Utah Amateur Radio Club

What's new

About UARC

Club activities

Club resources

Amateur radio in Utah

General amateur radio

News About UARC and Ham Radio in Utah


Mysterious HF signal near 7033 kHz, real-world group direction finding exercise

A mysterious, apparently unidentified and illegal signal has been on the air near 7033 kHz (in the 40-meter band CW portion) for over five weeks, from around March 3rd to now (April 13th, 2022). Group discussion about this signal includes several UARC members such as myself KK7DV as well as KA7OEI, NG7M, KR1P, WA7X and others, especially since the signal can be heard well in Utah, day and night, and might even originate in Utah. Triangulation efforts have not yet narrowed down the location of the transmission.

Read more about (and participate in) ongoing efforts to track down this mysterious signal here in the QRZ and CWOPS discussion forums for example:
https://forums.qrz.com/index.php?threads/carrier-on-7033-khz-for-3-weeks.808535/
https://cwops.groups.io/g/main/topic/90293826 (requires joining CWOPS group)

You can probably listen to this continuous mystery signal using a WebSDR, day or night as long as it continues:
http://websdr4.sdrutah.org:8904/index1a.html?tune=7032.28cw


[UPDATE: Signal is off the air as of Tue 4/19, see the discussion links above.]

Return to top


New Beam at Leamington

As of Friday, October 29th, 2021, UARC's remotely-controlled station near the town of Leamington has three antennas available to its users. In addition to the G5RV and the end-fed half-wave, there is now a rotatable log-periodic antenna which has forward gain in the neigborhood of 6 dB over a dipole. It can be used on 20, 17, 15, 12, and 10 meters. Some DX has already been worked on the 17-meter band.

For more information about the new antenna, and the remote station in general, see http://user.xmission.com/~uarc/HFRemote.html. The station is available to any UARC member holding a General class or higher license.

Return to top


License Classes Offered in Orem

The 2022 Schedule for the Orem Ham Radio Courses follows. Each course is $10 per person, and will be held only in person. Please register at psclass.orem.org

License
Class
DayDatesTimes
Technician Four TuesdaysJan 18, Jan 25, Feb 1, Feb 8 6:30 to 8:30 pm MST
GeneralFour TuesdaysMar 22, Mar 29, Apr 5, Apr 12 6:30 to 8:30 pm MDT
Extra Five Tuesdays Jul 12, Jul 19, Jul 26, Aug 2, Aug 9   6:30 to 9:30 pm MDT
TechnicianFour TuesdaysSep 20, Sep 27, Oct 4, Oct 11 6:30 to 8:30 pm MDT

These are homework courses; you'll be expected to complete an assignment (and email me the results) by the start of every class period, even the first one. No course textbooks are required. Then again, these courses will be casual, hands-on, and fun for those who remain awake.

Please contact Noji (nojiratz@hotmail.com or 801-368-1865) with any questions about the courses.

Return to top


On-Line Classes Starting in January

UARC President, Morris Farmer, AD7SR, will be conducting on-line classes in January for those seeking Technician or General class licenses. The classes will meet weekly. The Technician class will begin on Monday, January 17, and meet on following Mondays. The General class will begin on Wednesday, January 19, and continue on Wednesdays following.

To sign up and get further information and instructions, send email to Morris at AD7SR@arrl.net

Return to top


FCC Changes “Official License Copy” Procedure

The FCC has announced changes in the procedure for amateurs to get printed “Official Copies” of their licenses. The following message has appeared on the FCC web site at
https://www.fcc.gov/wireless/systems-utilities/universal-licensing-system.
Applicants are strongly encouraged to provide an email address on their license application(s), which will trigger the electronic issuance of an official copy of their license(s) to the email provided upon application grant. Per the timing specified in Rulemaking FCC 20-126, the FCC will no longer print, and Licensees will no longer be able to request, hard copy license authorizations sent by mail.

It is still possible for anyone to get a file that can be used to print the “Official Copy” of his license by using his FRN and password to log into the FCC's system at https://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsEntry/licManager/login.jsp. It is not clear if the Commision will also maintain this path.

Return to top


FCC Proposes New Fees

The FCC has proposed new fees for certain kinds of filing. The proposal was released on August 26. There would be a fee of $50 which would apply to applications for new licenses, vanity callsigns, renewals, and requests to receive a printed license. The proposal, released on August 26, 2020, is part of MD Docket No. 20-270, but also identified as “DA/FCC #; 20-116.” Details can be found at
https://www.fcc.gov/document/amendment-schedule-applications-fees.

Return to top


Possible New Law Adds Amendment Favorable to Hams

A bill, HB-101, was recently introduced into the Utah House of Representatives with the intent of outlawing the use of hand-held phones and similar devices while driving a vehicle. Unfortunately, it could have been interpreted to outlaw the use of amateur mobile stations. Section Manager Mel Parkes, NM7P, recently sent to all Utah ARRL members the following announcement:

Great News! Representative Carol Spackman-Moss to amend HB101 to exclude 2-way Radio.

