I t doesn’t seem long ago that I was writing last month’s editorial but having said that I am writing this a

little bit earlier than normal due to me going “South of the Border” with my work. So basically as I write this “things” are still to happen. After the initial surge at last the “Groups” reflector has now stabilised to what I expect from it. If you have re-moved yourself from it why not rejoin as it is going to be one of the main ar-eas used to keep you all informed and up to date with what is going on. Yes I know at times it will appear very frantic as messages go backwards and for-wards on whatever topic and due to this you might just get fed up. Before you decide enough is enough and re-move yourself from the list just sit back and think for a moment at least with this method you see everything that is happening. From my point of view the “groups” method definitely will save my-self a fair amount of time as it offers a

great opportunity to fully automate some of the standard messages that I used to send out. So basically what we have now is really just another tool to keep you all informed. Just an idea for future Newsletter items what about someone writing articles on various topics like the data modes, all about your station, or anything else that you can think off. To be honest these days I must admit I am really struggling to think of articles so hence the plea to others to write something. Ok what is on this month; well I am giv-ing a talk on “Networks, Past & Present” covering a rough life work history on what networking equipment I have worked on. I hope you will all try and come along so I can” bore” you, serious I hope you can. Enjoy the newsletter, Club night and any other club event. Bob GM4UYZ

Volume 9 Issue 3

March 2001

COCKENZIE & PORT SETON AMATEUR RADIO CLUB

MARCH EDITORIAL

I would on behalf of everyone at the radio club, like to welcome my Decem-ber Novice pupils to Amateur Radio. I

am sure that they will all have many happy hours operating and enjoying the benefits of this great hobby of ours. Hopefully in the future they will all go on to great and better things.

They have now successfully received their callsigns, which are Paul Woods 2M1IBE, William Ramsay 2M1IBF, Derek Boomer 2M1IBG and Gabriel Noonan 2M1IBH so look out for them on the air. Congratulations once again. Bob GM4UYZ

CONGRATULATIONS

Club newsletter

Events Column 2

Tables re-vamp 3

HF Report 4

Contest Report 5

For Sale 7

Contest Calendar 8

Contesting from Scotland 9

GM2T controller 10

DX Corner 12

Inside this issue:

Special points of interest:

• New format for club tables

• DX news

• Novice results

• GM3WOJ article

T here are more additions for you to add to your diaries. Also, I have continued to add the ‘new event’ indicator arrows in the left-hand column so that you can find any new or updated events more easily. Sadly these indicators didn’t appear in last months newsletter. Here’s this months list ….

Have a good month. See you soon. 73 de Colin (GM0CLN)

P A G E 2 C L U B N E W S L E T T E R

EVENTS COLUMN

Date Time Event Contact Telephone 02-Mar-01 7pm till late Club night in the Thorntree Inn, Port Seton Bob GM4UYZ 01875 811723 14-Mar-01 7.45pm Lothians RS - Thermionics by Dave Stockton GM4ZNX. Or-

well Lodge Hotel, Polwarth Terrace, Edinburgh John GM7REG 0131 445 3503

16-Mar-01 7.30-9.30pm C&PS ARC Talk entitled “Networks – Past & Present” by Bob Glasgow GM4UYZ in Resources Room 2, Port Seton Community Centre. Entry £1 per person.

Bob GM4UYZ 01875 811723

18-Mar-01 --- NORBRECK Rally, Blackpool. Peter G6CGF 01516 305790 28-Mar-01 7.45pm Lothians RS - Surplus Equipment Sale, Orwell Lodge Hotel,

Polwarth Terrace, Edinburgh John GM7REG 0131 445 3503

06-Apr-01 7pm till late Club night in the Thorntree Inn, Port Seton Bob GM4UYZ 01875 811723 » 07-Apr-01

and 08-Apr-01

? RSGB Spring Show & VHF Convention, Bletchley, Trade Stands, Recruitment Fair, Lectures, 6 Metre Group AGM, FREE Parking, Disabled Access, Licensed Bars & Catering. Entry £2.50 (under 14s FREE). See p25 Feb 2001 RadCom.

Jan Bob GM4UYZ (club travel details)

0870 904 7377 01875 811723

11-Apr-01 7.45pm Lothians RS – Operating From Antarctica by David Burke VP8AQA. Orwell Lodge Hotel, Polwarth Terrace, Edinburgh

John GM7REG 0131 445 3503

» 18-Apr-01 All World Amateur Radio Day --- --- 20-Apr-01 8pm Prompt CPS ARC 10 Pin Bowling Night at MEGABOWL, Kinnaird

Park, Edinburgh. All XYLs, YLs and children are welcome as this is a family event. Total cost each is Adult £9 and Child £8 for 2 games, shoe hire and a small amount to cover the pur-chase of prizes. Book your place(s) with Bob A.S.A.P.

Bob GM4UYZ 01875 811723

21-Apr-01 and

22-Apr-01

00UTC start Scottish Activity Weekend 2001 to promote activity by, and contacts with, Scottish stations. Awards are available and full details can be found at… http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/kendons/page13.html

Drew GM3YOR ---

» 22-Apr-01 ? The Northern Mobile Rally, Sports Hall, Harrogate Ladies College, Clarence Drive, Harrogate. Entrance by programme £2.00. www.qsl.net/g0ufi/harrogaterally.htm

Gerald G0UFI 01765 640229

25-Apr-01 7.45pm Lothians RS – Test Gear & Tune Up Demonstration. Orwell Lodge Hotel, Polwarth Terrace, Edinburgh

John GM7REG 0131 445 3503

04-May-01 7pm till late Club night in the Thorntree Inn, Port Seton Bob GM4UYZ 01875 811723 18-May-01 6.30pm for a

7pm start C&PS ARC 144MHz DF Hunt. Meet in the “Old Ship Inn” car park (East). Entry £1 per person.

