Communicator - Central NH Amateur Radio Club

Monthly
Newsletter of the Central New Hampshire Amateur Radio Club
The Communicator
The
ARRL
Special
Service Club
July,
2016
Communicator
July 2016
CNHARC Web Page - www.cnharc.org
July Meeting Program
Dave Worrall and Bob MacGuffie will give a full report on the annual Dayton Extravaganza Hamvention.
There will also be a presentation about HART. Don’t know what that is? Then get your cheeks in a seat in the basement of
the church!
The official meeting should conclude by 8:30 p.m. and you’re encouraged to stay and chit chat with your friends until
dawn.
Refreshments will be served!
If you wish to present a program or have a specific subject covered please contact Cliff, N1RCQ @ 279-7763.
For directions to the meeting, the talk in repeater is 146.985 PL123.
munications for a long-distance public service event called
Sea to Summit.
From the President’s Key
By Tim, W3ATB
Both events test equipment, hone skills and build camaraderie. I can tell you for a fact I'm a better operator than
I was last week because of my participation in Field Day.
This year I decided to test my personal skills by operating with as little equipment as possible in a remote wooded location. I wanted to see if I could operate successfully
on battery power for 24 hours. The answer is yes. I was in
awe that my battery strength meter was still on 100% after
24 hours. In reality I had enough power to last indefinitely
had I unpacked the small solar panel I also had with me.
Everything I needed to get on the air fit into a small
daypack. Although I drove to the spot where I set up, I
could have hiked in a few miles to operate had that been
One of the sayings associated with your hobby is
"When all else fails..... Amateur Radio".
In This Issue
It refers to our ability to provide communications in
case a man-made or natural disaster takes out commercial
power, commercial radio, TV and telephone service.
From the President’s Key ………………..………….…...
W1JY Repeater News …………………………………
Field Day 2016 .………………………………………...
Work Light / Power Station ….………………………...
Sea to Summit Triathlon ……………………………….
Upcoming Public Service Events .…………………….
Adam’s Junk Box ………………………………...…….
Only One Hill .…………………………………………...
Secretary’s Report ……………...……………………...
After all, you have what's necessary in your home,
assuming you have power, to get on the air, right?
The last weekend in June many club members tested
their ability to communicate outdoors without commercial
power by participating in the annual ARRL Field Day event.
Other members of the club helped provide emergency com-
Next Club Meeting - Tuesday, July 5th, 2016 at 7:00 PM
Gilford Community Church, Gilford NH
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The Communicator
July, 2016
necessary. The biggest challenge had nothing to do with
radio. It's providing shelter, food and water that becomes
problematic.
I did this in the spirit of the ARRL's mission statement
about Field Day. The ARRL says the purpose of Field Day
is "To work as many stations as possible on any and all amateur bands (excluding the 60, 30, 17, and 12-meter bands)
and to learn to operate in abnormal situations in less than
optimal conditions."
W1JY
Repeater News
When the you-know-what hits the fan, and it will at
some point, do you feel it's going to be 70°F, breezy and
delightful outdoors? Do you think you'll have the ability to
operate long distance with minimal equipment? Can you get
an antenna up by yourself in a tree using just a water bottle
and small reel of string?
by Mark Persson, W1DDI
Some repeater updates
The club's Field Day was an enormous success even
though it was not held in the remote woods. The CNHARC
2016 Field Day didn't just magically appear.
6/23 – Franklin
Big thanks to Chris, N1HD for his tower work. We
removed the temporary internet link that was in service
since last fall and went out of service this spring when the
leaves came out.
The new Powerbeam M5 was put in it’s place and
aimed at Gunstock waiting for the other side.
While on the tower, we install the microwave link towards Goffstown. Hopefully that will be online maybe another evening this week since Paul put all his repeaters back
in service this weekend also.
It happened because back in the middle of winter a
club member, Ms. Aleda Nichols, contacted me saying she
wanted to make it a reality. Aleda is passionate about your /
her club and she's very passionate about Field Day.
She took the ARRL's mission statement to heart and
used it to create a Field Day where each operator was responsible for bringing everything he or she needed to operate, including food, drink and shelter. After all, when the
you-know-what hits the fan, a catering truck is not going to
appear to keep your blood sugar levels up.
6/25 - Gunstock
If you missed the club's Field Day event, you missed a
golden opportunity to become a better radio operator. Do
you have to wait until June of 2017 for another chance?
Big thanks to Jim N1XBD and his two boys for an all
day work party on Gunstock.
The tower top section which we acquired well over a
year ago, was finally added to finish the top of the tower
sections already on the summit. The 6m antenna was moved
up near the top of the tower and the new Powerbeam M5
link to Franklin was established.
No.
You can do what several in the club did in October of
2014. You can have a mini training exercise modeled after
Field Day. This event only needs to last six hours. Two
years ago it was held at Opechee Park. You can have it
wherever you like, even in your backyard.
Franklin is now IP enabled and part of the bigger network we are building.
Some pictures can be seen here:
Who's going to make this happen? Perhaps it's you.
Maybe you'll do what Aleda did and jump in feet first to
pull it off. I hope you do.
http://www.cnharc.org/repeaters/point-to-pointnetwork/
When you see Aleda at the next club meeting, be sure
to thank her for helping make CNHARC a better club. Ask
her if she plans to do Field Day next year and why. I think
her answers will energize you.
CNHARC Monday Night Net at 8:00 PM on 146.985 MHz
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The Communicator
July, 2016
Field day 2016
Social Media and CNHARC
By Jim, KB1FBQ
CNHARC has a presence on Facebook,
Twitter, and YouTube!
Find us on Facebook at:
www.facebook.com/CNHARC
Follow @CNHARC on Twitter.
