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 Previous: Amateur Radio Assistance Highlighted at National Hurricane Conference |  Next: David Clark, KB6TAM, is Back on the High Seas |
April 19, 2001
(In alphabetical order: )
 Vintage Audiotron tubes, a gift to ARRL of Jim Sherry, W6FYB. The Western Electric tube box was empty. An unidentified tube is resting on the styrofoam packing. [ARRL Photo] |
ARRL spring cleaning turns up attic treasures: Every attic promises hidden treasures. The attic at ARRL Headquarters is no exception. There are more than 5000 items of historical interest in the ARRL collection of Amateur Radio artifacts. Many of the most famous items such as the dreaded Wouff Hong and many early pieces of radio equipment are on display throughout the building. However, the attic at Headquarters houses uncharted treasures never properly cataloged. The ARRL Historical Committee has been studying options for the care and display of these items as well as those more prominently displayed. The committee concluded that this more than 80-year-old collection should be properly inventoried using modern technology such as digital pictures and a computer database. On Saturday, April 14, New England Division Director and Historical Committee Chairman Tom Frenaye, K1KI, Legislative and Public Affairs Manager Steve Mansfield, N1MZA, and local historical experts Al Cohen, W1FXQ, and Charles Griffin, W1GYR, tackled the attic. A couple of very interesting items turned up. One was a spark gap from a transmitter once owned by ARRL co-founder Hiram Percy Maxim, 1AW. Another was a set of three "Audiotron" tubes that had been donated by Jim Sherry, W6FYB. The Audiotrons appear to have been low-cost "pirate" versions of the original, and more expensive, DeForest "Audions" of the day. Audions were the first triodes, and the Audiotron tubes made on the West Coast were said to be the most successful effort of the tube pirates who infringed on the DeForest patents. Fifty items were documented in the first day of this volunteer effort.--Tom Frenaye, K1KI
CQ Contest and DX Hall of Fame inductees for 2001 announced: CQ magazine has announced its 2001 inductees into the CQ Contest and CQ DX halls of fame. Algis Kregzde, LY2NK, and Ron "Sig" Sigismonti, N3RS, were named to the CQ Contest Hall of Fame. Robert Allphin, K4UEE, and Robert Eshleman, W4DR, join the roster of the CQ DX Hall of Fame. Kregzde is a coach, leader and coordinator of the Lithuanian National HF Team, president of the Lithuanian Radio Sports Federation and vice president of the international European Radio Sports Federation. Sigismonti has been contesting for four decades and is past president of the Frankford Radio Club, which nominated him. Allphin, a member of the 1996 and 2000 US WRTC teams, was nominated by the Southeastern DX Club. Eshleman, the recipient of the 2000 ARRL Clinton DeSoto DXCC Challenge Cup, is a past chairman of the ARRL DX Advisory Committee. He holds Five-Band DXCC certificate No 1. He was nominated by the Tidewater DX Club, the Flanders DX Club, and UBA--Belgium's national Amateur Radio society. Induction ceremonies will be held at the Dayton DX and Contest banquets.--CQ news release
 Steve McDonald, VE7SL, with his WAS certificate and his Tuna Tin 2 transmitter. |
First Tuna Tin 2 WAS claimed: When the Tuna Tin 2 low-power transmitter article appeared in QST in 1976, its author Doug DeMaw, W1CER (later W1FB), envisioned it as a weekend project that could be used for short-range contacts. Now, a quarter of a century later, a Canadian amateur has claimed the first Tuna Tin 2 Worked All States Award! Steve McDonald, VE7SL, got caught up in "Tuna Tin 2 Mania" and bought one of the popular TT2 kits. After working about 30 states with the little rig, WAS suddenly seemed plausible. McDonald realized his dream several months later when he turned in his cards for WAS. All contacts for the award had been completed while he was running about 400 mW from a Tuna Tin 2. As far as the ARRL awards folks know, this marked the first time WAS was achieved with a Tuna Tin 2--although there is no special endorsement for having done so. "Doug DeMaw knew in his heart that the rig would be useful and popular, but I don't think he ever envisioned that this little transmitter would still be working its QRP magic over 25 years after it first appeared in the pages of QST," said ARRL Lab Supervisor Ed Hare, W1RFI--himself a QRP and TT2 aficionado who has promoted the Tuna Tin 2 Revival and was McDonald's Connecticut contact for WAS. Congratulations to VE7SL on a tremendous operating accomplishment.--Ed Hare, W1RFI
Foot and mouth disease curtails ham activities in UK: While the foot and mouth disease declaratory order is in force in the UK, the Radio Society of Great Britain is advising all UK amateurs to avoid any activity that will bring them into contact with farm land or with animals susceptible to FMD, such as pigs, cattle, sheep and goats. This will mostly apply to portable contest operation, rallies, fox hunts and visits to remote repeaters, beacons and packet sites. The RSGB says, however, that the declaratory order could affect other types of ham radio operation. The RSGB VHF Contest Committee has announced that the portable sections of all its contests have been suspended until further notice. Further information on the restrictions is available on the UK Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Web site.
