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SPECTRUM http://aucklandvhf.org 1 Vol 57 June 2020
SPECTRUM June 2020 Vol. 57 No. 5
The Official Newsletter of the
Auckland VHF Group Inc.
Spectrum
Meeting Notice — page 3 The President’s Report — page 4 April General Meeting — page 4
Information from Overseas Websites — page 5
Goran, AD6IW has done the work that will guide home builders. From 50mhzandup.org article “High efficiency amplifiers”
SPECTRUM is the official journal of the Auckland VHF Group Inc. Opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect club points
of view. The closing date for SPECTRUM articles is by the 1st of each month. Articles to be submitted to the editor Peter ZL1UKG
Office Name Call sign Work / Mobile E-mail
President Matthew King ZL1YOT 022 649 3310 [email protected]
Vice President Not filled
Secretary (Acting) Vaughan Henderson ZL1VH 021 844 804 [email protected]
Treasurer George Raffles ZL1TUX 021 735 361 [email protected]
Committee Brendon Reid ZL1XXX 021 970 785 [email protected] Greg Storz ZL1GSG 09 849 2878 [email protected] Darryl Grange ZL1TCI 021 123 7733 [email protected] Vaughan Henderson ZL1VH 021 844 804 [email protected]
AREC Group Leader Dave Dingley ZL1TIA 09 828 9394 [email protected] Deputy Group Ldr. Not filled ZL1BQ Trustee Matthew King ZL1YOT 022 649 3310 [email protected] Head Repeater Trustee Vaughan Henderson ZL1VH 021 844 804 [email protected] Klondyke Manager Vaughan Henderson ZL1VH 021 844 804 [email protected] 670 Manager Vaughan Henderson ZL1VH 021 844 804 [email protected] 690 Manager Dennis Seymour ZL1UET 09 278 0381 [email protected] 850 Manager Vaughan Henderson ZL1VH 021 844 804 [email protected]
Spectrum Editor Peter Loveridge ZL1UKG 09 427 6362 [email protected] Trading Table Vaughan Henderson ZL1VH 021 844 804 [email protected]
Account Reviewer Basil Orr ZL1TOW 021 867 367 Webmaster Terry Corin ZL1BPA 027 697 4686 [email protected]
Club Web Page: http://aucklandvhf.org ZL1VHD Dstar gateway administrator: Laurie ZL1ICU 634 5130 0274 817463 [email protected]
SPECTRUM http://aucklandvhf.org 2 Vol 57 June 2020
Auckland VHF Group Inc.
Branch 66 NZART PO Box 10138, Dominion Rd, Auckland 1446
Clubrooms: 30 Hazel Ave, Mt Roskill
Club News and Net:
The combined Auckland VHF Group and Auckland Regional Branch News and Net are held on 146.625 MHz and 439.875 MHz at 8.15 pm each Sunday or
after the ZL6A National Broadcast on the last Sunday of the month.
Club meetings are held at the Clubrooms at Hazel Avenue, on the second Monday of each month at 7.30 pm. For other details, listen to the News and
Net each Sunday evening.
SPECTRUM http://aucklandvhf.org 3 Vol 57 June 2020
Auckland VHF Group (Inc) Branch 66
General Meeting Notice
Monday 11th June 2020 7.30pm
At the Hazel Avenue Club Rooms (Located on the left at the end of Hazel Avenue)
The Evening’s Topic:
David Probine will talk about improving Electric Vehicle Efficiency using Supercapacitors with Lithium-Ion Batteries
Integrating a Supercapacitor into the Powertrain acts as a buffer to the Battery pack during high peak current demand, occurring mostly during accelerating and Regenerative braking periods.
The projected system gain efficiency is 10-15% for typical city driving, but not so much for open road driving. Plenty of others have tried a similar approach
and have failed to get the level of efficiency to match my system.