Many Utah HAM radio operators have been closely following with concern HB 101, a bill targeting Utah’s Distracted Drivers. The ARRL and two-way radio community are deeply concerned about the problems caused by distracted drivers; however, the initial wording of H.B. 101 would have “outlawed” the use of hand-held held two-way radio microphones. The ARRL proposed an amendment to HB 101 to exclude two-way radio operations. Many of you have been actively contacting your legislators in support of this amendment.

As of 9:30 this morning [February 10] the ARRL is reliably informed that the bill’s sponsor, Representative Carol Spackman-Moss has heard our concerns, chosen to work with us, and will be amending her bill to accept the ARRL's suggested amendment, which exempts wireless devices operating under FCC parts 97, 95, and 90, prior to the bill reaching the House floor.

The ARRL wants to thank and commend Representative Carol Spackman-Moss for her prompt attention to and accommodation of our concerns. We all need to actively encourage this type of positive response on the part of all legislators.

Those that may have already contacted their legislator are encouraged to follow-up to thank their representative for their attention and support, and to let them know that we all can” now support HB 101 as amended to exempt two-way radio”.

The ARRL would also like to thanks its members and affiliated clubs, UT VHF Society members, and the entire Utah HAM radio and two-way radio community that have contacted legislators and otherwise help out on this issue.

The amendment has been introduced in the House and reads as follows:
(iii) “Handheld wireless communication device” does not include a two-way radio device described in 47 C.F.R. Parts 90, 95, or 97.

Our thanks go out to Mel and to Jay Brummett, W7WJB, the Governmental Liason for the ARRL Utah Section. Jay is also the speaker at the upcoming March UARC meeting.

There is no guarantee that HB 101 will be voted into law. Similar bills have been introduced and failed for several years. You can follow the bill's progress at https://le.utah.gov/~2020/bills/static/HB0101.html. A link to the amendment (“House Floor Amendment 1”) can be found along the right-hand side of the page.

Return to top


Pre-ordering Handbook and Antenna Book

UARC Members ——

With the release of the latest ARRL Handbook and Antenna Book, we are offering a special pre-paid order discount. Purchase either of these titles at the November meeting for a 10% discount off the ARRL list price. This is in addition to the regular free shipping and no UT sales tax that applies to all purchases from the book table.

These are the titles available for the additional 10% discount:

ARRL Handbook 2020 97th Ed. (Softcover, 1280 pages): The ARRL Handbook is your guide to radio experimentation, discovery, and innovation. Item No. 1076 - $49.95 — UARC PRICE $44.95

ARRL Handbook 2020 97th Ed. (Six-Vol. Book Set), Six-volumes (1280 pages): The ARRL Handbook, is divided into six softcover volumes shrink-wrapped together (no box). Item No. 1137 - $59.95 — UARC PRICE $53.95

ARRL Antenna Book 24th Ed. (Softcover, 1024 pages): The ARRL Antenna Book covers antenna theory, design, and practical treatments and projects. Item No. 1113 - $49.95 — UARC PRICE $44.95

ARRL Antenna Book 24th Ed. (Boxed Set, 1024 pages), Limited Edition! The ARRL Antenna Book is divided into four volumes and included in a hard slipcase box. Item No. 1144 - $64.95 — UARC PRICE $58.45

All four books include a unique download code to install a fully-searchable digital edition of the book.

Orders will be available for pickup at the December UARC meeting on 12 December.

— Rick Gregory, KG7GOW
    UARC Bookseller

Return to top


UARC's 2019 Field Day Entry

Thanks to everyone who helped out with the club's entry in the national Field Day non-contest, last June 22 and 23. Our score wasn't quite as high as last year, but at least was in the same general ball park. Thanks to those who put in hours operating and those who pitched in for setup and teardown.

A special thanks should go to our Vice-President, Bruce Fereday, KF7OZK, who managed the food preparation for both Field Day and the Steak-Fry.

Mark June 27 and 28 on your calendar for next year. We could use more operators, someone to set up an information table, and someone to send out press releases. If you've never been to a Field Day entry before, give it a try!

UARC 2019 Field Day Contacts and Scoring
(2018 Values in Green)
Band  CW DIG SSB Total
80 65 (117) 18(—) 104 (111)187(228)
40 15 (17)    555 (766)570(783)
20 597 (534) 15(—) 195(187) 907(721)
6   11(—)    11(—)
 
Total
Contacts
677 (668) 44(—)854 (1064) 1675 (1732)
Contact
Points
1354 (1336) 88 (—) 854 (1064) 2296(2400)
Power
Mult
X2 4592 (4800)
Bonus
Points
Emergency Power:300
Media Publicity
Message Origination 100
Natural Power 100
W1AW Bulletin 100
Educational Activity 100
Safety Officer 100
Social Media 100
Web Submission 50
Total Bonus 950(1050)
Grand Total   5542 (5850)

Return to top


New Amateur Radio Club Forming in Murray

Dan, N7XDL, tells us that there is a new club forming in the Salt Lake valley aimed particularly at those near Murray. Dan writes:

The Murray Amateur Radio Club is open to all amateurs, living in Murray Utah or not. Founded by Dan (N7XDL), the club meets monthly on the third Thursday of the month at 6:30 PM at the Murray Fire Station 83, 484 W 5900 S, in the EOC downstairs. In addition, the club meets every Thursday (same time and place) for a training meeting intended to get new hams up to speed on radios, radio technology, and how to communicate. The club also runs a weekly net on Sundays at 8:00 PM on the Ensign Peak repeater at 147.16 MHz tone 127.3. The club supports Murray City's emergency services and disaster response team with supplemental communications. Our webpage is at https://www.murrayarc.org/.

