JOHNSON COUNTY RADIO

AMATEURS CLUB, INC.P.O. Box 93

Shawnee Mission, KS 66201FEEDBACK

APRIL 2016

And the Results are InMARCH MEETINGS

April 8 – Remote Operations - John Raydo, KØIZ

April 22 – Preparing for the May 13 Foxhunt

The Johnson County Radio Amateurs Clubnormally meets on the 2nd and 4th Fridaysof each month at 7:30 PM at the OverlandPark Christian Church (north entrance),7600 West 75th Street (75th and Conser),west of the Fire Station.

Much of the membership travels to thePizza Shoppe at 8915 Santa Fe Drive forpizza buffet and an informal continua-tion/criticism/clarification of the topicsraised at the meeting ... or anything else.

Leave the church, turn right (west) on75th. Turn left (south) on Antioch. Turnright (west) on Santa Fe. Pizza Shoppe isjust past the Sonic on your left.

Harold "Van" Van Daveer, KØHCVdefended his 2014 win in the

Kansas Section of the ARRL DXContest (phone) by topping the

section again in 2015.

John Raydo, KØIZ, won first placein the 2015 Colorado QSO Party in

the high power, phone, singleoperator category, using his

vintage Collins staiton in Colorado.John will tell the club about remote

station operation at the April 8JCRAC meeting.

IN THIS ISSUE

1 - Contest Winners

1- First Timers

2 - President's Corner

3 - March Meeting Minutes

4 - Hambone's Revenge - Jaimie Charlton, ADØAB

7 - The Amateur: Odds and Ends -Chip Buckner, ACØYF

Greet our New Hams

Kathy Charlton, KEØHWE Kim Ledbetter, KEØHWN

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-> FEEDBACK <-

A publication of theJohnson County Radio Amateur Club, Inc.

Bill Gery, KA2FNK, President

Aaron Boots, AAØRN, Vice President

Ted Knapp, NØTEK, Secretary

Cal Lewandowski, KCØCL,Treasurer / FEEDBACK distribution

* * *

Chip Buckner, ACØYF, Editor

Charlie Van Way, NØCVW, Photography

Deb Buckner, KDØRYE, Contributing EditorAll email addresses are available at w0erh.org

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Community Emergency Response TeamsSometimes an emergency is big enough that professionalresponders are not immediately available to help everyone whoneeds help. The idea behind Community Emergency ResponseTeams (CERTs) is that, with a little training, ordinary citizens canhelp stabilize a neighborhood. The neighborhood benefits fromimmediate attention. The larger community comes out aheadbecause the professional responders can move to additionalneighborhoods and spend their time on higher level skills.

Although the CERT program is affiliated with the FederalEmergency Management Agency (FEMA), CERTs are locallytrained and locally sponsored to respond to local emergencies.In Johnson County, for example, much of the emphasis is on whatto expect and how to respond in the aftermath of a tornadostrike.

The "Public Service" column in the April QST explains "GettingStarted with CERT". The QST article, of course, emphasizes theneed for emergency communications. Not coincidentally,amateur radio operators head up four of Johnson County's fiveCERT programs: JCRAC member Dennis Smeltzer, KCØQBU(Overland Park), Del Sawyer, KØDDS (SW Johnson County),John Sanches, KCØZWH, (Olathe), and Terry Kegin, KEØGRB(Shawnee). (In Leawood, the fire chief oversees the program.)

The CERT to amateur radio communication works both ways.New ham Kim Ledbetter, KEØHWM found the JCRAC as a resultof her CERT training with Overland Park.Watch the site www.jocogov.org/dept/emergency-management/prepare-now/get-involved/cert for upcoming trainingopportunities.

PRESIDENT’S CORNERWith April, the public serviceevents that need amateur radiosupport return. Spend a few

hours helpingothers and learnmore about yourradios. Volunteer-ing is is a verygood way to meetother hams andlearn. This isespecially true fornew licensees.

