monthly newsletter of the central new hampshire amateur ... · balun - $15 tripp lite pr3 12v 3a...

The Communicator September, 2016

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Next Club Meeting - Tuesday, September 6th, 2016 at 7:00 PM Gilford Community Church, Gilford NH

The

Monthly Newsletter of the Central New Hampshire Amateur Radio Club ARRL Special Service Club

Communicator September 2016 CNHARC Web Page - www.cnharc.org

Planes, Trains & Automobiles, Planning a Trip Pt. 2 ….. Upcoming Public Service Events .……………………. CNHARC 10 Years Ago …………….....……………… Adam’s Junk Box ………………………………...……. Secretary’s Report ……………...……………………...

In This Issue

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September Meeting Program

FOX HUNT!

Be at the church at 6:30 to get all set up with your team for the annual fox hunt. The fox will transmit for the FIRST time right at 7 pm, so you better be ready to LEAVE the parking lot to find him!

We have antennas. We have knowledge and power. We need YOU to participate.

If you don’t want to go on the hunt, then hang out in the meeting room talking about the days when Morse was a test re-quirement.

Refreshments will be served!

If you wish to present a program or have a specific subject covered please contact Cliff, N1RCQ @ 279-7763. For directions to the meeting, the talk in repeater is 146.985 PL123.

Planes, Trains & Automobiles, Planning a trip to Dayton ’17, Pt.2

By Sam, N1OVA

There are many changes coming for the 2017 edition of the Dayton Hamfest; perhaps this will be the rebirth of the event. Change is never easy and I have heard comments from friends who have attended the event in past years. They are concerned that the new facility will not afford the same quality of accommodations that the Hara Arena pro-vided. Since I have never attended the Dayton event, I have no basis for comparison. I am still interested in attending Dayton ’17.

I believe that many readers of the Communicator will have seen the following article that was included in the Au-gust 11, 2016 edition of The ARRL Letter. It does a nice job of describing the changes in venue that hams can expect for the Dayton ’17 Hamvention.

New Hamvention Venue: "You Will Be Very

Impressed," Chairman Assures Dayton Hamvention® is moving on after 52 years at

Hara Arena, and 2017 preparations at the show's new venue in Xenia, Ohio, now are in full swing, two Hamvention offi-

cials explained this week on the Amateur Radio Roundtable webcast hosted by Tom Medlin, W5KUB. Hamvention announced on August 1 that it would relocate to the Greene County Fairgounds, after Hara Arena made it known that it would close at month's end. Hamvention 2017 General Chair Ron Cramer, KD8ENJ, and official spokes-person Mike Kalter, W8CI, fielded questions from Medlin and callers during the hour-long August 9 show. Cramer said some members of the Amateur Radio community enter-tain preconceived notions about the new venue that are "far off base," and he and Kalter wanted to set the record straight.

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CNHARC Monday Night Net at 8:00 PM on 146.985 MHz

Hamvention General Chair Ron Cramer, KD8ENJ (left), and Hamvention spokesperson Mike Kalter, W8CI, discussed Hamvention's new venue during the August 9 Amateur Radio Roundtable webcast. [Photo courtesy of Amateur Radio Roundtable]

"Change is hard for everyone, but I think this is a very good move for us," Cramer said. "You will be very impressed." Kalter echoed the sentiment. "We want to start out great and get awesome," he said. Kalter said there's been a lot of sec-ond-guessing, but that "a lot of overriding factors" and a year-long search led to the selection of Greene County Fair-grounds.

Kalter assured those planning to attend Hamvention that Fairgrounds buildings -- particularly those used for showing livestock during the county fair -- are "absolutely clean" and well maintained. He and Cramer expressed confi-dence that everyone will find plenty of available parking and room for all traditional Hamvention activities -- more than may be evident at first glance. Vendors who have al-ready visited the new site to get the lay of the land went away "excited," they said.

At this point, no hard-and-fast decisions have been made as to how Hamvention will put the available buildings and space to use next spring, but Cramer and Kalter said the Fairgrounds staff has been especially helpful. "We're all working together now to make this happen," Kalter said. He and Cramer made clear that Hamvention officials remain open to questions and suggestions.

