The Pasadena Radio Club Bulletin - November 2010

The Pasadena Radio Club Bulletin

November 2010

Craig has been associated with NASA for 16 years and has held a variety of positions in California and Washington, DC. where he was liaison with the National Air and Space Museum. He was involved with such NASA missions as Cassini-Huygens, the Mars exploration rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, and is currently involved with a special project updating the Deep Space Network to make it more efficient in its ability to support 21st century projects. He is currently a professor of Earth Science at the University of Redlands.Craig is a member of JPL's education outreach team whose principle mission is to acquaint the public with NASA's solar system explorations. He is a UCLA graduate and holds advanced degrees from the University of Southern California. He was a faculty member at the University of Redlands until 1998 when he joined JPL.Since 1998 Craig has spent much of his time sharing some of NASA's most ambitious space exploration, including the Cassini Huygens mission to Saturn and Titan, Galileo, STARDUST, Mars missions, including Mars Odyssey, the two Mars rover missions (MER), and Deep Impact. Craig has worked with scientists and astronomers at Bradbury Science Museum, Los Alamos, NM, and at Lodestar Astronomy Center, Albuquerque, mentoring gifted high school science students in Project Earthwatch.

Dr. Craig IhdeNovember 23rd

IBEXInterstellar Boundary EXplorerIBEX is a NASA satellite that will make the first map of the boundary between the Solar System and interstellar space. The mission is part of NASA's Small Explorer program. The IBEX satellite was launched with a Pegasus-XL rocket on October 19, 2008, at 17:47:23 UTC.[3] The nominal mission baseline duration will be two years to observe the entire solar system boundary.The design and operation of the mission is being led by the Southwest Research Institute, with the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center serving as co-investigator institutions responsible for the IBEX-Hi and IBEX-Lo sensors respectively. The Orbital Sciences Corporation manufactured the spacecraft bus and was the location for spacecraft environmental testing.IBEX is in a sun-oriented spin-stabilized orbit around the Earth.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASAhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASAhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_Systemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_Systemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_Explorer_programhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_Explorer_programhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegasus_%28rocket%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegasus_%28rocket%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coordinated_Universal_Timehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coordinated_Universal_Timehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstellar_Boundary_Explorer#cite_note-IBEX-MSC-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstellar_Boundary_Explorer#cite_note-IBEX-MSC-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southwest_Research_Institutehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southwest_Research_Institutehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Alamos_National_Laboratoryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Alamos_National_Laboratoryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Alamos_National_Laboratoryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Alamos_National_Laboratoryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_Sciences_Corporationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_Sciences_Corporationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_Sciences_Corporationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_Sciences_Corporationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacecraft_bushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacecraft_bushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacecraft_bushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacecraft_bus

The Pasadena Radio Club Bulletin - November 2010page 2

Tom Berne W6TAG created another winner of a contest operation for the club this fall. The CQ Worldwide SSB contest was great fun, again! Peter KA6RJF arrived for our shift at 2 PM on Saturday and the following three hours just flew by as we hunted DX in the super Kaiser radio room. As we tuned the Icom IC 756 Pro III we heard tons of DX from South America and Asia. And showing the power of the Kaiser station, in most cases, if we could hear a station strong - we made the QSO ! We worked stations JN1NDY, JE1RXJ and JF1SEK in Japan, RT0C in Russia, CE3G in Chile, and how about this call sign PY2SEX in Brazil ? If you did not get a chance to join a shift for a contest in the Kaiser radio room - do it next time - you will have a ball ! Many thanks to Tom W6TAG for making it happen. 73 Bruce N1BN

Wonderful CQWW SSB Contest !

Sub-audible TomesBruce Nolte, N1BN

KA6RJF

KI6TQC

AC6VV K6HTN

W6MES

KI6TQC

N6RNK

K6YZH

KG6GTL

KJ6FXF

KF6FSR

K7RWPNeysa

KJ6HWL

The Pasadena Radio Club Bulletin - November 2010

Can a vertical antenna and a dipole antenna on the same band coexist happily in the Field Day environment?KC9CHG and N9TO report the results of their investigation in an article in the November/December 2010 issue of NCJ: the National Contest Journal. They found a null in interaction when the vertical is placed squarely broadside of the dipole, but with several caveats. Most importantly, they found that the null is sharp and its exact location is sensitive to any imbalance in the environment. Such imbalances are caused by lack of symmetry in conductive and dielectric materials in the near field, which at a Field Day site would include

other antennas, wires, and cars. I enjoyed their use of the term "ground clutter" to describe these uncontrollable variables.In summary, KC9CHG and N9TO found that it is generally more effective to use two dipoles in a line (as we did at Field Day last year), than to introduce a vertical into the mix. And place the antennas as far apart as possible.How you adjust your radio can also affect multi-station interference. Turn the receiver pre-amp OFF. Turn the attenuator ON. Turn noise limiters and blankers OFF. Experiment with noise reducers. They probably won't hurt and might help. And don't over-drive your transmitter.Paul, N6LL