Return to top


Ray Larsen, SK

It is with great regret that we note the passing of Ray Larsen, W7NMK, on Thursday, April 11. Ray was 98 years old, possibly the oldest ham in Utah.

Ray got his first license in 1933 at age 12, and stayed active in the hobby for virtually his whole life. He served in the military during World War II, and on his return used his electronics skill to get a job at Standard Supply Company.

He helped organize hams to provide communications for the new “Civil Defense” organization at the end of the war.

Ray was a great friend to UARC through much of his life. He created the name of our publication, The Microvolt, in the late 1940's and served on the UARC Board of Directors for many years. He frequently found electronic items he could give away for door prizes at club meetings.

Last December he attended the UARC Officers' Christmas get-together and was amazingly alert for a 98-year-old.

Ray's obituary can be found here.

Return to top


Problems with the ST-7900D

An inexpensive four-band mobile rig called the “SocoTran ST-7900D” has recently appeared on the market. Four bands and 25 watts for $60 to $80 sounds attractive. But beware. Clint Turner, KA7OEI, put his spectrum analyzer to work and found that the rig has serious problems with spurious emissions. The “four-band” part is also a bit misleading as one of the frequency ranges does not contain any U.S. amateur bands.

The harmonic content of this transceiver is so bad that it does not meet minimum FCC requirements on two meters or the 222-MHz band. Clint was actually able to key up a 70-cm repeater while “officially” transmitting on two meters! The second and third harmonics were only 23 dB down from the fundamental. (The FCC requirement is 60 dB! See 97.307(e).) On the 222-MHz band it's a little better: 42 dB down, but still well below the legal requirement. The lone low-pass filter in the rig does keep harmonics under the wire for the 420 MHz band, but operation on the other two bands will guarantee that you can be heard on frequencies where you should not be, and that you are out of compliance with FCC rules.

See Clint's full report at www.utahvhfs.org. Scroll down to the ST-7900 headline.

Return to top


Utah Field Day Results for 2018

The results are in! ARRL published scores in the annual Field Day operating event (which some might call a contest) in the December issue of QST magazine, a month later than in the last several years. UARC had the second best raw score among entries from Utah, with the highest going to the Davis County Amateur Radio Club. UARC also came in second in percentile within its operating class (3A) among other portable stations.

Below are the results directly from the ARRL database, arranged in order of total score.

2018 Utah Field Day Entries in Order of Raw Score
# Call Score Category QSOs Power Mult GOTA Call Section Participants Club
1 K7DAV 7,258 4A 2,072 2 N7CN UT 55 Davis Co. ARC
2 W7SP 5,950 3A 1,732 2   UT 53 Utah ARC
3 K7UVA 5,212 3A 1,520 2 K7GSL UT 60 UT Valley ARC
4 K7KC 5,192 1D 1,570 2   UT 4 (GSL Contest Club)
5 K7UM 4,134 2A 1,057 2   UT 13 UT DXA
6 W7RCH 2,540 1F 424 2   UT 20 Cottonwood Heights ARC
7 K7CAR 2,308 1B1 1,029 2   UT 1  
8 W7BAR 1,884 4A 367 2   UT 35 Basin ARC
9 W7DRC 1,842 2F 317 2 NA7UT UT 23 Dixie ARC
10 W7SU 1,312 2A 405 2   UT 20 Ogden ARC
11 AG7GX 1,048 4A 26 2   UT 13 Cedar Hills Utah LDS Stake
12 KB6UNC 980 1D 318 2   UT 1  
13 K7BSK 728 1A 207 2   UT 12 Skyline RC
14 K7BWC 614 1C 232 2   UT 1  
15 W7SAG 580 1B1B 43 5   UT 1  
16 K7EA 458 1E 77 2   UT 1  
17 W7S 416 2F 19 2   UT 2 Sandy ARC
18 K7RFW 384 1E 48 2   UT 1  
19 WI7J 376 2C 63 2   UT 2  
20 W6MJS 338 1E 73 2   UT 1  
21 W7DBA 330 1E 40 2   UT 1  
22 KB0LQJ 325 1B1B 15 5   UT 1  
23 WA0PFC 282 1E 66 2   UT 1  
24 K7UB 248 3F 89 2   UT 19 Golden Spike ARC
25 KF7WGL 206 1B1 28 2   UT 1  
26 K7DBN 186 1D 45 2   UT 1  
27 N7GTE 173 1D 123 1   UT 1  
28 W0JTC 134 1D 67 2   UT 1  
29 WA7BME 126 1B1 19 2   UT 1  
30 K7PCB 124 1E 26 2   UT 1  
31 KI7DNO 72 1D 1 2   UT 1  

It is not really fair to use raw score to compare a station with 50 operators and three 100-watt stations to a one-operator, five-watt, battery-operated setup. A better scheme is to use “percentile” to compare a station's score only to others within its own entry class. Percentile for a particular station is the percentage of entries in its class that had lower scores than it did. For example K7CAR in the table below came in 10th place among the 125 stations that entered in the 1B1 class (one-operator portable stations). That means 115 stations had lower scores than he did, putting him in the 92nd percentile.

