Greater Cincinnati Amateur Radio Association, Inc. 77 years of service to the Greater Cincinnati Community Volume 79 January 2015 Next Meeting March 25, 2015 7:30PM The Main Door to the Breeze Manor will be locked, and you must use the Communication Device located near the entrance to request entrance to the building. Page 1! Issue 1 Maple Knoll (Breeze Manor) 11200 Springfield Pike, Springdale, Ohio (Take Maple Trace Dr. off Springfield Pike) Ye ED David Self, K8SSN Published monthly by the Greater Cincinnati Amateur Radio Assoc. Inc. Submit ads and news to the editor Deadline: forth Wednesday of the month Editor: David Self, K8SSN 3261 Old Oxford Rd. Hamilton, Ohio 45013 tm&[email protected] Ye Ed is back. Time to ramble. Well, I was headed to Florida for Christmas, but on the 18th of December, I took a big fall at work. HumptyDumpty was put back together, but it will be a long healing process. Advertising Fees Business card size..$5.00 / issue $60.00 / 12 issues Half page.................$10.00 / issue $100.00 / 12 issues Full page..................$25.00 / issue $250.00 / 12 issues Reprinting, from The Mike & Key is granted to amateur radio publications provided credit is given to the original author and The Mike & Key. GCARA officers & committee chairs I shattered my elbow and it required three plates and 23 screws to put me together. I will never be the same. After my therapy, I will no longer have full movement in my arm and also, lost of strength. Good thing radio, don’t require full use of my left arm. Now on the other hand, my shooting my need work. Sounds like range time to me. I am looking forward to getting back into the swing of things and when the weather break (no pun intended), I plan on getting my 160M wire antenna back up. I have not had very good luck with this vertical, even though it is advertised as a 160-80M antenna. That’s about it for this month. Hopefully next month, I won’t be in as much pain. 73, K8SSN Upcoming Monthly Programs PRESIDENT: [email protected] 1st VICE PRES: Neal Berter, N8QFZ [email protected] 2nd VICE PRES: Rick Burdick, K8WWA, (513) 554-4662, [email protected] RECORDING SEC’Y: Allan M. Hale, WA9IRS (859) 525-1761, [email protected] CORRESPONDING SEC’Y: Richard Pestinger, KC8RP (513) 829-8807 [email protected] SCOUTING ACTIVITIES:VACANT TREASURER: Roger Kleine, KA8MOE (513) 681-4586 REPEATER CONTROL OP: Roger Kleine, KA8MOE (513) 681-4586 HAM HELP/EQUIPMENT SUPPORT: Richard Pestinger, KC8RP 513-829-8807 [email protected] HAMFEST: Neal Berter, N8QFZ [email protected] Stan Cohen, W8QDQ [email protected] HISTORIAN: Sean Connelly KD8BQA The Mike & Key: David Self, K8SSN, tm&[email protected] WEBMASTER: David Self, K8SSN [email protected] MEMBERSHIP: Richard Pestinger, KC8RP (513) 829-8807 [email protected] SCHOLARSHIPS: Rick Burdick, K8WWA, (513) 554-4662, [email protected] SILENT KEY COMM: Jim Benson, W8OUU, (513) 825-1254, [email protected] VE TEAM: Gary Osborne, W8XS (513) 474-0287, [email protected] ARRL Great Lakes Director: Dale Williams, WA8EKF (734) 529-3232, [email protected] Ohio Section Manager: Scott Yonally, N8SY (614) 589-4641, [email protected] W8DZ 2M REPEATER :145.27- November-February…NO MEETING March 25…TBA April 22…GCARA Annual Auction May 27…TBA June 24…TBA July 22…TBA August 26…TBA 1936 Net 1.936 MHz, Thursdays 9:00pm Net Control: Jay Adrick,K8CJY / Geoff Mendelhall, W8GNM DONATIONS TO THE GCARA may be tax deductible. Contact the treasurer for information Page 2! Meeting Minutes Subject: Date: Location: Opening: GCARA Christmas Party December 9, 2014 Maple Knoll Village, Manor House 6:00pm Participants: President - David Self, K8SSN Present 1st Vice Pres. - Neal Berter, N8QFZ Present 2nd Vice Pres./Treasurer, - Roger Kleine, KA8MOE Present Corresponding Secretary – Richard Pestinger, KC8RP Present Recording Sec. Allan Hale, WA9IRS, Present Christmas Party commenced: at 6:32 PM Call to Order: - President Self Dave mentioned that we would not have any formal meeting this evening but would enjoy each other’f fellowship