Bill Rindone wrote:
>
> You guys like horror stories, here's mine!
>
> Last week I receive a knock on the door and open it to find a RCMP (Royal
> Canadian Mounted Police). No he didn't bring his horse.
>
> He advises that there has been a complaint filed against me of interference
> and that I am running too much power. I must have looked at him strangely
> because he said "All one has to do is look at the size of your antennas to
> know that you are running too much power"
I had a similar incident back in the early 1970s when the family was
vacationing in Whitehorse, Yukon. We were staying in a motel and I had ran a
coax down to the mobile antenna on the car and was oiperating on 20 SSB. About
2000, there was a knock on the door and a gent identified himself as an RCMP
and said he had had a TVI complaint from a lady who relied on Alaska TV for
reception. He said TV went off at 2200 so I could operate then. I asked how he
tracked me down. He said he was an ex-VE6 and he just rode around looking for a
ham antenna! I always heard that the RCMP also got their man and he sure did me!
Phil K6EID
]
>From sawyers" <sawyers@cacd.rockwell.com Mon May 6 22:53:37 1996
From: sawyers" <sawyers@cacd.rockwell.com (sawyers)
Subject: Elevated cable runs
Message-ID: <9604068314.AA831416091@ccmgw1.cacd.rockwell.com>
I am in the process designing the feeds for my soon to be three tower
contest station. (due to restrictions on a one acre lot, they are only
going to be 132' and 80' and 60' tall - hope is to make medium pistol
status from the black hole).
Anyway, I looked at the elevated feed line, and vetoed it. Wife did for
looks and I did for the lightning problems. I looked at buried PVC, and
vetoed it because my favorite feedline is 75 ohm 3/4" aluminum jacketed
hard line (I got a couple of spools for hauling them away) and six runs of
it won't pull thru PVC even with the large radius bends. I finally came up
with the idea of making a concrete raceway at the surface of the ground.
The race way is made from 12" wide 8" tall by 16" long 'bond beam'
concrete blocks, and then using a solid 4"x8"x16" cap block across the top.
For those of you not into concrete block construction, a 'bond beam' block
is a specially shaped block used in taller walls or walls with lots of side
load on them. The block is shaped to provide a trough in the wall when they
are laid in one course. This trough is then filled with rebar and concrete.
After the concrete has set, then the wall is continued on upward.
In my application, I dig a trench about 16" deep and 16 - 20" wide. Level
the bottom of the trench and lay the 'bond beam' blocks into the trench.
Lay in the hardline and any other cables. Then lay the cap blocks across
the top of the U and back fill.
I am not real good at line pictures, but here is a cross section:
....________________ .......... <- Ground line
| | <- Cap Block
|______________| 16" wide and 4" tall in this view
| | oooooo | |
| | ooooOO | | <- bond beam block
| \_______/ | with coax and wires (oooO)
|____________|
My thought is that I can flip the cap blocks off when I need to run more
hardline or inspect something, or just pull smaller stuff through. You have
about 9" wide by 6.5" deep trough to work with. If you keep it nicely
edged, the cap bloks will come up easier.
You also can run the mower across and it looks like a walkway out to the
tower. It is a little pricey at $2 to $4 per foot, but it gets the approval
of the "kitchen table" zoning board.
If you are worried about frost heave, you can did the trench deeper, put in
a drain tile and back fill with sand to the bottom of the blocks. Makes it
real easy to level, tamp and screed the block bases. Then back fill the
sides of the block with good top soil and by fall it will look like it was
always there.
de n0yvy steve
>From aa4lr@radio.org (Bill Coleman AA4LR) Mon May 6 22:30:21 1996
From: aa4lr@radio.org (Bill Coleman AA4LR) (Bill Coleman AA4LR)
Subject: Ground Rods Made Easy
Message-ID: <v01540b02adb41a2c84a9@[206.28.194.40]>
>This technique was suggested to me by a colleague of mine - Haskell Walker
>KJ4ZZ - and is very effective on the sandy soils found here in Florida.
