tCocJkernr z\e..& lPtorrrr[ S,etorntAnnra teur lRard[ il,o, Cllrurlb,

Volume 3 Issue 5

The Tomess Visit is being wellsuported but there are still a few plrcsleft and ifyou know anyone that isinterestcd please let me know and I willtake it on a First Come First Servedbasis. The only requiremef,ts that I r€edare their Full Name andA&ess as Ihave to inform Sottislt Nuclear of tbsse.Closing Date is 15th lvlay for any ilames.

Olc enjoy the newsletter. with a thanks toall contritruton.

Bob GM4tryZ @ GBTEDN

KEI,SO ARC TO EOLD REGULARMOR.Sn rfSTS

Some of you may be glad to hear that ttteKelso Amateur Radio Club are now aRSGB recognised morse test centre. Asa result they will bold regularmorse tests, usually on the last Mondayof a month. The location will asusual be the ch$s room at the At$eyRow Comrnunity Centre in Kelso. Ifyouare interested the test dates for the rest ofthis year are as follows :29th May, 31st July' 25th September,3fth Octobcr, and 27th NryemherBefore you all app€aron the doorstepatthe Kelso club on one of these nightscan I point out that :(1) YOU MUST REGISTER FIRSTWITH TIIE RSGB(2) YOI]R REGISTRATION DATEMUST BE AT LEAST THREE WEEKSBEFORE THE DATE ON

WHICH YOU WISH TO SIT YOURTEST.Good luck to any of you who may sit yourtest in this way and please rememberto book early with the RSGB to avoid anydisapointment.

Mav 1995

CONGRATULATIONS

I would like to take this oppormnity onbehalf of the Radio Club to pass on wholetrcarted congntulations to Callum, Babsand Susan for pasdng their Nwice Exam.

So folks lmk out soon for them on thebands and ifyou hear them give them alltlre zupport you can to make thetransition from the classrmm to theainraves much easier.

Congratulations once morc to you all

Bob GM4UYZ @, GBTEDN

FOR SALE

APPLE l[ Computer fitted with variousIntefice PCB's.Green Monitor.5Mb Hard Disc.

2 x5.25" Floppy Drives.ESa Interface Cards.

Various Manuals and Software.

The Aple l[ hasbeen setrryto runpacket.All that is needed is a TNC and a

Price: f,6O

Contact Bob GlasgowGM4UYZ @ GBTEDNor Tel: 01E75 811723

MAY EDITORIAL

Once again anoths month passesand another struggle for me to prt thisshort editorial together. It do€snt help tbatover the last nnonth I have donevery littlein the way of radio wo* and also the factthat GBt'EDN is at the present time offtheair.

Aryuay what has happened sincelast newsletter. Firstly I think the

most important news is that all tbe Novicesfudents have passed their exam and arenow eagerly awaiting their Shiry NewCallsigrrs l! Congratulations to them all.

The talk'TVI - Caus€s andCures"given by Bob Purves GM4IKT onFriday 2lsc April in the Communityc.entre uas very intercsting in&d and Iknow I learnedafew&ingsfrom it.Thanks Bob ftom us all for a mostenjoyable and informative wening. Athanks goes to all who rupportodtheev€nt" with a special thanks to Tig€r2MIBYW who sent along a smalldonation that was raffledduing theevening. The evening raised a total of#29which now gives us a running total of #63in the British Heart Foundation Fund.

By the time we read this the KelsoFclly will have pa-rsed and I am sure agau!that it will be a roaring succ€sg I am sureMargaret and Gavin will be telling us allabout it on club night.

I know Colin runs the Events Columnbut I just want to remind ever-vone about&e "Event Station at Lennodove onSatur&y l3th May" ard I hope you willcome and support the event which at theend of the day allolvs us to portray whatamateur radio is all abo{. See you t}erethen.

Lastly, an update on the LighlhoseWeekend in the sense that I have nowofficially applied for the callsignGB2LBN. I know that appears to be wellinto the future htr for us to be successfirlthen again we needyourfull sryort asthe station will be running forapproximately 34 hours.

73 GMOCLN

Page 2 Cockenzie & Port Seton ARC

T ne ro r r owr n g "-.

*llfrFn* ;fiom the packet network and may b{of inerest to club members

I

It may be necessary for some stationsto QSY to 80 meters to continue afterthe check-in period. Frequency3663.0 KHz is suggested as analtemate.

3. The prefened language to be usedon the net is English. Dont bediscouraged if your English is notperfec{!

4. Net Control responsibilities rotate.Generally the first pemon onfrequency shoukl and is encouragedto begin the net. lf you don't hearthat anyone has started, or you ar€tFIRST on frequency then PLEASEslart the net. Don't expect that onestation willbe available EVERYSunday.Thank you for understanding andsupport to this net.

