LARC

Club annual dues are to be Inby 30 September 1996. Please getyour cheque In the mall today.

If you hear an incident on a radio orscanner. listen to make sure thathelp is being provided. If you aren'tsure and you can't directly help,place a call to the appropriateagency. Emergency numbers areusually listed on the first page ofmost phonebooks.

A radio operator, on the coast,picked up a CW SOS from a burningand sinking ship. That radiooperator was the only one, in theenUre world, who heard andreported the distress to a rescuecentre. Seven sailors were pulledfrom the Atlantic, near the Azoresand lived to sail again.-Ed.

Inside...J0 Metre Beacon 2WANTED! 2m Controllers 2

Meeting Minutes 3

What Price Courtesy? 4Editorial 4

DigiPeter Rabbit 5

Little Known Q-Signals 6

RAC Licence Plates 7New Ontario North Dir, 7

MFJ 259 SWR Analyzer 8

I can't believe how qUickly thissummer has passed by! My tower Isup, the truck is a porcupine mobilecomplete with ham plates.

Matti, VE3EEI donated a binderfull of old HI-Q's covering the early1970's to the Club and it was fungoing over them and "borrOWing" afew items for future issues.

Over the past couple of months, I'vemanaged to collect a lot of interestingamateur radio material. I wouldreally, really appreciate it if youwoul<l keep your eyes and ears openand pass on any related material toyours truly. This is a club newsletter.I can't put any local area news in it,If I don't get any local area news fromlocal area hams. To those who havebeen contributers, my heartfeltthanks. See the page 2 sidebar onhow to correspond with the editor. _There's lots of good-to-know "stuff'that I want to cover in HI-Q. Eventhe old-timers may learn a new thingor two. (Ed, you owe me an article onthat marIne incident.)

How many out there know whatemergency numbers to dial if youcan't access the 911 patch on arepeater? It's no fun franticallyflailing through a phone book in apanic. I travel with an electronic datacard. It's programmed with phonenumbers, memos, schedules and hasa built In clock with alarm. Anotherway is to take a few computer 3.5inch diskette labels and write or typeemergency phone numbers on themand then stick them to the back ofyour HTs, on top of your HF rigs, onyour sun visor, etc. This way you areprepared to either dial the numberthrough a repeater or tell someoneelse the number to dial.

SHORTWAVES

THURSDAY

Sep12

NEXT MEETING

2m MINI-NETMondays 7:00 p.m.VE3YQT Repeater.

7:30 p.m. Room 214McIntyre Bullding

Confederation College

CLUB REPEATERSVE3TBR

Phone: 807-767-7661Listen: 146.820 MHzTxmit: 146.220 MHzListen: 444.825 MHzTxmit: 449.825 MHz

VE3YQTPhone: 807-767-5492Listen: 147.060 MHzTxmit: 146.460 MHz

VA30LAListen: 53.050 MHzTxmit: 52.050 MHz

VE3BGAListen: 145.450 MHzTxmit: 144.850 MHz

WEEKLY BREAKFASTSSaturdays 9:30 a.m.

Blue Parrot Restaurant

~

~~ .V.o.l.u.rn.e_6.2 .S.e..p.te.rn_b.e.c_19.9.6 I.ss.u.e_6.1_7

~ An ARNS Award Winning Newsletter Published Ten Times A Year

~

~o~

Lakehead Amateur Radio Club History Project

LARC

199511996 LARC

Founding PresidentPJ (pal) O'Shea. VE3FW

1881-1972

In honour of lhe memory of our foundingpresident, Mr PJ (pat) O'Shea, the club call sign

is VE3FW

SenateBill Roberts. VE31\RNKeith Fiske. VE3JQ

Bert Lambert, VE3BKYRay Creer, VE3CH

Hugh EllioH. VE3EDWBill Klemackl. VE31\J

(Conllnued from page 3) only. VE3GTX, John Watson pointedof the executive that Indlvidual(s) out that at present there Is nothing Inhave been operating outside the out constitution that addresses thls----.,scope of their licence. After one or two subject. The executive is looking forverbal warnings, what can the Club direction on this matter from the clubdo? What Is Industry Canada's role membership.now and In the future? Adjournment: moved by VE3XT.

VE3JJA. Woody Linton suggested Bill Unger that the meeting bethat peer pressure be tried. This adjourned. Carried.problem arose in Winnipeg and wassoon cleared up by peer pressure

Club and Newslette.. InfannadonHI Q is published by the Lakehead Amateur

Radio Club, Inc .. an Ontario registered non~profit

corporation The opinions expressed or implied inissues of HI Q are those of the author. The LARCassumes no responsibility for the accuracy or theInformation submitted.

