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Subject: glowbugs V1 #112
glowbugs          Sunday, September 14 1997          Volume 01 : Number 112


Date: Sat, 13 Sep 1997 17:05:28 -0700 (PDT)
From: herr@ridgecrest.ca.us (Michael Herr)
Subject: Re: "BA" net activity

Bobbi,
    I've been there as well building for others. Those who had built before
but no longer can for one reason or another are always very, very
appriciated. But then there are others who you are doing a favor by
building something for them and zing! they think you should spend every
waking minute on it and when it is done, no thanks at all. Bummer. I had
one fella I was trying to keep on the air who would ask me to build this
for him and then that, would only use it a short bit and get rid of it and
come back and ask me to build something else. I finally got frustrated and
had "other stuff" to do when he asked. Now when a new ham askes me to build
a rig for them I respond,"no, I won't build it but you can come over, use
my tool and I will help you through it" It works great that way!
73
Mike WA6ARA
>
>   73,
>   --Bobbi
>
>   (I'm in a cranky mood; offered to build up some "kits" for a local
>no-coder, and was handed a box of loose parts from Rat Shack and a couple
>of QST articles!  This is a "kit?"  Worse yet, the guy did things like
>buying 100mF condensers where 100pF jobs were called for.  *Then,* after
>I'd got a pair of little CW F2 bleepers for use with a HT done &
>delivered, he called me up at 11:00pm to ask after the other project, when
>he'd been told it'd take a couple of weeks!  Never again!  He can either
>learn to build his own stuff, or go climb a tree).



Date: Sun, 14 Sep 1997 11:58:01 +1000
From: Murray Kelly <mkelly@powerup.com.au>
Subject: Re: "BA" net activity

At risk of appearing to be a party pooper, I must point out
that 40m is not the same in all regions (nor all countries
for that matter).

We have to contend with 5KHz spaced Indonesian pirates who
work up from below 7MHz. Their voice activity spoils 40m somewhat
because the commercials ruin it above 7.1MHz.

Our own voice band is resticted because of these constraints
and it's 'first up, best dressed' except for a small portion
from 7.025 down that packet, pirates etc. make pretty tough
anyway!

7.000 to 7.300 looks pretty good on paper but the facts are
quite different.

As for the ARRL and 'aorta do sumpin' it's up to you, the
members, to stir them enough to move in official circles and
get the changes you want. That assumes you are all members 
and the rest of the membership agree with you guys.

With those really helpful comments I'll go away - :-)

Cheers.

>    I might point out that before WW II, 40m was a CW-only band; this
> always seemed like a perfectly rational plan to me.  Let the 'phone boys
> use 160 and 80 for statewide working (with some DX), and 20 for
> serious bigtime DX--and
> leave 40 to the mode its best suited to!

******************************************************************
*        Murray Kelly vk4aok      mkelly@powerup.com.au          *
*      29 Molonga Ter. / Graceville/ QLD. 4075/ Australia        *
*                   ph/fax Intl+ 61 7 3379 3307                  *
******************************************************************



Date: Sat, 13 Sep 1997 20:54:56 -0700
From: Jim Haynes <haynes@cats.ucsc.edu>
Subject: Somebody was looking for a TSB50-C Bandmaster?

I saw one this morning at Foothill swap meet - contact
Larry AD6W   209-897-5391

He was asking $50 cash-and-carry at the swap meet.



Date: Sat, 13 Sep 1997 21:58:38 -0700 (PDT)
From: kd6poc@jps.net (Adam McLaughlin)
Subject: Re: "BA" net activity

Hi Bry,

Yeah, yeah yeah. Anyway, I want it back!

I can dream, can't I?

Adam

>On 13 Sep 97 at 8:21, Adam McLaughlin wrote:
>
>> Hi Bobbi,
>> 
>> I am still waiting for the return of our 160 meter CW subband that we lost
>> during the second world war. (1750 to 1800 KHz)
>
>Adam, I think THAT sub-band went the way of upper-end-Medium 
>-Wave-band-creep(!)
>
>Grin!
>****************************************************
>*** 73 from Radio AF4K/G3XLQ Gaithersburg, MD USA  *
>**  E-mail to:  bry@mnsinc.com                     *
>*** See the interesting ham radio resources at:    *
>**  http://www.mnsinc.com/bry/                     *
>****************************************************
>AM International #1024, TENTEN #13582. GRID FM19
>Rigs: Valiant, DX-60/HG-10, Eldico TR-75, Millen 90810
>FT-840, TM-261, Ameco TX-62, Gonset Communicator III
>HTX-202...TEN-TEN #13582, DXCC #17,763 Bicentennial WAS
>
>
Adam McLaughlin KD6POC
QRG: 7037 Kcs & 7014 Kcs (DX Only)
kd6poc@jps.net
www.jps.net/jmclaugh  



Date: Sun, 14 Sep 1997 17:19:22 +0200
From: Jan Axing <janax@li.icl.se>
Subject: New glowbug on the air!

