K7JEB AM Log: 28 Jan 2007 - 30 Apr 2007

Mostly Arizona news this time around.


* 01/30/Tues evening/144.45 Mcs

The popular D-104 replacement mike cartridges from Kobitone
that are stocked by Mouser are now going for $5.25 each, a
jump of about a dollar.  These are the 2-inch diameter
ones.  Accept no substitutes.

Scott, W7SVJ, says the 2-M AM repeater, built around the
receiver and transmitter in a Collins aircraft-band ground
station is nearly ready.  All that is lacking is a case to
house it and a good location.  Current plans call for it to
receive on 144.45 and transmit up-band on a little-used FM
channel (with proper coordination, of course).

K7SC is exercising his Comcraft transceiver this evening.

* 02/03/Sat morning/3855 kcs

Ted, WA8ULG, inadvertently conducts a plasma-arc experiment
with the Collins 820D-2, results shown on his webpage on
Arizona-AM.  Also, some discussion about his audio chain
driving the 820D-2.  Ted describes the audio "chains" he
used to market in the CATV area -- intelligent gain-riding/
peak-limiting on 32 channels simultaneously.

George, W8QBG, is working on replacing the 6CA7 driver tube
in his Bauer 707 with a 6146 for more drive on 40 meters.
His current scheme uses a plug-in adapter to change the
pin-outs and plate cap connections between the Bauer socket
and the 6146.  If this looks promising on 40, the change
will be made permanent with a socket re-wire.

AL0F, Tim in Arivaca, isn't taking Super Bowl bets but
wonders who will come out on top.  He's also working
on getting some replacement bathtub capacitors for his
75A1 receiver and is torn between "authentic" metal case
one or "modern" plastic jobs that will last another
60+ years.  There is a mention of some ham who advertises
in Ham Radio offering a service that fits modern caps
into funky vintage metal bathtubs.  Hmmmm....

Tim also reports hearing and working stations on 15 meters
here at the bottom of the sunspot cycle.

John, WA6JUS, is thinking about writing a book about the
joys of working on the 'Big Mamu' to be entitled "Zen and
the Art of Boatanchor Maintenance".

* 02/04/Sun morning/3855 kcs

Super Bowl Sunday and everyone is making preps for watching
the game.  But there's still time for some AM ragchewing
in the morning.

Ken, K6CJA, announces his latest find, a grinder motor and
wheels, from the Victorville (non-ham) swapmeet.

Damon, W7MD, surprises K7JEB with a dissertation on bluegrass
music and the revelation that he plays the guitar.  Another
entry for that plaque showing MD's many, non-medical
accomplishments.

* 02/06/Tues morning/3870 kcs

No-Money Mike, KO6NM, upholds the purity of tube-line
broadcast transmitters by grumbling a bit at the news that
local guys are reworking the tank circuits to make them
multi-band and motor-tunable.  K7JEB sees it as a toss-up,
preserving a technological state-of-the-art vs. using the
rig as a day-to-day communications capability.  We aren't
going to solve this in time before the start of the AMI
Net.

The thing that starts this discussion is W7TRO describing
his adaptation of the Bauer 707 to grid-block keying.


* 02/06/Tues evening/144.45 Mcs

Auction 'finds':  W8QBG gets (another) Mirage 2M amp, W8QYT
wins a Gonset G50 and an audio oscillator.

Scott, W7SVJ, recommends Donovan Mfg. for custom aluminum
chassis work.

Lock, W1ZD, reports working Jim Wilhite, W5JO, a long-time
AMer previously from Las Cruces and now in Oklahoma.

W8QBG continues to evaluate the 6146 driver mod on his 707.

* 02/08/Thurs afternoon/7293 kcs

K7JEB thinks he has 'cured' his intermittent SWR problem
with his rooftop antenna by replacing a bad barrel
connector.  In addition to making the flicking SWR lights
go out on his Palomar wattmeter, this repair seems to have
reduced the IMD from the local 50 kW BC station
considerably.

Bob, K6BT, and Ron, K0ETD, have a long discussion about
getting AM-bandwidth selectivity in place of one of the SSB
positions in Collins 75A2 and A3 receivers.  Involves some
kind of 'gimmick' to fine-tune the effect.

K7JEB makes arrangements with K0ETD to photograph his QRP
rigs at the Scottsdale hamfest in March.  These photos to
be featured on the K0ETD page on Arizona-AM.

