1 MAY 1988 1 $2.

50
LMOSeRELIABLE HFg
"Of all the ssible radios, I chose 12 Tunable Memories operate and
F
the ICOM 1 -735 for my CQWW QRP
world record attempt.'
re rogram like 12 separate
v $0's. Supreme flexibility!
nannu
- - ,t5km.i:
-~ > ORP
K7SS Wid Hlah - %ore Additional Options: SM-10
graphic equalized mic. PS-55 AC
~ ~~ ~

1987 COWW SSR IPJZFRI'

,1986 COWPX SSB IK7SS WH61
.I986 ARRL DX PHONE A CW lK7SS KH61 power supply, AT-150 automatic
antenna tuner for base operation.
ICOM's IC.735.. .a proven win-
ICOM's IC-735 is the world's ner for reliable worldwide HF com.
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the highest performance, smallest Optiona! AH.2 Automatic Tuning local ICOM dealer.
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tion of any HF transFelver, the
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:I..iMH7-:IOMHz And tracks with
the IC-735's tuned frequencies.
All HF Amateur Bands and Modes
A
W
operations.

ICOM
lus general covera e reception
Field Proven 100W nansmitter
!ram IOOKH~-~OM&.
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105dB Dynamic Range Receiver
ICOM Amerlca. Inc
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includes passband tuning. IF 3150 Prem~erDr~ve.Su~te126 lwlng TX 75063
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ICOM CANADA A D~v~slon .
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 THE ALL NEW PRIVATE PATCH IV BY CSI HAS MORE
COMMUNICATIONS POWER THAN EVER BEFORE
Initiate phone calls from your HT or mobile
Receive incoming phone calls
N~vv! Telephone initiated control. . .
, Operate your base station with complete control from any telephone
Change frequencies from the controlling telephone
H Selectively call mobiles using regenerated DTMF from any telephone
,A Eavesdrop the channel from any telephone
,/ Use as a wire remote using ordinary dial up lines and a
speaker phone as a control head.

RCONNECT

-I-lva~t! Patch IZL

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The new telephone initiated control ' , :NEW FEATURE Connects t o MIC and ext.
capabilities are awesome. Imagine speaker jack on any radio. Or
having full use and full control of connect internally if desired.
your base station radio operating Can be connected to any HT.
straight simplex or through any re- (Even those with a two wire inter-
peater from any telephone! From face.)
your desk at the office, from a pay Can be operated simplex,
phone, from a hotel room, etc. You through a repeater from a base
can even change the operating station or connected directly to
channel from the touchpad! a repeater for semi-duplex opera-
Our digital VOX processor flips your tion.
conversation back and forth fully 20 minutes typical connect time
automatically. There are no buttons Made in U.S.A.
i t o press as in phone remote
; devices. And you are in full control
100% of the time! OPTIONS
The new digjtal dialtone detector 1. % second electronic voice delay
will automatically disconnect Pri- 2. FCC registered coupler
vate Patch IV if you forget to send # 3. CW ID chip
(to remotely disconnect) before
hanging up. This powerful feature
will prevent embarassing lock-ups.
The importance of telephone in-
itiated control for emergency or
disaster communications cannot be ,, 2,1 < j l i 1 <,A 1 r 1 1 117 11 A I I l ~ ~ r ~ l t ~ r r . CONNECT
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overstated. Private Patch IV gives i~r~Nll~lllllllrlt~~~~~~~~~t,lh~~
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 Affordable
TS-140s
DX-ing! I
M. CH/VFO CH sub-cl~al. 10 kHz step
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coverage receiver. Selectable full (OSK) or semi
Compact, easy-to-use, full of oper- break-in CW.
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Covers all HFAmateur bands with
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New Feature! Programmable band
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MARS operat~on,r k r r r r r r relrl~!redl Famous Kenwood interference ptioncr IF-232CIlF-10C co~iipirler~nlerface
.All modes built-in. LSB. USB, C w FM reducing circuits. IF shift, dual noise MA-51VP-1HF rnotlll,, .lnlnnna (5 bands)
and AM. 9 MB-430 nloh~le b r ; ~ ~ k e l MC-43sextra
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Superior receiver dynamic range rn<il,ilrnllc MC-60AIMC-801MC-85dcsk mlcs
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All-mode multi-bander
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 ham
magazine

contents
9 the W8JK antenna
for 40,30 and 20 meters
Ralph Fowler, N6YC

26 pathfinder:
improved minimuf program
Ron Todd, K3FR

36 ham radio techniques:

w h y not a two-element Yagi
Bill Orr, W6SAI

43 the Quad antenna: part 1

general concepts
R.P. Haviland, W4MB

60 practically speaking:
feedback
Joe Carr, K41PV

74 a shortened 40-meter
four-element
sloping dipole array
Jurgen A. Weigl, OE5CWL

80 VHFIUHF world:
power splitters and summers
Joe Reisert, W l J R

102 Elmer's notebook:

Canada. antenna tuner
All Tom McMullen, W l S L

106 advertisers index 58 ham notebook

6 comments 96 new products
92 DX forecaster 106 reader service
98 flea market 4 reflections
100 ham mart 57.59 short circuits

May 1988 3
 REFLECT IONS

changes
Like the regeneration and change that come every spring, ham radio is feeling the first stirrings of
new life.
Over the long winter months we've been listening to you. Your comments in letters to the editor, phone
conversations, and on the bands, have been carefully gathered and mulled over by those of us who bring
you the magazine you want to read.
Our readers are as varied as Amateur Radio itself. There are the Novices, just learning the language and
venturing to build that first rig. There are the old-timers with many hours on the air and tons of experience
putting together special homebrew projects. Some of you have highly technical backgrounds and want
to know all the theory behind everything you undertake. Others -- into Amateur Radio just for the fun
of it -- simply want t o build something that works.
A lot of you say ham radio is just the magazine you're looking for. Many readers are hooked on the
new technology and, with the articles offered in HR, are busy devising new setups. Others lament the
proliferation of digital articles, and are nostalgic for the days when computers were big machines that took
up entire buildings and certainly wouldn't fit in the ham shack!
This magazine is for you and we need your help to keep it that way. Write to me or our technical editors,
Marty, NBIH, or Bob, WAITKH. Let us know what types of articles you'd like to see more of and what
you could do without. You can help us shape the magazine.
You say you want solid technical material and projects, projects, projects! Why not help us out? Write
something up about that gizmo you just built and send it in. It's great to see your idea in print, and you
get paid for your efforts!
Don't know how to put it on paper? Send for our Authors' Guide, which gives tips on how to write
for ham radio. If you're going to Dayton, stop by our booth. Or catch me at the Writer's Forum; I'll be
there and will be happy t o answer any questions.
All of us are more than willing to work with you t o make ham radio the finest Amateur magazine. Your
ideas, suggestions, and articles are all welcome. Drop us a line or call and say hello. We're waiting to hear
from you.
Terry Northup
Managing Editor

4 May 1988
 When color was introduced it was and similar errors throughout the
desirable that the color system be article. While as an ATVer I am grati-
compatible with existing black and fied that any magazine is willing to
white receivers. As developed, the devote some space to television tech-
color sub carrier is a multiple of the nology, I would have preferred that it
horizontal rate so that the sidebands had been edited by a person who was
interleve in the rf spectrum. The small also familiar with the subject so that
adjustment in scanning rates from 60 these errors would have been found,
to 59.94 and from 15,750 to 15,734 since articles are used as reference in
was done in order to provide close conversations, QSOs, etc.
compatibility between color and black I have found your magazine to be
and white signals, so that the TV sets excellent in technical matters but this
would still work without adjustment. is one area where there should have
England had more difficulties because been some reference checks.
they went from a 405 line B&W signal Henry B. Ruh, KB9FO
to a 625 line color signal. Intermediate former editor A5 Magazine.
sets had large switching systems to go
between the different scanning rates.
remarks on television
Fortunately, the 405 line system was
series largely on VHF channels and the new battery storage
Dear HR: color system was on UHF channels. Dear HR:
There are several points in "the The use of a satellite signal as fre- l wish to comment on "A Battery-
technology of television part 1: histor- quency is not good practice. It is better backed Master Power System," which
ical aspects," December 1987, which to use a good stable sync generator. appeared in your January 1988 issue.
are inaccurate. The reference to 60 Modern units can remain accurate to The statement advising "...don't
fields and 15.750 horizontal frequency within one cycle per month at the color place the battery on a cement surface;
is rounded and not precise. The rea- carrier frequency of 3.579545 MHz. A the calcium in the floor will cause the
son for 60-Hz vertical rate is also not cesium or rhubidium standard was battery to die!" is utter nonsense!
precise. The use of a satellite signal used at the network level mainly be- The facts are that the battery doesn't
(network or otherwise) to establish cause of reliance on very early vintage care where it's placed, but a shallow
frequency accuracy is not good en- sync generators which did not have plastic pan placed under the battery is
gineering practice. this inherent stability. Current network nice in case of acid spills! A new auto-
Sixty hertz (at the time cycles per standards allow the use of rnodern motive battery has been sitting on my
second) was established because in sync gens without atomic reference garage floor (without a pan) for over
the early days of black and white tele- oscillators. The satellite signal is not a year, and is still very much alive. A
vision it was a simple matter to line rock stable. There are doppler shifts timer allows a trickle charge of about
lock the vertical sweep oscillator to the caused by the routine firing of stabil- 75 mA for four hours daily. Such a
ac mains. The human eye had become ity jets which keep the satellite stable system seems able to maintain a typi-
accustomed t o the 60-Hz flicker; the (or fixed) at a particular orbital park- cal battery in "suspended animation"
60-Hz flicker of the TV would be "in ing spot. However, there is always for a very long time. A duration of
sync" with the light flicker and not be some wandering because of the grav- eight years has been verified with the
noticed. Interlace scanning was devel- itational influences of the moon, sun, test battery showing no measurable
oped because the persistence of early etc., which prevent the "geo-station- degradation.
phosphors was such that with non- ary" satellite from being perfectly Batteries placed on concrete floors
interlace 30-Hz vertical rate the picture stable. If the source switches ere non- and allowed to stand idle (no charging)
had a noticeable fade-out following the synchronous, so is your gen-lock. have been monitored for long periods
beam trace, much like a modern scope Few network stations would take the of time using continuous chart record-
on slow sweep or early P7 SSTV mon- chance of having a sync-gen relock ers. The degradation is identical with
itors. To improve on this, the scan was during a local program, commercial, or batteries placed anywhere else - slow
changed to 60 Hz and the vertical news, so this practice is not encour- self-discharge, depending on previous
scanning was interlaced to minimize aged. The networks do not make 100 battery history and storage tempera-
the effect of phosphor persistence percent in-sync switches and do not ture. Some sulphation should be ex-
fading. feel obliged t o do so. pected in about six months.
The current NTSC scanning rates As an engineer with 22 years exper- R.E. Elmore, W5JHJ
are not 60115750 but 59.95 and 15,734. ience in broadcasting I found these South Tulsa, Oklahoma 74145

6 011 May 1988

 Double Vision ,, -

'V-7z4A Separate frequency display for

"main" and "sut>-band:'
45 Watts on 2 meters. 35 watts on
l ) u ~;ln!(tnnn
I
Full duplex operation.
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Deluxe FM dual bander 70 cm. Approx. 5 watts low power. scanning, with memory channel
TheKenwoodTM-721Are-defines *Callchannelfunction.Aspecial lock-out and prlority watch function.
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~ ~ o g ~ a m m a b l e s c a ~ ~ ~ ~ Dual g , ~watch
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.
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hand mic.. mounting bracket, DC cable.

I ,,,,>,#lr.,,- . . P < " , , ~",,,"

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age IS 438.000-449.995 MHz. (Specifl- .,,lt~17r,,,..,,r,- .,,I,,~., ,,, ,, ' , t , ,,.,I$c,8,;

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over 100 productc bx494, state, MS 39762 In Canada Call EXPRO 416-332-5944.