Cramer quashed one misconception about Hara Are-na. "Even though they had air conditioning," he said, "air con-ditioning was never used there. The doors were open, and they did not want to turn on the air conditioning unless the doors were closed. So, I don't think air conditioning was used at all -- at least in the last 10 years."

Some air conditioned space already available at the new venue may be suitable for such activities as forums, and the Fairgrounds is looking to upgrade existing ventila-tion systems in non-air conditioned buildings. "We're looking at the possibility of air conditioned 'chalets'" for forums, Kalter said.

Hamvention's new home: The Greene County Fairgrounds as seen from the sky. [Google Earth]

The prime area under consideration for the popular outdoor flea market is inside the racetrack oval, they said, and additional adjacent space is available, if it's needed.

The venue will have wireless Internet coverage. "We've already moved some of the equipment out of Hara, and we think it will do a good job there," Cramer said. Kalter added that the Fairgrounds staff is working on upgrading the In-ternet "pipe" to the venue.

As for the admission price, "We're still working on that," Kalter said. "We have not made a decision. We may leave it at the same price or slightly more than that, but no great increase." Tickets this year were $20 in advance and $25 at the gate for all 3 days.

Cramer and Kalter said Hamvention anticipates being ready to start selling tickets and vendor spaces by November -- and perhaps earlier.

Kalter stressed that the sponsoring Dayton Amateur Radio Association (DARA) puts "an awful lot back into ham radio in donations," all raised entirely through Hamvention.

"We need your help. We need your support," Kalter said. "Hamvention needs to move on, and we intend to make it happen, with everybody's help."

HOUSING: I received an email from Nikole E. Mad-

din at the University of Dayton located in College Park Day-ton, OH. The web site shown below contains comprehen-sive descriptions of accommodations, as well as pricing in-formation. I expect that room reservations will be made on a first come first served basis, and that the least expensive units will be booked early.

Nikole E. Maddin Residential Operations Assistant North Student Neighborhood & E. Stewart Garden

Apartments


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CNHARC Nets Monday: Two-Meter Net, 8:00 PM, 146.985 Wednesday: ARES Net, 8:00 PM, 146.985 Thursday: Six-meter Net, 8:00 PM, 53.77

CNHARC 6-Meter Thurs. Night Net 8 PM, 53.770 MHz

Upcoming 2016 Public Service and Other Events

Mark Your Calendars!

Amateur Radio Operators needed!

There are many other events not listed here that also need safety communications help. Please con-sider volunteering your time to help at an event.

Public service events make great training for emer-gency communications and are a good way to show

the public what amateur radio can do. Events are open to all Hams.

If you would like more information on one of the events or to sign up to help with safety communica-

tions, please contact name listed after the event.

October 1st 2016, The NH Marathon Bristol, NH (foot race). contact Dave Megin at [email protected].

October 29th 2016, Meredith Bay Trick or Trot 5K,

contact Tim Carter at [email protected]

2016 NEAR-Fest XVIII Deerfield, New Hampshire http://www.near-fest.com:8084/nearfest/

February? 2017, Laconia Sled Dog Races, contact

Cliff Dickinson at [email protected]

February ? 2017, Sandwich Mid Distance Sled Dog Races, contact Cliff Dickinson at [email protected].

Please check on the status of the event close to the date of the event for any changes or

updates. Not responsible for typographic errors. Last updated 6/4/16

University of Dayton 937-229-4092 [email protected] Ms. Maddin says: “We do provide housing options for

this event. Please visit our Residential Facilities page at https://www.udayton.edu/studev/housing/Conference%20Services/facilities.php for details and floor plans. From this page, you can also click on pricing to view the break-down per location and occupancy.”