>
>To use it, get yourself a 1/2" dia compression fitting to garden hose
>fitting adapter. Use this piece to connect your garden hose to one end of a
>1/2" piece of copper tubing of the desired length (8' in my case). Then just
>turn on the water and watch with amazement as the ground rod literally falls
>into the ground like a hot knife in soft butter. Actually, in my case I hit
>hard pan (allegedly compressed sand) at about 4'. The first time this
>happened, my dysfunctional self-defeating alter-ego took over, and assumed
>the worst - solid rock.
There ARE no rocks in Florida....
>In short, this seems to be a real quick and easy way to put in those nasty
>ground rods, and sure beats the ole hit-it-with-a-hammer method by a
>longshot.
I've read about this method before, perhaps 15 years ago in 73 magazine.
Biggest problem with this method of installation is that you end up with a
ground rod in a narrow hole -- almost no ground contact and thus poor
ground conductivity. Despite its difficulty, the pound-it-in method offers
the best immediate results. Otherwise, you'll have to wait for the soil to
slump in around the rod, which could take years.
I've pounded in rods with a hammer and a sledge. Biggest problem with using
a sledgehammer is missing the small rod tip. Invariably, you'll hit on the
sledge handle, which is $7 at your nearest hardware store. Trying to
install one rod, I went through two and a half handles.
Here in Georgia, much of the soil is hard clay, and getting a ground rod in
can be quite a chore, with lots of pounding and little progress. To help
out (and to save money on sledgehammer handles), I built a special tool.
My rod driver is a 11" long 1" steel pipe nipple, with a coupler on each
end. One end has a steel plug, the other is open. Just above the open plug
are the collars and 15 pounds of weight I cannabalised from a dumbell set.
The result is a 15 pound hammer I can drop 1 foot and NEVER MISS.
I usually start out a rod with a hammer or sledge, and force it in until it
gets difficult, then switch to the driver. The driver takes some time,
since the swing is short, but you never feel like you are not making
progress.
Once the open collar gets down to the ground, I switch to the sledge for
the last few inches. A short rod is much easier to hit, so I haven't lost
any more handles yet.
The last rod I installed was up at the KM9P superstation. Unfortunately, I
didn't bring my driver, so it was back to the old sledgehammer. The forest
floor ground on that Dalonegah mountaintop was thankfully soft.
Bill Coleman, AA4LR, AA96LR Mail: aa4lr@radio.org
Quote: "Not in a thousand years will man ever fly!"
-- Wilbur Wright, 1901
>From aa4lr@radio.org (Bill Coleman AA4LR) Mon May 6 22:30:43 1996
From: aa4lr@radio.org (Bill Coleman AA4LR) (Bill Coleman AA4LR)
Subject: Definition of a "Big Gun"
Message-ID: <v01540b03adb41d6546b6@[206.28.194.40]>
>What is the generally accepted definition of a "Big Gun"?
All the guys who are better operators than you, who have more aluminum and
more radios and more amplifiers than you and have more time to operate all
the contests.
>How do you know if you are one.
You just know. <grin>
>Is this a desirable goal?
Is this a retorical question?
>At what point does a "Little Pistol" become a "Big Gun".
When he starts beating other big guns.
>Is QRP mutually exclusive with "Big Gun"?
No, it just takes more aluminum.
Bill Coleman, AA4LR, AA96LR Mail: aa4lr@radio.org
Quote: "Not in a thousand years will man ever fly!"
-- Wilbur Wright, 1901
>From Charles Epps <epps@netcom.com> Mon May 6 22:27:50 1996
From: Charles Epps <epps@netcom.com> (Charles Epps)
Subject: Revised WRTC Awards Program
Message-ID: <Pine.3.89.9605061445.A8455-0100000@netcom5.netcom.com>
Last Friday I sent out an announcement describing the WRTC awards
program. I now am delighted to report that it's become even better!