EVERYBODY WELCOME
We look forward to seeing you there
73’s and Regards, George Raffles, ZL1TUX Treasurer, Auckland VHF Group Inc
Future Contest Dates for 2020
Microwave Contest 3/4 October 2020 Field Day Contest 5/6 December 2020 73, Greg Storz ZL1GSG Contest Manager
Coming Events:
Level 1 Lock is opening
SPECTRUM http://aucklandvhf.org 4 Vol 57 June 2020
Auckland VHF Group Presidents Report June 2020
Greetings from the land of the free! We had our first in-person committee meeting last week. It was good to see everyone again. We covered repeaters and problems gaining access to them, AREC, Digital Pres-ence and email addresses, finances, combining an SGM with a monthly meeting to confirm the previous AGM minutes, connecting fibre to the clubrooms, making Spec-trum freely available to anyone, tree pruning around club rooms, upcoming guest speakers. Recruitment, construc-tion nights, licence classes. If you are looking at getting a VNA analyser, here are the options: small (2.5”) or big (4.3”) screen, no shell or plas-tic shell or metal shell, battery or not, connecting and cali-brating cables or not. If the pictures are all square on to the screen it could be to avoid showing that it is not in a case. So read and observe carefully. If you want a case search for “NanoVNA case”. We had the boat going last week. Our intrepid band of sailors circumnavigated Browns Island then the crankcase filled up with seawater - AGAIN! Houston, we have a problem!
73 Matthew ZL1YOT
Auckland VHF Group Inc. Minutes for the General Meeting held on 11th May 2020
Held on Monday 11 May 2020 using Microsoft Teams Meeting started at 19:35 after a few delays while everyone got online.
Present – 9 members and no visitors. Quorum for a General Meeting is 9 members. Apologies: Matthew ZL1YOT Minutes of April General Meeting – these could not be approved as Spectrum magazine with the minutes had not yet been sent to members. Carried over to June meeting. Matters arising: NIL Due to the Covid-19 lock-down there was no correspondence or reports presented. General Business: Internet connection at the clubrooms. ZL1BPA raised the topic of video presentations of our meetings to members who are unable to attend. Limitation is no internet access other than
SPECTRUM http://aucklandvhf.org 5 Vol 57 June 2020
using members mobile data. Another Auckland club pays $65/month for 60 G-Byte. After some discussion agreed we would investigate cost of a fibre connection to the clubrooms. Klondyke Project Fund Raising. As Matthew ZL1YOT was not present, members were not able to be informed as to progress. ZL1TCI advised that he was going to contact ZL1YOT again to pro-gress this. We may need to seek additional assistance with this task. In the absence of an organised guest speaker for the meeting, Brendon ZL1XXX offered to give us a presentation on the challenges of providing AC power to your property when you are not con-nected to the national grid. The current setup on his property at Whangarei Heads is a wind gen-erator and solar panels charging a battery bank. A battery driven inverter provides the 230V AC power and works well provided use is limited on cloudy days. A diesel driven generator provides additional back-up power but is noisy when running. Along the way he had trialled a water wheel operated from a storm water ditch, driving a F&P washing machine motor. This had limited success as there was not enough water for continuous operation and had to be abandoned. A low-cost wind generator and tower purchased from China was a better solution, but the wind generator controller used about 8 FET’s in the control circuit and if one failed, a ripple-on effect took out more of them. This was happening about every 3 to 4 months and took 2 to 3 hours to repair each time. Brendon found a better although more agricultural approach to wind generator control from an American company – this uses large wire-wound load resistors to control and brake the wind generator if the wind gets too strong. This has proved to be much more reliable. Thanks to Brendon for a most entertaining presentation including photos of the various failures and successes leading to his current power supply set-up. The meeting closed at 2027. E & O.E. ZL1VH
A look at overseas developments where amateurs working in industry can apply their skills
Vaughan ZL1VH has been spending some time on the internet while he was unable to go to work recently. He has provided a number of links that you can follow to read / download the informa-tion to provide inspiration for your own projects at home.
https://wiki.microwavers.org.uk/Microwave_EME The link to the Wiki and EME document was part of a larger book that never got published. It's just been posted. It contains a lot of meaningful information for the bands 23 cm and above. See the index below for topics you may be interested in.
1 EME on the higher bands, Sam Jewell, G4DDK and John Worsnop, G4BAO 1.1 Introduction 1.2 1296MHz (23cm) and 2300MHz - 2400MHz (13cm) 1.2.1 1.3GHz (23cm)
SPECTRUM http://aucklandvhf.org 6 Vol 57 June 2020
1.2.2 Practical 1.3GHz EME systems 1.3 2.3GHz (13cm) 1.3.1 Cross-band operation 1.4 System Engineering for GHz Bands EME 1.4.1 Dish feed optimisation 1.4.2 Low Noise Amplifiers and losses 1.4.3 Tracking systems 1.5 Power Amplifier considerations 1.5.1 13cm power amplifiers 1.5.2 9cm and 6cm power amplifiers 1.5.3 3cm power amplifiers 1.5.4 Location for the PA 1.6 10GHz (3cm) 1.6.1 Frequency allocations at 10GHz 1.7 Moving the dish 1.7.1 Polar and equatorial mounts 1.7.2 Elevation over Azimuth mounts 1.7.3 Tracking encoders 1.8 Equipment requirements 1.8.1 Transverters 1.8.2 The LNA 1.8.3 Power amplifiers 1.9 Feeds and Switches 1.10 Linear vs circular po
IARU-R1
On the “iaur-r1.org” website there are a number of headings under “About IARU”. Of interest is the Committees & Working Groups section. The VHF/UHF/SHF Committee (C5) the News head-ing reports that there is a new VHF Newsletter. Issue 86 contains Conference news, VHF Contest news, Band Plan working group reports with 50 MHz and 23 cm being the latest in this issue and an opinion piece for topics that need to be discussed at the coming Conference. This can be downloaded as a PDF file.
