Broadcast - 24 April 2022
At the time of writing, the NTARC Safety Communications Team is at Wattlewood Park, Sassafras on an Equine Endurance Ride. We traveled down Friday morning and have established the Ride Base, set up a 2 meter and 70cm repeater for voice and data communications and are in the process of testing communications to field check points. The rides will be 160km, 85km, 50km and 25km spread over the two day event. The first of the rides start at 03:00 Saturday morning, it looks as though it is going to be a cold start. If it is Sunday when you hear this then hopefully we are packing up and making our way back to Launceston. An update to follow in the next broadcast.
Now over to Idris VK7ZIR to bring you up to speed on the happenings at last Wednesday club Tech night; “Peter VK7KPC was first on the scene and had the fire burning welcomingly when we arrived. That completed he was off conducting measurements on the club’s multi band vertical antenna. He selected the 80 metre band for his test and measurements using his RigExpert analyser. This obtained the values of resistive and reactive values at a particular frequency. Peter patiently took groups of club members through the use of the software to calculate passive component values needed to achieve a match and the results were shown graphically as a Smith Chart. The name of the software is SimNEC. For further information see the link that is available in the text version of the broadcast. http://www.ae6ty.com
Thank you Peter for your patience and enthusiasm. He also brought in a mystery item, a weighty brown wax covered box about the size of a modern mobile radio… On turning it over the manufacturer was revealed as “Crompton and Parkinson” of South Shields in the United Kingdom. On further examination it had a list of voltages, 135, 67.5, 6 and1.5 Volts. Considering the evidence it turned out to be a multi voltage battery for a military valve radio. Peter confirmed it was the battery pack from an A41 LarkSpur type Man Pack field radio. The weight of the battery constituted half the weight of the combined radio set. It could also be used in the American equivalent PRC8, 9 and 10. All capable of operating in the amateur VHF band.
Also on show was a Dentron GLA1000, a 500Watt HF linear amplifier brought in by Ross VK7ALH. True to form the cover was removed, and it was noticed that all the screws were Allen keyed, a mark of quality. It was powered by a four valve arrangement. Ross has several of these amplifiers he is considering to part with. Thank Ross, for bringing it in.
Peter VK7PD brought in a 23cm nineteen element Yagi antenna he had assembled from parts intended for a club antenna workshop. Another RigExpert analyser was quickly produced and connected to the Yagi. The results were pleasing. The said Yagi quickly disappeared into Ross’s ute to be used on the next 1296 local “QSO party.”
Thank you Idris for the update. I must admit Peter’s battery did have that waxy feel and smell associated with military waterproofing.
UPCOMING EVENTS
TestNet and TechNet – Wednesday 27th April. 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 again be Nic VK7WW.
Club Working Bee – Saturday 30th April. This will be the first of a few working bees before winter sets in. Any interested members would be welcome. Urns will be ready by 10:30 for a hot drink before work begins.
Club Tech night – Wednesday 4th May. Held at the NTARC Club rooms, 7.30pm until whenever.
Malcolm White Presentation – 15th June about 20:00 Apart from being a licensed amateur at an early age, the major topic is to be his association with Ray Naughton VK3ATN at the time of Ray’s pioneering Earth Moon Earth (EME) achievements in the 1960s on the 2 metre band.
Coffee Morning – held every Friday in the NTARC Club rooms. Catch up time is from 10am to noon and we look forward to seeing you all there. These coffee events represent a good opportunity to collect your QSL cards. We currently have cards awaiting collection, so why not pop in and check the QSL box and join us for a cuppa and chat.
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 from,
Stefan, VK7ZSB, Secretary NTARC inc.
