THE AIRWAVES          October 2011 SIERRA AMATEUR  RADIO CLUB

 An ARRL  Special Service Club             RACES   ARES

P O Box 1442 Ridgecrest California 935561442

BOARD President Harry Stephens KI6PSZ 446-3095 KI6PSZ@webstephens.com First VP Fred Moses KG6STR 371-3582 kg6str@verizon.net

OF Second VP Gene Brewer W5DQ 382-5201 w5dq@radioroom.org Secretary Lorilyn Andrus KG6LEW 371-2190 pzslollipop@verizon.net

OFFICERS Treasurer Julie Stephens KI6YRA 446-3095 KI6YRA@webstephens.com

SARC OWNED AND MAINTAINED REPEATERSRandsburg WA6YBN 145.34 MHz (-), PL 100.0 Hz, Wide Area, Emergency PowerRidgecrest WA6YBN 146.64 MHz (-), Translator, No Squelch Tail, Emergency PowerRidgecrest WA6YBN 147.00 MHz (+), PL 107.2 Hz, Local, Emergency Power

SARC CommitteesTechnical Assistance: Mike, WA6ARA 375-5324 Public Relations: Fred, KG6STR 371-3582Program: Gene, W5DQ 382-5201 Airwaves Editor: Mike, WA6ARA 375-5324RF Interference: Bill, WA6QYR 375-8566 Emergency and Public Service: Mike, W6PM 793-0541

THE AIRWAVES CALENDAREvery IWV Emergency Net

Monday 1930 (730pm)

Night WA6YBN Translator (146.64 MHz - )

Visitors Welcomed!

12 Oct SARC Board Meeting 7:00pm– Heritage Inn

12 Oct SARC General Meeting 7:30pm– Heritage Inn Program – Hal, N6HAL, demonstrating his GO BOX

15, 16 Oct Pacificon!

Every Even Month, Second Saturday08 Oct Volunteer License Exam SessionLocation: Guns 4 Us, basement classroom417 East Ridgecrest Blvd, Ridgecrest CANo handicapped access Pre-reg by 3 Oct. Limited to 8 applicants All must register at 9 AMContact Elvy Hopkins NØLV 760-384-3589E-mail

mailto:KI6PSZ@webstephens.commailto:lvrh7589@iwvisp.commailto:KI6YRA@webstephens.commailto:w5dq@radioroom.org

Treasurer’s ReportAs of August 28, 2011

Beg Balance $5,868Income $17

Expense ($148)End Balance $5,737

Expense – Meeting room, P.O. Box fee, food for Field DayFYI – City of Ridgecrest is processing the $150 refund of the security deposit we posted

Julie StephensSARC Treasurer

KI6YRA

SARC September Meeting Minutes The 14 September 2011 meeting opened with president Harry Stephens, AG6FZ at 7pm. Erin Richard, KJ6MQM shared her first QSO card from field day. Harry, AG6FZ demonstrated a snap together radio as a possible project for JOTA, and Bill Burns,WA6QYR, showed a blinky light kit to do at JOTA. A motion was made by Mike Herr, WA6ARA and 2nd by Paula Herr N6VGW to okay $250 from the SARC treasury to purchase 50 blinking light kits and also Mike, WA6ARA, motioned for $100 to purchase 5 snap radio kits to be purchased. This was 2nd by Paula, N6VGW. The snap radio kits will be retained by the club for future availability and use at other events. The program was presented by Mike Herr WA6ARA showing a slide show of building the retro 75 M radio by Hal, N6HAL, Harry, AG6FZ, Jim, KI6PTA & Mike. WA6ARA.

Lorilyn KG6LEWSARC Secretary

SARC T- Hunt17 September 2011

The next T-Hunt will be held on 05 November. The time will start at the normal 0900 at Crest Donut. Hope to see you all there.

75 Meter AM Round TableThe 75 meter Am Round table is moving along well. We have decided to move it to Monday nights, at 8pm. This was due to conflicts with time and other AM nets on Wednesday night. So look for us on Monday nights, about 8pm, on or about 3880Kc. AM only – Any rig is ok, as long as it is AM!

