RADIO ACTIVE Newsletter of the Las Vegas Radio Amateur Club June 2004 Serving Las Vegas since April 1961 President's Corner By Charlie Kunz, AA5QJ At the May meeting, it was my distinct pleasure and honor to present Howard Mark, K3HM, with the LVRAC's Thunderbird Award. It was first presented in 2003 to Bill Cornelius, K8XC, and was established by the Board of Director to honor members for 'Exemplary and Continued Service to the Success of the Las Vegas Radio Amateur Club'. It is not intended to be an annual award but at the discretion of the Board. Following is a copy of the presentation letter: Howard is a long-term member who is largely responsible for the Las Vegas Radio Amateur Club being what it is today. Several years ago, he led a group that wrote the club's founding documents, which led to our incorporation. He then went on to author the club by-laws and was instrumental in their implementation. Howard has served in several elected club offices, not the least of which is the position of Club President. He is a former multi-term member of the Board of Directors and he is a former Director of the American Radio Relay League. As an expert communicator, for many years Howard has led the club's efforts to establish and maintain a weekly net by recruiting and training net control operators. He further assists all net control operators in the installation of software and speaker modifications at their homes that make the playing of Newsline possible. Additionally, he maintains the net roster and he personally fills the control operator position for all that may be away and when there is a shortage of volunteer net control operators. Expanding upon a need for packet radio in the Las Vegas Valley, several years ago Howard was co- founder of the Las Vegas Packet Users Group, an effort that he recently revived to the pleasure of new LVRAC packet users and to the AREA/RACES organization who hope to employ that mode in their operations. As an ARES/RACES participant, Howard holds the very critical position of coordinator of AREA/RACES communications at three local hospitals and is presently in organizing efforts at seven more. His efforts in this position have been very successful and frequently recognized by AREA/RACES leadership, which brings some credit to the LVRAC. Howard is also our best and most frequent Public Affairs representative. For many years, the advertised telephone number for the club has been at his home, at no cost to the club, and he never fails to follow-up on potential member inquiries or other questions about club activities and amateur radio in general. He is frequently the first ham contacted by Las Vegas organizations desiring amateur radio support. The number of events in which the club annually successfully participates may judge his level of success. Howard is a tireless volunteer for the club. He has participated in nearly all speedway fundraising activities, annually serves as the coordinator for the Tour-de-Cure and this year for the Las Vegas Marathon. He regularly serves as the net control operator or in other critical positions at these all events. It is seldom that an event or club program is conducted by the LVRAC without Howard being in a teaching and/or leadership role. As a technical writer of some renown, who often writes for professional publications, Howard frequently writes for the club newsletter. His articles are always well written for both advanced and new hams. Additionally, during the annual transition from one BOD to the next, in years where the treasury has been audited, Howard is assigned that task. Moreover, as a senior past president, Howard is traditionally a one-man election committee, which clearly demonstrates the high level of trust he enjoys among the membership. Lastly, Howard, utilizing his vast experience, is always available to assist those that are lesser experienced with one-on-one guidance. Is it possible that anyone who is hearing this, at some time in your membership in the LVRAC, has not benefited from his expertise? In summary, he is a former Director of the ARRL, club President, multi-term BOD member, writer of the clubs founding documents, teacher, leader, representative to the public, and perpetual volunteer of the highest order. And he is "The Voice Of Summerlin". The plaque reads as follows: THUNDERBIRD AWARD Presented To HOWARD MARK K3HM For Exemplary and Continued Service to the Success of the LAS VEGAS RADIO AMATEUR CLUB 2004 Congratulations, Howard! ============================================== Secretary's Report By Sandy Nelson, KD7WYD Minutes of the General Meeting of the Las Vegas Radio Amateur Club Tuesday, May 11, 2004 Call to order 7:30pm Charlie Kunz AA5QJ conducting Welcome and Introductions 62 Hams were in attendance. 