QRM

1970sDocument1974QRM Vol 4

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Bulletin issucc by the Northern PO Box 1010
Branches of the wireicou Institute Launceston
of Austrelia, Tas. bivision. Tase: £250

May 1574
Vol. 4 No 2

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eo

Reglistered atl (u U hoburt
for transmicsio ‘y post Price 20c
a8 & peI’lJu.Ly;zl; €

j If promiscs LG
Y e
ncication, the response to the call
for articles has been good. We had 3 articles to choose J

3 from for this issue and have praalces for a few more.
If you caun't write a couple Lq article hov bout soune
short notus that we can use Lo fiid the last bit of a
pager I'his iz & tine considlny Jou for mya2il and your
help would bs very Vi loohis.
The Ladics pagse is u;flo & 5:Jj start and I hope it is
- going to be a regular featursa.
75 John Vn7dV

s Lobiido

May 7/th sarth West prancly, Lasils Hald, ulverstone.

way 10th Northarn Branel, 88 rgoms, Hizh st.
\;‘Lk;j,}.u%:ﬁ,;f GUCTLGH

may 11th wouncil 2 Eing ne. ' VAT7dV, 1+50 pem.
£ 4 {
LS el 3 i 9 b AN alon vais
e

YRGS

fiay 11 AR Bligs 31 » High wchool.

aoclal Avent

Kay 29ih {noor AnL and Breand VRTIZEL

renda ~ank will supply
iL‘ari-_‘ui,s :i.n, _.-"
v .
Eir please et them AL ; il you
intend to Oy a mention on the air
w111 be sufficlent.oed you thzre.
QeReMe May 41974
Branch notes by Reg VKT7KK.
Northern Page 2
Thirtysix persons attended our April meeting.
Amongst the business section some discussion took placeon
broadcast times and suggestions were made to attempt further
approaches for permission for evening transmissions.
dally 7244 alloved himself to be talked into the position of
Lecture officcer after the previous holder of that position
resigned 1 (one) month after his election (he doesn't believe
in staying too long in a job) Thanks #ally.
Thanks elso to frank 74ri for offering his home for a social
function in iday. Flease keep this in mind and let's have a -
good roll up of OL's and XYL's. This event will be preceeded
by a Fox Hwit. It was also declaed to nhave a Fox Hunt on the
19th April, 1 hope this wus well supportsid.
jorm 7NR end priaun 74BY's activities at the meeting won't be
& regular pursuit, they wvere merely ?roviding subjects for
our guest spezker, after all you can' t demonsrate a
breathalyser with non drinkers!
Brian 74bY resched .025 and Norm 78R .04, does that suggest
the spoils were evenly devided ? Fraunk 74ZFR easily topped
them with .06 and all I managed was 005!
Qur speaker, Phil 3arnard (ex VK74FB) of the Breathalyser

owmt
squad gave us a well presented interesting discussion of the
mechanics, problems and methods of escaping the operation of

C
the breathalyser,
The mechanics seem rather simple, merely comparing the light
received by 2 phcto cells, one receiving light through a
standard phial, the other via a phial of potassium dicromate
altered by the alcohcl.
mscaping its operation? Forget it. Don't try saying you've
been on ether or acetone as you would be dead before you
get a rcading.
Help us on May 10th, we have more junk to sell.
The foxhunt foresnadowed above started rather strangly. wWhen
I arrived 5 minutes arter starting time there were about
10 peoplic waiting and waiting and waiting for some operators
with cars.: 4 iwinber of kKeen yougsters and one mobile,a
visitor bLrian via2eKr und friend, that made two cars!
Then Steve 7UOA made his presence felt on ch.48, so was
talked into attending on his arcival from Hobart! 3 cars
and 12 people, at lsast the'll now Tit,
James Powell-~Duvies then decided that perhaps Dad might be
talkedq iato yLoviding the family car, a phone call and we
had 4§ cars ciad 13 people, the fourth beins fitted with a
borrowed aen traanceiver. After all this the event went off
very well and Z4ZKEF learnt much about the streets of
Launceszton. pPehaps we should provide foxes with tape measurss
as well as coupassess Incidently Brian passed on some ideus
of similar wewzsustlie events.
They seca Lo ctick to yesdno type contests butl generzlly
WOk against the clock, losing points as time passes, also
losing points for asking questions.
Another variation is to have 2 foxes hidden and making it
necessary to have the hounds find both simultaneously. |
Perhaps we should try to organise a little more and get
gsome interest vack into non D hunts.
o o e e esk Rk sk eo s s