NOTE: THE NET IS OFTENSUSPENDED DURING CONTESTWEEKENDS BECAUSE OF THEHEA\A/ ORM.

- End of message #380779 to ALLfrom DAIBT --

only the following pins connected -2.3,4,5,6,7.8. Place a ferrite bead on eachwire 0 got mine at MAPLIN) on theMALE connector end of your cable (theTNCen0.I ma& up my cable with 6 core cable andconnectedthe braidto pin 7 (ommon) ateach end I shoved all the fenite beadsright up to the soldered onnections on theTNC connec0or and potted them in 5minute EPOXY resin.You probably dont needto go this farbutI wasnt taking any chances.The improvement is drarnatic.The reason for the QRN is apparent if youare using AEA's official caHe -the onethat has a printer connector. The printerconnector wires go bock to the logiccircuitry and are oonnectedto an VO chip.The crossalk is pickedup anddisrihtedby the serial cable from the TNC to yourcomprler.

I don't use FAX mode a lot - it is prettypoor quality because the PK232 wss nsverdesigned to handle FAX in the first place.All the other modes should work 100%with pins 2-8 connected If you want tohushupyour PK232 ['d recommend

Scottish lslands Expedition 1995

The Northem VHF Activity Group areplannirp to actlvate various WAtssquares and lslancls during June 1995.

Dates as follorrvs:-

June 10 - 13 lslayWAB = NR34 SCD Locdor 1065June ltl Colonsay & OronsayWAE! = NR38l39 SCD Locator 1066June l5 or 16 JuraWAB = Unknown Locator 1065June 17 - 24 MullWAB = NM32 SCD Locator 1066June 2l lonaWAB = NM22 SCD Locator 1066

Operation planned for 2M, 6M and70CM using the callsign GMTUEG/PSome HF operation may be possiblefrom GMONES/P and GM4YQWP

Further details availabte from Peter(G7BXA) on 01132 2563462 (afier2pm)or via packet toGTDIC(@GBTGBY

Operators on the trip will be - G7BXA,G7HSP. GONES And G1LMZ

From : GMI$O(To :PK232 @C'BRTitle :PK232 QRN ReductionHi, Thanks for reading myhrll.I have owned aPK232 TNC since theyfirst became available in the UK.Generally. I have been pretty happywith whar it ean do h* one thine has

maxmg a new caile.The layout below is for a25 to 25 waycable.N,Iale Connector Female Connector(PK232 end) (COMPUTERend)

2-._*--2

PIN

"Ragchew" Net7070.0 KHz 1+4Pttll

$undays at 12fi1CET (MEZI

1. Purpose of the net: Provide aninformal gathering place for Englishspeaking hams within Europe. A callfor check-ins is made for the first30 minutes, afierwhich the net isdeclared a free net. As a free net youare encouraged to conteci otherstations that have checked-in and"rggchew."The net is called to get hams togetherand then it is tumed over to you.2. The intended coverage is centralEurope. Due to propagationconditions,

alnays bugged me. The amount of RFI 3----------3the beast generates on IIF is pretty 4--..._.._----4awesome. I tolerated it until today until 5------.--..--..--.--5I &cided that something HAD to be 6----'------'-4&ne about the sproggies of IIF. The 7--7 ( Use the screenTNC uses a4lvfrlZ clock so there are for this)copious sproggs on 4l8ll2 and lots of 8---*-------'--8other places on IIF. The CPU used is aCMOS tlpe as are a lot of the other I hope the above is of some use to PK232major components and in sheer userc.desperation I decidedto remove theCPU to see what happened to the QRN. 73 de Allan.Result - zilch! the noise is coming GMI$O(@GB7SAN.#78.GBREUr[4urry rrrnl urg lJsa{ttu uruvf, vra urg tPCB tracks. When I disconnected the I ftr thanks to the Authors of theseSERIAL CABLE ftom the TNC - | messages for these tips copiedfrom thesilence - orverynearly so. I p""t* networkMysolution-makeupacablewith I GM4IKU

Page 3 Cockenzie & Port Seton ARC

CONTEST OPERATING - SOME POINTERS TO SUCCESS

The main objective of operating in a contest is generally to work as many stations as possible in the allotted time. This is easiersaid than done and when you start looking at all the factors which can be involved it is ohiously not just a case of shouting "CQCONTEST" for hours on end using lots of power and a very large antenna system!