0 new licensees. 4 visitors. Silent Key Announcement: Bud Potter, KC7QJM, passed away May 7. Funeral to be held at 3:00 PM on Wed, May 12. Frank Pena, KC7QJL, also recently passed away. Secretary: Sandy, KD7WYD - The members attending approved April's Minutes from the Newsletter. Arnie, WA2SOE, motioned, members 2nd. Treasurer: Jamie, N3TOY - The April Treasurer's Report was posted on the Website and printed in the April Newsletter. Jamie read the report to the members and Frank, KL7IPV, motioned to approve and Glen, N7GOT 2nd, the members passed the motion. Trustee: Pat, N7QE - Pat – absent. Newsletter Editor: Gary, KK7LV – Nothing to report. Librarian: Shelly, KD7HZK – absent. Comm Trailer Manager: Vern, K0EGA – Nothing to report other then the trailer was used twice this month, Race for the Cure and Tour de Cure. Howard, K3HM, offered his Thanks for all the work that has been done on the trailer. It worked wonderfully for the events and he has received many comments from event participants on it. Public Information Officer: Frank, KL7IPV – The pictures from the Moving Target exercise are in the Newsletter, he only received photos from the Las Vegas participants, nothing from the Laughlin group. The RJ now has a notice of our meeting on the Monday before. If you took pictures from last years Field Day please let Frank know. He would like to put something together before this year's meet. Arnie, WA2SOE, brought up that he is writing an article on Amateur Radio for the college newspaper. He was asked to pass his article on to Frank and to Sandy for the archive. Old Business: Speedway Concession, March 5, 6, and 7. Charlie reported that the club received a check from the speedway from the concession sales and the Elk's have received their share. NAB, April 19 – 22. Bill, K8XC, reported it a "Tremendous Success"! There were enough volunteers to man the ARRL booth for 3 days. Several local hams won gifts at the reception including the Cornelius', who have a $125 book on audio engineering. All valley clubs were represented. LVRAC donated 2 copies of a brand new book, "Ham Radio for Dummies" during the reception. Bill and Carolyn, K9XC, have also donated a copy of this book to the LVRAC club library. Baker to Vegas Race, April 24 & 25. There was no one present to talk on it, but it was brought up that the week after the race, the show CSI aired an episode that was about a race through the desert. Very similar to Baker to Vegas. And the newscast after the show also had a segment on the race. Race for the Cure, May 1. Tom, KE4ULL, 25 volunteers assisted and did a wonderful job. The event coordinators did not. He is evaluating whether or not we will assist them next year. They do not seem to appreciate what we do for them or what we are capable of, except when their cell phone died on Friday night. The only positive feedback received was from the first time Race volunteers that were assigned to Cashman field parking without any definite instructions on what to do or how to do it. They relayed how much they appreciated the assistance of Dan, AA7I, and Jeff, call sign unknown, who passed on information as parking areas filled up downtown. American Diabetes Assn. Tour de Cure Bike Ride, May 8. Howard, K3HM, 19 volunteers participated, with the trailer, and unlike Race for the Cure, we received a lot of Thanks. They even announced our presence over the Public Address before the race started which brought the hams in the field many Thank You's as the riders went by. The appreciation dinner will be held later in the month, Howard will send out the information as soon as he receives it. Silver State Classic Race, May 16. Fred, K9GAJ, reported