Material in HI-Q may be copied for non-profit. liseprovided that. credit is given to the source.Contributions related to amat.eur radio, espe£lallyt.hose articles of interest t.o Northwestern Ontarioamateurs are encouraged Material can besubmitted in WordPerfect~ fonnat or as a text fileor via fax to 801-345 2688 or via packet radio toVA3ROM.VE3TK1\ or voice mail on the VE3TBRrepeater to user 159 or via Email tormazu"tbaytel net. Send material or datedannouncements no later than the 20th of the monthIn which it is to appear

If you monitor Fred's beacon, drophim a note or QSL card with detailsof the reception. Usually. thepropagation opens up on 10 metres'-----'first, then moves up to 6 and then 2metres. There are also 6 metre and 2metre propagation beacons aroundthe war/d.-Ed.

10 MetreBeacon

Fred. VE3FAL has established a 10metre beacon at Sturgeon Bay.Ontario. southwest of Thunder Bay.

The callsign Is VA3SBB (SturgeonBay Beacon) and broadcasts on28.241 MHz In CW 24 hours a day.The output power Is 5 watts using aRadio Shack HTXIOO transceiver.This is feed to a A99 antenna (112wave over 1/4 wave) that is up 30feet. The CW Is keyed by The Morse

Machine MM3 by AdvancedApplications. Inc.

Beacons have been used for manyyears by hams across the globe to plotpropagation patterns. Thus the

---------------- reason for putting a beacon on theair. 73-Fred. VE3FAL.

577-9439622-1216577-9316767-2307571-1628344-9325413-5482683-3199683-3199345-5856344-7731

ExecuUve BoardPresident: T. Stewardson. VE3TKAVice Pres: Ed Baumann. VE3SNWSecreta.ry:Norm Bell. VE3XRCTreasure..: ·Skip· Wright. VE3BBSDirector'S: Ian Mellis. VA3RIM

Dave Horne. VA3DVEDon Bel. VA3DPBJohn Watson. VE3GTX

MemSec:John Watson, VE3CTXPast Pres: Mark Vukovich. VE3VUKIII Q&I: Robert Mazur. VA3ROM

To reduce production and distribution costs.advertising at the following per issued rates isaccepted full-page-S60.00, 112 page-S40.00, 1/4page-S20 00 and 118 page-SIS (1), Reduced rates(1/3 off) are available upon receipt of advancepayment for 10 issues (one full year) Send your adcopy and cheque (payable to t.he LARe) t.o the clubaddress listed below. Advertising inHI-Q does notimply an endorsement or recommendation of theproduct or scrvice by the LARC.

LARC mcmbership fees are set for the year asfollows' regular-S30.00, associate-S20.00,associate (attending ham c1asses)-SBO.OO, student(attending school full-time)-SI5oo andfamily-S30.00 plus S10 00 for each additionalfamily memb/;!r living at the same address.HI.Q Issent to all LARC mcmbers but only one copy ismailed to each address

Mailing AddressPlease send all club correspondence to the

following address The Lakehead Amateur RadioClub, Inc, Suite 184. 1100C Memorial Avenue.Thunder Bay. 0 . P1B 41\3, Canada

Internet Home PageThe LARC has an Internet web site home page

that is sponsored by Len, VA3LEB. The Internetaddress is· htrp.//www.foxnerner/larc. Stop by fora visit and get your HI.Q electronically.

WANTED! 2m Mini-Net Controllers

The LARC needs 4 volunteers to run the 2metre mini-net on Monday nights startingat 7:00 p.m. No experience is required.Learn as you go. Only 1 night a monthcommitment required with 4 controllers.If you are interested. contact Bob,

VA3ROM @ 344-7731.

2 The Lakehead Amateur Radio Club HI-Q • September 1996

Lakehead Amateur Radio Club History Project

LARC

Meeting Minutes by Norm, VE3XRC

Correspondence: none

Balance as of June 13. 1996:$1.847.30

Treasurer's Report:Balance as of May 9, 1996:

$1.981.51

Club Incorporation: to finish off aprevious motion. the committee ofVE3JAB. Bob Bishop. VE3UA. JimO'Brien and VE3XRC. Norm Bellheld a meeting and recommend thata procedural manual be created andsaid manual be referenced in theClub's bylaws. Motion: moved byVE3GTX, John Watson and secondedby VE3AJ. Bill Klemacki that thecommittee draft a first copy of themanual for presentation in the fall of1996. Carried.