We can't resist calling attention to the entry of WI7J, James Cowley, from Ivins. He operated in the 2C class — two transmitter mobile. (How do you do that?) He made the top 2C score in the nation, but since there was only one other 2C entry, that put him in the 50th percentile.


2018 Utah Portable Stations In order of percentile within class)
Call Score QSO's Place Of
(entries)
Percentile Percentile
2017
Class Club
K7CAR2308102910125 92.01B1
W7SP 595017323434690.2 88.5
3A Utah ARC
K7DAV7258207215137 89.1 80.4
4A Davis Co. ARC
K7UVA5212152041346 88.2 79.53A UT Valley ARC
K7UM4134105749328 85.1 99.72A UT DXA
K7BWC6142321043 76.7 1C
WI7J3766312 50.0 2C
W7SAG5804362119 47.9 1B1B
W7BAR188436792137 32.9 4A Borderline ARC
W7SU1312405229328 30.2 32.12A Ogden ARC
K7BSK72820797135 28.2 1A Skyline RC
KF7WGL2062896125 23.2 1B1
KB0LQJ3251596119 19.3 1B1B
WA7BME12619114125 8.8 41.21B1
AG7GX104826129137 5.8 4A Cedar Hills Stake


2018 Utah Fixed Stations (In order of percentile within class)
CallScoreQSO'sPlace Of
(entries)
Percentile 2017
Percentile
Class Club
K7KC51921570261699.71D(GSL Contest Club)
KB6UNC9803184561692.794.01D
W7RCH254042433290.693.31FCottonwood Heights ARC
W7DRC1842317257265.370.62FDixie ARC
K7EA4487712827052.61E
K7DBN1864531661648.71D
N7GTE17312333361645.91D
K7RFW3844814827045.259.91E
W6MJS3387316727038.21E
W7DBA3304017027037.01E
W0JTC1346739161636.566.81D
WA0PFC2826618327032.21E
KI7DNO72151461616.61D
W7S4161968725.639.12FSandy ARC
K7PCB124262552705.641.01E
K7UB2488937382.63FGolden Spike ARC

Explanation of Entry Classes

The initial number in an entry class is the number of simultanous transmitters used. For example UARC entered in the 3A class, so used three transmitters.

After the initial number is a letter indicating the type of entry:

  • A: Club or Group portable station
  • B: One- or two-operator portable station
  • C: Mobile station
  • D: Home station using commercial power
  • E: Home station using emergency power
  • F: Station at an Emergency Operating Center (EOC).

A class B entry may have a “1” or “2” after the letter. The number indicates the number of operators.

A final “B” after the number of operators indicates battery power.

Return to top


UARC 2018 Field Day Results

Thanks to all who came out and helped with UARC's 2018 entry in the national “Field Day” event near Payson Lakes. Things went reasonably well with the only panic moment happening when the generator needed oil and we had none on hand. Thanks to N7FOD who came to the rescue.

We did only slightly worse than in 2017, making about 100 fewer contacts on SSB and about 100 more on CW. We had no digital contacts this year so that made the total contact points lower. That was partially compensated for by finding 100 more bonus points than last year. We won't know how our score compares to other groups in Utah and the nation until about November when the final scores are released and published.

Below is a tabulation of our score by band and mode that might offer clues on how we can improve next year.

UARC 2018 Field Day Contacts and Scoring
(2017 Values in Green)
Band  CW DIG SSB Total
80 117 (110)    111 (141)  
40 17 (—)    766 (938)  
20 534 (458) (101) 187(78)   
15     (7)   
6        (2)   
 
Total
Contacts
668 (568) (108)1064 (1159) 1732 (1757)
Contact
Points
1336 (1136) (216) 1064 (1159) 2400(2511)
Power
Mult
X2 4800 (5022)
Bonus
Points
Emergency Power:300
Public Information Table 100
Media Publicity100
Message Origination 100
Natural Power 100
W1AW Bulletin 100
Educational Activity 100
Safety Officer 100
Social Media 100
Web Submission 50
Total Bonus 1150(1050)
Grand Total   5950 (6072)

Return to top



Older Items
 

Utah Field Day Results for 2017

The results are in! We now know the scores of those stations who operated in the national Field Day contest (aka “operating event”) held last June 24 and 25. We were happy to see that UARC had the best raw score. This has not happened very often!

Below are the results directly from the ARRL database, arranged in order of total score.

