A decade of decline?

I found this interesting while checking out Google Trends.

If you enter certain search terms, you can see the amount of traffic generated by the search terms going back to 2004.

So I tried "ham radio" and "amateur radio" for comparison:

Check out the full report and see what you think.

Keep Austin weird...

Steven Anthony Garza

An Austin man is facing charges after police say he tossed a drone and a ham radio over the fence because he was tired of his neighbor “getting in his head.”

Steven Anthony Garza faces an assault charge in connection with the incident. According to the arrest affidavit filed by Austin Police, Garza stormed into Matthew Hammons’ yard while Hammons was using his amateur radio equipment to talk with his father. Hammons told police Garza charged him while making gestures indicating he was looking to fight. Hammons told officers Garza first broke his radio’s antenna and then headbutted him; Hammons went inside.

While inside his home, Hammons told police he watched as Garza threw his Yaesu 857-D radio and a personal DJI Phantom drone over the fence causing $4,000 in damage.

More of the story here: http://bit.ly/1vKTVcf

Wouxun.us no longer selling (some) Wouxun radios

It seems that US/China relations are a bit rocky for Import Communications, the distributor for Wouxun radios...until now.

PD0AC reports that Ed Griffin (W4KMA) at Import Communications has been unhappy with the support that the Wouxun - pronounced "Oh-sheng" - folks have provided (or rather haven't provided) concerning an issue with the HT's apparently losing their memories at random, among other issues. As a result, he's no longer selling new inventory of Wouxun radios and will be replacing them with AnyTone products, but still under the competitor's site's name.

The (less-than-flattering) message on Wouxun.us's web site

Griffin reports that the Wouxun dual-band models lose memory without warning and that he has replaced approximately 500 radios out of pocket because Wouxun refuses to honor warranties or fix the issue, or replace the defective radios.

What you see when clicking on the KG-UV6D page on Wouxun.us

When you go to Wouxun.us you get a couple of less-than-flattering messages with a message stating that Wouxun radios will no long be sold, but accessories will. The prices that are supposedly "closeout" are about the same prices I paid when I bought my 2 KG-UV2D radios at 2 different hamfests.

While there is no clear distinction as to whether the memory issue is exclusively with the handheld radios or also with their mobile radios, I did notice that the dual-band mobile is no longer offered on the Wouxun.us site. The high price might have had a bit to do with that. Considering the relatively low price of the HT's, I thought that the dual-band mobile radio would have been under $200, but the $360+ price tag kept me away. I could buy plenty of other mobile radios for a lot less. Their quad-band mobile is also not appearing on the site, although the KG-UVA1 dual-band amateur/public service radio is still being offered, as is the KG-703E single-band VHF radio.

While I can sympathize with Griffin if indeed the radios are defective, the graphics used on the site are a bit over the top when trying to make a statement. But then again, I probably would be doing the same thing if the Chinese counterparts I relied on for service and support were treating me the same way.

PD0AC updated that a European distributor of Wouxun radios sold about 500 radios and only had 1 radio with the issue that Import Communications is reporting.

Wouxun came onto the scene a few years ago offering new radios at remarkably low prices, about $110 give or take $10. However, the last few hamfests I've attended, nary a Wouxun was in sight, replaced instead by an even lower-priced Baofeng radio series that has been offering many of the same features for about $50. The only reason I didn't buy one was because they had 2m/440, and not 2m/220.

I own 2 of the KG-UV2D radios with 2m/220 capability and the only problem I've encountered has been that one of the battery packs is now not holding a charge. Other than that I've had no issues with the radios. I don't know if this is isolated to a certain batch of radios that came of the assembly line or with an entire product line, but as this plays out I'm sure we'll find out more about this issue.

RIP Comet ISON (2012-2013)

It appears that the much-hyped Comet ISON (officially designated C/2012 S1) that was expected to put on a spectacular nighttime show for the last few weeks of 2013 will not occur, as the nearly mile-wide comet has all but completely disintegrated after its flyby past the Sun on Thanksgiving Day.

Passing 684,000 miles from the sun, not even the immense size was enough to keep it intact as it sped past the Sun last Thursday. 

As it flew away, ISON was thought to have been disintegrated but then gave observers a glimpse of hope as it grew brighter moving farther from the Sun. However, it began to quickly fade yet again the further it went.

