Issued April 2014 Issue No. 52

Club Website: www.qsl.net/k7jar

S-Meter e-mail: parcnews@hotmail.com

Club Repeater: Output 146.62 MHz; Input 146.02 MHz, No Tone

Next Meeting Friday May 16th 2014

Meeting QTH is: Walnut and Hawthorne Street in Colville

(Across from the city park and Colville Junior High School)

CLUB NET: Sunday Evenings 8:00p.m. Local

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The President’s Corner

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Tom Howe KE7TEG

Announcements

Gimmie Morgan AL7LB is having a yard sale at 132 Crestview Dr. in Colville on May

16th and 17

th. Anyone interested in bringing their own stuff to sale are more than welcome.

W1AW Centennial Operations Shift States on May 7 (UTC)

The ARRL Centennial W1AW WAS operations taking place throughout 2014 from each of the 50 states now are in

Connecticut (W1AW/1) and Nevada (W1AW/7). The W1AW portable operations will relocate at 0000 UTC on

Wednesday, May 7 (the evening of May 6 in US time zones), to Nebraska (W1AW/0). There will be no "second" state

that week. The Utah (W1AW/7) operation initially scheduled now will take place starting July 2 (UTC). This will be the

second and final opportunity to work W1AW from Nebraska for the ARRL Centennial QSO Party and for the

"Worked All States W1AW Award."

During 2014 W1AW will be on the air from every state (at least twice) and most US territories, and it will be easy to

work all states solely by contacting W1AW portable operations.

For Sale Radio Tower free standing 48ft, it could be converted to a tilt over, Leonard is willing to show you how, asking $200.00. Second is a three legged roof tower, about 8 foot, good for the top of a house or garage, asking $40.00. Please contact Leonard AA7AH at 509-684-6785 or by e-mail at aa7ahmarch44@gmail.com

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Highlights from our April meeting…….

Attendance: 19

Treasurer's Report – $9,959.28 Ham shack auction made $134.00 Welcome newcomers – introductions were made.

ARES – The WA state ARES Net is on 3985 every Saturday at 9:00am and Mondays at 6:30pm. Participation is encouraged. Dave tabled his discussion about a monthly ARES meeting until next month. Monthly meetings for ARES was discussed there was a consensus that there should be a meeting, maybe once a quarter they will get with Dave for further discussion.

PARC Net – George W7WBN reported an increase in traffic. The average is about 17 checks per week. He is still looking for new operators for Net Control.

Board Report - The board held a short meeting before the club meeting, Bruce reported that Randy N7CKJ will be handing off some of his responsibilities with the repeater to John Kresek W7HWG. The 150 repeater is up and running.

Announcements Gimmie AL7LB is having a garage sale on May 16th and 17th at 132 Crestview Drive Colville.

Faith Golden KB7ZEL of Colville was introduced, the Golden Family were PARC members years ago, she has just moved back to the area, welcome new member!

Old Business Dave WD7K had not had a chance to talk with the Kettle Falls high school about a radio program yet.

New Business Field Day discussion, where to have it this year since the Spokane Club was moving to Davenport. Lynn Miner N2HS does not mind if we have it at his place in Chewelah again this year. Discussion followed on equipment, port-a-potty, food, generator etc.. Since the ARES bus will be available this year it will have the necessary radios for our use. It was then decided to have it at Lynn’s June 27th and 28th . Minutes over view submitted by Lauren KL1LC

See at our next meeting May 16th

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ARES Report by Dave - WD7K

ARES Net is every Sunday at 7:45pm local. The Stevens County ARES net can be heard on the 146.620 repeater located SW of Colville on Monumental Mountain and, when linked, the 147.060 repeater (which has a PL tone of 77.0) located NW of Spokane on Lookout Point. The Washington State Emergency Net (WSEN) – anyone with HF privileges is welcome (encouraged) to check in, when Stevens County is called. Saturdays at 0900 on 3985 kHz and on Mondays at 0630 also on 3985 kHz.