http://50mhzandup.org/archive.html This web site has a collection of Powerpoint and PDF files. The subject matter is mostly 10 GHz, 24 GHz and above. Archive of Documents and Presentations A hybrid SDR made from the mcHF UI board and the HackRF front end, Gary, K6MG, May 2020 Millimeter Wave Path Selection and Propagation Prediction, Mike, K6ML, April 2020 New World Distance Record on 122GHz, Mike, K6ML, April 2020 Low noise amplifier design and implementation, Goran, AD6IW, March 2020 A discussion of 80GHz equipment and operation by Jim Moss, N9JIM, Feb 2020 the History and Theory of Circular Waveguide and also Pawlan-Pickett-Potter Feedhorns, by Jef-frey, WA6KBL, Nov. 2019 A tale of two 122 GHz Radios, K6ML and VK3CV at MUD Oct. 2019
SPECTRUM http://aucklandvhf.org 7 Vol 57 June 2020
the annual tuneup results and summary, July 2019 Description of the Upgraded Beacons on Mt Allison with Instructions, June 2019 A Stressed DIsh for EME Roving, Gary, K6MG, Mar. 2019 mcVx SDR microwave IF exciter project, Mike, K6ML, Nov. 2018 16x16 Patch Array Antenna for 10GHz, Miroslav Pajovic, WA6MP, Aug. 2017 a block diagram of the unmodified Harris DVM 10 surplus radios, Sept. 2014 AD6FP 10 24 flip switch radio 2014 Build Your Own 10 and 24 GHz Radio group project documents KK6MK and AD6IW 3600 MHz Synthesizer and Mixer, Sept. 2012 High Efficiency Amplifiers, by Goran, AD6IW, Sept. 2010 Improvement of the Stellex/Endwave YIG Synthesizer, by Jeffrey, WA6KBL, July 2010 an Introduction to Amateur Radio Microwave Operation, by Brian Yee, W6BY, June 2010 the Ham Radio Social at the 2010 International Microwave Symposium Using a SDR at 144MHz for a 10GHz IF, by Jeffrey, WA6KBL, May 2009 Filter Software Available for Download (2009) Documentation for Harris 10GHz surplus equipment 24GHz transverter design and construction by Jim, N9JIM, Nov. 2006 Build your own waveguide to coax transitions, Jan. 2002 10 and 24 GHz dual band feed, by AD6FP and AD6IW, Aug 2001 W5LUA's paper on using the PCOM modules at 24 GHz, Sept. 2000 It is a pity that Lock-down states are relaxing. It would take a long time to read all of this. This format has been extracted by the editor to guide members as to what to download. For the well heeled amateur – the annual Comms Connect conference which can’t be held cur-rently, is offering these virtual sessions. When they were first promoted about two months ago, I though this will be good. Then I found how much and at $1450 I will not be taking advantage!
WFevents A division of Westwick-Farrow Media
SPECTRUM http://aucklandvhf.org 8 Vol 57 June 2020
If you want an up-to-date, authoritative overview of microwave radio that dispels the many myths that have become mainstream in the industry, then this online masterclass is for you.
SPECTRUM http://aucklandvhf.org 9 Vol 57 June 2020
Amateur Radio Emergency Communication.
Volunteers in radio communications.
Using our resources to help the community.
INFORMATION
The Auckland VHF Group has an AREC Group that works closely with Auckland Council
Emergency Management. They provide advice, resources and manpower to assist in times of
need.
The AREC section is headed by Group Leader David Dingley ZL1TIA.