If this interests you please let me know. I would like

to see this project move forward. 73 Sam Sargent N1OVA ([email protected])

FOR SALE

Welcome to "Project Afford NEARfest". I am looking to kill two stones with one bird by

clearing out some excess gear and making some money for NEARfest. Here is a list of the items I

have for sale,

Yaesu FT-857D - $650

Astron RS-35M Linear Power Supply - $100

Astron RS-12A Linear Power Supply - $40

Bencher BK-1 CW Paddle - $75 Wen 8” Drill Press with 1/2” Drill Chuck -

$50 DIY 6 Meter Copper Dipole with Coax

Balun - $15 Tripp Lite PR3 12V 3A Power Supply -

$20 Icom IC-2AT Handheld Transceiver with

Leather Case - $15 LDG 4:1 Balun - $5

Gold-Line In-Line SWR Meter - $5

If you can help me become "unbroke", please email me at [email protected] and make me

an offer... Or two, or three, or more.

Thanks and 73,

- Adam N1RKW

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Central NH ARES Frequencies

Primary: 146.985 MHz, - offset. PL123.0 Backup: 147.300 MHz, - offset, PL 88.5 Sec. backup: 147.390 MHz, - offset, PL 123.0 Simplex: 147.540 MHz NH Statewide ARES HF: 3.943 MHz

CNHARC

Repeater Sustaining Members 2016 / 2017

Glen Aldrich KC1AAI Ed O’Hearn Jr. N1EO

Nate Ayotte KC1DKE Robert MacGuffie K2HZN

Ron Baker N1JJW JT Travers K9WFD

Dick Christopher N1LT James Robinton N1CRZ

Richard Wholey K1OBP Richard Hansen KA1BUC

Eric Bernow KC1FRX Bruce Hamel K1BRH

Pasha Roberts W1LMT John Gothardt K1UAF

Bill Guinther KC1BMM Dave Worrall N2IRO

Jim Brown KB1FBQ Robert Haight Jr. N1SSH

Edward Curley KC1CLA Don Percy W1DND

Tim Carter W3ATB Ed Colby N1SCJ

Ron Desharnais N1GFD Peter Drexel AE1T

Thomas Edwards W1EDW Peter Jackson KI3Y

Bryan Medeiros KC1DVN Chris Read N1HD

Cyrus Rowe K1CY Stephen Saunders K1NET

Dick Sterry KB1OCE Frank Towle KC1AAQ

James White KA1OEO John Haven KC1AAG

Aleda Nichols KC1CCU William McAllister N1NYI

Steve Davidson K1SMD

Pulling Staples The job of pulling Romex staples can be made easier

by using both a large size screwdriver and a pair of diagonal cutters (dikes). Squeeze the dikes into one side of the sta ple, slide a screwdriver between the stud and the dikes, and twist the screwdriver. The leverage provided by the screw driver will pry one or sometimes both sides of the staple from the wood.

Mike Stone, N1VE

Check Out The CNHARC Page on Facebook!

CNHARC 10 Years Ago The following article appeared in the September 2006 edi-tion of ‘The Communicator’. -Ed.


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Social Media and CNHARC

CNHARC has a presence on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube! Find us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/CNHARC Follow @CNHARC on Twitter. Visit the CNHARC page on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/CNHARCAmateurRadio

Wanted

Any and all radios and radio gear you have that would otherwise be thrown out

Old smartphones or tablets that would otherwise be thrown out

Contact Adam at [email protected] or at

528-0678

W1JY Central NH Amateur Radio Club W1CNH

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CNHARC is on YouTube ! CNHARCAmateurRadio

Hmmm... I’ve filled the last two articles with every-thing you never wanted to know about meters and oscillo-scopes, and since none of you are addicted to test equip-ment like me, I’m certain that most of you are completely sick of it by now.

So what’s next? Do I keep forcing more irrelevant

information down your throat until you want to puke? No, that doesn’t sound pleasant to me either.

How do I indulge my desire to write about things I

like and maybe even know a little something about without making every last one of you want to punch your computer monitor, or me, in frustration?

Perhaps something a bit different would be in order

for this month’s article: I think I’ll write about the process I go through whenever some old and interesting piece of equipment falls into my lap. Basically a “how to”, if you like, for bringing old electronic gear of any type back to life. Mind you, this is not an expert’s “how to”, or even a reasonably talented technician’s “how to”. This is Adam’s “how to”, or more accurately: Adam’s “how I do it, mis-takes included”. As most of you know, my writing stye is very much a “warts and all” affair, with all of my numerous mistakes laid out for all to see. This will be no different. While I don’t want to teach you the wrong way to do things, I also don’t want anyone to have the impression that the information I am imparting is necessarily the correct way to do things. Rather, it’s the way I do things. So if you’re okay with that, sit back, relax, and enjoy the following article if possible.

