Nanaim o Am ate ur Radio Association

Nanaim o Am ate ur Radio Association
1415 W ingrove Stre e t
Nanaim o, B.C. V9 s 1K1
Vol
um e 64
Num be r 8
w w w .ve 7na.ca
ve 7na@ sh aw .ca
Static ----- April2008
Nanaim o Am ate ur Radio Association
O pe n H ouse and 60th Annive rsary Ce l
e bration
Al
l Am ate urs
are
cordial
l
y invite d to
NARA’s ope n h ouse and 60th annive rsary
ce l
e bration. Pl
e ase join us for a social
e ve ning w ith
pizza and coffe e and te a
be ing se rve d.
Th ursday April17, 2008 at 7 PM
Locate d at NARA’s Cl
ub Station Boardroom
1415 W INGRO VE STREET
NANAIM O , BC
Affil
iate d
Conte nts
Announce m e nt of ne xt ge ne ralm e e ting
Page 1
Se e n and H e ard
Page 2
TW O on th e Isl
e
Page 3
Ne w H am Profil
es
Page 4
Traning and Em e rge ncy Pre pare dne ss re port
Page 5
Th e Sl
ingsh ot Ante nna
Page 6
H O T AIR from th e Pre side nt
Page 7
Andre w 's articl
e on H ELIAX CoaxialCabl
e
Page 8
Spe c Sh e e t for th e ne w ante nna for 145.43 VE7D JA
Page 9
Adve nture s of a Radio Te ch in Canada's Arctic
Page 10
Ram bl
ings from th e Arctic Kid
Page 13
SEEN AND H EARD
de va7rs
VA7AA
Sounding good on our re pe ate r from Cal
gary on our Ech o l
ink syste m .
VA7TLS
Good to se e Tim , one of NARA’S ne w m e m be rs at our M arch m e e ting.
Congratul
ations to M att for re ce ntl
y obtaining h is Basic w ith H onours Ce rtificate .
VE7JPE
Th ank s to Jay for giving Ala h and in pick ing up th e ne w ante nnas for th e Cl
ub’s Re pe ate rs.
VE7SPI
NARA’s be st w ish e s and th ank s to Trish and Nol
an for adding to NARA’s m e m be rsh ip
VE7M JC
Th ank s to M att for tak ing ove r th e NARA w e b site . Look for som e inte re sting ch ange s to th e
Cl
ubs’ w e b site .
VE7LLL
Good to se e Gunte r at th e coffe e k l
atch at th e w indw ard pub,
VE7TW O
Th ank s to D ave for h is de dication to th e Cl
ubs’ w e b site .
VA7M JL
Gre at to h e ar M att on th e air w ith h is ne w rig
TW O on th e Isl
e
de D ave , VE7TW O
O ne of th e m ore inte re sting displ
ays I cam e across at th e British Scie nce M use um w as a
19 27 M arconi Be am Transm itte r. According to th e inform ation on th e m use um ’s w e b site :
“Th e m e rits of sh ort-w ave radio com m unication onl
y e m e rge d during th e 19 20s and it w as a
courage ous de cision by th e M arconi com pany to e m brace th e ne w te ch nol
ogy rath e r th an
stay w ith w e l
l
-unde rstood l
ong-w ave e q uipm e nt. Th is transm itte r w as instal
l
e d at th e Post
O ffice radio station at D orch e ste r in 19 27 and re m aine d in se rvice until19 69 . It w as use d for
point-to-point se rvice to Egypt and l
ate r for transm issions to South Am e rica and th e Far East.
M e ssage s w e re se nt in M orse at be tw e e n 20 and 50 w ords pe r m inute .”
H ard to im agine it be ing in use for such a l
ong tim e . H e re ’s m y picture … fl
ash re fe ction is
face h igh .
Anoth e r inte re sting (and som e w h at scary?) displ
ay w as som e th ing cal
l
e d th e Liste ning Post.
I trie d for a picture , but it w as too bl
urry. Since it w as a l
igh t displ
ay, fl
ash e xposure coul
d
not be use d. A de scription from th e m use um ’s w e b site is as fol
l
ow s:
“Liste ning Post is a ‘dynam ic portrait’ of onl
ine com m unication, displ
aying unce nsore d
fragm e nts of te xt, sam pl
e d in re al
-tim e , from publ
ic inte rne t ch atroom s and bul
l
e tin boards.