Antenna Season: It was reported atthe meeting that there was still snowvisible in the bush out at Sibley butas his antennas were once again upin the air and working. VE3AJ. BillKlemacki officially ciosed antennaseason with a "mighty" blast from theinfamous horn.

New Business:Rad io Amateurs of Canada

happenings: VE3JAB. Bob Bishophad a few points of interest for themembers. There Is a situationdeveloping where low earth orbitingsatellites are asking permission touse portions of our 2m band. Also. outwest. cars are being stopped by theRCMP and if there is a mobile radioin the vehicle, the police arerequiring a copy of the licence for theradio. Make a copy of your licenceand keep it in your vehicle.

Bob is six months away fromcompleting his term as RAC Directorfor Northern Ontario. He is steppingdown at the end of June 1996 andwill recommend that VA3GD. PatDoherty be appointed to complete histerm. Bob thanked all of his assistantdirectors for their help.

Nominating Committee: as per ourconstitution. a nominating committeewas struck at the June meeting. ThefollOWing volunteered to form thenominating committee: VA3GD. PatDoherty. VE3GTX. John Watson andVE3AJ. Bill Klemacki.

Self Policing and our role as a club:it has been brought to the attention

(Conlinued on page 2)

public service and technical projects.Thanks also to those who made theClub work."

VE3JJA, Woody Linton. who isbiking across Canada said a fewwords. Woody is using amateur radioto pass traffic via 2m and HF to hiswife Cathy. VE3JJS in Kenora. Hestarted 26 days ago in Victoria B.C.and amateurs across the countryhave bent over backwards to supporthim. He has encountered snow in themountains. coyotes on the prairieand black flies in Upsala. He hastraveled 3500 km so far with thelongest day being 237 km. It took him4 hours to get up one hill in B.C.Woody stated that it had been awonderful experience so far.

Field Day will be held at thesummer resort of VA3RIM. IanMellis. VA3DVE. Dave Horne willclimb trees to install antennas.There will be five rigs (one QRP) inoperation. Instructions on how to getto Ian's camp were published in theJune edition of J-IJ.Q. Ian promises toscreen in the front porch to keep outthe blackflles.

Children's Festival Is underway.VE3FLB. Rob Van Wyck made thearrangements and a full station hasbeen set up including HF, VHF,RTTY and packet. VE3YQT had agood workout the first day.

Air Show, which is to be heldSeptember 8 and 9. is progressing.At a previous meeting. the Clubagreed to prOVide the needed groundcommunications. VE3XRC. NormBell has the volunteer forms that arereqUired for accreditation.

Canadian Jamboree '97: not a lot ofactivity on our part yet. We may beinvolved in three areas. internalcommunications. program activitiesand message centre. At least one fullstation will be set up. VA3GD. PatDoherty suggested that we advertisein th,e District for volunteers whomight want to come to Thunder Bayfor such an event.Old Business:

239.29

105.00

Expenses:

Income:

President's Report VE3TKA,Terry Stewardson:

"This wi1l be my last year asPresident of the Lakehead AmateurRadio Club. After 4 years asPresident, I am getting burnt out. Iwould like to thank a lot of people fortheir help over the past years, theexecutive, J-II·Q editor, VE3SNW, EdBaumann, those who worked on

Minutes of a meeting of theLakehead Amateur Radio Club heldin Room 214 at ConfederationCollege, Thunder Bay, Ontario onThursday, June 13, 1996.

Motion: moved by VE3BHN. BobGillespie and seconded by VE3GTX.John Watson that the Treasurer'sReport be accepted. Carried.

Minutes of the previous meeting:The minutes of the previous

meeting held May 9, 1996 werepublished in detail in the Juneedition of J-II·Q and mailed to allmembers. Motion: moved byVE3BHN, Bob Gillespie andseconded by VA3BRN. Gerry Burneythat the minutes be accepted aspublished. Carried.

The meeting was called to order at7:30 p.m. by the President VE3TKA,Terry Stewardson with 29 membersand guests in attendance. VE3TKAintroduced two guests, VE3JJA.Woody Linton from Kenora andVE3YTB, Tom Porett from Ardmore,PA.

r

HI.Q • September 1996 The Lakehead Amateur Radio Club 3

Lakehead Amateur Radio Club History Project

LARC

by Dave, VE3AVSWhat Price Courtesy?---------------------------------_-....

