[12-03-09] A web video of the event can be found
at
csd-technology-tuesdays.wikispaces.com/Midvalley-ISS-Event The Deseret News has a slide-show with audio at
www.deseretnews.com/photo/slideshow/8004/Elementary-kids-talk-live-to-astronaut.html.
The page includes a link to the related article.
Carla Burningham, KC7HON, who is the Principal at Midvalley
Elementary School, along with Dave Bettinson, KE7LMH, had worked for
nearly two years to arrange the event.
They worked with local hams, particularly Randy Kohlwey, WI7P, to put
together a plan that was acceptable to the ARISS (“Amateur
Radio Aboard the International Space Station”)
administrators. Word finally came in October that Midvalley was
officially scheduled during the first week of December. There was
still a chance that other astronaut duties would preempt the
contact, but all went well. Carla says,
For those interested in following the school contact program,
the most up-to-date information can be downloaded at
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf. It is updated
each Wednesday UTC (which is Tuesday evening in North America).
The December 2 edition included the following list which was
the basis for many of the students' questions:
Proposed questions for Midvalley Elementary:
[11-21-09] No nominations were offered from the floor. However, that's by no means
the final word. Nominations from the floor will be accepted again
at the December election meeting. There is still a chance to volunteer
or to convince a likely candidate to run.
Here are brief descriptions of what the
officers do:
[11-22-09] Entries are in various classes running different amounts of
power and different numbers of transmitters. It's not too surprising
that a group running four transmitters makes more contacts than one
running a single transmitter. A reasonably objective
way of comparing entries in different classes is by percentile within
each entry class. (Percentile is the percentage of total entries in
the class having lower scores than the entry being rated. For example,
UARC came in with an 84.1 meaning that 84.1 percent of the 441 stations
that entered the 2A class had lower scores than UARC did.)
The Utah DX Association was the unquestioned winner coming in second
of 130 4A entries for a 98.5 percentile. UARC's 84.1 put it in third
place in the state. The Manti Contest Club (likely under the leadership
of Dr. Bob Armstrong, N7XJ) did very well with a battery-powered QRP
CW operation, coming in third in raw score.
Below is the full tabulation in order of percentile:
Space Station QSO A Success
On the morning of Wednesday, December 2, The club's W7SP
call was used to contact astronaut Jeffrey Williams, KD5TVQ,
aboard the International Space Station, from Midvalley
Elementary School in the Salt Lake Valley. The contact
went nearly perfectly with strong signals both
directions for about nine minutes. About 20 students were
able to ask questions in that time.
or
www.ustream.tv/recorded/2693694.
“I can truly say that the feeling I received from this experience has
got to be the highlight of my 29-year career! More than that, I expect
that this experience will begin, if not change, the direction of the
thinking and actions of many young minds!”
Time for Nominations
It's that time of year when we need to be thinking about
officers for the coming year. Many have found it enjoyable
to serve as officers, and we hope more will be inclined to
give it a try.
President: Linda Reeder, N7HVF Executive Vice-President: *Andrew Madsen, AC7CF Vice-President: *Brett Sutherland, N7KG Secretary: *Dick Keddington, KD7TDZ Treasurer: *Chuck Johnson, WA7JOS Program Chairperson: Gene Deal, KF7BSF Program Chairperson: Gary Wong, AB1IP Microvolt Editor: *Gordon Smith, K7HFV Assistant Editor: *Rick Asper, AC7RA *Incumbent
President:
Presides at club meetings and board meetings.
Makes sure all the other jobs get done.
Executive Vice-President:
Substitutes for the President if unavailable.
Makes sure Field Day and Steak-Fry have leadership.
Vice-President:
Substitutes for the President if both the President and the Executive
Vice-President are unavailable.
Chairs the bylaws commmittee.
Secretary:
Accepts dues.
Maintains membership and payment records.
Treasurer:
Maintains the club bank accounts.
Pays bills.
Program Chairpersons:
Arrange programs for club meetings and special events.
Microvolt Editor:
Edits and composes the newsletter.
Assistant Editor:
Mails the newsletter.
Meets post office requirements for reports and records.
2009 Field Day Results are In
The results of the 2009 Field Day contest sponsored by
ARRL are now available. (Check
www.arrl.org/contests/results/ and in the December issue of QST.)
There were 23 entries from the Utah Section, a higher number than in
recent years.