8 fa M a y 1988 MFJ . . . making quality affordable / 177

 the W8JK antenna
for 40, 30 and 20 meters
Face lift for an old friend will work without significantly affecting the charac-
teristics of this antenna. This gives a dimensional range
between 83 feet, 1.25 wavelengths on 20 meters, and
using unconventional 66 feet, one-half wavelength on 40 meters. There is
no advantage in cutting element lengths for resonance
construction and feeding in the 40-meter band because the VSWR remains very
high, and tuned feeders and/or a tuning network will
techniques be required in either case. All feedline lengths and
resonant frequencies discussed in this article are based
on 59-foot antenna element lengths. Changing ele-
ment lengths changes the feedline lengths required,
Here's a 40/30/20-meter antenna for both the but the same principles apply.
experimenter who likes to tinker with unusual wire I recommend using 12-foot bridle arms with the
antennas and the seasoned Amateur looking for low- bridles spaced close to the antenna supports as shown
band operation equivalent to a three-element Yagi at in fig. 2. Adjust the element lengths within the above
elevations below one-half wavelength. Its odd appear- limits. These adjustments don't affect operation or
ance has raised quite a few eyebrows at my location. match, since this antenna is operated as a nonresonant
Performance has been more than satisfactory and it one and uses tuned feeder lengths - this will make
was pure fun t o build. the impedance at the feeder input purely resistive. If
The W8JK is a close-spaced array, constructed as length A in fig. 2 is excessive, midpoint sag will quickly
two coplanar dipoles less than one-quarter wavelength increase (unless tension is increased), and antenna
apart and driven (usually) 180 degrees out of phase. height will decrease. If the bridle arms are significantly
It can be configured as a two-element array with each less than 12 feet, the bending moment on the 2 by
dipole approximately one-half wavelength long, or as 4 inch bridle supports will increase dramatically,
a four-element array with each dipole approximately causing them to break under the necessary 100-pound
one wavelength long as in fig. 1. By making each tension. Unacceptable antenna droop occurs with less
dipole approximately one-half wavelength long on 40 than 100 pounds of tension. There is considerable in-
meters with one-eighth wavelength spacing, the sys- teraction between the tension, bridle arm length, mid-
tem operates as a two-element array on 40 meters with point sag and loads on the bridle support. Keep this
around 4.2 dB gain, and as a four-element array on in mind if you must adjust the dimensions to accom-
20 meters with about 5.7 dB gain. Spacing and phase odate your supports. If you use the dimensions shown
difference cause the fields of the two elements to be in fig. 2 and 100-pound counterweights, midpoint sag
subtractive and cancel in all directions except along will be about 6 feet.
the array axis. In this direction they produce the well-
known figure-eight pattern. For a detailed discussion construction
of close-spaced beams like the W8JK, see reference Antenna construction is complicated, as compared
1. The theory has already been well developed; this with a dipole or Vee, by the need t o feed both ele-
article is aimed at the practical details of construction ments 180 degrees out of phase. Keep the elements
and feeding. relatively coplanar and maintain spacing between the
wires. Do this by using bridles at each end of the
dimensional considerations antenna and a lightweight support at the midpoint.
Figure 2 shows how I built my version of the W8JK. The end bridle assemblies are made of lightweight
A dipole length of 59 feet and spacing of 16 feet were fir or pine two-by-fours 16 feet long. I first tried making
chosen for operation on 40 and 20 meters. These a truss assembly with PVC, but the design required
dimensions were a compromise between construction to give it rigidity became complicated and the weight
considerations (a 90-foot distance between my two soon exceeded that of a simple wooden member.
pine tree end supports) and theoretically recommend-
ed element lengths. Actually, any length between 1.25 By Ralph Fowler, NGYC, Route 1, Box 253R,
wavelengths and slightly less than one-half wavelength Pearl River, Louisiana 70452

May 1988 9
 fig. 1. Two- and four-element W8JK. (A) Shows two- and four-element arrays, (BI is a free space directive diagram of
a four-element array, (C) is a free space directive diagram of a two-element array. (Dl is the vertical pattern of a two-
and four-element array. Solid curve, height 112 wavelength; broken curve, height 1 wavelength.

Choose your lumber carefully and pick a lightweight, system), the closer the transferred impedance at the
knot-free, sap-free piece. (You'd be surprised how the input end of the feedline will be t o 50 ohms on 20
weight varies.) Weatherproof by applying two coats meters.
of spar varnish. Drill 114-inch holes near the ends to Use poly rope to truss the center support assembly
route the 114-inch polypropylene rope. Poly rope really and keep it from bending. The phasing lines are made
isn't the best because it eventually deteriorates when from No. 12 wire; they pass through wire ties which
exposed t o sunlight. I have had good luck with mine attach to 2-inch ceramic standoffs. (You can use
over the past 14 months, but a better choice is the Plexigla~'~ here but PVC is not recommended.) I
antenna rope advertised in ham magazines. attached the 450-ohm ladder line to the PVC with tape;
The center support is made of thinwall 2-1I 2 inch this hasn't been a problem at 100 watts output. With
PVC pipe as shown in fig. 2. It supports the phasing higher power, especially on 20 meters, the high feed-
lines and maintains element spacing. Keep the wide point resistance and VSWR create high rf voltages,
spacing of the phasing lines; it serves a useful func- so it may be necessary t o use good quality standoffs
tion. M y Smith chart analysis of the phase line im- here. PVC does not tolerate high rf voltages very well.
pedance transfer shows that the higher the impedance Because the end supports and antenna will sway
of this portion of the feedline (it is part of the feedline in the wind, you must allow for some movement.

10 M a y 1988
 of motion is divided equally between the two counter-
vy Duty a for tr
weights, and the resultant peak tension presented to
the wires and end insulators is decreased.
Antenna insulators are lightweight 2-1 12 by 12-inch
H POWER
:eramic with Coin Silver
- r r r P.E.
~

pieces of 112-inch thick Plexiglas, with 114-inch holes . Switch Contacts

carefully drilled and chamfered to minimize point load- YnQle Pole. 1 Poslton
ing, stress cracking, and failure. Ufbsk a wall mount
All unused pos~tlonsm n d e d
Pulleys should be the best you can afford and are,
in my opinion, the weakest part of the system. Those Csx;- uw ccmmm / $36.50'
C S 3 G B N C - B N C mnnectm/$U.95*
used in marine applications, though expensive, are
probably the best. I chose the common metal hard-
. ware store variety, approximately 4 by 3 inches, for Sng* Polo, 5 Posltlon.
All unused positions ~fcunded
$6 each. So far they haven't failed even though the
antenna has been subjected t o the sway of tall pines .CSM; UW . (-
F 1 1.50.
. C S 6 G B N C - BNC cmnectonl $59.50.
in 60-mph winds.
I used No. 12 gauge stranded CopperweldTM(don't
use ordinary softdrawn wire as it will stretch) for the 'Shlpplog and h0ndlinQforonv
elements. You must use a large-gauge wire because nm odd $2 each.
the antenna currents are relatively high as a conse-
quence of the low radiation resistance. Losses in the
wire can become considerable with small-gauge wire.
The efficiency of my antenna with respect to copper
losses is about 90 percent.

feeding the antenna

Before discussing antenna impedances, it is impor-
tant to distinguish between the array feedpoint im-
pedance (defined at the point where the 450-ohm
ladder line connects to the phasing line) and the
terminal impedance (at the ends of the elements where GLB NETLINK 220
the phasing lines connect). Feedline input impedance HIGH-SPEED DATA TRANSCEIVER
r,LR,,*,l. ,,, ., ., ,., , , , . ,., , . , , .,
,#,., ', . ...,' .4sn
' ' ;'. ,",r,o In"
is just that - the impedance at the transmitter end
1 ' ,,?
d..r*,.F.".~t,l .'lll,I."l,.lt I,. 5 , ., . li,.," I., ...' 1 1 ,*.,I.

b,,,!,,", ,4,,,,,,a, ",P,,, ,,,,,,,,"," ,,.,,,I $.",,,, ,,,,,,,, ,,..,,,>,#. " " a , , ~ ~ d , . " a " ~ > ! ~ ~ a , ~ , , " s ~ " ~ ~ " " g ! ~ T m ~ ~ r " ~ , ~
of the feedline. C"..,"ll,bll. *,$> ,,11"
,"a" ,,
,,,,,,,5,., a,," w.,,,,, bh,,
,,,,.
! a '..,."dl 1'1." lo'., .Ilh,,"ll lla.l,m#! 1" ,,.C~..",.
,,,,,,\
> .,v"q ,r8"5,,.n,., w,!*,,r3 ,be <m,,"rl,.l
.dl." I*.<*.," In Ilan<m.l, I" IC.55
A ,,,"#!.,? 5.,rno,nr> Art- , ! * , h %
This antenna's feedpoint impedance is low when ,,.n,m
(,*.*I
,,,,
.,I. ,,Inl1.,,nIt,.I1,,I.,.,
,,",."...,"
,,I,., n,,.. ,
"
l,,,l,,,, ci,,,, "il,*l.ll,lll ,,,,.
b,l"C, U,iq"l.liMI,f,llll.
,,,,,,,,. ,,..,,,,."..~,,.,, ,,,,,"
r,,: I,,*1,.1,1.1,. (,t.1.,lll,"
InaO"illi.n ,ha." .l,l:r
4, ,,"l".l<.6 r*c.s
operated at its fundamental half-wavelength frequen-
cy. A t 7.15 MHz, I calculated approximately 11 + j13
ohms based on calculator rotation of measurements
made at the input of the feedline. I t is higher at 14.15
MHz (the higher 1.25-wavelength frequency range) -
about 106-j578 ohms according to similar calcu-
lations. Because neither value will match common
feedline impedances, a high VSWR will exist and
open-wire feeder, such as 450-ohm ladder line, is
suggested (despite its reputation as a "fair weather
feedline") to minimize VSWR losses. Although other
types of balanced feedline can be used, 450-ohm
ladder line handles a kilowan and has the benefit of
having a Z,that is useful as an impedance transform-
er on 20 meters.
For those who choose other feedlines, fig. 3 shows
an approximate Smith chart representation (chart Z, ,- 1WQ 05
I ,". . . I", I"_ Sn .
u .I Ammleul ncl
is 385 ohms) of the impedance of this antenna (with L--?o,.*--."-Dd..--o",
DAYTON Last C I C ~ S 199 95
59-foot elements) at the antenna feedpoint (points B
,".-
--,,o-.-,,..,",--.~.,~.-,.,.*.
I-~i,r,~..-~r..,r.~w.
.-.w
0~th318 "<a w e -

/ 178
M a y 1988 GI 11
 =-j-+
4 e * C P L E x l G L A s lNsuLAToRs

PUASIN
LINES -

-- 2 9 ' 6 " ----- Fr ~ ~ + a m 13'-i

L A O J U S T TO FIT SUPPORT I P I C , N G
VERTICAL VIEW

COUNTERWEIGHT

2 ' CERaUIC STANDOFF

" . PLiXlGLAS OR PHENOLIC

WASUER ANCHOR INSULATOR
AND NUT

5 GALLON
PLASTIC BUCKET
(FORM)
1 0 0 POUNDS PHASING LINES

STANDOFF MOUNT

6 . X ?"PLEXIGLAS
CONNECTION POlNT
IS EOUlOlSTANT
FROM ENDS d

PVC TEE

(END VlEWl

- O H M LADDER LINE

fig. 2. W8JK construction.

and C on the chart). The chart was constructed with

IMPEDANCE OR LOYITTINCF COORDINATES
data gathered with my collection of homebrew test
equipment and "calculator rotated" to get at the feed-
point impedance. As such, it is approximate and useful
as a guide for feedline length determination. These im-
pedances can also be transformed on the fig. 3 Smith
chart or calculator rotated back along the 8.2 feet of
phasing lines to the antenna terminals themselves.
Using Vf = 0.97 and Z,= 400 ohms (estimated values)
for the phasing line, antenna impedance turns out to
be approximately 11 ohms at 7.93 MHz* and approx-
imately 5000 ohms at 15.86 MHz, the dipole resonant
frequencies. These terminal impedance values appear
to be within experimental tolerances of the theoretical
values. They are approximate due to the difficulty in

'The calculated radiation resistance of the array, approximately 11 ohms.

is significantly higher than the theoretical value, near 4 ohms. This is likely
because of the higher radiation resistance of the dipoles (estimated near 90
ohms), which are only 0.3 wavelengths above ground at 7.93 MHz. In any
fig. 3. Feedpoint and terminal impedances of W8JK. Zo
case, the increased resistance is beneficial. Residual reactance at 7.93 MHz.
= 385 ohms.
the dipole resonant frequency, is probably a result of slight mistuning be-
tween the elements and mutual reactance.

12 M a y 1988
 VarianIEIMAC h ~letecav- ldwidth and operating mode lan EIMAC, or the n e h e ~ s t k ,-?':~
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Tel: (0
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power
ync. or 2.5 I varian
Reader Service CHECK - OFF Page 106 r / 179 M a y 1988 L3 13
 fig. 4. BASIC listing of program for impedance "rotation" calculations.

