and summer absorption in the North- raa l-Wn.a IC-900 Six Band Mobile Call 5
Yl ld. 2mk," -.mn I"I"
..Id
UHF
ern Hemisphere will make a noticeable mnmnar.anp
IC-48A FM Mobile 25w Call $
DOWN EAST MICROVUVE
improvement in these bands. Expect Blll Olnsn. W3HOT
IC.04AT FM HT Call $
IC-4GAT 440MHz HT Call $
Bax2310,RR l.Troy.ME04987
some fade out to affect propagation (207) 948-3741 220 MHz
IC-38A 25w FM Xcvr Call $
during this equinox season around the IC-32AT 2mVOcm HT Call $
6th. 16th, 22nd, and 28th. The higher
DX bands should improve the second
week and be best the third week, as
1 I
I II
KENWOOO
the result of a solar flux increase. NET-KALL NK-1 HF Equ~pmenl
TS.940SIAT Gen Cvg X N r 2449 95 Call S
Watch out for flare effects, SID, and DTMF ALERT DECODER TS.44OSIAT Gen. Cvg XCVI 1379 95 Call $
PCAs during this activity. The Orionids TS.140S Compacl Gen Cvg
xi, 92995 Call S
meteor shower will be visible from the VHF
TS-711A All Mode Base 25w 1029.95 Call $
15th to 24th of October, with a maxi- TR-751A All Mode Mobile 25w 649.95 Call I
TM-221A 2m 45w 439 95 Call $
mum rate of between 10 to 20 per hour TM-2550A FM Mobile 45W 499 95 Call 5
on the 20th t o 21st of the month. The TM-2570A FM MObfle 70w 599 95 Call $
TH.215A 2m HT Has I1 All 379 95 Call S
moon is full on the 25th and perigee TH.25AT 5w Pocket HT NEW 349 95 Call f
TM32lA M O c m FM Mobile 649 95 Call $
occurs on the 23rd. UHF
Momentary or lalclic?tloutput TM.421A Compact FM 35w 449.95 Call t
Call $
Band-by-band summary Mult~pleGroup-Call response TH.45AT 5w Pockel HT NEW 389.95
220 MHz
Ten, 12, 15, and 20 meters will provide H ~ g hstability xtal controlled SSI-202 TM.3530A F M 220 MHz 25vy 489.95 Call $
TM-321A Compacl 25w Moblle 449 95 Call $
many openings during the day. As you Ideal for an econom~calalert system TH-315A Full Fealured 2 5 w HT 399.95 Call $
Pet-.,
-
I
,
. " w"d .dnu"3
*n OlmlQ wmrl d l W
UO~CII.~, m l r a ~h m a n r r r -9"
~
m r * uo .c c o o tu,
-- -.--
* 2m170cm
Dual Bander
FT-727A 2mVOcm HT
Call $
Call $
~- FT-109RH New HT Call S
the east, west, and northerly direc- *PSI.
YPat
IOOID~LlOY~.9..l~m~-d~WII.IOW
- 4 W masgntcnn.oc.dlW. I S lonp MI
SrmODd
W.W wd
WPD.3. IW.m.IMhl.prlm.K.dtPd. 111Pod
tions, and for distances of 1600 miles. I m m m I S 1 O I .p.c...nldlwb
313'1W
.....
ISDI. 73'1- SlllPPd
S I O 1. M r a m ?r?OMW.C. ..-crlwl. .pcll?L41.1*05 VSlWPGd
Try 80 and 160 if disturbed conditions I IBD,. M I O m t l Y .a. r ldlgol..V.c1I"L u.," w'rrap*
VlSAlMC
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There's no better way of celebrating this momentous occasion, than
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The 1200-page s~xty-slxthedition contalns over 2100 tables,
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revlsed information on phase noise measurement, direct frequency ,
synthasis and spread spectrum communlcatlon techniques. The
section on repeaters has been updated including a new CW identifier
, - ,-
The American Radio Relay League, Inc., 225 Main St., Newington, C T 06111 USA
CENTRAL TIME
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Cals, auto-start, and screen print. Automatic fil- Twenty-five front panel keys allow prograrn- lines. The disk also includes toggles allowing
ter tuning and auto-tune features provide semi- ming of fm banks of 20 channek. Pairs of upper selection across surface mount devices only,
automated operation for maximum convenience. and lower limits for bands to be searched can military devices only, or surface mount military
be stored in 5 separate search memory bcations. devices only. The message lines use the
Information is stored in three permanent mem- "progressive disclosure" technique eliminating
ories, which never lose program information the need for a user's manual.
