RADIO ACTIVE Newsletter of the Las Vegas Radio Amateur Club July 2006 Serving Las Vegas since April 1961 The next regular meeting of the LVRAC is July 11, 2006. Leadership Message By Keith Lee, N0LSL LVRAC President Field Day originally was going to be held at Sunset Park at Area F, however after signing contracts and paying fees, the Parks and Recreation Department changed the amount that was to be charged for the event. Originally the cost was $185.00, but we were asked to pay $240.00. When I brought back the contract they wanted $185.00 per day for a total of $370.00. I brought this information to the LVRAC monthly meeting and to the Board for discussion. We agreed to continue with having Field Day. Then I was approached to move the event to CCSN Cheyenne Campus and that there would be no charge. Facilities would be provided and that FARS would be heading up the event. The information was brought up at the next board meeting and after much discussion, we agreed to have the joint Field Day with Fars and that we would support them as they wanted to champion the event. Bob Mathewson, K7RJM and Arnie Zelig, WA2SOE worked very hard at putting this event together. We realized that having Field Day on black top surface certainly was not the way to go, however we made the best of the situation at hand. Stations were set up and contacts were made. The food was prepared and served to those in attendance by Tom Petrakis, KE4ULL, and I want to thank Tom for jumping in there and getting the food and drinks and setting up the food tables. There are a lot of people that I would like to thank, but not enough room to list names. Therefore, to all those who came out to Field Day and worked, THANK YOU. I want to thank Mike Lee for bringing out the Generator and I want to thank Bob, K7RJM and Arnie, WA2SOE, because without their hard work and determination, we would not have had a Field Day. The thought for Field Day next year is to hold it at Mt. Charleston and make it a Field Day and Camp out weekend. Field Day is a time for old and new members getting together and sharing how we make contacts on the air and ways to make contacts efficient using old and new techniques. This year Bob shared the use of write log on networked computers. I was glad to see that in spite of the hot temperatures and location for Field Day that everyone had a good time. See you next year in cooler temperatures. 73, Keith ****************************************************************************** from the Editor's Desk... Frank Drake, KL7IPV If you haven't done it yet, do it now! Back up your computer on an external drive. I did but not for about a month. Monday June 19, my "C:" drive "went south". I had most files backed up but still it isn't fun trying to get it to work right after you redo a main drive. Now I will put nothing on the main drive other than the Windows program that it requires. Do it now. You wont be sorry. This month I am starting another short column. I am going to feature a member of the club each month with a short history of their life as a ham. Where they came from and what they did along the way here. The first person to be profiled will be the "Voice of Summerlin," Howard Mark. Howard has a colorful past and I have asked him to write a short history about himself. This month will also have the first of the monthly articles from Phil Salas, AD5X . I hope you find them as informative as I have. Simple weekend projects to help make your hamming fun. I have contacted a few other clubs that I have belong to and will periodically insert article from other locales that will give us an idea of what goes on outside our area. I hope you find the differences and the similarities interesting. If there is something you would like to see in YOUR newsletter, let me know. If you don't like something tell me. It may not do any good but you'll feel better!! LOL Any articles for the August newsletter MUST be in to me before July 31st !! Until next month, 73, Frank KL7IPV *********************************************************************************** LVRAC member spotlight... Howard Mark, K3HM ( "The Voice of Summerlin" ) "In his own words"...... My first contact with amateur radio was as a boy of nine. It was a very hot Chicago summer night and through the open third story bedroom window I heard the monotonic staccato sounds of the Morse code. The next evening I knocked on the door of the apartment below our apartment. A young man opened the door and offered to show me his "ham shack". He explained what hams were and wrote out the Morse code for me to learn. A few evening "progress" meetings followed (he sent I received). About the time we got to numerals and punctuation my mentor moved to a new city. Not knowing any other hams my first ham experience ended – circa 1942. My next brush with ham radio was years later in the 