3. Finally, when you jump in With apologies to Sir Winston. "Whatwithout hearing the beep, you make Price Churchi1l?"-Ed.

2. So often, this summer, I'veheard two people "doubling"-talkingat the same time-because one or theother jumped in without waiting forthe beep. Listening for the beepgreatly reduces the risk of doubling.

"BEEPI"-Sure, we all know it's a"courtesy beep, but some of thenewcomers to our hobby (and even afew old-timers) tend to disregard thisvery important feature whenoperating on a repeater. Why is itthere, anyway?

J. When you release the mikeswitch after transmitting, you shouldhear the beep from the repeater(unless the talker at the other endclobbers itl) This tells you the

Editorial

repeater has receivedretransmitted your sideconversation.

andof the

it very difficult for a third party toaccess the repeater. In an emergencythis could have disastrous results.

So wait for the beep. What's the bigrush anyway? If your conversation isso urgent that you can't take time tohear it, then go to a simplex channell

As the late separatist Premier ReneLevesque once said: "Okay, everyonetake a vallum."

By now, everyone must have heardabout the LEO Low Earth Orbiting)Satellite group's request forfrequency assignments in both the 2metre and 70 cm bands. The ARRLhas been beating the kettle drumsand issuing a cry to arms. Much adoabout nothing, if you ask me.

What the LEO group really wants,most likely, is a chunk of 220 whichthe Americans lost most use of a fewyears back to commercial Interests.By starting a ruckus In the amateurradio exclusive bands, the LEO groupgets hams to do the lobbying work.

I really got a chuckle out of all thepanic and frantic scrambling souththe the border. Those fellows in the

LEO group are brilliantl Wave a redcape before the bull and then standback and watch the fun begin. TheFCC' and ARRL beat each othersenseless and the LEO group walkslaughing all the way to the bankl

And, why the fuss about 440? Weare secondary users and as have noclaim to excluding other servicesfrom requesting the use of it,commercial or not. It's just not theFCC, IC, the ARRL and RACinvolved. Japan, alone, has morehams than a1l North America. OurAsian compatriots make hams overhere look, well, like amateurs.

Wayne Green (73 publisher) mademention of the fact that Japaneseham radio magazines are thick andheavy (literally) with technical,construction and procedures articles.

Most U.S. and Canadian amateursdon't do anything with or in theAmateur Radio Service and barely 20percent belong to nationalorganizations. The key word isservice and not hobby. What do youwant the Feds to protect, anyway?VHF and UHF amateur radio.......,exclusive chit-chat channels?

Methinks that we doth protest toomuch. When II metres went to thepublic there was a howl of protest.Yet, hardly any hams used that bandIListen to the VHF amateur radioexclusive bands. See how muchactivity or lack of Is happening.If you aren't going to use the VHF

bands and are not willing to join andsupport your national amateur radioorganization, the LEO group willgladly fill the void.-Ed.

The Lakehead Amateur Radio Club4

Custom Callsign Plaquesby Ian, VA3RIM

18-1/2" x 4 112" mahogany background with 2"high x 3/4" thick pine lettering with your callslgn.

Comes complete with hanging chain and hook"15.00 InThunder Bay $20.00 outside Thunder Bay.

Make cheque payable to the LARC and mail to:1100C Memorial Avenue, Suite 184

Thunder Bay, Ontario P7B 4A3.

T & S Radio Electronics2052 Dawson Road

Thunder Bay, OntarioP7B 5E3

Phone (807) 767-5224 Fax (807) 768-8164Cellular (807) 626 4367 Email: t&sradlo~bay,telServing me Commercial, Amaleur. CB. SWL and Marine Radio

Markets. Across from Five Mile School on Highway 102aL the Dawson Road Country Store.

Open 10;00 a.m.. 6:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday

HI-Q • September 1996

Lakehead Amateur Radio Club History Project

LARC

by Frank, N2IGOThe Story of DigiPeter Rabbit~-------------------------------Once upon a time, in the far-away

Kingdom of Radio, there was apeaceful valley called Hamville,Inhabited by a group of rabbits.Hamville was originally settled bythe Whiskey family, and thepatriarch of that family was an oldhare called Charlie Whiskey.

