Broadcast - 17 July 2022
This week saw a Wednesday club room night very well attended and as usual Peter, VK7KPC was first there and was deeply involved in Nic VK7WW’s Morse training session. Peter had successfully read a practice Morse message from Nic, and he was character perfect! He seemed happy with his progress and improvement over the last few years since the start, and his participation in the Morse Code Course run by Nic on Wednesday nights. Well done to Peter for being a conscientious student and to Nic for donating time and effort each week over the last few years for the betterment of amateur radio operators.
Once again from Ross, VK7ALH and his seemingly endless supply of radio equipment in his deep vault came a Kenwood TS-450-S. A very neat and tidy compact HF transceiver. This unit’s scan function had been strategically modified for low light and night vision work. Even though it was only a “post it” note cut down and the word “Scan” written on it and attached to the button that said the same, it has much better contrast and improved readability. It just goes to show not every problem has to have a high tech solution, good thinking Ross.
Stefan, VK7ZSB brought in a portable antenna made by the German company Spiderbeam, an Aerial-51 Model 404-UL. According to the manufacturer it is an “Ultra-Light Asymmetrical Inverted-V Antenna”. The entire assembly including the antenna feed unit and twelve metres of co-axial cable fit neatly inside a pencil case sized bag. The entire weight including co-axial feeder cable comes in under 450 grams! Primarily designed for portable field and emergency use attached to a telescoping fiberglass pole of about twelve metres. It covers the 40, 20, 15, 10 and 6 metre bands without the need for an Antenna Matching Unit and can handle 200 Watts. A very nicely packaged unit, can’t wait to try it out.
While we are talking about light weight and small, Peter VK7KPC, also brought in a homemade transceiver interface. He based the construction on a design published by Clint Hurd, KK7UQ, published back in 2004. Peter constructed the unit in a small metal cough lozenge box! It interfaces between a computer sound card and serial port and your chosen transceiver. It will allow manual or automatic control of your rig, in this case for the sending and receiving of SSTV images. No doubt this re-surfaced in his radio shack due to the popularity of Thursday night FM SSTV sessions and the general plethora of SSTV transmissions on SSB at the moment.
Early in the night Idris VK7ZIR managed to access the REAST Ham Radio Trivia Night and brought it up on the large screen. Although we were unable to participate, it did not stop us from trying to interact with the monitor with our answers and suggestions, HiHi. With all the other distractions during the night and in retrospect it was probably a good thing that we gave up trying to log in as it saved us the embarrassment of admitting our results, or should I say lack of Trivia knowledge. All in all an enjoyable and very late ending evening.
Well it looks like the club working bee is locked in for the 30th of July, save the date in your diary. Needless to say tea and coffee will be provided and the urn will be ready at 10am for the first cuppa. Remember to BYO lunch.
At Friday Coffee morning, as a taster to the working bee, Peter VK7KPC, unfurled the proposed new antenna on the ground behind the club rooms. News travelled fast and the club rooms quickly emptied, with everyone gathering outside in the cold to inspect the HF 80 metre and above Ladder Line constructed dipole. Much discussion ensued on its proposed method of suspension. Eventually all returned once again to the warmth of Skywarmer back in the club rooms. Lionel VK7ZLB arrived, and reported to us that he had successfully identified the mystery item mentioned in a previous broadcast. He had us all waiting in suspense, but refused to tell us and will keep his secret from us until his formal presentation on batteries at the next Tech Night session.
Mug Order – They are now available at the NTARC club rooms. If you have ordered one but can’t get in to pick it up drop a note to the Secretary and we will see what we can arrange. Because of the large order, we received a very favourable discount this time. Your final price is only ten dollars
UPCOMING EVENTS
TestNet and TechNet – Wednesday 20th July. 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.
SSTV Net - held every Thursday night on the 70cm repeater, VK7RJG and linked to the South via repeater VK7RAF. Conducted from 7.30pm till about 8.30pm. These SSTV images will be available on the NTARC website under ‘Blogs’. Remember, to be able to link with VK7RAF you must enable a CTCSS tone of 141.3 Hz.
Club Technical night – Wednesday 27th July. Held at the NTARC Club rooms, 7.30pm until whenever. This will include a presentation by Lionel VK7ZLB on batteries.
Coffee Morning – held every Friday in the NTARC Club rooms. Get warm while you 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 and recently delivered mugs. 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,
73 from Stefan, VK7ZSB, Secretary NTARC.