Artists M ark H anse n and Be n Rubin h ave divide d th e ir w ork into se ve n se parate ‘sce ne s’ ak in
to m ove m e nts in a sym ph ony. Each sce ne h as its ow n ‘inte rnall
ogic’, sifting, fil
te ring and
orde ring th e te xt fragm e nts in diffe re nt w ays. By pul
l
ing te xt q uote s from th ousands of
unw itting contributors' postings, Liste ning Post al
l
ow s you to e xpe rie nce an e xtraordinary
snapsh ot of th e inte rne t and gain a gre at se nse of th e h um anity be h ind th e data. Th e
artw ork is w orl
d re now ne d as a m aste rpie ce of e l
e ctronic and conte m porary art and a
m onum e nt to th e w ays w e find to conne ct w ith e ach oth e r and e xpre ss our ide ntitie s onl
ine .”
Ye s, Big Broth e r is w atch ing us!
Link to h ttp://w w w .scie nce m use um .org.uk /visitm use um /gal
l
e rie s/l
iste ning_post.aspx for a
picture ...
New Hams Profiles: by Gerry Pement VE7BGP
Congratulations To:
Matthew Lewis who is now VA7MJL
Matthew showed up for tutoring for March 18th and he passed his Basic
with honors on Good Friday March 21st 2008. Matthew already has his
first rig a FT-8900 Quad Band Mobile. He also has Homebrewed his first
Antenna. Welcome to the Hobby Matt!
I will be at the Club’s center Tuesday nights for Tutoring for Club
Members to rewrite their Basic or to Upgrade to Advanced during the
Spring & Summer Months now that our first session of Formal Classes are
over. We have scheduled our second session of formal Classes in
September.
de Gerry VE7BGP
Training and Em e rge ncy Pre pare dne ss Re port
by PaulGiffin, VA7M PG
TRAINING.
Th e ne xt training course is se t to start on SEPT 10th 2008. It w il
lgo e ach
W e dne sday nigh t untilD EC 03,2008. Cost w il
lbe $129 .00 and th e tim e w il
lbe from
19 00-2100 h rs. To date , th re e stude nts h ave be e n l
ine d up for th e course . If you
k now of anyone inte re ste d pl
e ase l
e t m e k now and I'l
lcontact th e m . Th ank you
PaulVA7M PG
EM ERGENCY CO M M UNICATIO NS
As th is is be ing w ritte n (April2nd, 2008) I h ave m e t w ith both th e City and th e
Re gionalD istrict Em e rge ncy Coordinators. Th e e m e rge ncy pl
an is be ing update d to
re fl
e ct som e re ce nt ch ange s. I h ave al
so h ad conve rsation w ith th e Em e rge ncy
Coordinator for BC w ith RAC and to date al
lconve rsations h ave be e n ve ry positive
and com pl
im e ntary of our inte re st in e m e rge ncy com m unications. I h ave al
so appl
ie d
for status as an ARES unit. In orde r to al
l
ow e nough tim e for al
lth e t's to cross and
th e i's to dot and th e pape r to be proce sse d. I h ave not sch e dul
e d a m e e ting until
M ay.
TH E NEXT NARA EM ERGENCY CO M M UNICATIO NS GRO UP M EETING W ILLBE
TH URSDAY M AY 8TH at 8:15pm at th e Cl
ub.
I w oul
d e xpe ct th e m e e ting w il
ltak e no l
onge r th an one h our. W e h ave som e
h ouse k e e ping th ings w e ne e d to se t up and w e can start l
ook ing at w h at is re q uire d
for form altraffic h andl
ing. Untilth e m e e ting if you h ave tim e you m ay w ish to visit
th e RAC Se ction M anage r's W e bpage .(Googl
e BC Yuk on Se ction M anage r) O n th e
w e bpage th e re is a h andbook for form altraffic h andl
ing . It is in th e proce ss be ing
adde d so you m ay w ant to ch e ck back re gul
arl
y. Th is is de signe d to assist fol
k s in
traffic h andl
ing. In addition th e re is th e BC Yuk on Se ction ne t nigh tl
y at 19 30 on
3.716. Th e re is ge ne ral
l
y traffic h andl
e d e ach nigh t and th e re is al
so a training
se ssion.
As de ve l
opm e nts occur I w il
lse nd al
ong e m ail
s. Re m e m be r al
so to ch e ck th e
NARA w e bsite Th ank s again for th e support and inte re st.
73
PaulVA7M PG
Th e Sl
ingsh ot Ante nna
146 - 148 M h z
Pl
e ase note in draw ing th at e l
e m e nts are be nt 9 0 de gre e s. M ak e your be nds as
ne e de d de pe nding on m ate rialuse d for e l
e m e nts. If you use coppe r tubing, a 9 0
de gre e e l
bow on e ach sh oul
d w ork fine . If you are com fortabl
e w ith be nding,
gre at, if not, ge t th e h ardw are store to do it for you!