that a group from the Nellis Club is planning to assist, but he was still waiting for a call back from one of the organizers and didn't really have any more information. Those interested in working this should contact Fred. It is known that the NHP does not want them to run the race without Amateur Radio assistance. Silver State Gold Rush Challenge, July 18. – Nothing at this time. Silver State Classic Challenge, Sept 19. – Nothing at this time. Field Day, June 26-27: Jamie, N3TOY, Asks that the members pay attention to the Newsletter and the website for further information as the date gets nearer. T-shirts and pins can be ordered now, Charlie is collecting the information. Shirts are $14.00, pins are $5.00 – the order will be placed on Sunday, May 16. The FARS club has decided to join us in addition to the Nellis club. Butch, WA0VJR, the new President of FARS, has requested a list from Jamie of the equipment needed. PowerWerx Order: Byon, N6BG, The merchandise arrived today and Byon has it available for pick-up during the break. Nathan Adelson Hospice: Charlie read a letter received from the hospice Foundation thanking the club for our donation in memory of Lee Welsh. It has been placed in the club files. Palo Verde High School: Zack, N2ZS – both Zack and Colin, N0VSJ, were absent. Towers: Hal, K3AB, was absent. Announcements: Amateur Radio Vests: Sandy, KD7WYD, announced that we were still accepting orders for vests. They are a lovely shade of neon yellow and are embroidered with your first name and callsign. The cost is $35.00. (Note: The vests were sent for the embroidery on May 25 and should be available at the next General Meeting on June 8.) Speedway Event Nascar Truck Race, Sept 25: Bill, X8XC, brought up that the speedway is starting to call volunteer groups to work the concession stands. He asked that the club start thinking about this event and whether or not we will want B-9. Charlie brought up that the board needs to meet and make some decisions on this also. It was agreed that the club will want one stand, B-9. Fred, KB2CT, announced that there is an Amateur Radio Teacher Group meeting at the Plaza Hotel on July 10. The meeting is free. Also the old Fort Tuthill HamFest has moved to Williams, AZ, this year. It runs from July 2 to July 4th. Jamie, N3TOY, asked the membership to please go on the web site and check your information. Let him know if he has any of your information incorrect. He will need to update your name and email address, but you should be able to update your own address and phone numbers. Byon, N6BG, announced the raffle prizes: Solar panels, Red/Black Zip Cord from PowerWerx, Power Pole Supplies from PowerWerx (including wire, contacts, crimpers, wire strippers), a book " How to Protect Yourself from Crime", 12v Gel-Cell Rechargeable Battery, Glass-mount Mobile Antenna, 900 Mhz Handheld radio with charger, and a Radio Shack 2m Mobile radio as the Grand Prize. Byon also announced that his son Scott, KD7GMY, who won the Nevada State Math Competition in March, just returned from Washington DC where he competed n the National Competition. He finished 16th out 228 in the Nation, the Nevada team placed 17th overall. The competition started with 38,000 students across the country. Congratulations to Scott!! Tom, KE4ULL: Brought up the Truck race again and asked that we request the booth tonight to ensure that we have a spot. It was agreed that Bill, K8XC, would put us down for the one booth, B-9. Alan, NV7Y: Brought up Field Day and asked the membership how many are still building their own antennas after noticing that most of what we looked at in the Show and Tell were mobile mounted items and not hand-made. Howard, K3HM, brought up that both he and Charlie have tri-pods that were originally designed for different purposes, but they modified them and use them for portable antennas. The next meeting will be another 'Show & Tell' on portable gear, bring any unusual or ingenious portable antennas for show in the meeting room. We will also have a demonstration of the forms used during Field Day. New Business: Thunderbird Award: Charlie presented Howard, K3HM, with the Thunderbird Award. Howard was nominated by a long time club member that felt no