10 RE3 lXI5 PR:>CU'I COSVERTS IYPE5AYCES. Q(?)/C(P) Tr)!?RO'l R(j)+jYfS),

m!:SFORVF
217 RE3 THEY ALOW 4 TSAYS'IISSION LIYE TQ N E Ah;V:TENNA'OR CESERATOR,
AYD CO'IFCTES
30 REY SUR, RETURN LOSS AVD REFLECTION COEFFICIENT.
40 REX
50 PRINT CHRS(~~~):PRINT:PRINT
60 PRINT "I. CONVERT R(P)/C(P) TO R(S)+JX(S)":PRINT
70 PRIXT "2. CONVERT R(S)+JX(S) TO R(P)/C(p)":PRINT
80 PRINT "3. COMPUTE SWR, RETURN LOSS AM] REF. COEFF.":PRINT
90 PRINT '%. R A N S F O W R(S)+JX(S) TO ANTENNA":PRINT
100 PRINT "5. TRANSFORM R(S)+JX(S) TO CENERAT0R":PRINT:PRINT:PRINT
.
110 1NPUT"CHOOSE OPTION.. .";OPT
120 PRINT CHRS(147):OPTS-""
130 ON OPT GOT0 180,390.580.780,1050
The "Flying Horse" I40 GOTO 50

I s e t s t h e standards I 150 REX

160 RE?(
170 REX
I80 REV M I S ROUTINE CONVERTS R(P)/C(P) FROH A PARALLEL TYPE NOISE BRIDGE
Continuing a 67 year tradltlon, we bring
YOU three new Callbooks for 1988. 190 REX TO 2-R(S)+SX(S). ENTER CAP. VAWES AS "-",IND. VAWES AS "+".
200 RE3
The N o r t h American Callbook lists the calls. 210 PRINT CHRS(147)
names. and address Information for 478.000
licensed radio amateurs i n all countries o f 220 1NPUT"INPUT R(P)";RP
N o r t h America, from Canada t o Panama 230 1NPUT"INPUT C(P) IN PF (CAP NECAT1VE)";CP
including Greenland. Bermuda, and the 240 1NPUT"INPUT FREQ IN HHZ";FR: M-FR*LE+06
Caribbean islands Plus Hawaii and the 250 X P - I I ( ~ * ~ * F U * C P * I E - I ~ )
U.S. ~ossessions. 260 RS-RP/(I+(RP/XP)O2)
The lnternatlonal Callbook lists 481.000 270 XS-RS*RPIXP
licensed radio amateurs i n countries outslde 280 XS-(IKT(IOO*XS))/lOO:RS-(INT(RS*100))/100
N o r t h America. I l s coverage includes South 290 1NPUT"EXTENDER USED ?";OPTS
America. Europe. Afrlca. Asia. and the
Pacific area (exclusive o f Hawail and the
300 IF OPTS-"Y" M E N RS-RS-LOO
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320 IF XS>-0 M E N PRINT "2-';RS;"+J';XS
The 1988 Callbook Supplement isa new Iaea
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330 IF XS<O M E N PRINT "2-";US;'-J";-XS
b o t h the N o r t h American and International 340 PRINT: PR1NT:OPTS-""
Callbooks. Published June 1. 1988. this 350 PR1NT"PRESS 'RETURN' TO RESTART -"
Supplement w i l l include thousands o f new 360 INPUT-ANY OTHER KEY TO REPEAT";OPTS
licenses, address changes, and call sign 370 IF OPTS-"" M E N PRINT CHRS(147):COTO 50
changes f o r the Preceding 6 months.
380 COT0 180
The 1988 Callbooks w l l l be published 390 REH
December 1. 1 9 8 7 . see your dealer o r order boo REH MIS ROUTINE CONVERTS Z-R(S)+JX(S) TO R(P)/c(P)
n o w directly f r o m the publisher.
410 REH
420 PRINT CHRS(147)
o N o r t h American Callbook 430 1NPUT"INPUT R(S)";RS
incl. shipping w i t h i n U S A $28.00 440 1NPUT"INPUT X(S)";XS
incl. shipping t o foreign countries 30.00
450 INPUT-INF'UT ZREQ (M1Z)";PR:Pn-FR*lE+OI
o international Callbook 460 RP-(RS~~+XSO~)/RS:XP-(RSO~+XSO~)IXS:CP-~E+I~/(~*~*F~*XP)
incl. shipping w i t h i n USA $30.00 470 RP-(IKT(100*RP))ILM):CPI(IM(100*CP))/100:PRIIFP:PRI~:PRINT
incl. shipping t o foreign countries 32.00
480 IF CP>-o mro 500
0 Callbook Supplement, Published June 1st 490 PRINT'R(P)-";RP;"OWS',"C(P)-';CP;"PF (CAP)':PRIKT:PRIKI:COTO 510
Incl. shipping w i t h i n USA $13.00 500 PRINT"R(P)-";RP;"OHWS','C(P)-';CP;'PP (1ND)':PRIKI:PRINT
incl. shlpplng t o foreign countries 14.00
510 OPTS-"'
SPECIAL OFFER 520 PR1NT"PRESS 'RETURN' TO RESTART -"
0 Both N.A. & lnternatlonal Callbooks 530 INFIJT'ANY OTHER KEY TO REPEAT";OPTS
lncl. shipping w i t h i n U S A $55.00 540 IF OPTS-"' THEN PRINT CHRS(147):COTO 50

......*
incl. shipping t o foreign countrles
f * . . .
60.00 550 PRINT CHRS(147):GOTO 390
560 REH
570 REH
I Illinois resldcnts Plessc add 611,'6 tax.
A l l payments must be i n U.S. funds. I 580 REH M I S ROUTINE CALCULATES SVR, REF. COEFF. AND RETURN W S S
590 REH
aca~~book
RADIO AMATEUR INC h n n PRINT CHRS(II~)
6 l l l 1NPUT"INFIJT ZO OF L1NE';ZO
1,,.,1(. f 620 1NPUT"INFIJT R(S)';RS
925 Sherwood Dr.. Box 247
LAke B l u f f . l L 60044. USA

14 M a y 1988
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 DOESNT
If you think it does work why
are there so many repeats?
HF-PACKET
Shouldn't we be sending
data? . . . NOT Repeats? WORK?
m
rn
C
*
This may be part of the Q
Problem. -u

--
3
c,
(Here3 a Hint Pick the frequencies
for Mark and Space Filters.) a
E
4

ireq. v (Hz

m
D

This is part of the

.
c
Q
Solution.
--
-a
I
c,
(Can you now find Mark and
Space Signals?) a
E
4

Frequency (Hz)

INTERESTED? HAL Communications has some answers.

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Phone 217- (07-7 %7%

v 182
16 M a y 1988
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640 RO-SQR(((RS-ZO)Q2+IS02)/((RS+ZO)O2+YSO2))
650 RL--?O*L~~~(RO)/LOC(IO):SWR-(I+RO)/(I-RO)
660 RO-(INT(LOO*RO))/IOO:RL-( INT(100*RL))/100:S~~(INT(100*SWR))/l00
670 P R I ~ PRINT:
: PRINT:OPT$-""
680 PR1NT"REF. COEFF -" ;RO:PRINT
690 PR1NT"RETURN LOSS =";RL;"dB":PRINT
700 PR1NT"SWR -" :SWR
710 PRINT:PRINT
720 PRINTWPRESS 'RETURN' TO RESTART -" ICOM
730 1NPUT"ANY OTHER KEY TO REPEAT";OPTS IC-781 New Deluxe HF Rig Call S
740 IF OPTS-"" THEN PRINT CHRS(L47):GOTO 50 IC-761 Loaded with Exlras Call $
750 PRINT CHRS(I47):GOTO 580 1C.735 Gen. Cvg Xcvr Call S
760 REH IC-751A Gen. Cvg Xcvr Call S
770 REH Recelvera
IC-R70W 25-1300, MHz Rcw Call S
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940 PR1NT:PRINT:PRINT:OPTS-"" KENWOOD
950 RL-(INT(~~~*RL))/~OO:XL-(INT(L~~*XL))/~~~ HF Equipment
TS940SIAT Gen. Cvg Xwr Call S
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1120 1NPUT"INPUT LINE LENClli (!T)";FT
1130 INPUT-INPUT FREQ (MliZ)";FR:Pn-FR*lE+Ob
1140 INPUTINPUT V(F) OF LINE (.XX)";VF
1150 1NPUT"INPUT LINE LOSS IN DB/100 FT.";DB:A-DB*FT/ (100*8.686) VAESU
1160 HW-. 5*984*VFIFR:B-FT*I( IHY HF Equlpmenl
FT-747 GX New Economical
1170 WEXP(~*A)+I+Z*EXP(~*A)*COS(Z*B) Performer Call $
1180 RB-(EXP(~*A)-I)/D:XB-(~*ExP(~*A)*SIN(~*B))/D FT-757 GX II Gen. Cvg Xcvr Call $
1190 ALPHA-RS+RB*ZO:BETA-XS+ZO*XB:C~-ZWS*RB-XS*XB:DELTA-RB*XS+RS*XB VHF
1200 R G - ( A L P H A * C M + B E T A * D E L T A ) * Z O / ( G M O ~ + D E L T A Q ~ ) FT-212RH NEW 2m 45w
Mobile Call S
1210 xG-(CAHHA*BETA-ALPHA*DELTA)*ZO/(CAHNAQ~+DELTAOZ) FT-211RH FM Mobile 45v Call s
1220 R C - ( I N T ( R G * ~ ~ ~ ) ) / ~ ~ ~ : X G - ( I N T ( L O O * X C ) ) / ~ ~ ~ FT-ZSOR All Mode Porlable Call I
1230 PR1NT:PRINT:PRINT FT-23 WIT Mini HT Call $
l2lrO IF YG>=O M E N PRINT"Z(CEN)-";RC;"+J";XC:rnTr) 1160 FT-ZmRH FM Handheld 5w Call S
VHFIUHF Full Duplex
1250 IF XC<O THEN PRINTWZ(CEN)-";RG;"-J";-XC FT-736R. New All Mode
1?60 PR1NT:PRINT:OPTS'"" 2m170cm Call S
1270 PRINT-PRESS 'RETURN' TO RESTART -" Dual Bandsr
1280
.- - 1NPUT"ANY OTHER KEY TO FSPEAEA;OPTS FT-727R 2mf70cm HT Call S
1290 IF OPTS-"" M E N PRINT CHRS(147):COTO 50 FT-IO9RH New HT Call $
1300 PRINT CHRS(lh7):GOTO 1050
1310 END
M I S PROGRAM WAS WRITTEN IN C-64 BASIC. NOTE, HOWEVER, 7XAT
"0" IN M E LISTING MEANS "EXPONENTIATION". t.e. 502-25.
 P.C. ELECTRONICS 2522 S. PAXSON LN. ARCADIA CA 91006 (818) 447-4565
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18 620 M a y 1988 fl 184

 possibility because this system presents impedances
to the transmatch as high as 20,000 ohms and as low
as 12 ohms, using 450-ohm feedline. Some trans-
matches won't match to these extreme impedances,
and a ferrite balun may self-destruct with high power.
One solution is to change the feedline; lengthening or
shortening it by less than one-quarter wavelength
O P E N WIRE FEEDL
(ANY LENGTH) should do the trick. Lengths to avoid are those approx-
imating L = 30 + 60N feet at 7.15 MHz and 25 +
30N feet at 14.15 MHz. These will create very high
fig. 5. Matching the transmitter with a transmatch and
inipedances at the transmitter end of the feedline, are
balun.
difficult to match, and bring high rf voltages into the
station.

L . 0 4 9 5 A + N l A / 2 1 AT 7 1 5 M H z = 5 ! 3 ' l l " + ~ l 6 0 ' 7 " I I Y t ; 8 8 3

4 5 0 - O H M LADDER LlNE

r"?' -1
7-

r A N Y LENGTH 5 0 - O H M COAX

0 0 0 0
LINE- 21 NET TRANSCEIVER
STRETCHER O R I 4 BALUN
( S E E FIG 8 1
C I . RECEIVING TYPE C O M P O N E N T HOOKUP
VARIABLE 10-I4OpF
OR 1 0 - 3 6 5 p F
L I N E STRETCHER BANDWIDTH ON 4 0 M E T E R S

i--BW.45kHr. L (FIG 6 1 - 1 2 0 ' 7 ' '

12-OHMS 4
5 0 - O H M U N B I I ANTE: - B W . 7 O k H f . L lFlG 6 1 . 6 0 '

BALANCED

+,-TUNING RANGE WITH LlNE STRETCHER

6 TURNS NO 18 ENAMELED ON 1 1 0 6 - 6
PI NETWORK ZO 7.15 73
FREOUENCY l M H z 1

fig. 6. 40-meter configuration.

establishing a Z,for the phasing lines, which cross and

operating on 40 meters without a
therefore do not maintain constant separation and Z,,.
transmatch
Figure 4 gives a BASIC listing of a simple program This antenna can be considered a multiband anten-
for impedance "rotation" calculations along a feed- na in that it radiates effectively on 40 and 20 meters,
line and also calculation of VSWR, reflection coeffi- but the impedances on each band are very different.
cient, and return loss. The program accounts for losses Without a transmatch, it requires tuned feedlines
in the line, a small but important contribution with and/or matching networks, or some other impedance
open-wire line at 14 MHz and above. transformation scheme to get near 50 ohms. I took
Figure 5 shows how to match the feedline to the a simple approach and chose a feedline length that
transmitter with a transmatch and balun. This allows transformed the antenna feedpoint impedance to a
unrestricted operation over the entire 20- and 40-meter low-value resistive impedance, then used a suitable
bands (and anything in between). It also gives the network to get near 50 ohms. Since each band re-
most flexibility because you don't have to use a speci- quires a different length of tuned feedline, a simple
fied feeder length. The exception is when the feed- arrangement designed to switch a section of feedline
line length you select presents an extremely high or and its associated matching network in or out from
low impedance at the input to the feedline - one 40 t o 20 meters would be effective. Because the
which the transmatch can't handle. This is a definite inherent bandwidth of this antenna is rather restric-