2017 Utah Field Day Entries in Order of Raw Score
# Call Score Cate-
gory
QSOs Pwr GOTA
Call
Sec. Partici-
pants
Club
1 W7SP 6,172 3A 1,835 2   UT 98 Utah ARC
2 K7DAV 4,504 3A 944 2 N7CN UT 44 (Davis Co. ARC) 
3 K7UM 4,456 1D 1,426 2   UT 3 (Utah DX Assn.) 
4 K7UVA 4,236 3A 1,237 2 K7GSL UT 55 (Utah Valley ARC) 
5 N7U 3,452 5A 637 2   UT 75 Rainbow Canyons ARC
6 WA7LNW 3,336 2D 1,229 2   UT 2  
7 W7RCH 2,642 1F 432 2   UT 16 Cottonwood Heights ARC
8 W7IVM 2,570 5A 703 2   UT 60 Bridgerland ARC
9 NN7ZZ 1,942 1B1 423 2   UT 1 (West Lea Contest Club) 
10 W7DRC 1,882 3AC 551 2   UT 8 Dixie ARC
11 AD7KG 1,866 1B1 480 2   UT 1  
12 KI7EWG 1,368 2A 59 2   UT 15 Draper Ham Radio Assn
13 KB6UNC 1,282 1D 470 2   UT 1  
14 WR7Q 1,204 1B1 291 2   UT 1  
15 W7S 1,134 2F 157 2   UT 40 Sandy ARC
16 N7XJ 1,122 1D 268 2   UT 1  
17 KI7BEQ 1,010 2AB 32 5   UT 6 UHAM
18 K7DLX 804 2E 177 2   UT 3  
19 W7SU 758 2AC 207 2   UT 18 Ogden ARC
20 K7RFW 690 1E 101 2   UT 1  
21 K7PDW 560 1E 46 5   UT 1  
22 KZ7ZUL 500 1D 125 2   UT 1  
23 K0ESX 400 1B1B 50 5   UT 1  
24 AF7HJ 344 1B1 97 2   UT 1  
25 W0JTC 306 1D 128 2   UT 1  
26 K4UB 176 1D 35 2   UT 2  
27 WA7BME 138 1D 29 2   UT 1  
28 K7PCB 138 1D 22 2   UT 1  
29 K7GMX 118 1B2C 34 2   UT 2  
30 K7OJL 78 1D 12 2   UT 1  
31 KI7KSN 74 1D 12 2   UT 1  
(Club names are shown in parentheses if the call belongs to a club but the club name was not shown in the ARRL listing.)

Of course it may not seem fair to compare folks operating three simultaneous transmitters and having enough operators to keep them all going through the night, to a station with one lone operator running QRP on batteries. Perhaps a more fair way to compare different sized operations is to look at the percentile of each entry within its entry class. (Percentile is the percentage of those in the same entry class that got lower scores than the one being rated.) Below we have entries listed in percentile order.

As an example of how percentile works, look at NN7ZZ below. They entered in class 1B1 (one transmitter portable with one operator). There were a total of 102 stations across the country entered in that class. NN7ZZ was 10th of the 102. That means that 102 - 10 or 92 of the entries had a lower score than NN7ZZ, so NN7ZZ's percentile is 92/102 or 90.2%.


  Utah 2017 Portable Stations (in order of percentile within class)
Plc Call
Class Score QSOs Place out of Pctl Pctl
2016
Group or Club Name


  Utah 2017 Fixed Stations (in order of percentile within class)
Plc Call
Class Score QSOs Place out of Pctl Pctl
2016
Group or Club Name

Return to top


UARC Field Day Results for 2017

Small tower being raised
The small tower with the A-3 Yagi goes up.
[06-11-17]
Thanks to all who attended UARC's Field Day entry over June 24 and 25. New this year was a number of digital contacts that count for twice the number of points each as phone contacts. There were a few problems with six-meter antenna, a Vee antenna that wasn't really a Vee, RFI into the logging network, and poor performance of the smaller Yagi on 20 meters.

Nevertheless, things turned out fairly well. We made about 200 more total contacts than last year (although not quite as many as 2015) and qualified for more bonus points than in recent years thanks to efforts by Chuck Johnson, WA7JOS, and Mary Jelf, KG7QNG.

Below is our scoring as submitted. As we write this, one day before the submission deadline, there have been 23 Utah stations that submitted entries. We won't know how we compared to others until the results come out on the ARRL web site, probably next November.

UARC 2017 Field Day Contacts and Scoring
(2016 Values in Green)
Band  CW DIG SSB Total
80 110 (—)    141 (160)  
40   (471)    938 (544)  
20 458 (226) 101  78(95)   
15 (—) 7    
6 (—)    2(22)   
 
Total
Contacts
568 (697) 108 1159 (832) 1757 (1529)
Contact
Points
1136 (1394) 216   1159 (832) 2511(2226)
Power
Mult
X2 5022 (4452)
Bonus
Points
Emergency Power:300
Public Information Table 100
Media Publicity100
Message Origination 100
Natural Power 100
W1AW Bulletin 100
Educational Activity 100
Safety Officer 100
Web Submission 50
Total Bonus 1050(970)
Grand Total   6072 (5422)

Return to top


DX Links from WR7Q Now Online

[01-14-17]
Bob Carter, WR7Q, gave us an interesting presentation on DX at the UARC meeting on January 12. His list of helpful links for DXing is available at http://user.xmission.com/~uarc/wr7q.html.

Return to top


Parity Act Passes House or Representatives

[09-13-16]
On Tuesday, September 13, the “Amateur Radio Parity Act,” a bill intended to solve the problem of home owners associations disallowing amateur antennas, passed the U.S. House of Representatives. This was a significant triumph after years of attempts. ARRL members received the following letter:

Dear ARRL member,

I am writing to you today because we are at a crossroad in our efforts to obtain passage of The Amateur Radio Parity Act.