Bob GM4UYZ 01875 811723

23-May-01 7.30pm Lothians RS – Top Band DF Hunt, starts at Braid Hills Hotel John GM7REG 0131 445 3503 26-May-01 11am-4pm Lothians Challenge John GM7REG 0131 445 3503 01-Jun-01 7pm till late Club night in the Thorntree Inn, Port Seton Bob GM4UYZ 01875 811723 13-Jun-01 7.45pm Lothians RS – A.G.M. John GM7REG 0131 445 3503 06-Jul-01 7pm till late Club night in the Thorntree Inn, Port Seton Bob GM4UYZ 01875 811723 03-Aug-01 7pm till late Club night in the Thorntree Inn, Port Seton Bob GM4UYZ 01875 811723 10-Aug-01 6.30pm

to 9.30pm

C&PS ARC Annual Junk Sale, Main Hall, Port Seton Com-munity Centre. Bring along your own “Junk” and sell it yourself. Tables available on first come first served basis. Entry £1. Money Raised DONATED to BRITISH HEART FOUNDATION.

Bob GM4UYZ 01875 811723

F or those of you who are not on the internet and don’t get the club e-mail messages I thought I had better explain what has been

happening. Several people recently expressed their views regarding the good andandandand bad points of the club tables. With dwindling numbers taking part in the ta-bles it was thought to be a good time to poll the mem-bership (only those on the e-mail list as time was short) to gather opinions on how we could improve the lay-out and make-up of the tables. Following an e-mail I sent out, and the subsequent 9 responses (including me) which were received, the following changes were made. Regarding the inclusion (or not) of contest QSOs - The replies were evenly split (4 for, 4 against, 1 on the fence!) as to whether contest QSOs should or should not be included. As a result I had to look further to see, potentially, how many people were likely to sub-mit tables scores with or without Contest QSOs being included. Excluding contest QSOs would have meant the loss of two previous contributors while removing them only gained one new contributor (from the re-sponses received). Therefore, to achieve a maximum number of contributors I decided to continue to allow contest QSOs in the Tables.

However, I also decided to create a separate list for Contest QSOs (on HF only). All tables will now be listed with contributors callsigns in alphabetical order and there will be no highlighting of 'best' scores. All HF and VHF/UHF entrants will have their equipment codes listed so that anyone can see the type of equip-ment in use by a given station. The Tables will now be separated and are to be known as 'HF Report''HF Report''HF Report''HF Report', 'VHF/UHF Report''VHF/UHF Report''VHF/UHF Report''VHF/UHF Report' and 'Cont'Cont'Cont'Contest est est est Report'Report'Report'Report'. They will have internal splits as follows… - HF ReportHF ReportHF ReportHF Report will contain entries for PHONE, CW &

DATA. - Contest ReportContest ReportContest ReportContest Report will show entries on PHONE & CW

for all but the WARC bands (there are no WARC Band contests).

- VHF/UHF ReportVHF/UHF ReportVHF/UHF ReportVHF/UHF Report will now include equipment codes but will otherwise remain essentially un-changed except for the order of listings and the lack of highlighting. Contest and other QSOs will continue to be listed together on VHF/UHF be-cause the vast majority of activity on these bands is in contests and it would not be worth while list-ing them separately.

This gives us the following...

P A G E 3 C L U B N E W S L E T T E R

Club tables re-vamp

2001 C&PS ARC ANNUAL HF, VHF/UHF AND CONTEST REPORT GUIDELINES 1. For a contact to count it must be made by the station claiming credit. 2. All QSOs, except those excluded by (3) and (5) below, may count for credit. 3. QSOs from portable or mobile locations will count so long as the location being used is within 50km of the main station

address. Also, such QSOs must not have been made as part of a major Expedition. 4. At all times the station must be operated within the terms and conditions of the appropriate licence. 5. Contacts using repeaters and satellites do not count for credit. 6. Any HF submissions should show DXCC countries worked on each band in the following categories... PHONE, CW,

DATA, CONTEST PHONE and CONTEST CW. 7. ALL VHF submissions should list DXCC Countries and Maidenhead Locator Squares (e.g. IO85MX) worked on each

band.

I am aware that one or two points in the rules are open to interpretation but I will (...and have no option but to...) trust you all to submit your claims reasonably and honestly. Hopefully the above changes will level the playing field as much as we can (without specifying what equipment you can use!) and will re-move the competitive element from the tables. It does make the tables listings more complicated (particularly for me), especially if you enter on many modes and do contests too! However, I feel that it should hopefully allow the less active stations to have

their submissions compared more favourably with those who are more active. The general plan is to run with this set-up for a year and then change anything which needs sorted before commencing again in 2002. Your comments are, as ever, welcome. Regards Colin Smith (GM0CLN)