Dave Klimas - WD7K Stevens County ARES Emergency Coordinator H (509) 738-6876 C (509) 675-8843 wd7k@hughes.net

PARC Sunday Night Net

Thanks for another great year on the PARC Sunday Night Net. We had lots of good sessions and look forward to many more this New Year. During the long winter months we tend to have more participation, since more members and visitors are spending Sunday nights at home. Come on, get on the air and join your friends discussing club and other ham activities.

A special thanks to all the Net Control Operators who greatly supported the Sunday Night Net during 2013. If you want to give your hand a try at Sunday night Net Control send George an e-mail at audax@gotsky.com

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PARC BIO –April 2014 – sorry nobody stepped forward this month.

Zamami Island

Off the coast of Okinawa

Rock Climbing anyone?

Where is he?

Okinawa Japan

Alberto and friends spend another weekend on the Island of

Zamami, off the coast of Okinawa. This trip they did some

rock climbing and actually swam with Sea turtles.

Updated Mailing Address: CPL Gomez, Alberto

3D MLG CLR- 37 MT HQ

Unit #38404

FPO AP 96380-8404

Jim-WW7DD watches for that first bike! Jim WW7DD awaits that first bike!

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The Radio Corner by Jim W7JWT

The Drake TR-7 Transceiver

Last month it was all about the RL Drake tube type transceivers. I had planned to now discuss the Drake and Collins tube type ‘Lines’, the separate tube transmitter / receiver combinations between the two companies, but I decided to jump forward to the Drake’s last entry into the amateur transceiver market, the Drake TR-7. It is my favorite collectable transceiver. If you want to collect a functional day to day use transceiver, that competes well with modern transceivers, and operates on the entire HF spectrum, this is it.

History: In 1975, the founder RL Drake passed away. The operation and management of the company was turned over to his son Peter W. Drake, as Mr. Drake had been training him to assume his position for some

time. It was time for new ideas. In the year 1977, land was purchased in Franklin, Ohio just off Route 123, to

build a new production facility. The machine shop, PC fabrication department, production lines, and component assembly lines were moved to this new facility. The office staff, sales department, engineering department, and the service department remained at the Miamisburg plant. It was time to bring out the next (and last) generation transceiver to the amateur operators.

In the hay-days of Drake before the death of Bob Drake there was much discussion among the engineers on the TR-7. The discussions were on whether the new design should be a tube design, possibly a hybrid design, or forge into the new world of solid state. The more seasoned engineering leaned towards using the "tried & true" tube design. However, after the smoke cleared the younger college grad engineers won the debate for an all solid-state design. During the next couple of years the TR-7 design went through several development phases and sometimes into yet uncharted waters. Along the way there were many all nighters, bar-room discussions, ruffled feathers, and impeded territories, but it all eventually came together. During it all, the Drake engineers overcame some insurmountable obstacles like the BFO signal that could be heard a block away until they realized the metal shield was acting like an antenna, or the power amplifier that self-destructed on a little SWR. The Drake TR-7 Transceiver was considered the first all solid state commercially available transceiver.

Randy N7CKJ hands

John KL7LL

The Gift Certificate

For the HRO Raffle!

The Gift Exchange

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Design: The best part was that it was designed not just as an amateur transceiver, but also as a commercial transceiver. It needed to be able to operate on ANY HF frequency. The transmitter was designed to produce a flat frequency response across the entire operating range and required no transmitter tuning or adjustment across the entire 1.5 Mhz to 30 Mhz operating range of the transceiver. The frequency synthesizer and PTO provided tuning with a 1 Khz analog dial and a 100 Hz digital readout. The frequency synthesizer provided tuning ranges in 500 Khz steps across the operating range of the transceiver selectable with the Band Switch and the "UP" and "DOWN" front panel pushbuttons. The transmitter was designed to operate at 250 watts input power across the entire operating range of the radio. This netted a typical output power level between 130 and 150 watts on the lower bands and 90 and 100 watts on 15 and 10 meters. The transmitter also included VSWR protection which shut-down the power level when the antenna was not properly matched. The receiver was also very ‘hot’. It still compares favorably with today’s digital transceivers.

