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Bulletin issued by the ¥ireless Institute of Australia,
Tasmanian Division, Northern Zone,
P.0. Box 1010,
Launceston, 7250
e AA AR5etot A AP e <. e s i e S e 4b e s e ot SO e e ee e SRS
e
May 1971 Price &5 ¢
I se e eeS e AT AT
Felcome to some more 'QRM' . You probably feel there's
more than enough coming your way at the woment butl we feel that this
new gsource of QRM will be weloonme,
¥ith the likely withdrawal of the Tasmanian Division
Bulletin a number of Horthern Zone members have felt the need feor
gsome form of communization. Sure, Amateur Radio Operators are in
the Communication business buit too few of us seem to get together
“on air® and even the Sunday morning broadcast doesn't £ill the
bill eantirely.
¥hat then is the purpose of "QRM® ? Firsit and foremost
1o keep Amateurs in the North in touch with one-another, It will
rrovide g means of discussing technical and administrative mattiers.
For instance, if you couldn'% make the A.G.M, a the
Port Sorell *Bam-In', why should you miss out on knowing what wenti
cn 9
Of course we want to include matter which interes's
#l cur members~ particularly those who can't make meetings. Thereiore
we would welcome idess~ pariicularly contentious ones ! Whai's
more, if you don*i like what you read tell us- we'll print 1¢l!
At the momenit it is envisaged that the Newsleiter will
be distributed to WIA members and Amateurs in the North and Nerth-
West and, to a limited exient, im the South,{1971 financial members).
The Norihern Zome of the ¥W.I.A. hopes that "QRM" will
fill an empiy space in the VK7 specirum, But PLEASE, You help
us f£i11 i,
Reg TEX
COMING EVENTS
May 1-2 Geelong Hamfest
May 4 North West Meeting
Lakins Hall Ulverstone
Hay 14 Horthern Esetling
Adult Education Rooms
47 York St., Lauaceston
duly 1=31 VEBAU Winter VHF Contest
Q.R.M, Page 2 -
BULLETIN OF NORTHERN ZCNE W,I.A. TAS....MAY,1971,
THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
The Annual General Meeting of the Vi7 Division was held at the Adult Education
Rooms in Launceston on the 20th March to a cepacity gathering of members and visitors,
so much so that extra secating had to be provided, but still there was an overflow
into the passage.
The meeting was opened on time by the President, Geoff VK7ZAS. The minutcs werc
rcad by Merv., VK7CL and the meeting proceeded with little excitement,
Revort for 70/71 was madc by the President-Trcasurer David VK7D, QSL Manager
Greg. VK7KJ, and our Federal Cowncillor Ted VK7EJ.
The ballot for Council Members was held and the successful members were as follows:
Geoff D!'Emden VK77 .S
Merv, Conway VK7CL
Ted Cruisc VK7ET
Mike Knott : TK7Z1IK
Dave Marslond VK'7MD
Brien Rieusset VK7VK
John Ven Staveren VK7JV
ITORTHERN ANMNMUAL MELTING
The Annual General Meeting of the Tasmanian Branch of the W.I.A, Northern Zone
was held on 12th March and was very successful with a large attendence of members, The
rctiring president Lindsay VK7ZLD outlined the activities of the zone during 70/71,
cnd thanked officers for the excellent job they had done during the year,
The election of office becrcrs for the forthcoming year was carried out, The
results were as follows:
President VK7ZLD
Secretary KT7KK
Treasurer VK7ZAH
QSL Officer VK7LZ
The normal March monthly meeting followed the A,G.M., during which it was
decided to increasc the equipment held in the Zone Equipment Storc by ordering
popular components from VK3, So if you want parts we willget them for you and our
bank balance will improve by 54 of your purchasc, It was also decided that two
members (VK7JV and VK7PD) would investigatc the possibility of the zone establishing
club rooms in Launceston,
DID YOU IMOWeeoooeo cecsase
THAT Bill 7AK just bought himself an FT200 end is building a powér supply for
it., Hope to work you soon Billi
THAT Gordon 7GW has poured the cement for the basc of his 50' HEC tower and will
soon be ready to start creceting and will nced helpi
THAT ™MK the club station at Kings Meadows High School is active again with new
ntenna and a new shack, The boys are looking for contacts in their lunch hour,
THAT 72X is making his equipment available for a club station at Laun ceston
Matric, No callsign allocated as yct, Compecting with 7MK!