* 02/08/Thurs evening/3870 kcs

Hearing lots of Flex Radio software-defined radios on AM
these days, in particular N6EDV and K6ZSR.  K7JEB mentions
Randy, W7CPA's experience with sound cards and his finally
settling on a Roland unit as the solution.

* 02/09/Friday Noon/7293 kcs

W8QBG gets a Hammond 'care package', some 304TH's and a new
vacuum cleaner (??)  K7JEB needs to take better notes...

K7JEB records an air check for W7ISJ and e-mails it to him.
Service with a smile!

W1ZD informs us that the new Arizona, amateur-radio-callsign
license plates are now available and looking very good with
a radio tower and lightning bolts as a graphic on them.  He
also suggests that K7JEB may want to trade in his red W5GYJ
plates for these new ones.  K7JEB would like to trade in
the whole truck for a new one.

Larry, W0OGH, sustains a shoulder injury that may sideline
his softball career permanently.  Say it ain't so!

* 02/10/Sat morning/3855 kcs

KO6SM gets an SB-200 for SSB work and anticipates massive
RFI problems with his indoor antennas.

W8QBG is going to make the 6146 driver mod permanent in the
Bauer, having gotten good results on 40 meters.  George
says he can see how to make it so neat that you'd have to
look twice to notice the Bauer wasn't stock.

Lots of frost-damaged trees in the Phoenix area.  QBG gets
a riding vacuum cleaner to cope with the detritus(?).

Some discussion about asymmetric modulation here and the
view of KO6NM and WA1QIX.

* 02/11/Sun morning/3855 kcs

Damon, W7MD, reports that drywall is going up in his ham
shack at his 'new' home in Vail, AZ.  Slow but sure
progress there.  Damon also reports adding some vegetation
in the form of 'Emerald Paloverde' trees, a special hybrid
form of Arizona's state tree that can withstand freezing.

Some discussion of RFI and EMI.  Mention was made of WJ6W's
situation - pumping maximum power into a stealth antenna
under his eaves and turning on motion detectors and
sprinkler systems.

Today was Classic Exchange, but didn't hear or log any
stations on the air specifically for that purpose.

Greg, WA7LYO, announces he will be moving to North
Carolina.  K7JEB observes that this will reduce the market
value of goods traded at the West Valley ARC Auction by
half almost immediately.

* 02/14/Wed noon/7293 kcs

W8QBG decides to make the 6146 mod permanent in the Bauer
707. Results are good on all bands.

* 02/15/Thursday

K7JEB's Icom IC-746pro succumbs to the dreaded IC-151
problem with no discernible transmit power out.  Good thing
the shipping materials were retained from the last trip
back to Maine.

* 02/17/Sat morning/3855 kcs

Ken, K6CJA, is putting up a vertical for 160 "with lots of
copper-wire radials" to pull in some top-band DX.  He also
gets a second dog to keep his German Shepherd company.

Damon, W7MD, gets a new neighbor, much closer to his
property than expected and has concerns about privacy and
RFI.  He also reports that drywall hanging in the
garage/hamshack is well under way.  Some discussion about
his playing the electric guitar - definitely a man of many
talents.  He also advise K7JEB to dump the IC-746pro when
it returns from N1EQ's ministrations in Maine.

Rare check-in on 3855 from AE8O, Tom, in Rio Rancho NM.
Tom buys a signal tracer, tube checker and a *lot* of old,
wooden radios on E-Bay, thus initiating a massive
restoration project.

W8QBG is also contemplating a 160/80-meter vertical, about
75 feet high, with a tuner at the base.

W5WVI, Jon, in Mesa AZ, has been checking in regularly with
his Johnson Desk, driven by a reworked Ranger, and feeding
an inverted-L antenna.  Nice signal over on the other side
of the Valley with good-sounding audio.

* 02/17/Sat noon/7293 kcs
 
K3TYE, Joe, is on from Tucson with a home-brew rig.  He's
having a bit of trouble with hum in the oscillator but good
signal otherwise.

Some discussion with Bob, NA7RH, about power MOSFET's for
HF applications(?).  I think he's looking for one that can
push out about 300W on 3-30 MHz.

W1ZD is working on the power supply for his ART-13.  He
needs a good source of +400V for the low-power stages.
Good to hear that project progressing.

Hear from K6KSG, Dick, in Colorado, running an FT-101 and
Heathkit SB-230 amp.  Some discussion about getting an old
Heathkit AT-1 on AM.