Visit the CNHARC page on YouTube at
http://www.youtube.com/user/
CNHARCAmateurRadio
Aleda did an amazing job with field day this year. The
site she located couldn't have been better. We were in a
field atop a hill overlooking ridges of Loudon and Canterbury NH. The temperature was hot! The area we were in
was dry and dusty, although dust did not seem to be a problem even with the occasional wind gusts.
Chris Read and I began setting up our phone station.
The ample tall pine trees we had available yielded a great
support for Chris's multi and fan dipole.... Which yielded
great results and many complimentary signal reports.
Clayton arrived in the morning to help us set up. We
exchanged a few ideas and some yucks. Everyone was in a
good mood. I could tell this was going to be a fun weekend.
After we setup in Chris's trailer, we met Walt and
helped him launch his antenna. I enjoyed meeting him, I
believe he is a relatively new ham, but what an amazing
guy! You know when you meet someone for the first time
and you know they're just "good people", well Walt is good
people. He made a ton of contacts too! I only wish I had
more time to spend with him.
Later Tom Bates arrived, and we helped him erect his
dipole suspended by an ingenious tow hitch mast mount in
an inverted V fashion. I jokingly named it the "danger pole"
as we really needed more guy rope for this sky scraper. This thing was tall! Tom is a fantastic CW op! And, I
had the pleasure of logging some QSOs with him. More on
this later.
Operations commenced at 2pm sharp. Chris and I began search and pounce on 15m phone. The band was junk.
Not too many contacts to be had. We began calling CQ and
logged quite a few, but all the action seemed to be on the
lower bands. So luckily we were able to hop on 20m and
make a good amount of QSOs.
As the day progressed 40m began to open up. We
grabbed the USB logging stick for 40m and the band and
continued making contacts steadily.
We took a dinner break around 6 or 7. In between
cooking burgers and dogs, drinking some suds, flying a
drone (what a hoot! Chris let me fly his RC drone! Now
that's a potential new hobby on the horizon!) I also had the
pleasure to meet Chris's son. Very nice kid. My parents
stopped in briefly on their motorcycles to check things out
and shoot the breeze. It was very relaxing, laid back. Just
wish we had a campfire!
Back in action Chris and I hammered the bands.
Swapping between logging and operating. We made hundreds of contacts. It's truly amazing to have such a good
friend and team mate!
I decided I'd try something new this year. I had been
experimenting with working amateur satellites. A few
CNHARC
Repeater Sustaining Members
2016 / 2017
Glen Aldrich
KC1AAI
Ed O’Hearn Jr.
N1EO
Nate Ayotte
KC1DKE
Robert MacGuffie
K2HZN
Ron Baker
N1JJW
JT Travers
K9WFD
Dick Christopher
N1LT
James Robinton
N1CRZ
Richard Wholey
K1OBP
Richard Hansen
KA1BUC
Bruce Hamel
K1BRH
John Gothardt
K1UAF
Eric Bernow
Pasha Roberts
W1LMT
Bill Guinther
KC1BMM Dave Worrall
N2IRO
Jim Brown
KB1FBQ
Robert Haight Jr.
N1SSH
Edward Curley
KC1CLA
Don Percy
W1DND
Tim Carter
W3ATB
Ed Colby
N1SCJ
Ron Desharnais
N1GFD
Peter Drexel
AE1T
Thomas Edwards
W1EDW
Peter Jackson
KI3Y
Bryan Medeiros
KC1DVN
Chris Read
N1HD
Cyrus Rowe
K1CY
Stephen Saunders
K1NET
Dick Sterry
KB1OCE
Frank Towle
KC1AAQ
James White
KA1OEO
CNHARC 6-Meter Thurs. Night Net 8 PM, 53.770 MHz
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The Communicator
July, 2016
weeks prior I had made an ISS contact through the spacecraft’s digipeater and I was hooked. I wanted to try an FM
voice pass on field day. Hey.... It's worth 100 points! Why
not!
I had mapped out two passes. One not so close, the
other very close, of SO-50. The first pass was at 11:49pm....
The other at 1:49 pm.
I attempted the first pass at 11:49... No luck. The satellite was too low in the horizon for my 5watt HT and Arrow beam antenna. We were able to hear stations however,
so the second pass yielded high hopes.
Chris and I went back to operating making a good
number of HF QSOs until SO-50 once again graced us with
its presence.
With my beam mounted on a camera tripod.... Squelch
open and microphone in hand Chris, Walt and I waited anxiously for the satellite to start transmitting signals.
Suddenly... We heard it! Strong!!! A station from
Long Island! Then many stations in a huge pileup all calling
at once. I shifted frequencies for Doppler... Adjusted the
beams azimuth with help from Chris alerting me times....
And then we heard it! N4UFO calling CQ field day! I threw
out the club callsign saying at first "n2ufo this is w1jy
handheld" Doh!!!! Chris was recording the pass with his
phone and corrected me.... "N4UFO from Whiskey one
Japan Yankee!" Suddenly a few crackles then ...." W1JY
this is N4UFO North Carolina!!!!!" I fired back our 4 alpha
NH and then he replied with crackles "have fun at field
day!" Success!!!! My first FM satellite QSO! On field day
to boot! I jumped for joy and high fived Walt and Chris. I
wish more of the group had made it over. But everyone was
so busy making QSOs. What a great thrill!
It was about 2am.... Chris was getting fidgety in his
chair. I could tell the long day and mild heat stroke was
settling in. I was tired as well. We both agreed to shut down
the phone station. Everyone at this point had called it a
night. I said my good nights. And was ready for bed.
But then I saw a lamp off in the distance.... It was
Tom Bates! Still going strong!