Pacificon 2011PACIFICON 2011, The Great West Coast Ham Radio Convention, returns to the San Francisco Bay Area. PACIFICON 2011 will take place Saturday, October 15th through Sunday, October 16th, at the Marriott Santa Clara Hotel, 2700 Mission College Boulevard, Santa Clara, California 95054. So, what happens at Pacificon? A full slate of outstanding forum presentations about a wide range of amateur radio related topics, a large exhibit hall filled with exciting product exhibits, a series of Amateur Television demonstrations, great QRP and HFpack activities, an outdoor swap meet, a One Day Technician Class to prepare you to pass the license examination at PACIFICON and get your first ham radio license, fun and informative T-Hunts, a chance to discuss important national amateur radio issues with top ARRL leaders, the Boy Scout Jamboree-On-The-Air, chances to win great radios and other prizes throughout the convention, and perhaps the best part - interact and share information with lots of other amateur radio enthusiasts to further (or begin) your own knowledge and to advance the hobby.

Check out the brochure attached to the Airwaves for more details!

Ask Elmer!

The Question …

I hear a lot about “PL” , "CT", "Tone" and “CTCSS.” Are these the same or do they perform different functions? Just what is the story?

And Elmer answers…

The short answer is they are all the same.

Here’s the not-so-short answer. The generic name CTCSS, or Continuous Tone-Coded Squelch System, is a circuit that is used to prevent or reduce interference on a shared frequency. CTCSS tones are standardized by the Electronics Industries Alliance in their standard RS-220. The most common set of supported squelch tones is a set of 38 tones including all but 4 of the Motorola “PL” codes.

CTCSS is referred to by many different names. Several manufacturers who have implemented their own form of CTCSS have unique names for their system. For instance, the infamous “PL,” or Private Line, is a trademark of Motorola. GE and Bendix King call their system “Channel Guard” while some RCA systems are called Quiet Channel. Icom, Kenwood and Johnson have also implemented their own systems.

Speaking of Motorola’s PL, a true “PL” is identified by a 2 letter, letter/number or number/letter combination. For instance, a CTCSS tone of 100.0 is a PL tone of 1Z. A CTCSS tone of 88.5 is a PL tone of YB.

Most VHF / UHF amateur radios have the ability to use CTCSS on their transmit signal, their receive signal, or both. Many repeaters require that a CTCSS tone be transmitted on the users signal in order to access the repeater. This prevents interference from nearby signal sources or from other

repeaters using the same input frequency. A good example of this is on 146.970 MHz. Besides 9 other repeaters in California, Santa Clarita and Oxnard have repeaters on this frequency. The Santa Clarita repeater is up on a mountain top and is accessible from Oxnard. Depending upon which CTCSS tone you are using, only the Oxnard or only the Santa Clarita repeater will retransmit your signal. Both repeaters might hear your signal, but only one will pass it through and repeat it.

This is fine, but what if you don’t want to hear both repeaters? Easy. Set your rig up for TONE SQUELCH. This will cause your rig to transmit a CTCSS tone with your signal AND cause your receiver’s squelch to remain closed unless the appropriate CTCSS tone is received. Now, you can cruise along Hwy 126 through Fillmore and Santa Paula and only access and hear the Oxnard repeater. In fact, you could also use CTCSS tones on a simplex frequency. If you only wanted to hear your friends, have each user set up their rigs for Tone Squelch and pick a tone. Then, your rig will only open it’s squelch when the proper CTCSS tone is received.

There’s always a down side. Tone Squelch is not foolproof. A disadvantage of using CTCSS/Tone Squelch on shared frequencies is that since users cannot hear transmissions from the other repeater, they may assume that the frequency is clear and transmit at the same time as another user. In the above example with Santa Clarita and Oxnard, although your receiver may be quiet, there may be an on-going QSO on the repeater that you do not have your Tone Squelch set for.

Using CTCSS Tone Squelch is another great way to prevent interference from non-Amateur sources. How many of you have driven around town monitoring 147.000 MHz? Cruising past the old Albertsons, Beansters and just about any gas station, your squelch probably opens up. A good way to prevent this is by setting up your rig for Tone Squelch for that particular frequency/repeater. Since a user of the 147.000 MHz repeater must transmit a CTCSS tone 107.2 to access the repeater, and the repeater passes the tone right through the system on to the output signal, your rig will detect the proper code/tone and open the squelch. Adding Tone Squelch to a radio system doesn't solve interference issues, it just covers them up. Ideally, the presence of interfering signals should be corrected rather than masked.