Also rejoining us is Kent SM0ELV, who for the next year and a bit, will be ON9CLV in Brussels. His highlights, amongst the usual rash of Stateside and European sta-tions on various bands, have been Kuwait(9K) and Oman(A4) on 14MHz and Lebanon(OD) on 28MHz. Although not submitting any claims for the tables this year, Ron GM0NTL has been passing some info along. He and Tom GM4LRU have been working John 4F3/GM4DKO in the Philippines on a regular basis recently. If you want to have a listen you should be QRV on 28.725MHz SSB at approximately 1300UTC each day. Apparently John can sometimes also be found on 28.029 CW plus 24.910 CW between 09:00 and 10:00UTC. As I write this the D68C expedition to Comoros is ap-proaching the end of its first of 3 weeks. Pile-ups at this stage are still very big but having done a log search I see that some other club members have had QSOs as fol-lows… Ron GM0NTL 7 QSOs on 18/21/24/28MHz SSB, 21/24MHz CW and 29MHz FM Jim GM3BQA 6 QSOs on 7/21/24/28MHz SSB and 14/18MHz CW Jim MM0BQI 3 QSOs on 21/24/28MHz SSB Well done to you all. Sadly the expedition was due to finish on 28th February so if you haven’t worked them you are already too late! Many thanks to all those who contributed for your sup-port with the various tables. It is very much appreci-ated. Also, I am still waiting for info from some of you who said you would send contributions….next month? Finally, please feel free to pass on comments regarding the new look HF, Contest and VHF/UHF Reports. It’s the only way I will know how successful (or otherwise) the changes have been. Have a good month. 73 Colin (GM0CLN)

H ere we go with a new format which will hope-fully encourage more participation from club members. This month I have the following to

report… Bob GM4UYZ is as busy as ever but has still managed to squeeze one or two into the log. The main additions here being due to his regular Thursday night CW sked with others from the club on 21MHz and a brief foray onto 28MHz SSB which netted Scotland(GM) and the U.S.A.(W). Mr Data, (nothing to do with Star Trek!!) otherwise known as Wallace MM0AMV has been busy at the start of the year and has bagged quite a few already. On 14MHz those from outside Europe were Ceuta & Melilla(EA9), Japan(JA), Central African Republic(TL), Asiatic Russia(UA9), Kazakh(UN), Canada(VE) and U.S.A.(W). Things haven’t been quite so busy on 21MHz but here the best of the bunch was Asiatic Russia(UA9). At GM0CLN I’ve been relatively busy, particularly play-ing with the computer, now that I have it interfaced to the radio for CW. In a few, mainly evening, sessions on the key I’ve worked a reasonable number of stations from all over Europe but nothing from further afield yet. On SSB I did however manage Gambia(C5) to at least get one non-European contact in the log! Just as I was closing for press I managed to squeeze in three QSOs (all in the space of 2 hours) with the D68C Comoros ex-pedition on 21/24MHz CW and 14MHz SSB. All this using 100W and my W3DZZ at 6ft agl on the garden fence! We are joined again, from South of the border, by John M0BEX who has been very quiet except in Data Con-tests (see Contest Report). He only has a couple of 28MHz QSOs of note and they were both with the U.S.A.

Hf report

HF Report As Of 14th February 2001

B a n d T o t a l s 1.8 3.5 7 10 14 18 21 24 28 TOTALS

Callsign P C D P C D P C D C D P C D P C D P C D P C D P C D PHO CW DAT GM0CLN 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 12 0 11 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 1 0 3 31 0 GM4UYZ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 1 0 M0BEX 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 MM0AMV 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 31 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 38 ON9CLV 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 12 0 5 0 10 7 0 0 0 0 7 3 0 0 1 0 7 3 0 31 31 0

Totals are the number of Phone (P), CW (C) and Data (D) DXCC countries worked on each band.

P A G E 4 C L U B N E W S L E T T E R

P A G E 5

Contest Report

V O L U M E 9 I S S U E 3

O n the contest front I have entries resulting from various events. For the RSGB 3.5MHz SSB Affili-ated Societies (AFS) event on 20th January the

club team (3 stations) consisted of MM0CPS (operated by GM4UYZ and GM0NTL), MM0CCC and GM0CLN. The nature and timing of the event means that most, if not all, of the QSOs are inter-UK and as a result the DXCC coun-tries totals are quite low. However, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, despite MM0CPS loosing 45 minutes due to a faulty microphone, and we finished up with GM0CLN – 125 QSOs, MM0CPS - 108 QSOs and MM0CCC - 51 QSOs. We shall have to wait and see how we fare in the results! The RSGB LF CW Cumulatives are fast, furious and, most importantly, short events lasting only 2 hours at a time. I thoroughly enjoy them and they are great for newcomers to CW Contests. In total there are 9 of these events in the month of January so that’s plenty to keep everyone busy. This year I managed to take part in 7 Cumulatives and that is where all of my 1.8, 3.5 and 7MHz CW Contest

QSOs came from. Nothing outside Europe was worked in these events, largely due to the fact that they are held just as the band is starting to open or close for the day (or night!). However, they were great fun as usual! Kent ON9CLV has a few contest contacts in his log but unfortunately I do not know when they were made. The only contacts outside Europe were with the U.S.A. on both SSB and CW. Finally, John M0BEX has been very busy in some data contests. The countries worked certainly surprised me and the best included QSOs on 7MHz with Galapagos Is(HC8), Lebanon(OD), Mali(TZ), Micronesia(V6) and Willis Is(VK9W). Contacts on 14MHz which stood out were with Brazil(PY) and Iceland(TF), and 21MHz gave John another QSO with Lebanon(OD). Finally, on 28MHz the most impressive were with Galapagos Is(HC8), Colombia(HK), Argentina(LU), South Shetland Is(VP8), Lebanon(OD), Brazil(PY) and Venezuela(YV). Anyone else want to try data yet?