one in the organization was more deserving than Howard. A wonderful write-up of Howard's long service and tireless contributions was read and a plaque presented. It was a wonderful tribute to 'The Voice of Summerlin'! BREAK Program: The program this month was a 'Show and Tell' of mobile or portable equipment and was held in the parking lot before the meeting. The Raffle winners were: Solar Panel &, WA0VJR, Butch PowerPole Supplies, wire, contacts, crimpers, KD7VA, Dave 12v Gel-Cell Battery, PowerPole supplies, wire stripper, KA3IDN, Jim 6 gauge wire, PowerPole supplies, Glass-mount Mobile Antenna, N0LSL, Keith 900 Mhz Radio and Charger, KE4ULL, Tom Radio Shack 2m Mobile Radio and PowerPole connectors, K0EGA, Vern The meeting adjourned at 9:15PM. The next meeting is Tuesday, June 8th. ============================================== Treasurer's Report, Mar 2004 By Jamie Gorr, N3TOY Beginning Balance 13,753.74 Total Deposits 325.00 Sub Total 14,078.74 Expenses Sprint 30.11 Misc 37.63 Refreshments 114.73 Vests 317.18 Trailer Eqmt 53.71 Trailer Misc 54.96 Postage 23.00 Storage 885.04 Raffle 150.92 Programs 150.00 FD shirts/pins 197.40 Total Expenses 2,014.68 Ending Balance 12,064.06 ============================================== ARES / RACES By Gary Hartman, KK7LV For Charlie Kunz, AA5QJ Training has been the biggest issue this last month. Gary Hartman and Vern Garman have each taken advantage of training courses made available through Homeland Security. Gary participated in the Public Works Response to WMD Threat and Vern participated in a course on Incident Command System. There are a wide variety of courses available and most of them are on line. They are through the Red Cross, FEMA, and Homeland Security. In a future newsletter I plan to outline in detail more about courses available, accessibility to these courses and the needs of our organization. 73 Charlie Kunz AA5QJ ------------------------------------ Clark County NV ARES Emergency Coordinator Clark County RACES Officer ============================================== FIELD DAY ! By Gary Hartman, KK7LV There has been a great deal of success this year in promoting Amateur Radio. Field Day is at the end of this month and there will be news media, the public and hopefully community leaders in attendance. Last year we had a tremendous show of support and help. That same effort will be needed to assist in setting up on Saturday morning about 8:00 AM. There will be the usual family pot luck dinner Saturday evening and a breakfast on Sunday morning. We need some of that support to take down by noon on Sunday as well. I plan to bring some antenna projects that I have been working on to display. If you have any specialties, please bring them along. This is our chance to showcase our toys and capabilities. Jamie Gorr, N3TOY is the coordinator for this project from LVRAC. If you have questions or can lend a hand, please contact him at 233-2479. ============================================== Vegas to Reno Race By Gary Hartman, KK7LV I received a communication from Keith Purmal, KC7HT, about the Vegas to Reno Off Road Race which is going to be held on Friday, June 25th. Yes, that is the day before Field Day. If you are interested in working this Race you may contact Keith at 702-457-5775. This is not a club sponsored event. They have a web site listed as http://www.bitw.com/. Technical Tips ============================================== Bob's Tech Talk #2 by Bob, AF6C Originally appeared in the March 2001 issue of RF. Decibels (Part Three): Last month you hopefully got an understanding of decibels and how they allow you to express ratios of power (and voltage and current when you follow the rules!) This month you're going to get some practical techniques so you can estimate dB conversions right in your head. Problems like those that follow can be answered within reasonable approximation with no calculator needed! "How many dB gain is an amplifier that has an input of one watt and an output of 400 watts?" or: "A microwave transmitter has a specified power output of 37 dBm. How many watts is that?" or: "You have a 150 foot run of RG-8 that you are feeding with your 100 watt transceiver. How much power reaches the antenna when