THAT Grzham 7ZGT is looking for a 1674 High Band ot the right price, Phone
L4773 if you can help him, Graham is already an 2M AM,
S Q. R.M, . Page 3
BULLETIN OF NORTHER' ZONE W,I.A, TAS,....MAY,1971,
NORTH-WEST FIELD DAY
The ennual field day for the North end North lest branches of the W.I.A, was held
at Port Sorell, The festivities more or less storted with the usual barbeque lunch,
A cavity resonator was once again the subjcct of the guessing competition, The
resonant frequency of the cavity was 1296.5 MHz; the closcst gucss was by Tony Bedelph
(VK7AX) who thought that the resonant frequency was 1296,4 1iHz, It was fairly obvious
that there was a lack of knowlcedge about cavity resonators - remember last year!
A bottle of bubbley wes rafflcd at en enormous profit, It was won by Julie
Ellings with ticket number 40,..hic,
Before the main cvent a fox hwnt, of the yes-no variety, was held on two meters,
The fox (72ZQJ), a wilcy fox indced, almost proved too good for the hounds, Obviously
feeling that his red Jaguar would be too conspicuous, he ditched it and took to the
woods with battery, carphone end antenna, This ruse, howevcr, did not throw the hounds
off the scent for long., The main road soon became "jammed" with ham-mobiles cruising
back end forward locking for clues, Surely it would only be a matter of time] However
the fox had yet another trick to play, In unfamiliar surroundings the fox in-
correctly answered a question and the hounds were searching far and wide on the wrong
side of the road., Following feminine intuition or somecthing Judith Hendricks wendered
from the road and litereally bumped into the fox., The fox, who still maintains that
rorth is south and vice versa, was on the oppositc side of thc road to which the rest
of us were searching, Ncedless to say a great deal of fun was had by all including the
fox,
The main event of the day was held on the beach, Before a vast crowd the teams
asscmbled, The "players" (NW) went in to bat on o pitch noted for its softness mmd
unpredictability, North west's opening pair did well aftcr accustoming themselves
te thc strange pitch. A lofted drive over mid-on and scveral shots behind square
leg saw the tally speed towards 10, After a few missed catches Kevin was relieved,
ofter o long opcning over, and Joc was given thc ball, Joc's aim was to bowl ground
grubbers wnder the bat. However, due to the state of the pitch the ball either went
ovcr or around the stumps .. that is whon missed by the hard hitting Max., The NW were
cventually dismissed for about 34 - no onc is quitc surc but it scemed to be a fair
The "Gentlemen™ (N), a powerful combination came to thc crcasc, The openers,
Lindsay end Tim put on a commanding partnership of 30 runs, Lindsay was out to a
good delivery which cut back sharply from o decp indentation in the pitch to "breok™
the stumps, (N) carricd on to win the match with out furthcr loss and won back the
coveted cup.
It was remorked after the match that there werc too many left-henders in the NW
combination end were conscquently unablc te takce adventage of the shoert boundary on the
grand stand side, The northern combination however, made good usc of this avenuc,
scoring many boundarics in this arca, I hcar that the direction of the pitch is to be
reversed next year, 4
CONGRATULATIONS,vveeeecoss
To Gordon Wood 7GW and Trcvor Briggs 7TB for passing the Morsc Test,
To Graham Thompson who has passcd his AOLCP and has taken the call 72GT,
To Kevin 7248H end Ron 3AKC, They have sct a ncw record on 1296MHz 2uay
phone over a distance of 274.4 milcs, Ron is now looking to Hobart and
Kovin to Mt, Gambicr, :
A FUND-RAISING CAMPAIGN has boan started for the purposc of buying Joe 72ZGJ
o compass, In thc mecantime Joe, remember that Bass Si-cit is still NORTH
of Tasmania, , : -
PETER 7PD ond JOHN 7JV have been given (conned into) the task of looking for suit-
able clubrooms in Lawnceston, as chcap as possible, of course, prefcrably for
nothing, They would be glad to hcar from anyonc who knows of premiscs that
may be suitable and available,
Q.M.