From time to time the VHF Group has training sessions and exercises. Members also assist with
sports events, parades and other community activities. For further information about AREC
please see the NZART web site: http://www.nzart.org.nz/arec/
JOIN BRANCH 66 AREC
All members of the Auckland VHF Group are encouraged to join the AREC section. Your
contribution, large or small is appreciated by all involved. For further information about joining
Branch 66 AREC contact the Group Leader:
David Dingley ZL1TIA 828 9394 [email protected]
*****
AREC News:
AUCKLAND VHF GROUP (INC)
SUPPORT THE EFFORTS OF THE VHF GROUP THROUGH YOUR
SUBSCRIPTION
SUBSCRIPTIONS FOR 2020
THE SUBS GO TOWARDS;
Maintenance and on-going improvements to beacons, repeaters and linking systems for the
national system, including the Klondyke repeater site.
Providing on-time and free access to spectrum magazine as soon as it is available.
Providing facilities for good speakers and lecturers at our general meetings.
Discounted access to our trading table goodies.
Access to test equipment and technical help when needed.
FULL MEMBERSHIP $50.00
ASSOCIATE MEMBERSHIP $44.00
FAMILY MEMBERSHIP ADDITIONAL $10:00
SEE ATTACHED MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL FORM (next page)
REMEMBER TO KEEP US INFORMED OF YOUR EMAIL
ADDRESS!
OTHERWISE WE CANNOT SEND YOU SPECTRUM!
Thought for the month:
When I find it, I don't need it. When I need it, I can't find it.
SPECTRUM http://aucklandvhf.org 10 Vol 57 June 2020
SPECTRUM http://aucklandvhf.org 11 Vol 57 June 2020
NAME Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms Christian or given Surname
Address
Phone: (home)
Phone: (work)
Phone (Cell)
Occupation: Callsign
NZART Member Branch assigned
AREC Member Branch assigned
Category To pay
Membership Full $50:00 $
New/Renewal/
Change Associate $44:00 $
Receipt # Family Add $10:00 $
Donations Auckland/Klondyke $
Brynderwyn $
Data/D-Star $
IRLP $
Other
Beacon / Repeater / Links / Licence donations $
Total $
Payment
Circle one --> Cash Cheque Internet deposit
Invoice/Statement re-
quired Please Advise Treasurer
Internet
To account ASB 12-3011-0830580-00. Account name is: Auckland VHF Group Inc. Include your Name/Callsign and Sub or RepeatDon etc in particulars field, for us to track. To sponsor a specific repeater, nominate the repeater and a backup repeater for the dona-tion, in case the initial choice has been taken. The sponsorship is a minimum of $50.00 which covers the licence for a year. Note: Please return the Form to the email or postal address given below to allow us to update our records. (Please Note the Account Number and email may have changed from last year) Email to: [email protected]
Post The Treasurer, Auckland VHF Group Inc.,
PO Box 10138, Dominion Road, Auckland 1446.
In Person Bring this form and payment to the next club meeting, 2nd Monday of the month
or to the Committee meeting last Monday of the month.
SPECTRUM http://aucklandvhf.org 12 Vol 57 June 2020
The Auckland VHF Group Inc Branch 66 NZART gratefully acknowledges the sponsorship of Branch 66 Beacons, Repeaters and
Fixed Links license fees and the Group’s repeater operations by the following
radio amateurs and NZART Branches for 2020
The Auckland VHF Group, Branch 66, would like to thank all those who came forward to
sponsor the licence fee for our Beacons, Repeaters or Fixed Links for the year 2020 or donate
towards the Group’s repeater Operations.