Oh, and if you’re brave enough and foolish enough to try the things I outline here, you do so at your own risk. Sorry, but if you blow yourself up you only have yourself to blame.

Step One: Get Your Hands On The Thing! For the purposes of this article, I’m going to use my

McMurdo Silver Model 900 VTVM (Vacuum Tube Volt Meter) that I acquired recently and have been putting a lot of effort into restoring it back to full working order. I prom-ise, for the sake of your monitor, that I won’t go into dis-

gusting detail about the operation of the VTVM. However, discussion of some of its internal components will be neces-sary for the purposes of this article, so please don’t hit me.

Back to the subject of the article: Getting your hands

on old junk, nifty treasures, awesome tube radios, cool tran-sistor transceivers, nice blinky trinkets, and super-sensitive test gear is really not too hard to do if you have the time and the ten bucks. NEARfest happens twice a year, in late Spring and early Fall. It is an absolute wonderland of elec-tronics of all types and ages. You’re certain to find some-thing that calls to you there, but if not there are any number of other ways to get you hands on interesting electronica. Ask around. There is almost always someone selling some-thing interesting in your local ham radio club, and some-times you can even get things for free. That’s actually how I landed the McMurdo Silver 900. I have said many times to many people that I am always looking for electronics, radi-os, and test gear that would otherwise be heading to the local landfill. A very kind local ham offered to give me the meter, and of course I agreed after giving it some thought for about 0.0042 seconds. I’d be even more of a fool than I already am if I refused a deal like that!

In addition to NEARfest, local sales, and charity cases (referring to myself), there are other methods for obtaining goodies. Ebay is a very good way of finding almost anything imaginable, as long as you don’t mind taking a chance on the condition, functionality, shipping costs, and even the identity of the item you’re bidding on. There is also


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CraigsList, QRZ.com, Amazon.com, and even a smattering of local yard sales, or “Yerd Seals” as I’ve seen it spelled around here.

Step Two: Clean It! Step two can be omitted if the item is new enough or

clean enough, but pretty much any used item should have some level of clean-up done to it, if for no other reason than to clean the chunks of cheese out of the ridges that radio manufacturers seem to always insist on putting into their microphones. Remember, that thing was next to some other guy’s/gal’s mouth for a long time, collecting who knows what as it came spattering out of their oral cavity.

Microphones aren’t the only things that collect gunk, so giving your new treasure a good cleaning won’t hurt any-thing except your paper towel budget.

The tools needed to clean most electronics are soap,

water, and paper towels. Anything harsher will damage al-most any printing on the face of the device, which can make for a bad day if you want to keep the thing pristine. There are some times when it’s necessary to break out the bottle of 90% isopropyl alcohol, but use it sparingly and carefully. It does a fine job removing smoker’s tar, but it also does a fine job removing screen printing, part labels, paint on knobs, and many other things you don’t actually want to remove. As a last resort, acetone (aka: nail polish remover) can be used for some really stubborn stains, but be careful as it will happily craze that nice, irreplaceable polystyrene meter bez-el and melt most other plastics if given half a chance. If you really need to do some cleaning in areas you feel will be sensitive to harsh chemicals, consider trying something milder such as Goo Gone, though normal caution should be exercised with it as well. As with any chemical, try a test spot somewhere inconspicuous before going all out with it.

If something is particularly dirty, don’t be afraid to get medieval on it. I had one piece of equipment that had been stored in a shed for a long period of time, and mice got to it. To it, on it, around it, in it, and through it. They had even gone so far as to make a cute little home in there, complete with plenty of food storage, a big screen TV, and a 2 car garage. In this case, I removed the device from its case, and I ran both it and the case under hot water in the bath tub, and then left it on a towel to dry for a full week before get-ting back to it. I don’t recommend doing this procedure except as a last resort when the thing is really, really gross with mouse turds all over it. I hate mice.