1950s era with the advent of the one-year Novice program offered by the FCC. I had just moved to California and it seemed every other house had a ham radio tower in the yard. I found a neighbor who was a ham and he offered to work with me. Dusting off my WWII surplus J-37 key I relearned how to send and receive Morse at about eight words per minute – drove down to the FCC office in downtown L.A. and passed the Novice test. My assigned call was WN6SQG. My first radios were both converted WWII bomber, crystal controlled, "monobanders" (Command sets) that covered the 80 meter ham band. Several months later I passed the General test and requested the call sign of W6SQG which the FCC granted. I also joined the ARRL. My first commercial radios were both used AM equipment purchased from local hams. They were a Viking Ranger transmitter made by the Johnson Radio Company located in Waseca, Minnesota and a Hallicrafters SX-100 receiver. By the early 1960s SSB radios were overtaking AM and I purchased a used Hallicrafters HT-37 SSB radio and became familiar with the sound of a SSB signal. In the mid 1960s I was able to buy an unused Collins 75S-3B receiver from a doctor who never did get his ham license. I purchased a new 32S-1transmitter to complete my Collins S-Line. A few months later a friend offered me a rather grungy, inoperative Collins 30L-1 desktop kilowatt amplifier. A new power transformer, some capacitors, four new 811A tubes and some new wiring bought me an all Collins kilowatt station. Years later I sold the 30L-1 and replaced it with a Henry 2K floor console amplifier powered by two 3- 500Z tubes that easily produced a 1,500 Watt (PEP) signal. In early 1969 I moved to Minnesota to build and manage a professional television production studio for Control Data Corporation (CDC, a Fortune 500 computer company). The studio was going to use short hop microwave gear to distribute video from the studio to a few outlying manufacturing facilities. I figured an FCC first class license might prove useful. I acquired the FCC first and on the same day I also upgrade my new Minnesota call sign, WΨOZC to an Advanced ticket. A few weeks later I joined my first radio club – The "Burnsville Radio Amateur Club". In 1986 one of my CDC associates, Tod Olson, KΨTO, the ARRL Dakota Division Vice Director, asked me to take his ARRL position because he was moving from the Vice Director position to the Director's chair. I accepted the job and became the ARRL Dakota Division Vice Director. The Dakota Division represents ARRL members in Minnesota and North and South Dakota, or approximately 3,300 Hams. Less than a year later Tod moved to the position of International Affairs Vice President and I became the ARRL Dakota Division Director. In the 1990s packet radio became very popular and I equipped my station for work in that mode. I also got into fast scan television by converting commercial 440 MHz radios to work as wideband video transmitters in the Ham bands. Some older black and white video equipment from my CDC television studio proved very useful in the shack. I held the ARRL Director's position until moving to Las Vegas in late 1993. Just before leaving Minnesota I sold my beloved S-line radios and replaced them with a Yaesu FT- 990 – which is my current HF radio. Upon arriving in Las Vegas I joined the Las Vegas Radio Amateur Club. I also brought together about eight local Hams equipped with packet equipment and wrote the formation articles for a newly organized "Las Vegas Packet Users Group". I was the President of the LVPUG for two years. Prior to the success of the Internet, the LVPUG membership numbered over 40 Hams. Less than two years after joining the LVRAC I became the club's Vice President, and the following year the club's President. Since leaving the club's Presidency I have tried to remain active within the organization. In July, 2000 I upgraded my license to Extra and took advantage of the Vanity callsign program by changing my WΨOZC call to K3HM. ************************************************************************************* Useful and Inexpensive Tools and Supplies for the Shack By Phil Salas – AD5X I've been doing a lot of metal work lately, both in building antennas and in building up boxes for homebrew projects. I've also been changing all my DC connectors to Powerpole connectors. In the process of all this, I've compiled a list of items that I thought others may find of interest. So I thought I'd share this info. Let me state up front that I have no particular vested interest in any of the products and companies listed, other than I think they provide a great value. So here goes: Amp/Tyco makes equivalent connectors to the Anderson PowerPoles. You can buy these from Mouser Electronics (571-538942 black, 571-53894-4 red, 571-53892-4 contacts). If you just need a few connectors, and are