Time-lapse of ISON's flyby
of the Sun (Space.com)

Some scientists had predicted that ISON could have been the "comet of the century", perhaps even brighter than the moon...if it survived its flyby, that is.

After 2011's flyby of Comet Lovejoy (C/2011 W3) gave viewers in the southern hemisphere a spectacular show for weeks afterward, hopes were high that ISON (named after a Russian observatory that discovered it in 2012) would be a spectacle for viewers in the northern hemisphere.

Comet ISON came from the Oort Cloud, an icy body of comet material far outside the boundaries of our solar system. Comets coming from this cloud may take thousands of years to orbit the Sun, or possibly never return.

So while ISON may have not survived its fiery plunge into our star, there is another comet that is around to give you a show. Another comet also named Lovejoy (C/2013 R1, not the one that passed in 2011) is visible in the northeast sky near dawn. So wake up early, grab some binoculars, and put on a jacket and take a glimpse.

Comet Lovejoy's path through December (EarthSky.org)

A movie short about Radio Hams, circa 1939

Taken from the description on Youtube:

This little vintage film, a rather more serious film than many of Pete Smith's other presentations, takes a look at how ham radios can become priceless aids during emergencies. The two stories shown, one dealing with the sudden illness of noted movie Cameraman Clyde de Vinna (W6OJ), the other with a missing plane where the ham operator (Wilbur Crane, unknown callsign) and the pilot of the search craft ended up getting killed after running out of fuel searching for another missing plane over the Atlantic, are bookended by a humorous look at a typical three-generation family's fascination with their ham radio. 

  

BTW: Are they tapping out "BS" in Morse Code at the 33-seconds mark?

Wayne Green, W2NSD "Never Say Die" is now dead

I just found out Wayne Green passed away recently. He was 91 years of age. You may recall I posted about an "exchange" we had a while back about his old magazine, 73. It didn't go very well and my naivete had a bit to do with that.

While I admitted I was never fond of him, I will admit he was a character. He was a guest on Art Bell's old syndicated overnight radio show "Coast to Coast" (now hosted by George Noory) before Bell "retired" and recently popped up on SiriusXM with a new show starting last week called "Dark Matter". He did have a knack for keeping ahead of the curve on computers and packet radio and the age-old philosophy of building your equipment from the ground up. He also had some outrageous opinions about the paranormal and supernatural, and about technologies that are currently in the realm of science fiction, but moving closer to science fact.

He was a visionary, to say the least.

CB is now ham radio?

Velveeta made a commercial for their Shells N' Cheese product and it features "that guy that's got a ham radio in his basement", except the radios it features are CB radios! See for yourself:

At the end of the 15-second spot there's a radio to the lower left that looks like a Yaesu / Vertex radio (maybe an 857-D) but it's too obscure and out of focus to be sure.

Nevertheless, it's nice to see the radio hobby/art/pasttime get a bit of publicity, even if it is 11 meters...

And the record, I had my fill of Mac and Cheese growing up, and I'll be damned if I eat another bowl of it. My kids on the other hand...

Off-topic: We get it, Miley!

Sorry to waste my ham radio aficionados' time, but I've been wanting to say this for a while now:

Dear Miley Cyrus:

WE GET IT! Okay? We realize you're not 15 years old anymore. We get it that you don't have that cheerful Disney attitude to your demeanor anymore, that you're not all fresh and pure as the wind-driven snow, and that you're not the same girl MY kids grew up with.

We get that you don't want to be stereotyped into that innocent, sweet girl persona, that you want the world to realize you are not Hannah Montana anymore. We even get that you're not even the mild-mannered Miley Stewart, the "real world" alter-ego of Montana.

We get it that you are not that teen who sold millions of dollars worth of Hannah Montana merchandise, like t-shirts, pajamas, backpacks, notebooks, jewelry, hair care products, toy microphones, shoes...the list goes on.  I should know, since I purchased much of this with my hard-earned money to satiate my kids' appetite for all things Miley.

So now we parents of 'tweens who were the fanbase for who you WERE must now work to try and discuss with our kids about who you now ARE and what you have apparently come to be. It's not like it's a big deal, really. I mean, you "retired" from Hannah what, 2 years ago? You've pretty much dropped off the radar in the life of a short-attention-spanned childhood and kids simply move on to the "next big thing" just as quick. I think this One Direction thing is the new fad, right? Well, they all but forgot until the VMA's this past Sunday.