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tures includef i m channel priority. keyboardlock-
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offers 22 separate prompting annunciators.
The suggested retail price is $299. This
The M-7000 is manufactured in Englewood. includes a 450 MAH rechargeable battery, ac
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factory installed options include a Real Time steel belt clip.
Clock and a Video FAX option. The M-7000 is For further information contact ACE Commu-
available from stock at Universal and other nications, Monitor Diivision, 10707 East 106th
selected dealers. Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46256.
For additional information contact Universal Circle 1318 on Reader Sewlca Card.
Shortwave Radio, 1280 Aida Drive, Reynolds-
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Circle 1315 on Reader Sarvlcm Card.
Telephone repeater
EngineeringConsulting's "Connect-A-Call" (a Wthin the next year, the capabilities of the
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AOR, Ltd. has introduced of a new 103- Mode I 1 allows a- to your Watts line from complete with cross references and prices.
channel hand-held receiver that offers complete any phone - including cellular. It has multiiuser Copies of the Motorola Diirete Semiconduc-
public service band coverage. options with multiple access codes and a log- tor Data Disk are available for $2.00 each by
The new radio measures 5 3 1 4 " ~2-118"~1- ging option to provide usage time, and number requesting DKlOllD REV 1 from the Motorola
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27-54 MHz, 108-174 MHz, W 5 1 2 MHz, and Mode D2 connects incoming calls to other tel- P.O. Box 20912 Phoenix, Arizona 85036. The
830950 MHz. This allows coverage of all the ephone numbers if there is no answer after a Data Disk is also available to Motorola customers
police, fire and emergency bands, plus the new preset number of rings. It can be remotely through their local Motorola Semiconductor
services now available above 800 MHz in 12.5, reprogrammed to change message, ring count, Sales Offices.
25, and 30 kHz increments. access codes, and delays. Circle 1317 on Reader Sarvlce Card.
6 small dze. Only 518'W x 1.518'L x 314"H. .AP-3 AUTOPATCH Kit. Use
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T he versatile P i network couples transmitter depends on the other. Given (20, there is only one induc-
output stages toantennas while acting not only tive reactance XL that goes with it, and vice versa. It
as a transformer, but as a filter and antenna should be obvious which of the two arrangements to
tuner. It is a "conjugate impedance" network.' The first use. The known equation plusthe two otherscomplete
step for determining the network frequency response the set of equations to be calculated.
and the limits of the antenna tuning range (for either
analysis or design) requires equations for each of the
reactive elements. There are many articles on Pi net-
-
I 1
works with various procedures for determining the T
L
rTm
INDUCTOR
required network Two new equations
7f :iNE
-Ccr LOAD
TRANSMITTER
4- L o a o
presented here for the shunt capacitors are self- CAPACITOR CAPACITOR
Pi network circuit
Pi-network apparatus diagram.
Figure 1is an apparatus diagram for a Pi network. It
shows the terminationsand reactive elements, with defi-
nitions for the resonant frequency impedancesof each.
Figure 2 shows these impedances in a circuit with a
resistive match to the transmitter and load resistances.
Definitions are included for capacitor element Q's and
the "operating Q" to aid in circuit analysis.
There are three reactive elements, a series inductor
I I
BY OEFlNlTlON 14T RESONANCE)
and two shunt capacitors. As stated above, the circuit 0 2 . Rz/Xz
OPERITING D ~ 0 0 . 0 1 01
t
0 1 .RI / X I
$60
The load capacitor XI and the tune capacitor Xp follow.