Gary Barbour, AC4DL, named Ten-Tec VP: Gary Barbour, AC4DL, of Sevierville, Tennessee, has been named vice president of Ten-Tec. He fills a position vacated last August by former Ten-Tec vice president for marketing Tom Salvetti, KC3NF. Barbour previously served as director of digital engineering at Ten-Tec. In his new role, he will continue to spearhead the company's digital engineering effort in addition to assuming new duties as VP. Barbour has been employed by Ten-Tec since 1988. He's a volunteer member of the ARRL Digital Voice Committee.--Ten-Tec
Information offered on BQ9P and PW0S logs and QSLs: Steve Wheatley, KU9C, reports he has the PW0S (St Peter and Paul Rocks) logs and has begun printing labels for the cards he has on hand. The QSL design is nearly complete. On-line logs are available (follow the PW0S link and click the "Log" link). Hams who have submitted cards do not need to inquire via e-mail. The BQ9P (Pratas) logs were all hand-written and have yet to be entered into a computer. The QSL design has been started. KU9C says that the BQ9P logs may be posted on the Web. Report any problems or questions to ku9c@arrl.net.
 This telephone repeater site in Broxton, Georgia, is among those for sale. [American Tower Corp Photo] |
Own your own tower site: Looking for a ham radio getaway site? American Tower Corporation, the largest owner and operator of tower sites in the US, reports it's selling off surplus microwave relay sites with towers that it acquired from AT&T. The company is hoping a few hams or ham clubs might be interested. "These sites were built by AT&T Long Lines division in the 60s and 70s in order to provide long-distance service throughout the US," says Steve Webster, K7ZG, American Tower's vice president of engineering. The sites include very strong and fairly tall towers, shelters that were built to withstand severe environmental stress, access roads, commercial power and most of the towers come with land. "Very few, if any, of these sites include any water or telephone service," Webster said. "Some of the roads require four-wheel-drive vehicles to access the sites." Many, but not all, of these microwave towers are in remote areas between the cities that they were designed to interconnect. But, their remote locations make them more expensive to maintain and less viable economically for a wireless carrier. Webster says his employer is prepared to dispose of the towers at very reasonable prices. "Most of the deals that we have put together for the rural sites were in the $10,000 to $20,000 per site range," Webster said, although some sites have gone for far less. For a list of the available towers, visit American Tower's Web site, select the "Find a Site" icon in the upper left hand corner of the screen. Under "Sites for Sale" click on "Get List." For more information, contact Steve Webster, K7ZG, at 617-585-7704. Write: American Tower Corp, 116 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02116.
QRP Amateur Radio Club International announces FDIM schedule: The QRP Amateur Radio Club International has announced the schedule for its annual "Four Days in May" activity, held Thursday through Sunday, May 17-20, in conjunction with the Dayton Hamvention. This is the fifth year for the program. There will be presentations by renowned low-power operators and equipment manufacturers. An all-day seminar on Thursday will feature presentations by George Dobbs, G3RJV, on surface-mount construction; Joe Everhart, N2CX, on building a microvolt signal generator; ARRL Lab Supervisor Ed Hare, W1RFI, on interference; George Heron, N2APB, on PSK 31; Bill Kelsey, N8ET, on tools and test equipment for homebrewing; Jim Kortge, K8IQY, on building a high-performance 17-meter transverter, and Peter Zenker, DL2FI, on QRP operating in Germany. Last year nearly 400 QRP enthusiasts participated in the FDIM event. For more information, visit the QRP ARCI Web site.