ordering other parts from Mouser Electronics, this is an alternative to placing a separate order for connectors from another source. The nice thing about the contacts is that they can take 12-18 gauge wire. An excellent PowerPole crimper is the Harbor Freight 36411 crimper. It does not deform the Powerpole terminal like the popular $10 crimper does, and the crimp is longer (and looks better) than the Klein $30 crimper. The Harbor Freight 36411 is normally $6, but it is frequently on sale for $4. Open up the box and check the tool before buying, as I did find a few where the crimping tongue was off-center. Probably still OK, but I like my crimps to look perfect! For a really first-class Powerpole crimper, look at the West Mountain Radio PWRcrimp. This was custom made for West Mountain Radio, and does an outstanding job crimping the 15, 30 and 45 amp Powerpoles. Price is $49.95. A couple of neat items from Astro Flight are their Super WHATT Meter (Model 101N) and Micro Meter (Model 100). These in-line digital voltmeter/ammeter/watt-meters are powered by the input voltage source (assuming it is at least 4 VDC) and measure up to 80 volts (10 mv resolution) and 80 amps (100 ma resolution) for the Super WHATT Meter, or 20 volts maximum at 17 amps maximum (10 ma resolution) for the Micro Meter. Assuming you start with a discharged battery, you can even measure the charged amp-hour capacity of the battery when it is fully charged, since these meters measure amp-hours once you start drawing current. These digital meters sell for $55, but you need to put your own PowerPole connectors on them. If you like to build antennas, you probably use stainless steel hardware. A great source for all kinds of stainless steel hardware is JS Schmidt. Prices are very good, though you have to buy 100 pieces typically. However, most of the small hardware is around $3/100 pieces or less. More expensive hardware is available in small quantities, even if the catalog says "100-pieces". Just ask when you call in. You can buy a 12-foot 1/8" stainless steel whip for $2 (but shipping may be pretty expensive). They also sell stainless steel 3/32"x1/4" roll pins that hold Powerpole connectors together ($1.75/100). As an alternative to a hand drill, seriously consider the Harbor Freight Hand Punch 44060 @ $18 (frequently on sale for as little as $10). This tool punches holes from 1/16" to 5/16" diameter in steel, aluminum and brass up to a thickness of 16 gauge, and is much easier and more convenient to use than a hand drill in many applications. I think it is also safer to use than a drill when punching holes in small pieces of flat metal. I use it constantly. Highly recommended. If you bend sheet metal for your home projects, check out the Harbor Freight 18" Bending Brake, 39103 @ $24. This is an excellent low cost brake. How about an inexpensive Tap and Die kit? The Harbor Freight 39391 Tap & Die Kit @ $15 lets you tap holes and thread rods for the following sizes: 4-40, 6-32, 8-32, 10-32, 10-24, 12-24, 1/420, 1/4-28, 5/16-18, 5/16-24, 3/8-16, 3/8-24, 7/16-14, 7/16-20, 1/2-13, 1/2-20 and 1/8'' NPT pipe.This is extremely cheap for all this capability and I suppose the quality must not be as good as similar, but much more expensive kits. However, I haven't broken any taps yet. Harbor Freight also sells an inexpensive step-drill set (91616 @ $30, but on sale often for as little as $15). Step drills are really nice for making measured hole size increases. Do you need a portable (wireless) soldering iron? And do you ever need to solder to aluminum or stainless steel? If so, check out the Solder-It SolderPro 50/70/100/120 butane powered torches and solder pastes. These are GREAT portable soldering irons, especially for outdoor use. And couple these with silver solder paste (SP-7) @ $6, and aluminum solder paste (ALP-21) @ $6 and you have a great combination. It is really something to be able to solder to stainless steel and/or aluminum. The SolderPro 120 is heavy duty and has a large butane capacity for longer operation. The SolderPro 50 is good for many small applications due to it being so small and light. SolderPro torches are also available from Radio Shack (SolderPro 50) and Fry's Electronics (SolderPro 120) and $4 for the silver solder paste at both places). I haven't been able to find the aluminum solder paste anyplace but at The Solder-It Company. For some reason, I've found that with stainless steel, sometimes the Aluminum Solder Paste works, and other times the Silver Solder Paste works. Seems to depend on the type of stainless steel, I guess. Links: http://www.harborfreight.com , http://www.westmountainradio.com , http://www.powerwerx.com , http://www.jschmidtstainless.com http://www.solder-it.com , http://www.astroflight.com For more articles by AD5X go to http://www.ad5x.com Clark County ARES/Races By Charles Kunz, AA5QJ – Emergency Coordinator Rapid Response Team Training on Sat Jul 22 from 8:30 am to noon for all ARES members at the Clark County Government Center, Training Room 3. This is initial training for all members intending to respond to a real emergency or exercise, including a review of ARECC Level 1, ICS- 100, 200 and 700, and a tabletop exercise. Specific area training will be scheduled in the upcoming months. Please email your reservation to: Charlie Kunz AA5QJ . This is the latest ARES/Races calendar for 2006: August 26 - General ARES meeting. Clark Cnty Gov't Bldg, Trng Room 3 September 13 - UNLV Clark Country Interoperable Communications Exercise. October 4 – McCarran Triennial Exercise. ****************************************************************** Secretary's Report By Kraig Knapp, KD7JSN Las Vegas Radio Amateur Club General Meeting June 13, 2006 – 7:00 PM Welcome – Bob, K7RJM Introductions: Visitors 1, Members 33 = Total 34 Reports: Secretary – Kraig, KD7JSN: Minutes of May meeting were approved. Treasurer – Dennis, KD7ZAL (absent): May financial report was approved. ID cards are available. Repeater Committee – Tom, KE4ULL: No report Newsletter Editor – Frank Drake, KL7IPV: If you did not get the newsletter by email and want to get it that way, send an email to Frank, sirdrakejr@aol.com Librarian – Mike, KM1KE: No report Communications Trailer Manager – Vern, K0EGA: No report Public Information Officer – A new PIO is still needed. Any volunteers? School Support – Sully, KC6GLD and Dave, WD6ZZY: No report. Silent Key Program – Bob , K7RJM: No report. Old Business: None New Business: None Announcements: Club Reminders – Bob, K7RJM : The Club receives commissions for new ARRL memberships and renewals. Please pay through the club!Recycling of inkjet and laser cartridges – Pick up envelopes for smaller cartridges; bring your laser cartridges to the monthly meetings. ARES/RACES – Vern, K0EGA: Table top exercise at UNLV next Thursday. UNLV security is concerned about an upcoming NBA game at Thomas & Mack. A planning meeting is this week for the upcoming interconnectivity event in September. McCarran is coming up on it's three year exercise in November. Program – Arnie, WA2SOE, and Bob, K7RJM, gave a presentation on writing logs for field day. Raffle Prizes – Bob, K7RJM: Briefly announced the prizes for the evening. *(Short Break & Refreshments – Thank you Karen, KD7MGK!) Raffle – "Rafflemaster" - Don Jaster, KA7GRU Four inch magnetic parts tray: Rich, N6CIJ Garmin eTrex GPS: Paul, KC7QIR Cold heat soldering tool: Don, KD7YNS Attenuator kit: Vern, K0EGA Nut driver eleven piece: Fred, KB2CT Repeater Directory 2006-2007: Fred, KB2CT Book "Hints & Kinks for the Radio Amateur": Fred, K9GAJ LVRAC wall clock: Eugene, KB7JZO Book "Simple and Fun Antennas: Eugene, KB7JZO Adjourned: 8:15 PM ************************************************************************************* Field Day 2006 Report By Arnie Zelig – WA2SOE Arnie's website has a Field Day report at: http://www.wa2soe.com ****************************************************************** Treasurer's Report By Dennis Barker, KD7ZAL The treasurer's report for June is unavailable and will be presented at the July regular meeting. *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ** Articles and Pictures are needed for the newsletter. Submit your articles and pictures to Frank Drake, KL7IPV, our Newsletter Editor. Send them to: sirdrakejr@AOL.com . *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ** LVRAC Contact Information President Vice President Secretary Treasurer Director Director Director Newsletter Editor Trustee Public Information Librarian Webmasters Net Controllers Keith Lee, N0LSL Bob Mathewson, K7RJM Kraig Knapp, KD7JSN Dennis Barker, KD7ZAL Richard Stage, AB7ZI Don Jaster, KA7GRU Don Randles, KD7YNS Frank Drake Jr, KL7IPV Pat O'Gara, N7QE Open Mike Stratton, KM1KE Jamie Gorr, N3TOY Charlie Kunz, AA5QJ Howard Mark, K3HM Frank Drake, KL7IPV Bob Mathewson K7RJM Jay Peskin, KE7EGO Kblee4@cox.net K7rjm@yahoo.com kraigknapp@earthlink.net barkerdl@earthlink.net rvstage@yahoo.com donj@mail2world.com donrandles@gmail.com sirdrakejr@aol.com patogara@cox.net km1ke@arrl.net n3toy@yahoo.com aa5qj@arrl.net hmark@earthlink.net kl7ipv@aol.com k7rjm@yahoo.com jpeskin@cox.net 247-6150 564-6263 362-1265 362-6971 247-9424 737-0544 897-5029 838-3452 804-6629 612-5696 233-2479 334-1196 256-3662 838-3452 564-6263 896-4104 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 or pay by PayPal at www.lvrac.org Las Vegas Radio Amateur Club P.O. Box 27342 Las Vegas, NV 89126 July 2006 Issue Internet: http://www.lvrac.org/ Radio: 146.940 MHZ (K7UGE repeater) 448.500 MHz (K7UGE repeater) 146.730 MHz (QST machine) K7UGE Page 7 http://www.lvrac.org Las Vegas Radio Amateur Club July 2006 Las Vegas Radio Amateur Club July 2006 K7UGE Page 8 http://www.lvrac.org