Contest Report As Of 14th February 2001

B a n d T o t a l s 1.8 3.5 7 14 21 28 TOTALS

Callsign P C D P C D P C D P C D P C D P C D PHO CW DAT GM0CLN 0 6 0 5 10 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 22 0 M0BEX 0 0 0 3 3 0 0 0 32 0 0 33 0 0 20 0 0 30 3 3 115 MM0CCC 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 MM0CPS 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 ON9CLV 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 4 3 0

Totals are the number of Phone (P), CW (C) and Data (D) DXCC countries worked on each band.

VVVVHF/UHF ReportHF/UHF ReportHF/UHF ReportHF/UHF Report

Only two stations reporting activity on VHF this time round. Bob GM4UYZ has a few entries thanks to a bit of lo-cal rag-chewing on 144MHz. At GM0CLN I was fortunate to catch a couple of very weak auroras on 2m which resulted in a few UK stations and a Danish station in JO46 square. A local chat added another couple of squares to my total.

VHF/UHF Report As Of 14th February 2001 50MHz 70MHz 144MHz 432MHz DXCC Square Grand

Callsign Eqpt C S Eqpt C S Eqpt C S Eqpt C S Total Total Total GM0CLN 3Y20 0 0 1C20 0 0 14Y100 3 5 - 0 0 3 5 8 GM4UYZ - 0 0 4Y10 0 0 4Q100 1 1 18Y10 1 1 2 2 4

Totals are the number of DXCC countries (C) and Maidenhead locator squares (S) worked on each band.

CLUB INSURANCE UPDATE I feel it is in order that I update you all on the current state of the club insurance.

(a) I have renewed the Public Liability (25/2/2001 Renewal Date) at a cost of £52.50 (b) I have applied for (12/2/2001) an All Risks Policy consisting of the following:

Total Value of Club Equipment: £4500 Total Value of “Borrowed/Hired” Equipment: £6500 -------- Total Sum Assured: £11000

Premium = £154 + £7.70 Insurance Premium Tax = £161.70

So presently with all the donations I have paid the Public Liability Insurance, which left £63. This £63 has gone to-wards the All Risks Insurance, which leaves a total of £98.70 still to be raised this year. Thanks to all those who have donated to help achieve what we have done so far and I look forward to your con-tinuing support over the rest of the year. Cheers.. Bob GM4UYZ

P A G E 6 C L U B N E W S L E T T E R

HF Station Equipment Codes

Callsign 1.8 3.5 7 10 14 18 21 24 28 GM0CLN 1C100 GM2T 1C400 3Y400 GM4GVJ - 1G100 GM4UYZ - 1W100 1G100 M0BEX 1C100 MM0AMV - - 1G100 MM0BQI - 1C100 MM0CCC 1C100 1G100 1C100 MM0CPS 1C400 3Y400 ON9CLV 1G100 1C100 1G100 1C100 1G100

CLUB TABLES EQUIPMENT CODING SYSTEM 1 G 100

No. Of Y - Yagi Transmit Antenna Q - Quad or Loop Power Elements G - Ground Plane, Vertical etc. (Watts)

C - Centre Fed (Dipole, G5RV, Doublet etc) W -

The example shown is for a vertical or ground plane antenna with 100W TX Power. The code for a 3 element yagi with 400W would be 3Y400

Wire (any other not covered)

S everal people have asked for a ‘for sale’ column in the newsletter so I’ve added one!, all you need to do now is send me your details and I will add them. Pictures are welcome.

John GM7OLQ

This month Jim Martin MM0BQI has some gear he would like to dispose of.

PK232 TNC/Multimode controller, with cables and manual. £ 80.00 Pair Cushcraft 2m 13ele Yagis. Quality DX/Contest Antennas £ 120.00 Triband DX33 Yagi 10/15/20. Great performer. £ 100.00 FL2100Z Linear amp. With spare valves, overhauled last year, excellent condition and solid performer. £ 350.00 ICOM 746 2m-160m TX/RX with ssb/cw filters £ 900.00 ICOM 706 2m-160m TX/RX with remote mount £ 350.00 WANTED : Pentium laptop with on board sound card. I am open to offers on any of the above. Please contact me on 01316614686 or MM0BQI@theRSGB.net. John Innes GM7OLQ also has more equipment than he needs (shock!) so PacComm Tiny 2 Mk2 TNC £ 80.00 ADI AT200 2m handie (12v or dry cell / NiCad’s) £ 100.00 Yaesu FT51R dual band handie (with mobile cradle) £ 200.00 I too am open to offers and can be contacted via gm7olq@cpsarc.com On a similar note Cambell MM0DXC still has some bits from GM4DMA’s shack clearance (proceeds to the British Heart Foundation) and Bob GM4UYZ received details of the late GM1XTF’s equipment which is being handled by Jim Priddy GM3CIG. If you are interested PLEASE Contact Jim direct between 8pm and 11pm on 01383 419282 or by email je@jpriddy.freeserve.co.uk. Bob sent out a spreadsheet to the mailing list but anyone who hasn’t seen it can give Jim a call.

