Posts Tagged ‘SARC Communicator’
The Communicator March – April 2025
February 28th, 2025 | 
Author: You will find some great articles in this issue, along with our regular columnists.
Now read in over 165 countries, this issue brings you 115+ pages of Amateur Radio content from the Southwest corner of Canada and around the globe. With less fluff and ads than other Amateur Radio publications, you will find Amateur Radio related articles, projects, profiles, news, tips and how-to's for all levels of the hobby.
Download the January - February Communicator in
LARGE or SMALL format, or read it on-line like a magazine
Previous Communicator issues:
Search for past Communicator issues
We are working on providing you with a comprehensive searchable index,
but in the meantime a searchable topic index is HERE.
As always, thank you to our contributors, and your feedback is always welcome.
The deadline for the next edition is April 15th.
If you have news or events from your club or photos, stories, projects or other items of interest from BC or elsewhere, please contact us at [email protected]
73,
John VE7TI
'The Communicator' Editor
The Table of Contents for the March - April 2025 Communicator issue:
- The Rest of the Story - Alfred Lewis Vail 4
- Bob King G3ASE: World War II RSS Monitor 8
- World Amateur Radio Day 10
- News You Can’t Lose - BandOpticon 12
- Page13—News You Can Lose 13
- Radio Ramblings: Passive Radar Update, BladeRF SDR, $5 Yagi 14
- The Wobbulator 25
- Rubber Coating Removal 28
- Dealing With Leaking Dry Cells 29
- An affordable and easy PCB vise solution for electronics hobbyists 30
- The ‘7300’ User Group - The spectrum scope and waterfall 31
- Remote control and operation 34
- Do you own an Alinco DR/135/235/435T or TYT9000? 37
- The Background Noise on the HF Amateur Bands 38
- BCQP 2025 — Initial Thoughts 44
- From the ATV Journal - An Impressive, Low Cost LNA 46
- Pi Pico Makes SSTV Reception a Snap 49
- ISED Releases New Canadian Basic Amateur Radio Question Bank 50
- Forget the Coax, Use Cat 6 52
- Ohm’s Law: Look what you can do with it 53
- Stranded: An Unlikely Friendship 55
- A satellite primer 58
- A DMR Primer 59
- Those Darn Wall-Wart Power Supplies! 60
- Operation Manna @ 80: Honouring the legacy through amateur radio 63
- Ham Radio Gizmos Platform Launches Documentary Series 66
- Ham Radio Outside the Box: An Off-Center Fed Sleeve Dipole 67
- Are You a Rag Chewer or a “59 73” Operator? 70
- 2 Meters: Another Slacker DXpedition 71
- KB6NU: How do we encourage more experimentation in amateur radio? 74
- What CAD software do you use? 75
- SARC on 24 GHz! 76
- The Solar Max: Is a second peak coming? 77
- Foundations of Amateur Radio 78
- No-ham Recipes: Toad-in-the-hole 81
- Back to Basics: Understanding Ohm's Law 82
- Profiles of SARC members 88
- Index of Past Profiles of SARC members 90
- Winter Field Day 95
- A Review of Distracted Driving Regulations in BC 109
- QRT: The Crucial Role of Amateur Radio 110
The SARC Communicator – January-February 2025
New desktop publishing software opens up even more possibilities for the SARC Communicator, the digital periodical of Surrey Amateur Radio Communications. This issue is now available for viewing or download. Another new feature is a smaller version, best suited for mobile devices, available here for viewing or download. The advantage of the larger version being higher resolution graphics and photos.
The best new feature, in my opinion, is the ability to provide you with a compete Table of Contents [below]. This should enable better accessibility from search engines.
You will find some great articles in this issue, along with our regular columnists.
Now read in over 165 countries, we bring you 120+ pages of Amateur Radio content from the Southwest corner of Canada and elsewhere. With less fluff and ads than other Amateur Radio publications, you will find Amateur Radio related articles, projects, profiles, news, tips and how-to's for all levels of the hobby.
Download the January - February Communicator in
LARGE or SMALL format, or read it on-line like a magazine
Previous Communicator issues:
Search for past Communicator issues
and a full searchable index is HERE.
As always, thank you to our contributors, and your feedback is always welcome.
The deadline for the next edition is February 15th.