* 02/18/Sun morning/3855 kcs

Hear from Shep, W5EOE, that he is having fun with Echolink
and PSK-31, 'working' Saipan on the former.  But, Shep, it
ain't *real* radio, just virtual reality.

AWA QSO party today, but doubtful we'll hear any of the
participating stations since most are Back East.

KO6SM, Larry, is experiencing computer QRM and needs line
filters.  K7JEB has an over-supply of them and commits to
sending a couple of 10-amp jobs his way at the next hamfest.
Larry also upgrades to Vista on one of his computers and
finds out he needs a high-powered PCI Express graphics
card.

* 02/23/Fri noon/7293 kcs

John, WA6JUS, acquires a Cubic/Swan Astro 103 and a
Hammarlund SP-600.  He's OK with the SP-600 but doesn't
really cotton up to the 103's transistors and PLL's.
Should have fun getting both rigs up and running.  Also
mentioned, John has some spare WECo 417A's and makes big $$
selling them to Antique Electronics Supply in Tempe.

K7JEB is puzzled by the low-pressure cells on the Unisys
Weather Map being in millibars and discovers the conversion
factor: 1013 mbar = 29.92 inches Hg or: In=0.02953 x mbar

BTW, the Unisys weather website is:
http://weather.unisys.com/
The detailed WX map is:
http://weather.unisys.com/satellite/sat_sfc_map.html

* 02/24/Sat morning/3855 kcs

Ted, WA8ULG, announces that he has placed an order for the
WA6QIX/REA Modulation Monitor.

KB7LOQ, Art, is heard from.  He mentions that his XYL likes
the Arizona-AM

* 02/25/Sun morning/3855 kcs

WA8ULG claims that K7JEB is making him into a 'rock star'
by posting his rig pix on Arizona-AM website.

We hear from Ron, W6MAU, that he is an ex-broadcast
engineer and that his next project will be the restoration
of a Globe King 500, having wrapped up his Valiant work for
the time being.

WA6JUS is taking a liking to the Hammarlund SP-600 receiver
recently acquired.  He would like to work out a way to get
a digital readout of the LO frequency, however.

George, W8QBG, is looking around for a medium-height rack
for his Harris linear amplifier rebuild project.

Although Max, K7CAX, likes his National NC-300, he has to
give the receiver top-dog award to his Icom IC-R75 with
its synchronous detector for AM.

* 03/02/Friday noon/7293 kcs

K7JEB backs out of Nikon D70 deal with W7MD due to
financial hardship from Icom IC-746 repairs.  Damon goes
ahead and buys a D200 anyway and uses his existing lens
collection with it.  K7JEB proposes a photo essay of
nearby, garish Westgate shopping center, next to the
Glendale football stadium, using his crummy HP945 camera.

Mickey, WA6FIZ, acquires a Viking II from the estate of
N6PY and needs a schematic.  K7JEB downloads one from BAMA,
uses the plugins with the Irfanview program to convert it
from Dejavu (.DJVU) format to PDF and sends it over on a
CD, all while on the air.  Piece of cake.

* 03/03/Saturday morning/3855 kcs

Max, K7CAX, is on the trail of a 2nd DX-100 as a parts rig
to refurbish the one he already has.

Damon, W7MD, is on the air with only half a dipole due to
a wind storm the previous day.  Not a bad signal,
considering.

Bob, NA7RH, advises that shortwave broadcasting frequencies
and times can be obtained from the coordinating committee
at:  www.hfcc.org

* 03/04/Sun morning/3855 kcs

W7CPA, Randy, reports that he has eliminated all the
problems he was experiencing with his Flex-Radio unit by
getting a Roland sound card for it.

Lotsa "gun talk" with W7CPA, K7JEB, K7VZP, KB7LOQ, AL0F
and W7XH.  Conclusion: people kill people with guns, but
they are fun to shoot out in the desert anyway.

* 03/11/Sun morning/3855 kcs

Scottsdale debriefing session.  N7AF holds a yard sale for
his dad's boatanchors at his house.  Lotsa goodies, AM
contingent well-represented.  K7JEB finally gets a
definitive set of rig photos of K0ETD's QRP transmitter and
receiver for Arizona-AM webpages and proclaims "Mission
Accomplished".  Ted, WA8ULG, comes away from Scottsdale
with his prizes - a gaggle of semi-broken oscilloscopes for
roughly $2 apiece.