Congratulations to Peter Guenther and James Powell-Davies
on their r2ccent pess in the AOCY examinations, lets khow
v#hat the call signs are chaps, on the air will do.
QGanps . o
QeReM. May 1974
byMax7MX.
NorthWest not=s_ Page 3
© a change ouis ménth, rather then moan I will look on the
biiph er gldae. Have you ever thought what ham radio has done
for you apars from radio? Generally hams are very hospitable
eoplag and speaking Irom experience this has made for me
many Tine Tricnds.
Lt is always very dnteresting to finally attach a face to a
volce, Hawa you ever tricd to picture what a chap will look
like and how mnany times have you been wronge
Again hams ave a pretiy generous lub; hou meny times have
you heard in the course of a (SO "I've got one here Bill and
you are welcome to it if its of any use to you". A fine
philosophy aund this is the sort of thing that cements
irriendshiip. L have heard 1t said that the ham fraternity
is the greatost. After a trip around New Zeuland a few years | \
ago I fully agree. So let us try and live up to this reputation.
There ig a lot of pleasuve and satisfaction to be had in
&,#uODal convacts, and I have enjoyed many a technical
dipcussion over a cuppa. S50 look out chaps I may call at
anytime. H I.
Our meeting went off very well with about average attendance.-
We were very pleased to have Winston with us again.
It wvos decided that due to small turnover and very small
clicntele the oquipmant store will be closed. In doing so
we thanl Ian 7Z2I8 for handiing this section for so long.
We understand that the Northern Branch equipment store will
be availlable so interested members please note to contact
Kevin 7ZAH lor requirements.
At the conclusion of the meeting yours truly gave a talk on
wireleass in 1924, no doubt this produced some nostalgia in
some of the older members and some discussion took place on
cetwhiskers and crystalse.
Pollowing our next meeting we will have a lecture on modifying
the beacoa's cleetronic Lkeyer, this will be given by Wayne
Gibson end we are giratefull for the splendid job he did
with the keyer, One look et it ls enough to frighten the
average ham. Ve should soon have the beacon fully operational.
Thonks again Viayne.
Vic had the pleasure of the company of our Federal councillor
at our meeting, in fact he brought us up to date with
Lederal dolinps. Peter has been in our area for a couple of
vecks. The poor chap had several callouts around here to
straeighten up a few VHP ;“va, frequency wise etc. Personally
and oollectzvo;y, thenks Peter, you arve elways welcome in
our arce
Moritime mobiles seem to be hanging around our area.
Nocl 3NR has left the Empress and is replaced by Bill Dunne
3AFD who elthough not active is still one of us.
Phil 3APO is now on the Bess Trader and active on CW 4O,
20 and 15. He has a fantaestic little 5 Watt solid state rig,
Heathkit job. Fancy yarning with W's and JA's on a couple
of lantern batteries, it really works.
The series of VHI' openings are petering out which is quite
understendable. Come to think of it, I have too.