If you have news or events from your club or photos, stories, projects or other items of interest from BC or elsewhere, please contact us at [email protected]
73,
John VE7TI
'The Communicator' Editor
The Table of Contents for the January-February 2025 Communicator issue:
- The Rest of the Story: Charles Wheatstone 4
- News You Can’t Lose: Field Day results are in 12
- Page13—News You Can Lose 13
- Radio Ramblings: Reflections 15
- Does the Ghost of Salvador Dali Haunt ChatGPT? 26
- Tech: A transceiver on your Android phone 27
- Xiegu G90 Review 28
- Another Tape Measure Antenna 31
- POTA is Calling - Will you answer? 32
- A Different Kind of Foxhunt 34
- USA Radio Orienteering Championship 35
- Mastering iCOM HF: A deep dive into filtering capabilities 37
- Schooling ChatGPT on Antenna Misconceptions 42
- LIDS: The Less Involved Data Society 43
- Experimental Maritime Mobile on 630m 44
- From the ATV Journal 48
- B.C. QSO Party 50
- A Light Dipole 52
- An Easy Field Strength Meter 53
- AMSAT - OSCAR 7 55
- Dutch Amateur Radio Operators Detect Signals From Voyager 1 56
- Update on the Local High Altitude Balloon Project 57
- They Don’t Make ‘em Like They Used To… 58
- LingoSat ISS Deployment 59
- Canadian Amateur Radio Hall of Fame Appointments 2024 60
- The Santa Barbara 1925 Earthquake 62
- Ham Radio Outside the Box: Antenna height matters 65
- What Did Beethoven Do For Ham Radio? 68
- VE9KK - The World of CW: I am at peace with the RFI gods 69
- K0NR - 2 Meters: Handie-Talkie or Walkie-Talkie? 71
- Which Modes Have You Operated? 73
- KB6NU’s Ham Radio: Hurricane Helene 74
- Pico-based SDR runs stand-alone 75
- Foundations of Amateur Radio: The venerable QSL bureau 76
- No-ham Recipe: Oatmeal brown bread 79
- Back to Basics: Codes & encryption 80
- Profiles of SARC Members: Jeanne Wilson VA7QD 88
- CQ WW DX Contest [CW] 92
- ARRL 10m Contest 94
- RAC Winter Contest 96
- SARC News… 97
- SEPAR Report 103
- Ham Leftovers... 107
- QRT: Blog vs PDF? 108
The September – October SARC Communicator
We're back!
Read in over 150 countries, we bring you 125+ pages of Amateur Radio content from the Southwest corner of Canada and elsewhere. With less fluff and ads than other Amateur Radio publications, you will find Amateur Radio related articles, projects, profiles, news, tips and how-to's for all levels of the hobby.
You can view or download it as a .PDF file:
Previous Communicator issues:
Search for past Communicator issues
and a full index is HERE.
As always, thank you to our contributors, and your feedback is always welcome.
The deadline for the next edition is October 15th and we're especially looking for articles and stories about 3D printing for amateur radio.
If you have news or events from your club or photos, stories, projects or other items of interest from BC or elsewhere, please contact us at [email protected]
73,
John VE7TI
'The Communicator' Editor
The July-August 2024 SARC Communicator
Hello summer...
With another big Summer issue. The July-August 2024 Communicator, digital periodical of Surrey Amateur Radio Communications is now available for viewing or download.
Read in over 150 countries, we bring you 120+ pages of Amateur Radio content from the Southwest corner of Canada and elsewhere. With less fluff and ads than other Amateur Radio publications, you will find Amateur Radio related articles, projects, profiles, news, tips and how-to's for all levels of the hobby.
You can view or download it as a .PDF file:
Previous Communicator issues:
Search for past Communicator issues
and a full index is HERE.
As always, thank you to our contributors, and your feedback is always welcome.
The deadline for the next edition is August 15th.
If you have news or events from your club or photos, stories, projects or other items of interest from BC or elsewhere, please contact us at [email protected]
73,
John VE7TI
'The Communicator' Editor
The May-June 2024 SARC Communicator Journal
Heading into summer...
With another big issue. The May-June 2024 Communicator, digital periodical of Surrey Amateur Radio Communications is now available for viewing or download.
Read in over 150 countries, we bring you 120 pages of Amateur Radio content from the Southwest corner of Canada and elsewhere. With less fluff and ads than other Amateur Radio publications, you will find Amateur Radio related articles, projects, profiles, news, tips and how-to's for all levels of the hobby.
You can view or download it as a .PDF file:
Previous Communicator issues are at:
Search for past Communicator issues
and a full index is HERE.
As always, thank you to our contributors, and your feedback is always welcome.
The deadline for the next edition is June 15th.
If you have news or events from your club or photos, stories, projects or other items of interest from BC or elsewhere, please contact us at [email protected]
73,
John VE7TI
'The Communicator' Editor
The March – April 2024 SARC Communicator is now available
Another big issue
The March - April 2024 Communicator, digital periodical of Surrey Amateur Radio Communications is now available for viewing or download.
Read in over 150 countries, we bring you 120 pages of Amateur Radio content from the Southwest corner of Canada and elsewhere. With less fluff and ads than other Amateur Radio publications, you will find Amateur Radio related articles, projects, profiles, news, tips and how-to's for all levels of the hobby.
You can view or download it as a .PDF file:
Previous Communicator issues are at:
https://ve7sar.blogspot.com/search/label/The%20Communicator
and a full index is HERE.
As always, thank you to our contributors, and your feedback is always welcome.
The deadline for the next edition is April 15th.
If you have news or events from your club or photos, stories, projects or other items of interest from BC or elsewhere, please contact us at [email protected]
73,
John VE7TI
'The Communicator' Editor
Restoring a rusty old tower (revisited)
Like being given a 'free' dog...
A BIG Project!
(from The Communicator - August 2013)
Three years ago I received a free tower and rotator. I’ll write about the rotator in another instalment but I’ve since discovered that some ‘free’ ham gear is like being given a free dog… you have to be aware of the hidden costs.