Seriously? Is this what you want to be? Is this Miley all grown up? Fine, be whatever you want to be, sing what you want to sing, dress however you want to dress, even if it is like a prostitute. Like the saying goes, dress for the job you want...

If that's what you think will earn you metric tons of more money then by all means twerk away. And thanks for introducing the world to twerking, by the way. I had no idea what it was until this stunt. I shall add it to my lexicon and use it daily in talking to my friends, family, and co-workers. Maybe I'll ask random strangers if they've "twerked" lately. That ought to win friends and influence people.

You do realize that had it not been for the media coverage of this ridiculousness that is the VMAs (I think the last time I watched, Eddie Murphy hosted it) I, nor anyone else would have paid any attention to it. Every year we get treated to some outrageous horseshit that gets people to talk about it for all of a couple of days until the next big attention whore grabs the TMZ spotlight. Usually an over-hyped blowhard with a bad hairdo posing as an entertainer has to interrupt an acceptance speech or two female singers box tonsils on stage, but other than that the VMAs are just another award show no one gives two shits about until publicity stunts like this take center stage.

But I digress, you've moved on from all that teenage silliness. It's time to forget about all that money you raped earned from the kids who followed your every move and you've got to go for a new target audience. You're the millennial version of Opie Cunningham and you want the world to talk about you and only you, not Hannah! You've got to keep it "fresh and real" with your peers so you don't sink into...*gasp* irrelevancy!

Not that I'm surprised, really. For several weeks we've been hearing all about how you have a penchant for marijuana, shortened your hair and even changed the color to get away from that infernally red-headed "Hannah" persona. But this past Sunday should have eliminated any doubt that you want to be tied to that child-star personality from here on out. Yes, Miley, WE GET IT ALREADY!

If anything, it took away from hearing about Lady Gaga, or that N-Sync reunion, or whatever the hell Justin Bieber's doing. Or events going on in Syria for that matter.

Just put your tongue back in your mouth already for God's sake.

What a bargain!

If you act now, you can get your hands on this lovely Gonset GSB-201 linear amp on eBay.

It's clean, looks pretty much to be in working order. It comes from the estate of a ham, so the seller themselves have never used it personally. It has been powered on and the tubes work...or at least they light up. Typical output power can range from ~400W to 1500W depending on mode and the condition of the tubes (according to an article on eHam). 

And it can ALL be yours...for the bargain basement price of...drumroll please...$28,999.99!!! 

But wait! There's more!

FREE SHIPPING! DID I MENTION THAT?!?!?!?!?

Now hooooold the phone there, you crazy spendthrifts. Let's not rush through this too quick! Let's see what  $29k (minus a penny) could get you:

• A diamond-studded 4GB thumb drive! (In 2008)
• Jessica Chastain’s McQueen Dress
• A home in Willamette Valley
• A 2014 Acura ILX
• A lovely outdoor grill
• 21.2 oz of Gold at today's price
• About 70 Gonset GSB-201 linear amplifiers, probably more, depending on shipping!

I'm not sure what medication this guy is on, but it must be awful good. The only answer he gives to all the questions posed are given the same answer. But then again, all of the questions are roughly the same: "Are you nuts?".

If someone actually pays $29k for this, perhaps he's not the crazy one after all.

1965 Ham License Answers

Novice:

1. Question #9: What method of frequency control is required to be used in the transmitter of a station licensed to the holder of a Novice Class License? The frequency must be crystal-controlled.
2. Question #13: What is the maximum permissible percentage of modulation of an amateur radiotelephone station? 100%
3. Question #17: What is the relationship between a fundamental frequency and its second harmonic; its third harmonic, etc.? The second harmonic is twice the frequency of the fundamental, the third harmonic is three times the fundamental frequency, and so on. A harmonic is always related to its fundamental frequency by an integral multiplier; i.e., 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, etc.
4. Question #23: How is the actual power input to the tube or tubes supplying energy to the antenna of an amateur transmitter determined? The input power is determined by measuring the direct-current plate oltage and the d.c. plate current to the tubes in the final stage in the transmitter. The power input is equal to the plate voltage multiplied by the plate current in amperes.
5. Question #27: What is meant by a "parasitic" oscillation? A parasitic oscillation is one not essential to the operation of the equipment and usually occurring on a frequency considerably removed from the operating frequency.