The basic layout of the TR-7 Transceiver is a modular design. Each section of the transceiver was built on individual circuit boards that plug into a mother board which Drake refers to as the Parent Board. The Parent Board was connectorized to except the smaller circuit boards and interconnect the boards carrying power, switching voltages and low frequency signals between the boards. The high frequency signals used small plug-in coax cables on the top side of the transceiver running between the circuit boards. The picture below shows the placement of each board and other major components in the transceiver.

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The TR-7 transceiver built for amateur use had a selector switch that took you directly to any of the 500 Khz frequency segments that contained the particular amateur band. But since it was also a commercial transceiver, Drake provided an optional ‘Aux-7” board so ANY 500 Khz frequency segment could be selected. I bought one so I could operate on the new WARC bands.

Drake manufactured plug in ‘chips’ that could be installed and selected to cover the 500 Khz frequency segment. You had to prove you had a license to buy a ‘chip’ for the 500 Khz segment that was not originally supplied by Drake. But hams, being hams, came up with a way around that. Hams determined the ‘chips’ contained switching diodes betweens the chip pins in a particular arrangement that produced the desired 500 Khz segment. All you needed to do was solder some switching diodes into a plug in chip socket, in the correct arrangement, and you were on the air on that 500 Khz band segment. The above picture shows my Aux-7 board containing both Drake manufactured ‘chips’ and some ‘chips’ I fabricated. If you wanted to be a ‘Pirate’, you easily could.

Then the hams found an even easier way. The following picture is of the board installed on the bottom of the transceiver. A ham determined that if you cut the right solder ribbon on this board, the transceiver then became useable on ANY frequency between 1.5 – 30 Mhz. Wow, ‘Pirates’ loved this - a transceiver that covered the entire HF spectrum, at over 100 watts, with no tuning. The only advantage to the Aux-7 board was that you could SELECT the 500 Khz segment vs. having to TUNE across multiple Mhz to get to your needed frequency. NOW YOU’RE STARTING TO SEE WHY I LOVE THIS TRANSCEIVER.

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This is a picture of a typical bottom circuit board. Cutting one foil line opens up the entire HF spectrum. My board has this modification installed.

The other reasons I love it are as follows:

With power supply and filters it can be had for as low as $600.

Spare parts are readily available on E-Bay from other parted out sets.

There are several hams that will repair it for you, if needed.

Many accessories are available for it and it interfaces well with current amplifiers.

It has excellent sensitivity and selectivity with the available filters.

And finally, it looks great and is built to commercial specifications.

Believe me, if you like this type of gear, and you buy one, you won’t be disappointed.

The Drake TR-7 was built from 1978 to 1982. Mine is SN 6977, built in 1980. You might ask what happened to the TR-5 and TR-6? The TR-5 was a solid state version of the TR-4 that was built during the same time frame as the TR-7. The TR-7 was soooo- much more popular, that the TR-5 didn’t sell and was discontinued. But if you can find one, you have a REAL collector’s item. The TR-6 was the 6 meter equivalent to the TR-4.

My station: The following is a picture of my TR-7 setup. Please notice it demands a spot on my desk as one of my two main operating positions. With the TR-7, I have a Drake microphone, an external VFO, an antenna tuner / wattmeter, a speech processor, an electronic keyer and an external speaker. The power supply is hidden on a shelf behind everything.

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Get one of these. You won’t regret it. Next month I’ll catch the Drake and Collins ‘Lines’.

CUL 73s Jim W7JWT

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This is a picture of the Franklin, Ohio the Facility that was up for sale a couple years ago. Inside the front entrance was the mint amateur equipment that they had produced. Boy, I wonder what ever happened to that great stuff after the facility was sold.

