SBARC-list April 2001

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8 participants
18 discussions

Morse code Exam Standards to Change July 1, 2001
by Marvin 27 Apr '01

27 Apr '01

Note that multiple guess exams will no longer be permitted effective July 1, 2001 ***************** Morse code Exam Standards to Change July 1, 2001 The National Conference of Volunteer Examiner Coordinators voted to set up revised standards for the administration of Morse code examinations in the US. The move at the NCVEC's July 21, 2000 meeting in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, came in the wake of the FCC's December 30, 1999, action to establish 5 WPM as the sole Amateur Radio Morse code requirement. Under the NCVEC revised standards, examinees would have to show 25 character-count solid copy on their test sheets or successfully answer seven out of 10 questions of a fill-in-the-blank quiz on the sent text. Multiple choice 10-question exams for Morse code are no longer permitted beginning July 1, 2001. Morse examinations will specify use of the Farnsworth method of code generation as the default, where characters are sent faster than the overall speed and additional spaces added between characters, words and sentences. The Farnsworth "character speed" as a default must be within the range of 13 to 15 WPM. Standard 5 WPM tests with 5 WPM characters could be administered as a special accommodation (as the exception rather than the standard). The revised standards also call for a Morse code exam audio pitch within the 700 to 1000 Hz range. The new Morse testing standards are to be in effect by next July 1, 2001, but VECs may implement them sooner. ARRL VEC will be implementing the new standards via direct mailing to each ARRL VE team. Those teams (that ARRL VEC is aware of) who have ARRL/VEC-supplied Morse cassettes and CDs on hand will be sent replacement code tapes or CDs along with the hardcopy exam materials to use with them. ARRL VEC has chosen its settings within these standards to be 15 WPM Farnsworth Characters at a tone frequency in the 720-750 Hz range.

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ELT LPer for sale on Ebay
by Marvin 24 Apr '01

24 Apr '01

This says it is the 121.5/121.6 model, but gives no indication of whether or not it is the new or old design. http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1231778390

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Netscape Security Hole
by Marvin 24 Apr '01

24 Apr '01

I was checking out some sites, and ran across this article in The Register about a security hole with Netscape. You can read about it at http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/8/18450.html

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New licensing classes- two saturdays
by Alan J Soenke 19 Apr '01

19 Apr '01

Check the details here: http://www.sbarc.org/education/classinfo.html

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Test EMAIL
by DENNISMO＠aol.com 16 Apr '01

16 Apr '01

This is just a test!

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Repeater near Santa Margarita Lake?
by Paul Sheffield 16 Apr '01

16 Apr '01

Hi, Next weekend I'm going on a trip to Santa Margarita Lake in SLO. I would like to know of a 2 meter repeater with good coverage into that area. Anybody know of one? Tnx, W6VLM

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QST - SK Announcement
by DENNISMO＠aol.com 14 Apr '01

14 Apr '01

I have just been informed that one of our own, Jerome Waldref W6DMJ, passed away last Thursday. His son, Greg from Oregon, called me with this information and asked that I put the word out. I will be putting an announcement in the May KeyKlix. However, anyone who knew Jerome is welcome to write up an article for May and I would be very happy to include it in the next KeyKlix. 73 de Denny AD6EZ<><

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Saturday - ARDF competition at the Beginners T-Hunt
by Marvin 13 Apr '01

13 Apr '01

Hi all, This was posted earlier so this is just a reminder. If you are planning on attending the Hamburger BBQ afterwards, please let Dave or myself know. Also Bob Frey, WB6EZV, will be coming through town tomorrow about early afternoon. Since he is coming down from the North, I told him I would be monitoring 147.000 as the coverage is a bit better than K6TZ. If you should hear him, be sure to say hi! ******************** The Beginner's T-Hunt will be starting two hours earlier this month. Starting time will be at 1:00PM on Saturday, April 14, out at the Stow House Parking lot. Registration will open up at 12:30PM and a practice transmitter will go on the air sometime around noon. There will be five 2M transmitters on a course that will probably be around two miles. There will also be at least one 80M transmitter for those who would like to try hunting on 80M. The rules will be simple: 2 hour time limit, and multiple people can go together as long as they stay together and only use one DF receiver. A hamburger BBQ will follow the event rather than the usual pizza at Rusty's. The cost for the BBQ will be $3.50 per person and will be all-you-can-eat-til-its-gone :)! If you are planning on attending, it would be appreciated if you would let Dave Jacobs (969-9235) K9KBX or myself (687-8881) know. Dave does not currently have Internet access but I can be reached at either marvin(a)rain.org or ke6hts(a)sbarc.org. We are planning on enough food for about 15 - 20 people as of right now. I've also gotten word that at least three other members of the US ARDF team who competed in China will be attending; Bob Frey, and Richard and Jay Thompson. Jay was recently written up on the ARRL Members Only web page at http://www.arrl.org/members-only/extra/features/2001/04/02/1/. We will also have many of the people from So. California attending who will be competing at the US ARDF Championships in Albuquerque July 31 - August 4. This will be a wonderful opportunity to have some fun as well as meet some people who are front runners in helping to publicize ARDF to the US.