It can be helpful to stop and a* yourself the question 'what makes me want to work another station?n. You might say that arare location is the answer or perhaps it may have to be a station who is further away than you might normally hear. However, tonuximise the number of stations worked there ar€ nuny more points to be considered Some of these are :-

(l) It helps to sound hapy andenthusiastic whenyou are operating. You may be fteezing in the middle of a howling gale,in a lealcy tent with rainwater dripping down your neck (ring any bells!) hrt you real$ should sound as if you are enjoying yourself.It is always better listening to a station when they sound as if they are having fiuL wen if really they are not!

(2) The most important point. I think, is BE POLITE TO E\IERY STATION Yo{J WORK even outwith contests. Somepeople are like elephants and nwer forget. Alrc, in wents such as VHF NI|D if you are nrde or abrutr at all it is not only thegood name of the station whos callsign you are using, hrt also that of the club which is being tarnished Remember to thank eachs&ation for the contact..... it dosn't cost a penny!

(3) If another station asks for etrra details such as your ruune or Worked All Britain area then wherwer possible providetlre information. In the €vent of the inforrnation not bing available aplogrse. Abwe all DO NOT just start calling "CQContest" again and ignore the reqrrst as such actions will only irritate and alienate other stations.

(4) While operating, speak cl€arty, leaving the briefest of gaps betwe€n letters as you spell callsigns phonetically. Thishelps the listening station to un&rstand you more easi$, especially under weak signal conditions. Prevention of pot€ntial loggingerrors by using this method can help improve your final score because ary errors of this type detected at the checking stage resultin both stations loosing points.

(5) At all times be concise and to the point Pass only the necessary information unless otherwise requested by a particularstation. If, and only 6 activity gets really low and things are quiet then it does not matt€r too much if you have a BRIEF CHATwith a station. The activity can often attnrt other stations which you can then work.

(6) When exchanging QSO information use your common s6nse. If the station being worked is strong theq so long asspeak ctearly, you do not need to repeat alt details 3 or 4 times, once will do! Similarly, a station who is weak may e4erience

interGr€nce and it is therefore worth repeating report, locator etc. a couple of times. Only use 3 or 4 repeats in verye*reme cases. If all else fails the other station will a* you for any missing infonnation

(7) When calling CQ, again you must use your common sense. If you have heard sweral stations calling you, afterone of therq you only need a very brief 'QRZ CONTEST" followed by your sations callsign. It is poinfless un&r these

circumstances to launch into a long 'CQ CONTEST" speech when people are so obviursly already waiting to work you. Doing soill waste valuable time.

(8) Also, if you are lucky enough to have several stations calling you at once ty, at the very least, to pick out part of aIn this way you can redrce the number of stations ca[ing at on@ by calling 'QRZ' and mentioning the part+allsign

which you have heard- This is better than just ealling UQRZ* again on its own as this could result in the same group ofga6led signals being received once more. Again time would be lost.

(9) Finally, bear in mindthat ifyou are not transmitting, no{ne will hear you. By apptytng t}is, ratlrer ohious, fact toit is clear that you should try to minimise the length of the listening gaps between your CQ calls. Dont call nCQ' and

listen l0 or 20 seconds for a reply. A 2 second gap is more than a&quate and it will help increase the chances ofsomeone tuning the band aaually hearing you.

These zuggestions apply in all cont€sts, irrespective of the equipment you are using and please remember.....Contesfis are about QSO's. QSO's come from other people, the rnajority of whom are non-contestants, so don't wind them up, bepolite and say thank you!

I do not in any way cleim to be an eryert on this subject but in general I have found over the last 10 y€ars or so that these pointershelp. I hope that some ofyoufind them useful. Perhaps they will help us in the events to come!

If anyone has further suggestions, or inded constructive criticism, on this subject I wouldbe pteased to hear it.

73 andgoodcontesting cohn GM'.LN @ GBTEDN

Page 4 Cockenzie & Port Seton ARC

VIIF NFD lvly l/21995

FMLLO TO YOU ALL AND NOWFORMY FIRST ATTEMPT AT ANARTICLE FORTTIE NEWS LETTER.AS YOU MAY ALREADY BE AWARE.WE ARE AGAIN GOING TO BETAKING PART INTHIS YEARS VHFFIELD DAY. ALSO AGAIN WE AREGOING TOBE COMFETING IN TTIEI,oW FOWER SINGLE ANTENNASECTION. T}IE FOIJRBANDS WE AREUSING ARE.. 4 MTRS,2 MTRS, TOcMs, AND23 CMS.