Step Three: Inspect That Puppy! Every device is unique, but there are a few things that

go wrong so often that mentioning them here seemed like a good idea, so here goes:

One of the biggest issues with old electronics is the

deterioration of rubber. If that rubber is a grommet cushion-ing a knob stem as it goes through the front cover, it’s no big deal and can be replaced or ignored at your leisure. However, if that rubber happens to be all that is keeping the wires powering the device from touching each other and going crackle-fizzle-foom-boom, you might have a prob-lem, or at the very least a power cord that needs replacing. In the case of the McMurdo Silver 900, the power cord was bad, very bad indeed. Had I plugged it in without having done an inspection, I definitely would have had a crackle-fizzle-foom-boom on my hands. Since my wife and son might get a little angry at me for burning down our home, I elected to replace the power cord with a good one with a built-in fuse that I had on hand in my junque collection. Further inspection revealed that there was more wiring in the meter that needed replacing for the same reason, so I replaced that also and the VTVM came to life without any hint of crackle-fizzle-foom-boom.


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Another one of the other biggest issues with old elec-tronics (and sadly new electronics as well) is capacitor death. How hard could it be to produce a couple of pieces of metal foil with an insulator between them that lasts a long time? Apparently it’s a lot harder than it sounds, because almost every piece of electronic gear out there eventually seems to succumb to this plague of dead capacitors. Very often the device in question will be working fine right up to the moment when a fzzzt is heard and a whiff of magic blue smoke escapes from the back of the device. Yet again a 10 cent capacitor has killed a $100+ piece of electronics, and left a foul smell in its wake. As a matter of course, any and all electrolytic capacitors should be replaced when trying to revive an old piece of electronic gear (certain other types of capacitors, such as ceramic and mica, can be left in place if they test okay). Even if those capacitors test okay on your multimeter, they could be leaky. A leaky capacitor is one that allows some measure of direct current (DC) to flow through it at a given voltage. This is a very bad thing as capacitors are used, among other things, specifically to block DC in the first place. Allowing current to flow where it doesn’t belong means heat, more heat, smoke, extra heat, drops in power supply voltage, fire, and too much heat. Most boat-anchor radios and other tube gear have circuits that operate at many hundreds of volts. Your multimeter only tests the capacitors at 1 or 2 volts, so one that is leaky will test okay even if it’s not. They need to be tested at high voltage, which requires a special tool and special amounts of caution. It’s better just to replace the capacitors in the first place and then you don’t have to worry about it.

Another issue to look for is aging resistors. Look for

long white beards hanging down from the components in your device if you’re worried about the resistors being too old. When you don’t find any, you’ll know that I was pull-ing your leg about the beards. I’m not, however, pulling your leg about resistors aging, and there will be no visible signs of it. When they get old or have been subjected to a lot of heat, they tend to increase in value, and I’m not talk-ing about their worth. You might find that a 100 Ohm resis-tor now measures out to be 128 Ohms instead, way outside of their typical 5% tolerance. This tolerance specifies that a 100 Ohm resistor should measure between 95 and 105 Ohms to be within spec. Our 128 Ohm reading 100 Ohm resistor would be even further out of spec if it were a 1% tolerance resistor such as those often found inside old ana-log meters. Any resistors that are out of spec should be re-placed. The good news is that resistors are cheap, usually around 10 cents apiece for common types from suppliers like Digikey and Mouser. Specialized types such as larger power resistors or wire-wound ones may cost a bit more, but are still unlikely to break the bank.

There are plenty of other potential problems that can

CNHARC 6-Meter Thurs. Night Net 8 PM, 53.770 MHz

be found with a simple inspection and a multimeter, which leads us to...

Step Four: You Need Information! Many electronic devices have information available

online, if you know what to look for and where to look. What to look for: Schematic diagrams, parts lists, exploded-view parts breakdowns, operators manuals, service manuals, technical bulletins, how-to guides, forum conversations, tear-down videos, repair videos, manufacturer’s recommenda-tions, etc. Basically, anything you can get your greedy little paws on. The Boat Anchor Manual Archive (BAMA) is a fantastic resource, but only one of many that are out there. Google everything, and then Google it some more.