Our legislative efforts scored a major victory in our campaign when The Amateur Radio Parity Act, H.R. 1301, passed in the House of Representatives yesterday, September 12th. The legislation now moves to the Senate, where we need every Senator to approve the bill.

You are one of over 730,000 licensed Amateur Radio Operators living in the United States. Many of you already live in deed-restricted communities, and that number grows daily.

NOW IS THE TIME FOR ALL HAMS TO GET INVOLVED IN THE PROCESS!

  • If you want to have effective outdoor antennas but are not currently allowed to do so by your Home Owner‘s Association, SEND THESE EMAILS TODAY!!
     
  • If you already have outdoor antennas, but want to support your fellow hams, SEND THESE EMAILS TODAY!!
     
  • If you want to preserve your ability to install effective outdoor antennas on property that you own, SEND THESE EMAILS TODAY!!
     

We need you to reach out to your Senators TODAY! Right away.

Help us in the effort. Please go to this linked website and follow the prompts:

https://arrl.rallycongress.net/ctas/urge-senate-to-support-amateur-radio-parity-act

Thank you.

73,

Rick

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Rick Roderick, K5UR
President
ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio®

Return to top


Fall Work on UARC Repeaters

Getting the 800-pound module off the truck

[10-07-16]     by Clint Turner, KA7OEI

Scotts' Hill Get's New Battery: Several weeks ago Scotts’ Hill was the destination of one of our Wednesday Night Hikes — but there was an ulterior motive: Recent telemetry — and the power bill — indicated that something was amiss as the room was noticeably hotter than before and the power bill higher. Upon arriving and entering the building, we found it to be very noticeably warm, the cause being two-fold: The ventilation fan's bushings had seized, locking its rotor, and one of the nine 12-volt batteries was bulging, smelling of sulfur and very hot to the touch.

The immediate remedy was to unplug the fan and remove the defective battery from the circuit. This had the immediate effect of allowing the building to cool down, but it spelled out another need: To replace the battery bank as soon as possible since some of these batteries — which were pulls from a 300 kVA UPS — were well over a decade old and had been in service at Scotts since 2009.

The replacement was available, but presented a difficulty: Some years ago Bryan, W7CBM, approached the club noting that a fairly new set of “station” cells had been abandoned. These cells, “float charged” since that time, were much less than halfway through their 25-year lifetime and were good candidates for installation. There was one problem: each 6-volt module of three cells weighed well over 800 pounds! Getting them onto the mountain and over the 8-inch door threshold would be a challenge.

With the weather rapidly changing — and the uncertain state of the current battery bank — the pressure was on, but Bryan and his friend and co-worker, Randy, got to work. Borrowing a hoist they were able to lift the modules up, stand them on end and bolt them together. On the day of the installation a portable gantry was set up to put it into Randy's one-ton truck and a myriad of straps used to secure it into place.

On the way to the mountaintop, another two of Bryan's friends joined the caravan and we made our way up the canyon, onto the access road, and up the mountain. Around us, clouds swirled about the higher peaks, occasionally enveloping us in fog while cold wind blew and the snowfall forecast for that altitude seemed to be delayed.

Arriving on site we removed the old battery bank, set up the tall hoist and gantry, lifted the battery bank so that the truck could drive out from under the battery and so that we could attach a set of casters to it. Once on the ground, the smaller gantry was set up, straddling the doorway, allowing us maneuver the 3/4 ton battery through the doorway, over the threshold, and into the building. From that point on, it was just a matter of wheeling it into position, reconnecting the battery, and checking that it was functioning.

Approximately two and a half hours after arriving, we headed off again, down to the valley but just two hours after that, the very strong weather front — the one that spawned several tornadoes and funnel clouds — struck the area and doused the mountains with rain and snow: We were glad that mother nature had delayed 16 hours or so to allow us to complete the project!

—•••—

Some Surprising Work on the '62 Receiver: A couple of months ago we were notified by Randy (K7SL) that we needed to work on the receiver at the Farnsworth Peak (146.620) site –– but the problem was not what one might expect: The “repair” would need a chain saw.

When the receive site –– some 400 feet away from the transmitter –– was placed in the early 1980s, it was on a (more or less) barren ridge, located distantly to better remove it from the noise from the many broadcast transmitters atop the peak. In the 35 or so years since it was installed, it seems as though some sort of wild brush managed to establish a foothold on the ridge and now it had grown to the point where it had made it difficult to access the equipment box and was now taller than the bottom of the receive antenna itself.

Wielding a chainsaw, a bow-saw, and “loppers,” Gordon and I spent a few hours cutting back the wild brush, gradually re-exposing the rocky ridge and, once again, the ability to just walk up to the base of the tower.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, we also checked the performance of the receiver and noted that it was working as well as it had when last checked a few years ago, but we did find that the coaxial cable had been “nibbled” on by a rodent or deer at some point, exposing a short section of braid and center dielectric. Disconnecting the coax jumper and checking its loss we could see that, although water had gotten into it at some point, its loss was negligible so we re-routed the coax to the center of the tower –– more out-of-reach from larger animals –– and put several layers of tape over the damaged section, awaiting replacement on a future trip.

See also: More Photos.