FORTHELAST2 YEARS WEHAVE WON T}IE SCOTTISH TROPHYFORBEST STATION INTHISSECTION SO AN EXTRA EFFORTWILL AGAINBE NEEDED A.S WE

I AM ALSO AVAILABLE ON PACKETAT EDN OR DIP€CT ON GM6VIU.2.SONOEXCUSES THATYOUCOULDNT GET A HOLD OF ME. BOBI.IYZ AND COLIN CLN WILL ALSO BEGLAD TO TIELP A}.IYONE qJT" AND IAI\,T STJRE T}IEYTOO CAN BECONTACTED BY PACKET.

I WLL BE DOING AN UPDATE ASWE GO ALONG SOEVERYONE WILLKNOW WHAT BITS WE HAVE ANDWHAT WE STIII NEED.

73 AND GET RTJMMAGING FORWHATEVERYffJ THINK WILL BE OFTIELP.

ALEX GM6VIU.

A1\I ODE TO TIIETYPOGRAPHICAL ERROR

Tlrc typographical error is a slipperything and slyYou can hunt 'til you arc dizzy, hrt still itwifl get byIt shrinks down in the corner and it neverstirs or peeps'Til the forns are offthe presses, it'sstrange how still it keepeThe typognphical error is too small forhuman eyes,Til th€ ink is on the paper when it growsO mqmtain sizeThe bo6s ju$ stares with horror, thengrabs his hair and goansThe oo'ry reader drops his head upon hishands andmoansTbe remaindsr of the issue may be clea4as clean can beBrs the typographical erro'r is the on$rhing you seal

ColinGM0CLN

IWO{.JLD LIKE TO MAKE TT THREEIIN A ROW. IF TI{E JT.JNGLEITELEPHONE rS TOBE BELTEVEDITI{ERE MAYBE ABITMORE

lcorenrruoN THrs YEAR soILETS GET ORGANISED Al.rD GETlel.l, me Krr roGETr{ER AND wEIWILL tsE WELL PLACED TO DO TT.I es I sArD wE ARE GorNG ToBEloN + naNos, AND THTNGS LrKEIRADIOS, ANTENNAS. FOWERlsupg,res, AND ALL TI{EsE Tr{rNGsIARE ALL AVAILABLE ALREADY,BT.ITAS USUAL WE NEEDAS MUCHITIELP AND ASSISTANCE TOGET ALLTI{E OTHER THINGS ARRANGED.THINGS LIKE A CARAVAN OR TWOWOTJLDNT GO AMISS TENTS,PETROL GENNMS AND ABOVE ALLYOUROWN TIME. IF YOU WANT TOOPERATE ANY OF TIIE STATION.YOU WILL I{AVE TOBE A MEMBEROF THE RSGB.

IF YOU READ YOUR NEWSLETTER(I USE MINE FORPAPERAEROPLANIS; 't*yOU WILL HAVENOTICED THAT TIIE CLI,JB IS VERYACTIVE INALOTOF WAYS THISYEAR SO AS A RESULT OF ALLTHIS.I HOPE YOUDONT FEEL THATWE ARE ALL MAKING TOOMANYDEMANDS ON YOUR TIME.

I WILL BE AROUND TO ANSWERANY QTJESTIONS AND TO TAKE ALLYdIR OFFERS OF' ASSISTANCE ATTIIE MEETING, AND HOPEFULLYTI{E NEXT. SO COME ON AND ASK.

More Intcrference Frcm CarAnti-Theft Deviccs Looms

While reading a r€cent elstronicsprblication I noticed that there appearsto be a possibility of more interferenceon the amatilrbandsfrom car anti-theftdwies in future years. The reasonbehind this is an amendment !o the ECAnti-Theft Dircaive which is erpectedto unleash a flood of electronicdevices designed to prswnt th€ft of andfrom cars.

The amended directive (7 4/ 6l IEEC\states that all new car models fromJanuary 1997 will be requir€d to haveelechonic immobilisers and aprwedalarm systems fittedwhen they are sold-The ruling will apply io all newcars sold, including models designedprior to ttrc ruling; from October 1998.

Ctoing by recent eryeriences I iun $uethat not all ofthese new deviceswill have 'clean' sienals and as a result Iam sure that some of us will fromtime to time erperience interference- Ihope not hrt at the same time I amnot going to hold my breath! Warchthis space........

Colin GMOCLN

AI\TY BUI}DING ARTISTSOUT THERE?