On anything that is olde enough to be past its copy-right date, resist the urge to pay for a digital copy of any documentation. If the “pay me for it” guys have a copy of it, someone else usually does too. Keep your eyes open, and ask around. You never know how or where you might come across the information you need. For example, I thought I was going to have to drop $15 for a copy of the Model 900’s operator’s manual, until a fellow ham who has mad Google skills found a free copy and emailed it to me... Within 10 minutes of me mentioning to him that I needed it. You just never know...

Step Five: Thou Shalt Check Voltages! A great many dead electronic items are dead for the

same reason: a dead power supply circuit. A great many


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W1JY Central NH Amateur Radio Club W1CNH

power supply circuits are dead for the same reason: suicidal capacitors. If your meter is telling you that a power rail that’s marked 12V is only putting out 4.3V (or more often 0V), there’s a good chance that there’s a dead capacitor in there somewhere. Look for one or more with bulged and split tops, which will look a bit like this:

While capacitors inside a power supply circuit will

often reveal themselves to be deader than a doornail with a simple eyeball test, other problems may not be as easy to find. A failing but not completely dead voltage regulator might be putting out 7.8V when it’s supposed to be putting out 9.0V instead. Most of the circuit will probably still func-tion in this case, but it will not function properly. You can save yourself a heck of a lot of head scratching, fumbling, component testing, and cussing simply by looking at the voltage and saying to yourself, “Huh. That’s not quite right,” and following up from there. The expected voltages are often published in the device’s schematic diagram, or even sometimes printed right on the circuit board itself. Then again, sometimes you have to use your own intelli-gence to figure it out. This is, of course, not as easy for me as it would be for you.

Poke around, test everything, write down the voltages

you see and compare them to the voltages the manufacturer thinks you should be seeing. Where you go from there is specific to the individual device you’re working on, but now that you’ve checked the voltages, you should have a decent idea which way to go.

Step Nothing: What You Need for Tools! A basic electronics bench is not hard to stock, nor

should it cost you a small fortune. Almost every tool I have was either found, given to me, or resuscitated junk. Here’s what I consider to be the bare essentials if you want to get started working on electronics:

A soldering iron. Doesn’t even have to be a good one,

to begin with. A digital multimeter. Should be a good one, but any-

thing is better than nothing. (Don’t use a crappy meter to measure high voltage! See my article on meters.)

A well-lit bench. I use a sturdy piece of plywood and cheap LED strips.

A decent selection of hand tools. Anything that works well for you will work well for you.

That’s it. That’s really all you need to get started,

though you will probably want to accumulate some more tools as time goes on. If you can manage to buy low, repair cheaply, and sell high, you may be able to fund the expan-sion of your work space from with the stuff you’re fixing.

There are a few other things you may consider adding

to your tool collection, and these things will certainly help you when working on electronics but are not really needed to get started:

An Oscilloscope: See Voltages as pictures. See my

article about oscilloscopes. A Variable Power Supply: Make power at voltages of

your choice. A Signal Generator: Make signals at frequencies of

your choice. A Frequency Counter: See what frequency your radio

is transmitting at. A Dummy Load: Use it to keep a lid on your test trans-

missions. A Bench Multimeter: A more accurate big brother to

the hand-held multimeter. An Isolation Transformer: Isolates your device from

mains power, protecting you and your stuff. A Soldering Station: Big brother to the cheap soldering

pencil. A De-Soldering Tool: Helps remove components and

remove mistakes. Spare Parts. Lots and lots of spare parts. Organized in

small drawers if you actually want to use them. A Weather Station: Good for keeping up with your

friends on the local nets. A Non-Contact Thermometer: Good for finding that

hot component before it catches fire. A Variac: For controlling the mains power going to

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ARES Net Wednesdays at 8:00 PM on 146.985 MHz

