The Presidents news and views February 2004.
As I sit and contemplate things of relevance and interest for this issue of Gateway, I must admit to thinking I might be wasting precious time and could perhaps be better employed doing some badly needed maintenance to my antenna system. I wonder how many club members actually read the magazine from cover to cover. Listening to the conversations in the club rooms and on the club frequencies I am constantly hearing members asking questions of others about club activities that have been clearly listed in Gateway. So come on and use the mag or lose it. John your editor works hard to produce an informative journal month by month the least members can do is to take the time to read it properly.

Climbing down off my soap box, We have been told that a letter will shortly be received from the grounds committee giving their authority for our re-locatable to be sited as requested at the rear of the guide hall, this means that we can now approach Casey council with our plans for their approval. All we need now is the building. Two members traveled to Bairnsdale recently to view a possible hut but it proved to be in very poor condition, we are therefore still looking for that elusive bargain.

On February 20^th Peter VK3 KCG is to give us a talk about the multi-band HF antenna he has developed, I am hoping it will include some of the background to his decision to use this design.

March Mr John Franklin is giving a talk and slide presentation on his motor vehicle restoration work. Apart from April which is our AGM we are firming up speakers through to June. Keep your ears open at meetings as we have members working on ideas for various kits that we can market as a club, but we will need some idea of the number of members who would be interested in involvement.

March 6^th -8^th is our weekend away at Foster I hope you can at least make it on one of the days. (details elsewhere in magazine)

Well that’s it from me I hope you have time to read this far, see you at the next meeting or may catch you on 146.225 or HF.
Keep those ears well tuned 73s

Peter VK3VB.

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The Caravaning Experiment
After many years of going on holidays using motels, resorts, bed & breakfasts etc., I was getting sick of loading & unloading the car at every spot we stayed at. Even with just the two of us, we always managed to fill the boot and the back seat. There was always something I would have liked to bring extra, (i.e. radio’s and antenna’s) but the thought of moving more from the car to the room we were staying at made me not bother. (also tying radio masts to a unit may raise concern from the owners!)

Early last year the club made a trip down to Ian’s (VK3BUF) end of the world and we came for a day trip followed by an hour or two back at the camp site in the local caravan park, this was all quite pleasant, apart form having to leave far too early for the trip back home.

So, this year we started looking at buying a caravan. Two main attributes quickly ruled out %90 of the market - first, it has to fit under our carport, and secondly, I have to be able to fit in the bed! Quite a lot of van’s have a very short double bed in the back end with nice little side cupboards and curtains etc. All very pretty, but useless if you cannot get a good night’s sleep!

But before we spent any serious money, one very important test had to be made - Is all of this wife compatible! As Marianna had never set foot inside a caravan, let alone slept in one, we hired a collapsible van and spent a week in it

The van we hired was called a Cruseliner, made by A-Van. It collapses down like a camper trailer, (as in the type Ian VK3BUF owns) however it does not have canvas sides. I have bad memories of wet tents, and I don’t want to go there again. It does not have as much sleeping capacity as a traditional camper-trailer, but there is only 2 of us so a 4 birth camper is overkill.

We took the Queenscliff / Sorrento ferry ($91) then headed though Barwon heads and up the Great ocean road. Our first stop was for 3 nights at Aireys Inlet in a deluxe onsuite site. These camp sites have a small hut next to them with you own personal shower and toilet. After that we moved to Apollo bay and stayed 4 nights at Pisces caravan park, about 1.5 K from the town center. This was a better situated than Aireys inlet as the previous camp site required you to drive to get anywhere. This time we roughed it and used the communal showers and toilets. Our last sleep was Friday, with the van expected back at Oasis caravans on Saturday by 5 o’clock. Unfortunately that was the hottest day of the week and it was no fun driving for hours in near 40 degree temperatures. This was made worse because we left the car’s air conditioner turned off to save the motor as I had never seen the temperature gauge read that high before. If we owned the van, we would have stayed the extra night. (or two)

So, what did we forget, ?