G'day all.

My efforts to increase the glowbug interest in Europe took
a giant leap this Sunday afternoon when I fired up a new
glowbug TX. I'm still experimenting with it but could not
resist trying a call on 3579R545 kHz (the only rock I have
for the moment) and got an answer on the first try! It was
a club station some 90 miles away with a nocode Tech at the
key on his first CW QSO...
What a success. Getting a new glowbug on the air at the same
time as helping a new ham into CW was sort of heartwarming.
I'm feeling good now.

This glowbug is a variation of the triode/pentode concept, here
based on Dirk PA3GNR's 6BM8 job. The differences are a
pi tank instead of the parallel tank, grid block keying of the
PA only and an ECL86/6GW8 instead.

It still in need of some adjustements, the oscillator output
is too low to drive the PA in class C so I have the pentode
in class A for the moment. 15W input and 4W output. Ugh.

Running the oscillator continously during transmit seems OK.
"Look ma, no chirp!" Really!

Grid block keying is worth the extra components, I have no
filtering at all, the clicks are not so bad without.

The rock is a colour burst in HC-18 can hidden in a FT241
case, one of those "channel" rocks.

T/R switching during this first QSO was with a banana plug
to the power supply B+ and an antenna switch. Took a couple
of seconds to switch, he, he... Side tone by listening to my
own transmission in the RX. Spotting by inserting the banana
plug only. Simple, as in the pioneering days many solar cycles
ago.

I will publish a schematic on my web within a day or so.

Jan, SM5GNN



Date: Sun, 14 Sep 1997 19:46:53 +0000
From: Sandy W5TVW <ebjr@worldnet.att.net>
Subject: 4H4 Ballast delimma

        Rather than sweat out getting more/spare 4H4 ballast tubes, which
are getting
increasingly rare and expensive, I'd recommend the following:

        The object is to regulate the filament voltage of the 6C4 in the
National NC-300
and the 6C6 and 6BE6 in the HRO-60.  The transformer provided supplying 12.5
volts AC for this purpose.  A very simple and effective and cheap method
would be to either bridge or half-wave rectify the 12.5 volts AC , add a 
1000 Mf @ 25 volt capacitor input filter.  Supply the resulting DC to an ECG956
Adjustable 1.5 amp regulator (TO-220 flatpack) IC.  Add the necessary trimmer
pot, fixed resistor and a 10 Mf @ 15 volt output filter.  The regulated voltage
being supplied easily to the tubes in question.  The whole works could be
built into a small aluminium box mounted on an octal plug and 'subbed' for the
4H4!  Then the filament voltage would remain stable probably far better
than thru the 4H4.  If you want to sell the set in a "no mods" condition, unplug
the regulator unit, plug the 4H4 back in and presto, you have an unchanged
receiver.
        I plan to ues this same trick to stabilize the heater voltage on the
Elmac PMR-7
receiver's 6C4 oscillator that drifts when the heater voltage varies!

73,
E. V. Sandy Blaize, W5TVW
"Boat Anchors collected, restored, repaired, traded and used!"
417 Ridgewood Drive,
Metairie, LA., 70001
ebjr@worldnet.att.net
**Looking for:  Hallicrafters SR-75 Transceiver**
**RK-34(VT-224) tubes, Butternut HF2V antenna***



Date: Sun, 14 Sep 1997 19:48:00 -0600
From: Alex Mendelsohn <alexm@pennwell.com>
Subject: RE: Quick toroid question

Jeff, you can run a bolt or whatever down the inside of the core, but only 
one end of it can be connected to the chassis, otherwise it constitutes a 
shorted turn.

Vy 73, Alex, AI2Q  .-.-.
 ----------
From: Jeff Duntemann
To: ALEXM; 'GLOWBUGS@SMTP <glowbugs@www.atl.org>'
Subject: Quick toroid question
Date: Thursday, September 11, 1997 3:13PM

Hi gang--

Here's something I've often wondered about, and now that I have an
application in mind I'd like to get some quick feedback from you heavy
engineering types.  (Don't forget that I'm just an English major with a
soldering iron...)

As I understand it, toroid cores confine the RF flux pretty much to the
core.  This being the case, placing a steel bolt or other metallic object
through the *middle* of the core shouldn't affect the core performance
much.  Right?

I have a T184-2 core that I'd like to use as the main pi net inductor in a
50-watt input transmitter.  It would be convenient to mount the core behind
a wafer switch for bandswitching, such that the rotary actuator bar (that
flattened thing running down the middle of multigang rotary switches) runs
through the middle of the core.

The T-184 is a BIG core (almost two inches) and the bar would go through
dead center, well away from the core and the windings.  Is this likely to
affect Q significantly?  My understanding says no--but I've been wrong 
before.

Any thoughts?

 --73--

 --Jeff Duntemann KG7JF
  Scottsdale, Arizona



End of glowbugs V1 #112
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