P A G E 7

For sale

V O L U M E 9 I S S U E 3

General Notes : (1) All contests are run by the RSGB unless otherwise stated (2) Activity is planned by the club or its members for those events listed above in bold. Full Event Rules Are Available On The Internet As Follows : RSGB HF 2001 : http://www.g4tsh.demon.co.uk/HFCC/Rules-2001/calendar.htm RSGB VHF 2001 : http://www.blacksheep.org/vhfcc/rules/01rules/frameindex.html ARRL : http://www.arrl.org/contests/announcements/ WAB : http://home.freeuk.net/wab/ Links to most of the other events can be found on the SM3CER Contest Web Page under Contest Calendar. SM3CER PAGE : http://www.sk3bg.se/contest/index01.htm Contest Commentary The two BIG HF contests this month have to be the ARRL SSB event on 3rd/4th March and also the CQWPX SSB event on 24th/25th March. Both offer a great opportunity for some contest practice or, alternatively, you have a good chance to work some rarer prefixes which tend to appear. Another good chance to work rarer stations is the RSGB Commonwealth Contest on 10th/11th March. All of the DX is trying to work British Commonwealth stations and you are therefore wanted! The pile-ups working the DX are also smaller and you have a better chance of getting through. On VHF the biggest March contest is the RSGB 144/432MHz event on 3rd/4th March. Sadly the levels of activity on VHF have been dropping in recent years and therefore I would only expect to be able to hear one or two contest stations. Finally, there are a few VHF cumulative events to pad things out a bit until the ‘real’ VHF season gets under way. See you next month.

73 Colin GM0CLN

P A G E 8

Date

Start (UTC)

Duration (hrs)

Contest

Notes & Info

03-Mar-01 00:00 48 International DX SSB (ARRL) Work USA & Canada 03-Mar-01 14:00 24 144/432MHz 06-Mar-01 20:00 3 144MHz UK Activity UKAC Overlaps for first 2 hours with the

Scandinavian Activity Contest 10-Mar-01 00:00 48 World Wide Locator (OKDXC) Multipliers are Maidenhead Locators 10-Mar-01 12:00 24 Commonwealth 10-80m CW 11-Mar-01 09:00 6 WAB VHF/UHF CW http://home.freeuk.net/wab/ 18-Mar-01 10:00 2 70MHz Cumulatives – Session 5 Best 3 Sessions from 5 count 24-Mar-01 00:00 48 CQ WPX SSB 27-Mar-01 19:00 2 144MHz Cumulatives – Session 1 Best 2 Sessions from 3 count. 01-Apr-01 07:00 2 RoPoCo (3.5MHz CW) Rotating Post Codes 01-Apr-01 09:00 4 1st 70MHz Contest 03-Apr-01 19:00 1.5 3.5MHz Slow Speed Cumulatives Max CW speed 12wpm 04-Apr-01 19:00 2 144MHz Cumulatives – Session 2 Best 2 Sessions from 3 count. 07-Apr-01 15:00 24 SP DX 11-Apr-01 19:00 1.5 3.5MHz Slow Speed Cumulatives Max CW speed 12wpm 12-Apr-01 19:00 2 144MHz Cumulatives – Session 3 Best 2 Sessions from 3 count. 13-Apr-01 23:00 48 Japan International DX CW(JIDX) 20m, 15m, 10m 19-Apr-01 19:00 1.5 3.5MHz Slow Speed Cumulatives Max CW speed 12wpm 21-Apr-01 12:00 24 YU DX 21-Apr-01 18:00 24 Holyland DX 22-Apr-01 09:00 4 50MHz Contest

Contest calendar

C L U B N E W S L E T T E R

you will find 3 or 4 stations within the passband, but remember that with a 250 Hz filter you need to tune around with the R.I.T. for stations calling slightly off fre-quency). If your transceiver has 2 I.F.s, purchase the first/second I.F. (cheaper but poorer shape factor) filter first - you might not need both filters. On C.W., an ex-ternal audio filter can often out-perform the internal (D.S.P.) filtering. Learn how to operate your radio under high-QRM con-ditions (also training your ears and brain to be a good filter) - which controls help and which don’t? Under contest conditions, always have the A.G.C. switched to 'fast' and never use the noise-blankers. If you have a radio with 2 receivers, or are operating with 2 transceivers, practise listening to 2 fre-quencies at once - it is very difficult to do at first and during a contest is not the time to learn this skill. There is a new generation of 'computer accessory' trans-ceivers like the Kachina. They have some advantages e.g. they can be entirely remotely controlled so you can sit in your office and work 15m or whatever using your home station. However, the user-interface does not support contesting well as yet, and many operators be-moan the loss of an old-fashioned tuning dial! AmplifierAmplifierAmplifierAmplifier Most commercial amplifiers have inadequate cooling for contest use - however this problem can usually be easily overcome by fitting an extra fan or fans. Amplifier power supplies are usually neglected by manufactur-ers - the reliability is considerably improved if a cold draught blows across the transformer, diodes, capaci-tors, etc. Under contest conditions the duty-cycle of the amplifier is well beyond the normal ratings, but it will suffer no ill effects if the cooling and the tuning-up are properly done. Check that the air inlet cannot recy-cle hot air from the air outlet. Unfortunately extra cool-ing can add considerably to the noise level in the shack, but this is the price that has to be paid for reliability. In a multi-operator station, every operator should know what the 'normal' meter readings for each amplifier are, and how to switch off the amplifier if these readings change. Amplifier design and construction will be the subject of a future article. 73 Chris GM3WOJ/GM7V (e-mail : chris.tran@talk21.com) [there’s not enough space to include the full (4 pages) of Chris’ article this month—more next time]