Yesterday the WRTC96, Inc. committee approved awarding WRTC tee shirts to
the 300 stations who work the most WRTC team stations (i.e., those "1x1"
callsigns). Also I am happy to report that over the weekend Andy Faber,
AE6Y agreed to sponsor the plaque for the station in Africa who works the
most WRTC team stations, and the Western Washington DX Club has accepted
sponsorship of the plaque for ITU Zone 27 which encompasses a large
portion of western Europe. The full text of the revised WRTC Awards
announcement follows and replaces last Friday's announcement.
73 de Rusty Epps, W6OAT
Publicity Chairman
WRTC96, Inc.
WRTC AWARDS
Fifty-two teams of top amateur radio contest operators from 30 countries
will travel to San Francisco July 10-15 to compete head to head in the
1996 World Radiosport Team Championship (WRTC-96). These operators were
selected for this competition by national amateur radio organizations,
leading contest clubs, and an international panel of judges. Among their
ranks are the holders of world records in virtually every major HF contest.
The WRTC competition is a "sub-competition" within the framework of the
larger IARU HF World Championship contest scheduled for the weekend of
July 13 and 14, 1996. The WRTC competitors will enter the IARU contest
as 52 two-person multi-operator, single-transmitter entries. All 52
teams will be located near San Francisco Bay on flat terrain in
relatively close physical proximity so as to minimize propagation
differences, and all will run exactly 100 watts output into nearly
identical antenna systems. By eliminating many of the station and
propagation variables normally associated with radio contesting, the WRTC
strives to present a meaningful competition in which the winners can
rightfully claim to be "the best of the best."
Although the WRTC stations will be competing only with each other, they
can work anybody and everybody operating in the IARU contest. The WRTC
stations will be on the air from 12:00 UTC, July 13 until 06:00 UTC, July
14, on 40, 20, 15 and 10 meters. You can work them once on cw and once
on ssb on each of these bands, so the maximum number of QSOs possible
will be 4 (bands) x 2 (modes) x 52 (stations) = 416. The WRTC stations
will be easy to identify because they will be signing 52 distinctive
"1x1" callsigns specially approved by the Federal Communications
Commission for the competition. These callsigns are W6A through W6Z and
K6A through K6Z.
Several incentives exist to encourage everyone to find and work the WRTC
teams. Those who "slice through" the pileups will earn a customized WRTC
letter opener endorsed for making 10, 25, 50, 75, or 100 QSOs on any
combination of bands and modes. If you're lucky enough to achieve a
"grand slam" by working all 52 different 1x1 callsigns, you'll garner a
special commemorative deck of WRTC playing cards. And if you are among
the top 300 stations who make the most QSOs with WRTC teams, you'll win a
beautiful WRTC tee shirt.
Numerous radio clubs and individuals have donated plaques to be awarded
to amateurs in specific geographical areas who make the most QSOs with
WRTC team stations. These areas are Worldwide (excluding the San
Francisco Bay Area*); Africa, Asia, Oceania, and South America; ITU Zone
6 (excluding the SF Bay Area), Zone 6 (SF Bay Area), Zone 7, Zone 8, Zone
11, Zone 18, Zone 27, Zone 28, Zone 29 and Zone 37.
Each WRTC team using a 1x1 callsign will have a unique, distinctive QSL
card so work them all to collect the entire set. WRTC stations will QSL
100 percent via the bureau and it is not necessary for you to send your
QSL to them.
The competition organizers will use a computer for processing the 52 WRTC
station logs to generate QSL labels and to determine award eligibility,
so you do not need to submit your log. This means, though, that if you
have any doubt whether a WRTC station got your call right, you should
work it again as there will be no chance to correct your callsign after
the contest.
The WRTC Committee will publish the list of stations qualifying for
awards in various ham publications and on the internet contest and DX
reflectors shortly after the event. If you make the list and want to
receive your award(s), send a self-addressed adhesive mailing label (not
an SASE) containing your name, callsign, and address to WRTC-96, Inc.,
c/o Rusty Epps, W6OAT, 651 Handley Trail, Redwood City, CA 94062, USA.
For the letter opener or the playing cards, include $2.00 or 4 IRCs to
cover postage and handling; $5.00 or 10 IRCs for the tee shirt (and be
sure to include a note specifying your shirt size: S, M, L, XL or XXL).