1. HF radio equipment (2M was useless - no repeaters or IRLP)
2. Cold weather gear (umbrellas, jumpers), maybe a small electric heater
3. Another frying pan.
4. Nice long 15A extension lead.
5. Wood blocks etc., to level the van.
6. Level rides and heavy duty shocks for the car.

New Victorian Amateur Radio Club
A new amateur radio club is being formed in the Macedon Ranges area of Victoria, north-west of Melbourne. The Macedon Ranges Amateur Radio Club first meeting will be on Saturday 7 February, at the Woodend SES Headquarters, in Urquhart Street Woodend, at 9.30am. It hopes to have meetings every Saturday morning at that venue.

Further details are available from Peter Willmott VK3TQ on 5427 2660 Peter.Willmott@mt.com

IARU Region 3 Conference
The 12th conference of the International Amateur Radio Union Region 3 will be held from February 16 to 20, Taipei, Taiwan.

The WIA delegation is Neil Penfold VK6NE, Brenda Edmonds VK3KT and Jim Linton VK3PC.

This important regional conference will discuss the outcomes of the World Radiocommunications Conference 2003 and a number of papers have been generated for discussion and debate. The WIA has six papers which include electromagnetic radio regulations, proposed licence restructure, powerline communications or BPL, and Local Government approaches to antennas.

The NZART is addressing the problem of diminishing numbers of radio amateurs, its KiwiSat AMSAT project and a range of other matters of interest such as developing amateur radio in the Pacific Islands and LF band activity in New Zealand.

Other papers submitted include those concerning regional band plans, promotion of ARDF, and emergency communications.

The IARU Region 3 Conference will break into various at least three working groups where most of the business is discussed and these run parallel.

The three WIA delegates will be fully occupied attending these working groups and actively participating, and well as engaged in the many informal gatherings that occur over meals and on other occasions.

More information can be found at www.jarl.or.jp/iaru-r3/12r3c/docs/docs.htm

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I don’t hunt.
A group of friends went deer hunting and decided to pair off in two's for the day. That evening one of the hunters returned alone, staggering under the weight of an eight point buck. "Where's Ed?" the other hunters asked.

Ed's hunting partner, John, replied, "Ed must have had a heart attack. He just keeled over and died a couple of miles back up the trail."

The other hunters gasped and one guy asked, "You left Ed laying out there and carried the deer back?" "It was a tough call," nodded John. "But... I figured that nobody would steal Ed."

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Wanted
13.8V 25Amp Power Supply

Derek Willard VK3MLQ 03 9754 4616

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ARRL proposes new Entry Level Licence
Licence restructure and the introduction of a new no-code HF multi-mode licence is being proposed in the United States as a way to stimulate interest in amateur radio. The ARRL new Novice licence would give CW, data, phone and image privileges on the 80, 40, 15 and 10 metre bands as well as VHF and UHF privileges.

The power level on HF would be 100 watts on the proposed bands except for 10 metres and up where it would be limited to 50 watts.

The ARRL also proposes a restructure of the current complex licensing system that will see the automatic merging of some grades of licence.

The Australian Communications Authority is continuing to consider the introduction of a new Entry Level licence in Australia and a restructure of the licence system.

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Code dropping nations
More than 20 countries have abolished mandatory code tests for their amateur radio licences during the past seven months - with South Africa, New Zealand and Canada set to do so soon.

Switzerland was the first country to remove the Morse requirement in July 2003 almost immediately after the decision was taken at the World Radiocommunications Conference to end compulsory code tests.

Japan has for many years had a no-code HF licence, the most popular grade of licence in that country. It is also considering removal of the code requirement for its highest licence grade.

China in a report to the IARU has recently advised that it has had a beginners licence since 2001 that provides HF access without code proficiency.

The CEPT common licence system that includes about 40 nations is expected to go code-free this month, although a number of individual CEPT member countries have already done so.