May 1988 19
tive on 40 meters (45 to 70 kHz at VSWR = 21, full- Prune the main feedline length for lowest VSWR
band operation over 7.0 to 7.3 MHz can be provided at the center of the band, 7.15 MHz, with the capa-
by adding a simple capacitive tuner. While the bother citor plates of the line stretcher half meshed. This
of changing feedline lengths when changing bands, should allow operation over 7.0 to 7.3 MHz, with the
and the narrow bandwidth on 40 may be somewhat line stretcher capacitors adjusted equally to maintain
objectionable, remember that it's hard to beat more balance. Simplify main feedline pruning by using a
than 4 dB gain at 7 MHz - unless you can afford the noise bridge connected to the transmitter side of the
cost of three full elements and the monster tower to pi net or a VSWR meter. In the absence of these, the
support it! lengths recommended in the text will get you close,
On 40 meters, if we feed this antenna with an assuming you duplicate my design.
integral number of half wavelengths of feedline, the Whether you choose to use a 1:4 coax balun (bal-
impedance at the feedline input will be that at the anced to unbalanced) shown in fig. 8 or the balanced
antenna itself (approximately 12 ohms resistive at the pi network shown in fig. 6 is a matter of taste, since
resonant frequency). However, off resonance at 7 both perform well. The pi net is a balanced adapta-
MHz, this antenna is capacitive (too short). But if we tion of the traditional pi network used in virtually all
use the proper length feeder, we can compensate for transmitters. Component values are dictated by the
the capacitive reactance and resonate the feeder1 frequency of operation and transformation values.
antenna system at 7.15 MHz. The impedance at the They are defined by:
input to the feedline will remain near 12 ohms resis-
tive. It's then a relatively simple matter to transform
X , = X, = JR,- R2 .-
where R, is 12 ohms (40 meters) and R2 is 2, of the
(11

the 12 ohms close t o 50 ohms with a 1:4 balun or transmitter, generally 50 ohms. Capacitance values are
balanced pi network. The only problem remaining is close to 900 pF and inductance near 0.55 pH for a 12-
to overcome the relatively narrow bandwidth on 40 to 50-ohm conversion at 7.15 MHz.
meters due to the low radiation resistance. As a test, I built the pi net using small postage-
Figure. 6 shows the addition of a simple series stamp size 1000-pF 300-volt silver micas and T106-6
capacitive tuner. I call it a line stretcher because it adds toroids. With 100 watts output from my TS-830s there
or subtracts series capacitance to each leg of the feed- were barely perceptible signs of capacitors heating
line, and effectively varies the feedline length by a while operating under matched-load conditions. How-
small amount to maintain resonance (zero reactance) ever, this was only an experiment. To avoid possible
and allow operation over 7.0 to 7.3 MHz. Capacitors failure under accidental mismatch conditions, trans-
used in the line stretcher should be heavy enough mitting doorknob or mica types are recommended.
to handle the current at the low-impedance level. I Bandw~dthof the pi net is shown in fig. 8 along with
recommend transmitting micas or doorknobs for high the bandwidth of a 1:4 coax balun for comparison. My
power levels. Receiving-type micas, paralleled for measurements indicate that the pi net built as shown
added current capacity, should be sufficient at low will transform resistive impedances between 6 and 14
( < 100 watts) power levels. Voltages are low so ohms with VSWR less than 1.7 at 7 MHz. Phase
receiving-type variables can be used, and , C can be imbalance caused by component tolerances was not
anything in the neighborhood of 150 to 365 pF or more evaluated but probably is no worse than that of a
for an adequate tuning range. The range is essential- balun. If you choose to build the coax balun instead
ly defined by the 190-pF capacitors. You should stay of the pi net, RG-581U should be suitable for a kilo-
reasonably close to this value to avoid an excessively watt. Figure 8 shows details of this unconventional
wide or narrow tuning range. coax balun.
To use the line stretcher, find the length of main A 1:4 ferrite balun design isn't shown but should
feedline required to make the antennalfeedlinelline perform equally well if attention is given to the design
stretcherlpi network (or balun) combination present of the balun windings. Remember: to transform 12
a near 50-ohm resistive input impedance at 7.15 MHz. ohms to 48 ohms, it's important that the Z, of the
Make sure that the length of feedline used to inter- balun windings be the square root of quantity 12 x 48
connect the pi network (or balun) to the line stretcher = 24 ohms to avoid introducing reactances, thereby
is the length that will be used in operation because reducing the already narrow bandwidth. A low Z,
it also affects the feedline input impedance. A line requires large-gauge (No. 14 or larger) wire, prefer-
stretcher t o pi netlbalun interconnect length besides ably bifilar wound. And unless you can find a 1:4
those recommended in figs. 6 and 7 will work (assum- balanced-to-unbalanced design (I couldn't), you will
ing you prune the main feedline to accommodate have to use two baluns back to back, perhaps a 1:4
them), but the tuning range will probably decrease and balanced-to-balanced followed by a 1:1 balanced-
the VSWR will increase somewhat. The recommend- to-unbalanced. These difficulties led me to opt for
ed lengths produce the best results. Dietrich's2 1:4 balanced-to-balanced coax balun as

20 M a y 1988
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Reader OFF Pdqc 106 t/ 18: M a y 1988 n 21

 L . 0 I 5 9 A t N l A / Z l AT I 4 I 5 M H z 9'99+N130'7"1

ANY LENGTH 5 0 0 H M C M X

TRANSCEIVER
I LINE- I
I STRETCHER I
L --------- J
OPTIONAL

J I R UNBALANCED

L I ( F I G 71 = 4 0 ' 8 : 2 0 - M E T E R BANDWIDTH
L 2 (FIG 71. 7 l ' P ( W I T H 1 1 7 2 0 0 - 2 BALUN1
L 3 ( F I G 71 = I 3 2 I " I N 0 LINESTRETCHERI

Ic-- - -- ---3BO kHz

I I BALANCED TO UNBALANCED

14 0 I 4 IS 14 3 0
FREOUENCY, (MHz1
E H 4 Y E L F D n I F , L I I R WOOllD
ON TOnOID COlL FORM

fig. 7. 20-meter configuration.

an alternate to the pi net. The main disadvantage of operate on 20 meters, 450-ohm line should be used
the coax balun is the bulk of the coax cable. (unless you use a transmatch). The line, in this in-
Determine feedline length from the Smith Chart stance, acts as a transmision line and also an im-
shown in fig. 3. The wavelength is 0.495 at 7.15 MHz pedance-transforming line section to get the input
between point B clockwise to point A, where the feed- impedance reasonably close to 50 ohms.
point impedance is resistive. Substituting into
L = ( N0984.V~ / F operating on 20 meters without a
Where N = 0.495, Vf = 0.88, and F = 7.15 MHz transmatch
gives the required length in feet. For example, Operating this antenna using tuned feeders without
450-ohm ladder line with Vf = 0.88 requires a length a transmatch (fig. 7) is much easier on 20 meters than
of 60 feet. Any number of half wavelengths can be on 40. The antenna's impedance transforms to near
added to this to reach the transmitter without affect- 34 ohms using the properties of 450-ohm ladder line.
ing the impedance at the line input (neglecting loss- Bandwidth at the VSWR = 2 points is approximately
es). Note that feedline length does affect operating 160 to 380 kHz, depending on feedline length. Use of
bandwidth, as evidenced by the VSWR curves plot- the line stretcher is optional unless feedline length is
ted for different feedline lengths in figs. 6 and 7. excessive. Bandwidths for three feedline lengths are
The &foot length of line connecting the line stretch- shown in fig. 7.
er to the pi net is negated by the capacitive reactance Line stretcher setup and use are similar to that for
introduced by the line stretcher with the plates meshed 40 meters, but approximately 2 feet are used to inter-
halfway at 7.15 MHz. The effects of the two cancel connect it and the 1:1 balun. Line stretcher tuning
each other. Increasing or decreasing capacitance, range a t 14 MHz drops because of the decreased reac-
then, adds or subtracts feedline to maintain a resis- tance of the line stretcher capacitors, so using smaller
tive input impedance over the 7.0- to 7.3-MHz band. value fixed capacitors may help.
Line stretcher reactance range at 7 MHz is indicated The 1:1 balun can be a coax or an air-core/toroidal
by the pie-shaped region on the Smith chart of fig. 3. design. An air-core or toroidal design in this applica-
If you calculate the proper length as shown above, tion is relatively simple when compared to the design
300-ohm TV line should be acceptable for low-power, of the 12- to 48-ohm balun used on 40 meters. The
single-band operation on 40 meters. However, if you required impedance of the windings is near 41 ohms.

22 May 1988
 Electronics proiects ideas ...
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Ic 186 M a y 1988 G3 23
 HF Linear Amplifiers
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 (30 feet 7 inches)N, to operate at 14.15 MHz (Vf =
0.88).
Using 450-ohm feedline is important because, un-
like a simple half wavelength of feedline, an arbitrary
length of feedline will transform impedances as a func-
COAX BALUN
VS WR WITH 1 0 - O H M LOAD- tion of line length and Zo of the line. For example, the
450-ohm ladder line I used had a measured Z, of
approximately 385 ohms and Vf =0.88 [see ref. 31.
The feedpoint impedance, point C on the fig. 3 Smith
10 -1
5.20 60 70 chart, along a 0.159 wavelength section of feedline
FREOUENCY 1MHzJ
transforms to about 34 ohms. Using 300-ohm line as
a transformer results in a transformed impedance of
12 5 O U Y S B I L A N C E D close to 23 ohms (VSWR = 2.2 at Z,= 50 ohms). This
reduces the usable bandwidth somewhat as compared
ONE-QUARTER THREE-QUARTER
WAVELENGTH. 2 2 ' 8"-- WAVELENGTHs 68' to 450 ohm line. Similarly, using 600-ohm open-wire
lVr - 0 6 6 . LIJMHZJ f V ( ~ 0 . 6 6 7.15
. MHz)
line will result in a transformed impedance of approx-
inlately 58 ohms. Line with an actual Zo of 450 ohms
0 - O H M COAX transforms to approximately 42 ohms. Use these
figures as a guide if you plan to try different feedlines.
Remember that the above figures are based on an an-
tenna with 59-foot elements spaced 16 feet apart and
about 40 feet above average soil. Unless the phasing
line section is closely duplicated, you will probably get
ALTERNATE 4 0 - M E T E R
BALUN CONFIGURATION
slightly different resistive impedances at the feedline
input and have to trim the feedline lengths. Don't let
this discourage you - the pi net described in fig. 6
is a neat and simple solution to the impedance trans-
formation problem, once you measure the feedline
BALANCED 12.5-OHM LOAD input impedance with an rf or noise bridge.

I I I I
5O.OHM COAX
LENGTHS. PARALLELED
operating on 30 meters
L a THREE-OUARTER
This antenna can also be operated on 30 meters by
L'ONE-QUARTER
adjusting the length of the feedline. With 30 feet 2
WAVELENGTH (EACH1 I
'------ inches + (42 feet 10 inches)N of feedline (Vf =0.88),
,
,
I
I

;
I
I
I
I
,
I
'1
! 1
the input impedance will be approximately 23 ohms.
.-------*' A pi net constructed using information in fig. 6 should
give a good match and ample bandwidth. While I have
not measured the radiation pattern, I would guess it's
1 G"dI".:,".E
probably not a lot different from the 40- or 20-meter
patterns.
fig. 8. Bandwidth of the pi net and details of coax balun. Building and evaluating this rather unconventional
antenna took me about a year. I hope the informa-
tion here helps you better understand and build the
The balun can be easily made with ten turns, trifilar W8JK. Any questions accompanied by an SASE are
wound (this works best) of No. 16 gauge enameled welcome.
wire, on an air or powered iron core. The core should
references
be large enough to handle your anticipated running
1. L.A. Moxon, HF Antennas For All Locations, Radio Society of Great
power. A T-200-2 core should handle up t o a kilowatt Britain, Great Britain, 1982.
when operating within the VSWR = 2 bandwidth. Fig. 2. Jim Dietrich, "A New Coaxial Balun," ham radio, May 1977.
3. George Downs, "Measuring Transmission-line Velocity Factor," OST, June
7 shows a toroid balun built along these guidelines.
1979.
On 20 meters, feedpoint impedance (point C on the 4. The ARRL Antenna Handbook, Chapter 4. 14th Edition, 1984.
Smith chart in fig. 3) is close to 106 - j578 ohms. You 5. Frank Regier, "A New Look at the W8JK Antenna," hem radio. July 1981.
+
can use a 0.159 X N*(X/2) length of 450-ohm feed- 6.Johri Kraus, "The W8JK Antenna: Recap and Update," OST, June 1982.
7 . Leonard Anderson, "Antenna Bridge Calculations," ham radio. May 1978.
line (measured Z, of 385 ohms) to transform this to 8. William I. Orr, WGSAI, Radio Handbook, Howard W. Sams Co., Indianapo-
approximately 34 ohms at the input end. See fig. 7. lis. Indiana. 1981 Edition, page 26.11.
The length of feedline required is 9 feet 9 inches + ham radio