He[o folkq some time ago I hadtocorya logoforthe C&PS Lml HistoryClub (Bob 'LIYZ and I are bothmemben) andmanagedto g€t almostan e:ract copy which I us€d to produceletler headings, notice headinge and thelike and it workedvery well.I thougbt it might be a good idea tohave a club logo which could also beusd on letter heads etc and there is oneradio mag that will also use club logoswhen adrising of forthcoming eventsetc.The problem is I am no artist andbecause ofthis how about any bnrddingartists in the club making up a clublogo? Come on rxlw &nt be shy and allentries witlbe printed in fonhconingissues of this newsletter (I'm sure wewill have room!) and a decision madeon which to ado$ as a permanent logofor YOUR CLLJB.

Ron GM4IKU

I hope he is the only one !!! All my hardwork flying througb the AIRMine's a whislsy Alexl

Ron GM4IKU (Editor!)

tth MayKelso.

llth Mey

13th MayHaOainelon"hand

Kelso club talkby GM4UYZ about the Novrce xaolo AIIUU€urs L{rulu

Dunfermline Rs talk on .Amateur shtellites'by GM6WBV at the club premises at outh Muir'

Decronstration Sati,on ftr the cub s@uts parent And child camp in the grnrnds of knnoxlove House near

we hope to be operational on HF and on t44rvtlz ncet. Help will be required so please come along and lend a

24th Mey L,othians RS TopBandDF Hunt'

3rd Junc visit to Torness 15wsr Station near Dunbar. Free coach leaves the Pondllall car pa* in Polt Seton at l0'30am

To book;,ur seat conuct GM4IIYZ as soon as possible. NOTE : Places are limited to 49'

Sth June r<"r.o crllb-ro A4Cr*9o,"lllJH?3r.Om.Lo same format as the similar nigbt held rccent$ in Fort

l4ttr Jutrc r,ottuans tr.s AGM.

15th Junc Dunfermline RS l44MI{z DF Hunt. A gmd chance to practice for our event later in tbe year (reo below).

ltth Junc Practical Wireless l44MI{z QRP Contest from the usnal sirc in the Lammernruir Hills. Please come along andlend a hand

lst/2nd Jnly RSGB VHF National FieldDay. I400GMT Saurdayto I4O0GMT Sunday from the usnl aont€st site. This oneis not to be missed! As many helpen as possiHe will definilcly be needed as na intend to nrn all a bands again this year.

lEth August 2nd Cochzie & Fort Seton ARC Junk Sal€ at lbrt Seton Community Centre. Empty purjunk bo:res and helpraise moncy for the British Heart Foudation at the same time. Talk in on S22.

26l27th August Lighthouse Special Event Station at Bams Ness near Dunbar. Callsign witl be GB2LBN and activity will be on80, 40, 20 and2 rnetres ftom 9am Saturday rntil 6pm Sunday.

27th Aryuct @lashiels Ratv at tbs Focus Centre. Livingstone Place, Galashiels. Doors open llnm

z9t[ Scptcmbcr t]octenzie & Fort Seton ARC l44M[Iz DF Hrrnt. Further details nearer the time.

Thats all this month. For further information on the above contact thefollowing people:Coclarzie & Port Seton ARC events.....................Bob CM4IIYZKelso ARC wents........... .......1v{argaret GM0ALXGalashiels ARC wents.. ...........I1n0 GM?LUNDunfermline RS events..... ....-...Adrian GMOSRDLothians RS events..... .....-.....Me1GMSJAGAs ever keep me inforned of an_v wents )'tru hear about.

73 Colin GM0CLN WCo@a gamdwnpb logo s?

6C HO MncmrRRy

HEA?DIATCI Y

HAVEN'T'RCP oN

W lrl

NO... .ruor sfNcEH,e 4ar TFnT roei

AEEKfi*ree/

NNNqq.... s Ttt-t-

REACH!!CA^I

.,t C

,To/ ffi-xiHh\':V;,i

AMATEUR ANAGRAMS

Once again you will find below E anagrams. One is comprirg related while tlre other seven are Frety associated with rmrteurradio. The answers, as usual, go horizontally across the grid The black boxes r€fsent spaces benveen words. Oncecompleted correctty the vertical column answed wiU spell the name of a European city. Crcod luck! ! !

1.

L

3.

4.

5.

6.7.

8.

CLUE S

I) RIFLE ON SITE, 2) ALILAC BOX ACE,6) TO BOSTON OK GAIL, 7) GPS CHAn,

3) TUDOR INC, 4) PRICED IGLOO, 5) EXLID REP,8) RENT STARVER

APRIL ANSWERS

The vertical box shoild have read SHAREWARE and the individral answe$ were1) Junk Sale 2) Headphones, 3) Specral Event, 4) Motheftoar4 5) DouHe Hop, 6) Narron'Ban4 7) KeJiboard, 8) Bad Rate,9) Paddle Key

Colin GM0CIN