For another circuit (some other load condition, for
instance)XL is now fixed and you'll need to determine Q.2 = - (11)
the changed 00.Equation 1 is indicated in this situa-
tion.
For either circumstance, with a paired Q0 and XL
Finally, insertingthe definitions of Q1and Qp in terms
defined, eqns. 3 and 4 directly determine XI and Xp for
of their impedances, the capacitativereactancesat the
the two capacitors.
resonant frequency are:
For example, assume the transmitter R2 is 5000 ohms,
Load:
theantenna 50 ohms, and that a Qo of 15 has been cho-
sen. Then:
Qo = 15
XL = 379.99 ohms
XI = 50.67 ohms
X2 = 356.80 ohms Tune:
Suppose that the load R1is changed to 100ohms with
a SWR of 2, and that XLjust determinedis fixed. Then:
XL = 379.99 ohms
Qo = 16.56
XI = 54.57 ohms
Xp = 339.50ohms completing the derivation of the new pair of equations.
There is only about a 6-percent change in the calcu- references
lated factorswhen the load is resistive; for reactive loads 1. Walt Maxwell. W2DU. "Technical Correspondence", QST, March 1985,page
45.
the change is greater.2 2. EarlW. Whyman, W2HB. "Pi Network DesignandAnalysis."hamradio. Sep-
Appendix tember 1977, page 30.
Derivation of the new equations for the two capaci- 3. Elmer A. Wingfield, W5FD, "Newand Improved Formulasforthe Design of
Pi and Pi-L Networks," QST, August 1983, page23.
tors in the Pi network begins with t w o known
4. Chris Bowick, WWC, "Impedance Matching-A Brief Review," hamradio,
equation^^,^. These equations have the disadvantage of June 1984, page 48.
using square roots: 5. William Orr. WGSAI, RadioHandbook,22nddiion. HowardW. Sams, 1981,
page 11-33.
6. ARRL Radio Amateur Handbook, 1984, page 2-48 and 2-49.
7. ITTReferenceData forRadio Engineers. 5th edition. HowardW. Sams, 1974.
page 11-5.
8. W . L. Everin, CommunicationEngineering, 2nd edition, McGraw-Hill, 1937.
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ELlMlNATES RF INTERFERENCE IN: T V bcm,
R d i a , HI-FI PA ryslcms, Tclcphoncq VCRs, Tesl
-
fl 1m
112 October 1988
Tom Mc Mullen, W1
II
OlTb AUDIO OAT4
PULSES TONES PULSES
What is a modem? OR
TERMlN4L
OR
TERMINAL
A data-communications circuit that uses modems and a telephone line. The modems cre-
words Modulator/ DEModulator, and
ate and decode tones that are within the normal voice band of frequencies acceptable by
it refers to a device that goes between the telephone system.
a terminal (personal computer, key-
board, "dumb" terminal, etc.) and a one frequency; when the pulse modem. The modem then translates
radio transmitter/receiver. Before we changes to its high or 1 state, the fre- them into a tone that changes fre-
get into the specifics of a modem's use quency changes to something else. quency in step with the pulses and
with radios, let's look at another, The difference between these two feeds them into the telphone system.
earlier use of the device. tones is called the "shift." There's The telephone network treats the
A simple communications circuit nothing here that hasn't been done tones as ifthey were a voice and sends
using data terminals and modems is with RTTY, but computers do it faster. them to the modem at the other end.
shown in fig. 1. Modems are required This basic audio-frequency shift sys- The receiving modem performs a
because data pulses don't take kindly tem is in common use at transmission reverse translation, detecting the shift
to cables that are longer than a few rates up to perhaps 1200 bauds. At in the tone frequencies and turning it
feet. The capacitance of such cables higher rates, another scheme called into pulses just like the ones your ter-
is placed effectively across the output phase-shift keying is sometimes used. minal generated. These pulses are sent
of the terminals; this tends to distort Here, the audio frequency does not to the other terminal and interpreted
the pulses and make them ineffective shift, but the phase is shifted accord- as letters, numbers, or commands.