M a y 1988 25
 pathfinder:
improved minimuf program
takes into account many variable factors that the pre-
G ray-line analysis, vious version (MINIMUF-3.5) did
MINIMUF-85 is an empirically derived model that
distlaz determination predicts near real time MUF, developed by the Naval
Ocean System Center*.8 After having developed my
and radiallhou rly original program around MINIMUF-3.5 I was sure that
its improvement in speed could be put to use more
muf prediction efficiently. I contacted Bob Rose, KGGKU, and, re-
ceived a copy of MINIMUF-85. I was able to upgrade
PATHFINDER to the new algorithm and verify it. The
older programs have been in use for some time and
Personal computer applications offer hams pro- have been documented. The Navy has tested and veri-
grams providing distancelazimuth determinations and fied MINIMUF-85 and now recommends it for use in
ionospheric propagation predictions. They are used to all applications currently using MINIMUF-3.5.
determine operating band choice and antenna direc-
tion. Though several bearingldistance and gray-line inside M l N l M U F
programs exist, MlNlMUF is the main ionospheric The MlNlMUF algorithms follow a well-established
prediction routine used in Amateur Radio.' procedure for determining both the MUF and preferred
The original BASIC MlNlMUF version, required only operating frequency. This procedure:
4 to 6K of instruction and dynamic storage. The QST Describes the path of interest in terms of its control
article that introduced MlNlMUF concentrated on the points (locations 2000 km from each end of the path).
genesis of its algorithms and ionospheric modeling and Plots these points on a transparent overlay that is
provided an elementary user guide. placed on a map of the earth.
initial goals Recc~rdsthe MUF at the control points by reading
the map MUF contours.
I wanted to and succeeded in improving MINIMUF's Determine the path MUF for a particular time and
speed. Then two articles by Elwell made me think that day by referring to additional charts and making cal-
a lot more could be done to build a truly useful pro- culations. The maps are keyed to solar activity, angle
gram.2,3I had already merged MlNlMUF into a gray- of inc~dence, time of day and year. This manual
line program4 and had been using a bearing/distance I
method has been described in the Amateur l i t e r a t ~ r e . ~
p r ~ g r a mFigure
.~ 1 is a listing of a complete program The key to MlNlMUF is the model of the iono-
that does it all. sphere, found in the last two dozen lines of the original
PATHFINDER is longer than MINIMUF though not program code. This algorithm implements the charac-
much faster. It is more powerful than the older ver- teristics of the maps used in the manual method. All
sion of MlNlMUF as it uses the upgrade (MINIMUF-85) of the code in MlNlMUF preceding this model defines
that models polar paths much more accurately, and the number and location of the control points and the
'The NOSC technical publications for MINIMUF-3.5 and MlNlMUF 85 are
available through NTIS; 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, Virglnla 22161
By Ron Todd, K3FR. 7 Hillcrest Road, Windham,
See ham radio, July 1987, page 49. Maine 04062

26 May 1988
ig. 1. The PATHFINDER program.

10 PRINT " Welcome to PATHFINDER-85"

20 PRINT "COPYRIGHT 1987 by Ronald C. Todd"
30 'NICROSOFT BASIC version, Release 1.10, 2/2/88
40 DIN N(12),WW(19),LL(19),K9(19),SR(19),SS(19) We stock a full line of
50 DIM C0(19),T9(19),ZW(19),YX(19),YS(19),ZX(19) Motorola & Toshiba parts
60 DIN FF(19),LG(19),G~(19),G7(19),G8(19),ZZ(19),NOUT~,36) for amateur, marine, and
70 DEFINT I: N$="JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec business radio servicing
80 D A T A 3 ~ , 2 8 , 3 1 , 3 0 , 3 1 , 3 0 , 3 1 , 3 1 , 3 0 , 3 1 , 3 0 , 3 1 Partial Listing of Popular Transistors
90 DATA -.06,-.037,.018,-.003,.025,.018 2-30 MHz 12V. (' 28V)
100 DATA .007,-.005,.006,.017,-.009,-.004 P 'N Rating Net Ea Match Pr.
110 DATA 3.83,-22.915,-7.317,.51,.06,-.43,-9.471,-3.197 MRF421 0 1OOW $24.00 $53.00
120 DATA -.082,-.156,-.391,-.106,0t0,-.242,-.15 MRF422' 150W 36.00 78.00
130 DATA .011,.087,-.043,.003,-.013,-.022,.003,0,.005,0,0,.018 MRF454,<A 0 BOW 14.50 32.00
140 FOR 1=1 TO 12: READ M(1): NEXT I: PI=3.14159: PO=PI/2 MRF455.A 0 60W 11.75 26.50
MRF485' 15W 6.00 16.00
150 P1=2*PI: P2=2/PI: P5=PI/5: P6=SIN(PI/12): RO=PI/180 MRF492 Q 90W 16.00 35.00
160 R1=180/PI: CC=-23.5*RO: LH=43.7876: WH=70.4348 'home SRF2072 0 65W 12 75 28.50
170 GOSUB 8000: GOSUB 8200: GOSUB 8400: GOSUB 8520: GOSUB 7200 SRF3662 0 llOW 24.00 53.00
200 INPUT "Opt: l=Input 2=Anal 3=List 4=Quit ";I0 SRF3775 0 75W 13.00 29.00
210 ON I0 GOT0 220,240,280,9999: GOT0 200 SRF3795 0 90W 15 50 34.00
220 INPUT "Opt: O=Top l=Date 2=Flux 3=SSN 4=Target 5=Home ";I0 SRF3800 0 lOOW 17.50 38.00
230 ON I0 GOSUB 8000,8200,8300,8400,8500: GOSUB 7200: GOT0 200 2SC2290 0 80W 16 75 39.50
240 IL=O: S6=0: INPUT "Opt: O=Top l=B/D 2=Grey 3=NUF ";I0 2SC2879 0 lOOW 22.00 48.00
0 Selected High Gain Matched Ouads Available
250 ON I 0 GOSUB 1400,1300,260: GOT0 200
260 S6=P6: INPUT "Opt: O=Top l=Short 2=Long 3=Radial ";I0 VHF UHF TRANSISTORS 12V.
270 ON I 0 GOSUB 1010,1000,1100: RETURN Rating MHz Net Ea. Match Pr.
280 IF IL=2 THEN I=18: IA=10 ELSE I=12: IA=100 BOW 136-174 27.50 61 .OO
75W 136-174 2600 58.00
290 LPRINT "GMT/DEG", "MUF", v q ~ ~ ~"MUF" / ~ ~ ~ q t , 80W 136-174 33.00 71.00
300 FOR IH-0 TO 1-1: FOR IB=O TO I STEP I 15W 407-512 18 00 42 00
310 LPRINT (IH+IB)*IA,NOUT(IH+IB), 25W 407-512 21.00 46.00
320 NEXT 18: LPRINT: NEXT IH: GOT0 200 40W 407-512 25 00 54 00
1000 IL=1 'HOURLY NUF DRIVER 6OW 407-512 31.00 66 00
1010 GOSUB 8420: GOSUB 3000: GOSUB 4000: GOSUB 3100 4W 136-174 6.25 -
1020 GOSUB 7100: PRINT "GMT","NUF","GMT","MUF" 15W 136-174 8.00 -
1030 FOR IH=O TO 11 'SWEEP TINE 25W 136-174 9.50 -
30W 136-174 9.75 24.00
1040 FOR IB=O TO 12 STEP 12: T5=IH+IB: GOSUB 2000 40W 136-174 11.50 28.00
1050 PRINT T5*100,J9;" ",;: MOUT(IH+IB)=J9
1060 NEXT IB: PRINT: NEXT IH: RETURN PARTIAL LISTING OF MISC. TRANSISTORS
1100 INPUT "What GMT hour for displayn;T5 'RAD NUF SETUP MRF134 $16.00 MRF515 2 50
1110 IL=2: IF (T5>=24 OR T5<0) THEN PRINT "ERROR": GOT0 1100 MRF136 21 .OO MRF607 2.50
MRF137 24.00 MRF630 4.25
1120 PRINT "1 Hop = 2488 mi (4000 Km). Long Path beyond 5" MRF138 35.00 MRF846 43.50
1130 INPUT "How many hops for display 10.1 to 9.9Iu;K1 MRF174 80.00 MRF1946.A 14.00
1140 IF ABS(K1-5)>4.9 THEN PRINT "ERROR": GOT0 1130 MRF208 11.50 CD2545 16.00
1150 Gl=Kl*P5: GOSUB 4000: PRINT "DEG","NUF","DEG","NUF" MRF212 16.00 SD1278.1 17.75
1160 FOR IH=O TO 170 STEP 10 'SWEEP BEARING MRF22l 11.00 2N3553 2.29
1170 FOR IB=O TO 180 STEP 180: AO=IH+IB MRF224 13.50 2N3866 1.25
1180 IF IH=O THEN PB=(AO+.l)*RO ELSE PB=AO*RO MRF237 2.70 2N4427 1.25
1190 A=COS(PB): B=G1: GOSUB 3300: L2=LO: GOSUB 3100 MRF238 12.50 2N5589 7.25
MRF239 14.00 2N5590 10.00
1200 GOSUB 2000: PRINT ~ 0 . ~ 9 ; " " , ; : MOUT(AO\IO)=J~ MRF240 15.00 2N5591 13.50
1210 NEXT IB: PRINT: NEXT IH: RETURN MRF260 7.00 2N5641 9.50
1300 WO=Wl: LO=Ll: GOSUB 5000: PRINT "At home QTH": GOSUB 7000 MRF261 8.00 2N5642 13.75
1310 GOSUB 8420: WO=W2: L O = L ~ :GOSUB 5000: PRINT "At targ QTH" MRF262 8.75 2N5643 15.00
1320 GOSUB 7000: RETURN MRF264 12.50 2N5945 10.00
1400 GOSUB 8420: GOSUB 3000: GOSUB 7100 MRF309 29.75 2N5946 12.00
1410 IL=1: GOSUB 3000: GOSUB 7100: RETURN MRF317 56.00 2SC1946.A 15.00
MRF406 12.00 2SC1947 9.75
2000 J9=100: FOR I=l TO IK 'MUF SET UP MRF433 11.00 2SC2075 3.00
2010 SLT=T5-WW(I)*P2*6: IF SLT<O THEN SLT=SLT+24 MRF449 12.50 2SC2097 28.00
2020 IF SLT>=24 THEN SLT=SLT-24 MRF45O 13.50 2SC2509 9.00
2030 GO=O: SAD=l: IF CO(I)<=-P6 THEN 2300 MRF453 15.00 2SC2640 15.00
2040 IF SS(I)<SR(I) THEN 2060 'INVERTED DAY MRFP58 20.00 2SC2641 16.00
2050 IF (T5-SR(I))*(SS(I)-T5)<0THEN 2200 ELSE 2100 MRF475 3.00 OUTPUT MODULES
2060 IF (T5-SS(I))*(SR(I)-T5)>0 THEN 2200 ELSE 2100 MRF476 2.75 SAU4 55.00
2100 IF SR(I)>T5 THEN X=T5+24 ELSE X=T5 'DAY GO MRF477 11.75 SAUl7A SO 00
MRF479 10.00 SAV6 42.50
2110 YN=PI*(X-SR(I))/Kg(I): X=(SR(I)-X)/Tg(I) MRF492A 18.75 SAV7 42.50
2120 GOSUB 6100: FM=X MRF497 14.25 SAVl5 48.00
2130 G O = ( S I N ( Y M ) + ~ W ( I ) * ( E X P ( F M ) - C O S ( Y M ) ) ) * G B ( I ) 40582 7.50 M57712, ~ 5 7 7 3 3 use
2140 SAD=1.11-.Ol*SLT: IF GO<G7(1) THEN GO=G7(1) NE41137 2.50 M57737, SC1019 SAV7
2150 GOT0 2300 Hi-Gain, Matched, and Selected Parts Available
2200 IF SS(I)>T5 THEN X = ~ 5 + 2 4ELSE X=T5 'DARK GO
We stock RF Power transistors tor Atlas. KLM. Collins,
2210 SAH=P1*(14*(X-SS(I))/(24.Ol-K9(1))+1)/15 Yaesu, Kenwood, Cubic, Mirage. Motorola, Heathkit,
2220 FN=(SS(I)-X)/2: SAD=1.0195: RESTORE 90 Regency, Johnson, Icom, Drake, TWC, Wilson, GE, etc.
2230 FOR IA=1 TO 6: Y=IA*SAH: READ C1,C2 Cross-reterenceon CD, PT, SD. SRF, JO, and 2SC PINS.
2240 SAD=SAD+Cl*SIN(Y)+C2*COS(Y): NEXT IA Ouanttly Prtcing Available Foreign Orders Accepted
2250 GO=ZZ(I)*EXP(FM) ShippingiHandling 55.00 COD : VISA 8 MC
2300 G2=SQR(6+Al*SQR(Go))+GF(I) 'RAW FoF2 Orders received b y 1 PM PST shipped UPS same day.
2310 G2=G2*(1-.1*EXP((Kg(1)-24)/3)) 'LONG DAY ADJ Next day UPS delivery available
2320 G2=G2*(l+(l-SGN(Ll)*SGN(L2))*.1) 'TRANS E ADJ ORDER DESK ONLY - NO TECHNICAL
2330 G 2 = G 2 * ( 1 - . ~ * ( ~ + S G N ( A B S ( S I N ( L L ( I ) ) ) - C O S ( L L 'HI ( 1 LAT (800) 854-1927
2340 SAE=A2*A3*SAD: IF A~S(LG(1))<.95993THEN 2600 I ORDER LINE andior TECH HELP 1
2400 PHI=SLT*PI/12: V=SIN(Y1/2): IF LG(I)>O THEN 2430 'POLAR
2410 X = E X P ( - ~ . ~ * ~ C O S ( L G ( I ~ + C C * C O S ( P H I ) ) - C O S ( L G ( I ) ) ) )
2420 PLR=(2+.012*S9)*X*(1+.3*V): GOT0 2480
2430 U=COS(Yl): ~ = V * ( . ~ * ( Y X ( I ) - Z X ( I ) ) - Y X ( 1 ) * 8 )
2440 X = X - ( ~ + V ) * U * S G N ( Z X ( I ) ) * S O R ( A B S ( Z X ( I ) ) ) * E X P ( - ~ * Y X ( I ) ~ ~ )
 Clavrlrnd Institute
ClE of Elrctronicm
2450 PLR=2.5+.02*S9+U*(.5+(1.3+.002*S9)*YS(I))
.
1776 East 17th St Cleveland. Ohlo 441 14 2460 PLR=PLR+(1.3+.005*S9)*COS(PHI-P1*(l+X))
2470 P L R = P L R * ( ~ + . ~ * ( ~ - V * V ) ) * E X P ( - V * Y S ( I ) )
2480 ~ = ( 1 - F F ( I ) ) * G ~ * G ~ / ~ . ~ ~ + . ~ ~ * F F ( I ) * P L R
2490 IF X>=O THEN G2=2.85*SQR(X)
2600 G2=G2*M9*SAE: IF G2<J9 THEN J9=G2 'FIN MUF
2610 NEXT I: IF J9<2 THEN 59-2 ELSE IF J9>50 THEN 59-50
2620 J9=INT(10*J9)/10: RETURN
3000 x = S I N ( L ~ ) * S I N ( L ~ ) + C O S ( L ~ ) * C O S ( L ~ ) * C O S ( W ~ GOSUB
- 1 ) : 6000
3010 Gl=X: X = ( S I N ( L ~ ) - S ~ N ( L ~ ) * C O S ( G ~ ) ) / ( C O S ( L ~ ) * S I N ( G ~ ) )
3020 GOSUB 6000: IF SIN(W2-W1)>0 THEN PB=P1-X ELSE PB=X
3030 IF IL=l THEN PB=PB+PI: Gl=Pl-G1
Accredited Membsr Natlonal Home Study Cwnnl
3040 IF PB>Pl THEN PB=PB-P1
3050 A=COS(PB): RETURN
CIE is the world's largest independent 3100 FOR 1=1 TO IK: GF(I)=O: B=I*L 'POINT DEF & PARAM
study electronics school. W e offer ten 3110 IF G1<=.94174 THEN B=l/(2*K6)+(1-1)*(.9999-1/K6)
3120 B=B*Gl: GOSUB 3300: GOSUB 3400: WW(I)=WO: LL(I)=LO
courses covering basic electronics to 3130 S M = . 9 7 9 2 * S I N ( L 0 ) + . 2 0 2 8 * C O S ( L O ) * C O S ( W O - 1 . 4 3 ) : X-SM
advanced digital and microprocessor 3140 GOSUB 6000: LG(I)=PO-X: IF ABS(LG(I))<.95993 THEN 3210
technology. A n Associate in Applied 3150 SM=SIN(LG(I) ) : G~(1)=.3789*SQR(1+3*SM^2)-.5: Y=COS(LG(I) )
Sciencc in Electronics Engineering 3160 X=2.2+(.2+.001*S9)*SM: X=(X*Y)^6: GOSUB 6100
Technology is also offered. 3170 FF(I)=EXP(-X): IF LG(I)<O THEN 3210
3180 x = c o s ( L O ) * S I N ( W O - ~ . ~ O ~ ~ ) 'GEOMAG LONG
Study at home - no classes. Pro- 3190 IF Y=O THEN X=PO*SGN(X) ELSE X=X/Y: GOSUB 6000: X-PO-X
grams accredited and eligible for VA 3200 Yx(I)=SIN(X/2): YS(I)=(COS(X/~-PI/20))^4: ZX(I)=SIN(X)
benefits. 3210 GOSUB 5000: NEXT I: RETURN
....................... 3300 C=P*COS(B)+Q*SIN(B)*A: X-C: GOSUB 6000: LO-PO-X: RETURN
3400 X=(COS(B)-cOS(X)*P)/(Q*SIN(X)): GOSUB 6000
CIE Cleveland Insurute ol Electronics 3410 IF SIN(PB)<O THEN WO=Wl+X ELSE WO=Wl-X
1776 East 17th St.. Cleveland. Ohlo 441 14 3420 IF ABS(WO)>PI THEN wOEWO-Pl*SGN(WO): GOT0 3420
YES! I want to get started. Send me my CIE school 3430 RETURN 'POINT LONG
catalog~ncludlngdetalls about the Aswcnate Degree
program. 4000 IF Gl<=P5 THEN K6-1: M9=1 ELSE K6=Gl/P5: M9=.5
4010 M9=2.5*Gl*M9: IF M9>PO THEN M9=1 ELSE M9=SIN(M9)
P r ~ nN
t ame 4020 M9=1+2.5*M9*SQR(M9): 1~=INT(G1/.62784)+1: L-1/(2*IK)
Address Apt.- 4030 IF G1>.94174 THEN IK=2*IK-1
clri S t
a t e Zip- 4040 RETURN
A g e Area CdelPhone No 5000 CO(1)-COS(LO+Y2): COA=ABS(CO(I)) 'DAYLIGHT CHAR
Check box br G 1 Bulletln on Educational Benefits
5010 IF CO(I)<-S6 THEN K9(1)=0: GOT0 5110 'SUNR CHECK
5020 K8=6*(2+WO*P2)-ET ' NOON
Veteran Actlve Duty MAIL TODAY! 5030 IF K8<0 THEN K8-K8i-24 ELSE IF K8>=24 THEN K8-K8-24
AHR-OI 5040 x=(SIN(Y~)*SIN(LO)-.S6)/(COS(Y2)*COS(LO)+.OOI)
5050 GOSUB 6000: X=6*X*P2: K9(1)=2*X 'LEN DAY
5060 SR(1)-K8-X: IF SR(l)<o THEN SR(I)=SR(I)+24 ' SUNR
5070 SS(1)-KB+X: IF SS(l)>-24 THEN SS(I)=SS(I)-24 ' SUNS
5080 IF COA<.62094 THEN Tg(1)u.l ELSE T9(1)=9.7*COA^9.6
5090 X=KS(I)/Tg(I): ZW(I)=PI/X: G8(I)=COA/(l+ZW(I)*2): GOSUB 6100
5100 ZZ(1)-(EXP(-X)+l)*ZW(I)*G8(1): G7(I)-EXP((K9(1)-24)/2)*ZZ(I)
5110 RETURN
6000 IF ABS(X)>=l THEN X=PO*SGN(X) ELSE X=ATN(X/SQR(l-X*X))
6010 X-PO-X: RETURN
6100 IF ABS(X)>87 THEN X=87*SGN(X)