BULLETIN OF NORTHERN LTI
ZTZ W,I.A, TAS,...NEY 1971,
T, BARROW FM REPEATER
Al titude LE00 Feet,
Aerials Vertical coaxial dipoles verticelly spaced,
Input frequency
146,44 VHz (15KHz FM) Sensitivity better that IuV
OQutput frecucncy :
145.9 MHz (15 KHz FM) 50 watts output powcr Channecl 4
Identification
VK7WI/R2 as MCW at reduced lcvel every two minutes while
transmitter power is applicd, Mn ident, is scnt 6 sceonds
after a carrier is appliecd if there is a break of at least
10 scconds in applicd signals,
Operation
If no signals arc reccived for five minutes the transmitter
powcr is rcmoved., A brief burst of signal applices the power
and thce transmitter should be ready in about 30 scconds. VWhilc
cver there is audio output from the tx monitor the power will
remain on, If for any reason there is cither no sudios or
continuous noise for five minutes, the repeater will lock up
and has to be reset by a scparate control system,
Ecuipment
(A) A TCA 1674 receiver with added fail safe coden, cathode
followcr audio output and timer end control circuits,
(B) Solid state keyer (ex computer parts)
(C) Basc station TCA 1674 transmitter with 6/40 finel,
(D) Isolation cavity filters in both receiver end trensmitter
feedlines give, with the aerial rcjcction, a total of 100 db
isclation, This enables the use of 50 watt output without
blocking thc rcceiver even with the 500 KHz spacing used
I DE‘NT ] !
145G
1464
CAV/ITY CAVITy
Q. RJM, -
BULLETIN OF NORTHER! ZONE W.I,A. TAS...MAY, 1971 Page 5
NOTES FROM NORTH WEST ZONE
The last meeting of N.W,Zcne was attended by 7PD, 7JV ond 7ZGT ond were
welcormed by the President 74X Tony, Visitors from other Zones are always very welcome
at ¥,W, Zone mectings,
At the same meeting a demonstration of a new method of aluminium soldering wes
given by a visiting representative, As the cuartity and price involved is beyond
the average ham it is proposed to try to acquirc some on a divisional basis,
The 2 meter MM nct on chonnel B is very active betwcen Devonport, Ulverstonc
ond Penguin, It has becn a poor ycar for 2 meter openings,
The 2 meter becacon antenna has disintegrated with salt and wind pressurc and
Brian 7ZBE has a new typc wder construction,
Hams in the Ulverstone, i’englfin area are doing somc sterling work on‘amateur I.V,,
ond some very interesting pictures could be cirborme shortly,
A very colourful wedding took place recently, whoen associate Ian Ellings and
Lyn took the neccessary vows, Ian was complaining somewhat that he was not per-
mtted to teke a 2m receiver on the honeyrmoon,
We were delighted to have 3ZP7 formerly 7ZPW (Prickly Whiskers) with us at Easter
tinc, The same old Pete of course, with Robin her beautiful self]
7MX has been enjoying the company of Rex ZL3DY and XYL Margaret for a few days,
Rex has contacted quitc a few local boys,some who knew him on the air, ‘
A lightning tour of the north was somevhat marrcd by a broken windscreen
suffercd near Cressy, but that was corrccted in record time!