PPPPart 4 art 4 art 4 art 4 ---- Equipment for contesting Equipment for contesting Equipment for contesting Equipment for contesting

A lthough good antennas are the key to real suc-cess in contesting and DXing, the equipment used is also very important. Whether we like it

or not, a top contest station nowadays, especially in the Single-operator class, is using two of everything, and I mean everything! Two transceivers, two amplifiers, two towers, two antennas, two rotators, two computers - this is an expensive treadmill to keep up with! We'll dis-cuss why 2 of everything is being used later in this arti-cle. Let's look in more detail at each aspect of what you need in the shack :- TransceiverTransceiverTransceiverTransceiver I've heard it said 'they are not making good radios any-more' and I probably agree. Without being nostalgic, the reality is that the basic 'radio' performance i.e. block-ing dynamic range, 3rd order intermod. etc of almost all current transceivers is inferior to that of older designs. Often, manufacturers install D.S.P., not only to attract buyers, but partly to make up for poor receiver design. D.S.P. is of limited use in contesting, and I would say is less effective in any kind of radio use than the manufac-turers would have us believe - give me a well designed front-end any day! The best feature of D.S.P. is the 'auto-notch' which removes carriers - it works brilliantly but almost everything else does not do very much, ex-cept maybe impress visitors to the shack! I use an FT-1000MP, which has some good features, but has some design deficiencies (I don't think many 1000MP owners like to talk about this!) - it is a bit deaf, especially on 15m, and suffers from an audio hiss prob-lem. For day-to-day DXing these deficiencies don't really worry me, but in a contest you need to be confi-dent that you can hear most of the stations who are calling you. Unfortunately, the standard modification that can be made to reduce the 'hiss' degrades the strong-signal handling noticeably, so is not recom-mended. Having used just about every different type of transceiver over the last few years, I would strongly sug-gest that you borrow a transceiver and compare its per-formance before you buy it - do not believe the advertis-ing! Also, the ARRL have available on their web-site (for ARRL members) the 'extended test report' for most different transceivers - these quote the measured fig-ures and you can compare results for yourself. Points to look for in a good transceiver are - good strong signal handling and good selectivity. The bands are very crowded during a contest, so purchase 'narrow' filters from e.g. INRAD (W2VJN) 1.8 or 2.0 kHz on SSB, 250 Hz on CW (a 500 Hz CW filter is useless,

P A G E 9

Contesting from scotland

V O L U M E 9 I S S U E 3

& F1, which in turn changes the band with in NA. The result on the unit is that the respective relay will be selected and this will result on the Band LED being displayed on the front panel and the respective Band being selected on the Band Pass Filter.

3. With the CW Keyer Output on the Unit connected to the CW Key socket on the radio and NA selected to use CW. The radio powered up and set in CW mode and connected to a Dummy Load. Press the F1, F2, F3 and F4 keys in turn and the radio should now be being keyed.

4. Pressing SHIFT & F1 to change the mode within NA to SSB. With the External Voice Recorder connected to the unit and powered up, press the F1, F2, F3 and F4 keys and turn and this should activate the various Memory settings in the Voice Recorder.

5. Testing is now complete.

T his is the next part of Bob GM4UYZ’s extensive article on the construction of the multi device con-troller he designed to integrate the functions of band

decoder (for the computer controlled filters on order), CW and voice keyers. Here we see the board layout, parts lists and testing details. Testing With respective cables assembled to connect the unit to each of the external units plus the all-important unit connects them, power on the unit and load the NA contesting Soft-ware. 1. Set up NA so that it can drive the Band Pass Filter,

External Voice Recorder and CW Keyer. 2. Testing the band pass Filter is done by pressing ALT

P A G E 1 0 C L U B N E W S L E T T E R

Gm2t contest controller

External Voice Recorder

Output

MAIN BOARD

Band Decoder Output

MAIN BOARD

Computer LPT

Input

MAIN BOARD

9 Way “D” Male

15 Way “D” Male

25Way “D” Female

Pin Descrip-tion

Plug/Pin Pin Description Plug/Pin Pin Description Plug/Pin

1 Memory 1 Switch

S7/1 1 Not Used S3/10 1

2 Memory 2 Switch

S7/3 2 160M S3/9 2 Band Control {BCD Decoder Pin 10 (A)}

S8/1

3 Memory 3 Switch

S7/4 3 80M S3/8 3 Voice Recorder (Mem 1 Switch)

S6/1

4 Memory 4 Switch

S7/5 4 40M S3/7 4 Voice Recorder (Mem 2 Switch)

S6/2

5 Switch Common

S7/2 5 30M S3/6 5 Voice Recorder (Mem 3 Switch)

S6/3

6 6 20M S3/5 6 Voice Recorder (Mem 4 Switch)

S6/4

7 7 17M S3/4 7 Band Control {BCD Decoder Pin 13 (B)}

S8/4

8 8 15M S3/3 8 Band Control {BCD Decoder Pin 12 (C)}

S8/3

9 Ground P/S Body 9 12M S3/2 9 Band Control {BCD Decoder Pin 11 (D)}

S8/2

10 10M S3/1 10 11 11 12 12 13 13 14 14 15 BPF GND

(common) S4/1 15

16 17 CW Keying S5/2 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Ground P/S