CUL Max 7MX
Qs Ro M May 1974
H.F.notesby Den VKZDK. Page L
Well another month has gone by and conditions have been
most variable, anywhere between wonderfull and just plain
lousy. At timcs in the early part of the month the long
path to FBurope was wide open, 89 plus signals from the U.K,
were the rule rather than the exception. Other parts of
Burope, from UA to I were all very good. It was noticed
though that the openings were short and faded out very
gquickly. Toward the latter part of the month the European
signals had all but gone oand north America has been heard
at good strength, in particular W6 up to VE7 and even down
to Xlie These openings are in the early afternoon our time
(0400/0630) end againseem to drop out very quickly.
Prom what I've heard, 20 metres for night time DX can be
nearly forgotten. Even the commercial type of RI' pollution
is very veak. Ve are ofcourse somewherc near the bottom of
the sunspot cycle. Just exactly where in relation to the
11 year cycle can only be an educated guess as only an
average has been arrived at over a period of over 400 years.
But cheer up, il has been the expericace that in a sunspot
minima there are still some good openings to be had.
Also (I don't want to encroach on the VHF contributor but)
I, and some other hams who have been around for a few
sunspot cycles, are of the opinion that 52 Mhz DX propagation
actually IMPROVES around the minima.
Here 1s an oportunity for some of the younger hams to start
making some records on 52 Mhz openings over the next cycle
or 80. There is 8till a lot to learn in this field.
Another bright spot is the known fact that the cycle is of
slow decline over a number of ycars and a rapid climb over
2 years or so. Also the lower frequencies can produce some
very good DX, even when 20/15/10 are NBG.
Lets have a look at the DX heard during April.
3.5 Mhz C.W. SM30I, LZ21CW, DM3Y30, HALKXC, OK3BH, HASLO,0K1KMZ.
7Mhz C.W. UL7AAJ, UB5SMCS, YULEBL, LZ2KWR, I@RUM, UK3XAI,
DIM3YS0, DJILYUF, UK6LAZ, SPOPIP, 9M2CX, DK5PR,
G3BEF, WLNW, UYS5EN, ON6DC, FC2LAM, UF6UFB, HPLBGR.
llost of thesc around 2000/2200 Z.
Phone VRiAA (89), GLOI, W's around 7000 Z.
14 Mhz Phone TI8PE, ZD7 (via North Pole), 1G9, ZCLMM, around
0730 Z.
HC8GI, VU2DK, LMSAMF, LX1NJ, ZP1JA (QSL via
VIIBAYU) these around 0330 Z.
C.W. ZP5GP, UA3LAC.
Prom this it can be seen that it is necessary to keep a
look out on the band.
gohn VK3JVW/ was one of the operators for the Mellish Reef
expedition and is now in the States and Vi land to give a
few lectures on the operation, he may be away for up to
6 months. Heand a whisper that Bd KH6GLU is or should be
in VK lend at the moment and may settle heree.
Thé operaticn of WAGEY from China has not been heard and
I suspecet did not take place. No reason knowis
73 Den

GENFRALLY SPRAXKING, HAMS ARE GENKRALLY SPEAKING.
QcRum- May 197“‘

Page 5

_ADIES PAGE
The 0O.M. told me about the Ladies page in QRWM so I decided
to do something about it.
e have a very good set up in our house, the shack is next
door to the living room, 1if he is on the air I shut the door
if I dont wont to listen to the two sided conversation re:
transmitters, receivers, the weather, bathing beauties etc.
Sometimes if I am watching 96 he closes the door but leaves
it open just enough so he can hear whats boeing said, he
thinks I dont know, ha ha, sorry hi hi.
Tallking on the radio doesn't appeal to me so unless especially
requested leave it to the OM to pass on my messages, hullo's
or goodbycs.
But I would like all Hams to know I think radio 1s a great
thing, not only do we know where the OM is most nights, the
friends we've made through it have made it all very worth
while.
Lucy 7MX

eok oo eolok vl e vl eok

A way to entice Hams out of the shack at meal times.,
Take a casserole dish plus 4 delicious chops or chicken pieces.
Add to this a packet of french onion soup plus a can of
Berri apricot nectar.
Lay chops in bottom of casserole and pour the above ingredients
over it.
Cook in oven at 350° for 14 hour. Delicious !
This one works wonders I assure you, it has been proved.
Also add his favourite dessert.
' Lyn BEllings.
s s e s sl s Aol st

The lady tourist couldn't contain her curiosity about the
service station attendant's missing leg.
"wyere you in a car accident?" Nope', he replied laconically.
"wounded in the war?'" she persisted. '"Nope! "Did you -
"Listen lady'! he interupted. "If I tell you how I lost the
leg, will you promise not to ask another question?"
"1 promise." '"It was bit off."
de st e g el

RECOMMENDED READING
"Mystery of the Creaking Door" by Russ T. Hinge.
“"Don't Fence Me In'" by Barb Wire.
"Early Warnings" by Ray Darr.
"The Tragedy on the Cliff" by Eileen Dover.
"Traffic Perils" by J. Walker.
"Thunder Lizard" by Dinah Saur,
"Fire Hazard" by Red Spark.
"The Sky Divers'" by Perry Shoot.
Qe R. M. May 1974
Transistor curve tracer. by Wally 7ZwWX. Page 6
Transistors of the same type often have characteristics which
are not identical and which do not agree precisely with the
nanufacturers published characteristics and circuits are
normally designed to permit such variagtions. However, it is
sometimes nucessary to know the characteristics of a particular
trengistor with fair precission., or teo match the characteristics
of two transiscors. Then 14 is advantageous to be able to
obtain a aet o' transistor curves. Lie principle of' operation
¢ a curve doacer s illustrated in Mige 1.