as signals between computers. ing to the state of the data pulse. There are a few simple "handshake"
The modems overcome this limita- Some advanced high-speed circuits procedures in operation in a system
tion by translating the pulses into audio use a mixture of both audio and phase- like that in fig. 1. First, your terminal
tones that aren't distorted by the long shift keying. needs to know that the modem is at
lines. Depending upon the transmis- On a circuit that you might use to the other end of the line, and ready to
sion speed, the tone frequency talk to another computer via your tele- operate. It does this by checking to see
changes according to the data pulse phone lines, 300 or 1200 baud would if there is continuity in a circuit that
fed to the modem. When the pulse is be a common speed. Your terminal goes to the modem and back. In
at its low or zero state, the tone has sends a stream of pulses to the essence, it puts a dc voltage on a wire,
I 1
monitor, what speed (baud rate) to
A packet-radio system. In addition to establising rf communications between the two tran-
use, and which relay stations to use if
sceivers, the modems perform many encoding, decoding, and housekeeping chores. needed. Some will let you switch
bands and operating modes in
response to a command from the key-
telling the modem "I'm ready to you could simply remove the tele- board. Most TNCs also have the abil-
send." This is known as a Data Ter- phones and wire lines from the dia- ity to check their own health and
minal Ready (DTR) signal. The gram in fig. l , replace them with a calibration ability, letting you look at
modem, in turn, places a voltage on transceiver and antennas, and have a messages to find where an error
a wire that says, "I'm ready to packet-radio circuit as shown in fig. 2. occurs. Many TNCs can be configured
receive." In this case, it's a Data Set That's pretty close to the way it's to repeat packets between other sta-
Ready (DSR) signal. Once this hand- done. The packet equipment, called a tions by simply entering a command
shake has been accomplished, things Terminal Node Controller (TNC), acts from your terminal.
are ready to go. But wait a minute! as a modem. It translates pulses into Basically, a TNC is a micropro-
What if the telephone line isn't work- audio tones for transmitting, and does cessor-controlled modem with a
ing? In another handshake procedure, the reverse for receiving. However, the tremendous amount of built-in soft-
the modem first looks for a carrier packet modem must have a lot more ware, making operation easier and
(audio tone of the correct frequency) built-in "smarts". The modem does more enjoyable. This takes you far
from the modem at the other end of have some basic handshake systems, beyond just keying a transmitter and
the line. If it's not there, it won't send just like its land-line cousin, but the listening for a reply. You could use a
the DSR signal back to the data ter- difference comes when you start using less sophisticated modem by building
minal. If the tone is detected, the DSR the packet rules called "protocols." most of these features into the data
signal is sent and you're ready to trans- For example, if you type the letter "H" terminal or computer software; some
mit data - assuming that the modem on the keyboard in your land-line packet equipmentlsoftware suppliers
and terminal at the other end have setup, it is translated into pulses (1's have done just that. The end result is
completed their handshake and are and 0's) by your terminal or computer. the same and the way to go is a mat-
ready too. The modem then translates these ter of choice.
The "alphabet soup" here can get pulses into tones and sends them out
pretty thick: Data Terminal Equipment on the telphone line. At the other end, What's RS-2327
(DTE), Data Communications Equip- the modem translates the tones back First, let me point out that the plug
ment (DCE), Carrier Detect (CD), to pulses; the terminal translates the or connector on the end of a cable or
Ready To Send (RTS), Clear To Send pulses back to the letter H, and the let- a piece of equipment isn't an RS-232
(CTS), and on and on. You needn't ter appears on the screen. On a packet connector in the true sense of the
know all these terms unless you want system, the TNC must first place the word. The connectors most commonly
to get into data communications in a pulses that represent the letter H in a called RS-232 are actually DB-25 con-
big way. Many of these signals and message form (the packet) that con- nectors, although other types have
procedures are taken care of automat- tains the correct address, along with also been misnamed.