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Have Our Radio Manufacturers Sold Us Out?
Gary Auerswald (WB9UDJ)

It appears that we ham's are being stuck with under engineered, poorly constructed radios built with inferior parts. ICOM who I thought built quality equipment to the point that I own many of them and have made hundreds of wholehearted recommendations to others to buy their product has gone to the dogs. I was pushing others to buy the new IC-2720H radio and the IC-746 PRO radio. Well guess what, ICOM has built at least those two radios and sold them to unsuspecting Hams with the probable knowledge that they will fail. Kenwood and Yaesu are no better as they have also produced some notable junk.

It used to be that manufacturers would stand up and admit that they had a problem. Ham's would be upset but not devastated. Today these manufacturers run and hide; they rely on the buyers of their product to have to send the radios back at their own cost. Then they will deny that anything is wrong with their product. They would be better off to admit their problem and recall the radios either to be fixed or replaced with a new model that does not have problems. If one of them were to do that they would have customers flocking to their sales staff wanting radios from the company that cares.

In our little Ham community we have had 8 IC-2720H radios bought and 5 of them have failed. All of the IC-746 PRO radios that have been bought have failed. I myself have had my 2720H fail and it was replaced and it looks like the replacement is not far behind. I have 12 IC-2100H radios and have had 3 of them fail already. When I try to contact ICOM I get an automated response that is usually not even close to answering the question sent. One can call their phone number and after you finally get a human being they have no idea as to what you are talking about let alone answering your question. They claim that there is no problem but when 5 out of 8 radios fail the same way how can they honestly say that.

I challenge the manufactures to take responsibility for their products. Or I hope that some Ham Radio operator happens to be a lawyer and starts legal action to make them recall their junk, replace them with good working radios or refund the owners money at twice what they paid.

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Aging - Wisdom From Grandpa
Whether a man winds up with the nest egg or a goose egg depends a lot on the kind of chick he marries.

Trouble in marriage often starts when a man gets so busy earnin' his salt that he forgets his sugar.

Too many couples marry for better or for worse, but not for good.

When a man marries a woman, they become one, but the trouble starts when they try to decide which one.

If a man has enough "horse sense" to treat his wife like a thoroughbred, she will never be an old nag.

Judgin' from the specimens they pick for husbands, it's no wonder that brides often blush.

On anniversaries the wise husband alwayss forgets the past...but neve the present.

A foolish husband remarks to his wife: "Honey, you stick to the washin', ironin', cookin', and scrubbin'. No wife of mine is gonna work."

The bonds of matrimony are a good investment only when the interest is kept up.

Many girls like to marry a military man--he can cook, sew, make bed, and is in good health...and he's already used to taking orders.

Grandpappy and his wife were discussin' their 50^th wedding anniversary when she said, "Shall I kill a chicken tonight?" "Naw, said Grandpappy. "Why blame a bird for somethin' that happened 50 years ago.

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Anything Left of Your First Station?
Gary Wood (K0IMJ)

This article is intended for old timers. Now before you get your dander up, let me define an old timer. If you got your license yesterday, you are an old timer; yes you are, compared to someone that just got his or her ticket today, right! So I'm pretty sure it will be relevant to almost all of you. Now I have been hanging around these bands for 50 years. That doesn't make me special, that just makes me OLD. But I have seen a lot of things, most of which I can't remember, but some of it I can. And I have had a lot of rigs. If you remember my last article, I wrote on getting back to the basics, that is if you are getting bored with things that are going on RIGHT now. With all the new stuff that is going on, that's a remote possibility, but I did, get bored. And as I advised, I went back to the basics recreating the first station I owned, and by the way, got a new WAS. I never sent in to get the certificate, but that's the way us, "old timers" are.