I1 4II
6110 RETURN
7000 IF CO(I)<=O THEN PRINT "Day not defined": GOT0 7050
BELDEN 7010 PRINT "Sunrise at:";INT(40*INT(SR(I))+60*SR(I))/100;"Z"
7020 PRINT "Sunset ~ ~ : " ; I N T ( ~ O * I N T ( S S ( I ) ) + ~ ~ * S S ( I ) ) / ~ ~ ~ ; " Z "
COOPER 7030 PRINT "Day length:";INT(40*INT(K9(I))+60*K9(I)~/~OO;"HR.M1N"
INDUSTRIES 7040 PRINT "Noon at: ";INT(40*INT(K8)+60*K8)/100; Z
7050 RETURN
7100 PRINT "Path length =";INT(G1*3959~;"miles"
BELDEN 7110 PRINT "Path bearing at home QTH = ;INT(PB*Rl): RETURN
9913 low loss, solid center conductor,foil& braid 7200 PRINT "DATE: "MID$(M$,~ * M O - 23) , " "D6
shield - excellent product ...................... ..54CIft 7210 PRINT "HOME AT LAT"LH~'LONG"WH"TARGET AT LAT"LT"LONG"WT
82 14 RG8 foam .........................................43Clft 7220 PRINT "SOLAR FLUX="SX" SUN SPOT NUMBER="S9: RETURN
8237 RG8 ..................................................
40Clft 8000 1NPUT"Month numberl';MO: INPUTUDay of monthM;D6: YluD6
8267 RG2 13 ...................................
.... .52C/ft 8010 FOR 1=1 TO MO-1: Y1-Yl+M(I): NEXT I: Yl=Yl*P1/365
8262 RG-58clu milspec ............................
I6Clft 8020 Y2=.456: ET=.008: RESTORE 110
8000 14ga stranded copper ant. wire .....l3Clft 8030 FOR 1=1 TO 4: X=I*Yl: READ Cl,C2,C3,C4
8448 8 conductor rotor cable .................. 31Clft 8040 Y2=Y2+Cl*SIN(X)+C2*COS(X): ET=ET+C3*SIN(X)+C4*COS(X): NEXT I
9405 as above but HD-2.16ga. 6-18ga .52C/fi 8050 Y2=-Y2*RO: ET=ET/60: KX=MO*PI/~: A3-.9925: RESTORE 130
8403 Mic cable 3 condctr & shield . . . . . . . .8OC/ft. 8060 FOR 1-1 TO 6: X=I*KX: READ C1,C2
100 feet 8214 wends installed .................. 45.00 8070 A ~ P A ~ + C ~ * S I N ( X ) + C ~ * C O S (NEXT X ) : I: RETURN
9258 RG EX.. ..............................................
19Clft 8200 1NPUT"Solar Flux [64 to 30lj";SX
8210 S9=INT((-.728+SQR(.529984-(63.75-SX)*.00356))/.00178)
POUCIES--MASTERCARDS, VlSA or CCiR 8220 A1=.814*S9+22.23: A2-1.3022-.00156*S9: RETURN
All prices FOB Houston, Texas, except as noted. 8300 INPUTU'Sun Spot Number [O to 250]";S9
Prices subject to change without notice, subject to 8310 SX=63.75+.728*S9+.00089*S9*S9:GOTO 8220
prior sale Used gear sale price refunded if no! 8400 INPUT1'Target Latitude [ - south, 89.9 max1";LT
satisfied. Call anytime to check status of your order. 8410 INPUTUTarget Longitude [ - eastjU;WT
Texas residents add sales tax. 8420 L2=LT*RO: WZ=WT*RO: RETURN
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determination of the geometry of the solar illumination POSSIBLE HOOKS TO LATILONG DATA FILE
of these points at the time of analysis on the day Nex.t, I surveyed MlNlMUF and several bearingldis-
selected. tance and gray-line programs for comparable features,
The basis for the MlNlMUF model is that MUF is algorithms, and routines.
a function of the product of the critical frequency of The subsequent steps were easier once I had decid-
the ionosphere and a path-related M-factor. MINI- ed on the program requirements. Program flow and
MUF-3.5 uses fairly simple relationships to model these variable requirements were evaluated for all these
functions. MINIMUF-85 expands on these primary sources before setting down a single line of pseudo-
relationships, considers more control points on longer code. I planned what I needed and how I would
paths and takes into account the special conditions acconlplish it with minimum overhead. The increased
in polar regions.'O MUFs are affected differently when computational burden in PATHFINDER does not
control points fall within polar regions. MINIMUF-85 cause a major increase in total response time when
factors in sunspot number-related effects to the critical compared to MlNlMUF in identical applications. The
frequency and M-factor, adds seasonal and diurnal reason for the significant improvement in performance
variation to the M-factor, and considers particle while model sophistication and computation have
precipitation effects for control points in or near polar grown by nearly 100 percent is a result of four basic
regions. concepts described next.
The MINIMUF-85 model reduces the RMS errors in
MUF for polar paths from the older MlNlMUF version speed increase
of 10.92 MHz to 3.5 MHz, and improves the overall First, MlNlMUF spends a lot of time in its loops
average bias in MUF predictions. The lack of cor- recalculating variables which, once they are deter-
relation between solar flux and smoothed sunspot mined, do not change. All computations not absolutely
numbers can still amount to significant errors in the necessary to repeat have been moved out of the loops,
predicted MUF. It is recommended that you use aver- precalculated, and placed in arrays. Computation time
age values of solar flux as the input variable because is saved with only a minimal increase in storage re-
the F-layer of the ionosphere has a lot of inertia and quirements. The general purpose procedures are now
does not easily respond to short-term changes in solar subroutines supporting the other applications of the
conditions. program. Second, where prudent, the use of the
There is considerable math and physics involved. division operation, has been minimized particularly 111
Consequently, many users do not realize that MINI- repeated sequences. Third, where possible, control
MUF depends heavily on the same routines and al- statements have been restructured to function on
gorithms necessary to implement bearingldistance integer and simple variables rather than real variable
and gray-line analysis applications. MlNlMUF can be types and compound functions. Finally, multiple pro-
made to report this information without requiring gram statements have been placed on a single logical
much additional code. Using these same routines, the line which helps most BASIC language interpreters run
MUF can be determined for radial presentation for any faster.
hour of the day and path length. MlNlMUF can pro- Two versions of PATHFINDER as well as MlNlMUF
duce an application providing virtually all the infor- have been timed in generating hourly MUF projections.
mation required by the average hf operator. Further, The results of this bench mark over several paths are
by accessing a world data file of latitudes and lon- shown in table 1. All results were of equivalent
gitudes keyed to call prefixes, we could generate a accuracy with no significant discrepancies in project-
product for all DXers. ed MUF except where the MINIMUF-85 algorithm pro-
vides more credible values. It is evident from table 1
basic program requirements that PATHFINDER, because it has to set up its varj-
The first step in designing PATHFINDER was to de- ables before path analysis starts, requires more time
fine the tasks it would accomplish; below is a list of to return the projection for 0000 UTC. But PATH-
these primary features. FINDER quickly generates the MUF projections for the
HOURLY MUF PROJECTIONS SHORT PATH rest of the day. PATHFINDER in either form is com-
HOURLY MUF PROJECTIONS LONG PATH parable or superior to MlNlMUF in total response time.
RADIAL MUF PROJECTIONS 250 TO 22500 MILES PATHFINDER without increased speed would be intol-
BEARING AND DISTANCE REPORT SHORT PATH erably slow in executing the MINIMUF-85 algorithms.
BEARING AND DISTANCE REPORT LONG PATH The number of control points evaluated on a given
PATH GRAY-LINE REPORT path is a significant difference in the three programs.
MINIMUM CODE SIZE For the short paths all of the programs evaluate at only
MINIMUM RESPONSE TIME one point. The two earlier versions determined values

M a y 1988 [iP 31
 Table 1. Propagation p a t h calculation t i m e (seconds) using three different programs.'