I couldn't let this guy be the only one up. I walked
over to his station. He was pounding out code at what
seemed like 100 words per minute!
I asked if I could sit in... And he very much welcomed
the company. We had a blast! I logged for him and was
able to catch the first few letters of each call.... Some of the
exchanges etc. but Tom filled in all the blanks. He was
hearing stations I couldn't even hear! Pulling them right out
of the noise and making QSOs! This was fun! I was logging
for a true professional CW op! I don't think we slowed a
beat down below 30wpm, and Tom just carried on making
contacts as easily as I do with voice. What an amazement!
Time went on to log 104 QSOs just on 40m CW alone! And
worked 80m well into the morning. I felt my eyes getting
too heavy to keep open... And started to see double...
At 4am I had to say bye to Tom and go find my cot. Tom,
like a trooper kept right on pounding brass!
I slept for an hour .... Waking up because I was extremely cold. I knew I should have packed more blankets!
Chris was still asleep, and he had locked up our equipment for safe keeping in his trailer. But I had the need! Like
a junky I needed to make more contacts!!!!
I started up my pickup, grabbed my notebook and fired
up my mobile Ft-857. I started to work a few stations on
40m. Logging them on paper to enter into the software later.
It wasn't much longer and Chris woke up.
Chris fed me some muffins. And we shared some
breakfast sandwiches.... And like fiends.... We were back at
it!
20m was open to Europe, so we started off on 40m
until other folks started to wake up. Then we switched to
20m.
Around noon I was getting bored. We only had 15m
available to us... And the band again was so so.
I said to Chris... "For grins I wonder if 10m is open"
"try it" he said. I did..... It was open to the Carolinas! "Quick
grab the stick!" I yelled. We made a good dozen or so at
least contacts on 10 before the band closed.... Filling the
speaker of Chris's beautiful Icom 756 with static....
I had had enough. It was time to pack up. The roar of
NASCAR engines in the background was getting to me....
With only an hour of sleep.... I decided to call it a day and
pack up.
I would say field day 2016 was an absolute success!
Anyone who didn't attend missed out largely! And for those
that fear operating 24hrs straight.... That's why we have the
GOTA station so you can come and play at your convenience.
I'm looking forward to field day 2017! Aleda did far
better then I did last year. What a perfect time! It was a
shame more didn't attend. But nevertheless I thoroughly
enjoyed this years field day! I was able to spend time with
good friends and make hundreds of contacts... Scratching
my inner contester itch.
I think a better logging software (one that allows rig
keying and cat control) would make things more convenient.... I was in charge of logging this year.... And at one
point three stations where on 20m .... So the concept of one
stick Per band/mode really didn't seem to work. Especially
when only two bands where open.... Luckily Frank Towle
was able to help me out with backup logging. I would much
rather use something like n3jp or ham radio deluxe. But
that's a minor gripe.
All in all field day 2016 was a huge success and I can't
thank Aleda enough for putting this all together!
CNHARC is on Twitter - follow us @cnharc
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The Communicator
July, 2016
Work Light / Power Station
by Mike Stone, N1VE
As we age, our bodies deteriorate…that’s a fact of life.
Over the past three decades I’ve noticed that the light receptors in my eyes have become less effective. Therefore the
need for bigger and brighter reading lights, additional nightpiercing driving lights, and intense work lights. Fortunately
lighting technology has been helpful to old geezers. Halogen bulbs, light emitting diodes (LEDs), xenon high intensity discharge lights (HID) laser lamps, and projector beams
have recently been swamping the auto industry and to some
extent the home industry as well.
I have been converting some of my shop work lights
from fluorescent fixtures to LED fixtures and the increase in
brightness is amazing, and they cost less to operate. Recently when I was working on a motorcycle, I realized that the
overhead lights weren’t providing enough light to the sides
of the bike, so I decided to build an LED work light to illuminate the nooks and crannies around the engine and electrical components.
Sam’s Club is selling four foot long LED shop lights
for about thirty-six dollars. These lights look very much
like the old fluorescent shop work lights, but they are at
least twice as bright and use less than half the electricity (42
watts). One hundred and twenty, super white and very intense LEDs run in two parallel strips for the length of the
unit. Since there are multiple points of emitted light, the
strip minimizes harsh shadows. Clear plastic tubular shields
protect two rows of little semi conductors.
I used a Harbor Freight furniture dolly for the rollaround base. It sometimes is on sale for $7.99. Then with
short pieces of 2 x 10s and 2 x 4s and deck screws, I put the
mount together and then attached the light to an upright 2 x
4 with scraps of aluminum, sheet metal screws, and sheet
rock screws.
Next I mounted a couple of handy boxes to the upright
2 x 4, for four 120-volt outlets and a switch to control the
LED light (I removed the plug from the light cord and wired
it into the switch.) I would have preferred to use a dimmer
switch, because the LED lights are very bright under some
conditions, but these lights are not dimmable. The only way
to reduce the intensity is to move the work light away from
the work area.
I have found this light to be useful for waxing vehicles,
working inside vehicles, providing outside light for
nighttime projects. Having the quaduplex receptacle outlets
at the light gives me a source of power for 120-volt hand
power tools, a soldering gun, and heat gun.
I’m sure in time I will find many other uses for the
work light/power station.
ARES Net Wednesdays at 8:00 PM on 146.985 MHz
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The Communicator
July, 2016
Sea to Summit Triathlon
On Saturday, June 25th Cal WA1WOK, Cliff N1RCQ, Mary N1RKO, and Lee KB1GNI provided competitor safety comms for the last leg of this demanding triathlon. The competitors arrived at Wildcat on
bicycle and ran from there to the summit of Mt. Washington via the Tuckerman’s Ravine trail.