Charlie Whiskey was a farmer bytrade. He came to the beautiful valleyof Hamville when it was ali openmeadows. He saw the potential forfarming the vacant land and overtime he developed a thriving carrotplantation. Charlie Whiskey's carrotplantation was the envy of all theinhabitants of the kingdom of Radio.He succeeded year after year inproducing a bumper crop of carrots.All the other residents of thekingdom came to Charlie for adviceon planting carrots. Charlie wouldalways tell them, "The secret's indeveloping a good ear." No, Charliedidn't have superior hearing, but hehad developed a very special sklli.

You see, he picked carrots with hisears. In fact, Charlle had workedhard at perfecting this skill and wasable to harvest at better than 20carrots a minute. All of Charlie'sfamily learned to pick carrots withtheir ears. Soon they were all pickingat better than 20 carrots a minute.Charlie was so proud of his specialskill that he insisted that anyone whocame to work at Hamville first showthat he could pick carrots with hisears. Charlie would not give newsettlers any land unless they coulddemonstrate to his foreman, VictorEcho, that they could pick at least 5carrots a minute with their ears.When they could pick 13 carrots aminute, Charlie gave them more landto work. When they were able to pickcarrots by ear at the rate of 20 aminute, Charlie made them fullcitizens of Hamville.

This process of learning to pickcarrots with your ears went on forsome time. In other parts of theKingdom of Radio, other rabbitsbegan to pick carrots by ear.

HI-Q' September 1996

However, there were some noisyducks, known as the Quackers, wholived In the community of GoodBuddy. They used their mouths topick their crops instead of their ears.They had much larger mouths thanthe rabbits and saw no need to usetheir ears. The rabbits all lookeddown on the Quackers. "We mustaiways require ear harvesting skillsfor entry into Hamville," they said."That way we will keep out thosenoisy Quackers." So, everyone whocame to Hamvllle had to learn how topick carrots by ear if they wanted tostay. Charlie Whiskey was adamantabout that. "If you don't want tolearn the skill of ear harvesting thengo work in Good Buddy with theQuackers: he would say.

The years passed and new methodsof farming were developed. Thesenew methods were easier to learnthan ear harvesting, especially forthe animals who didn't have the bigears that the rabbits had. What'smore, the new methods were just asefficient as ear harvesting. As timewent by, fewer and fewer of theyoung animals were willing to learnthe skill of ear harvesting. Thepopulation of Hamville began todwindle. All the residents ofHamville were getting on In years.To make matters worse, there werenew neighbors nearby who covetedthe beautiful open farmland ofHamville. They wanted to come inand turn it into commercial uses likeshopping centers. And worst of all,the pollution from the Quackers, theother Rabbits, and the Mice (knownin Hamville as the QRM group) washaVing an adverse effect on farmingin Hamville. The future looked bleakindeed.

Then, one day, a stranger calledDiglpeter Rabbit came to Hamville.He was an educated rabbit who hadstudied at the School for ScientillcBunnies (SSB). He had majored inFarm Mechanics and knew all of thelatest scientific agricultural methods.But, for all his education and know-

The Lakehead Amateur Radio Club

how, there was one thing thatDigipeter could not do. He could notmaster the skill of picking carrotswith his ears. And, since he alreadyknew how to pick carrots moreefficlentiy with new scientificmethods, he was not interested inlearning. Charlie Whiskey wasoutraged. "What do you mean youwon't learn to pick carrots with yourears? Why, we in Hamvllle have beenpicking carrots that way for 75 yearslIt's a tradition here. It shows thatwe're special and that we're betterthan the Quackers. If you don't havethe desire to develop a good ear, thenwe don't want you here in Hamville."

But Dlglpeter was adamant. Hesaw no reason to learn an obsoleteskill just to stay in Hamvllle and herefused to even try. Charlie Whiskeytook the matter to the Ancient RoyalRabbit League, which he hadfounded. The ARRL decreed thateveryone in Hamville must learn topick carrots with his ears or bebanished. And so Diglpeter Rabbitleft Hamville and founded his ownvillage called Techletown.

Soon, all the young animals in theland of Radio were flocking toTechietown. But Diglpeter had hisown entrance requirement. A goodear and a good memory were notenough for him. No one could stay InTechietown unless he coulddemonstrate technical knowledge,understanding and ability, and thedesire to contribute to theadvancement of Techletown.