W5GCL/AG checks in and comments that AMers seem like a
bunch of high-caliber people.

* 03/13/Tues evening/144.45 Mcs

More commentary on the N7AF yard/house sale.  W8QBG was
there and found it quite crowded.  Dave would only let a
few people in at a time to view the equipment.  Of interest
was a homebrew 1kW xmtr with a 2-250TH x 2-250TH tube
lineup and using plug-in coils for bandswitching.

Scott, W7SVJ, on the air with a 30-watt Collins
ground-station transmitter.  Much better signal at the
K7JEB QTH but the audio is a bit muffled.

Tom, W8QYT, mentions his work on building a stationary
engine from scratch at the Sun City activity-center machine
shop.  K7JEB opines that if he picks up a belt drive and an
alternator, he'll be in great shape for the next power
outage.

If this is 2-M AM, then K7JEB must have his IC-746 back
from the infamous IC-151 debacle.


* 03/17/Saturday morning/3855 kcs

Ron, W6MAU, is experiencing bias problems with his Valiant.
Helpful suggestions made by others.

Max, K7CAX, is aware of the replacement knobs manufactured
by K9STH for the Heathkit DX-100 (and others).

WA6JUS is practicing his bluegrass licks and airs a short
sample for the edification of the listening public.

W7MD has his 80-meter antenna repaired courtesy of N7IOK
and is now sounding very strong in the Phoenix area.

Andy, KC7KW, is on with his water-cooled (!!) Flex-Radio
SDR and amplifier.  Excellent signal and excellent AM
audio.  Pix at:  http://www.rentreelaudio.com/SHACK.htm
down towards the bottom of the page.

Greg, WA7LYO, as part of his planned move to NC on 1 April,
offers a 6KV plate transformer for free to any takers.
W8QBG immediately accepts and heads over to Greg's QTH.

Bob, NA7RH, advises he bought a Heathkit Seneca at
Scottsdale and is at work getting it refurbished for
2-meter AM operation on 144.45.  Some discussion about the
'interesting' mechanical linkage between the bandswitch
knob and the actual switches in the final tank and
low-power stages, as well as the neutralization on the
6146's.

* 03/18/Sunday morning/3855 kcs

W8QBG is going to build a complete, semi-portable rig with
his Harris HF amplifier and a Collins KWM-2A.  Should be a
neat package.  K7JEB needs to get over to the QBG QTH for
a photo update.

George is also fighting line noise now and interfacing with
the appropriate people at SRP.  SRP is juggling people
around in their RFI-prevention operation, but George
promises to provide the names and phone numbers of the key
people he is working with.

W7CPA is planning a fishing trip into Quebec for Walleye and
Pike and is advised to get up there and back before the
biting flies hatch.

* 03/24/Saturday morning/3855 kcs

W6GY on with his new Bauer from near Boise, Idaho.  It's
sounding good into his full-wave loop antenna.  K6PKO in
Fresno also works him before the band goes local.

K7JEB has a bit of antenna SWR problems when an overnight
windstorm blows off the 'gimmick' he has attached to the end
of his 80-meter dipole to lower its resonance from 4.0 to
3.7 Mcs.  So much for alligator clips.

More discussion with WA8ULG and others about the REA AM HF-1
modulation monitor and whether or not it can cope with
controlled carrier modulation that is prevalent in the
Heathkit, single-6146 transmitters (eg: DX-60).  Belar makes
a special HF mod meter for the SW broadcasters who use that
scheme to save power on unmodulated-carrier transmissions.

W7MD comments on the "Art Deco" look of his NC-183D.

K7JEB's truck blows a gasket in the power-steering...
again.

Any AM operation on 7160 in the afternoons?

NA7RH has his 2-M AM receive capability online and gives
K7JEB a signal report from last Tuesday's 144.45 net.

Very surprised to hear WA9JMU very late in the morning from
over there in Elephant Butte, NM.  Jim heard us yakking
away and thought he would try to get through.  Band was
going local and dead when he called, but we were able to
say hello and exchange signal reports.

* 03/25/Sunday morning/3855 kcs

Snow melting at the QTH of W5EOE, Shep, in the Dolores
valley of southwest Colorado causes others to wonder aloud
about Global Warming.

Max, K7CAX, gets essential antenna rotor wiring information
from HRO.  See, its not *just* about selling new radios.

Lots of QRM from what sounds like over-the-horizon radar on
the frequency this morning.  Where is this junk coming from
-- China?, Australia?  It fades out the minute sunlight
hits the Pacific Ocean.