Conditions were great that day and fortunately the
competitors didn’t need to use the safety net we
provided.
Photos by Cliff, N1RCQ and Lee, KB1GNI
Check Out The CNHARC Page on Facebook!
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The Communicator
July, 2016
Upcoming 2016 Public Service
and Other Events
Mark Your Calendars!
August 20th 2016, Annual Mt. Washington Auto
Road bicycle hillclimb, contact Cliff Dickinson at
[email protected].
October 1st 2016, The NH Marathon Bristol, NH (foot
race). contact Dave Megin at [email protected].
Amateur Radio Operators needed!
October 29th 2016, Meredith Bay Trick or Trot 5K,
contact Tim Carter at [email protected]
There are many other events not listed here that
also need safety communications help. Please consider volunteering your time to help at an event.
Public service events make great training for emergency communications and are a good way to show
the public what amateur radio can do.
Events are open to all Hams.
If you would like more information on one of the
events or to sign up to help with safety communications, please contact name listed after the event.
2016 NEAR-Fest XVIII Deerfield, New Hampshire
http://www.near-fest.com:8084/nearfest/
February? 2017, Laconia Sled Dog Races, contact
Cliff Dickinson at [email protected]
February ? 2017, Sandwich Mid Distance Sled Dog
Races, contact Cliff Dickinson at [email protected].
July 4th 2016, Fourth of July parade in Wolfeboro,
contact Bob,KB1DLX at [email protected]
Please check on the status of the event close
to the date of the event for any changes or
updates.
July 8th & 9th 2016, The 35th Annual Prouty Century
Bike Ride.Information: http://theprouty.org/
Not responsible for typographic errors. Last updated 6/4/16
July 30th 2016, TMCC Mt. Washington Century Ride
(100 mile bicycle ride). Information at
http://www.tinmountain.org/mt-washington-centuryride-2/. Ham info Luke Quigley KB1IIR
[email protected]
FOR SALE
Kenwood TW-4000A Dual Band Transceiver: $50
Icom IC-38A 220 MHz Transceiver : $50
Reasonable offers will be entertained.
Wanted
Any and all radios and radio gear you have that
would otherwise be thrown out
Old smartphones or tablets that would otherwise
be thrown out
Small 2 meter yagi antenna, doesn't necessarily
have to be in good condition.
Contact Adam at [email protected] or at
528-0678
W1JY Central NH Amateur Radio Club W1CNH
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The Communicator
July, 2016
I’m sitting here at my desk with my feet propped up
on a pillow on a storage bin, a cup of hot cocoa to my left,
Dream Theater coming from my computer speakers, an air
conditioner blowing cool air at me, and my dear family in
the next room watching a TV show that they claim to enjoy
despite the fact that it gives them nightmares.
Life is good.
Life is indeed good, and yet there is a terrible, evil
thing gnawing at my soul that I feel I just must get off my
chest. Perhaps I’ll be able to breathe a little better afterward?
I need to make a confession to you. This may come as
a shock to some of my readers, but...
I am a test equipment junkie.
You probably knew that already...
It’s true, I am indeed addicted to test equipment. Oscilloscopes, signal generators, service monitors, function
generators, digital multimeters, analog multimeters, vacuum
tube volt meters, clamp ammeters, frequency counters,
SWR meters, LCR meters, capacitor testers, spectrum analyzers, dummy loads (there’s a joke in there somewhere),
tube testers, Variacs, variable power supplies, deviation
meters, isolation transformers, and pretty much any other
kind of test gear I can get my fat, grubby paws on.
I’m also addicted to hot cocoa, but that’s now legal in
42 states and Puerto Rico so there’s no moral issue there.
I apologize for the sheer horror that this must be to
you, my reading audience. Here you thought that you were
reading some nice, normal information from a nice, normal
fellow (okay, maybe you never thought that), and you find
out that your stalwart writer is actually one of THOSE people!
“Yuck, it’s a nerd! Eeewww!”
To those of you that are too disgusted to continue
reading, feel free to skip to the end. There you’ll find my
email address, which you can use to express your distaste at
my sick and disgusting test equipment habit. To the rest of
you that thought, “Oh, that’s just Adam being his normal
weird self.”, please continue to read the article. You never
know, you just might find it interesting. I don’t know if it is
or not because I haven’t actually written it yet.
Almost everyone that comes to my home asks me at
least one question regarding the rack full of test equipment
that I have sitting just to my right. Most often, with a finger
pointing at one of my oscilloscopes, the question that follows is, “What does that do?”
Most people have seen an oscilloscope before, though
usually not in a context where it’s being demonstrated or
even being used properly (I’m looking at you, Hollywood).
The fact of the matter is that most people don’t really know
what an oscilloscope does, and even fewer actually care. I’m
hoping that you do, because that’s what I’m going to be
writing about for the next few pages.
When working with any kind of electrical or electronic
circuit (they’re basically the same thing when you think
about it), it’s very important to be able to measure the electromotive force of the electricity moving in that circuit. You
can think of electromotive force as being like pressure. Too
much pressure and things break, much the same way a water
pipe can burst from too much pressure. This electrical pressure is measured in volts and is referred to as voltage. A
good comparison is the difference between a car battery
which operates at around 12 volts, and a cell phone which
operates at 5 volts. If you try to charge your cell phone directly from your car battery without any kind of voltage converter between them, your phone will draw too much power
and release its magic blue smoke, and you’ll be looking for a
new way to look at cat pictures during important meetings at
work.
Side note: everyone knows that all electronic devices
are powered by magic blue smoke. This is a proven fact.
Every time the magic blue smoke escapes an electronic device, it stops working. I rest my case.