Path FIRSTITOTAL FIRSTITOTAL FIRSTITOTAL

2000 km midlatitude <1 49 3 19 3 25
6000 km midlatitude <1 88 3 31 5 79
6000 km polar summer <1 90 4 26 6 106
6000 km polar winter <1 86 5 30 6 91

"FIRST" is the time needed to calculate the first hour's velue.

"TOTAL" is the time needed to calculate the entire day's (24 hours) values.

at only two points for longer paths, while the

Table 2. Long-path calculation.*
MINIMUF-85 version of PATHFINDER can evaluate
Propagation for: DEC 21
up to 19 points for a nearly circumferential long-path
Home OTH, I-at: -87 Lon: 130
projection. The additional computations required when Target QTH, Lat: 80 Lon: 310
a point falls within a polar region is another difference. Solar flux -
150 Sunspot number = 104
This can easily double the evaluation time per point. Path length z z 12920 miles
The changes appear when radial projections are run Path bearing = 0

since the program must compute a new path and all GMT MUF GMT MUF GMT MUF GMT MUF
path and point-related variables with each increment 0000 9 . 0600 8.9 1200 12.5 1800 11.9
0100 10.8 0700 10.4 1300 11.3 1900 12.7
in bearing, in addition to evaluating each point.
0200 9.5 0800 9.1 1400 10.7 2000 11
program "construction"
PATHFINDER uses the "top-down" programming
technique which starts out broad and develops a level
at a time. The detail becomes finer for each succes-
*All major program sections are exercised.
I
I
sive level. The flow of PATHFINDER follows this con- 3ench marks wc!re run on a 2~MHzKaypro II under Microsoft BASIC 5.2.
cept reasonably well. The menu loop is entered after PATHFINDER-3.5 is based on a MINIMUF-3.5 algorithm and
PATHFINDER-85is based on the MINIMUF-85 algorithm.
the program constants are set up calling subroutines
that call other subroutines until the chosen analysis
is performed and the program returns to the menu panded. Unnecessary computations are bypassed
level. whenever possible.
Looking down inside the input routines, you first
have data entry followed by conversions and variable code review
computations for each point. Each input routine The listing for the general version of PATHFINDER
processes only its own variables since, with the menu is included at the end of this text. This will enable you
interface, it is necessary to redo some computations t o develop most hf analyses required. I have chosen
previous to or within the simulation setups when in- to hard code the home station location and eliminate
put conditions change. input error checking; items that could be added after
Each of the modes (bearingldistance gray-line, the program is running. In the discussion t o follow,
radial and hourly) is driven by an independent setup the only reference to a program section is by its initial
routine assuring correct results regardless of the line number. A run which exercises all major sections
others. In this way, you might change the solar flux of the program is included in table 2.
input and rerun a path evaluation or, once you have The declaration and initialization section starts at
a path evaluation, determine the gray-line parameters fig. 1, line 10. It sets up the constants and arrays
for the path end points. Each driver sets up the vari- needed, and collects the input required to run a simu-
ables necessary for its function and call9 the analysis lation. The main menu selection follows at line 200.
to be executed. The partitioning of the variable setups The menu is multilevel on a priority basis. Each ques-
maintains related computations in the same routine so tion is answered with one of the indicated option
that duplication of code and computation are mini- values. Caution: you can only list after a MUF simula-
mized, and at the same time, program utility is ex- tion has been run. From this point all sections are

32 May 1988
subroutines involved with program operation. The the mode was long path and that it also covered Ja-
applications drivers are next: hourly MUF at 1000 pan and parts of UAO land. The short path MUF to
(short path at 10101, radial MUF at 1100, gray-line at those locations was at or below 8 MHz at the time
1300 and bearing and distance at 1400. Next comes while the long path MUF was well above 10 MHz.
the MUF computation with the MUF setup at 2000, K3RN. Bob Newkirk, spends a lot of time on the
day and darkness critical frequency computations at air at daybreak. I ran a gray-line summary for him last
2100 and 2200 respectively, followed by the base MUF year using a version of PATHFINDER with access to
and FoF2 determination at 2300. The polar model be- a world latitudellongitude data base. Bob's country
gins at line 2400 with the final point MUF resolution total is already high so it didn't net him any new ones
starting at 2600. but the projections were "just about right on" and
The next set of program blocks represents lower or- gave him a couple of weeks of fun checking out my
der support for the drivers. At line 3000, path bear- data.
ing and distance are determined. The control point In the week before Field Day 1987, 1 used PATH-
setup starts at 3100. Point latitude and longitude giv- FINDER to track and characterize the MUF for W1 KVI
en a bearing and distance from a reference point are (Portland Amateur Wireless Association). I generat-
computed in the subroutines starting at 3300 and 3400, ed point-to-point reports for 15 paths between 500 and
while the subroutine at 4000 determines the number 2500 miles as well as radial reports for these distances
and spacing of the control points and calculates the at four-hour intervals. Trends suggested by these
M-factor from the path information. Line 5000 enters projections were as follows: 20 meters would be poor
a routine to characterize the aspects of solar illum- from 0400 through 1100 UTC, the West Coast would
ination of a point. Two math routines are next; the not be strong on 20 and propagation for that band
ARCCOS function at 6000 and a range limiting func- would favor the 1300 to 1800 mile range; 15 meters
tion at 6100. The "soft" output routines follow: gray- also indicated some promise around noon in the 1800
line at 7000, bearing and distance at 7100, and simu- to 2600 mile range. These projections were very close
lation base at 7200. The input routines are last: date as indicated by contacts in our logs.
at 8000, solar factors at 8200, and target location at Success with the MlNlMUF ionospheric models in
8300. The last line of the target routine starting at 8320 PATHFINDER lies in the interpretation of all the fac-
is used as a subroutine by the analysis drivers to assure tors involved. The MUF report is not 100 percent
correct target location definition. This is necessary be- accurate: one must consider the absorption charac-
cause the radial MUF routine redefines the target longi- teristics indicated by the K and A indicies; watch the
tude with each bearing increment. path build up and decay over time; and consider the
Significant gaps have been intentionally left in the paths to adjacent areas in order t o get a good feeling
program line numbering sequence. This allows ample for what the computer is telling us. By providing the
room for program expansion and makes program seg- ability to run several types of analyses within one pro-
mentation easier. All listings in this article are present- gram, PATHFINDER can help determine the probabil-
ed in Microsoft Extended BASICS0 version 5.2 for a ity of working that new country.
CP/M 2.2 operating system. This is a universal pro-
gramming language that may have some features and summary
syntax not shared with other dialects of BASIC. One PATHFINDER is a general hf operating aid capable
problem may arise with the ON-GOTOIGOSUB con- of providing MUF analysis modes as well as gray-line
structs used in the menu; they may have t o be and bearingldistance reports. It uses MINIMUF-85 al-
replaced with a chain of IF-THEN statements for oth- gorithms and has been optimized for both utility and
er systems. Please refer to the user manual of your speed. There is an elementary, menu-driven, top-level
BASIC language during conversion. This version of program allowing you t o change input data, run, and
PATHFINDER has been submitted to the ARRL Pro- report analysis at will without having to restart. By run-
gram Exchange along with several conversions includ- ning several types of evaluations in the same session,
ing one written in TURBO PASCALTM." you will gain a better appreciation for what is going
on in the ionosphere.
experiences with PATHFINDER Available publication space has required that the
Art Allen, K Y I K, mentioned that there was a lot of code for PATHFINDER presented in this article be
activity on 20 meters to the western Pacific one morn- rather spartan. In the future I hope to provide the code
ing in late June. PATHFINDER confirmed for Art that necessary to build and access a latitude/longitude data
file as well as make use of the MOUT(x) array for
'TURBO PASCAL is a registered trademark of Borland International. Inc., simple graphical presentation of the simulation results.
California.
S C O ~ ~Valley,
S 1 have had a lot of fun with this project and am more

M a y 1988 33
 than satisfied with it. I wish t o thank all those w h o
contributed t o PATHFINDER including: KGGKU for
time and much effort in reviewing the manuscript and
A magazlne dedicated t o q u a l i t y and sportsmanshll~ In program, and K l M E for the use of his TNC in trans-
amateur r a d l o operating. Fresh, timely, practical and down t o
e a r t h reading f o r l i t t l e p i s t o l s and big guns. Written b y t h e fering the program t o AJlT for the Commodore con-
world;¶ b e s t i n t h e i r f i e l d s : ONPUN, SMBAGD, LZZCJ, version. Thank you and happy DXing.
VE3BMV, KH6BZF, DJOZB, ZS6BRZ, WlWY, N2AU, K7GC0,
KIZN, WIGF, VE3JlQ, WBIZNH, WBqTBU, KQ2M, NSBX, W3FG, references
KA3B, KIPLR, N7CK0, VE3XN, ABBX, JElCKA and others. 1. Rose. H 0 . . "MINIMUF: A S!mpt~l~r?rl MUF Predelio#i Program lor
lncludes OX News, QSL Info, 160m, BOm, 10m, 6m columns, M~crocompi~ters," OST. volunle 66 1121. page 36 38. 1982
OXpeditioning, Propagation, Awards, Contest r u l e s and results, 2. Elwell. H.G., "Calculator Aided Propagatton Pre~t~ct~or~s."
ham mdm. Aflrll
Traffic - Emergency, FCC News, New Products, Antennas, 1979. I>a!je 26.
T e c h n i c a l news and a r t i c l e s , e q u i p m e n t r e v i e w s a n d .
3 EIWPII.H G "360 degree MlNtMUF Propagallon Prr~~toct~on," Iran?r.?dro.
modifications, computer programs, Radio Funnies, Club Life, Fellruarv 1987. page 25.
R l N , VHFIUHF, Mail Box, Classified Ads and much more i n a .
4 O v ~ r h e c k .W. arid Steffen, J.A "Compt~ter Programs for Amateur
magazine format w i t h t h e speed of a bulletin.
Radio." Hayden Book Company. Hasbrouck He~gllls.New Jersey. 1981.
RADIOSPORTING
- ~ ~ - sDonsors OX C e n t u r y Award. Contest
5, lhld.
Hall o f Fame and World kadio Championship contest.
6. Sa~lors,D.B.. el al. "MINIMUF-85: An Improved HF MUF Predictior~
"Your p u b l i c a t i o n i s superb! Keep i t up!" Joe Reisert, W h R Algorithm." Naval Ocean Systems Center Technical Repon 1121. July 1986
7. Rose. R.B. and Man~n.J.N.. "MINIMUF 3.5. Improved Versnon of
"Your UZPV a r t i c l e s a r e p r i c e l e s s . Your magazine i s super!"
Rush Drake, W7RM MlNlMUF 3. A Simplified HF MUF Prcdictjon Algorithm." Naval Ocean Svs
"Let me c o n g r a t u l a t e y o u o n a v e r y impnx%slve magazine. 3-t tems Crnlrr Technical Documcr~t201. Octul,nr 1978
what I ' v e been l o o k i n g f o r as a OXer a n d Contester!" 8. Rose. RE.. "MINIMUF Revis~ted." Technical Correspond~nce.OST.
Dick Man. N7RO volume MI 131. 1984. page 46.
"RADIOSPORTINC. once received. cannot b e tossed a s i d e u n W 9. Hall J.. "H~ghFrequency Estimations for Ihe Radio Amateur." OST, volume
i t i s r e a d from c o v e r t o cover. Then r e v l e w e d a g a i n a n d 56 131, 1972. page 14.
again. " Chas Browning, W4PKA 10. Shallon. S C.. "MINIMUF for Polar Parhs." Technical Correspondence.
OST, volume 67 1101. 1983, page 48.
S u b s c r i p t i o n r a t e s : 1 y e a r USA $18. Canada CDNS26. Overseas
USSZJ; 2 years $33. $48. $42 r e s p e c t i v e l y . Single issue $2. h a m radio
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7?
R~rrlnlr V i > l ~ tIh>d1cillr8ls
t Ptnned 0111
4*11 6 Dolalll?S ~ P Gol O d Pl,!lrll d l Pln Card $6.95
. R P ~ O I FDlsaht~
MOHF
Innk~tq

Bu~lt.tested and callbrafed w ~ t hmanual

TMEPERFECTMATCHFOR
ANTENNA TUNERS WITH
ABALANCEDOUTPUT

$350.00 THE ALL-BANDER DIPOLE

Telephone ~nlerlacenow ava~lahle Complelely laclory assemblerl ready to use
For more tnlorniat~oncall or wrlle Heavy 14 17\22) gauge slranded copper anlenna wlre to survtve lhose severe slorms
Center led wtlh 100 lee! of low loss PVC covered 450 ohm balanced transmlsslon llne
HALL ELECTRONICS Includes center !nsulalor wllh an eye hook for center support
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(614) 261-8871 Overall length 135 leel, less when erected as an Inverted vee or sloper
Handles 2 k w PEP 8 covers 160 through 10 meters
May be trlmmed to 111 small ccy 101s Only $29.95