SETI League bouncing signals off moon: With financial assistance from the American Astronomical Society, The SETI League Inc has placed on the air a transmitter that bounces microwave signals off the moon's surface for use in testing Earth-based radiotelescopes. Operating on 1296 MHz under the call sign W2ETI, the EME beacon enables amateur and professional radio astronomers to calibrate their receiving systems by providing a stable reference signal from a known point in the sky. The SETI League's EME beacon received its first shakedown in March, providing scientists at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico with a weak, well-calibrated test signal for use in conjunction with the Project Phoenix targeted search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Project Phoenix scientists had formerly used a microwave transmitter aboard the Pioneer 10 spacecraft for this purpose. Twenty nine years after its launch, Pioneer 10 is now outside our solar system, seven billion miles from Earth, and its 8 W beacon is too weak to be received--even by Arecibo. The SETI League promotes a privatized search for extra-terrestrial intelligence. The organization boasts more than 1200 members in 60 countries, many of the Amateur Radio operators. Its executive director is Paul Shuch, N6TX. For more information, visit the SETI League Web site.
VE3AHZ to be recognized: Radio Amateurs of Canada reports that Jack Tennant, VE3AHZ, of Richmond, Ontario, will be recognized by Emergency Preparedness Canada in a Federal Volunteer Recognition event on Parliament Hill, Ottawa, on April 26. Included in this program are 60 other volunteers from communities across Canada who will be representing other Government departments. Tennant is being recognized for his contributions to the Emergency Preparedness College in Arnprior, Ontario during its in-house disaster response training exercises.--RAC
Wake up, wake up and talk to us! Well, you sure can't say we didn't try. Members of the Sturdy Memorial Hospital Amateur Radio Club activated W1SMH/P April 12 at the North Attleboro (Massachusetts) Middle School parking lot as a part of Cosmonautics Day. The occasion was designated to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's first manned space flight, the 30th anniversary of the first space station, Salyut 1, and the 20th anniversary of the US space shuttle. Tom Bell, W1XS, and the crew set up a station and made a valiant effort to work the International Space Station as it made two passes over the northeastern US. "The calculations were right and we did hear the packet bursts coming back from the ISS, but no voice," reports Jim Duarte, KA1EIV. The same story was reported from elsewhere in the US as well. Judging from the paucity of NA1SS QSL card requests to ARRL HQ, very few, if any, voice contacts between US stations and NA1SS took place on Cosmonautics Day. The Massachusetts' hams' efforts attracted a TV and newspaper crews, and the TV station did a live feed of W1SMH/P in action. "Tim Furlong of ABC6 News, interviewed Bill Tomlinson, WB1DJM, about the club's history," Duarte said. "Bill did a great job on camera." Then, Bell gave the TV crew the cook's tour of the radio equipment, antenna and tracking software he used to calculate the passes. "They were very impressed with Tom's knowledge and the preparation that went into this effort," Duarte noted, adding that the club took advantage of the opportunity to promote its upcoming Field Day activity and hand out some informational brochures on ARISS. "All in all, it was a unique experience and proved once again that the Sturdy Memorial Hospital Amateur Radio Club works as a well-oiled team," Duarte said.--Jim Duarte, KA1EIV
 Kentucky Section Manager John D. Meyers, N4GNL (right) presents a Public Service Commendation to James "Jake" McHendrix, WD4PBF. [N4GNL Photo] |
WD4PBF honored for ARES/RACES service: ARRL Kentucky Section Manager John D. Meyers, N4GNL, recently presented a Public Service Commendation to James "Jake" McHendrix, WD4PBF, for his 23 years of continued service to the ARES/RACES program in Northern Kentucky's Boone County. "Jake was an Emergency Coordinator under six different section managers and a least as many section emergency coordinators," Meyers said. According to Meyers, McHendrix has made sure that the Seventh District ARES/RACES net was called every week. He's also coordinated many events throughout Northern Kentucky such as clothing drives and other public service events. WD4PBF has been a member of the Northern Kentucky Amateur Radio Club for 25 years and has contributed to its continuing success. In addition to his EC role, he has served as net manager, treasurer and Field Day chairman.--John Meyers, N4GNL
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