2009 Utah Field Day Scores
Call
Class
Score
QSOs
Po-
sitionof
Per-
centile2008
Per-
centileClub Name
Portable Stations
K7UM 4A 14,080
4624 2 130 98.5 99.0 Utah DX Assn W7UT 2A 6670
2216 44 441 90.0 — Mesa Mauraders W7SP 2A 5014
1343 70 441 84.1 81.9 Utah ARC NC7X 1AB 7040
619 3 16 81.2 77.8 Manti CC AC7JW 1B1 694
147 20 64 68.8 66.0 (Jason Reber, Woods Cross) K7DAV 3A 3302
841 102 305 66.6 92.1 Davis County ARC N7ARE 1B1B 1251
153 50 113 55.8 61.1 (Gary Zabriskie, Santa Clara) W7DHH 1A 1000
450 98 152 55.1 — Skyline ARC W7IVM 4A 2508
620 68 130 47.7 21.1 Bridgerland ARC W7BAR 2A 1584
231 274 441 37.9 0.45 Borderline ARC W7SU 2A 1470
610 289 441 34.5 31.7 Ogden ARC W7DRC 3A 1718
393 207 305 32.1 56.8 Dixie ARC K7NS 2B2B 950
60 7 8 12.5 — (Nyle Steiner, Provo) KC7CSW 2A 842
158 395 441 10.4 — Salt Lake Peaks ARC
Home and Fixed
Stations
N7GTE 1E 1290
619 67 280 76.1 — (Bob Craven, Bountiful) K7NAL 1E 738
284 124 280 55.7 67.8 (Scotty Deffendol, Marion) N7HIT 1D 130
40 240 371 35.3 — (John Drabik, Draper) K7UB 4F 1894
539 12 16 25.0 58.1 Golden Spike ARC K7DLX 3D 466
165 5 6 16.7 — (Richard Wayman, St. George) K7BBR 1D 74
6 311 371 16.2 — (Brandon Rasmussen, Woods Cross) KC7PVD 1E 186
18 246 280 12.1 2.5 (David Haag, Tooele) KB0LQJ 1D 60
30 331 371 10.8 — (Jon Rusho, SLC) WI7J 3E 560
92 18 18 0.0 32.6 (James Cowley, LaVerkin)
Key to Entry Classes
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[10-21-09]
The new Scott's Hill repeater on 146.62 MHz is on the air
and is now linked to the venerable '62 on Farnsworth Peak.
If you've been active in UARC for a bit over a decade, you
may remember when the “synchronous repeater project”
was first proposed. Well, it's finally on the air.
Over a decade ago, Bruce Bergen, KI7OM, wondered about an apparently abandoned building on the Scott's Hill site, a few miles northwest of the Brighton ski resort. After a long process of negotiations with the Forest Service and even intervention by a Congressman, Bruce was able to procure a lease agreement for UARC to use the building.
Partly as a result of discussions during the famous “Wednesday Night Hikes,” the plan was hatched to use the Scott's site to house a new '62 repeater to run synchronously with the existing '62 on Farnsworth Peak. Coverage of the two would overlap. The two repeaters would be linked together in such a way that they appeared to be a single repeater with coverage containing all the coverage areas of both repeaters. This kind of system has been known for many years in the Land Mobile Service, but we had not heard of its use by amateurs.
Over the next several years, the plan went through several starts, stops, and redesigns. In recent months the project was resurrected using a simpler technical scheme than the one originally planned. There are basically two problems that must be solved to create a “synchronous” pair of repeaters. First, the transmitters at both sites must receive the same audio, and it must be that of receiver getting the best signal. Second, the two transmitters must be close enough to each other in frequency that they will not create a heterodyne in areas where both can be heard.
The first problem is solved by bringing the receiver audio from the Scott's site to Farnsworth on a 70-cm link. A custom “voter” unit at Farnsworth selects which of the two signals — the one from Scott's or the one from the local '02 receiver — has the best signal. That audio is then fed locally to the Farnsworth transmitter and simultanously to Scott's using another 70-cm link going the other direction.
The original plan to solve the second problem, matching transmitter frequencies, was to generate both frequencies from the same standard and distribute it over a 902-MHz link. Thanks to the availability of very precise oven-controlled oscillators at affordable prices, it is now possible simply to use these oscillators at both sites, eliminating the need to communicate frequency information.
The necessary equipment was built and software written over the latter part of the past summer. It was a race against the weather to try to get everything ready before snow closed easy access to the two sites. On Saturday, October 10, the Scott's repeater was installed and put into operation for the first time. For the first week it ran as a simple stand-alone repeater. Then on Friday, October 16, the necessary equipment for voting and linking was installed at the Farnsworth site along with a new receiving antenna, and the fully linked system was put into operation for the first time.
The installation party (KA7OEI, K7ALA, and K7HFV) left the site late Friday night congratulating themselves on a job well done, only to wake up Saturday morning and find that the system had some serious problems with audio quality and some anomalies in the voting process, i.e. choosing the best received signal between the two sites.
Clint, KA7OEI, and the author, Gordon, K7HFV, returned to the site Saturday afternoon and identified at least a half-dozen problems involving audio levels, unexpected interaction between units, voting parameters, and performance of the 30-year old '02 receiver.
After a Sunday trip to restore a now refurbished receiver and re-check levels, the whole system was put back on the air. The final job necessary was a 1 A.M. trip to the Scott's site to tighten the receiver squelch, which had developed a propensity for fits of random opening due to an unknown cause.
The system is now fully functional and extends the '62 coverage into areas east of the Wasatch Mountains. Stations in Park City, Coalville, Heber, Midway, and even Evanston, Wyoming, have successfully used the system to work stations along the Wasatch Front. There are a number of enhancements and fine-tuning adjustments planned (mostly for next season), but the system is quite usable and members are encouraged to try it out.
Thanks to everyone who helped with this sizable project. Bruce Bergen, KI7OM, originated the idea and coordinated numerous work parties to get the building in usable condition including power service, antenna supports, ground systems, new roof, and door security. Bruce also built the 420-MHz cavities required for the links between sites and all the antennas used at the Scott's site.
Clint Turner, KA7OEI, particularly should be recognized for constructing, testing, and debugging virtually all the custom electronics required as well as writing the software for several embedded microprocessors. Accomplishing this task between July and October was an amazing feat.
Many others pitched in mounting gear in rack panels, building the mechanical parts, and helping with installation at both sites. They include Brett Sutherland, N7KG; Don Rawlins, N7YUQ; John Lloyd, K7JL; John Hardy, K7ALA; and Bryan Mogensen, W7CBM. Thanks to all (including the ones I have inevitably forgotten to include).
[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!