Last year the Club providedvolunteer guides for Ensor mu-seum. In return, the City of Olathegave the club $720. The museum isopen on Saturdays and Sundaysand needs volunteers for aboutfour hours each day. Last year avery small number of clubmembers supported the effort. Wealternate months with the Santa FeTrail Amateur Radio Club. May willbe the JCRAC's first month this year.We would like to fill the slots beforethe end of April. Last year Teddropped everything and coveredslots that were not filled. We cannot ask him to do the same thingthis year.

Our Club will be sponsoring thenext The WW1USA which is set forMay 7 and 8. Sign up to support theevent. During the event, themuseum discounts tickets foramateur radio operators. So workthe event for a few hours and thentour the museum.

Keep an ear on the 145.290repeater for Don Warkentien,WØDEW. He has been talkingabout Ensor campfires weatherpermitting.

– Bill Gery – WA2FNK

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Johnson County Radio Amateurs Club - March 11, 2016

Attendance: Self introduction with name and call sign. 26 signed the check in sheet. This was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

The Minutes from the February 26, 2016 were accepted with 1 opposed vote.

The Treasurer’s report, as follows, was read and accepted unanimously.

Cash on Hand $ 147.35 Repeater Operating Reserve $ 722.44Checking Account $ 464.42 Memorial Fund $ 310.00Savings Account $ 9,878.94

Total $ 10,490.17 Active Members 154Old Business:

Repeater Update – All Repeaters are working well. The Repeater Usage Guidelines have been updated and will be posted on the Website.

With regards to the 442.600 Yaesu System Fusion Repeater, Jay Burgherr N0FB has funded the cost (approx. $550) out of his own pocket to make this Repeater Wires-X capable for the Club. A recommendation was made to reimburse Jay for the equipment he has purchased. Harold “Van” Van Daveer KØHCV will collect receipts and costs from Jay and present that to the Club.

WW1USA – The Club is Sponsoring the May 7 – 8 Event at Liberty Memorial and Museum. This event will take place outside.

Field Day 2016 – June 25-26 at the Observation Tower in Shawnee Mission Park. Looking for someone to coordinate the dinner on Saturday. If anyone has suggestions/pricing for dinner please let Jay Greenough WJ0X know. Tom Wheeler NØGSG and Keith McKinney KEØAEP will set up a solar/experimental Station.

Rod Rodriguez, K6TBJ has Ararat Shrine Hambash tickets for sale at a discounted price.

New Business:

Because the next Club meeting falls on Good Friday and there is no adequate meeting location at the Church, a motion was made to cancel the meeting but still have the after Club pizza Meeting at 8:00 pm. The motion passed unanimously.

Reports:

6 m – NR. 10 m SSB Roundtable – 1 participate. 440 Wheat Shocker net – 18 participated on March 9. 2m Wheat Shocker net – 26 participated on March 10 and 19 participated on March 3. HF Activity – NR

Announcements:

Welcome to all the 1st time visitors and those with new licenses. Tom Wheeler, N0GSG DMR Contact Manager has a custom-designed software package for use with Connect

Systems CS700 and CS701 radios. Johnson County ARES SAR Drill Monday March 14. Ham 101 Class Saturday March 19 Smithville Fire Station. Watch Larry’s List for upcoming events.

Business meeting adjourned at 8:01 PM

Program:

The Program for this meeting was presentation on Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS) by Kent Dickinson, KØWEW.

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Hambone's Revenge -- Jaimie Charlton, AD0ABThe thin layer of last winter’s snowhas disappeared and a yellow sunsmiling in an azure sky is coaxingthe first green shoots to rise upthrough the warm, loamy, Kansasearth. The local fauna is busy, too.

Bluejays, grown fat from months offeeding at Hambone’s generouslyfilled feeders, search each other outwith only one thing in mind, andyou know what that is. Squirrels,bright-eyed and bushy tailed, frolicacross the new grass and throughtrees still pushing out new leaves.