and the dinner prepared by the Manor House. The Dinner Banquet Following the announcements, Dave announced that dinner was served. As they have always done in the past, Maple Knoll provided an outstanding selection for the party. The evening’s selection consisting of a salad bar with fruit, fresh lettuce, pasta salad with a variety of toppings and dressings, rolls and breads, The dinner entrées included; broccoli, cauliflower and a separate presentation of zucchini, baked potatos, maple-pecan chicken, fish filets with lemon butter sauce, and steamboat round of roast beef with horseradish and sour cream sauces and au-jus for the roast. An extensive dessert table with dessert flatbread, various nut and coconut bars, chocolate chip brownies, small individual cakes, and walnut ginger squares. Beverages included coffee, tea (iced and hot) and soft drink and bar selections, available for the enjoyment of the group. The meal as always was great and made for a very festive atmosphere for the evening. Dave wished all present a most Merry and Happy Christmas and New Year as we enter 2015. Don’t forget about our monthly meetings to start in the early spring of 2015. Following the meal and dessert, the GCARA Membership and friends had the opportunity to talk and catch up on news of other amateurs and their friends. This was a very enjoyable Christmas Party starting with reasonable weather and the good food, good company and a good time had by all present! There being no additional business, Adjournment followed at 9:00 PM Respectfully submitted, Allan Hale, WA9IRS Recording Secretary Page 3! 1936 GCARA NET CONTROL STATIONS NCS FOR THE GCARA 1936 NET ARE AS FOLLOWS January-KI4BFN,Len February-AI4XD,Ted March-K8RRH,George April-N9RC,Ron May-W8DXF,Bob June-WD8NKJ,Marc July- AE8I,Ken August-OPEN,TBD September-KZ8ZZ,Tom October-W8GNM,Geoff November-K8CJY,Jay December-NM4A,Bill Alternates:AI4XD, KZ8ZZ, WD8NKJ CO-NET MANAGERS:Jay Adrick, K8CJY & Geoff Mendenhall, W8GNM Don’t have an antenna for 160? Check with any of the above. 1936 Net Thursday’s 9:00pm 1.936 LSB (160M) NOTE: THE 1936 NET IS THE OLDEST CONTINUALLY RUNNING NET 1936 Net AM Night We had a great AM night for the GCARA 1936 Net. Here are the statistics: 63 stations checked in tonight 18 states were represented by stations checking in Stations in the US and Canada were represented by stations checking in The oldest rig was a 1940 military rig operated by WA4VAG…Joe in Walton KY. Joe checked in with three different military rigs including a Collins TCS radio pair (RX & TX) and a BC-375 TX BC-348 RX system The moist popular rig used for the net was the E. F. Johnson Viking Valiant Thanks to the following stations: Alan K8QNC for net logging the entire 5 hours of the net Mark WD8NKJ for Pre Net control 6PM to 7:30 PM George K8RRH for Pre Net control 7:30 PM to 9 PM Len Ki4BFN for relaying hard to hear stations Geoff W8GNM for relaying hard to hear stations. 73 Jay K8CJY GCARA 2015 Membership If you have not taken the time to renew your membership in the GCARA for 2015, please take the time to do so. A lot of members renew at hamfest and Since we did not have one last year, your dues may not have been pay for this year. You can use the form on page 11 or you can use PayPal to renew by click here (if reading via pdf) or go to www.gcara.org and scroll to the bottom of the page. New members: if using PayPal, please put Name, Call address, etc in the message box or send email to [email protected] Page 4! Member’s Mart FOR SALE:Collins station consisting of a 75S-3 receiver, 32S-3 transmitter, 312B-4 Station Control and the 516F-2 power supply. It comes with manual for everything but the power supply. I also have some other Collin's goodies such as a new logbook and catalog. I have a full set of photos and serial numbers if interested. I also have a Heathkit SB-200 linear. This station belonged to a silent key w8hsi and has been sitting in a basement for 10 years but is in good physical shape, $800 for the station & $200 for the linear. Contact