Some repeaters do not pass the incoming CTCSS tone through their system. With no tone on the repeaters transmitted signal, Tone Squelch will not work with that particular repeater. Fortunately for us, the Randsburg and both Ridgecrest repeaters will pass the CTCSS tone on to the repeater’s output signal. The Little Lake repeater will not pass CTCSS tones through, however, there no tone required to access that repeater.

To sum it up, whether you call it CTCSS, PL (Motorola), CG (GE/Bendix King), QC (RCA), C.Tone (Icom), QT (Kenwood) TG (Johnson), ToneLock (Zetron), they are all the same. But to really mess someone up, the next time someone asks you what the PL is for the 145.340 Randsburg repeater is, tell them the “PL is 1Z.” Or you could be nice and say “The CTCSS is 100.0.”

73…….de Elmer

Used radio stuff for sale

1. The Kenwood Model TM-742A plus options below:

a. The 220 module, Kenwood model UT-220S

b. The detachable front panel Kit, Kenwood model number DFK-4

c. TSU-7 CTCSS UNIT

Includes manuals, installation instruction and circuit diagrams and schematic diagrams for everything associated with the Kenwood

Includes the necessary (long) cable with special plug to plug into the Kenwood socket after the front face is removed for remotely, outside of the main unit, and a swivel remote mounting unit to screw the face plate to.

Other related peripheral equipment that goes with the radio .

Also...

A COMMETRIPLEXOR MODEL CFX-324. Input a tri-band antenna input and 3 frequency output, 2, 220 and 440. Incudes about 20+ feet of input coax.

A DAIWA Model CS-201 antenna manual switch, two position

A very nice TUCKER, MDL TM3000UV SWR/POWER METER for 144, 220 and 44O. Power selection button for 30 or 300 watts range. Also measures peak or average power.

TUCKER MDL T-200 DUMMY LOAD, 450 watt rating.

Palomar swr/power meter.

DIAMOND TRIBAND MAG MOUNT 2, 220, 440 ANTENNA. Needs new seal at mag mount

Large Motorola solid state power supply. Output unknown.

ASTATIC, MODEL UGB-D104, D106 CRYSTAL MICRO. This is the “lollipop” style microphone. In the original box, unassembled, with instructions. It may have COLLECTOR VALUE.

For any of these items contact Stan, KE6WJO, at (760) 301 - 4039

Check out the SARC Web Page www.qsl.net/wa6ybn/

SARC on FACEBOOK http://www.Facebook.com/wa6ybn

http://www.Facebook.com/wa6ybnhttp://www.qsl.net/wa6ybn/

Local Repeaters

Contact Ed, KI6PSP, for changes and corrections

Status Location Call Freq in MHz Tone Notes Distance

UP Randsburg WA6YBN 145.340 (-) CT 100.0Wide Area, Emergency Power

S 18.6 Mi

UP Ridgecrest WA6YBN 146.640 (-) NoPL S 2.5 Mi

UP Ridgecrest WA6YBN 147.000 (+) CT 107.2 W 2.5 Mi

Standby Ridgecrest WA6YBN 147.060 (+) CT 100.0 Club Portable Repeater, used only for events SW 1 Mi

DOWN El Paso Pk WI6RE-2 145.050 (S) NoPL Packet Digi S 10 Mi

UP El Paso Pk WI6RE 144.390 (S) NoPL APRS W1 Digi, iwvaprs.net – KI6PSP@gmail.com S 10 Mi

UP

Trona K6YYJ 146.970 (-) PL 123.0

E 15.9 Mi

UP Little Lake W6TD 147.210 (+) NoPL RF Linked to Mazourka Peak NW 24.9 Mi

UP Bird Springs KF6FM 146.085 (+) PL 141.3 Wide coverage of Indian Wells Valey - swrrc.org WSW 27 Mi

UP Mazourka Pk W6TD 146.760 (-) NoPL RF Linked to Little Lake N 96.5 Mi

UP Hauser Pk K6OX 146.730 (-) PL 100.0 Near Palmdale, Wide coverage of Antelope Valley SSW 80 Mi

UP Keller Pk KE6RYZ 146.385 (+) CT 146.2 kpra.net - Near Big Bear, Wide SoCal Coverage SSE 104 Mi

UP Ridgecrest W5HMV 447.020 (-) CT 123.0 RF Linked to 146.970. Input is about -4 KHz off. SE 2.6 Mi