Looking closer we see uncle Elmerbusily struggling with, andswearing at, some large panels inhis backyard. From next door, aspectator runs over.

“Hey Unck, what’s all this?” askedDude, Elmer’s young andprecocious nephew. “It looks likeyou’re building bleachers forgiants.”

“These are the photovoltaic solarpanels I ordered last fall,” repliedElmer, grateful for a reason to takea break from mounting anotherpanel on a large wooden frame.“They finally arrived just in time tocapture a lot of free summersunshine.”

“Nice!” cooed Dude as he ran hishand over a mounted panels’smooth surface and along its edge.“I’ve never seen a solar panelbefore.

OUCH! What the F***,” shoutedDude picking himself up off thewarm loamy earth and no longeradmiring Elmer’s fine construction.“I just got a shock! Why didn’t youtell me this thing was on?”

Elmer, surprised by young Dude’sexpletive, laughed and said, “Dude,what part of photovoltaic solarpanels don’t you understand?

Photo means light and solar meanssun. Voltaic means voltage. So,Dude, putthem to-gether andthey meanthat thesepanels pro-duce voltagewhen sun-light shines on them. Duh!”

“Well, you shoulda’ warned me, Icoulda’ been killed,” mutteredDude. “How much voltage do thesethings produce anyway?”

“These panels are capable ofproducing between 100 and 150watts at 24 volts each in reallybright sunlight. The six panels onthe rack you were messing with arewired in series so I guess you got apretty good jolt.

So, now you know. Solar panelsare like batteries, they are alwayson–at least during daylight. Not somuch at night.”

“How do these things actually makeelectricity out of sunshine, any-way?” asked Dude, his natural tech-nical curiosity winning over hisembarrassment of getting kicked onhis butt in front of his favoriteUncle who he is always trying toimpress.

“Look closely, you can see each ofthese panels is composed of lots ofsmall cells that are connected inseries to give about 24 volts. Eachcell produces only about half avolt.”

“I got that part about the voltage,”said Dude, still brushing the warm,loamy earth off his butt. “I want toknow how they actually work.”

“Each cell,” continued Elmer,drifting into his professorial mode,“Contains two types of crystallized

silicon – negative, or n-type andpositive, or p-type.”

“What do you mean, two typesof silicon? I thought there wasonly one type of silicon, atomicnumber 14 on the PeriodicChart of Elements,” statedDude trying to act smart.

“That’s pure silicon,”continued Elmer. “Tiny

amounts of impurities are added tothe pure silicon crystals to givethem either an excess of electrons,that’s n-type, or a shortage ofelectrons, that’s p-type. Where thetwo types come together, that’scalled a junction.”

“Sort of like the junction in a diodeor transistor?”

“It’s just like that. There aredifferent types of photovoltaic cells,but these are made by placing avery thin layer of n-type silicon ontop of a somewhat thicker base ofp-type silicon. N-type silicon ismade by adding a tiny amount ofphosphorous to the otherwise puresilicon crystal. This gives that layeran excess of electrons.

The p-type silicon that forms thebase is created by adding a tinyamount of boron to the pure silicon.The boron creates a shortage ofelectrons in that layer. The areawhere the two types of silicon meetis called the junction. The fact thatwe have an excess of electrons onone side of the junction and ashortage on the other means wehave an electric field trying to“suck” the electrons across thejunction.”

“Why don’t the electrons just gofrom the n-layer to the p-layer? Isthere insulation between them?”

see HAMBONE on page 5

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from HAMBONE on page 4

“No, but there is the band gap. Theband gap is like a wall that theelectrons must get over before theycan pass from the n-layer to the p-layer. Do you remember when wewere playing tennis and I hit theball out of the court and you ran toget it? “

“Yes, but what does that have to dowith electrons?”