’

O
\4

‘k R

_:l—__ )

- Plig. 1

Consider a PNP transistor: half cycles of an alternating
voltage rceetifled by diode D provides a negative sweep of the
collector voliage and are used to produce the horizontal
deflection of the oscilloscopes
A voltage proportional to the collector current appears
across R1 and this is used to produce the vertical deflection.
Bage current for the transistor is supplied via R2.
A scriecs of curves are displayed using different values of
base current sclected by the switch.
A simple, incxpensive, practical arrangement based on this
principle is shown in Fig. 2.
A collector load resistor selected by switch S1 is used to
ensure that the maximum allowable collector power dissipation
of the transistor under test is not exceeded.
Switch S2 sets the magnitude of the base current. For a
10 volt supply,
. 82 at position A, Ib= 0,002 ma, for S3 set at 2 volts
B, = 0,02 ma, 1" " 1" 1"
Cy = 0.2 ma, " 1" 1 "

Switch S3 gives equal increments in base current and
therefore switching between curves is achieved.
The .oscilloscope used for display purposes should have d.c.
coupled horizontal and vertical amplifiers. Calibration
display is obtained from the calibrated gain setting of
these amplifiers.
QeR.Me May 1974
s

EM 401 Page 7

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;‘\/\N\/\/‘m

""\/\,ﬁr\;\o/_\n—/\—q i — _ . 240 VHC

msioiin
i aipyisisipiiidd

sel e

e ee e e e. e A et e
A+R 2155
OR Sl AR

(Reference: aireless iorld
June, 19567)
Oeon

/0 Volrs

Vertical deflection is produced by the collector current
flowing through a 100 Ohm resistor, thus with the oscillos-
cope vertical amplifier gain set gt 0.1 V/cm, the verticel
current scale of the displayed characteristics would be 1 ma/cm.
Horlizontal dellccticon can boe calibrated by rwcasuring the
emplitude o Ul lector voltege sweep with the 0301llcs—
copc indepondontl
FoeB.Ts charactaorigtics can be dcduced by connecting the source
to OﬂLvl‘ 210G GO bosc end drai: actor terminals
3 voly. A negative gweep 1o required Jor p-channel
dC\*COS and a positive swecp for n-channel devices.
Cate voltage polariiy is dependent on the type of F.E.T.
under test.
Dicde characteristics are recadily obtained by connecting
to the abhd collector teowminals. By oolecting PNP
and NPN bﬁ Torwyard and reversc characteristics are displayed.
-
e g ®
5
, QeR.M. May 19574
VHF noteg by Joe VK74GJ. Page &
The equinox has passed without any signs of JA's appearing on
the 6metre band, although a few have been worked in VKl.
Never the less local activity has been rather high.
Oon 14-4-74 around 2145 local time the VK2iI beacon was 5/7.
I also worked VK2ZlIS at 2150, signals were very weak with
heavy QSB. On the 12~4~74 the band was open for several hours
and the follewing stations were worked by myself and Kevin
VK7ZAH, John VK7JV was also active. VK2's ABA, BHO, ZXL, ZQJ,
and VELZRI(with VELZLC on 52.525 on FM) LZAI in Gladstone.
VKLQO, VK5SU . running 25 Jattse.
For gbout an hour Bob VKLZAI was the only signal to be heard,
the opening started around 1150 and finished about 1450 local.
On 20-L~7L the VK2 beacon once again was received S5 and I
exchanged 5/9 reports with VK2ZKY, the opening lasted about
10 minutes. Local activity on the 21st on 52.525 included
VK7's ZAH, RR,OH/mobile and myself.
A visitor to the state Mike VK3ZQV was operating only on
142 Mhz SSB, although 2 metre activity is very low he managed
to work VK7ZDA, 7ZAH, 7LZ and myself,
That about sums it up for this month.