General:

1. Question #1: Name the basic units of:
   • electrical resistance - ohm
   • inductance - henry
   • capacitance - farad
   • current - ampere
   • electromotive force or potential difference - volt (electromotive force is a fancy term for "voltage")
   • power - watt
   • energy - joule
   • quantity - coulomb
   • magneto-motive force - gilbert
   • frequency - cycles-per-second, or cycles (nowadays known as "hertz")
    
2. Question #10: What is the principal reason for using a filter in a plate power-supply system? The principal reason for using a filter in a plate power-supply system is to smooth out the a.c. ripple component in the output and make it "pure d.c."
3. Question #19: What undesirable effects may result from operation of an unneutralized triode r.f. amplifier in a transmitter? Self-oscillation may result, with consequent radiation on undesired frequencies, possibly outside an amateur band.
4. Question #69: What is meant by a "doubler" stage? A vacuum-type circuit in which the output circuit is tuned to twice or doube the frequency of the input circuit.
5. Question #71: What is the reciprocal of resistance? Conductance, measured in mhos ("ohms" spelled backwards)
6. Question #106: What precaution should be taken to protect filter capacitors connected in series? Resistors having a value of approximately 100,000 ohms should be shunted across each capacitor to equalize the d.c. voltage drops and thus prevent breakdown of the individual capacitors.

Extra:

1. Question #4: What factors determine the core losses in a transformer? Core losses are one of two types, hysteresis and eddy-current losses. Hysteresis losses vary with the type and volume of iron or steel used in the core and with the operating frequency and magnetic flux density. Eddy-current losses vary with the volume and resistance of the core material, the thickness of the laminations, and frequency and the flux density.
2. Question #7: In a Class-C r.f. amplifier, what ratio of load impedance to dynamic plate impedance will give the greatest plate efficiency? The highest possible load impedance will give the greatest efficiency, since the ratio of the power in the load to power lost in the plate becomes larger as the ratio of load impedance is increased. However, under these conditions, the power output is relatively small.
3. Question #12: During 100 percent sinusoidal amplitude modulation, what percentage of the average output power is in the sidebands? 33 1/3% The average power output would increase 50% with such modulation; i.e., a 100-watt unmodulated carrier output would rise to 150 watts. Sidebands carry the excess of 50 watts, which is 1/3 the total.
4. Question #25: What are synchronizing pulses as used in television transmitters and receivers? Synchronizing pulses used in television transmitters and receivers are pulses of extremely short duration which ensure that trace lines across the face of the picture tube in the receiver are synchronized with the trace lines in the television camera.
5. Question #34: What determines the operating frequency of a magnetron oscillator? Its dimensions and the electric and magnetic field intensities; also, the associated circuit constants.
6. Question #46: If the conductors in a 2-wire r.f. transmission line are replaced by larger conductors, how is the surge impedance affected, assuming no change in the center-to-center spacing of the conductor? The surge impedance is lowered.
7. Question #63: What is the purpose of the mosaic plate in a television camera? To what item of photographic equipment is it similar in function? To store an electrical image corresponding to the visual image focused upon it, for later scanning by an electron beam to translate the electrical image into a television signal. Its function is similar to that of the film in a photographic camera, which similarly stores the image for later development.
8. Question #92: What are the "Baudot" and "Seven Unit" codes? How are they used? Both are used in teleprinter operation. Baudot used with synchronous printers, 7-unit with start-stop printers. Each transmitted character has assigned to it a fixed time interval divided into units, 5 for Baudot and 7 for 7-unit teletype. A particular character is distinguished by a unique combination of mark and space units in that particular codes being used in all cases.
9. Question #120: What is the meaning of the term "frequency swing" in reference to frequency-modulation transmitters? The peak difference between the maximum and minimum values of the instantaneous frequency.
10. Question #136: What is the ohms per volt of a voltmeter constructed of a 0-1 d.c. milliammeter and a suitable resistor which makes the full-scale reading of the meter 500 volts? 1000 ohms per volt.
11. Question #181: What is meant by low-level modulation? That applied to an early or intermediate stage of a transmitter (instead of to the final amplifier) i.e., at a point where the power level is comparatively low.
12. Question #204: State where antenna impedance is usually measured. At the point where the antenna is fed. The value so measured is frequently converted into an equivalent value at a current loop.
13. Question #219: Define a "back-wave" and explain what causes it. A signal emitted during key-up conditions. In make-break keying, it may be caused by energy from unkeyed exciter stages leaking through a keyed amplifier (because of improper neutralizations, etc.) or by parasitic oscillation. In frequency-shift keying the "space" signal in the back-wave.

