I.C.E. Radio Products Technical Bulletins 4 - October - 2009
Posted by k9zw in Amateur Radio, K9ZW, K9ZW Learned.Tags: I.C.E., K9ZW
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I.C.E. engineers and staff technicians have prepared a list of free technical publications for customer reference. These cover a variety of subjects related to the usage of I.C.E. products, facility design and construction, lightning and over voltage protection, and product comparisons with other companies’ goods.
Written in easy-to-understand language for the non-technical:
http://www.iceradioproducts.com/10.html
- Using Anti-Oxidants To Ensure Good Conductivity
- Solving Telephone RF Interference – Helpful Hints And Suggestions
- Low Pass FIlters – It’s What You Have And What You Do With It.
- Bulkhead Grounding For Telecommunications Facilities
- Modern Do-It-Yourself Grounding Techniques
- Modern Beverage Receiving Antenna Construction And Installation
- and many more.
73
Steve
K9ZW
Soldered up my Anti-Slug Strips 4 - June - 2009
Posted by k9zw in Amateur Radio, K9ZW, K9ZW Learned, K9ZW Shack.Tags: K9ZW, K9ZW Shack
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As it appeared the Anti-Slug Strips on my new raised beds under my 160m 1/2 Sloper were doing something unexpected, I have soldered all corners & joints, and then soldered a jumper to my grounding halo.
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I’ve also grounded the new junction box.
Testing this weekend.
73
Steve
K9ZW
GPS System Issues to Make ARPS Unreliable by 2010? 4 - June - 2009
Posted by k9zw in Amateur Radio, Emcomm, Freecom, K9ZW, K9ZW Just Rambled, K9ZW Learned.Tags: Emcomm, Freecom, GPS, K9ZW, K9ZW Just Rambled
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A recent article on the UK Guardian Newspaper’s website is an alarm to our technological dependencies on GPS.
“It is uncertain whether the Air Force will be able to acquire new satellites in time to maintain current GPS service without interruption,” said the report, presented to Congress. “If not, some military operations and some civilian users could be adversely affected.”
Pol-Speak for “it is breaking and we won’t get it fixed in time to keep it running 100%.”
Many of us have lost track of how many parts of our life are affected by GPS – new cars often have one or two GPS receivers on them (often the obligatory OnStar has its own GPS), many cellphones have GPS enabled, we have our TomToms & Amateur Radio ARPS systems.
GPS is part of tracking shipments, surveying our crops, measuring our construction efforts, flying our planes and has become integral in land navigation.
We had substitutes, but most are Direction Finding ranging from the simple ADF (Automatic (radio) Direction Finding), discontinued systems like the OMEGA Navigation System and comparative signal land based systems like LORAN rather than the precision system that the Global Positioning System (GPS) offers.
As radio amateurs we should make sure we have non-GPS dependent technologies to accomplish mission essential Emcomm/Freecom needs if GPS is unavailable.
73
Steve
K9ZW
Copper Anti-Slug Strips Heard on 160 meters! 2 - June - 2009
Posted by k9zw in Amateur Radio, K9ZW, K9ZW Learned, K9ZW Shack.Tags: K9ZW, K9ZW Shack, RFI
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Very interesting phenomena, the new raised beds having copper rims appear to have some effect on my half-sloper. Reports of 160m RF feedback for the first time were received after the strips went in.
I’ll be soldering them together and connecting them into my ground halo to see if I can eliminate the feedback.
Interesting!
73
Steve
K9ZW
REPOST: Snap Snap – Photographing Your Shack & Setup 16 - December - 2008
Posted by k9zw in Amateur Radio, K9ZW Just Rambled, K9ZW Learned, K9ZW Shack.Tags: K9ZW, K9ZW Classic, K9ZW Just Rambled
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With digital cameras letting us shoot & store photos for nearly zero cost, we return on your time investment to have a good selection of shack photos is outstanding!
I’ve tried to capture the shack layout, the individual pieces of gear, their ID & serial number tags, how they are wired up and anything unusual.
These go with my software settings screen shots and station notes.
These photos have been handy when I repainted the shack walls, my insurance coverage should be a bit more secure through photo-documentation, and I dud use the wiring photographs when I set up my rig in the field for Field Day.
There are a few digital cameras that response to near infrared light, making them useful to experiment with. I’m told you can sometimes find an energized short through looking at the heat shown on one of these cameras, but I’ve only worked with full industrial infrared survey cameras.
But I’ve been told it works (I wouldn’t go buy a camera just to try it though.)
Get the photos into your station documentation and make sure you have a backup file stored somewhere else!
Smile & say “Cheese!”
73
Steve
50 Ohm Impedance Matching – Mystical, Magic, or Codswollup? 7 - September - 2008
Posted by k9zw in Amateur Radio, K9ZW Learned, K9ZW Operations.Tags: Impedance Matching, K9ZW, K9ZW Learned, K9ZW Operations
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50 Ohm Impedance Matching – is it something Mystical, the Magic solution to all feedline woes, or simply a bunch of Codswollup?
Perhaps it is a bit of all of these!
The average Radio Amateur’s gear is all nominally rated to use 50 Ohm coax feedline, matched to a 50 ohm feed point on an antenna.
What is meant by 50 Ohm?
First it is NOT about resistance at all, but rather 50 Ohm IMPEDANCE.
What is this beast “Impedance” and how is it different than “Resistance.”
We have pretty good analogies for Resistance, how it is descriptive of how a material slows down the flow of current. Sort of like the lightbulb in our flashlights resisting the flow of the battery current to the point the wire itself glows with light!
“Resistance is a concept used for DC (direct currents) whereas impedance is the AC (alternating current) equivalent.”
Lets consult some well written resources:
Emrcorp techinfo on Impedance – see the link “The Fifty Ohm Enigma” PDF download
http://www.physlink.com/education/AskExperts/ae517.cfm
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_difference_between_electrical_resistance_and_impedance
A study of these, and ARRL Radio Amateur Handbook information, shows that 50 Ohm Impedance Matching is a touch more complex than it would seem at first, with various situations being important and in others not an issue.
I’ve seen field day exercises where apparent mismatches were “leveled out” using military style improvised techniques and I have seen the improvement in signal both received and transmitted from careful matching.
Hope these resources cast some light on what at first seems an arcane subject area!
73
Steve
K9ZW