The class begins January 13th and meets at 7 PM every Thursday for eight weeks. It will be taught by Mark Seigel, W6MES. Location: C&M Printing, 10034 Commerce Ave, Tujunga. Email w6mes at arrl dot net or call 818-430-5244.

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Field Day Multi-Station Interferencepart 2Paul Gordon, N6LL

Technician License Class

mailto:marks@keyway.netmailto:marks@keyway.net

The Pasadena Radio Club Bulletin - November 2010

Last month we had gotten our 40 meter dipole raised and its length adjusted to have its lowest SWR centered over the Technician Class (CW) part of the band, all of which was in a very acceptable SWR 1.5:1-1.8:1 range. But let’s suppose one of us who will be using “our virtual shack” just passed her General Class exam and would like to work SSB (phone) on 40 meters…and the rest of us still want to use the CW part of the band. How can we do that?OK, what we need to do is change the lengths of the arms of our dipole to move the resonant frequency and still be able to use both CW and phone. Remember that resonant frequency corresponds to the lowest SWR along that curve on the graph that we made in last month’s Crown City HF. We had trimmed the antenna based on trying to put that resonant frequency to as close as possible to 7.050 MHz. But now we want to move that point on the curve to the right (to higher frequencies) far enough to be about half way between “sweet spots” on the Technician CW (7.025-7.125 MHz) and the General SSB (7.175-7.300 MHz) segments. Well, a good guess would be that those frequencies are around 7.100 and 7.200 MHz, which tells us that 7.150 MHz is the resonant frequency we want to air for. That should not be a problem?So how do we get there? We lower the antenna and prepare to shorten each of its arms. [Keep thinking: shorter antennas are for higher frequencies.] But how much shorter? Remember our previous estimate: 5 to 6 inches for every 100 KHz you want to move the resonant frequency. Our antenna therefore needs to have its present resonant frequency of 7.050 to 7.150, that is 100 KHz, meaning we shorten each wire arm 5”- 6”. OK, but now think back. Let’s say the last time we adjusted this dipole we used that 6” per 100 khz (last month we were lengthening) and it turned out to be a bit too long (that is too low a resonant frequency) so you had to shorten the arms one inch each and the resonant frequency (lowest SWR) ended up just where you wanted with the SWR there at 1.2:1. That tells us to use 5 inches per 100 KHz of shortening this time. This last calculation may seem unnecessary. Why not just shorten each arm a couple of inches, haul it back, re-test it , and keep cutting cut

off a little more (and then maybe a little more off) until you get the right resonant frequency? Well that works… and probably is even the commonest way these antennas are tuned…but every time you have to adjust length it takes time and puts stresses on your antenna’s components and anchoring points. Don’t think that our antenna is infinitely durable and therefore indestructible…they are not.Now it is time to check the SWR again and add a second curve to our graph. So lets just say its resonant frequency moved up to 7.160 MHz with a SWR of 1.2:1. A little off our projection, but this is not what we care about. We want to now what is the SWR on the CW and phone bands where we want to work? Well, we check and at the bottom of the CW segment (7.025) and the SWR is 1.6:1 and 1.8:1 at top of the phone segment (7.300). The curve is flat enough that we do not need to do any more adjustments. No more adjustments are needed. But let’s just say they were not, because the SWRs were too high, too close to the “sweet spots” we want to work. We might need to compromise a bit. Let’s listen on the bands for some help. We find that there are just not many hams working the high end of the SSB section. They mostly hang out near the low end where the Extras and some DX wander over into the General Class territory. Also on CW the low end occasionally sees most of the activity and even some DX. So now we to move the low end of the band and looking at your graph (you now have two curves on it) pick where you want the curve to sit. Now all we have to do is play with the antenna’s length to include what we consider the most important (to us) parts of these two sections of 40 meters.What if we can’t do that? There are ways around that. The easiest fix is an antenna tuner. We will see what one of those can do for us next month.