Please submit your request before December 31, 1996.
Plaque: Donated By:
Worldwide (No SF) Radio Amateurs of/du Canada, Inc.
Africa Andy Faber, AE6Y
Asia Morioka Contest and DX Association
Oceania Carl Cook, AI6V
South America Radio Club Quilmes in memory of Jorge H. Bozzo, LU8DQ
ITU Zone 6 (No SF) WRTC-90 (Seattle) Organizing Committee
ITU Zone 6 (SF) Dick Dievendorff, AA6MC
ITU Zone 7 Bill Hider, N3RR
ITU Zone 8 Frankford Radio Club
ITU Zone 11 Dennis Motschenbacher, AA7VB
ITU Zone 18 Nokia Corporation
ITU Zone 27 Western Washington DX Club
ITU Zone 28 A.R.I. - Italy
ITU Zone 29 (Donor being sought)
ITU Zone 37 (Donor being sought)
*The "San Francisco Bay Area" consists of the California counties of
Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa
Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, and Sonoma.
>From zettel@homer.libby.org (Steve Zettel) Tue May 7 05:26:24 1996
From: zettel@homer.libby.org (Steve Zettel) (Steve Zettel)
Subject: elevated cable runs
Message-ID: <v02140b02adb4747e33ba@[192.0.2.1]>
Steve,
Although it wouldn't have the accessability nor the elegance of the block
cable run, something a darn sight cheaper is the large PVC tubing sold for
perimeter drains around foundations or for wet fields. It is corrugated,
very flexible, comes in "perforated" or non-perforated, sold by the hundred
foot roll for pennies (not dollars) a foot. It is about 6 inches in
diameter. If you remember to thread a messenger line through before you
bury it, and always pull a replacement messenger through when you pull
another coax, you can add lines fairly easily. Then you'll have the $$ for
something else--like a peace offering for the wife.
Just a thought,
Steve Zettel KJ7CH kj7ch@libby.org
Libby, MT USA steve.m.zettel@usace.army.mil
Take a tour of NW Montana at: http://www.libby.org
>From ve7sbo@teleport.com (Bill Rindone) Tue May 7 06:56:40 1996
From: ve7sbo@teleport.com (Bill Rindone) (Bill Rindone)
Subject: Horror story
Message-ID: <199605070556.WAA05183@desiree.teleport.com>
In answer to the many notes of support received I will answer a few of the
most asked questions:
1. No the RCMP was not a neighbor. He clarified that when he said "I
wouldn't allow any ham in my neighborhood!". Yikes.
2. The question arose as to what antennas I had (that looked so powerful). I
have a 4 el 20 meter stacked over a 5 el 15 mtr at 135 feet plus a lot of
wire that gives me a two and a three element array on 40 and a three element
array on 160. Frankly amongst the fir trees the wire doesn't look awesome.
3. Yes, I did contact the local BC Communications Canada office first thing
next morning. Their most interesting comments were "Sounds like he got
overly aggressive". and "Don't worry about the harassment charge. He
couldn't make it stick".
They were quite nice and I figured I best get them in on the ground floor in
case things rapidly escalated. Will keep you abreast of any further
developments.
Bill, VE7SBO, etc.
>From AA1K Jon Zaimes <jon.zaimes@dol.net> Tue May 7 10:03:21 1996
From: AA1K Jon Zaimes <jon.zaimes@dol.net> (AA1K Jon Zaimes)
Subject: Elevated cable runs
At 15:53 5/6/96 cst, sawyers wrote:
>I am in the process designing the feeds for my soon to be three tower
>contest station. (due to restrictions on a one acre lot, they are only
>going to be 132' and 80' and 60' tall - hope is to make medium pistol
>status from the black hole).
>
>Anyway, I looked at the elevated feed line, and vetoed it. Wife did for
>looks and I did for the lightning problems. I looked at buried PVC, and
>vetoed it because my favorite feedline is 75 ohm 3/4" aluminum jacketed
>hard line (I got a couple of spools for hauling them away) and six runs of
>it won't pull thru PVC even with the large radius bends. I finally came up
>with the idea of making a concrete raceway at the surface of the ground.