ically by the equipment and programs, information to check the accuracy of RS-232 is a set of standards for data
but knowledge of them is helpful if the message. The whole packet is then signal transmission. Since the latest
you're designing or troubleshooting a sent to the other station. The receiv- version is "C," the standard is referred
system. ing station's TNC translates the tones to as "RS-232C." Basically, the stan-
into pulses and checks for errors. It dard defines the voltage levels that
The packet-radio modem then acknowledges receipt (if the mes- must appear on certain lines, what
At first glance, it might seem that sage was received correctly), strips all those lines are called, what lines are
I1
ham TRY US! SUBSCRISE OR SEND $1 FOR YOUR
SAMPLE COPY. VISA, MASTERCA RD accepted.
radio-,.-BOOKSTORE
- -- - - - . RADIOSPORTING Magazine
PO Box 282, Pine Brook, NJ 07058, USA Tel. (201) 227-0712
GREENVILLE, NH 03048 603-878-1441
r/ llul October 1988 115
The signals and voltage levels as described i n the RS-232C standard. Not all o f these
I . EWIPMENT GRWND
(4. SECONDARY TRANSMIT are used i n every piece of equipment.
2 , TRIINSMII M T A DATA
15. TRANSMIT CLOCK
3. RECEIVE DATA
16. SECONDARY RECEIVE
Pin RS-232C Function and Description
DATA
REOUEST TO SEND
IT. RECTWER CLOCK
Name
5 . CLEaR TO SEND
1 AA Protective ground or Equipment ground
6 . M N SET R N D I
I9 .SECONOARY REDUEST 2 BA Transmitted Data: Mark = - 3 to - 25 volts; Space = + 3 to + 25
7 . SIGNAL GROUND TO SEND
2 0 . 0 4 T 1 TERMINAL READ* volts
8 . OMTA CARRIER
DETECT
9 . RESERVED
21. SIGNAL O U A L l T l
DETECT
22. RING INDICATOR
3 BB +
Received Data: Mark = - 5 to - 15 volts; Space = + 5 to 15 volts
4 CA Request To Send: Terminal asserts' this pin when it has data to
I1 -
1 0 . RESERVED
UNASSIGNED
2 3 . D A T A R A r E SELECT
2 4 . TRANSMIT CLOCK
transmit. It waits for Clear to Send before sending.
1 2 - S E C O W M R V DATA
CARRIER o E r E c ~ 25.UNIISSIGNED
5 CB Clear To Send: The Data Set asserts this in response to DTE if the
I3 S E C O N D A RTIOCLEAR
SEND set is ready.
c
A common connector for communications
6
7
CC
AB
Data Set Ready: The modem (Data Set) asserts this line in response
to DTR (pin 20) to show that it is on and operational.
Signal Ground or Common Return. This can be connected to pin
equipment is a DB-25 type, shown here with 1, but doing so may cause noise or ground-loop problems in some
pins and RS-232C signals identified. cases.
8 CF Receive Signal Detector or Data Carrier Detect: The modem asserts
necessary to provide data transfer and this line when a correct carrier tone is detected.
9 Resewed
handshaking, and the amount of cur-
10 Resewed
rent the circuit can carry. In a circuit 11 Unassigned
that meets these criteria, you can short 12 SCF Secondary Receive Signal Detector: Same as pin 8, but not used
any of the wires together and nothing with most common modems.
will blow out or burn up - an impor- 13 SCB Secondary Clear to Send: Same as pin 5, but not used with most
common modems.
tant safety consideration. Table 1 Secondary Transmit Data: Same as pin 2, but not used with most
14 SBA
shows these signal names and values; common modems.
figure 3 shows a DB-25 connector 15 DB Transmit Signal Clock: Used for timing signals between the modem
with the signals and pins identified. It's and the terminal.
important to note that not all manufac- 16 SBB Secondary Receive Data: Same as pin 3, but not used with most
common modems.
turers (and designers) have followed Receiver Clock: Used for timing signals between the modem and
17 DD
these standards to the letter. You may the terminal.
find some equipment that uses certain 18 Unassigned
lines for purposes not covered in the 19 SCA Secondary Request To Send: Same as pin 4, but not used with most
standards, or that omits some signals common modems.
