160M contests

[David_B_Curtis at ccm11.sc.intel.com]

de mike n9itx: 
> I like W2CRS's (doug) idea about Grid squares that would make the contact
> more meaningful and would allow a program to actually measure distance
> between stations.  (Granted pretty complicated)  

actually, a program for distance between grids is very simple.  there is one 
published in the ARRL grid locator atlas -- it's only 2 or 3 dozen lines of 
code. as a VHF contester, i can tell you that grids are a lot of fun.  Probably 
too many of them to be useful as 160M multipliers, but they would be useful for 
distance calculations.   Or another thought... exchange grids but only count the
first 3 characters as mults -- you get "grid stripes" 2 degrees wide by 10 
degrees tall.  Seems like this would yield a nice number of multipliers for a 
160 contest.

73, Dave NG0X  CM87xi
david_b_curtis at ccm.sc.intel.com

>From Bruce Herrick" <Bruce.Herrick at mixcom.com  Wed Feb 28 21:11:32 1996
From: Bruce Herrick" <Bruce.Herrick at mixcom.com (Bruce Herrick)
Date: Wed, 28 Feb 1996 15:11:32 -0600 (CST)
Subject: Special Keyboards
Message-ID: <199602282111.PAA23702 at mixcom.mixcom.com>

I have a friend to whom computer logging is just a dream.  He has extremely
large hands, and to type accurately on a standard keyboard is a slow and
painstaking process; impossible during a good run.

Does anyone know of a source of custom keyboards, i.e.; one with large(r)
keys?  A split keyboard, such as those "ergonomic" types that are all the
rage, is no help at all.

Can anyone suggest a more appropriate place to post this question?

Please respond to me directly.

Thanks,

Bruce WW1M

-- 
Bruce D. Herrick               bdh at mixcom.com      Home:   414.462.1270
Pryon Corporation                                  Office: 414.253.5678
N93 W14575 Whittaker Way                           Fax:    414.253.2772
Menomonee Falls, WI  53051                         PacketCluster: WW1M > NB9C

>From Joe_Wilkowski at mc.xerox.com (Wilkowski,Joe)  Wed Feb 28 21:32:12 1996
From: Joe_Wilkowski at mc.xerox.com (Wilkowski,Joe) (Wilkowski,Joe)
Date: Wed, 28 Feb 1996 13:32:12 PST
Subject: 80 acre contest site - vacant
Message-ID: <"<BDC2343181B7677C>BDC2343181B7677C at X-MC-0819-MS2.XEROX"@-SMF->

Tell ya what..... I give you Park Place & Marvin Gardens for it..

73's
/joe k8fc
-------

On the way back from Pittsburgh <snip>

I took the side road to go get a closer look and came to a locked gate
next to the sign that said "80 Acres For Sale" with a Bay Area area code
tel. number.

I think this is an old VOA relay site.  It has about fourteen towers on
it - most of which support rhombics?.  A couple of the towers look to be
over 100 feet tall.

>From John Brosnahan <broz at csn.net>  Wed Feb 28 21:37:04 1996
From: John Brosnahan <broz at csn.net> (John Brosnahan)
Date: Wed, 28 Feb 1996 14:37:04 -0700
Subject: Tuner Thread encore
Message-ID: <199602282137.OAA13546 at lynx.csn.net>

I probably should say something in defense of the Johnson
KW Matchbox.  They were really designed for balanced feedline
and I have no doubt that they can handle 5KW into a higher
impedance load (they have capacitors with wide plate spacing)
and they probably have a wider range of reactance matching
when used with high impedance balanced feedlines.

Most of the "modern" antenna tuners are single ended Tees
and are designed for a coaxial (unbalanced) feedline and when 
used with balanced feedlines utilize a balun transformer.  But the
transformer is really not properly terminated in most
cases and may become a significant source of loss (translate
heat, smoke, and fire).

Bottom line--modern tuners for coax, Johnson KW 
Matchbox for balanced lines and I am curious about
what is so unique about the X-Match.

If you really just want to "flatten" the SWR on your
coax fed antenna there is a good article in the Antenna
Compendium Vol 3 by W6PY showing that a FIXED
inductor combined with two variable caps can match
anything within the 5-1 SWR circle (for a given band).

To see the Johnson KW Matchbox's further development
you can read "Beyond the Z-Match " by W6JJZ in
Communications Quarterly Winter 95.

73  John  W0UN

(Does this constitute a bar-be-cue?  I added a little (technical) 
meat to the (Matchbox) flame!)

John Brosnahan  
La Salle Research Corp      24115 WCR 40     La Salle, CO 80645  USA
voice 970-284-6602            fax 970-284-0979           email broz at csn.net