The Pasadena Radio Club Mini-Field Day scheduled for Saturday, November 13, 2010 is canceled due to personal schedule conflicts. The event will be rescheduled for sometime early in 2011. If you have contacted members of other groups, to which you belong, about this event, please notify them of this cancellation. 73,Peter, KA6RJF626-797-9125

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Tom Berne, W6TAGCrown City HF

Tuning Our Dipole, Part 2

“Mini Field Day” Canceled

The Pasadena Radio Club Bulletin - November 2010 page 5

President, Fred Lopez, called the meeting to order at 7:06 p.m. Two visitors were introduced. A new, licensee: Vince - KJ6KVH. Jutti announced the technician’s class, beginning in the new year. Tom Berne reminded us about the DX-CC contest this weekend. There’s still one opening. Tom and Kate discussed the monthly Straight Key Century Club contest. A few people expressed interest in participating. Mark Seigel announced that a kit is available to build a straight-key practice system. He will put together a class to assemble them. Peter Fogg reminded us that a mini-FD is being held at Victory Park at 1 p.m. on November 13. [since postponed to 2011 -Ed] A HF station with a vertical rig will be on the air. All are invited. Toys for Tots will be collected at the November meeting. Kate showed the decorations from the microwave society’s meeting. It’s a keyer. “Morse code is a piece of cake.” President Fred announced the Nominating Committee’s slate of officers for next year: President - Mark SeigelVice President - Fred LopezSecretary - Jutti MarshTreasurer - Richard ParkerMembers at large - Danny Schurr, Alan Denny, Chris Galante There were no further nominations from the floor. Vice President Phil Barnes-Roberts introduced the program on HF filters on a modern radio, a video by Bruce Nolte, featuring Tom Mikkelsen, Tom Berne, Paul Gordon, and John Minger. It was preceded by a video of Ken Johnson W6FU SK working CW in his shack. President Fred announced the November meeting potluck and asked people to sign up. The meeting adjourned with refreshments. Respectfully submitted,Mary Bothwell, AG6MB, Secretary

Board members present: Cynthia Berne, Tom Berne, Kate Hutton, Bruce Nolte, John Minger, Fred Lopez, Gene Roske, Mary Bothwell Other attendees: Ray Overman, Paul Gordon, Peter Fogg Treasurer’s Report: 99 members and $4,258.10 on hand. Tom Berne reported on the CQ WW DX contest and the post-contest survey. More KPARN members are needed to support these contests. He discussed future contest activities and the goal of receiving a DX CC award. The next contest will be the CQ WPX contest March 25-27, 2011. It was suggested that the club consider buying or asking Kaiser to buy the cable to connect the computer with the logging software to the transceiver. Vice President’s report: Craig Ihde of JPL’s Deep Space Network will be the speaker in November. Refreshments will be the potluck. Cynthia will bring water and other beverages. The Toys for Tots barrel will be available for receiving unwrapped $5 toys. John Minger will make the reservations with Kaiser for our meeting rooms this year. The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m.Respectfully submitted,Mary Bothwell, AG6MB, Secretary

Pasadena Radio ClubGeneral Meeting, October 26, 2010

Board Meeting, November 9, 2010

President KG6GTL Fred Lopez fred at fredlopez dot com

Vice President WA6DZS Phil Barnes-Roberts wa6dzs at gmail dot com Secretary AG6MB Mary Bothwell marysdesk at earthlink dot net Treasurer WA0POD Tom Mikkelsen tomm at att dot net Members At Large Kate Hutton K6HTN Gene Roske AE6GR John Minger AC6VV

Past Officers Tom Berne W6TAG Pamela Royce W6PNW Bruce Nolte N1BN Mark Seigel W6MES Education Chair W6MES Mark Seigel w6mes at arrl dot net 818-430-5244

VE Team Liaison AB6LR Merrie Suydam ab6lr at arrl dot net 626-969-4409

Club Net KF6FEM Mike Dinko 626-797-8082 Bulletin Editor AC6VV John Minger ac6vv at arrl dot net 323-256-0046

The Pasadena Radio Club Bulletin - November 2010page 6

For those who keep score,Our claimed score in the contest is 209,880 with more than 400 QSO's. We have also received 48 E-QSL's so far.Good work to all.73, Ray - KJ6NO

The Pasadena Radio Club Bulletin - November 2010

The Pasadena Radio Club meets the fourth Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. in the Kaiser Permanente Walnut Center, located at 393 East Walnut Street, at the corner of Los Robles Avenue in Pasadena. Enter the parking structure at the Los Robles Avenue entrance and mention “Pasadena Radio Club”. Everyone is welcome to attend. Please sign in at the front desk and security will direct you to the meeting room.

