The Microvolt
January, 2015
Prologue
Publication: The Microvolt (USPS
075-430) is the official publication of the Utah Amateur Radio Club,
Incorporated, 699 E. South Temple Ste 100, Salt Lake City, UT 84102-1282. It is
published monthly except August. Subscription is included with club membership
at $17 per year. Single copy price is $1.50. Periodicals postage paid at Salt
Lake City, Utah. Postmaster: send address corrections to The Microvolt,
c/o Dick Keddington, 5474 Hews Place, Taylorsville, UT, 84129-1416.
Deadline
for submissions is the 24th of each month prior to publication. Submissions by
email are preferred (k7hfv@arrl.net), but other means including diskettes and
typewritten submissions can be mailed directly to: Gordon Smith, 632 University
St., Salt Lake City, UT 84102-3213. Reprints are allowed with proper credits to
The Microvolt, UARC, and authors.
Changes in mailing address should be communicated to the Club Secretary: Dick
Keddington, 5474 Hews Place, Taylorsville, UT, 84129-1416.
Club: The Utah Amateur Radio Club
was organized under its present name in 1927, although its beginnings may date
back as early as 1909. In 1928, it became affiliated with the American Radio
Relay League (club #1602) and is a non-profit organization under the laws of
Utah. It holds a club station license with the call W7SP, a memorial call for
Leonard (Zim) Zimmerman, an amateur radio pioneer in the Salt Lake City
area.
Meetings: The club meets each month
except July and August. The meetings are held on the second Thursday of the
month at 7:30 PM in the University of Utah’s Warnock Engineering Building,
generally in room 1230 or 2230, sometimes in 2250 or 105.
Membership: Club membership is open to
anyone interested in amateur radio; a current license is not required. Dues are $17 per year, including a Microvolt subscription. The Microvolt
and membership cannot be separated. Those living at the same address as a
member who has paid $17 may obtain a membership without a Microvolt
subscription for $9. Send dues to the
Club Secretary: Dick Keddington, KD7TDZ, 5474 Hews Place, Taylorsville, UT
84129-1416.
Contributions: Monetary contributions are
gladly accepted. Send directly to the
Club Treasurer: Chuck Johnson, 1612 W. 4915 S. Taylorsville, UT 84123-4244. For in-kind contributions,
please contact any board member to make appropriate arrangements.
Repeaters: UARC maintains the 146.62-
and 146.76- repeaters. The repeaters are administered by the UARC Repeater
Committee. Comments and questions may be directed to any Committee member. The
Lake Mountain repeater (146.76-) is IRLP node 3352. Instructions for IRLP use
are on the club website.
Ham Hot-Line: The Utah Amateur Radio Club
(UARC) has a Ham Hotline, 583-3002. Information regarding Amateur Radio can be
obtained, including club, testing, meeting, and membership information. If no
one answers leave your name, telephone number and a short message on the
answering machine, and your call will be returned.
President:
Clint Turner, KA7OEI 801
566-4497
Executive VP:
Rick Asper, AC7RA 801
865-1693
Vice Pres: Brett Sutherland, N7KG 801 298-5399
Secretary: Dick Keddington, KD7TDZ 801 274-9638
Treasurer: Chuck Johnson, WA7JOS 801 268-0153
Microvolt Editor:
Gordon Smith, K7HFV 801
582-2438
Asst. Microvolt Editor: Mary Alexander, KF7QVL 801 347-3220
Program Chairperson: Morris Farmer, AD7SR 801
278-4966
Program Chairperson: Chuck DeWitt, W7DTO 435
882-9002
Imm. Past Pres:
Linda Reeder, N7HVF 801
364-7006
Committee Chairpersons and Members
“Book Lady”: Brett Sutherland, N7KG 801 298-5399
Historian: Ron Speirs, K7RLS 801 904-3587
Field Day Chair:
(To be determined)
License Trustee: Brett Sutherland, N7KG 801 298-5399
Repeater Engineer: Randy Finch, K7SL 801 556-7565
ATV Engineer: Clint Turner, KA7OEI 801 566-4497
Autopatch Engineer: Gordon Smith, K7HFV 801 582-2438
Contents
January Meeting: Grounding Your Station
Rocky Mountain Division Update Excerpts
IRLP Information
For information
on using the club's IRLP node on the 146.76 repeater, check http://user.utaharc.org/irlp. The prefix code
required is 314. Please do not give this out to nonmembers of UARC.
For
late breaking news listen to the UARC Information Net Sundays at 21:00 on
146.62 or set your browser to: http://user.xmission.com/~uarc/announce.html
We
are grateful to the management of XMission, our Internet Service Provider
(ISP), for the donation of this Web-Page service.
For account
information go to: http://www.xmission.com/
Or call 801
539-0852
January Meeting: Grounding Your Station
We are used to thinking that our rig and our antennas are the most important part of our ham stations. But, unless we have properly grounded our stations we are likely to be disappointed with the performance of our rig. Grounding is not one topic, but at least three separate topics that need to be addressed: lightning protection grounds; RF grounding, and AC power protective ground.
For our January 8 meeting we are lucky enough to have,
perhaps, the foremost Utah expert on the topic of grounding, Mack Gilbert,
K7HEN. Mack has more than 30 years of experience in commercial tower
construction, providing grounding for the tower, and the equipment that uses
the tower. He has installed over a thousand towers and is recognized as
an expert in the field of tower installation and station grounding.
Unless you only operate with a handheld radio, this is a presentation you should not miss!
The meeting will be on Thursday, January 8, at 7:30 P.M. in room 1250 (main floor, south side of the main corridor) of the Warnock Engineering Building.
UARC meetings are held on the second Thursday of each month at 7:30 P.M., in the Warnock Engineering Building on the University of Utah campus. The spring, 2015, meetings will be in room 1250, “the Stockham classroom” on the ground floor. See the map at http://user.xmission.com/~uarc/meetmap.html for information on finding the building. The room number varies depending on availability.
Of course, the meeting will include the “standard” meeting features:
· Availability of ARRL books from Brett, the “book lady”
· An opportunity to join UARC or renew your membership
· An opportunity to join ARRL or renew your membership
· The chance to meet face-to-face the people you talk to on the air
· The “Meeting after the meeting”: A chance to enjoy pizza or other gastronomic delights with other hams. It happens at Litza's Pizza, 716 E. 400 South.
· The “Meeting before the meeting”: A similar get-together for those who can leave work early enough to get there by 5:15 P.M. The January get-together will be at “Charlie Chow's Dragon Grill,” 255 E. 400 South in Salt Lake City.
Our Cover
Our cover this month shows Gary Wong, AB1IP, who presented the program for our December meeting: the (now) traditional ham radio quiz. This year’s questions included topics ranging from Poynting Vectors to the frequency of Utah’s only six-meter repeater. Of special note this year was that several questions shared the same answer: “73.”
Election
Results
In a remarkable
show of confidence (that’s what it was wasn’t it?) the UARC members at the
December meeting re-elected the entire slate of incumbents to become the 2015
officers and Board members. None of the other nominees got a single vote. (Some
suggested the reason might be the lack of other nominees.)
The 2015 officers
are:
President Clint Turner, KA7OEI
Executive
Vice-Pres. Rick Asper, KC7RA
Vice-President Brett Sutherland, N7KG
Secretary Dick Keddington, KD7TDZ
Treasurer Chuck Johnson, WA7JOS
Program Chair Chuck DeWitt, W7DTO
Program Chair Morris Farmer, AD7SR
Editor Gordon Smith, K7HFV
Asstant Editor Mary Alexander, KF7QZL
License
Classes in Early 2015
Morris Farmer,
AD7SR, and friends have license study classes coming up in 2015. The location
of each class will be Morris home and the only cost will be the ARRL study
guide for the appropriate class of license.