Dlglpeter encouraged all theresidents of Techletown toexperiment in the cultivation of newunexplored lands, never beforefarmed. Digipeter showed them howto overcome pollution problems. Heshowed them how to use the landthey had more effiCiently. Diglpetereven perfected a method of farmingwhich allowed a number of rabbits tofarm the same land at the same time.While the residents of Hamville werepicking 30 carrots a minute on a good

(Continued on page 6)

5

Lakehead Amateur Radio Club History Project

LARC

(Continued from page 5)

day, In Techletown, harvests of 300carrots a minute were possible.Using Dlgipeter's methods, andthose developed by the other bright,young residents, Techletown soonbecame the most prosperous villageIn the Kingdom of Radio. This didnot escape the notice of the FieldCarrot Council, which governed thekingdom of Radio. To reward theresidents of Techietown for theircontributions to the klngdom, theField Carrot Council gaveTechietown more and more land towork, until its borders touched thoseof Hamville.

Meanwhile, Hamville was stillplodding along as it always had,oblivious to the revolution infarming occurring around It. The oldhares still picked carrots by ear. TheAncient Royal Rabbit Leaguecomplained bitterly to the FieldCarrot Council about all the newland It was giving to Techletown, butthe population of Hamvillecontinued to drop. When the FieldCarrot Council gave 2 acres ofHamville property to Techietown,the residents of Hamville began, forthe first time, to be genuinelyconcerned about their plight. Someeven dared to ask the Ancient RoyalRabbit League to change its mindabout the need to learn to pickcarrots by ear to live in Hamville."We need new blood here to fight offthe Field Carrot Council: they said.

Charlie Whiskey, now In hisnineties, was furious. "We have tomaintain our standards. We don'tneed those smart young bunnies, weneed rabbits skilled In our time­honored harvesting techniques. Weneed rabbits who are dedicatedenough to the principles of Hamvilleto want to learn our methods. If arabbit really wants to live here, he'lllearn our ways. If he doesn't, wedon't want him. You don't wantthose Quackers to move here, doyou?"

But, by now, the residents ofHamville had seen the writing onthe wall. Although they genuinelyenjoyed picking carrots with theirears, they reallzed that there were

6

now other ways which yielded justas many carrots. And though theywould probably continue to pickcarrots by ear as they always had,they could no longer shun thosebright young rabbits who chose amore modern method. A group ofrabbits, led by an elder statesmanrabbit named Elmer, who had onceserved in the government of theKingdom of Radio, asked theAncient Royal Rabbit League tochange Its policy. The League agreedand issued a decree that henceforthear harvesting skills would not berequired to become a resident ofHamville.

When Digipeter Rabbit heard ofthe decree, he sent envoys toHamville with all the latest scientificdiscoveries, which he shared freelywith the residents. The residents ofHamville seized upon the newknowledge and soon Hamvillebecame revitalized. Its populationbegan to Increase as young rabbitswere attracted to Its bountiful openfarmland. The Field Carrot Council,impressed by the renaissance inHamville, did not take away anymore of its land, but actually gavesome new territory to Hamville.Everyone was amazed at the newVibrancy of Hamville. CharlieWhiskey, though sad that hisbeloved harvesting method was nolonger in vogue, saw that his peoplewere prospering and was glad. Andto show that there were no hardfeelings, Charlie Whiskey sentDigipeter Rabbit a packet of 73carrots which he had pickedhimself-with his ears.

The residents of Hamville rejoicedand declared a festival to celebratetheir new prosperity. Over the frontdoor of the Hamville Festival theyput a banner, which read: "Abunny's worth Is measured notby the skill of his ears but bywhat lies between them," Theresidents of Hamville had learned animportant lesson, indeed.

Submitted by Jim, VE3UA, viadigipet.er packet rabbit radio. HI-Qwelcomes aJl viewpoints no matterwhat you do with your ears.-Ed.

The Lakehead Amateur Radio Club

A Glossary ofLittle Know "Q-Signals asRevealed to

WayneVA3WRLfrom The

Radio Roomof

AA3LMQBE: My spouse has me by the earand says that I'm leaving the shacknow.

"........QBB: I can't wait any longer; Imust take a bathroom breakl

Q1V: I must stop for an hour; myneighbour's favourite TV programis on.

QOG: My station consists entirelyof old tube gear.

QRW: Work is interfering with myplaytime on the radio.

QPS: No. My fist is not bad. Mypaddles are sticking.

QBT: My brain is too tired to copyCWanymore.

QDD: Your melodic CW signal isbeing Interfered with by thosediscordant digital signals. I had tochange this from QRD which is alegit Q-code dealing with a vessel'sdestination port.-Ed.

QET: Wow! You are fast! I copiedabout every third letter that yousent.