UP Ridgecrest WI6RE 446.500 (S) CT 100.0 IRLP-3741, contact tiplerek@iwvisp.com for codes W 2.8 Mi

UP El Paso Pk WI6RE 448.800 (-) CT 100.0 IRLP-3877 - WinSystem.org S 10 Mi

UP Ridgecrest NC9RS 927.0125 (-) PL 88.5 Input: 902.0125 – Linked to others - NC9RS SW 2.0 Mi

Translator, No Squelch Tail, Emergency PowerArea Emergancy Net Mondays @ 7:30 PM

Allstar #27178, Echolink #518309, Info *510ARRL Audio News on Mondays @ 7 PM

RF Linked to 447.020. 6m Remote Base on FM call frequency 52.525 MHz - Controls: Rx 61, Tx 62, Off 63

Last Update: September 18th 2011

2011 EVENTS INCLUDE:

Bigger and Better Than Ever! At Our New Santa Clara Venue

October 14, 15 & 16, 2011 Marriott Santa Clara Hotel Santa Clara, California

Outstanding Technical & CERT Forums Latest Ham Radio Equipment

Antenna and Legal Seminars Breakfast with Keynote Speaker

Evening Banquet with Special Speaker Ham License Exams & One Day Class

Special Youth Forums & Activities Great Saturday & Sunday Swap Meets

QRP & HFpack Activities Transmitter Hunt

TAKES PLACE AT THE:

An ARRL Pacific Division Convention- Produced by the

Mt. Diablo Amateur Radio Club (MDARC)

* * *

EVENTS-SCHEDULES-REGISTRATION

ADMISSION: $20 IN ADVANCE (Some events are additional - see www.pacificon.org)

PACIFICON 2011 P.O. Box 5514 Concord, CA 94524-0514 (925) 288-1730

E-mail: pacificoninfo@pacificon.org

Talk in: 147.060 + (PL 100Hz) Fri 8am-7pm, Sat 6am-7pm, Sun 6am-12pm

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Marriot Santa Clara Hotel 2700 Mission College Blvd,

Santa Clara, CA 1-408-988-1500, 1-800-228-9290

From Great America Parkway turn east into Mission College Blvd

and proceed to Hotel entrance on right

EVENTS-SCHEDULES-REGISTRATION EVENTS-SCHEDULES-REGISTRATION

Map & Address for

PACIFICON 2011 at the Marriott

Santa Clara Hotel

PACIFICON 2011

October 14 - 16, 2011 Marriott Santa Clara Hotel 2700 Mission College Blvd

Santa Clara, California

If you need hotel accommodations either call Marriott Hotel Reservations at 1-800-228-9290 by Oct 1, 2011 to ask for the Special Pacificon rate of $109/night,

or reserve your room on-line at www.pacificon.org

Breakfast with Keynote

Speaker

Banquet with Special

Speaker

Outstanding Technical Forums

2 Great Swap Meets

Antenna & Legal

Seminars

QRP & HFpack Activities

A General Admission registration entitles you to the following with no additional cost: • A full slate of outstanding forum

presentations about a wide range of amateur radio related topics;

• A large Exhibit Hall filled with exciting product exhibits;

• A series of Amateur Television demonstrations;

• Great QRP and HF Pack activities; • Outdoor Swap Meets both Saturday

and Sunday mornings; • One Day Technician Class to prepare

you to pass the license examination at Pacificon and get your first ham radio license;

• Fun and informative T-Hunts; • A chance to hear about and discuss

important national amateur radio issues with top ARRL leaders;

• The Boy Scout Jamboree-On-The-Air; • A chance for winning great radios and

other prizes throughout the convention; • A chance to interact and share

information with lots of other amateur radio enthusiasts to further (or begin) your own knowledge and to advance the hobby.

Convention events that have an additional cost are:

• Friday Antenna Seminar; • Saturday morning Opening Breakfast; • Saturday Evening Banquet • License Examination • Legal Seminar

See the Pacificon website at www.pacificon.org for details & to register

Latest Ham Radio Equipment

Ham License Testing

GENERAL ADMISSION: $20 IN ADVANCE - FOR ALL 3 DAYS!

Tickets at the door will cost $25 * Some events are additional *

Produced by the Mt. Diablo Amateur Radio Club

SARC CommitteesPacificon2011_Brochure_outside_ver2Pacificon2011_Brochure_inside_ver2