Repeater frequency Repeater Sponsorship Amount
and name location advised for 2019 paid
53.725 Repeater Klondyke Road Gwynne Rowe $50
144.253 Beacon Nihotupu Not operating
145.625 Data Rptr Klondyke Road Not operating
145.650 Dstar repeater Klondyke Road Laurie/Marlene Mathews $50
146.625 Repeater Klondyke Road
146.700 Repeater Ruaotuwhenua Dennis Thorton $50
146.900 Repeater Mt Puketutu Radio David Wilkins $50
432.253 Beacon Nihotupu Stability testing
438.175 Dstar repeater Klondyke Road Laurie/Marlene Mathews $50
438.500 Repeater North Head Not operating
439.850 Link Tx to Kaimai Klondyke Road Franklin Radio Club $50
439.875 Ak Nat Sys Rptr Klondyke Road Franklin Radio Club $50
439.900 Link Tx to Egmont Klondyke Road Franklin Radio Club $50
439.950 Link Tx to Brynderwyn Klondyke Road Franklin Radio Club $50
1291.9 Repeater 217 Glenfield Rd Soren Low $50
Total Sponsorship $500
NZART Inc: Branch/Personal donations
Papakura Radio Club $500
Donations $1000
Current as at 25/02/2020
SPECTRUM http://aucklandvhf.org 13 Vol 57 June 2020
Name Donation Pledge
Donations 2018-2019 6550.00
Charles Graves 15.00
Ian Ashley ZL1AOX 500.00
Keith Dix ZL1BQE 50.00
Margaret Dingley ZL1AYV 100.00
David Dingley ZL1TIA 100.00
Jenny Dingley ZL1TDB 100.00
Russell King ZL1WITT 20.00
Basil Orr 500.00
Raffle — Meter 399.00
Total 8274.00 -
Percent 8.274 0.00
Target 100,000
Tower 63,245.00 Other 27,268.25
GST 9,486.75
Total 72,731.75 Total 27,268.25
Auckland VHF Group 40,000.00 40.00
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100$
Re
ceiv
ed
(00
0s)
Klondyke Funding
Pledge
Donation
Auckland VHF Group
SPECTRUM http://aucklandvhf.org 14 Vol 57 June 2020
TRADING TABLE
Currently our Trading Table is only open on meeting nights but wait, there’s more! Trading Table is now on line. Navigate your way to our new look web site at https://aucklandvhf.org/ and click on TRADING TABLE (the most right hand tab. Wait a few seconds and the on-line version of the Trading Table will pop up. From here you can browse the various sections, dig deeper to look at what’s available and even place your order online. If you prefer to just look at the Trading Table List, just hover your mouse pointer over the TRADING TABLE and a pull down list will appear. From this you can access the full trading Table list and download it in .PDF form.
SPECTRUM http://aucklandvhf.org 15 Vol 57 June 2020
Recent Additions to our Trading Table Stock Electrolytic Capacitors SMD (Packed in bags of 10 for 50c): 10uF 16V electrolytic 47uF 16V electrolytic 100uF 16V electrolytic Resistors: 50 Ohm 0.4W +/-1% tolerance. 10 for 50c 0.25 Ohm 5W wire wound 0.27 Ohm 3W Wire wound vertical pcb mount Siemens Gas Surge Voltage Protection Tubes: SVP Tube type B13-A230. 230V D.C. minimum strike voltage. $1.00 for 10 2-electrode type with wire leads, pre-bent for 10mm hole spacing. ETAL P1200 600:600 Ohm line matching transformer $3.00 each Quartz Crystal: 6.000 MHz HC49SMD package marked CQ6.0000 $1.00 each BNC plugs 50 ohm R/Angle for RG58 coax (solder/clamp type) $2.50 each Relays: 12V coil, DPDT 1A non-latching (EB2-12NU) SMD package $2.00 each 12V coil, DPDT 1A 2-coil latching (EB2-12TNU) SMD package $2.00 each LED Holder panel mount 5mm Kingbright nylon in bags of 50 $3.00 per bag Lacing Twine black plastic, in 10m rolls. $1.00 each Ceramic feed-thru insulators, 500V rating, solder in. 50c bag of 10 Semiconductors: RURP30120 1200V 30A ultrafast switching diode $1.00 each 1SS55 Silicon switching diode. 70V 100mA DO-35 10/$1.00 2N5777 NPN Light detector, Photo-darlington 45V TO-92 $0.50 each 2N6027 Programmable Unijunction Transistor 40V 300mW $0.10 each 2N6122 NPN TO220 60V 4A 40W GP amplifier $0.50 each 2N6292 NPN TO220 70V 40W GP amplifier $0.50 each 2N6609 PNP TO3 140V 16A 150W audio/driver $1.00 each BUK457-500B Power MOSFET 500V 9A 150W TO-220 $2.00 each SGP15N60 NPN IGBT 15A 600V fast switch TO-220 $1.00 each SGP20N60 NPN IGBT 20A 600V fast switch TO-220 $1.00 each UDN2965W-2 Dual high power stepper motor driver. 20 to 50V out at 4A SIP package. $1.00 each LM3909N LED driver/flasher. 8-pin plastic DIL package. $0.50 each LM3911N Temperature Controller IC. 8-pin plastic DIL package. $1.00 each LM3914N LED Bar-graph driver. 18-pin DIP plastic package. $5.00 each PIC16C54B 8-Bit CMOS Microcontroller. 18 pin SOIC SMD package $2.00 each Limited quantity