HI-Q. September 1996

Lakehead Amateur Radio Club History Project

LARC

7

These articles were obtained from theInternet RAG Reading Room. Bob dida lot of hard work for amateurs inthis part of the world and has earneda "semi-retirement." From the 1970'sHI-O's I learned that it was 20 yearsago that both Pat and Bob becamenewly licensed amateurs. HappyAnniversary/-Ed.

t

The Lakehead Amateur Radio Cluh

VA3GDRACNorDirector

RAC logo put on existingpersonalized plates, and for the same$52.10, your vehicle will sport theRAC logo too. The gift certificatesavailable from RAC are redeemablefor these upgrades as well.

Customers will continue to be ableto place orders for personalized andcolour graphic plates by visiting anyDriver and Vehicle Licence IssuingOffice, calling the tolI-free number 1­800-AUTO-PL8 (1-800-288-6758) oraccessing one of the Ministry'sServiceOntarlo Kiosks.

The Board of Directors of RadioAmateurs of Canada has appointedPatrick G. Doherty, VA3GD, ofThunder Bay, to complete theremaining term of outgoing OntarioNorth Director Robert Bishop,VE3JAB.

Bob resigned from the post effectiveJune 30, 1996 and Pat assumed hisduties as interim Ontario NorthDirector (covering postal codes K andP) on July 1.

An election by RAC members forRAC Directors In the Ontario North,Atlantic, Midwest and PacificRegions wllI be held In October fortwo-year terms beginning January I,1997. A CalI for Nominations appearsin the July/August Issue of TheCanadian Amateur.

RAC extends its sincere gratitude

3. You will be required to providethe Ministry office with appropriateproof of your ham licence.

HI-Q • September 1996

2. In return, you will be sent a giftcertificate to redeem at the nearestDriver and Vehicle Licence IssuingOffice.

4. REMEMBER: the plates mustbe imprinted with your unique callletters, so are not availableimmediately. Delivery of the plateswilI be within four to six weeks ofplacing your order with MTO.It wllI also be possible to have the

NOTE: You may send yourpayment to RAC at any time now,however, the gift certificates have yetto arrive from the Ministry ofTransportation, so there may be aslight delay In receiving thepaperwork from RAC. The giftcertificates may be redeemed by theend of September for the RAC LogoPlates. We have to give the Ministrytime to advise all their outlets thatRAC is participating In theirprogram and to have the blank platesmanufactured.

RAC LicencePlates ForOntario AreOnTheWay

Ontario Amateurs, thank you foryour interestl The RAC call signlicence plate project is going ahead.

By the end of September theMinistry of Transportation outletswill be In a position to accept ordersfor licence plates Imprinted with thered, black and white RAC logo. Toobtain your set, the procedure issimple:

and appreciation to Bob Bishop forhis dedication and many hours ofhard work for Canadian Amateursthrough his service on the RACBoard of Directors and on variouscommittees over the past few years.

Pat. who Is currently RAC HF BanPlan Coordinator and also NetManager for the NorthwesternOntario ARES Net, was licensed inMarch 1974. As an active DX-chaser,he moved to 40 acres In the countryin 1979 and his antenna farm nowconsists of monobanders on 10through 40 metres spread over three

Debbie Norman, General Manager towers with sloping dipoles off a 30-Radio Amateurs of Canada Inc. metre tower for 80 and 160 metres.614 Norris Court, Unit 6 He has been active on satellitesKingston, ON. K7P 2R9 working OSCARS 10 and 13 for aPhone: 613-634-4184 number of years. He has traveled toFax: 613-634-7118 the Pacific twice, first to the South

I. Send a cheque payable to RAC, in E-Mail: rachq@rac.ca or Cook Islands (VE3HFS/ZK I) andthe amount of $52.10 to the RAC rachq@k.lng.lgs.net then to Western Samoa (5WIET) andAdministrative Office. (Sorry, no the South Cook Islands (ZKIXM).credit cards on this projectl) --------------- In 1993, Pat visited some Russian

friends In the city of Irkutsk inSouthern Siberia, where, along with

New Jim, VE3UA, they were the firstCanadian Amateurs to be licensed in

O• UAO-Iand where Pat held the callntarlO RAOSNE3HFS.

Born In Thunder Bay and now

h liVing just outside the city in thevillage of Murillo, Pat was employedfor 38 years by N. M. Paterson &Sons Limited, a grain elevator andsteamship company, starting out as ajunior clerk (messenger) and retiringas Vice-President and GeneralManager of the Steamship Divisionat the age of 56 In 1991.