I had never had a tower but always wanted one. I’d been satisfied with my Carolina Windom, an off-centre fed dipole at 25 feet off the ground, that let me use most HF bands right up to 80m. It served me well, and still does but greater involvement in contesting and the desire to move up to a more directional antenna encouraged me to make the move.
Fortunately I have a wife who is also a ham, though not particularly active, but she knows the thrill I get when working a new country or breaking through a pile-up. She was supportive in my quest. Coincidentally I also had to replace the deck on our 30 year-old house. That provided another incentive to get the project started and find the right location. Our old laundry line was accessible from the deck at a corner of the house. The new deck, with glass panels around it would no longer allow this so the new tower would have to do double-duty as the anchor for the clothesline as well. I decided that it would be a light-duty tower as I didn’t have the space for a full-size tower, and I wanted to keep peace with my neighbours.
I spread the word among my fellow club members that I was looking. Pretty soon an offer came in of five ten-foot sections of light duty tower. I picked them up and it was immediately evident that some work would be needed before they would be safe and usable. Thick rust had eaten though much off the galvanized surface. Several of the cross-member welds had broken and one section was noticeably bent. I knew my wife wouldn’t be pleased if I attempted to place that within view.
Over the next several days I spent time washing down my new acquisition, which had evidently spent time behind someone’s shed, judging by the weeds, caked mud and dead critters in and outside the tubing. I also spent some Internet time researching whether I could revitalize this tower and how to go about it.
My daughter-in-law manages a paint store and was able to provide me with some technical advice on surface preparation and coatings. I knew I would have to paint the sections for my wife to accept them right outside her kitchen window. Colour would also be a factor.
I bought two brass wire wheels and some emery paper and set to work to clean off as much loose rust as I could with my power drill. It worked well and a day later I was done. Based on my Internet findings, and helpful reviews by previous users, I tried three products to tackle the remaining rust. From left to right on the adjoining photo they were Permatex brand ‘Rust Dissolving Gel’, ‘Evapo-Rust’ by Rust-stop Canada, and Rust Check brand ‘Rust Converter’. All were applied according to the provided directions and they performed their intended function. The gel, being thicker, clung to the parts better but was much slower and required a lot of re-coating to keep working. The other two products were thinner and more difficult to keep in place, but they produced faster results. If these were small pieces that could be submerged it would be no contest, but keeping to a short section at a time and using a paint brush to keep the area wet with solution clearly showed the Evapo-Rust product to be the most suitable, and the fastest. It also appears to be the most environmentally friendly of the three, though I wouldn't recommend doing this job on your lawn, as I started to do. Yes, the grass did eventually grow back.
The surface was now free of rust and, after another scrub, was ready for inspection. I looked closely at each crosstie and at every weld. Suspicious ones were marked. Several were obviously cracked or already split. With the assistance of Fred Orsetti VE7IO, the welds were repaired. I was ready for paint!
I would have used an oil based primer and top-coat but my expert advised me against it and she was correct. According to the product sheets for such coatings, it is not recommended that you use an oil based product on galvanized surfaces. The paint will release and peel off after a time—and I didn’t fancy the thought of doing this again in a couple of years. There are special coatings available in a spray can specifically for galvanized metal but they are quite expensive with small coverage, exacerbated by the necessity to get inside and out and into all the nooks and crannies around the welds. I decided a brush was the better applicator for that job.
We, (read-in wife-approval mandatory) decided the least noticeable colour on our wooded lot would be a camouflage green. As a result of my ‘colour-Googling’ I had actually suggested a multi-colour camo paint scheme but that was vetoed as being too ‘military looking’, and so the appropriate latex primer and top-coat were tinted. It took exactly one litre each of primer and top coat to paint the five sections twice, with extra coatings on the welds. I used an air sprayer on the legs for the final coat.
Next came even tougher work. I had to remove a section of my cement patio to make the appropriate foundation and dig a big hole. There were brackets available that could be surface mounted but I’m a ‘belt and suspenders’ kind of guy and I wanted this thing in a block of concrete. If guys are not used, the tower manufacturer recommends fastening a section to the house as high up as possible, in my case that was just near the top of the 2nd section. I visited my local scrap yard and purchased some heavy-duty angle aluminium by the pound. I cut pieces to make an equilateral triangle and bolted one to the top plate of the house, running two arms to adjacent tower legs where they were secured by U-bolts. It’s steady as a rock. I used stainless steel hardware for all the section to section connectors in case I ever want (or have to) take it apart. That time is approaching as I have completed a rebuild of a rotator and HF Yagi that will go up in the spring.
It has now been two years plus and the tower shows no signs of either rust or paint failure. It was a lot of effort but I’m pleased I did it. Even with my Carolina Windom centred at the top of the tower, much higher than before, I’m getting much more activity across all the bands.
The sections above the roof blend in nicely with the trees. The final touch was to place flower baskets on the rungs at each level. We now refer to it as the ‘Tower of Flower’ and surprise… the neighbours even say it looks good.
~ John VE7TI