Secretary’s Report

Sandra Percy

by

CNHARC STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING - Monday, August 8, 2016 Gilford Community Church CLUB OFFICERS - ATTENDANCE W3ATB Tim Carter President KC1AAI Glen Aldrich Vice President - absent K1LQN Tom Persson Treasurer W1DND YL Sandy Percy Secretary STEERING COMMITTEE - ATTENDANCE N1RKW Adam Foley SC Member 2019 W1JFK Barry Green SC Member 2017 N1VAU Clayton Ferry SC Member 2017 N1LT Dick Christopher SC Member 2017 - ab-sent N1RCQ Cliff Dickerson SC Member 2018 N1CRZ Jim Robinton SC Member 2018 OTHER ATTENDEES W1DND Don Percy Program Team Leader W1DDI Mark Persson Repeater Team Leader N1HD Chris Read Repeater Team KA1OEO James White PRESIDENT’S REPORT - W3ATB, Tim called the meet-ing to order at 7:02 PM. He had nothing to report. VICE PRESIDENT’S REPORT - KC1AAI, Glen was not present to report anything. TREASURER’S REPORT - K1LQN, Tom reported that there are now 103 members and 38RSM members. The 2016 Financial Profit/Loss Report Summary Year-to-Date (details upon request) Total Income: 3,274.96

your device. An LCR Meter: For checking capacitors, inductors,

and resistors. See my article about meters. Reference Books and Documents: Can be on paper or

on your computer. An Analog Meter: Helpful for viewing voltage chang-

es as they happen. A Digital Camera: Documents your progress and helps

you to reverse your mistakes. Anything Else You Can Think Of: Anything else you

can think of. Again, these are not all necessary, so don’t let this list

scare you. This is not where this ends. The process of bringing an

old electronic device back to life can be a long one, requir-ing spending a lot of time checking, re-checking, and checking again, followed by a bit of soldering and then some more checking, lather, rinse, repeat. Don’t expect to be able to do this in a hurry, and never expect something to function properly without some amount of work, even though that does happen once in a great while. Do expect to put a lot of effort and even some Shekels into anything you really want to resuscitate, especially if you want to do it right (which I highly recommend). That being said, you can still end up with a very nice piece of equipment when you’re done, with a lot less monetary investment and a lot more personal ownership than you would have if you had purchased an equivalent device in new or refurbished condi-tion.

I hope that this little primer on how I go about attack-

ing the electronic goodies I obtain is helpful to you. Re-member, this isn’t written from an expert’s viewpoint, it’s written from a dummy with no real education’s viewpoint. Most of what I’ve learned I’ve learned by making mistakes, something I continue to do regularly.

Don’t be afraid to make mistakes... Unless they’re the

kind that causes things to catch fire. As usual, I can be reached by my email address which

is simply hot mail and my call sign, I’m sure you can figure out which order they go in. I can also be found on the Gun-stock 146.985 repeater most afternoons and evenings. Feel free to contact me with any ideas, questions, suggestions, and complaints you may have.

One last reminder: I’m running out of things to write about, I need your suggestions and questions!


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CNHARC is on Twitter - follow us @cnharc

A Alfa N November

B Bravo O Oscar

C Charlie P Papa

D Delta Q Quebec

E Echo R Romeo

F Foxtrot S Sierra

G Golf T Tango

H Hotel U Uniform

I India V Victor

J Juliet W Whiskey

K Kilo X X-ray

L Lima Y Yankee

M Mike Z Zulu

The Phonetic Alphabet

Total Expenses: 1,731.64 Net Income: $ 1,543.32 The Financial Balance Sheet Summary - August 8, 2016 ASSETS Repeater Fund 1,578.58 General Operation Fund - Other 2,433.87 PayPal CNHARC Account 25.00 PayPal Internet Account 25.00 Petty Cash 27.00 Total Current Assets $ 4,089.45 LIABILITIES Opening Balance Equity 2,072.66 Retained Earnings 473.47 Net Income 1,543.32 Total Liabilities & Equity $ 4,089.45 SECRETARY’S REPORT - The minutes from the July 11 Steering Committee Meeting were accepted unanimously. MEETING PROGRAMS - W1DND, Don informed us that we will do a Foxhunt for theSeptember club meeting. N1VAU, Clayton will be planning it and KB1FBQ, Jim Brown, will bethe fox. Aleda has the antennas in her pos-session, so she, as well as Clayton and Jim Brownwill need to arrive early. Since the hunt should commence promptly at 7:00 PM due toapproaching sunset, Tim will request all club members arrive early that evening. Don acknowledged N1CRZ, Jim Robinton for his beautiful-ly executed survey to the members.22 members at the last meeting responded and Jim had arranged the results in a graph format. The on-line link for the survey to non-attendees did not work and Jim will get it out to everyone soon for complete results. Jim had contacted Eversource for a speaker at the October club meeting. Tim requested thespeaker be a grounding and lightening expert. Jim was interested in generators and safe-tyissues. The topic could be expanded later. John Haven had once done an excellentpresentation on grounding. Clayton may do a follow-up presentation on feed lines in the future. Jim plans to give some instructions on the use of Google Drive in September. FIELD DAY - KC1CCU, Aleda was not present tonight, but it was noted that she received her certificate of apprecia-tion at the August club meeting. REPEATER’S REPORT - W1DDI, Mark informed us that