Even more important is the difference between the 5
volts your phone uses and the 120 volts available at your
power outlets. Get this one wrong, and your phone turns into
a lovely way of lighting your fireplace. There’s a heck of a
lot of power available in those wall sockets, and they are not
to be treated lightly. You may be inclined to ignore the potential danger of line level power because it’s everywhere,
but it can and does kill.
So what does all this have to do with oscilloscopes,
which seem to only make squiggly green lines on a screen
that’s way too small to see properly?
I’m getting to that.
Oscilloscopes are really just glorified volt meters. Instead of just showing you one measurement, they show you
the voltage as it changes over time. This time can be fairly
CNHARC is on YouTube ! CNHARCAmateurRadio
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The Communicator
July, 2016
long, like 5 or 10 seconds on a modern digital storage oscilloscope, or very quick at just a tiny fraction of a second.
Another side note: I’m sick of typing out
“OSCILLOSCOPE”. From now on I’ll just type “SCOPE”
instead, okay? It’s the same thing, and doesn’t twist my fingers into knots.
I’m going to give you my interpretation of how a scope
works. Go ahead and get a piece of graph paper (or lined
paper, I won’t judge) and a pen, and follow along if you
like.
Here’s the deal: Your friend Adam is working on some
recently-alive piece of electronics and asks you to chart out
the voltage readings he is taking, and wants you to do it
once every second. Being a very picky person, Adam insists
that the chart be easy to read at a glance. Adam isn’t a very
good friend, is he? Anyway, you could start by making a
chart that looks like this:
That chart contains the information, but it’s difficult
to interpret at a glance. How about we connect the dots?
That’s better, but we’re still having a bit of a hard
time seeing it at a glance, and that’s the important bit! Let’s
grab a pencil and add in some lines to clarify things so that
Adam doesn’t have a conniption:
And then as he shouts out numbers, you can easily plot
them as dots on the chart. Say he yelled out, “2, 3, 4, 2, 0, 3, -4, -3, -1, 2, and 4!” You could then tell him to shut the
heck up and present him with a chart that looks like this:
Now we’re seeing things a bit more clearly. Notice
how our little paper chart is starting to resemble a certain
piece of test equipment?
This is a close-up shot of the screen of my HewlettPackard 120B scope. It’s the sort of scope that most people
that don’t have a lot of experience with scopes think of
when they think of oscilloscopes. It uses a cathode-ray tube
as a display, which is the same kind of display that older
televisions had, though it has some slight differences to
make it work better in a scope. The scope is packed full of
vacuum tubes, which should give you an idea of its age.
Hint: It’s older than me, which hardly seems possible. Despite this, it still works, and works well. It’s just too slow
CNHARC Monday Night Net at 8:00 PM on 146.985 MHz
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The Communicator
July, 2016
I’m using here, do not actually take individual measurements. They send the trace across the display tube at a controlled rate (selectable from the front panel), and changes in
the input voltage cause the trace to be deflected up or down
as it scrolls across the screen. Digital scopes like the Rigol
DS1102E, on the other hand, do take individual measurements using a chip called an ADC (analog to digital converter) which creates a digital value for the incoming voltage many millions of times per second, which is then processed by the scope’s other electronics and displayed on the
LCD screen.
Getting back on track, the time per division (the vertical lines) in the image above is 0.1 milliseconds, or 0.0001
seconds. That means that the entire visible waveform on the
scope’s screen represents measurements taken across only a
thousandth of a second! And this is a relatively slow waveform, at only 1000Hz (or cycles per second). Imagine how
quick the scope would have to be to measure the signal from
your 2 meter radio?
for radio work, so it sits in my rack looking cool in a retrofuturistic sort of way.
It does, however, work perfectly for this particular
demonstration. Let’s see what happens if we overlay our
paper chart on top of the scope’s display screen:
It might look similar to this, though a signal from your
FM ham radio would not be such a clean looking sine wave
because of the modulation (the audio information impressed
upon the RF waveform). If you look at the bottom of the
display, you can see where the scope says, “Freq(1)=144.5
MHz” and below that and to the right, “Time 2.000ns”.
144.5 MHz is, of course, within the 2 meter ham radio band,
and 2.000ns means that the time per vertical division on the
screen is a miniscule 2 nanoseconds. That’s only
0.000000002 seconds! Two freaking billionths of a second!
This time, the entire visible waveform on the scope’s screen
represents measurements taken across a mere 0.00000002
seconds, or 20 nanoseconds. To give you an idea of how
quick this is, it takes you roughly 20,000,000 times longer
to blink your eyes. Once.
The scope I used for that image is my Rigol DS1102E
scope. It is rated for 100 MHz maximum, but has no trouble
displaying faster waveforms when asked politely or bribed.
Well look at that, I actually got something right! As
you can see, the numbers I called off are pretty close to the
green waveform being displayed on the scope. This was, of
course, intentional. The scope takes far more measurements
per second than a human being possibly could, but the result is similar: You get a visible indication of measured
voltage over time.
Side note: Analog oscilloscopes, such as the HP 120B
CNHARC 6-Meter Thurs. Night Net 8 PM, 53.770 MHz
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The Communicator
July, 2016
The Rigol scope, at only 3 or 4 years old, is pretty much
brand new compared to the old HP 120B, which is a big part
of why it’s capable of displaying higher frequency signals.
There is an inverse correlation between frequency and the
time per division needed to properly display a signal on a
scope. The higher the frequency of the signal, the faster the
scope has to be if you want to actually see the waveform
clearly. For instance, the old HP scope simply can’t display
the 144.5 MHz signal above. It can’t even come close, maxing out at roughly 1 MHz. It just isn’t fast enough to go faster than that, though it was considered a decently quick scope
when it was new in the mid 1960s.