The loss of the annual cricket match between the North and North West has been
taken quite stoically by the North West team who congratulate the batsmon responsiblel
Officers clected at the annual gencral meeting were:
President Tony 7AX
Secrctary Max 7MX
Treasurer Harold ™Z
The next meeting of the Nerth West Zone will be on the first Tucsday of
the Month at Lakin's Hell, Ulverstone,
e Q0000e
Pardon if I "earry" concerning a pet hobby horse of mine, I doen't think anyone will
deny that VHF activity in Tasmania and in the rest of Australia has been ruined by
the advent of net frequency activity ond ex commercial wnits,
Happily therc appecars to be a few signs of improvement, Note the following
for instance:- '
(1) Kevin 7ZAH, John 7JV arec still continuing their nightly contacts
with Ron 3AKC at Geelong,
(2) Kevin and Wilf ex 7WF 1296 MHz exploits to VK3.
(3) Many interstate ccentests preclude the use of net frequencies,
(4) Joc 7ZIG end Brian 7ZBY having frcquent 6 metcr contacts with Dave TMR
Ian 7ZIF and Peter 7PS in Hobart,
If you can't keep up with the above exploits then you can't call yourself a VHF amateur.
Q.RN
BULLETIN CF FORTHERN Z0FE W.I.A !
Do you have need of a builder's labourer,.....our ZZLs 3
A nail driving compctition was hcld at Port Sorcll, My
o
surprised thc OMs by driving the nails well into that lump of hard
MX takes the cake, She drove a SIX INCH nail right through the £
end with suitable encouragement, thc nail right up to the hiltil
Tinm 7ZX has just bought a set of wheels for his FIDX100. It goes
Helden Kingswood, has bucket scats and 4 on the floor. Tim is now
syipathetic Bank Menager to foot the bill for an FL2000B., I wonder if ln '
that mobilel .
Ron Wilkinson 3AKC will have reason to remcmber his visit to Loawmeceston, His
forced stay in the L.G.H, Hotel was most wnsatisfactory., Late Saturday aftemoon Fom
dccided to tell the monagement that he was checking out, After an cyeball and a
bite to cat at the Annual Dinner he stayed with Kevin 7ZAH overnight and flew back fo
his VHF location in Geclong on Sunday Mcrning,
EQUIPMENT STORE; NORTHERN ZONE
We have rccently rcceived from the VK3 division a quantity of parts totalling
$160., These parts arc available for purchase to all members of the W.I.A,
Below is a 1list of parts we have in stock as at 20th April., Mything which is
awoilable from the VK3 division and docs not anpear on the list can be obtained for
you.
Parts can be obtaincd from VK7ZAH Kevin Henricks, 8 Clarendon St. Young Town,
Phone Home 469772 or Work 321208,
23563 TRA'SISTORS
A13564 "
A3565 "
¥MP102 FET,
215145 (T1588) FET,
23819 FET,
1-12¢f P.T,F,E, Trimmecrs
Neosid Coll formers complcte
XTAL Socets D tyne for printed circuit boards
B/Lee coax sockets for printed circuit boards
EM408 Diodes
Resistors +W individual values
Relays 4 change-over contacts 12V (mn:.uture)
Q.5.L, stickers
WoI.A, Car transfcrs '
Fibre Glass Blanlks 4'6" long (from mini whips)
TCA 1674 Circuits
Handbooks AWA MR-ZOB FM Carphonc
Air Dux Coils
BOY.0....5me Hams are 'keen when it comes to good locations. A Launceston Lend
Estate Agent rectons this tarcs the ca”e — he takes this N U Tup to a
house on top of a hill, walks up to the front door and the N U T turns
around and says "I'11 take itm"!} He was talking about Reg. 7KK who
purchased the house, The location is the highest point in Cambridge Strcet,
West Lawnceston...No., 149. .
I must say that it is a beautiful house at this stage - 3 bedrooms and
plenty of space for antennas. Reg. is now telling his neighbours that
he is a bird-lover and 211 those rods sticking out cverywhere arc BIRD
PERCHES.,
Tim 7ZX will be sharing some of the rooms and cost of living with him
which poses two problems - who is going to operatc the Rig., - and whose
car is going to beautify the front garden while the other one will be
in the garagel
7
Bulletin of Northern Zone, W.I.A. Tasmanian Division, pg
TECHNICAL~- H.F. MINIWHIP
The original description of this equipment was published
in "A.R." during 1965. With interest in Launceston with small 8C
meter transistorised iransceivers and the unavailability of the
above article it seems opportunme to publish what follows.