I got to thinking, when I was "recreating", I wonder if there is anything of that old station that I still have. I knew I didn't have the receiver or transmitter, but what about other little things. Somehow I thought it was important to have something around that actually was from that first station. And believe it or not I found two things. One of which I'll bet that you still have from your very first station. The first thing I found was a card file box that I bought to put my QSLs in -- a dovetailed oak box that would hold maybe 200 QSL cards. The other I just ran across in the shack. It had been there all the time. There probably wasn't a day since that very first day that I hadn't seen it -- my J-38 straight key.

I posed this question on my web site, www.heathkits.com, "what do you have from your first station?" And I got a lot of answers. Hardly a one mentioned their old straight key. But when I asked if they still had their first straight key, almost all had the old thing. It was important for me to have it in front of the rig when I took pictures, but to tell you the truth I haven't used it for a very long time. Oh I operate CW, but not with a straight key. The keyers work so much better. So maybe it's not all it "cracked" up to be, "going back to the basics".

Oh there's something coming through on my new 20-meter "fast scan", narrow band, full steaming, 3 dimensional, holographic, video receiver. COOL.

73 Gary KØIMJ

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Mysterious RFI Resolved
Richard L. Hall (NY4T)

I am a ham operator from Murfreesboro, TN and am primarily a contester. A couple of weeks ago, I began experiencing severe RFI on 10-17 meters. The sound was similar to a heartbeat and registered 7-8 S-units on my Kenwood TS450. My first thought was to make sure the noise wasn't coming from somewhere in my house. After cycling through the circuit breakers in order, I was satisfied that the noise was from an external source.

I called a friend about 1/4 mile away and asked him to listen for the noise. He had no copy on it at all. My next approach was to borrow one of the new HT's which pretty much receives all modes DC-to-daylight. Equipped with the HT and an old CB antenna I started sniffing around the neighborhood. It didn't take long since the signal got stronger as I approached my next-door neighbor's house. Fortunately, we are friends with these folks, I keep them supplied with my homegrown produce all summer and the topper, their son is also a ham.

So, my neighbor didn't think I was a complete wacko when I presented her with my dilemma. She was curious as to what could be causing the noise as well so we started scanning her house. I asked if she had purchased any new electronic devices in the past few weeks and her answer was no. Our scan, however, led us to a device that re-defines the term electronic. On the bed in the master bedroom was a brand new electric blanket. Although the blanket was plugged in and not powered up it was sure spitting out the RF. I assume the signal was probably at the microwatt level but the wires in the blanket probably acted as an antenna giving it enough clout to ruin 10 and 15 meters for me about 100 feet away.

So, for any of you who encounter a heartbeat-like sound on the high bands, this is something you might want to consider. I am not sure whether the RFI is due to poor quality control or poor design but I did contact the company who imported these blankets (from China of course) to make them aware of the problem. The offending device was a Perfect Fit, Safe and Warm, Queen size, low-voltage electric blanket. It is imported and distributed by the Chattam and Wells Company.

73, Lee Hall (NY4T)

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Labour day weekend March 5^th-8^th 2004
Hopefully those of you intending to come on this club weekend away will already have booked into the Prom Caravan Park in Foster, if not you will find the phone number and prices in the January issue of Gateway. The program below will leave plenty of time for personal browsing of the area.

Fri 5^th Arrive and set up.

Sat 6^th 11am leave for Agnes falls via Welshpool. Agnes falls picnic area for lunch. Then on to view the Wind Farm . Return to Foster via Toora and try the fare at the local sweet shoppe. BBQ on site about 6pm.

Sun 7^th Morning free. 2pm drive to Yarram, Then Port Albert for a breath of sea air. 6pm Meet at Port Welshpool Pub for evening meal, one not to miss.

Mon 8^th Unfortunately most will need to pack and head for home.

But there are plenty of interesting small towns to stop and explore on the way.
Also within about 50 Kms of Foster is the Grand ridge road with all its views. Toora, The Tarra /Bulga National Park, Mirboo North, The Cape Liptrap Lighthouse, Walkerville and Wilsons Prom.
All this within an easy drive from Cranbourne, so come and join us even if just for the day. See you there???????

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