“You keep using that word...”
What is a waveform you ask? A waveform is simply
the shape of a measured signal when measured over time,
like we did on paper above.
So why the heck would anyone want an oscilloscope,
anyway? In my particular case, I use my scopes to measure
electronic circuits so that I can (hopefully) repair those circuits. It’s possible to glean a lot of information about the
health of an electronic circuit by knowing what voltages are
present, how they vary over time, and what their waveforms
look like. Many people use them in much the same way I
do, as I’m far from being alone in my desire to tinker with
electronics. Other people use them to keep an eye on the
quality of their amateur radio transmissions, particularly
when transmitting AM and SSB signals. With the addition
of a few electronic components, scopes can be used to determine the length of a piece of coax, the impedance of an antenna system, the functionality of individual electronic components, or even to find the location of a break in a piece of
coax. Some scopes have features that allow them to be used
to trace out and analyze digital signals, which is handy for
people designing and constructing digital electronic devices.
Another common use is to look at the output of DC power
supplies to determine how much “ripple”, or AC signal
component, is on the supposedly clean DC output of the
supply.
Anything that can be accomplished by measuring voltage over time can be accomplished with a scope. If you
want a billion more uses for one, toss the word
“oscilloscope” into the YouTube search bar.
I suppose you are wondering how and where you can
pick up one of these wonder-boxes, and how much of your
hard earned moolah it’s going to cost you. The answer, of
course, is, “It depends”. It depends on what you want to do,
where you want to do it, and how much you’re willing to
invest. A cheap scope can be had in kit form for less than
$50, but these aren’t terribly useful for any frequencies
above the hearing range of a decent set of dog’s ears, so
don’t expect to accomplish much using one. They’re good
for the fun of building a kit, but not much good as a measuring tool.
A good scope (not a great scope, but one that’s suffi-
cient for most hobbyists) can be had brand new on Amazon
or Ebay for around $400 if you don’t mind buying a scope
that has an unpronounceable brand name. The Rigol
DS1054Z is an excellent example of a decent scope in this
price range, and it can even be hacked to work up to
100MHz instead of the 50MHz it’s rated for. This works
because Rigol’s 50 and 100 MHz scopes are physically
identical, only the firmware is different. Speaking of Rigol
scopes, here’s my slightly older but still decent DS1102E:
If you want a new lab quality scope (in other words, a
great scope) from Tektronics or Keysight (which used to be
Agilent, which used to be HP, which used to be HewlettPackard), be prepared to shell out more like $2000 or more,
but you get a heck of a lot more scope at that price.
Used scopes are much easier to afford, though you’ll
probably have to shop around to find the right one. Check
all the usual sources: Ebay, local club members, Craigslist,
QRZ.com, hamfests, etc. and you should be able to find a
decent bench scope for somewhere in the neighborhood of
$100 - $200. Stick with Tektronics, HP, and other wellknown brands, as the off-brands tend to have quality issues
that get exacerbated by age. Heck, even some of the topquality scopes have issues from mistreatment over the years
or just the ravages of Father Time, so if that deal-of-alifetime on your dream scope seems too good to be true, it
W1JY Central NH Amateur Radio Club W1CNH
11
The Communicator
July, 2016
transformer in order to safely use the scope with it, and even
then you need to be extremely careful. Do not disconnect the
scope’s ground connection! This is a dangerous practice;
just don’t do it. Keep the scope grounded and isolate the
device under test. Dave Jones has a great video about this
subject, I highly recommend watching it.
So, after all this, do you actually need an oscilloscope?
Only you can determine that, but now you have some information about them that you might not have had before. I
hope this helps, or at the very least, lets you know what
those green squiggly lines are all about.
I can usually be reached on the Gunstock repeater on
146.985 MHz, or by email at my call sign at hot mail. I look
forward to hearing your comments and questions, rants and
suggestions, insults and rejections.
Oh, and here’s the link to Dave Jones’ excellent video
on how NOT to blow up your scope:
just might be. Good quality scopes tend to hold some value,
so even though they are usually a lot less expensive than
they were when they were new, don’t expect them to be
priced cheaply unless there’s something wrong with them.
Speaking of things that can go wrong with them...
There is a common issue that crops up, not so much
with the oscilloscope itself, but rather with how it is used.
Oscilloscopes are connected to the circuit that you want to
test through one or several sets of leads called oscilloscope
probes or leads. These usually consist of a probe tip that
you to connect directly to the component you wish to measure, and short second lead that connects to the chassis of the
device under test, or some other nearby grounding point.
This second lead provides a reference voltage, usually
ground or zero volts, that the scope measures against. To
clarify, voltage is a measurement of a difference in potential
between two points in a circuit. We usually measure against
ground, so we don’t often give much thought to this reference point, which is precisely what can get you in trouble
when using a scope.
We’re hams, or at least most of us are. A great many
of us hams enjoy things that glow in the dark when turned
on, and I’m not talking about fireflies courting in your back
yard. It’s not uncommon for these older electronics to need
servicing, and one of them may end up on your workbench
sooner or later. No problem, you’ve got a scope! Whip the
cover off that ailing radio, hook the scope lead up to the
most heavily blackened component you can see, and hook
the reference lead to the nearest hunk of chassis. Turn the
radio on, and (now would be a good time to duck)...
KER-POWIE!!!!
What the...? Now you have on your bench a more
heavily blackened radio, a scope with lovely bluish wisps of
smoke coming out of its vents, and a charred line on your
bench where the scope lead was a few seconds ago. What
the heck happened?
A few of you reading this know the answer already.
Many older devices don’t have polarized power plugs.