Richard Pestinger at 513-829-8807 or [email protected]. Send ads to tm&[email protected]. Ads are free to members and subject to editing. Deadline: last Monday of the month. Ads will run for two issues, unless otherwise requested. ARRL Survey Underway The ARRL has asked an independent research company specializing in survey research to conduct a survey of Amateur Radio operators in the US. Readex Research, headquartered in Stillwater, Minnesota, has conducted similar studies for ARRL in the past, including QST readership studies and other large national surveys. among ARRL members, as well as non-member FCC licensees. While not every member will receive a survey, participation from those individuals who are selected is critical for the success of this project. Responses will be kept confidential and only used in tabulation with others; no data about survey participants -including contact information -will be shared with anyone. This most recent survey is being conducted by mail and e-mail and will include representative populations of Amateur Radio operators from Contact ARRL Marketing Manager Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R, if you have any questions about the survey. Page 5! Free Stuff! By Dan Romanchik, KB6NU I'm a sucker for free stuff. Below, you'll find links to a free transistor amplifier design program, a free printed circuit board design program, and a free tutorial on antennas. All of these look to be worth a look. users can easily share ideas and designs, comment on designs and offer suggestions for improvement, and generally help each other along the way." Free antenna tutorial TransistorAmp 1.1 This is free software for designing bipolar transistor amplifiers. I found the link to this software (http://en.transistoramp.de/) on the AMRAD mailing list. Phil, M1GWZ, who posted the link, says, "A transistor circuit that I'm developing needed a 5x voltage gain stage. I could have thrown in a single op amp with split power rails and all that DIL8 real estate, but a single transistor stage would suffice. Trouble is, I'm an EE by inclination, not training, and all those calculations - working out those capacitor reactance values - well, I don't do them often enough for them to be easy. And I want voltage gain, not current. And then I found Transistor Amp 1.1." "It's a nice piece of software," says Phil, "It installs easily and did the job for me quickly and easily. Oh, and when I built the circuit for real voltage gain of 5x!" [[ NOTE: A screen shot of the software that you can use for the article can be found at http:// www.kb6nu.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/ specify-common-base-circuit.png.....Dan]] Altium CircuitMaker CircuitMaker (http://www.circuitmaker.com) is a free printed circuit board design tool for hobbyists, people like you and me. Maxfield Parrish of EETimes says, "one key aspect of CircuitMaker is its intuitive and easy-to-use interface -- all of the important "stuff" is presented in an easily accessible manner in a ribbon at the top of the display. Another major consideration is that Altium has decided to make CircuitMaker all about "Community," so For a limited time, Rohde & Schwartz and the IEEE Communications Society are offering a free tutorial on Antenna Basics (http:// www.comsoc.org/form/tutorial-registrationantenna-basics). This tutorial explains the basic functionality of an antenna, starting with Hertz’s antenna model. It also includes a short introduction to the fundamentals of wave propagation, the important general characteristics of an antenna and parameters, such as antenna gain, radiation pattern, bandwidth or VSWR. A more detailed explanation of the functionality of some selected antenna types (e.g. dipole or monopole) is also given. Maik Reckeweg, Product Manager Antennas, Rohde & Schwarz GmbH, Munich, Germany, who is responsible for all the company’s monitoring, measurement and communications antennas is the tutorial's. The video is kind of dry, but I think Reckeweg does a pretty good job of