Return to top


2016 Field Day Report for Utah Stations

[11-22-16]
During November, ARRL published the results of the annual Field Day Operating Event, held last June. Utah's entries in this “non-contest” included 20 from portable and mobile stations and seven from fixed stations including one emergency operating center (EOC). UARC was the top scorer with 5422 points, even though that was somewhat less than last year's 6954 (which was not the top score in that year).

Raw score, though, is probably not the best way to compare success in different entry classes. It is pretty likely that a station with three 100-watt stations will make more contacts than one using a single QRP transmitter on battery power. The best way we have discovered to compare stations in different entry classes is to calculate the percentile each station achieved within the list of other stations across the country in its same operating class. We have made that calculation in the table below.

Using this scheme among the portable and mobile entries, UARC comes in second (with a percentile of 89.0) to WR7Q, Bob Carter, whose single-transmitter, single-operator operation achieved a percentile of 92.3 in the 1B1 class.

The top portable station did even better with a 96.3 percentile. This station was that of the W7RCH operated by the Cottonwood Heights Amateur Radio Club at the Cottonwood Heights EOC. However their competition was a bit less stiff with only 27 stations in the whole country having entered the 1F category (one transmitter in an EOC).

Below is our percentile tabulation. We have included last year's value for those stations which also operated in 2015. Using UARC as an example of how to read the table, we were 36th place among 326 stations that entered the 3A class. This means that 290 3A stations had lower scores than UARC, so 290/326 gives 0.88957. Rounding to three signifiant figures we get a percentile of 89.0.

Utah 2016 Field Day Scores
 
 
Call
Class Score QSOs Place out of Pctl Pctl
2015
Group or Club Name


 Fixed Stations (in order of percentile)
Call
Class
Score
QSOs
Place
out of
Pctl
Pctl
2014

Key to Entry Classes

Starting number   The number that begins each class is the number of simultaneous transmitters on the air. For example, UARC's 3A class indicates there was a maximum of three transmitters on the air at any given time.
 
First Letter The letter that follows the starting number tells the type of operation:

A: A club or group portable with three or more operators
B: A non-club group portable station using one or two operators
C: A mobile station
D:   A home station using commercial power
E: A home station using emergency power
F: A station at an Emergency Operating Center (EOC)
 
Second number A "1" or "2" following the letter indicates the number of operators. Class B entries are subdivided in this way.
 
Final “B” A “B” following the number of operators or the class letter indicates an operation powered entirely by batteries and running no more than five watts transmitter output power.
 
Final “C” A “C” following the number of operators or the class letter indicates an operation that used commercial power for at least one of its transmitters.
 
Example: Class 1B2B means a single-transmitter portable operation with two operators using only batteries for power and running five watts or less.

Return to top


Utah Field Day Scores for 2015

[11-04-15]
The results are now available for the 2015 Field Day operating event. Field Day is a nationwide contest-like exercise to test operators' abilities to set up and operate effective portable and mobile stations. It happens on the fourth full weekend in June each year. For 2015 there were a total of 29 entries from Utah. There may have been more stations operating that didn't bother to submit their results.

We like to show results in a way that equalizes the difference between operating classes. A large club station running 10 transmitters at a kilowatt each will probably make more contacts than a two-operator, single-transmitter, QRP operation running five watts. That doesn't necessarily mean that the big station did a better job of operating. The best way to compare stations with very different setups is to see how they did relative to other stations around the country in the same entry class. The mathematical maneuver called “percentile” is a technique for doing just that.

Let's look at UARC's W7SP score. We operated three transmitters, so we were a “3A” entry. (The “A” indicates a club or group portable station.) Our score of 6954 points puts us in 20th place among 3A operations across the country (and Canada). There were a total of 286 3A entries, so 266 got lower scores than we did. That makes our percentile 266/286 or 93.0%. We can say happily that that is the best of any Utah station, although just a hair-width above K7UM, the Utah DX Association station at 92.9. They ran in the 6A class and brought in a total score of 13,742 points, nearly double UARC's.

So how can we do even better next year? Some suggestions include operating for the full 24 hours, getting more operators up to speed on CW, and finding a way to keep tents at a habitable temperature at 4 A.M. Anyone want to volunteer to be 2016 Field Day Chairman?

Utah 2015 Field Day Scores
 
 Mobile, Portable, and EOC Stations (in order of percentile)
Call
Class Score QSOs Place out of Pctl Pctl
2014
Group or Club Name


 Home Stations (in order of percentile)
Call
Class
Score
QSOs
Place
out of
Pctl
Pctl
2014

Key to Entry Classes

Starting number   The number that begins each class is the number of simultaneous transmitters on the air. For example, UARC's 3A class indicates there was a maximum of three transmitters on the air at any given time.
 
First Letter The letter that follows the starting number tells the type of operation:

A: A club or group portable with three or more operators
B: A non-club group portable station using one or two operators
C: A mobile station
D:   A home station using commercial power
E: A home station using emergency power
F: A station at an Emergency Operating Center (EOC)
 
Second number A "1" or "2" following the letter indicates the number of operators. Class B entries are subdivided in this way.
 
Final “B” A “B” following the number of operators or the class letter indicates an operation powered entirely by batteries and running no more than five watts transmitter output power.
 