20 CD Data Terminal Ready: Used by the terminal to indicate that it is on
or lines. The majority of computers and ready to send or receive.
and interfaces do, however, follow the 21 CG Signal Quality Detector: The modem asserts this line when the
standard well enough that most RS- received signal meets specified criteria for quality (strength, fre-
232C devices will work with them. quency, lack of noise, etc.).
Why is this important? Many TNCs 22 CE Ring Indicator: This line is asserted when the modem detects ring-
ing voltage pulses on the telephone line.
available today use a cable (called an 23 CH(CI) Data Signal Rate Selector: Used by the Terminal and/or the modem
RS-232 cable) to connect between the to select a baud rate and inform the other equipment of that rate.
computer and the TNC. If you have to 24 DA Transmitter Signal Element Timing: Similar to pin 15, but used when
troubleshoot the system, and suspect the timing comes from a source other than the main modem.
the cable, it's good to know what to 25 Unassigned
look for. There are "breakout" boxes 'Asserts is a term meaning "makes active." A line can be asserted by placing a + or -
available that can be placed in series voltage on it. or by pulling it from some voltage to zero, depending on the type of logic
convention in use.
with cables such as these to see what's
happening. They have several light-
emitting diodes CLEDs) that are on or
off, indicating the states of the circuits outside world is to the microphone, incoming translations to make data
they are monitoring. PTT, and receiver audio in your tran- communications compatible with
Some TNCs are designed to fit into sceiver. voice-type circuits. In addition, the
a vacant slot in an IBM PC or compat- In summary, a modem is an inter- packet-radio modem contains soft-
ible. These need no cable - they work face between a computer or terminal ware that covers many operating
from the interface bus in the com- and either the radio world or telephone procedures that Amateurs need for
puter. Their only connection to the systems. It provides both outgoing and successful communications via
PACKET DGFET
DGFET
GaAsFET
YOUR GATEWAY TO PACKET RADIO DGFET
by Stan H o n e p a . WAlLOU DGFET
GaAsFET
Here IS me complete beglnner s ukde l o Packet Radio millen DGFET
by ARRL Packet exper! W A ~ L O QBep~nrmnmll find the DGFET
complete easy to understand explanat~onrellmlnale many of GaAsFET
me trustrat~ngaspects ot packet operabon Full of helptul Blpolar
hints and lips that come trom thousands of hours at on mb Blpotar
agr pxn?r~pntp Keeo trom re lnventlno me wheel -
learn GaAsFET
I f o m i n e c x r l 2& pages 1987 I
I n l l n a ( d 0wIloh.d)
GET"'CONNECTE0 TO PACKET RADIO WFET
OGFET
by Jlm Drubbs W9EI GaAsFET
Thns IS your Packel Radio Handbpak! Ovar 17 chapten cover DGFET
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cessorles and a prlmer on how to make your hrst packet mn- DGFET
tact to how packet bulletln boards lE8SI operate, plus morel DGFET
Also has Complete appendix wlm more !nformatlon o n definl- GaAsFET
tlons, blbllography, Irequencles, orpan~zatlons.GLBflAPR Bipolar
cross relerence uldp Xerox 820 ~nto,other publlcatlons. Bipolar
suppliers and W ~ L commands
I Wrlnen fn an easy-lo-read. GaAsFET
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users c 19% 208 pages - Is1 editton
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CONFERENCES 1-4 a n d p o w e r amplltlar l o r high p a r s r a p p l l ~ t l o n s .O l h e r amateur w m m e r c l s f a n d s a m p t l l k m rvallabla
Pioneer Papers o n Packal Radio 1981-1985 I n l h a 1:1000 M H z range. F?%K i ulde 52 s h t p l n In
These iollect~onsot Packet Radio papen should be in wely V.S. a n d Canada. Connecticut r e s t d e n t s a d 1
Packet eolhus~aslsshack' Written durlw Ihe tormulatin, years
01 Packet development, these papers ( t w numerous to men-
Rdvanced males tax. C.O.D. o r d a m a d d 12 Alr m a l l l o f o m t g n w u w
t r l e a a d d 10%. Order y o u r ARR R x o n l y o r I n l l n a
tlon them all) cover theory practical appllcatlons. prOIOCOIS,
sotware and hardware sublects You also get a complete u p
Receiver preampllllmr t o d a y a n d s t a r t h s a r l n g l i k e never b e f o r s l
Name Call
Addm
CW State Zip
Mastercard-VISA-Discove
.