Th e com pl
e te d ante nna is bi-dire ctionalw ith a rough figure 8 patte rn and is com pose d of 2, 3/4
w ave l
e ngth se ctions of e l
e ctricalconduit be nt and cut to th e l
e ngth s in th e draw ing and supporte d
as sh ow n on any type of insul
ating m ate rialattach e d to th e m ast w ith w h ate ve r arrange m e nt of
bol
ts, nuts, cl
am ps, e tc.
You sh oul
d note th at th e bottom (h orizontale l
e m e nt portion) is 1/4 w ave l
e ngth l
ong and th e top
(ve rticale l
e m e nt se ction) is 1/2 w ave l
e ngth l
ong.
Th e e l
e m e nt m ounting pl
ate (in ye l
l
ow in th e draw ing) can be Pl
e xigl
as, painte d w ood or w h ate ve r
you h appe n to h ave th at is NO N CO ND UCTIVE. You can use coppe r or al
um inum for th e active 3/4
w ave e l
e m e nts, but al
um inum w oul
d be pre fe rre d due to l
e ss w e igh t.
Al
th ough e l
e ctricalconduit com e s in various size s, th e size w as not state d in th e originalarticl
e but I
w oul
d sugge st 1/2 inch or l
arge r in diam e te r. (Th e l
arge r, th e gre ate r th e bandw idth .)
Th e totall
e ngth of e ach e l
e m e nt is 60 inch e s + - and th e y are attach e d about 4 inch e s apart on th e
m ounting pl
ate w ith e nough bol
ts and nuts as ne e de d.
Th e coax attach m e nt points are in re d on th e picture , and I w oul
d sugge st th at you use spade l
ugs
on th e e nds of th e coax to attach it to th e bottom e nd of e ach e l
e m e nt (th e e nds ne are st th e be nd)
w ith bol
ts, nuts and l
ock w ash e rs al
lth e w ay th ru th e e l
e m e nt and pl
ate . Th e re m ust be a good
el
e ctricalconne ction be tw e e n th e coax ce nte r conductor and sh ie l
d braid and e ach e l
e m e nt. Ke e p
th e conne ctions l
e ngth s from th e e nd of th e coax as sh ort as possibl
e . Th e y be com e part of th e
radiating e l
e m e nt l
e ngth s.
It doe s not m atte r w h ich conductor from th e coax is attach e d to w h ich e l
e m e nt.
SEALALLCO NNECTIO NS AND TH E END O F TH E CO AX!
W h e n attach ing th e e l
e m e nts to th e m ounting pl
ate , dril
le nough h ol
e s al
lth e w ay th ru th e e l
e m e nts
and pl
ate for good m e ch anicalstabil
ity and attach w ith bol
ts and nuts. Th e e l
e m e nts and coax
conne ctions m ust not touch th e support m ast at any point if th e m ast is m ade of m e talof any k ind!
You coul
d use a PVC pipe or l
e ngth of l
um be r of th e re q uire d l
e ngth inste ad of m e talto ge t th e
ante nna up as h igh as possibl
e and a h al
f w ave or m ore is pre fe rre d!
"Th is de sign, untrim m e d, up a h al
f w ave , pre se nte d an SW R of 1.5:1 across th e top 2 M H Z of th e
band (146-148m h z)".......KA8O GD
H O T AIR FRO M TH E PRESID ENT
de Al
an, VA7ACL
M arch cam e in l
ik e a l
am b, and out l
ik e a l
ion. Th e w ords of w isdom I h e ard som e w h e re are
“D on’t ge t rid of your w inte r tire s too e arl
y!” Eve n th ough it’s stil
lw intry in th e air, w e ’re
starting to th ink about spring and sum m e r activitie s. Be fore w e ge t too invol
ve d in ne w
proje cts, I w oul
dl
ik e to se nd out th ank s to m e m be rs for th e ir invol
ve m e nt so far.
M y h at goe s off to Paul
, VA7M PG for th e gre at articl
e sum m arizing our l
ast sum m e r’s
picnic, w h ich w as publ
ish e d in th e M arch /AprilTCA m agazine . Th ank s to Paulal
so for
coordinating our cl
asse s w h ich w e re ve ry succe ssful
. Paulis be ing k e pt ve ry busy, as in
addition, h e is fil
l
ing in as e m e rge ncy coordinator for Nanaim o.