Technician: There will be a “Long
Form” Technician course starting on January 12th. Morris will be joined by Bill Rouleau,
AE7UI. The schedule will be Mondays at 7 P.M. for approximately 7 - 8 weeks.
For more information contact Morris at f.morris1@comcast.net or Bill at wrouleau@comcast.net.
General: A General class will be taught right after the end of the Technician
class above, again on Mondays. The starting date will likely be in mid-March.
Extra: There will be an Extra course starting on
Wednesday January 14th. Ron Speirs, K7RLS, and Morris will teach the
course. It will take place each Wednesday at 7 P.M., for approximately 15-16
weeks. For more information contact Ron at k7rls@comcast.net.
or Morris at f.morris1@comcast.net.
Field
Day Help Needed
The national event
called “Field Day,” sponsored by the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) is the
most popular operating event in amateur radio. It is a test of groups’
abilities to set up portable stations on short notice and show that they work
well by working as many stations as possible in a 24-hour period. Field Day is
held each year on the fourth Saturday in June
and the following Sunday. That puts the 2015 event on June 27 and 28.
A UARC club entry
in Field Day is one of UARC’s most popular events each year. We set up several
HF stations in the mountains near Payson Lakes and combine a family campout
with some HF contest operating.
We need
volunteers to help plan the event and learn what is involved in the setup each
year. In particular, we need someone who could be the Field Day Chairperson for
2015, or maybe the “Assistant Chairperson” for a year to learn the ropes
(literally for some steps). If you would be interested in helping, contact any
of the officers. Their contact information is on our inside front cover.
Parking
at the “U”
A reminder that
until UARC’s June meeting you can ignore signs on the parking lots at the
University of Utah saying that parking rules are enforced until 8 P.M. As soon
as the officers find out (we hope before the June meeting) we will announce
where you will need to park to avoid being ticketed.
Orem
License Classes
Noji Ratzlaff, KNØJI, has license study courses coming up in
2015, sponsored in part by the City of Orem. The location of each course
will be
Orem Public Safety Traffic Training Room
95 E Center St
Orem, Utah 84057
There is a charge of ten dolars per course per person, payable by calling
801-229-7076 with a credit card handy. Please bring a laptop, tablet, or
other device with which you can access your email and websites to each
class. Feel free to park just west of the Public Safety building.
All classes are held on several successive Wednesday evenings as follows:
|
Class |
Sessions |
Start Date |
Times |
|
Technician |
3 |
1-28 |
1830-2030 |
|
General |
3 |
4-29 |
1830-2020 |
|
Technician |
3 |
7-29 |
1830-2030 |
|
Extra |
4 |
9-23 |
1730-2100 |
For more information, please contact Noji at kn0ji@arrl.net or 801-368-1865. You
can also see this information if you go to http://www.arrl.org/find-an-amateur-radio-license-class and
search for the 84057 ZIP code.
New Net Night for 76ers
The weekly 76ers Net will be changing from its traditional Thursday night to Wednesday night beginning on Wednesday, January 7. It is hoped this will make it easier for those who would like to check into the net and also attend UARC meetings. The net meets at 7 P.M. on the 146.76 repeater. (No tone required.)
The 76ers are a “social group” who congregate principally on UARC’s 146.76 repeater. More information can be found at:
Six-Meter Net to Restart
Morris Farmer, AD7SR, tells us that there is a move afoot to try again to hold a weekly six-meter SSB net, similar to the “Six-Pack Net” that ceased meeting several years ago. The net will meet on Friday evenings at 9 P.M. on 50.15 MHz upper sideband. The first session will be on Friday, January 9.
New General Question Pool Announced
The new question pool for General Class examinations was announced in mid-December. It will go into effect on July 1, 2015. It is available in several common formats at:
http://ncvec.org/page.php?id=364.
Amateur license examinations in the United States are supervised by 14 volunteer examiner coordinators (VECs). Question pools are selected by a three-member Question Pool Committee chosen from the VECs. Updates take place on a four-year cycle.