Membership in the Pasadena Radio Club is open to anyone interested in Amateur Radio. Dues are $20 per year, $10 for students. Request a membership application at the club’s mailing address, on the club website, www.qsl.net/w6ka, or in person at the monthly meeting.

The Pasadena Radio Club, W6KA, conducts a weekly net every Tuesday night, except on meeting nights, at 7:00 p.m. The frequency is 145.180 MHz (-) PL 156.7. All licensed amateurs are invited to participate.

The club has a packet station on 145.630 and on 223.600 (cross-band capable) with a PBBS of W6KA-10 and a node name of MIRDOR.

There is an unofficial Yahoo Group for club members at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PRC-Club/. All members are invited to join as this allows for rapid dissemination of information to members via e-mail.

Bulletin Submissions: please submit any articles, photos, or ideas for future articles via e-mail to AC6VV at arrl dot net, please include “PRC” in the Subject line. Other modes of submission may be arranged in advance on an individual basis. Submissions are due by the Friday after the board meeting.

Permission is granted to use articles in this issue as long as “Pasadena Radio Club Bulletin” is credited.

Please submit any address or e-mail changes to the Treasurer.

Better Banking for Southern California123 S Marengo Ave., Pasadena

http://www.wescom.org/

page 7

Thank You

for your support of The Pasadena Radio Club, and amateur radio hospital

emergency communications

PRC Bulletin Online:http://www.qsl.net/w6ka/

This Month It’sPot Luck Dinner Time

www.cmprintmail.com

This space used to be a small business ad for A-American Storage, who donated storage space to the club until a merger of companies ended our good fortune. We thank them for the help they gave us over many months. Bruce Nolte is now looking for a new benefactor. Do you know of one?

http://www.qsl.net/w6kahttp://www.qsl.net/w6kahttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/PRC-Club/http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PRC-Club/http://www.wescom.org/http://www.wescom.org/http://www.qsl.net/w6ka/http://www.qsl.net/w6ka/http://www.cmprintmail.comhttp://www.cmprintmail.com

The Pasadena Radio Club Bulletin - November 2010

Pasadena Radio Club, W6KAP.O. Box 282, Altadena, CA 91003-0282

http://www.qsl.net/w6ka/

In This IssuePage 1 Speaker: Dr. Craig IhdePage 2 Sub-audible Tomes, Contest PixPage 3 Toys for Tots

Field Day Multi-Station InterferencePage 4 Crown City HF: Tuning Our Dipole #2Page 5 Meeting Minutes, Board RosterPage 6 EQSL CardsPage 7 Ads, Club Information, etc.Page 8 Club Calendar, Making a Video

page 8

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

PRC Net 7:00 pmPRC BOARD 7:30 pm

PRC Net 7:00 pm145.180 - PL 156.7

PRC Net 7:00 pm145.180 - PL 156.7

PRC Net 7:00 pm145.180 - PL 156.7

Presenter This Month

Dr. Craig IhdeInterstellar Boundary EXplorer

PRC Club Meeting7:00 PM

KPARN Nets12:30 pm 52.700 Mhz 12:45 pm 7.228 Mhz

Chino Swap Meet

TRW Swap Meet

NE ARES

Nov 21 Nov 23 Nov 26Nov 24 Nov 25Nov 22 Nov 27

TRW Swap MeetSlow Speed CW Net28130 KHz 8:00 pm

Slow Speed CW Net28130 KHz 8:00 pm

Slow Speed CW Net28130 KHz 8:00 pm

Slow Speed CW Net28130 KHz 8:00 pm

Nov 28 Nov 30 Dec 3Dec 1 Dec 2Nov 29 Dec 4

Dec 5 Dec 7 Dec 10Dec 8 Dec 9Dec 6 Dec 11

Slow Speed CW Net28130 KHz 8:00 pm

Slow Speed CW Net28130 KHz 8:00 pm

Thanksgiving

Dec 12 Dec 14 Dec 17Dec 15 Dec 16Dec 13 Dec 18

Dec 19 Dec 21 Dec 24Dec 22 Dec 23Dec 20 Dec 25

Dec 26 Dec 28 Dec 31Dec 29 Dec 30Dec 27 Jan 1

PRC Net 7:00 pmNO DEC MEETING!

Montrose Parade6:00 PM

KPARN Nets12:30 pm 52.700 Mhz 12:45 pm 7.228 Mhz

Christmas

New Year’s Day

N1BN, W6TAG and WA0POD making the Icom filters video

http://www.qsl.net/w6ka/http://www.qsl.net/w6ka/