“Well, to get the ball back in thecourt you had to throw it pretty hardto get it over the fence. In a sense,you had to give the ball extraenergy to get it over the fence.Without that extra energy, the ballcould not cross over the fence evenif it wanted to.

Well, the electrons in the n-layer arelike that tennis ball, they want toget over the fence, er, cross theband gap, but they don’t haveenough energy to do it - untilsunlight hits them.

As you know, light is made of tinyenergy-carrying particles calledphotons. Photons travel at thespeed of light because they arelight. When the photons hit theelectrons in the n-layer, they givethem enough energy to jump crossthe band gap and get to the p-layer.But then they get homesick andwant to go back. So, we provide anexternal path for them to run backto the n-layer and they do. Thatflow of electrons going homethrough the external path is theelectrical current we want. In fact,it’s nice pure DC.

As long as photons keep kickingelectrons across the band gap, thecurrent returning them home keepsflowing and we keep getting ourelectricity from sunlight.

“Oh, okay,” murmured Dude.

Actually this analogy is too simple.There’s a lot more to the band gapand kicking electrons across it.But, it’s good enough for now.”

“You’ve got my head spinning,Unck. Let’s see how much voltagethese panels are actually pro-ducing,” said Dude hooking hisuncle’s old Triplett 630 multimeterto the terminals that bit himmoments ago.

“It looks like about 100 volts, butit’s not pure DC, it’s ‘bumping’ upand down a little.”

“What’ya doin’? asked Hambonewandering over to his uncle’shouse.

“What does it look like, Dumdum?”Dude replied to his older brother.“He’s putting up solar panels.”

“I can see that. What are you doingwith Unck’s antique meter? Don’tstick yourself with those pointyprobes.”

“Obviously, I’m checking thevoltage,” responded Dude. “Itshows about 100 volts, but it seemsthere’s a loose connection orsomething causing bumps in thereading.”

“Let’s see,” said Hambone grabbingthe meter. “Hmmm, those arefunny bumps. First there’s onebump, then two, then three. It lookslike they go up to five, stop, andstart over.

What could cause that, Unck?”

“I don’t know,” said Elmer who hadgone back to muscling anotherpanel onto his wooden frame. “Youguys have probably screwedsomething up. Let me see thatmeter.”

“Oh, you’re right, it does seem odd.I wonder if we’re picking up somesort of radio signal. These panelsare really just diodes. Lets block

the light and see if the voltagefluctuations are still there. Help meput this tarp over the panels.”

“That stopped the voltage and thebumps, Unck.” Observed Dude.“The sunlight seems to havesomething to do with them.”

“I don’t see how it could,” musedElmer as he removed the tarp andthe voltage and the bumpsreappeared. “It must be somethingelse. Let’s see if it’s directional.Help me point the panels awayfrom the sun.”

As the trio moved the panels awayfrom the sun, Dude, still acting asthe meter reader, noted that thevoltage dropped to about fifty voltsand the bumps disappeared.

“Okay, let’s turn the panels backand see if the bumps come back,”said Elmer.

“The voltage is back up to about100 volts and the bumps are back,only different,” reported Dude.“Now, they are one, one, two, three,five, eight and repeat. I don’t knowwhat could cause this.”

“I don’t know what’s going oneither,” added Elmer.

“Hey! Those numbers are a Fibo-nacci series!” shouted Hambone.“Maybe you’re receiving signalsfrom outer space. I read someplacethat aliens might send pulsesarranged in a Fibonacci series assort of a CQ. These pulses do seemto be coming from the direction ofthe sun.”

“Why would anybody, especiallyaliens, send signals with light?They would use radio, wouldn’tthey?” asked Dude.

“Who knows? But it’s possible, Iguess. We send signals with lightthrough optical cables,” saidHambone.

see HAMBONE on page 6

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from HAMBONE on page 5

“We do,” said Elmer, stillwondering what was going on.