Opportunities to test for new or
upgraded amateur licenses
Date
|
Day |
City |
Contact
Person |
Phone |
|
(No last Tuesday test in Salt Lake City during
December.) |
||||
|
01/21/15 |
(Wed.) |
Provo |
Steve Whitehead, NV7V |
(801)
465-3983 |
|
01/21/15 |
(Wed.) |
St.
George2 |
Gary O. Zabriskie, N7ARE |
N/A |
|
02/04/15 |
(Wed.) |
Ogden |
Rick Morrison, W7RIK |
(801)
791-9364 |
|
02/07/15 |
(Sat.) |
Salt Lake
City1,4 |
Gordon Smith, K7HFV |
(801)
582-2438 |
|
02/14/15 |
(Sat.) |
Hurricane2 |
Gary O. Zabriskie, N7ARE |
N/A |
|
02/18/15 |
(Wed.) |
Provo |
Steve Whitehead, NV7V |
(801) 465-3983 |
|
02/18/15 |
(Wed.) |
St.
George2 |
Gary O. Zabriskie, N7ARE |
N/A |
|
02/24/15 |
(Wed.) |
Salt Lake
City3 |
Eugene McWherter, N7OVT |
(801) 541-1871 |
1Preregistration required. Check with the contact person before the test session.
2More information at http://www.dixieham.org/meetings.html
3New location: Senior Center at the Columbus Center, 2530 S. 500 East
4More information at http://www.utaharc.org/Exams/
Check http://user.xmission.com/~uarc/testinfo.html for further exam information.
Rocky Mountain Division Update Excerpts
By Brian Mileshosky, N5ZGT
ARRL Rocky Mountain Division Director
January ARRL Board of Directors
Meeting
The ARRL Board of Directors
convenes twice a year to represent their Divisions on ARRL policy matters, its
first meeting of 2015 taking place next month. Your concerns, questions, and
ideas regarding ARRL policies are always welcome. As always, please help us better represent you by sharing your
thoughtful feedback on League matters that are important to you.
ARRL Rocky Mountain Division Net ––
Accessible via both IRLP and Echolink!
In an effort to provide more
options for hams across the Division to participate in the monthly Rocky
Mountain Division net, since not everyone has an IRLP node nearby, an
experimental/trial Echolink path into the net will once again be made available
for Wednesday's net. Its performance and level of use will be monitored to
determine potential feasibility as a long term solution.
To try connecting to a second
Wednesday evening net via Echolink,
please connect to node number 415699 (K0JSC-R).
ARRL Rocky Mountain Division
Scholarship
The ARRL Foundation is currently
accepting applications from eligible young radio amateurs pursuing higher
education. More than 80 scholarships ranging from $500 to $5,000 are awarded
annually –– including our very own Rocky Mountain Division scholarship.
Additionally, one applicant is selected for the prestigious William R. Goldfarb
Scholarship, awarded to a high school senior pursuing a degree
in business, computers, medical,
nursing, engineering or science. The recipient of the Goldfarb Scholarship is
eligible to receive funding
throughout four academic years to
earn a bachelor's degree. All applicants must be active radio amateurs and must
complete and submit the online application.
If you are a young person who is
pursuing higher education, or know such a young person in your ham club, please
visit
http://www.arrl.org/news/the-arrl-foundation-invites-scholarship-applications-for-2015-16-academic-year for more information, including
links to scholarship descriptions and an online application form.
Help Support Scholarships
The Rocky Mountain Division
scholarship was established with the vision that it would be a gift to our
Division's young hams that keeps on giving.
However, that can only be realized if the scholarship continues to be
funded to benefit our Division's young hams year after year. Individual hams, clubs, organizations,
hamfest organizers, and convention organizers across our Division are kindly
asked to consider supporting the scholarship's future and its great cause
through a tax-deductible contribution, even if just a few dollars.