ew
73 Joe

"
G sl e skl e s e e sk

Big sell out at JOE's FOR SALE
High fidelity audio equipment, AWA ST25 amplifier, 7.5 Watts
rms per channel, fitted with quad decoder as per E.A. $100.00
Semi transcription turn table, Labcraft type 643, belt driven,
magnetic cartridge and diamond stylus. $30.00
2 metre , 6 channel AWA base station , 3/12 final
no crystals fitted $30.00
MR6A, tuned to 146 Mhz, 3/42 final, no crystals £20.00
refer Sept. 73 Amateur Radio page 8 for modifications
to both the above unitse.
MR20A, solid state power supply, contains UL- 2N277 transistors
plus heat sinks, ideal for shack power supply #10.00
Geloso amateur band front end, L.6 Maz I.F.
hear it working. only &30.00
2 metre A.M. tranemitter 3/12 final, 3/12 modulator,
on 144.350 Mhz, including crystal mike £15.00
6 metre nuvistor converter, no crystal £5.00
Courier low band I'M radio, solid state receiver and
exciter, YL42uO final, 25 Wiatt, suitable for
conversion to 6 metres. $30,00
70 Mhz ground plane minus radials $5.00
AWA base remote control unit $5.00
522 tunable receiver %5.00
crystal locked receiver, two front ends, 455 kc IF
on 5.180 Mhz, complete with power supply $10.00
2 TV sets $5.00 each
10 % to the clubroom account. Joe VK74GJ
o

o3 e ol lnsl ofs eofsolslo slsl sl AR eok
* ®e
GeReMe May 1974
FOR SALE, FOR SALE, FOR SALE, FOR_SALE, FOR SALE. Page 9
Home brew amateur band only receiver, plug in coils, double
conversion, BFO, 1600 and 50 kc I.F. has been used for
many years to work C,W. DX. $60.00 ono
Ray Kilby VK7RK, 10 Greenway av. Norwood.
09800 5ol 3¢o 3¢o eo o ¢

IGL Bxciter, 1 Watt RF output, suitable for driving
a valve final, FM or AM. Built and ready to go. $19.00
Kevin VK7ZAH. 8 Clarendon st Sth Launceston.
B0 o e e o ajeo eo8ot sot

6 metre FM rig MR20 with control unit, 12 volt power supply,
cables and crystals $25.00 ono
HF receiver, home brew G3DAF. $120.,00 ono
VK3 Carphone receiver, not working, incl. CH.B Xtals$40.00 ono
Low band 1674, not converted $10.00
Low band MR10, not converted ‘ $10.00
VK3, 432 converter without crystal $12.00
2 metre FM, Pye Ranger receiver with IGL
converter front end, no crystal. $10,00
Steve Fraser VK70A
usually, 13a Bedford st. Newtown. FPhone 281292
137 Penquite rd. Launceston. Phone 443383
oo 2 e ok eol o eo0 o o e

The auction at the next meeting of the Northern Branch will
include such items as, meters, 95% complete transistorised
tunable receiver, 6.5 to 10.5 Mhz based on 1A240.
paging units ex hospital, large knobs, MR20 A Power supply,
1200 vodt 150 ma power supply, audio slave units and other
goodies plus some Junk.
10% goes to the clubrooms account.
o 0 ook o olool o o oko

For sale. 1 only low pass filter in very poor condition
has no attenuation up to the third harmonie
any offer accepted.
Prank VK74FR
2%o e 3 3 o eo eol o sk e b

The What, Where, Who, Hassles & How Much Book For Amateurs.
Otherwise known as "THE AMATEUR PINK PAGES" is a compendium
of companies, parts suppliers, equipment suppliers,
organisations etc. that can/will/do supply the complete
needs of the amateur.
It is available for $1.50 from,
6UP ink
47 Ballast Point rd.
Birchgrove, N.S.W. 2041
[
Yy - n.
J& GUNJ?TP(LH) 50 Brisbane Street,Launceston.
Yelephone 2 2251
DOMESTIC & BUILDERS HARDWARE
MARINE & PLUMBlNU SUPPLIES
s PAINT & TOOLS
Qw6 aiee
£y &~ 4
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wue Wy
N £te A4, 5s ee e il

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35A GRAFVILEE STRBFT, LAUNCETONo 7250
Eolephone 31 6191
fox all yeur printing
' Business and Peroonal .
QS cards wo8n

NORWIND
o
FIECTRICAL Eﬁalﬁgxﬁs B |
SERCIALISTNG IN NOTOR REWINDING AND ASSOCIATED WORK
27 SUNCREST PLACE, RAVEVSWOOD
PELEPHONE 391515
os

~AtholLawes EleMvcS
" 435 HOBART ROAD,
KINGS EADOWS, LAUNGESTON-
&elephone 443119
. TRY US POR YOUR NEX? APPLIANCE
YOU WILL FIND IT EASY ON YOUR POCKE? &8 &