Frost damage from a month or so ago has George, W8QBG, very
busy with yard work and trash management.

John, WA6JUS, is into repairing/restoring/rebuilding his
recently acquired Hammarlund SP-600.

WA8ULG is at it again.  Acquires and transports a KLM
log-periodic beam up to Parks and currently is reassembling
it on ladders and sawhorses up there.  This is a truly
impressive structure with a 40-foot boom and too many
elements to count.  Also in the works, a pair of 750-watt
Varian traveling-wave tubes (TWT's) for use in a 5-GHz
moonbounce setup.  Let's see, that power into a 10-foot
dish gives an erp of something like 268 kilowatts.  Not
bad.

* 03/27/Tues evening/144.45 Mcs

Larry, KO6SM, is restoring an Atwater-Kent radio.  He also
informs us that HB2595, Arizona's version of a PRB-1
exemption for hams living under CC&R's is dead, pocketed by
some guy in the legislature named Jack Harper, who is, in
turn, in the pocket of the homeowner's associations.

Lock, W1ZD, gets his new amateur-radio callsign license
plate from AzDMV and also encourages K7JEB to follow suit
so that people won't think we've got a 5-lander on Arizona
roads.

* 03/31/Saturday morning/3855 kcs
 
Ken, K6CJA, has a new 40-meter antenna up, so should start
to hear him on 7293 more frequently.  He also tells us that
he has become a source for D-104 replacement cartridges for
his friends in the Mohave.

John, WA6JUS, continues his activities with the Veterans
Museum.  He has also acquired a Heathkit Cheyenne and is
considering the possibilities for that little rig.

Damon, W7MD, is putting in a darkroom sink in another room
in his garage/hamshack complex - showing that film
photography is alive and well, at least in Vail, Arizona.
Damon's 'next-door' neighbor is beginning to bug him and he
is now contemplating fencing-in his 'spread'.

K7JEB swings the discussion over to the software realm by
announcing that he has gotten the GNU Fortran compiler
running and is reliving his salad years at Boeing Aerospace
by cranking out card-image code to compute various antenna
characteristics.

This leads to various comments about computer programming
in general:  W7MD is getting into multiple-OS booting with
VMServer and uses OGG/Vorbis for recording audio tracks;
W8QBG recalls his days at GM programming virtual control
ladders using PLC to run manufacturing machinery; WA6TJN
recalls control implementations using a 1-bit
microprocessor from Motorola.

Bob, NA7RH, is horrified to discover a pair of 6146B's in
his newly acquired Heathkit Seneca.  That explains some of
the weirdness seen in trying to get drive to the finals.
But substituting 6146A's still doesn't make everything
right.  Bob also mentions his employer sending him to a
school on 4th-generation (4G) cellular technology.  Geez,
we haven't been able to absorb 3G or 2.5G stuff yet!

* 04/01/Sunday morning/3855 kcs

Ted, WA8ULG, continues to work on assembling and repairing
his log-periodic antenna and contemplating raising it to
the top of a tower out in Parks.  While he's talking the
820D-2 issues some snapping sounds and he goes off the air
for a look-see.

K7JEB continues to bask in the warm glow of Fortran 77.

George, W8QBG, continues integrating the KWM-2A/Harris Amp
into a complete system.
 
* 04/03/Tues evening/144.45 Mcs

Tom, W8QYT, sends away for Nortel's counter and DDS/VFO
kits to solve his frequency accuracy/stability concerns on
HF and VHF.  It will be interesting to hear how he comes
out with these, although it will probably be summer up in
Michigan when he gets them running.

Jim, K7SC, is talking on his Gonset IV tonight after
rebuilding the audio section.  It is sounding great, almost
broadcast quality audio.  Jim is also working the problem of
how to do 2-M AM from his Chicago home with antenna
restrictions.  He is looking at an attic-mounted Ringo
Ranger with, perhaps, the top section removed.  He also
fills us in on the struggle between the good citizens of
North Scottsdale, particularly those in HOA areas and the
cellphone companies wanting to put up base-station towers.

More Fortran reminiscing by K7JEB invites Larry, KO6SM, to
share his software adventures with Multics, an operating
system used by GE computers, later Honeywell computers and
now Bull computers.  Larry had a hand in developing that
software and stays in touch with his fellow software
engineers who were involved with it.  Multics is perhaps
best known as the progenitor of Unix, and now, Linux.
According to Larry, if Microsoft had followed the
principles used in the design of Multics, we wouldn't be
living in a Windows world filled with viruses, worms and
rootkits.