M ik e H al
e is doing a gre at job as se ction m anage r for th e BC Yuk on are a. It is good to
h e ar h im do th e traffic h andl
ing ne t e ve ry e ve ning on 3716 k h z. I’d l
ik e to th ank Rich ard
VA7AA and Roge r VA7RS for th e ir invol
ve m e nt in th e re pe ate rs. Th ank s to Jay VE7JPE, and
M urray VE7M UX for th e ir h e l
p as w e l
l
. O ne m ore th ank -you goe s to W al
te r, VA7ANI for
vol
unte e ring to e dit th e Static th is m onth .
I h ope to se e e ve ryone out on re gul
ar m e e ting nigh t, for social
izing and pizza. Th e re
t
h
w il
lbe no m e e ting th at nigh t. W e w il
lbe ce l
e brating th e 60 annive rsary of NARA.
Al
an Littl
e VA7ACL
Adve nture s of a Radio Te ch nician in Canada’s Arctic
Part 3
By W al
te r Isaacson, VA7ANI (form e rl
y VE6ANI, VE6ANI/VE8)
e -m ail
: w i19 40@ te l
us.ne t, isaacow @ te l
us.ne t
To bring suppl
ie s and e q uipm e nt into th e arctic Panarctic O il
s h ad an annualse a l
ift. Th e se a
l
ift is th e re ason w h y Rae Point w as ch ose n to be th e base cam p for th e arctic ope rations. Rae Point
is basical
l
y buil
t on a l
arge sand bar and as such is a l
arge fl
at are a. Th e airstrip is 6000 ft by 200
fe e t orie nte d to th e pre vail
ing w ind (North w e st –South e ast) and th e cam p is l
ocate d at th e
south e ast e nd of th e airstrip. It’s 2 m il
e s from th e e nd of th e airstrip to th e be ach . Th e be ach is
actual
l
y a bit cl
ose r to th e north e ast but th e airstrip isn’t at righ t angl
e s to th e be ach . Th e tide s are
sm al
lat Rae Point (m aybe 6 inch e s). Th e sh ore drops off ste e pl
y ne xt to th e be ach and drops to
m ore th at 30 fe e t.. Th is m e ans l
arge boats can tie up righ t up at th e be ach w ith out th e ne e d for
infrastructure (dock s) e xce pt for anch ors for th e dock ing l
ine s.
Pl
anning for th e annualse a l
ift starts a ye ar ah e ad. Th e se a l
ift starts from M ontre al
. Suppl
ie s
de stine d for th e arctic usual
l
y start arriving in M ontre alin June . Th e re is a ve ry narrow w indow of
opportunity e ach sum m e r w h e re th e se a ice pe rm its sh ips to re ach Rae Point, typical
l
y th e l
ast w e e k
of August and th e w indow is about 10 days l
ong. Usual
l
y 3 sh ips com e to Rae Point for th e se a l
ift, 2
fre igh te rs and a tank e r. Th e tank e r w as th e “Pal
va” from Finl
and and th e fre igh te rs w e re from th e
Ch im o Line , I be l
ie ve from Ne w foundl
and. Th e tank e r brough t fue love r from a re fine ry ne ar
Am ste rdam . Al
lit brough t w as je t fue l
. Eve ryth ing in th e arctic ran on je t fue l
.A l
ittl
e bit of
l
ubricating oilw as adde d to th e fue lfor use in die se le ngine s. I th ink it w as th e sam e l
ubricating oil
as use d in th e crank case s of al
lth e ve h icl
e s.
Th is is th e tank e r Pal
va off-l
oading fue lat Rae Point. Th e tank e r de l
ive re d a ye ars’ suppl
y of
fue le ach ye ar. Not visibl
e in th is picture is a bl
adde r farm off to th e l
e ft w h e re th e fue lis store d,
e ach fue lbl
adde r h ol
ding about 50,000 gal
l
ons dow n to about 14000 gal
l
ons Al
so not visibl
e in th is
picture is a fue lbarge th at h as be e n dragge d out of th e w ate r onto th e be ach and use d as a
pe rm ane nt fue lstorage tank . Notice th at th e bow of th e “Pal
va” is righ t on th e be ach . Ph oto
courte sy of D on Sm ith ’s w e b page “Arctic Expe rie nce s”
Th is is one of th e fre igh te rs off-l
oading fre igh t at Re a Point.
Ph oto courte sy of D on Sm ith ’s w e b page “Arctic Expe rie nce s”
Anoth e r fre igh te r pul
l
ing into th e be ach . M ore ice around th is ye ar th an in m ost oth e r ye ars. Som e
ye ars th e ice is com pl
e te l
y gone from th e be ach are a. Lots of fog th is tim e of th e ye ar be cause of th e
ope n w ate r.Th e re d obje ct in th e fore ground is th e fue lstorage barge .