concerning the Franklin replacement,he is experimenting with All Star. His next step is to link up Franklin and Gun-stock together and buy two Raspberry Pis which cost $59.00 per kit. ADJOURNMENT - Clayton moved to adjourn and Tom seconded. All were in favor. Tim adjourned the meeting at 7:24PM. NEXT MEETINGS Tuesday, September 6, 2016 - Club meeting - Business and Presentations Monday, August 12, 2016 - Steering Committee Meeting RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED: W1DND - YL, Sandy Percy

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Ossipee Mountain Electronics, Inc.

PROFESSIONAL 2-WAY COMMUNICATIONS SALES &SERVICE

RR 1, BOX 396 OSSIPEE MT.ROAD

MOULTONBORO, NH 03254

TELE: (603) 476-5581 FAX: (603) 476-5587

Dick Christopher, N1LT-2017 603-524-6567 Cliff Dickinson, N1RCQ-2018 603-279-7763 Jim Robinton, N1CTZ-2018 603-556-9492

Adam Foley, N1RKW-2019 603-528-0678 Barry Green, W1JFK 603-261-7113 Clayton Ferry, N1VAU-2017 603-498-6017

Steering Committee

Officers’ terms are for one year per by-laws

Club Officers Vice President

Glen Aldrich, KC1AAI 603-527-8726 603-581-2411

[email protected]

Treasurer Tom Persson, K1LQN

978-774-6351 603-581-2411

[email protected]

Program Director Cliff Dickinson, N1RCQ

603-279-7763 603-581-2411

[email protected]

President Tim Carter, W3ATB

603-722-0908 603-581-2411

[email protected]

Secretary Sandy Percy 603-581-2411

Club Historian Dick Christopher, N1LT

603-524-6567 603-581-2411

[email protected]

Publicity / Public Relations Officer

Tim Carter, W3ATB 603-722-0908 603-581-2411

[email protected]

Field Coordinator Training Officer

Dick Christopher, N1LT 603-524-6567

603-581-2411 [email protected]

Technical Coordinator Open

The Communicator

is published monthly by the Central New Hampshire Amateur Radio Club, a non-profit corporation and charitable trust, affiliated with the American Radio Relay League.

Membership in the Central New Hampshire Amateur Radio Club is open to all who are interested in amateur radio. Payment of annual Club dues as an individual ($15), family ($20) or as a student ($10), entitles the registrant to belong to the club and to receive The Communicator, monthly or when published for the remainder of the year. The Club year starts June 1. Subscription and Membership: CNHARC, Box 1112, Laconia, NH 03247-1112. Email: [email protected]

Editors Lee Hillsgrove, Sr. KB1GNI

Adam Foley N1RKW

The deadline for all copy and classified ads for the Communicator is 16th of every month. Send to: Lee Hillsgrove, Sr. KB1GNI, 203 Waukeena Lake Road, Danbury, NH 03230 or email to [email protected]

Change of Address For a change of address, notify CNHARC at PO Box 1112, Laconia, NH 03247-1112. Phone: 603-581-2411 . Email: [email protected]

Steering Committee Meeting

The next steering committee meeting will be held on Monday, September 12th at the Gil-ford Community Church, at 7:00 PM.

Club membership now stands at 100