* 04/07/Saturday morning/3855 kcs

Max, K7CAX, is rearranging his hamshack - again.  He also
reports to be very close to having his DX-100 on the air.

K7JEB, running his 'free' Gnu Fortran compiler writes a
small program that fills up 2 GB of memory with random
double-precision floating-point numbers, just to aggravate
his Pentium-4 machine.  Windows 2000 shuts this monstrosity
down when it runs out of virtual memory.

Ted, WA8ULG, is seeing modulator bias weirdness with his
Collins 820D-2 and continues to look into it.  In the
software/microcomputer vein he mentions having used an
8080/Z80 system made by Ohio Scientific way back when.

George, W8QBG, inherited a UPS system from, I think, his
son, and has been contemplating how he can have
uninterrupted power in his DX lair, Studio A.  He is giving
thought to acquiring batteries for the UPS, but they would
have to be big.

* 04/08/Sunday morning/3855 kcs
 
Hear Rich, KC9GQ, on from Flagstaff for the first time in
an awfully long time.  Rich says he has been busy with
Observatory work, but also under the weather with a nasty
infection that just now seems to be responding favorably to
antibiotics. In response to queries about getting in touch
with him when in the area, he advises that he monitors
146.55 FM while in the shop at Lowell.

Also on the recovering list is Art, KB7LOQ.  He sends us
all running to our reference material (www.wikipedia.org)
when he tells us he had a bout with Giardia.  Ugh!  This is
the kind of thing one usually thinks of when visiting
4th-world countries, but Art says he got it from
inadvertently swallowing some water while splashing around
in Lake Powell.

Damon, W7MD, works the Swain Island DXpedition on 160 CW.

* 04/10/Tues evening/144.45 Mcs

K7SC asks the question about why carbon composition
resistors change value with age, temperature, humidity,
overloads, phases of the moon, etc.  No definitive answer,
but graphite and clay pressed together can't be too stable
over the long haul.  No wonder they have been completely
supplanted by other, more stable types.

K7SC relates his encounter with the hi-fi SSB audio gang on
20 meters and their endless, on-the-air adjustments of EQ,
compression, noise-gating.  We AMer's don't do that kind of
thing now, do we?

* 04/10/Tues evening/3870 kcs

Catch WA6JUS and some of the other Californians on late at
night, after the SSB usage of 3870 has abated.  John thinks
he will use the little Heathkit Cheyenne as the exciter for
his 'Big Mamu' transmitter, supplanting the B&W 5100
currently there.

Some discussion about CW prowess: K6EC regales us with
tales from his personal history as a USMC radio op. in Viet
Nam, WA6HDY says he can get 100% copy at 30 wpm on a
'mill'.  Bern also is cropping the papyrus field in back of
his house in Arroyo Grande.

* 04/15/Sunday morning/3855 kcs

Ken, K6CJA, reports being forced from his house the previous
day by smoke from a nearby wildfire.  Those things are
getting nastier... and closer.

Tim, AL0F, has a close call riding to work on his
motorcycle.  Topping a rise with limited visibility, he
hits a deer as it gets confused and runs into him instead
of away from him.  Minor damage to the bike, none to Tim,
and unknown amount to the deer, which fled the scene.

* 04/21/Saturday morning/3855 kcs

WA8ULG is on with, for him, is a low-powered rig, an AF-67.
Still has a good signal down here in Phoenix.  Ted reports
a fresh coat of snow at his mountain QTH, but it is melting
fast.

K6CJA is on, reporting on his NASCAR viewings.  Discussion
turns to a real 'funny car', the "789" from N2A Motors.
This is a custom job built on a current Corvette C6 frame
but the body style incorporates elements of a '57 Chevy in
the front, a '58 Chevy in the mid-section and a '59 Chevy in
the rear, with swooping tailfins.  Quite a sight, and yours
for only $135,000. (http://n2amotors.com/)

Joe, W7ISJ, checks in from his QTH near Puerto Penasco
(Rocky Point).  Joe has some kind of scheme going that lets
him boost his battery voltage up to 14-15 volts and stay on
the air with the Gonset twins from down there.  Good signal
up here in Phoenix initially, but the band begins to go
south.