What this means is that the chassis of the darn thing might
be sitting there solidly connected to the 120V line power.
This is called a live chassis and is ridiculously unsafe and
ridiculously common on older electronics. The reference
lead on most scopes is connected directly to ground through
the chassis of the scope. Connecting the hot side of your
power outlet directly to ground usually results in a very
lively light show as a huge amount of current briefly flows
through components that were not designed to handle it.
You end up with a dead scope, a deader radio, and possibly
some severe burns and eye injuries. Not a fun time.
The best solution is to make sure that the point your
clipping the reference lead to isn’t live. A multimeter can
literally save your life here. If the device’s chassis is live,
unplug it and plug it in the other way around. If the chassis
is still live, you’ll need to plug the device into an isolation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaELqAo4kkQ
Only One Hill, a Foot Race
to the Summit of
Mt. Washington
Story and photos by Tony, KC1AAK
I had loaded the car Friday night so I could get an early
start on my journey to Mt. Washington in anticipation of the
“Only One Hill” foot race to the summit Saturday June 18th
2016. I left at 5:30 am so I’d be there no later than 7:30am
that way I would have plenty of time to get on my station
before they shut the auto road down at 8:00 am in order for
the race to start at 9:00 am.
This is the second year in a row I volunteered for the
Mount Washington Road Race which is a great event. I get
to work on a beautiful mountain and to work it with some
great hams from all over New Hampshire only makes it
more enjoyable. Add to that for the second year in a row the
weather was incredible with beautiful blue skies with a
cloud or two here and there just made it perfect.
Check Out The CNHARC Page on Facebook!
12
The Communicator
July, 2016
My good friend, State Representative Michael Sylvia,
ran the race with an impressive time of 1:52:31 and for the
second year Mike joined George Etzweiler who is 96 years
old and the oldest person to ever run this race to the summit, accompanied with his 70 year old son along with hundreds of other participants and I was there to give encouragement to George as they went by. I made sure to get both
Mike and George on video just not together unfortunately.
George was far from last place in case you were wondering.
I arrived at net control with plenty of time to check in
with net control operator Cliff Dickinson N1CRQ who gave
me my folder for checkpoint 18, after going over some details and last minute instructions I headed up the mountain
to my station, about 4 miles in and at an elevation of about
4,300 feet.
Everything went smooth as could be, although some
didn’t finish the race due to a pulled muscle or a cramp, the
ones that did were in great spirits when they got to my station. After the last runner passed my station I dropped in
behind Jim who was sweep at the time but later I took that
role and followed the last man to the top. I have to say between the last place guy, George, and the guy that started
and finished the race on cruches showed what a strong will
and determination can do.
While the runners were getting ready for the race, I and
about two dozen amateur radio operators helping with emergency radio communications set up in our checkpoints. I
drew Checkpoint 18 and was the ham with a cam, as I usually am and took a ton of photos and some video.
I look forward to my third year working this event and
can hardly wait, hope the weather is as good as it has been
but you just never know what Mt. Washington can throw at
CNHARC is on YouTube ! CNHARCAmateurRadio
13
The Communicator
July, 2016
you on any given day which is why we work these events, it
not only provides a needed service but builds our experience and skills to work what ever comes our way.
Secretary’s Report
by
Sandra Percy
CNHARC STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING - Monday, 5/9/2016
Gilford Community Church
CLUB OFFICERS - ATTENDANCE
W3ATB
sent
KC1AAI
sent
K1LQN
W1DND-YL
Here are the names of the volunteers for the Only One
Hill race on Mt. Washington:
Cliff Dickinson
Peggy Brown
Dave Megin
Ron Herman
Dick Sterry
Glen Aldrich
Pasha Roberts
Mary Sheldon
Carole Johnson
Skip Johnson
David Weiss
LARRY Claveau
Frank Towle
Luke Quigley
David Dunham
Jim Brown
Bill Guinther
Merle Weber
Herm Weber
David Hobbs
Robin Grant
Shawn Marcotte
Tim Carter
President
Glen Aldrich
Vice President
Tom Persson
Sandy Percy
- Ab- Ab-
Treasurer
Secretary
STEERING COMMITTEE - ATTENDANCE
N1RKW
W1JFK
Absent
N1VAU
N1LT
N1RCQ
N1CRZ
Adam Foley
Barry Green
SC Member 2019
SC Member 2017 -
Clayton Ferry
Dick Christopher
Cliff Dickinson
Jim Robinton
SC Member 2017
SC Member 2017
SC Member 2018
SC Member 2018
OTHER ATTENDEES
W1DND
W1DDI
N1HD
KC1CCU
Absent
K1RJZ
Don Percy
Mark Persson
Chris Read
Aleda Nichols
Program Team Leader
Repeater Team Leader
Repeater Team
Field Team Leader -
Rick Zach
PRESIDENT’S REPORT - W3ATB, Tim was not present
to report on anything.
VICE PRESIDENT’S REPORT - KC1AAI, Glen was not
present to report on anything.
CNHARC Nets
Monday: Two-Meter Net, 8:00 PM, 146.985
Wednesday: ARES Net, 8:00 PM, 146.985
Thursday: Six-meter Net, 8:00 PM, 53.77
TREASURER’S REPORT - K1LQN, Tom
Tom called the May meeting of the CNHARC Steering
Committee to order at 7:10 PM.
ARES Net Wednesdays at 8:00 PM on 146.985 MHz
14
The Communicator
July, 2016
Meet and Greet at the Door: Attendance Signups & Sell
50/50 tickets.
Tim: Start meeting and announcements (10 minutes)
Apparently there was a lot of feedback concerning the discussion regarding the possibility of raising dues and the
email survey on the topic. The decision had been made to
keep the 2016-2017 dues the same as it had been. Committee members reiterated their opinions, and Tom quickly read
through the list of fixed and variable club expenses.