Body

CW KEYER

Plug/Pin

Tip S5/3 Body S5/1

POWER SOCKET

To

Centre On/Off N/O Body S9/1 Body 9 Pin / 9 Body 25 Pin / 25

ON/OFF Switch

To

N/O P/S Centre Common S9/3

P A G E 1 1

Parts lists

V O L U M E 9 I S S U E 3

Part Description Circuit Diagram Reference Quantity Veroboard 63 Holes x 40 Holes 1 Veroboard 63 Holes x 5 Holes 1 6BA Bolts+nuts+washers x 19.1mm 4 PCB Spacers 12.7mm 4 Rubber Feet 20mm 4 Vinyl Box 229mm x 127mm x 62mm 1 IC Holder 16 pin 11 Capacitor 4.7uF 50V Electrolytic Radial C1 1 CD4028B BCD Decoder IC1 1 Resistor 380R 1/2W R21 1 Resistor 1KR R1 to R10, R24 to R27 14 Resistor 1K2R R11 to R20, R23, LDR! 12 Resistor 1K8R R22 1 LED Red LD1 to LD11 11 Diode BZX79C 5.1V Zener D1 1 Diode1N4001 D2 1 Transistor 2N2222 (NPN) TR1 to TR15 15 Transistor 2N2907 (PNP) TR16 1 Relay 47W/6 RLY1 to RLY10 10 3 Way 0.1” PCB Header S2, S4, S5, S9 4 4 Way 0.1” PCB Header S6, S8 2 5 Way 0.1” PCB Header S7 1 10 Way 0.1” PCB Header S1, S3 2 3 Way 0.1” Cable Housing 4 4 Way 0.1” Cable Housing 2 5 Way 0.1” Cable Housing 1 !0 Way 0.1” Cable Housing 2 0.1” Crimp Contacts 45 Miniature SPDT Toggle Switch ON/OFF SWITCH 1 Panel Mount Socket 2.1mm POWER SOCKET 1 ¼” MONO Line Socket CW KEYER SOCKET 1 9 Way “D” Plug VOICE KEYER 1 15 Way “D” Plug BANDPASS FILTER (BPF) 1 25 Way “D” Socket COMPUTER LPT1 1 Screwlock Assembly 8mm 6 Assorted Stranded Coloured Cable

Assorted Single Stranded Coloured Cable

Relays RLY1

Not Used Loc RLY2

160M Loc RLY3

80M Loc RLY4

40M Loc RLY5

30M Loc

Coil to TR1 8/10 Coil to TR2 8/19 Coil to TR3 8/28 Coil to TR4 8/37 Coil to TR5 8/46 Coil 12V 8/7 Coil 12V 8/16 Coil 12V 8/25 Coil 12V 8/34 Coil 12V 8/43 Contacts (1a) N/C 11/7 Contacts (2a) N/C 11/16 Contacts (3a) N/C 11/25 Contacts (4a) N/C 11/34 Contacts (5a) N/C 11/43 Contacts (1a) Com 13/7 Contacts (2a) Com 13/16 Contacts (3a) Com 13/25 Contacts (4a) Com 13/34 Contacts (5a) Com 13/43 Contacts (1a) N/O 15/7 Contacts (2a) N/O 15/16 Contacts (3a) N/O 15/25 Contacts (4a) N/O 15/34 Contacts (5a) N/O 15/43 Contacts (1b) N/C 11/10 Contacts (2b) N/C 11/19 Contacts (3b) N/C 11/28 Contacts (4b) N/C 11/37 Contacts (5b) N/C 11/46 Contacts (1b) Com 13/10 Contacts (2b) Com 13/19 Contacts (3b) Com 13/28 Contacts (4b) Com 13/37 Contacts (5b) Com 13/46 Contacts (1b) N/O 15/10 Contacts (2b) N/O 15/19 Contacts (3b) N/O 15/28 Contacts (4b) N/O 15/37 Contacts (5b) N/O 15/46

Relays RLY6 20M

Loc RLY7 18M

Loc RLY8 15M

Loc RLY9 12M

Loc RLY10 10M

Loc

Coil to TR6 29/10 Coil to TR7 29/19 Coil to TR8 29/28 Coil to TR9 29/37 Coil to TR10 29/46 Coil 12V 29/7 Coil 12V 29/16 Coil 12V 29/25 Coil 12V 29/34 Coil 12V 29/43 Contacts (6a) N/C 32/7 Contacts (7a) N/C 32/16 Contacts (8a) N/C 32/25 Contacts (9a) N/C 32/34 Contacts (10a) N/C 32/43 Contacts (6a) Com 34/7 Contacts (7a) Com 34/16 Contacts (8a) Com 34/25 Contacts (9a) Com 34/34 Contacts (10a) Com 34/43 Contacts (6a) N/O 36/7 Contacts (7a) N/O 36/16 Contacts (8a) N/O 36/25 Contacts (9a) N/O 36/34 Contacts (10a) N/O 36/43 Contacts (6b) N/C 32/10 Contacts (7b) N/C 32/19 Contacts (8b) N/C 32/28 Contacts (9b) N/C 32/37 Contacts (10b) N/C 32/46 Contacts (6b) Com 34/10 Contacts (7b) Com 34/19 Contacts (8b) Com 34/28 Contacts (9b) Com 34/37 Contacts (10b) Com 34/46 Contacts (6b) N/O 36/10 Contacts (7b) N/O 36/19 Contacts (8b) N/O 36/28 Contacts (9b) N/O 36/37 Contacts (10b) N/O 36/46