Speaking of South, the OTH radar, or whatever it is, was
very loud today and made the early morning QSO with
California a pain.

* 04/22/Sunday morning/3855 kcs

More reaction from e-mailing the picture of the N2A '789'
around.  Everyone wants one.  It is a cute car - captures a
certain élan the US auto industry had in those days.  And
with a Corvette engine, tranny, rear-end and suspension, it
runs like the wind, too.

WA8ULG is looking for a box of "Ouncer" step-up audio
transformers.  Remember those?

Max, K7CAX, is running into difficulties getting his DX-100
to be rack-mounted, doing some heavy duty mechanical mods on
the rack to make this work.

Art, KB7LOQ, checks in and informs us that he has acquired
the big, two-rack homebrew rig from N7AF, the one with the
250TH's in the final.  Well, we know what is going to
occupy Art's time for the next year or so, now.  Good to
hear that the old beast has found a good home.

* 04/28/Saturday morning/3855 kcs

W8QBG is on his homebrew rig this morning, cranking out the
watts but also hearing disquieting snaps and crackles.
George says he measures the years and seasons in a similar
fashion to the Chinese - this being the year of the rat,
last being the year of the cricket and before that the
snake, field mouse and lizard -- all zapped by the HV
supply in the homebrew rig.

Damon, W7MD, acquired a Hy-Tower from the big N7AF
open-house sale and is now wondering where to put it and
where he can find another one, or three, to make a
steerable array.  He reports progress with the
garage/hamshack, the latest being the installation of a
lift device between the house and hamshack, possibly in
anticipation of continuing back problems.

Hear from Ingo, WA7KUM, in Globe, AZ.  Ingo was mostly
responsible for WA8ULG's acquisition of the Collins 820D-2
from a local radio station there in Globe (KIKO).  Nice
signal from a properly adjusted IC-765 driving an
amplifier.

* 04/29/Sunday morning/3855 kcs

Ted, WA8ULG, bottoms out on the modulator squirreliness in
his 820, finding cremated resistors, a blown-up capacitor
and defunct selenium rectifier, all comprising a 'snubber'
across the filter choke of a LV power supply.  Interesting
bit of troubleshooting.

Ted is also hard at work rebuilding the 11 KV beam power
supply for the 750-watt TWT's he has for 5 GHz
moonbouncing.  He finds himself in the market for some
600-volt, 50-amp transistors in TO-3 packages.  Varian, the
OEM, wants $$$$ for them as spare parts.  Ted thinks he has
an alternate source with NTE devices.  Scary!

George, W8QBG, has seen the SRP RFI people in action with
an ultrasonic arc detector and wants one for himself,
thinking that home-brewing it would work best.  He needs a
plastic parabolic sound reflector, microphone and some kind
of audio mixer to move the ultrasound down to audible
freqs.  We'll see on this.

N7IOK checks in, makes a snarky observation as K7JEB tries
to get WA6TRN's e-mail address over the air, and then tells
us of his work trying to squeeze the specified 180 watts of
carrier out of a pair of 6JB6's in a Drake TR-4.



AM HONOR ROLL...
(stations logged this period)


W8QYT_______K7SC_______W8QBG_______W1ZD
W7SVJ_______K7AK_______WB6BIH______K6IC
KO6NM_______K6CJA______WA8ULG______W7CPA
WA6JUS______AL0F_______W7MD________K4KCL
K6EC________W7TRO______KO6SM_______W6MAU
WA6WRF______K0ETD______K6BT________K6RCL
K6ZSR_______WA6FIZ_____K6SXD_______KF6ZOL
K6VE________N6EDV______WJ6W________K6EGS
KB6LKR______W0OGH______W7ISJ/XE2___WA6TJN
AE8O________K7CAX______NA7RH_______W6OOQ
W5WVI_______WA7LYO_____W7IXA_______W0FT
W0FD________K0QIG______K0OJ________W8ZR
WB6QWC______KD6GN______K3TYE_______K6KSG
W5EOE_______K5AYD______KC9VF_______K6BW
WB5UGT______KB7LOQ_____K7VZP_______W7XH
K7JWA_______W5GCL______NI6Q________KB7FQR
WA6HCX______NY6L_______N6IME_______KC7KW
K6PKO_______N0BF_______W6GY________WA9JMU
N7IOK_______N7TPJ______WB6EYS/M____KC9GQ
WA6HDY______KA8WFC_____KD7AEN______W7SV
WA7KUM