Until next time 73 Jim W7JWT

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Turns out our Local Hams know more than just radios!

John KL7LL and Jim WW7DD installed new flooring at Gimmie AL7LB’s new house in Colville. Great Job!

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Calendar of Events – 2014

May – 2014

1st Spokane DX Club Monthly Meeting 7:00pm Argonne Library off Hawthorne 3rd Indiana QSO Party

4th Maple Ridge Amateur Radio Club Swap Meet. Pitt Meadows BC 4th Sunday Night Net – Net Control Operator – Courtney KE7ZDL

7TH Conservation Tour for 6 Graders 9th WA SAR Conference www.wasarcon.org 10th Armed Forces Comm’ns Test www.netcom.army.mil/mars

10th 50 MHz Spring Sprint 11th Sunday Night Net – Net Control Operator – Karl WX7DX

11th Mother’s Day 16th Yard Sale 132 Crestline Dr. Colville – (Gimmie) 16th PARC Club Meeting 7:30pm in Colville – Debbie Snacks

16th Dayton Hamvention – Dayton Ohio 17th Arden Ole Timers Rodeo

17th W7DP Walla Walla Ham Fest 18th Sunday Night Net – Net Control Operator – Cynthia WW7CA

22nd NAQCC Monthly QRP Sprint 25th Sunday Night Net – Net Control Operator – Jim WW7DD 26th Memorial Day

26th MI QRP Memorial Day CW Sprint 31st Habitat for Humanity Annual Spring Gala – Ag-Trade Center

31st Worldwide EME Contest www.dubus.org

June – 2014

1st 10-10 Spring CW Contest www.ten-ten.org 1st CVRS Antique Radio Swap Meet, Burnaby BC http://rac.eton.ca/events/detail.php?event_ID=1672

1st Sunday Night Net – Net Control Operator – George W7WBN 6th ARRL Regional Centennial Event Seapac – in Seaside Oregon 7th Wake-Up! QRP Sprint

7th Maritimes QSO Party 8th Sunday Night Net – Net Control Operator – Donna KF7UIM

13th Relay for Life – Colville High School 14th KARS HamFest – Post Falls ID see flyer on pg 15 14th Asia-Pacific Sprint, SSB

14th GACW WWSA CW DX Contest & ARRL June VHF Contest 15th Sunday Night Net – Net Control Operator – Courtney KE7ZDL

20th PARC Club Meeting 7:30pm in Colville - Snacks 21st ARRL Kids Day 22nd Sunday Night Net – Net Control Operator – Karl WX7DX

27th Ham Radio International Exhibition for Radio Amateurs-Friedrichshafen Germany 28th Field Day in Chewelah at Lynn Miner’s place.

28th Hidden Garden Tours – Colville Floral for tickets. 29th Sunday Night Net – Net Control Operator – Cynthia WW7CA

o Calendar of events will be an ongoing part of the news letter, submit your dates to parcnews@hotmail.com

“Source: PNW Hamfair webpage at http://www.n7cfo.com/amradio/hf/hf.htm”

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Cheese Danish Ingredients: 2 cans ready to use refrigerated crescent rolls 1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened 1 cup sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 egg 1 egg white

Glaze: 1/2 cup powdered sugar 2 Tablespoons milk 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13X9-inch baking pan. Unroll one package of crescent rolls and pinch the seams closed. Beat the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and egg until smooth. Spread the mixture evenly over the crescent rolls. Unroll the second pack of crescent rolls on top of the cheese mixture. You don't have to worry about the seams on the top layer. Brush the dough with egg white. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the top is golden brown. Cool 20 minutes, then pour glaze over it.

Variations: • Substitute almond extract for the vanilla and add some slivered almonds. • Add berries between the cream cheese and the top layer. • Drizzle Nutella over the cream cheese before the top layer goes on. • Drizzle melted chocolate over the top. • Dust with cocoa and powdered sugar. I brought to the last PARC meeting. I've added a few variations I'm thinking of trying. Bert

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