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Interested in the National ARDF Championships?
by Marvin 13 Apr '01

13 Apr '01

This was posted by Dale Hunt, WB6BYU, to the Foxlist. Dale is a former member of SBARC and has competed internationally in ARDF competitions ******************** Are you interested in ARDF but not sure if you have what it takes to participate in the upcoming National ARDF Championships in Albuquerque? Don't worry, you'll probably have a good time! First, it is true that international-caliber ARDF competitors are good athletes, but that doesn't mean you have to be one to participate. The maximum course length is 7 km (about 4.5 miles) and the time limit will be at least 2 hours. A brisk walk is about 4 miles/hour, and 3 miles/hour is a leisurly pace. If you can walk 5 miles in an hour and a half, you should be able to finish the course, allowing some time for taking bearings, backtracking, and waiting for the transmitter to come on. Talk a walk around the local school track and time yourself: 4 minutes per lap (1/4 mile) is just under 4 miles per hour. Of course, faster is better - but slow and steady will get you there. If nothing else, it is a great excuse to get out for a walk each day, even if you just walk for half an hour or 45 minutes. Don't push yourself to the point of exhaustion or injury, however. Set a realistic daily or weekly goal that you know you can meet, and if you regularly exceed it, go a little further or faster each time. If you are long out of condition (like many of us) then start with a mile or two a day and build your endurance. Afraid you will be out of place among the more experienced competitors? We all have to start sometime, and this may be one of the best learning opportunities, where you can watch others and see how they do things. But, remember that ARDF is still a new sport in North America, and most of the "experienced" American competitors are still relative beginners who have only participated in a handful of competitions. (In 1999, KB7WRD had never tried any direction-finding until a week before the event, and still took home several medals.) You might be surprised how well you do! Equipment: what if you don't have the latest imported ARDF receiver with built-in map computer? You'll probably still do well. You will need a receiver for each band, a compass, and perhaps a piece of cardboard or plexiglass for your map. For 2m, you can use your HT or scanner with a yagi and an attenuator. (Serious international competitions don't allow people to carry a transmitter, but for now we will just have to trust people not to use it to talk to other competitors.) The "active" or "offset" attenuator is a good choice - there are several versions out on the web, and they are easy to build. Joe Leggio WB2HOL's tape measure yagi has a good pattern and will withstand quite a bit of beating through the bushes. (I've hunted with a quad in the woods before, and the loops tend to catch on branches.) The best approach, of course, is to use something you are familiar with, or to get familiar with the equipment you will be using. If you typically use a TDOA system or L'Per, you may have difficulties with the horizontal polarization. Instead of using vertical dipoles for the antenna elements, you should be able to use small horizontal loops, though they will need to be tuned carefully to get the right pattern. There are a lot of 2m HT's around, but very few 80m DF receivers. If you have a hand-held shortwave receiver (preferably with a BFO), you can build a simple DF loop from the ARRL Handbook or Transmitter Hunting: Radio Direction Finding Simplified. Some shortwave receivers use a ferrite-rod antenna for the bands below 10 MHz, which will give a directional pattern (but will leave a 180 degree ambiguity.) 80m DF receiver kits are available from VK4BRG and DL3BBX. Jerry Boyd WB8WFK presented his FoxFinder 80 in 73 magazine (last November?) and circuit boards for it are available. I'm also have a receiver circuit which Jerry has built and tested. So there are a number of options for equipment. But, if equipment is the only thing which is keeping you from attending, I suggest you contact the organizers and inquire about the possibility of borrowing equipment. For the Region 2 ARDF Championships in Portland in 1999, we arranged for some of the visiting hams from overseas to bring some extra receivers that gave everybody an opportunity to compete on 80m. I expect that the organizers will try to coordinate extra equipment for those who need it this year as well. (The first in a series of articles to help folks prepare for the first US National ARDF competition this summer. Comments, questions, suggestions, and other points of view are welcome.) - Dale WB6BYU

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Upcoming Meeting
by Alan J Soenke 12 Apr '01

12 Apr '01

Friday, April 20, 2001 7:30 PM (Doors open at 6:45!) Location: Goleta Union Schools Administration Board Room 401 N. Fairview Ave., Goleta Visitors are cordially invited! Talk in is available on K6TZ 146.79/19 (131.8). Topic: Good Things To Know About Your Batteries We all use different types of batteries in our ham gear and around the house. How much do you really know about the care and feeding of these creatures? Come hear about some of the common batteries used in amateur radio and how you can get the best performance and life out of them. Our speaker for the April meeting is Bob Kvaas (KA6VRC) who works at Hendry Telephone Products and specializes in battery applications for telecommunication power systems. Door Prizes include a metal spike protected power strip, a pair of amplified speakers, a Pana-Vise flexible work holding vise, a screwdriver set with ratchet handle & flexable shaft, and Scotch 33 electrical tape.

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SBARC-list April 2001