Diodes Integrated Circuit Capacitor Name From (+ve) To (-ve) Name Pin 1 Pin 8 Pin 9 Pin 16 Name From (+ve) To (-ve)

D1 5/55 3/55 IC1 15/55 8/55 8/58 15/58 C1 3/60 5/60

D2 5/57 7/57

Resistors Transistors Name From To Name Emitter Base Collector

R1 1/6 4/6 TR1 5/9 4/10 6/10 R2 1/15 4/15 TR2 5/18 4/19 6/19 R3 1/24 4/24 TR3 5/27 4/28 6/28 R4 1/33 4/33 TR4 5/36 4/37 6/37 R5 1/42 4/42 TR5 5/45 4/46 6/46 R6 22/6 25/6 TR6 26/9 25/10 27/10 R7 22/15 25/15 TR7 26/18 25/19 27/19 R8 22/24 25/24 TR8 26/27 25/28 27/28 R9 22/33 25/33 TR9 26/36 25/37 27/37 R10 22/42 25/42 TR10 26/45 25/46 27/46 R11 8/5 11/5 TR11 18/53 19/54 20/53 R12 8/14 11/14 TR12 22/53 23/54 24/53 R13 8/23 11/23 TR13 26/53 27/54 28/53 R14 8/32 11/32 TR14 30/53 31/54 32/53 R15 8/41 11/41 TR15 33/52 34/53 35/52 R16 39/5 42/5 TR16 37/52 38/53 39/52 R17 39/14 42/14 R18 39/23 42/23 Socket R19 39/32 42/32 Name From (Pin

1) To

R20 39/41 42/41 S1 40/2 31/2 R21 3/53 7/53 S2 30/2 28/2 R22 37/48 40/48 S3 27/2 18/2 R23 34/55 34/58 S4 17/2 15/2 R24 25/57 27/57 S5 33/62 35/62 R25 26/59 31/59 S6 23/62 26/62 R26 23/56 24/58 S7 17/62 21/62 R27 19/59 23/59 S8 9/62 12/62

S9 5/62 7/62

10 Feb D68C 12 mtrs CW 13 Feb: D68C 15 mtrs CW 13 Feb: D68C 12 mtrs CW 14 Feb: D68C 29 mhz FM 15 Feb: D68C 17 mtrs CW 15 Feb: D68C 10 mtrs CW 15 Feb: D68C 20 mtrs SSB

Anyone interested can try for John 4F3/GM4DKO on 28.725 SSB @ 13:00GMT this being my daily sked with W1MXI. Also try 28.029 in mornings or 24.910 CW @ 09:00-10:00 GMT. He's never very strong, but better on CW

R on GM0NTL has sent me details of the inter-esting DX he has been working this year, it makes interesting reading!

7 Jan: PJ5/UA1ACX ( St Eustatius Island NA-145) on 10 mtrs 23 Jan: V26I ( Antigua) on 10 mtrs 27 Jan: XE2TH (Mexico) on 10 mtrs 27 Jan: HC2/UA4WAE (Ecuador) on 10 mtrs 27 Jan: HJ3OVP (Columbia) on 10 mtrs 27 Jan: TI2?KG4DOE (Costa Rica) on 10 mtrs 28 Jan: 4F3/GM4DKO on 10 mtrs 29 Jan: 4F3/GM4DKO ( John Fraser in Philippines) on 10 mtrs 30 Jan: VP8DBQ (Falklands) on 15 mtrs 30 Jan: H44NC ( New Georgia Islands OC-149) on 20 mtrs 2,6,8 Feb: 4F3/GM4DKO on 10 & 12 mtrs 4 Feb: YK9A (Syria) on 15 mtrs 9 Feb: D68C ( Comoros Islands) on 15 & 10 mtrs SSB

Gm0ntl’s dx corner

Information

T he Cockenzie & Port Seton Amateur Radio Club was formed in 1984 by Bob Glasgow GM4UYZ, to help the local amateurs get to know each

other. Numbers have increased steadily over the years and now average about 33. Far from being just a local club we have members coming from the Borders, Dumfries, Strathclyde and Fife. The Club meets on the first Friday of every month (Second Friday of January) in the lounge of the Thorn-tree Inn on the old Cockenzie High Street from 7pm till late. The Club is run in a very informal way, there are cur-rently no fees, no real committee structure, just a group of like minded people doing something they enjoy! This does not mean that we don’t do anything, we enter (and win) contests, train novices, run talks and video nights and hold an annual Junk Sale. The Club supports the British Heart Foundation in memory of a member who died from heart disease by do-nating the profits from events we hold, we have raised over £5,300 since 1994. The Club is affiliated to the Radio Society of Great Brit-ain and holds the callsigns MM0CPS and GM2T which are used for our contest entries. We also have our own internet domain name www.cpsarc.com and club mem-bers can get their own callsign@cpsarc.com email ad-dresses.

Bob Glasgow 7 Castle Terrace Port Seton East Lothian EH32 0EE

Phone: 01875 811723 Email: gm4uyz@cpsarc.com

COCKENZIE & PORT SETON AMATEUR RADIO CLUB

We’re on the web! www.cpsarc.com

Contacts General Correspondence, Novice Training, Contest entries—Bob Glasgow gm4uyz@cpsarc.com HF Contests—Cambell Stevenson mm0dxc@cpsarc.com VHF Contests—Colin Smith gm0cln@cpsarc.com

Newsletter, Web Site—John Innes gm7olq@cpsarc.com Email admin—Robert Veal mm0ant@cpsarc.com