Don was not familiar with The Repeater Fund. It was explained to him, and he subsequently gave Tom $40.00 cash
to join the group.
Aleda had given Tom information on Field Day. Tom submitted the information to the insurance company. Tom now
has the certificate of liability insurance for Aleda to deliver
to The Speedway contact person.
Long Presentation: Unknown at this time
Break (10 minutes) and Announce 50/50 winner
Short Presentations: Aleda will give a brief overview of
Field Day
Unknown at this time
MEETING PROGRAMS - W1DND, Don
Don reported that the speakers he had invited were unable to
accept, at least until Fall. Don and Cliff will work on finding something, most likely a YouTube video.
The 2016 Financial Profit/Loss Report Summary Year-toDate (details available upon request)
REPEATER’S REPORT - W1DDI, Mark
Total Income:
Total Expenses:
Net Income:
$ 1,236.67
982.55
$ 254.12
Mark informed us that W1LMT, Pasha donated a repeater
cabinet for Franklin.
The Financial Balance Sheet Summary - May 9, 2016
NEW BUSINESS
ASSETS
Dick asked if anyone had a practice CW keyer for his 9 year
old grandson to use. Don offered to get him one.
Repeater Fund
790.92
General Operation Fund - Other 1,932.33
PayPal CNHARC Account
25.00
PayPal Internet Account
25.00
Petty Cash
27.00
Total Current Assets
$ 2,800.25
Sandy made the motion to adjourn. Jim seconded, and the
motion passed 10-0.
Tom adjourned the meeting at 7:55 PM.
NEXT MEETINGS
LIABILITIES
Opening Balance Equity
Retained Earnings
Net Income
Total Liabilities & Equity
Tuesday, June 7, 2016 - Club Meeting - Business Meeting
and Presentations
Monday, June 13, 2016 - Steering Committee Meeting
2,072.66
473.47
254.12
$ 2,800.25
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED: W1DND-YL, Sandy
Percy
Dick moved to accept the Treasurer’s Report and Adam
seconded. Motion passed 10-0.
Central NH
ARES Frequencies
SECRETARY’S REPORT
Sandy asked if last month’s minutes were acceptable as
written. Tom moved to accept the minutes as written and
Jim seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Sandy had
nothing to report and just briefed everyone on what had
transpired at the last meeting in case anyone had something
to add.
Primary: 146.985 MHz, - offset. PL123.0
Backup: 147.300 MHz, - offset, PL 88.5
Sec. backup: 147.390 MHz, - offset, PL
123.0
Simplex: 147.540 MHz
NH Statewide ARES HF: 3.943 MHz
JUNE 2016 PROGRAM (Preliminary)
CNHARC is on Twitter - follow us @cnharc
15
The Communicator
July, 2016
Ossipee Mountain Electronics, Inc.
PROFESSIONAL 2-WAY COMMUNICATIONS
SALES &SERVICE
RR 1, BOX 396
OSSIPEE MT.ROAD
MOULTONBORO, NH 03254
TELE: (603) 476-5581
FAX: (603) 476-5587
Club membership now stands at 100
Steering Committee
Meeting
The next steering committee meeting will be
held on Monday, July 11th at the Gilford Community Church, at 7:00 PM.
Club Officers
The Communicator
is published monthly by the Central New Hampshire
Amateur Radio Club, a non-profit corporation and
charitable trust, affiliated with the American Radio Relay
League.
Membership in the Central New Hampshire Amateur Radio
Club is open to all who are interested in amateur radio.
Payment of annual Club dues as an individual ($15), family
($20) or as a student ($10), entitles the registrant to belong
to the club and to receive The Communicator, monthly or
when published for the remainder of the year. The Club
year starts June 1. Subscription and Membership:
CNHARC, Box 1112, Laconia, NH 03247-1112. Email:
[email protected]
Editors
Lee Hillsgrove, Sr. KB1GNI
Adam Foley N1RKW
President
Tim Carter, W3ATB
603-722-0908
603-581-2411
[email protected]
Vice President
Glen Aldrich, KC1AAI
603-527-8726
[email protected]
Secretary
Sandy Percy
Treasurer
Tom Persson, K1LQN
978-774-6351
603-581-2411
[email protected]
Publicity / Public Relations
Officer
Tim Carter, W3ATB
603-722-0908
603-581-2411
[email protected]
Program Director
Cliff Dickinson, N1RCQ
603-279-7763
603-581-2411
[email protected]
Field Coordinator
Training Officer
Dick Christopher, N1LT
603-524-6567
603-581-2411
[email protected]
The deadline for all copy and classified ads for the
Communicator is 16th of every month. Send to:
Lee Hillsgrove, Sr. KB1GNI, 203 Waukeena Lake Road,
Danbury, NH 03230 or email to [email protected]
Club Historian
Dick Christopher, N1LT
603-524-6567
603-581-2411
[email protected]
Technical Coordinator
Open
Officers’ terms are for one year per by-laws
Steering Committee
Adam Foley, N1RKW-2019
603-528-0678
Barry Green, W1JFK
603-261-7113
Clayton Ferry, N1VAU-2017
603-498-6017
Change of Address
For a change of address, notify CNHARC at PO Box 1112,
Laconia, NH 03247-1112. Phone: 603-581-2411. Email:
[email protected]
Dick Christopher, N1LT-2017
603-524-6567
Cliff Dickinson, N1RCQ-2018
603-279-7763
Jim Robinton, N1CTZ-2018
603-556-9492
CNHARC Monday Night Net at 8:00 PM on 146.985 MHz
16