Broadcast - 8 October 2023
Firstly a quick recap on last week’s Technical Night.
Ross VK7ALH, brought in an Australian made Wagner HF SSB transceiver from late last century. The original unit was designed for ease of use, giving the operator 10 fixed frequencies that can be accessed by a front panel rotary selector switch, assuming the internal crystal had been fitted. Primarily intended for marine usage it is of solid-state design construction with a valve final producing about 35 Watts. Internal construction featured plug in printed circuit board modules which allowed for different versions and options.
This particular unit has been extensively modified prior to landing in Ross’ hands. The main modification was the deletion of the original front panel switched crystal bank selector and the main speaker. These were replaced by a Direct Digital Synthesizer module or DDS for short. The DDS allows for continuous band tuning.
Once again Ross is faced with the effect of various mods on the original circuit before even starting the repair process. Good luck Ross.
Stuart VK7FEAT, while rearranging his Ham storage area came across a UHF 8 element Yagi. He decided to bring it in to this week’s club Technical Night with the intention of running an analyser across it to ascertain its possible standby emergency suitability for the 430 MHz amateur band. The antenna was manufactured in Australia by Polar Electronic Industries Victoria and was a very sturdy commercial grade unit made of stainless steel. It is from the same family of folded dipole Yagi antennas that you most likely have seen adorning Council and Tas Water installations throughout Tasmania. They are extensively used for fixed point to point radio telemetry links back to a central control room. After being swept by a suitable Rig Expert it was indeed true to its label and had a good band pass between 403 and 420 MHz. In fact the SWR only increased to 2:1 at the start of the amateur band frequencies.
Mark VK7KMA, brought along his laptop with an interesting Linux distribution image that he had just installed on it. Mark took us through the setup and list of over thirty programmes intended for amateur radio operators included within it. He then handed it over to us to play around with and get a feel for the operation of the programmes. He has re-imaged some spare desk top computers and intends to include them in a possible Club fundraiser later in the year.
The Linux distribution originates from Andy Stewart KB1OIQ and he calls it and I quote “A complete Linux distribution with everything needed to operate a radio in the modern era”.
For more information on the software search on “Andy's Ham Radio Linux” or go to the included links in the broadcast notes.
KB1OIQ - Andy's Ham Radio Linux download | SourceForge.net and
A Linux Distro For All Your Ham Needs | Hackaday
Friday Coffee Morning had a special treat this week. Nic VK7WW brought along a selection of prototypes he has been studiously working on. They are intended as add-ons for his 1Watt QRP CW transmitter project called the “Cent”, which was created to celebrate 100 years of amateur radio in Tasmania. These add-on modules include a sidetone “sniffer”, VFO and RF amplifier. The amplifier is capable of 37 Watts output on 80 and 40 metres and it incorporates plug in band pass filters on the output.
Nic had them set up and working, with on air confirmation being provided by NTARC’s off air SDR.
Evidently last week Nic has been making contacts into Western Australia using this equipment and only in the 1 Watt mode. Thank you Nic for bringing all the newly constructed gear in to the club rooms, it’s one thing to see the pictures on Discord, but you just can’t beat good old hands on!
There is a rumour that Peter VK7KPC might be receiving yet another certificate. This time as a result of his successful participation in the 43rd Alara Contest, recently held in August.
JOTA/JOTI for 2023 volunteers to assist are needed!
The Venue is the NTARC Club rooms, which is the Rocherlea Scout Hall, Archer St, Rocherlea.
The sessions will be on Saturday the 21st of October from noon to 6pm and Sunday the 22nd of October from 10am till 3pm. Groups are planned to arrive in two hour blocks, split up and rotate through four activities. We also need local contacts to chat with the participants on air in case we can’t link up to other Scout venues. If you are able to assist for any length of time over the two days please let Peter, VK7KPC or the club Secretary know of your availability or by e-mailing secretary@ntarc.net
NTARC Auction Hosting – we have received quite a bit of interest in the possibility of hosting a “Shack Clear-out” auction. There already has been receivers, transceivers and test equipment pencilled in, so we have tentatively proposed an auction to be held in late November.
A reminder, if there is anything you would like added to the Agenda for the General Meeting this coming Wednesday please e-mail to the secretary@ntarc.net, no later than Tuesday the 10th of October.
As always equipment pictures are available on the NTARC Web site under “Blogs” for this broadcast. Now back to the house keeping.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Club General Meeting – Wednesday 11th October. Held at the NTARC Club Room, Rocherlea Scout Hall, Archer Street, Rocherlea. Meeting commences at 7:30pm. For those not going to the meeting there is:
The TestNet and TechNet session - TestNet/CW course on 3.580MHz from 7pm till 7.30pm…. and a TechNet on 3.567MHz from 7.30pm till about 8.30pm. Your host for the evening will be Nic VK7WW.
Coffee Morning - held every Friday in the NTARC Club rooms. Time is from 10am to noon and we look forward to seeing you all there. As mentioned last week there has been a fresh delivery of QSL cards. So why not pop in and join us for a cuppa, there is endless tea and coffee along with biscuits available for a donation.
The Club Technical night - The next session will be on Wednesday the 18th of October and will commence at the winter time of 6.30 pm through to about 10.00 pm, at the Club room Archer Street, Rocherlea.
JOTA/JOTI – Saturday the 21st and Sunday the 22nd of October at Rocherlea club rooms.
FINALLY - A reminder to all members that if you have any items of news you would like added to our weekly roundup, no matter how trivial, then please email them to the Secretary at the following address news@ntarc.net all items to be received no later than 5pm on the Friday prior to the Broadcast.
That’s all folks,
73 from Stefan, VK7ZSB, Secretary NTARC Inc.