discussing antenna basics. The video is also accompanied by a white paper that delves into these topics a little more completely. Overall, there's a bit more math than in most amateur radio discussions of antennas, but this makes the discussion a little more comprehensive. =================================== When not scouring the Internet for free stuff, you'll find KB6NU working on updates to his "No Nonsense" study guides, working CW on 40m, or blogging about amateur radio at www.kb6nu.com. Page 6! ED NOTE: Reprinted from August 1974 TM&K Page 7! This crossword puzzle was developed for the GCARA Mike & Key by A. Hale, WA9IRS for the enjoyment of the members and friends of the club. Copyright WA9IRS © 2014. Solution found at www.gcara.org/puzzle or scan Page 8! DX happenings… If a stealth bomber crashes in a forest, will it make a sound? Page 9! FCC Ham Exams GCARA TBA:Blue Ash Recreation Center 4433 Cooper Rd Blue Ash. Registration 6:30pm. For more information contact Rick, K8WWA at [email protected] WALK INS ACCEPTED 1st Saturday each month: Cincinnati (Hartwell), CRA, at Hartwell Pres. Church. Registration 8:30am; walk-in only! All licenses classes. Dale Pritchett, KC8HJL at (513) 769 0789 2nd Monday each month: Kentucky (Edgewood) NKARA, at Turkeyfoot Middle School, 3230 Turkeyfoot Rd. Registration 6:00pm. Follow the signs. Pre-registration preferred, walk-ins accepted. Lyle Hamilton, AB8SH, (513) 315 4032. Talk-in 147.255 In all cases; tests require two Ids (preferably one with photo). Bring with you the or Webpages of Importance to Members of the GCARA Greater Cincinnati Amateur Radio Association…..www.gcara.org GCARA on Facebook…..www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=402853765060 American Radio Relay League…..www.arrl.org Great Lakes Division-ARRL...www.arrl-greatlakes.org Ohio Section - ARRL…..www.arrl-ohio.org Ohio Section News…..www.arrl-ohio.org/sm/Section_News.html Dayton Hamvention…..www.hamvention.org Shortwave listening Guide...www.naswa.net/swlguide Follow the GCARA on Twitter…@W8DZ * If reading from a pdf file, clicking on the link will take you to the webpage Page 1! 0 Membersh ip Applicat JOIN or RENEW GCARA MEMBERSHIP ion GCARA membership application and information update form ( ) I enclose $15 dues per club year (Jan. 1- Dec. 31) x ( ) years = $_________ ( ) I request free student membership (licensed Hams in grades 1-12) for Jan. 1-Dec. 31. If a free Student Membership, what is your school & grade?___________ This is a ( ) new, ( ) renewed membership. Member of ARRL? ( ) yes, ( ) no ( ) My yearly dues are paid. Please enter the following changes for me: NAME ________________________________________ CALL _______________ ADDRESS*___________________________________________________________ CITY/STATE*__________________________________________ ZIP* __________ Tel. No. with A/C* (_____)________-__________ E-MAIL ADDRESS* _____________________@____________________________ My interests in and out of Ham radio: Public service; Working with youngsters; On-air operations; VHF/UHF; HF; Building; Teaching; Computers; Helping people become licensed; Repairing equipment; Helping other Hams. *Provide specified information only if it has changed since last renewal. Mail with dues payment to: Richard Pestinger, KC8RP 66 Boehm Court Fairfield, Ohio 45014 Make checks/MOs payable to GCARA to pay with PayPal go to www.gcara.org GCARA meets the 4th Wednesday of each month Directions to GCARA Meeting location Maple Knoll (Breese Manor) 11200 Springfield Pike, Springdale, OH (Take Maple Trace Dr. off Springfield Pike) Page !11 Send application and $15.00 to Richard Pestinger, KC8RP 66 Boehm Court Fairfield, Ohio 45014 If you would like your membership card mailed to you, please send a SASE with your The Greater Cincinnati Amateur Radio Association, Inc. ______________________________ TM&K Editor 3261 Old Oxford Rd Hamilton, Ohio 45013 TO CHANGE YOUR CALLSIGN, ADDRESS, PHONE OR EMAIL GO TO THE GCARA WEBSITE www.gcara.org (link located at bottom of page) Page 1! 2