Could you pass the 1965 Ham License exam?

1965 ARRL FCC
License Manual

I was at an estate sale a couple of weeks back and came across a couple of books that got my attention, The Radio Amateur's License Manual and How to Become a Radio Amateur. Unfortunately I didn't get to find out the callsign of whoever it was that had the books.

The license manual covered all of the classes of licenses available at the time: Novice, Technician, General, Conditional (same as General but test taken by mail), Advanced (not available to new applicants), and Extra.


As I scoped out the book, I found some interesting rules that the FCC enforced at the time:

• If you wanted to take the test or renew, you paid $4, and it was good for 5 years. If you changed your address, it was $2.
• Callsigns must be transmitted at the beginning of each transmission, every 10 minutes, and at the end of each transmission (currently hams don't need to identify at the beginning).
• Novices retained their callsigns for a year and must upgrade.
• Hams violating FCC rules faced a $500 fine per day during which the offense occurs.
• Logs were kept of each QSO and must show:
  •  Date & time of transmission  
  •  Signature of each operator
  •  Call of the station contacted
  • Power
  • Frequency
  • Emission type
  • Location
  • Message traffic handled

• Hams had to notify the FCC Engineer-in-Charge if they intended to operate mobile longer than 48 hours.
• If an applicant failed an exam, they had to wait 30 days to re-take the exam.
• The book cost 50 cents, and included the FCC Part 97 rules and regulations.

The other manual
I bought

Some rules have obviously changed. 

What struck me even more was that many of the questions from the Novice/General/Extra questions were pretty tough. Even with my electronics education and background, it was amazing how intricate many of the questions were. Unlike today's question pools, the 1965 pool did not include multiple choice answers with the wrong answers included, but the exams were multiple choice. It also wanted the reader to draw out certain circuits.

So here are some sample questions in the Novice, General, and Extra class exam pool. See how many you can answer. I'll post the correct answers in 24 hours:

Novice:

1. Question #9: What method of frequency control is required to be used in the transmitter of a station licensed to the holder of a Novice Class License?
2. Question #13: What is the maximum permissible percentage of modulation of an amateur radiotelephone station?
3. Question #17: What is the relationship between a fundamental frequency and its second harmonic; its third harmonic, etc.?
4. Question #23: How is the actual power input to the tube or tubes supplying energy to the antenna of an amateur transmitter determined?
5. Question #27: What is meant by a "parasitic" oscillation?

General:

1. Question #1: Name the basic units of:
   • electrical resistance
   • inductance
   • capacitance
   • current
   • electromotive force or potential difference
   • power
   • energy
   • quantity
   • magneto-motive force
   • frequency
    
2. Question #10: What is the principal reason for using a filter in a plate power-supply system?
3. Question #19: What undesirable effects may result from operation of an unneutralized triode r.f. amplifier in a transmitter?
4. Question #69: What is meant by a "doubler" stage?
5. Question #71: What is the reciprocal of resistance?
6. Question #106: What precaution should be taken to protect filter capacitors connected in series?

Extra:

1. Question #4: What factors determine the core losses in a transformer?
2. Question #7: In a Class-C r.f. amplifier, what ratio of load impedance to dynamic plate impedance will give the greatest plate efficiency?
3. Question #12: During 100 percent sinusoidal amplitude modulation, what percentage of the average output power is in the sidebands?
4. Question #25: What are synchronizing pulses as used in television transmitters and receivers?
5. Question #34: What determines the operating frequency of a magnetron oscillator?
6. Question #46: If the conductors in a 2-wire r.f. transmission line are replaced by larger conductors, how is the surge impedance affected, assuming no change in the center-to-center spacing of the conductor?
7. Question #63: What is the purpose of the mosaic plate in a television camera? To what item of photographic equipment is it similar in function?
8. Question #92: What are the "Baudot" and "Seven Unit" codes? How are they used?
9. Question #120: What is the meaning of the term "frequency swing" in reference to frequency-modulation transmitters?
10. Question #136: What is the ohms per volt of a voltmeter constructed of a 0-1 d.c. milliammeter and a suitable resistor which makes the full-scale reading of the meter 500 volts?
11. Question #181: What is meant by low-level modulation?
12. Question #204: State where antenna impedance is usually measured.
13. Question #219: Define a "back-wave" and explain what causes it.