Final “C” A “C” following the number of operators or the class letter indicates an operation that used commercial power for at least one of its transmitters.
 
Example: Class 1B2B means a single-transmitter portable operation with two operators using only batteries for power and running five watts or less.

Return to top


UARC Field Day Results

[08-15-15]
We would like to thank everyone who helped with UARC's 2015 Field Day entry! At least 41 hams took the hour and a half drive to the area near Payson Lakes and spent part or all of their weekend helping to set up gear and make contacts around the country. We did pretty well. The total number of contacts was 2156, 936 of which were on CW and counted for double points.

By the time CW multiplier, power multiplier, and bonus points were considered we ended up with 6954 points, our second best score in the last 10 years, and possibly ever. (Our best score was 8624 in 2012 when we had the CW station and operating help of Max George, NG7M.) Several things probably contributed to our success. Lossy feedlines were replaced, yagis were tuned, we operated the CW station more hours, and we had some very good voice operators.

Of course there's always room for improvement. Apparently we forgot to put the available heaters in the operating tents and from 3 A.M. to 7 A.M. all the operators had given up due to hypothermia. At least one person complained that the setup was not as well organized as might be desired. Perhaps this was due to the lack of a volunteer for “general organizer” that we had been requesting since about February. Anyone want to fill that gap for next year?

There appear to have been 29 Utah stations that sent in their entries this year. We won't likely know all the scores until the folks at ARRL Headquarters get through sifting through the data in about November. When that information is available we will post it here.

UARC 2015 Field Day Contacts and Scoring
(2014 Values in Green)
Band  CW SSB Total
80 (60) 200 (66)  
40 376 (—) 408 (774)  
20 560 (353) 541(396)   
15 (—) 9(—)   
6 (—) 50(57)   
(GOTA) (—) 12(39)   
 
Total
Contacts
936 (413) 1220 (1332) 2156 (1744)
Contact
Points
1872 (826) 1220 (1332) 3092(2158)
Power
Mult
X2 6184 (4316)
Bonus
Points
Emergency Power:300
Public Location 100
Message Origination 100
Natural Power 100
W1AW Bulletin 100
Web Submission 50
Youth Participation 20
Total Bonus 770(850)
Grand Total   6954 (5166)

UARC W7SP Field Day Scores in Recent Years

YearContact
Score
Total
Score
2015 6184 6954
2014 4316 5166
2013 3616 4646
2012 7414 8624
2011 3384 4434
2010 3144 3894
2009 4044 5014
2008 3462 4571
2007 3954 4764
2006 3826 5076
2005 4588 5538

Return to top


Bob Bruninga's Talk is Online

[08-17-15]
There have been some requests for the material that Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, the “Father of APRS,” presented in Logan on August 11. Bob writes:
Tyler [Griffiths],

I enjoyed presenting the APRS stuff at your radio club. Someone asked about a copy of my talk. Here it is... I posted the presentation at the end of the first paragraph on the normal APRS page: http://aprs.org.

Since I did mention solar again, .. here is my solar page:

aprs.org/solar.html

Bottom line: Sooner or later, everyone with sun on their roof is going to go solar. (Since it already costs less than half of utility power). So why keep paying monthly utility bills when your power will be free for the rest of your life when you do finally get around to it. Waiting is just more money down the utility rate hole...(with nothing to gain)...

And 2016 is the last year of the 30% solar tax credit if the present do-nothing congress remains in charge...

Bob, WB4APR

Return to top


Off the Grid Slides Now Available

[03-24-15]
Jim Brown's presentation on solar power and living off the grid was well received at our March UARC meeting. The slides from that presentation are now available as a PDF file here. Thanks to Jim for putting the information on line.

Return to top


Turning Off the Yaesu WIRES Mode

[11-26-13]
Users of recent Yaesu VHF transceivers may occasionally receive a complaint that the first few words of each transmission are being wiped out by a CTCSS tone (aka “Touchtone”). The problem is that the “WIRES” or “Internet” mode has been turned on accidentally.

WIRES (Wide-coverage Internet Repeater Enhancement System) is a system designed by Yaesu using Internet to link repeaters and having some similarities to IRLP and EchoLink. In one configuration a user can choose, on a per-transmission basis, whether he is heard only on the local repeater, a single additional repeater, or a whole network of repeaters. The Yaesu transceivers that support this option make it easy to turn the opening tone on and off so that the selection of “local” or “global” may be made quickly whenever needed. The downside of this easy access is that it's easy to turn the mode on accidentally. This can be particularly frustrating to the ham who doesn't live within 500 miles of a WIRES repeater.

Clint, KA7OEI, discovered a PDF file that tells how to disable the tone on several models of Yaesu radios, either in the usual way or semi-permanently. You can find the file here.

Return to top


Web Site Gets New Look

[11-21-09]
You've probably noticed a new look to the UARC web site. The new design was created by Gary Wong, AB1IP, who won our web design contest last spring. UARC President John Hardy, K7ALA, recently applied the new design to all the most commonly accessed pages. Thanks to Gary and John!

Return to top


reduce by $91 500->1000 for Grand Cherokee reduce by $191 500->1000 deductible for Rubicon together, reduce $282. done ---