I I :A i ~ ~ ; a l
All Band, All Mode Transceiver 160-10MIGeneralCoverage
rn.2'" Recelver Moblie 10 Meter Transceiver
Dlrect Keyboard Entry 70cm Modules SSBIAMIFMICW
Bullt.ln Power Supply and
Engineered for the DX.Minded 25 Watts PEP
and Contesting Ham I Full CW Break-in
Automatic AntennaTuner
SSB, CW, FM. AM. RTTY Computer Controlled Operation
I t s Got It All! Lots More Features SALE PRICED
KENWOOD YAESU
2m and 220 MHz A m p l ~ l ~ e r s
GaAsFET Recelve Pre.Amps
and H ~ p SWR
h Shutdown
Prctect~on
FT-736R V H F UHF BASESTATION MODEL
144 MHz
- - --
SSB, CW. FM on 2 Meters
2-23 2 in130 oul
and 70 cm
.
TS.140S 2-217 2in1170oul
AFFORDABLE DX ~ n g l
Optional 50MHz. 220 MHzor IC-781 NEWEST SUPER RIG 2-117 lO~n11700~1
HF Transceiver With 1.2GHz 5 Function Display Screen 220 MHz
General Coverage Receiver 25 Watts Output on 2 Meters. 3-22 2 1n;20 out
Built-in Spectrum Scope
All HF Amateur Bands 220 and 70 c m 2-211 2lnlllOa"l
100 W output lOWattsOutputon6Meters 150WattsOutput 3.312 30tnll2Uoul
Comoact. Lots of Features i and 1.2 GHz loo Memorles Built.in PS and AT CALL
0
ICOM
0
I KENWOOD
TH-25AT
- -
I
YAESU Ki?Kantronics
POCKET-SIZED
AND POWERFUL
Frequency Cover-
age: 141.163 MHz
I IC-,i2AT
ICoMIC-,i4AT
MICRO HT'S -n
FOR 2M. 440
(Rx), 144.148 MHz KAM
(Tx)
. Pocket Size HT Fun
Packet, WEFAX. ASCII.
-
Ten Memories
Front Panel DTMF
Pad
5 Watts O u t ~ u t
14 ~ e m o r i e s
140.164 MHz.
440-450 MHz
. LCD Readout
Wideband Coverage
u p to 3 w a t t s output
AMTOR. RTTY. CW
Simultaneous Operation on
HFan*VHF
Personal Packet Mallbox'"
TH-45AT Available SALE PRICED
for440 MHz
i
POCKET SIZE
FREQUENC
SIZE: 4" Hx 3.5" W x 1I' D
MADE IN USA COUNTER TO 2.4 GHZ
I
#TA-100s I
8 LED DIGITS 2 GATE TIMES
1 ALUMINUM CABINET
INTERNAL NI-CAD BA7TERlES INCLUDED
'! AC ADAPTER/CHARGER INCLUDED
Irr
.-
r = EXCELLENT SENSITIVI'IY
& ACCURACY
AC-DC PORTABLE
OPERATION
.
--
Small enough to fit into a shirt pocket, our new 1.3 GHzand 2.4 GHz, 8 digit frequency counters are not toyslThey
can actually out perform units many times their size and price1 Included are rechargeable Ni-Cad batteries
installed inside the unit for hours of portable, cordless operation. The batteries are easily recharged using the AC
adapter/charger supplied with the unit.