you're on the 10 meter net? (Assume RG-8 has a loss of 3.3dB per 100 feet at an SWR of 1.5:1.)" In the first part of this series we talked about powers of ten. You know that every 10 dB represents a ratio of 10 times the power (or one- tenth the power if it is a loss). The following are all referenced to 1 watt (dBw): +30 dBw = 1,000 watts +20 dBw = 100 watts +10 dBw = 10 watts +0 dBw = 1 watt -10 dBw = 0.1 watt -20 dBw = 10 mW -30 dBw = 1 mW = 0dBm Now that's easy! But what happens when numbers other than multiples of tens are used? Here's one to memorize: +3dB = twice the power and inversely -3dB = one half the power. This simple piece of information can often get us close. Remember that adding dB is the same as multiplying power. Therefore: 6dB = 3 dB + 3 dB = twice times twice, or 4 times the power. 9dB = 3 dB + 3 dB + 3dB or eight times the power. In a similar manner, other values can be quickly calculated by remembering that subtracting dB is the same as dividing power: 4dB = 10dB - 6dB or 10 / 4 times, or 2.5 times the power. 7dB = 10dB - 3dB or 10 / 2 times, or 5 times the power. With a bit more difficulty of calculation: 5dB = 9dB - 4 dB or 8 / 2.5 times or 3.2 times the power. 8db = 4dB + 4dB = 2.5 x 2.5 or 6.3 times the power. 2dB = 7dB - 5 dB = 5 / 3.2 or 1.6 times the power. Finally, you can calculate 1 dB, but it's just as easy to remember it as 1.25 (or more accurately 1.26 times) the power. The Table 1 lists these approximate values along with their more accurate calculated value. Our answers are pretty close! Now let's solve the problems at the beginning of this article: One watt in and 400 watts out is a gain of 400. 20dB is a gain of 100. Three dB more would double the 100 watts to 200 watts and another 3 dB would give us 400 watts. 20 + 3 + 3 = 26dB. If you calculate it out using the formula you get 26.02 dB. Our answer is quite close! A microwave transmitter has an output of +37 dBm, which is 37dB greater than one milliwatt. Thirty dB represents one thousand times, so 30 dB is 1,000 milliwatts or 1 watt and 40 dB is 10 watts. Since the value is 3 dB less than 10 watts it is half of ten watts or 5 watts. (1 milliwatt + 30 dB + 10 dB - 3 dB, or 1 milliwatt x 1,000 x 10 / 2 or 5 watts). That wasn't hard! Finally, since your antenna feed line is 150' the loss is 3.3 dB times 1.5 or 4.95 dB. We'll round it to 5 dB. From the table we know 5 dB is 3.2 times. Since it is a loss, we must divide. 100/3.2 is about 31, so only 31 watts is reaching the antenna. If you don't have the table handy remember that a 6 dB loss leaves you with one quarter of the power or 25 watts. Five dB is one dB less or 25 watts x 1.25 or 31 watts! The calculated answer is 31.26 watts. It's wizardry! Table One: Calc'd Approx. dB Value Gain Loss 1 1.2589 1.26 0.8 2 1.5849 1.6 0.6 3 1.9952 2.0 0.5 4 2.5118 2.5 0.4 5 3.1622 3.2 0.32 6 3.9811 4.0 0.25 7 5.0118 5.0 0.2 8 6.3095 6.3 0.16 9 7.9432 8.0 0.12 10 10.0000 10.0 0.1 Here are four problems for you to work out. Three of the four are multiple choice. Write your answers in the boxes supplied. You'll know if your answers are correct! 1. Two thousand watts output is how many dBm? (a) 63 dBm (b) 33 dBm (c) zero dBm (d) 1000 dBm (e) 220 volts (f) none of the above 2. Your feed line has a small loss of just 1 dB. How much of the 125 watt transmitter output power is lost in the feed line? (a) 1 watt (b) 1.25 watts (c) 99 watts (d) 50 watts (e) 156 watts (f) 25 watts 3. Your highly accurate in-line wattmeter measures 20 watts when placed between the output connector of your 70 CM rig and the feed line. When moved to the other end of the feed line, so it is in line between the feed line and the antenna, it reads 5 watts. Write the feedline loss in dB in box 3. 