Ph oto courte sy of D on Sm ith ’s w e b page
“Arctic Expe rie nce s”
Fre igh te r approach ing Rae Point. Ice
isn’t bad th is ye ar. Th at’s Byam M artin
Isl
and be h ind th e sh ip.
Ph oto courte sy of D on Sm ith ’s w e b page
“Arctic Expe rie nce s”
Th e tank e r “Pal
va”. Th at’s a l
ittl
e tugboat
on th e righ t e dge of th e picture . O ff in
th e distance just off th e bow of th e
“Pal
va” is th e Coast Guard e scort ve sse l
.
To th e l
e ft of th e Coast Guard ve sse lis one of th e fre igh te rs w aiting its turn to be rth . Not visibl
e but
off to th e righ t off-l
oading fre igh t is th e oth e r fre igh te r.
Ph oto courte sy of D on Sm ith ’s w e b page “Arctic Expe rie nce s”
…………to be continue d
Editorial
:
Ram bl
ings from th e Arctic Kid
Th e Arctic Kid m onik e r w as l
aid on m e by a fe l
l
ow h am som e 20 ye ars ago be cause at th e tim e I w as
spe nding m ost of m y tim e in th e arctic. I h ope you are e njoying m y se rie s of arcticl
e s “Adve nture s of
a Radio Te ch ”. In th is se rie s I am focusing on Panarctic O il
s, basicl
yl
ook ing at Panarctic O il
s as se e n
by a radio te ch . In th is se rie s I w il
lbe de scribing th e m e th ods of com m unications from a fairl
y
te ch nicalpoint of vie w w h ich I h ope w il
lbe of inte re st to h am s. In th e ne xt 2 or 3 issue s I w il
lbe
de scribing H F radio syste m s w h ich w as a vitalpart of Panarctic O il
's ope ration. Fol
l
ow ing arcticl
es
w il
lde alw ith navagation aids, vh f radio syste m s, w e ath e r e q uipm e nt, te l
e ph one s and pbxs and
introduction of com pute rs into th e com m unication syste m s
I h ope you l
ik e th is m onth s issue of STATIC. I'm doing th is unde r Linux using an ope n source de sk
top publ
ish ing program cal
l
e d Scribus so th e re m ay be som e rough e dge s untilI ge t m ore fam il
iar
w ith Scribus. M y suite of program s to put out th is issue of STATIC is Scribus, O pe n O ffice and Th e
Gim p (al
lope n source and m ore im portant, al
lfre e ). I'm not bound to Linux, I dualboot w ith
W indow s XP and al
so h ave W indow s XP on anoth e r h ard drive as back up, al
so W indow s 9 8 on
anoth e r h ard drive and W indow s M E on m y l
aptop
Th ank s to th ose w h o contribute m ate rialto Static. W ith out subm issions to Static th e re w oul
d not be
a STATIC, pe riod.
Th ank s to D ave VE7TW O and Tricia VE7SPI for l
ook ing afte r th e NARA w e b page for al
lth e se ye ars.
Th ank s to M ath e w , VE7M JC for putting toge th e r th e ne w w e b page w ith gre at ne w fe ature s. Th e
NARA w e b page h as a ne w URL: w w w .ve 7na.ca
Congradul
ations to NARA (Nanaim o Am ate ur Radio Association) on th e ir 60th annave rsary
73 de W al
te r VA7ANI
e -m ail
: w i19 40@ te l
us.ne t
NARA O ffice rs 2007-2008
D ire ctors
Com m itte e s
Te ch nical& RFI
H e al
th & W e l
fare
Training
Roge r Stace y
VA7RS
Pat H arpe r
VA7PLH
PaulGiffin
VA7M PG
Ge rry Pe m e nt
VE7BGP
Fie l
d D ay
Al
an Littl
e
VA7ACL
Social
Frank M e rritt
VE7FPM
Re pe ate r
Roge r Stace y
VA7RS
NARA AREC EC
D ick H obbis
VE7RLH
Nanaim o EO C Re p PaulGriffin
VA7M PG
NARA H istorian
ANY VO LUNTEERS?
STATIC STAFF
Editor: W al
te r Isaacson VA7ANI
Subm issions for th e ne xt issue of
STATIC are to go to M arl
e na VE7D FY
(m arzbar@ sh aw .ca) by M ay 8, 2008
(unl
e ss oth e rw ise notifie d).
Contributors Th is Issue :
Roge r STace y VA7RS
PaulGiffin VA7M PG
W al
te r Isaacson VA7ANI
Ge rry Pe m e nt VE7BGP
Al
an Littl
e VA7ACL
D ave M arsh al
lVE7TW O