A 4ft 8in tapered fibre glass fishing rod Smm diameter
at the base and 2mm at the tip is used as the basis of each whip.
Suitable whips are stocked by the Zone,
Construction
The whip is glued to a
suitable ferrule which would fit
orto an aerial base on the car or
{to the transmitter unit used. Pig
i1 shows an arrangement which could
be wsed, ;
To wind wire #nto the
whip, f£it the ferrule into the
chuck of an electric drill or lathe.
40 metres '
Use 21 B & S enamelled wire
and solder the first turn to
the top of the ferrule.
Starting at the
ferrule end, wind 2¢C T
turns close wound,
then 2 turns spaced
over 4 inches and the
remainder close~wound
to the tip. _
Frequency about 6,95 MHz . S Tress =
20 metres
Use 21 B & S wire, 6 turns over 24% ¥ and the remainder
close wound to the tip.
Frequency about 14 MHz .
80 metres
Use 27 B & S wire and completely fill the rod,
Frequency, 3.6 MHz ,
The base of all these whips will be close to 25 ohms., Commercial
baluns are no longer available to
match these to 50 ohm. Construction " i T ] Al7
details of a suitable 2:1 : fl ‘ : fl
transformer are shown in fig 2. ' ‘l\ l IA l I
Bach whip could be covered 16hrna!
0
9804 OCC . Tures 2941685,
with an even coat of 'Araldite' .
Yt e5
and the tips should be capped to windng
prevent corona discharge. oy 11;& s
e sore
Tuning , ,
Couple a G.D.0. to the P 2 g )
transmitter end of the coax and Constructbatun formar15 bt#iee of avritg. rod
clip off a few turns of the whip
tip until a dip is obtained near
the correct frequency. Use the rig
for the final ad justment,
whips arestockad
Suitable whipsare he iheZeme.
stockedby the Tame TEETEEw TS
R SummwwmEys
— il
Congtruction
The whip is ued to a
suitable ferrule which would fit
orto an aerial base on the ear or
{to the transmitter unit used. Fig
1 shows an arrangement which could
be wsed,
To wind wire #nto the
whip, fit the ferrule into the
chuck of an electric drill or lathe.
40 metres
Use 21 B & S enamelled wire :
and solder the first turn to b BA
the top of the ferrule.
Starting at the
ferrule end, wind 2¢
turns close wound,
then 2 turns spaced
over 4 inches and the :
iem%ind:r close~wound ;
o the tip, ST
Freguency about 6.95 MHz . e
20 metres
Use 21 B & S wire, 6 turns over 24% " and the remainder
close wound to the tip.
Frequency about 14 MHz .
80 metres
Use 27 B & S wire and completely fill the rod.
Frequency, 3.6 MHz .
-
The base of all these whips will be close to 25 ohms.,
Commercial
E¥{F 4/]
baluns are no longer available to
match these to 50 chm, Construction =
|
details of a suitable 2:1
transformer are shown in fig 2,
Bach whip could be covered 28 Rt
with an even ceat of 'Araldite! fl—"hm"‘lus.u
and the tips should be capped to Wound evenly owerS08
BHCES
prevent corona discharge. 3 .
Tuning
Couple a G.D.0. to the e 2]e
50N £ . % 5 - =
transmitter end of the coax amd Conatruct baiunformar 16 btwieeoftevritg rod
c¢lip off a few turns of the whip
o
tip until a dip is obtained near
Whobade
the correct frequency., Use the rig = 3ncoo)
for the final adjustment, = 03
Recommended centre frequencies are Pig 2
3.65, 7.090 and 14,250 MHz .
So many of these whips are in use thr ough
is no doubt about their effectivenes
out "7 VK that there
s.
REFERENCE
Swaby, M.J., VEK4DA, The Miniwhip Amateur Radio
‘ March 1965