"Being a director of RAC is excitingand of keen Interest to me," says Pat.

"I would like to contribute to theadvancement of the CanadianAmateur community, a payback forall the enjoyment I have had throughAmateur Radio."

Lakehead Amateur Radio Club History Project

LARC

MFJ 259 SWR ~nalyzer

SWR LOSS

3.0:1 3.0 dB

2.5:1 3.6 dB

2.0:1 4.7 dB

1.7: I 5.8 dB

1.5: I 6.9dB

1.2: I 10.3 dB

terminated with a direct short.3. Adjust the MFJ 259 frequency to

the frequency desired and observethe SWR meter.4. If the SWR is in the red then theloss is less than 3 dB. Increase thefrequency until the the meter reads3:1. This is the 3 dB loss frequency.5. If the SWR Is in the black area ofthe meter, pick the closest SWR pointand estimate the loss from the chartbelow.

You can estimate the approximateloss at the operating frequency byremembering that that the feedlineloss in dB is decreased by 70% atI,alfthe freq uency and Increased by140% at twice the frequency.

For example: You want to know thefeed line loss at 28 MHz. At thatfrequency, the SWR needle Is in thered uncalibrated portion of themeter. Increase the frequency untilthe meter needle falls on acalibration mark from the table. Forthis example, at 60 MHz the meterreads 3: I SWR. Using the chart, youknow that the signal loss is 3 dB.Since 28 MHz is about half of 60MHz, you can multiply 3 dB by 0.7(70%) which gives a loss of about 2.0dB at 28 MHz.

By using a reference tabie fortransmission lines, such as in theARRL Antenna Handbook, whichlists the transmission line loss per100 feet for a specific frequency, youcan calculate the length of your"transmission line based on YOUicalculated line loss with the MFJ 259SWR Analyzer.-Ed.

• the feedllne is not 50 ohms• your bridge Is not set to measure

50 ohms• the line losses are large• the feed line Is acting like part ofthe antenna system andradiating RF

introduced Into the SWR reading.The error causes the SWR to appearbetter (i.e. lower) than the actualSWR at the antenna IIf changing feed line length changes

the SWR, one or more of thefollOWing must be true:

If you are interested, the club hasan MFJ 259 analyzer under the careof Bill, VE3AJ. You'll learn a lotabout antennas, applications andtheory and have fun buJlding them.

The MFJ 259 SWR analyzerprovides the functions of an SWRmeter, noise bridge, frequencycounter, dip meter, capacitance andInductance meters and coax cablecalculator. Frequency ranges from1.8 MHz to 170 MHz. It's small,portable and runs on 8 AA cells orwith a 12v DC adapter (not supplied).

MFJ advertises that many antennacompanies, research labs andgovernment agencies use theiranalyzers and also tout the one year"No Matter What" warranty.

I fried my analyzer (it was a badham day) and sent it back to MFJ.After a phone call from Jeff, the "NoMatter What" warranty would coverIt. What would have been a $130(U.S.) repair bill, ended up being only$25 (Canadian) in postage.

Quoting from the manual: The MFJ259 can be used to adjust or measurethe following: antennas, tuners,amplifiers, balanced and unbalancetransmission lines, matching ortuning stubs, traps, tuned circuits,small capacitors, RF chokes andinductors and transmitters andoscillators.

SWR and the MFJ 259SWR Is the ratio of load impedance

to source Impedance. The MFJ 259measures the actual SWR and is notfooled by mixtures of reactive andresistance loads. The commonmisconception that 25 ohms ofreactance and 25 ohms of resistancein a load will give a 1: I SWR isabsolutely untrue. The actualmeasured SWR In this condition Is2.6: I. Impedance is the square root of Practical Application:the sum of the squares of reactance Estimating Line Lossesand resislance.-Ed. The MFJ 259 can measure feed line

Another misconception is that losses between 3 and 10 dB. It's easychanging a feed line length will to find the loss at a known frequencychange the SWR. If line loss Is low and then estimate the loss at a lowerit Is perfectly acceptable to make frequency.SWR measurements at the To measure feed line loss:transmitter end of the feedline no I. Connect the feed line to the MFJmatter what the feedline length. 259 antenna connector.However, as line losses increases and 2. The other end of the feed line isas the SWR increases, more error is either left unconnected or

8 The Lakehead Amateur Radio Club HI-Q • September 1996

Lakehead Amateur Radio Club History Project