The January - February 2022 SARC Communicator

 

Over 120 Pages Of Projects, News, Views and Reviews

2022 here we come! 'The Communicator' digital periodical of Surrey Amateur Radio Communications is now available for viewing or download at https://bit.ly/SARC22JanFeb

Read in over 140 countries now, we bring you Amateur Radio news from the South West corner of Canada and elsewhere. You will find Amateur Radio related articles, projects, profiles, news, tips and how-to's. 

This month a special feature on CW, including its history, modern day mentions and how to best learn it.

You can view or download it as a .PDF file from:  

https://bit.ly/SARC22JanFeb

Previous Communicator issues are at https://ve7sar.blogspot.com/search/label/The%20Communicator

As always, thank you to our contributors, and your feedback is always welcome. 

The deadline for the next edition is February 20th.

If you have news or events from your club or photos, stories, projects or other items of interest from BC or elsewhere, please email them to communicator@ve7sar.net

Keep visiting our site for regular updates and news: https://ve7sar.blogspot.ca    

73,

John VE7TI

'The Communicator' Editor

The Galway Radio Club (Ireland) Newsletters

Good newsletters are hard to find!

Of course we're really partial to our own Communicator, but here are two great resources from our Ham friends in Ireland...

Galway Radio Club Newsletter: 

The Winter 2021 edition of the Galway Radio Club Newsletter has been published. This has become an annual favorite of Amateur Radio Operators not only in Ireland, but also around the world. It is a fantastic newsletter covering a wide variety of information. Read it here: 

https://www.galwayradio.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/GRC-Newsletter-Winter-2021.pdf

Digital Radio Network: 

Steve Wright (EI5DD) has updated his Digital Radio Manual with a new version uploaded 09-Sep-2021.

~

SARC-SEPAR November 10 Presentation on DMR

 Here is a guide to getting started on DMR

DMR stands for Digital Mobile Radio and is a European-developed international standard of digital radio. This new and versatile technology covers voice and data transmissions, along with conformance testing. It is an affordable digital solution to analog radio.

The only drawback is programming, which is more complex than standard amateur radio. DMR requires a 'codeplug' which is a file containing program information. With most analog ham radios you can convert a DMR code plug from one radio brand to another, using CHiRP for example. As mentioned during the presentation, every manufacturer seems to roll their own software, thus ensuring different nomenclature, and organization of their dialog boxes.

Its not for the faint of heart or for the beginner, so its best to consult someone in your area who may have a codeplug ready to go. For us that resource is Doug Pattengale VE7CQT, who gave an excellent PowerPoint presentation on the subject to a combined Zoom audience of SARC and SEPAR members. 

According to Doug, some of the worst radios don't include the ability to fully export or import the code plug elements so that tools like spread sheets can be used for bulk editing. There are tools 'out there' that facilitate this conversion from one proprietary software to another. For free! Have a look at this tool as it handles the TYT MD UV380 or 390 model in question. 

Doug has used it to convert an AnyTone code plug in the past, and he reports that its amazingly powerful and convenient. Once you get to know how it works, it can do in a few minutes what would take hours of work to manipulate in a spread sheet. An added benefit is that it compensates for missing functionality like sorting, re-ordering and cut / paste that the native CPS software lacks.

http://n0gsg.com/contact-manager/

- this is a stand alone .exe file. You just drop it into a folder and run it. No hidden files, overhead, install or uninstall. Just delete it, and its gone.

 

Here is a link to Doug's presentation:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1d4qRTKzhX46fFVagdHUq1UAy2SLNrc55/view?usp=sharing

And here is a complete guide to getting started in digital radio, courtesy of the Galway Radio Club:  Digital-Radio-Operating-Manual-v2.pdf (galwayradio.com)

~

Hedy Lamarr Day 2021

A special "HEDY LAMARR DAY NET"

For the 6th straight year N9H will celebrating HEDY LAMARR DAY on NOVEMBER 9, 2021. This special event net will be on at 9am pst to12pm EST, (1700 UTC). Help us celebrate her accomplishments and of course her 107th Birthday. As we celebrate her technological advancements in ham radio and of course her silver screen roles in many movies she did throughout her career.

Join us and have fun and check in to the Echolink *ROC-HAM* Conference server node #531091or Allstar node #2585,47620. The net which will run 4 hours or longer depending on the number of check-ins.

Here is the net control line-up for Tuesday, November 9th:

1. 1700UTC TO 1900UTC/12PM EST - 2PM EST/ 9AM - 11AM PST - VA3ODJ/DESIREE - 2 HOUR SHIFT - NET CONTROL FOR ALASKA MORNING NET
2. 1900UTC TO 2100UTC/2PM EST - 4PM EST/ 11AM - 1PM PST - TBD - 2 HOUR SHIFT2100UTC TO 2300UTC/4PM EST - 6PM EST/ 1PM PST - 3PM PST - - KD2GUT/CARYN EVE MURRAY – 2 HOUR SHIFT – AMATEUR RADIO NEWSLINE REPORTER
3. 2300UTC TO 0100UTC/6PM EST - 8PM EST/ 3PM - 5PM PST - KI5OZZ/NANCY HOHLER- 2 HOUR SHIFT - NET CONTROL FOR THE BORDOM BREAKERS NET, NET CONTROL FOR THE HAM AND EGGS NET

Here is some great info about HEDY LAMARR you may not have known:

Hedy Lamarr: Facts about the actress and inventor!

• Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler was born 9 November 1914 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary.
• She became an internationally recognized film star, appearing in dozens of movies.
• The lack of acting challenges bored Lamarr. She reportedly took up inventing to relieve her boredom.
• Lamarr’s earliest inventions included an improved traffic stoplight and a tablet that would dissolve in water to create a carbonated drink. The beverage was unsuccessful; Lamarr herself said it tasted like Alka-Seltzer.
• With the ongoing World War, Lamarr was inspired to contribute to the war effort, designing a jam-proof radio guidance system for torpedoes. With the help of composer George Antheil, they drafted designs for a new frequency-hopping, spread-spectrum technology that they later patented. That design is used to this day in radio and cellular telephone systems.
• Lamarr and Antheil realized that radio-controlled torpedoes, which could be important in the naval war, could easily be jammed, thereby causing the torpedo to go off course.
• With the knowledge she had gained about torpedoes from her first husband, and using a method similar to the way piano rolls work, they designed a frequency-hopping system that would continually change the radio signals sent to the torpedo.
• Their invention was granted a patent on 11 August 1942 (filed using her married name Hedy Kiesler Markey). Yet, it was technologically difficult to implement, and at that time the U.S. Navy was not receptive to considering inventions coming from outside the military.
• Only in 1962 (at the time of the Cuban missile crisis) did an updated version of their design appear on Navy ships.The design is one of the important elements behind today’s spread-spectrum communication technology, such as modern CDMA, Wi-Fi networks, and Bluetooth technology.
• In 1997, they received the Electronic Frontier Foundation Pioneer Award and the Bulbie Gnass Spirit of Achievement Bronze Award, given to individuals whose creative lifetime achievements in the arts, sciences, business, or invention fields have significantly contributed to society.
• She was featured on the Science Channel and the Discovery Channel.
• In 2014, Lamarr and Antheil were posthumously inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
• Lamarr became a naturalized citizen of the United States at age 38 on 10 April 1953
• Gertrud Kiesler put “Hebrew” as her race on her petition for naturalization as a United States citizen. She would live out the rest of her life in California, dying in 1977 at age 83.

A special event QSL Card will be available upon request. Just tell the net controller and they will put you down for one and of course to obtain your special event QSL Card.

More information at: https://forums.qrz.com/index.php?threads/hedy-lamarr-day-2021.786710/ and on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedy_Lamarr

~

The November - December 2021 SARC Communicator

 

Over 120 Pages Of Projects, News, Views and Reviews

Closing out 2021, The Communicator digital periodical of Surrey Amateur Radio Communications is now available for viewing or download at https://bit.ly/SARC21NovDec

Read in 139 countries now, we bring you Amateur Radio news from the South West corner of Canada and elsewhere. You will find Amateur Radio related articles, projects, profiles, news, tips and how-to's. You can view or download it as a .PDF file from:  

https://bit.ly/SARC21NovDec

Previous Communicator issues are at https://ve7sar.blogspot.com/search/label/The%20Communicator

As always, thank you to our contributors, and your feedback is always welcome. 

The deadline for the next edition is December 20th.

If you have news or events from your club or photos, stories, projects or other items of interest from BC or elsewhere, please email them to communicator@ve7sar.net

Keep visiting our site for regular updates and news: https://ve7sar.blogspot.ca    

73,

John VE7TI

'The Communicator' Editor

Another Amateur Radio Contribution!

...said that it will revolutionize communications 

In a radical new development, Horace Blink MY2EAR has developed a new multi-band transceiver that can tune both upper and lower sidebands simultaneously. 

Horace is shown in a local park demonstrating the device and the 360 degree rotatable platform on which it is built. He told ‘The Communicator’ that the next step before large scale production is finding a method to use it indoors as he has experienced numbness in his extremities during foul weather use.

~

 

Repair of an IC-208H head unit

Icom to the rescue...

It happened in a moment of inattention… I dropped my mic and the hanger caught the screen of the head unit of my Icom IC-208H. The crack was obvious but I thought I could make it less so. I applied some super glue, hoping it would seep in so that I could then polish it out. It didn't.

I found the service manual on-line and discovered that the repair would be relatively easy. But this transceiver is 16 years old, and unlikely a replacement part would be available. I’m a big Icom fan. My first transceiver was an Icom and I’ve owned several since with great success. I once had to send a Yaesu for repair. The nearest service facility was in California and it took just under a year before I got it back. We’re fortunate that Icom Canada has a service depot locally. Staff has always been very accommodating… like when I lost a knob from a handheld. I received a replacement within a day.

I called the depot  expecting to be disappointed. Surprise! The part was in stock, immediately available, and only a couple of dollars.

I remain an Icom fan. The gear works well, is well constructed, and is well-supported - even after years of use.

~ John VE7TI