4. John's new VHF "brick" amplifier produces 60 watts of output when excited with his 3 watt handheld. What is the gain in dB of the "brick"? What is 60 watts in dBw? (a) 20 dB and 38 dBw (b) 43 dB and about 13 dBw (c) 13 dB and a bit under 18 dBw (d) 13 dB and about 38 dBw (e) 20 dB and just over 18 dBw (f) 43 dB and about 13 dBw Put your answers in the boxes provided: 1 2 3 4 Answers appear below. By now you should have a good feel for converting between dB and power ratios. You might want to copy Table One and keep it handy in your shack. In an earlier part of this series I mentioned the S- meter. Only on the most expensive commercial grade communications receivers does the S-meter read the actual signal voltage. On ham equipment the S-meter can only give relative signal strength readings. In the fifties some manufacturers claimed an S–9 reading represented a specific received signal strength, though the value varied from company to company. A commonly heard reference was that each S–unit increase represented twice the signal strength (voltage) which relates to four times the power. (i.e. 6 dB). How good is your S– meter? You can find out by building a step attenuator. In next month's Tech Talk we're going to look at attenuators and some of the things they can be used for. ============================================== Coming Events June Meeting June 8, 2004 at Nevada Power on Sahara just west of Jones. June Raffle Nothing has been announced at the publication of this newsletter, but from the past meetings raffle prizes I am sure you will not be disappointed. Field Day 2004 June 26th and 27th, 2004, contact Jamie Gorr at 233-2479 or at n3toy@qsl.net. ARCA/Ft. Tuthill Hamfest, Flagstaff, AZ. July 4th weekend at a NEW Location. Williams, Arizona on July 2, 3 and 4, 2004. ============================================== 2004 Exam Schedule *** NEW *** License examinations are given on the second Saturday of each month. There are a couple of evening sessions at a different location. June 12th 12:30 PM (PST) July 10th 12:30 PM (PST) August 14th 12:30 PM (PST) September 11th 12:30 PM (PST) October 9th 12:30 PM (PST) October 22nd 6:30 PM (PST) November 13th 12:30 PM (PST) December 11th 12:30 PM (PST) The black dates are day time events. The red dates are evening test sessions and they take place at different locations. Day Time Test Sessions at: All Saints Episcopal Church 4201 W. Washington Ave. Between Decatur and Valley View Evening Test Sessions at: Clark County Government Center, Training Rm 3 500 S. Grand Central Pkwy. Southeast of the spaghetti bowl (I-15 & 95) Please visit www.lvhamtest.com for updates, maps and further information. $12.00 Exam Fee Proper Identification, prefer a picture ID with your signature. Normally applicants provide a drivers license or student ID. Social Security Number (SSN) or Taxpayer ID number (TIN) if you are not eligible for an SSN. If you presently have an Amateur Radio License, we will need the original plus a photocopy. If you have a CSCE, we must see the original plus a photocopy. Pen and a pencil. You may bring a calculator as long as the memory can be "flushed" before you take the exam. LAS VEGAS RADIO AMATEUR CLUB P.O. Box 27342 Las Vegas, Nevada 89126 Membership Application Please Print Legibly ? NEW MEMBER (Please attach copy of license) ? RENEWAL ? UPDATE INFORMATION Name_______________________________________________ApplicationDate ____/______/_______ M D YR Call Sign _______________ License Class ______________ Expiration Date ____/______/______ Address _______________________________ City ___________________ State _____ Zip ______ Home Telephone (____)___________________ Work Telephone (____)___________________ Cellular/Pager (____)______________________ E-mail: ________________________________ Family Membership Name _____________ Call _______________ License Class __________ Name _____________ Call _______________ License Class __________ Name _____________ Call _______________ License Class __________ ARRL Member Signature ___________________________________ Your preference in receiving the monthly club newsletter - Club Web Page w/email notification The club operates on a calendar year (January through December) with dues presently at $20 per year. Dues are the same for an individual or family membership. Please send check or money order payable to the Las Vegas Radio Amateur Club (or LVRAC) and mail to the club's post office box listed in the heading of this application.. Las Vegas Radio Amateur Club P.O. Box 27342 Las Vegas, NV 89126 Internet: http://www.lvrac.org/ Radio: 146.940 MHZ (K7UGE repeater) 448.500 MHz (K7UGE repeater) 146.730 MHz (QST machine) Las Vegas Radio Amateur Club June 2004 Issue