>The race way is made from 12" wide 8" tall by 16" long 'bond beam'
>concrete blocks, and then using a solid 4"x8"x16" cap block across the top.
>
Hi Steve....this seems like overkill to me. At my last QTH I buried 10 runs
of 1/2 inch CATV hardline the 200 feet from house to tower. They were only
down about 6-10 inches; my trench was little more than turning the sod with
a shovel (dug by hand in '81) laying the lines and covering back up. No
conduit or any other protection. One or two of the runs were of the "potted"
variety designed for direct burial, but most were not, just the regular
hardline. And a couple ran short of the 200 feet needed so i spliced them
and sealed and buried the splices. All of this worked for 10 years (until I
moved) without failure. For part of the time (after the lines had been
buried a couple of years) we pastured a horse over a section of the hardline
run for several years, and there was no damage.
I used three of the hardlines for rotor control (shield and center
conductor, total of 6 conductors) -- free hardline always cheaper than
store-bought rotor cable, hi! The rest were used for RF.
73/Jon AA1K
jon.zaimes@dol.net
>From Takao KUMAGAI <je1cka@dumpty.nal.go.jp> Tue May 7 08:49:11 1996
From: Takao KUMAGAI <je1cka@dumpty.nal.go.jp> (Takao KUMAGAI)
Subject: RUFZ top list(May 6,96)
Message-ID: <199605070749.QAA23243@dumpty.nal.go.jp>
This top list will be posted in every month on 1st Tuesday. But the
list will be revised every week. If you wish to get the current
Top-List, please refer the "Where RUFZ-Toplist is published" guide
listed far below.
---------
Tack Kumagai JE1CKA/KH0AM
TEL:81-30-066-6408, FAX:81-423-93-4449
Internet: je1cka@nal.go.jp
======
* International RUFZ - Top List * (last revised May, 6th 96)
total entries: 144 compiled by DL4MM including Scores by JE1CKA/INTERNET
Points Call highest CW-PARIS-Speed (at Score, (at any other attempt))