The excellent sensitivity of the 1300H/A makes it ideal for use with the telescoping RF pick-up antenna;
accurately and easily measure transmit frequencies from handheld, fixed, or mobile radios such as: Police,
firefighters, Ham, taxi, car telephone, aircraft, marine, etc. May be used for counter surveillance, locating hidden
"bug" transmitters. Use with grid dip oscillator when designing and tuning antennas. May be used with a probe
for measuring clock frequencies in computers, various digital circuitry or oscillators. Can be built into transmitters,
signal generators and other devices to accurately monitor frequency
The size, price and performance of these new instruments make them indispensible for technicians, engineers,
schools, Hams, CBers, electronic hobbyists, short wave listeners, law enforcement personnel and many others.
STOCK NO:
# 1300H/A Model 1300H/A 1 - 1300 MHz counter with preamp, sensitivity. < ImU
27MHzto 450MHz includes Ni-Cad batteriesandAC adapter . . . . . . . . .S169.95
#24OOH Model2400H 10-2400MHz microwavecounter includes Ni-Cad
batteries and AC adapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .S2W.95
#CCA ModelCCA cwnter/cwnter, for debugging, ultra sensitive, < 50 micro
voltsat 150MHzl 1-600 MHz with adjustablethreshold, RF indicator
LED. Includes Ni-Cadbatteriesand AC adapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SZW.95
ACCESSORIES:
-- --- ~ -
#TA-100s Telescoping RF pick-up antenna with BNC connector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .S12.00
#P-100 Probe, direct connection 50 ohm, BNC connector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .S20.00
#CC-12 Carrying case, gray vinyl with zipper opening. Will hold a counter and
$TA-1000S antenna. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..S10.00
r/ 194 ,
ORDER FACTOAT DIRECT
FLA (305) 771-2050 I
1-800-327-5912 AVAILABLE NOW1
opro~'mrRo~~cs
INC=
Orders to US and Canada add 5"/0 of total ($2 rnin. $10 rnax)
5821 N.E. 14th Avenue Florida residents add 6"/0sales tax. COD fee $2.
Ft. Lauderdale. Florida 33334 Foreign orders add 15%
htroducing the only mobiles t
Yaesn USAI72IO Edwards Road, Cerritos, CA 90701 (213) 404-2700. Repair Senice: (214) 404-4884. Party: (213) 404-4847.
Pricps and spcificali~)nssubjrrt Lci change withoul notirc. PI. is a registeml lradrmark olMolornla.Inr.
T
All
Pi
. - /
[;
Mode
-,
Mobilitv!
:-
\
25 watts .igtiIr, watts adjustable low
Progr;~rnni;\blescanning-memory.
ilual tl~gltalVFOs v
* S e m break-ln CW with s d e tone
band, or mode scan wlth "COM" MC-48 16-key DTMF hand micro-
Compact a s h 0 c f e channel and prlorlty alert phone and m~crophonehook tncluded
transceivers 10 memory channels for frequency, Frequency lock, offset, reverse switches
the "N~,,, sound^ on the 2 meter mode, CTCSS tone, offset. Two than- Digital Channel Link (DCL) option
band-Kenwood's TR-751A! Auto- nets for odd spl~ts. O p t ~ o n aaccessories:
l
All mode squelch, noise blanker.
matic mode selection, versatile
scanning functions, illuminated multi-
function LCD and status lights all
.
and RIT
Easy-to-readanalog
& RF meter
CD-10 call slgn dlsplay
PS-430, PS-30 DC power suppl~es
SW-100A/B SWRlpower meter
contribute to the rig's ease-of- SW-200A/B SWRlpower meter
operation. All this and more in a SWT-1 : I rrl antenna tuner
compact package for VHF stations SWT-2 70 c m antenna tuner
on-the-go! TU-7 38-tone CTCSS encoder
A u l o ~ ~ i amode
l ~ c select~on,plus LSB MU-1 modem unit for DCL system
-
144.0 144 1 144.5 145.8 146.0 148.0 MHz VS-1 voice synthes~zer
I MB-10 extra mobile mount
CW USBIFM USE Y; SP-40, SP-SOB mobile
sl~eakers
Optional front panel-sele
'