“In fact, it’s pretty easy to sendmessages with light. Even that guy,Chip, who writes the clubnewsletter, made a gadget thatsends code over a light beam,” saidHambone. “I think he has dreamsof becoming a brass-pounder.”

“Don’t they all,” mused Elmer.

“Wow! We’re receiving signalsfrom outer space,” exclaimed Dudeas he excitedly pulled up his Twitteraccount. “I’m gonna tell theworld!”

“Not so fast,” said Elmer. “Wedon’t really know what’shappening.”

“But what if Dude’s right?” saidHambone. “Other guys may bereceiving the same signals. Don’twe want to be the first to announcethe news that aliens really exist andare contacting us? We’ll befamous!”

“Hammy is right,” continued Dude.“Why wait? We’re receivingsignals that are clearly from someintelligent source and they arecoming from space. Just becauseour antenna is a solar panel, that’sno reason to think the signals aren’treal.”

“Oh, I think the signals are real,”said Elmer, “I’m just not sure theyare coming from outer space.While you guys were busy cheeringeach other on, I called my friendwho works part-time for SETI andtold him what we found. He wasmildly interested and said he willask their engineers to check forradio signals from that same area ofthe sky. But, he warned, it will takeat least all day before he will haveany results.”

As the boys’ discussion grew moreanimated, the words alien, signalsand outer space began to attract asmall group of onlookers and theubiquitous cell phones werecapturing every action and word.Even Dude’s pal, Joey, magicallyappeared and quickly posted a YouTube video featuring Dude as thediscoverer of space monsters.

“Excuse me, are you Elmer? I’mfrom Channel 6 Real Time News,can you tell me what’s going on?”

Elmer turned and was instantlytransfixed by golden blond hairshimmering above the bluest eyes,reddest lips and perkiest pair he hadever seen.

“Excuse me,” the lips repeated.

Shaken from his trance andrealizing that those lips were talkingto him, Elmer pulled in his belly,puffed out his chest and stammered,“Why, ah, yes. I’m Elmer, what, er,can I do for you?”

The lips continued, “I’m fromChannel 6 News, can you tell mewhat’s happening here?”

“S-sure,” replied Elmer nownoticing a news chopper circlingoverhead. “My nephew, Dude, overthere, thinks he has picked upsignals from outer space on thesesolar panels. They are just pulses,really, but they seem to representnumbers…”

Before he could finish his sentence,the golden-haired goddess with hersomewhat pudgy cameraman in towheaded across the backyard towhere Dude was holding forthbefore a small audience.

“… I first noticed the signals whenI hooked a voltmeter to this solarpanel,” explained Dude. I expectedthe voltage to be pure and steady,but it sort of bumped up and down.That shouldn’t happen.

My uncle and brother thought the‘bumps’ were just a looseconnection to the panels, but Irealized that the ‘bumps’ werenumbers – one, two, three, four andfive. I thought this was strange andcould not imagine how a looseconnection or simple sunlight couldcause that.

Then the bumps changed. Thenumbers became one , one, two,three, five, eight - that’s a Fibonacciseries, you know. That’s what alienhams would use to call CQ. Thenumber sequences repeated overand over endlessly and I’m surethey are from some sort ofextraterrestrial intelligence.” Dudepaused so the audience couldmarvel at his analysis andappreciate the magnitude of hisdiscovery.

“It’s pretty hard to see the voltagebumps on my meter so I’ve hookedup a decoder that changes thenumbers to big letters and displaysthem on that 80” plasma displayover there. It’s set up so thenumber one displays as an ‘A’, thenumber two as a ‘B’ and so on. It’sdisplaying the actual signals we arereceiving right now.”

As Dude explained the display theaudience turned to see a series oflarge numbers followed later bytheir equivalent letters streamacross the big screen.

Using her beautifully pointedelbows, the blond goddess/reportermuscled a space for herself and hercameraman in the front row andasked, “Have you informed SETIabout your discovery?”