64479 DF4PA 520
63093 HA3OV 520 (567)
62098 HA3NU 520
56477 HA3UU 625!
49751 S51AY 446 (520)
48907 N8RR 480
48530 HA1CW 520
47532 W2UP 446
45957 II2K 446 (op I2GXS jr.)
42759 DL2HBX 416
42293 OH2IW 416 (446)
40582 S57AD 390 (446)
40384 OH7JR 416
39510 DL8WAA 416
38317 OH7JT 416
37463 DF1LX 390
37453 OH1MYA 416
36807 KC5NWX 367 (=KR0Y)
36762 HA3NS 416
35409 DL1EFD 390
35366 DL9GOA 367
35317 RA9AA 390 (416)
34564 KB0IHM 390
34493 HA1AG 390
34342 9A4DE 416
33930 T94EU 367
33671 DL2OBF 367
32973 CT1BOH 367
32695 DL3JAN 347 (367)
32070 K1AR 367
32061 HA1DK 390
31943 SM0TXT 347
31710 DL3DZZ 367
31688 K1DG 367
31200 DL4MM 367
31101 JE1JKL 347
30002 9A3UF 367
29961 HA3KY 390
29778 K3WW 347
29522 K7LR 347
28859 JH0KHR 347
28777 IT9VDQ 367
28361 HA3OU 328 (390)
28333 HA3FO 347
28276 HA8KW 367
27596 KE2PF 328
27566 G4BJM ???
27483 OH2JA 347 (367)
27113 OK1FUT 347
26980 AD5Q 328
26120 DL5LYM 347
26085 K3WWP 312 (347)
25500 SM3JLA 328
25432 KI3L 347
24977 K5ZD 312
24855 T94TU 347
24785 SM3OJR 328
24713 DL8LAQ 312
24267 JH0NZN 312
* 24165 DK8LV 312
23915 N3RS 312
23813 RA9ATW 312
23021 T94NF 312
22840 IT9ZGY 312
22736 ND3F 376
22462 OK1FUT 312
22385 IT9XUC 367
22255 K4XU 297
22049 KU4J 297
21948 KR2Q 284
21947 HA4YY 328
21654 ZS6EZ 297
21281 KJ4VH 284
21241 HA3LW 297
21133 JA0FVU 284
20796 F5NLY 297
20744 JE1SPY 312
20576 5B4WN 297
20571 AD1C 297
20441 HA5FA 297
20329 HA3LD 297
19870 DJ6WD 284
19717 HA7LC 312
19646 RA9AEW 297
19262 G0SYP 297
19260 T94NE 297
19119 SP7NJX 284
19076 K1IU 271
19029 DL4KG 271
18974 K3SA 284
18915 HA5BZG 271
18735 HA3GJ 312
18341 HA5BPC 297
18217 DL8DYL 271
18109 DL7VOA 271
17977 DK5JI 271
17344 DL1ATO 297
17256 OH1MDR 271
16847 DK1WI 271
16597 DL1VDL 271
16468 K0OD 284
16191 S54M 250
15846 DL1KBB 250
15318 RA9ANR 260
15306 DL7AVE 271 (284)
15246 T94TF 250
15092 N1CC 260
14677 HA3GQ 284
14525 IK8VRI 250
14061 DK5QN 260
13945 HA5NI 284
13926 UA9AR 240
13604 WR3E 240
13579 KC7BNH 240
13255 DL6RDE 240
13040 RA9ATU 240
13007 DL6ECA 240
12850 DL1YAW 240
12759 K2YJL 223
12631 DL1DSA 260
12581 LY2CU 250
11632 WA1ZUH 223
11334 HA7YB 240
11305 DL2SDS 240
11013 UA9AU 240
10605 WM1K 215
10592 T95LIG 231
10240 OK2BEE 215
10096 HB9HFN 215
9742 DL8DCY 223
9407 DL3KDT 223
9393 DL4KBS 189 (201)
9097 DK5IF 208 (215)
8526 DJ3AK 201
8218 DL7DE 189
8201 RA9AUC 201
7578 DJ8SP 195
7356 DJ5KX 201
6184 DL4JWU 178
6112 DL1ELY 152 (164)
5897 HA3FRE 215
5219 HA3FRV 201
5194 IK4WMH 156
4441 DH4KW 168
------------------
Where to send the score
1) PR: DL4MM@DB0TUD.#SAX.DEU.EU
2) Mathias Kolpe,DL4MM, Breitscheidstr. 17, D-01237 Dresden, GERMANY
3) Fax: +49 -351 252 63 13
4) E-Mail to: je1cka@nal.go.jp (JE1CKA) or KOLPE@t-online.de (DL4MM)
How to get "RUFZ" CW-callsign-practice-program/contest simulation
1) search for RUFZ at @IBM in any PR-Mailbox or
mail a request to DL4MM@DB0TUD.#SAX.DE.EU for personal 7PL-files
2) INTERNET:
ftp://ftp.eskimo.com/u/o/oolon/rufz.zip
ftp://kgicl8.geo.tu-dresden.de/pub/hamradio/incoming
http://www.access.digex.net/~k3sa/pvrc.html
3) EMAIL info-server
mailto:info-contest@dumpty.nal.go.jp
with the command in the body:
#get rufzpack.uue
if you get the reply, you uudecode the body then rufzpack.exe will be
generated. Run "rufzpack" at the DOS prompt, you'll get all RUFZ-files.
4) free disc from DL4MM (cover handling/mailing costs only) / ask for info
How to use RUFZ for Top-List
1) use RUFZ version 2.12 or later with DOS (not under Windows or DOS-Emulat.)
2) use 50 Calls per attempt
3) decide on your own initial speed
4) use original callsign-file
Where RUFZ-Toplist is published
1) every tuesday in PR-Mailboxes at @CONTEST
2) On request by EMAIL:
mailto: info-contest@dumpty.nal.go.jp
with the command in the body
#get rufztop.list
3) On web: http://www.4w.com/ham/ka9fox/rufz_scores.txt
[end]
|