Contributions may be made by completing the form at:
http://www.arrl.org/arrl-foundation-donation-form and including a check payable to
the ARRL Foundation with “ARRL Rocky Mountain Division Scholarship” written on
the memo line, and mailed to:
ARRL Foundation
225 Main Street
Newington CT 06111
The ARRL Foundation, Inc. awards
more than 80 scholarships to young hams who are pursuing higher education, and
is a not-for-profit organization operating under IRS Tax ID # 23-7325472. As a benefit, all contributions will be
acknowledged with a tax receipt letter and are deductible to the full extent of
the law.
2015 Rocky Mountain Division
Convention
The good folks in Utah are in the
midst of planning the 2015 Division Convention, returning to gorgeous Bryce
Canyon, Utah. Mark your calendars for
July 31-August 2, 2015 for a special convention, packed with many of the
activities and events our Division's conventions have become known for.
Many more details are forthcoming
and will be announced in these spaces.
Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter
(AFCI) problems
As noted in the last Division
Update, ARRL's Lab staff has been engaged in a working relationship with Eaton
Corporation, a manufacturer of arc fault circuit interrupter (AFCI) breakers,
to resolve problems reported by amateur radio operators that caused certain
breaker models to trip unnecessarily due to RF transmissions, even if the RF
source is stood off by a significant distance.
Like the more common ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI), an AFCI is
a safety device that is mandated by code in some household circuits and that
detects potentially hazardous arc faults due to poor connections in wiring and
other factors.
Details about ARRL's industry
partnership with Eaton can be found at:
To understand and track the extent
of (known) AFCIs that are tripping due to RF transmissions within the Rocky
Mountain Division, all hams within Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, or Wyoming who
are currently experiencing RFI problems with AFCIs are asked to email both
Rocky Mountain Divison Director Brian Mileshosky, N5ZGT (n5zgt@arrl.org), and
ARRL Lab staff member Mike Gruber, W1MG (w1mg@arrl.org), with details about your
situation (AFCI make/model, bands and power levels causing trips, etc.). Mr. Gruber can provide information on
Eaton's process to replace faulty AFCIs.
This month
we are featuring Jared Edwards N2JAE. Jared has been in amateur radio since
2010. It was his father, Shon, who got him interested in the hobby. Shon would
let Jared talk on his station as a third party. Jared was able to talk on six
meters and thought that was really exciting. He now has his General class
license and is really interested in learning the Morse Code. He wants to
communicate with people all over the world on CW. Jared said this is an
interesting way to communicate and it is his goal to be able to send and
receive at 20 words per minute. He is working hard on this every day using a
code keyer and listening to recordings of the Morse Code.
Jared
operates on 2 meters and 70 centimeters. He really enjoys talking on the
reflector. He talks to people all around the world. Jared is very active on his
brother James' Worldwide Friendship Net every Saturday morning at 8 A.M. using
Echolink and the Western Reflector. Jared said they talk to youth all around
the world. Jared also participates in
his brothers' youth net of the Northern Utah Youth Amateur Radio Club every
Sunday night at 7 P.M. on the 147.04 repeater. One of the things that Jared
likes best about amateur radio is being able to communicate with his family.
Jared
enjoys participating in public service events. Jared was able to participate in
the Fourth of July parade last summer and enjoyed it very much. He is looking
forward to doing it again this year. JARED is a member of UARC and the Davis
County Amateur Radio Club. He really enjoys attending the meetings. One of the
speakers talked about preparing go kits
for emergencies.
Jared is
in the eighth grade. He attends Legacy Junior High School in Layton, Utah.
Jared is in the band and plays the euphonium. Last month they traveled to
different elementary schools and performed Christmas concerts. He really
enjoyed it. Band is his favorite subject.
Jared has
several hobbies. He enjoys bicycling, flying RC planes, playing chess, and sea
monkeys and they have hatched. Jared also loves to read. He is reading Shannara
book series.
Jared we
wish you the best in all of your endeavors especially learning the Morse Code.