“Oh, of course,” replied Dude,realizing he was now on nationaltelevision. “We called them as soonas we had something. They were

see HAMBONE on 7

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from HAMBONE on 6

very impressed with our work and, as we speak, they are analyzing radio signals from the same part of the sky.”

“Where do you think the signals arecoming from?” asked a voice in the back row.

“I don’t know,” stated Dude. “I onlyknow they are coming from the direction of the sun. SETI astronomers are working to determine possible sources in that direction.”

“So, you are absolutely sure these signals are from outer space?” asked the voice.

“I am,” replied Dude adopting an ever more professorial tone. My uncle Elmer and I have verified every aspect of these signals and weare sure that we are receiving the very first messages from an alien, non-human intelligence. This is a great day that will go down in

history and I’m glad you all could join me here to be part of it.”With that, the audience began applaudingwildly as all major networks carriedthe announcement live across the globe. But Dude, who had now been joined by Elmer, and was basking in his fifteen minutes of fame, heard a small voice from the audience calling his name.

“Mister Dude, Mister Dude, look at your screen, the aliens are sending something new.”As Dude, Elmer and the rest of the world watched, the following filled the screen:

1 16 18 9 12 6 15 15 12

8 1 8 1 8 1 13 2 15 14 5

Well, you can figure out what theysaid.

POST SCRIPT

Two weeks have past. The jeeringhas largely subsided and Elmer andDude are once again able to appearin public without being sneered at,

much. The golden-haired newsgoddess won’t return their calls andthe CNN channel seems to beblocked from their cable TV.

It has been confirmed thatHambone did, indeed, originate the“extra terrestrial” signals by using avery bright LED spotlight. Hekeyed the light on and off with hisRaspberry Pi programmed to blinkout the number sequences and hisfinal message. Although thespotlight was hidden and pointed upto blend with the sunlight, dustparticles and water vapor in theatmosphere reflected enough of itslight back to register on the solarpanels.

Nobody has seen Hambone. But,rumor has it he left a note sayingthis was payback for the cruel trickplayed on him last Halloween.From his Instagram photos, itappears he is enjoying his revengein Nassau while snorkeling in thewarm Caribbean waters.

The Amateur in Amateur Radio: ODDS AND ENDS -- Chip Buckner, ACØYF

First, there was the Downton Abbeyfinale. Then there was the newseason of House of Cards. Thenthis choir boy had a gazillionservices to sing during Holy Weeks.Then there were the Theatre in thePark auditions. As a result, nomajor radio projects got done thismonth.

Nonetheless, thereare always littleobservations that atyro can inflictupon his superiors.

INVESTING IN SOME TEST EQUIPMENT

When working my laser modifica-tion to Tom’s original code practiceoscillator, something didn’t workand I needed to test circuit con-

tinuity. It was a sufficiently simpleproblem that I inserted a resistorand an LED into a circuit andverified that current was flowing. Ifear that my electronics projectsmay have moved beyond that level.First, Tom’s article on building hisimproved code practice oscillatorrecommends testing voltages atvarious points throughout theconstruction. Second, in workingout the audio heterodyne materialfor this month’s column, I found acomputer-based spectrum analyzer,but abandoned the idea of using itbecause calibration required amultimeter. Third, last monthHambone needed a multimeter tosolve a problem.

I reluctantly concluded that Ineeded a multimeter.

I went on-line, read various reviewsand recommendations and com-pared specifications. My carefulevaluation led me ... to the orangeone. I like orange. I’ll let youknow how it works out.

SEVERE WEATHER

Deb and I attended the informativeand entertaining National WeatherService storm spotter training whenit was held in Johnson County. Wesaw many familiar faces in thecrowd … and it WAS a crowd. Ifyou haven’t done this, do it nextspring. Just show up. It’s free andno registration is required.

LEARNING MORSE CODE

"H" and "5" sure sound a lot a like.

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