LENGTH PRICE
DIPOLES MODEL BANDS LENGTH PRICE
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Dlpoles Parallel d8polcr
0 A0 80175 I30 $31 95 I'liH8110 80 40.20 10115 130 543 95
D .Ill 40115 6R 7895 PD401O 4070 10115 66' 37 95
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CALL US FOR A FREE CATALOGUE. supporl rope (SD models only 50'). rated lor full legal power Antennas may be used as an ~nverted
'kc , . , a .,I,,,, ,,,lI,l '.: l~ll',l V. and may ,?lso be used by MARSor SWLs

*
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'\I.,,, Anlenns accessories-avallnble wllh antenna ord-rs
NEW L O C A T I O N ! ~ y l o quy
n r o p ~450 1b resl 100 lrrc:~
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Order onetoday, and sran enlaylng your rtg's lull potantla1
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I
/ 203

M a y 1988 35
 .
. ,.,,.,

HAM RADIO
TECHNIQUES
Bill Orr. W6SAI

compact two-element antenna and a front-to-back ratio at the design fre-

why not a two-element was flooded with questions about it. quency of about 13 dB.
Yagi ? Here is the story of this small, inexpen- In comparison, a three-element Yagi
Many years ago my three-element sive Yagi with a big punch! on a 0.25 wavelength boom with equal
20-meter Yagi suffered severe damage spacing between elements has a theor-
in a furious wind storm. I was able to the two-element Yagi for etical gain of about 7.1 dB over a di-
get the wreckage down before the 10 meters pole and a front-to-back ratio at the
winter weather set in, but the chance As compared with a three-element design frequency of about 23 dB.
of getting the antenna repaired and beam, the two-element Yagi is light- The two-element Yagi has about 2
back atop the tower were slim, con- dB less gain than the three-element
sidering the ominous weather reports. antenna, and has a front-to-back ratio
As a stop-gap measure, the beam was about 10 dB poorer. However, the
converted to a two-element array on t boom length of the two-element beam
a short boom which could quickly be I 1
-- I is only 40 percent of the larger array.
omcroR /
t
carried to the top of the tower by a TOP VIEW
3'6"
CENTER
This is important in areas with high
DRIVEN TO I
single person. This seemed a reason- ELEMENT L CENTER winds. Some Amateurs, particularly
able, short-term solution, so I took it. 4 4 , those living in the Midwest, require as
I was pleased with the results achiev-
F F
-,-I much front-to-back ratio as they can
*0
ed by the small beam. It worked so L P P Y . 4 TURNS NO 12 E N I M E L . 112" INSIDE L t I I M E T E R .
l / Z " LONG
get because of interference from both
well that it was many months be- the East and the West. In other areas
fore the larger three-element beam fig. 1. Layout of 2-element, 10-meter of the country, the Amateur can opt
Yagi. Coil L is placed across feedpoint for the smaller array without losing
replaced it.
F-F to achieve good match. Wind coax
Nevertheless, the two-element Yagi transmission line into choke coil I4 turns.
very much in antenna performance.
has faded into relative obscurity. Pop- 8" diameter) at feedpoint.
ular in the fifties when few commercial
building a two-element
beams were available, it disappeared
i
10-meter Yagi
with the advent of manufactured an- Assembly information for a com-
tennas. Lately there has been renewed er, smaller, has less wind resistance, pact, 10-meter Yagi is shown in fig. 1.
interest in the little antenna; more and and can be built easily and inexpen- The design frequency is 28.4 MHz,
more newcomers to the 10-meter band sively. The antenna has a single direc- making the antenna suitable for CW,
are erecting two-element beams and tor spaced 0.1 wavelength in front of Novice, and regular Amateur service
having excellent results with them. I hit the driven element and a theoretical from 28.0 t o about 28.8 MHz. The
the band a few months ago with a gain of about 5 dB over a dipole with feedpoint resistance of the antenna

36 May 1988
is about 17 ohms. Element spacing, tubing will easily telescope within it. sold by large electrical supply houses.
center-to-center, is 3 feet 6 inches. (Any diameter tubing will fit into the Some trade names are PenetroxTM,
Raise the feedpoint impedance to 50 next larger size if the larger size has a Cual-AidTM, and Ox-GuardTM. The
ohms by shortening the driven element 0.058-inch wall thickness.) The end compound is a good electrical conduc-
slightly to make it capacitively reactive sections are 112-inch diameter tubing tor and ensures a trouble-free joint. A
at the design frequency, and place a with 0.035-inch thick walls. The tips small tube of the paste is sufficient for
small inductor across the feedpoint. have thin walls to decrease weight. three or four antenna arrays.
This arrangement comprises a simple To lock the tubes in position, use a Split the driven element at the
impedance step-up L-network. Wind hacksaw to cut a narrow slot about a center to provide a feedpoint. Separa-
the coax transmission line into an rf foot long in the end of the center tube, tion between the sections is about an
choke at the antenna feedpoint to through both walls, on a line with the inch. To preserve alignment, force the
preserve feedpoint balance and de- center axis of the tube. Remove all element sections on a short wooden
crease the chance of rf getting into the burrs from both the inside and outside dowel that has been given two coats
shack. walls; then sand and clean the tips to of varnish for weather protection. Drill
Array construction is greatly simpli- lessen the possibility of seizure after the element ends for bolts and nuts to
fied by using a wood boom and wood the tubes are telescoped. Make the provide a connection point for the
brackets for element support (fig. 21. feedline.
My boom is made of a length of well- Bolt the matching coil across the
dried, two-by-two lumber that was feedpoint like the coaxial line. Prepare
16" X 3 "
sanded and given two coats of marine the line by skinning the outer insula-
varnish. The element supports are 16- tion back a few inches. Unbraid the
by 3-inch lengths of finished wood outer conductor by using a small nail
(518-inch thick), painted with varnish to separate the wires. Twist the wires
W.9. PLYWOOD I
and fixed to the boom with glue and into a pigtail and place a solder lug on
I
small nails or screws. PLATE - the end of the tail. Place a second lug
Fasten the boom to the mast with on the center conductor of the line.
a gusset plate made of 518-inch thick PAINTED Waterproof the end of the line by
plywood. Because this material can CUT TO FIT
covering it with Coax-SealTMor wrap-
disintegrate quickly unless it is protect- I ping it securely with vinyl tape. Make
ed from weathering, seal the edges sure that water cannot enter the end
with two coats of wood preservative of the line - it would quickly corrode
fig. 2. Boom details for 10-meter beam.
and give the whole plate two coats of the conductors.
outdoor house paint. Fasten the boom Finally, wind the coax line into an rf
t o the plate, and the plate t o the mast, choke just before it attaches t o the
with pairs of galvanized U-bolts. Use driven element. Six turns of line
washers and lock washers on all bolts p- 27'0"- 4 -27'0" --l wound into a coil whose diameter is
to make a rigid joint. ,,,,, /, twelve times the diameter of the coax
ROPE
Attach the elements to the wood 1TYPI will suffice. Hold the coil in place with
crossarms with either U-bolts or home- vinyl tape.
made clamps made of scrap alumi- I - T O - ! BALUN-

num. (I had no luck finding U-bolts

erecting the beam
5 0 OR 7 5 0 C 0 4 X
XMTR
that matched the diameter of the ele- A heavy-duty TV rotator turns the
ment; however, once the beam was up fig. 3.7- and 21-MHz broadside antenna. beam. Make sure the one you use has
in the air the correct size U-bolts mag- - a lock so that the antenna will not
"windmill" when the rotor power is
ically showed up at several hardware
stores. off. Mount the antenna to a short ver-
slots wide enough so that when pres- tical pipe that fits the top section of the
assembling the elements sure from a hose clamp is put on the rotor.
The elements are made of three sec- walls of the outer tube, the inner tube The antenna can be as low as 16 feet
tions of commercial grade 6061 alum- is held firmly in place. above ground for good results around
inum tubing. Use a 12-foot length for Smear a small amount of anti .oxidiz- the United States. You can mount it
the center section and short, telescop- ing compound over the end of the relatively inconspicuously just above
ing sections of tubing for the tips. The smaller tube to prevent corrosion and the roof of a one-story dwelling. A
center section of the element is 518- oxidation of the joint between the height of 25 to 40 feet is recommend-
inch diameter tubing, with a wall thick- tubes. This lubricant is commonly used ed for better results. When building
ness of 0.058 inch so that the 112-inch in industrial power installations and and testing the beam I had it mount-

M a y 1988 37
 - IJ1'10.
'
QSO PRO
TO.,
BALUN
f TlPl

is on the 8 ^-I 1 ,0,2-

R G - 8 A I V OR P6.111U
Rr(N0OY L E N G T H

fig. 4. The "Carolina Windom" antenna works 80-10 with tuner. WA4LVB recommends
that the antenna be 35 feet or higher above ground.
An Easy To Use Logbook Program For
Your llS-D04" Compatible Computer
+ Complete Cursor Control + Room lo store
complete adress lnformat~on A Real-Tlme
L3g Total QSL's by slate 900 QSO's on + 120.
floppy. hard dlsk llmlled by space available

'Oh10 restdents must

add 5% sales lax
U S FUNDS ONLY
CICLE 22
MORLAN SOFlWARE
P 0 Box 2400
East hvepml oh1043920WOO
0J 4 N JAN JAN J1I JIM JAW JAH JAN JIM
88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96
"Em
3
fig. 5. National Bureau of Standards forecast for sunspot cycle 22 based on data as
of August 1987.
MOBILE
HF ANTENNA
I- L.LI~YP) rm=ui
12.1.1... ed atop a 6-foot step ladder. Even at the majority of cases these adjust-
, I-B4NDC O V U M S E -*:I A m f r u r . .MAN.
m d C A P Irarmenrlr. from 10 lo 84 1llelcr.1 that low height I was able to make ments will not be required.
BANDSWITCHING - Svllches m.c.nUy lo many contacts nationwide with good
p r e - m n e a ,rrqu.ncr<. on m y o.M,
reports, so don't let height restrictions compact 7- and 21-MHz
HIGH-0 RESON,\TOR - L q h . 0 ~r mductur
,,,., P'Orldr. m u i m u m cn,c,mty on I l r b d . 8
stop you from considering this project. antenna
n...~.,.,
a a
&,
.,,.
.VWTIONAL DESION. P m > d e sLow wnd
:>..,in".
.PP"""C',
..,l.P can..*, a"4 m.>r. pl"..ml
f l u r a y co".LNr:lon ,or long
,.I. uw ,.llaLlllil> xcr !.,o-o".r ,..,%re,
adjusting the beam
This wire antenna, designed by
G3TKN, fits into a 55-foot span and
...rnr,or
100 U'.<TT C A P A C I T Y - Curusw.tivc rllmy. The beam as described probably works on two bands. It is a 7-MHz di-
C-u(mrm-lllUnmYo"xT
won't require any adjustment. It pro- pole with the center section folded up
PRICE $74.95
1000 W k r T MODEL AVAILABLE - l84.91
vides a bandwidth of about 800 kHz to form a simple matching stub on 21
,%.,3,...
s...
,.rl'rm
Add 5% lor sh~ppingIn lower 48 between the 2:1 SWR points. How- MHz, where the antenna operates as
SASE for Product Info ever, any antenna is sensitive to the a two-element collinear array provid-
TEXAS RADIO PRODUCTS
18li1i7l 1188 - immediate environment and to the
height above ground. Check the SWR
ing about 3 dB power gain. Antenna
dimensions are given in fig. 3.
,102 from 28.0 to 29.0 MHz and make a The center stub is made of two No.
14 enamel-coated wires with a 6-inch
chart of SWR reading versus frequen-
f \ cy. It should be a smooth curve, with separation. Three spreaders are requir-
AMATEUR RADIO MAIL LISTS a minimum SWR figure near the de- ed and can be made from plastic rod
Sell-stlck 1x3 labels
NEWLY LICENCED HAMS ***
"* sign frequency of 28.4 MHz. If the or 318-inch diameter wooden dowel.
"' ALL NEW UPGRADES *** SWR at the design frequency seems Give the wood a weatherproof coat of
"'UPDATED EACH WEEK ***
Tolal L~sl= 462,728 (ZIP sorted) too high, adjust the spacing of the varnish. Pass the wire through holes
Pllce IS 2.5 ccnls cacti (4-up Cheshire) matching coil turns slightly, or increase drilled in the ends of the spreaders.
BUCKMASTER PUBLISHING or decrease the number of turns. The Hold it in place by winding short
Mlneral Vlr lnla 23117
705:893-5777 length of the driven element can be ad- lengths of No. 22 wire around the
L 1 justed to bring the minimum SWR dowel and the stub wire passing
, 10'3 point to the desired frequency, but in through it.

38 M a y 1988
 \
ALPMA 87
1.5 kW R F O U T P U T . . . ALL B A N D S . . . NO TUNE UP
Just select the desired band and you're 78's.Those amplifiers introduced thou-
on the air with a full 1.5 kW of clean, sands of serious amateurs to the Full coverage of amateur 180.80.40.30.
crisp RF power surging up the coax. synergistic blend of legendaryALPHA 20.17 and 15 meter bands(Oual~l~ed amateurs
Manual tune-up is completely elimi- power and instant bandchange that may easily modify the '87for 12 and 10 meter
coveraga
nated when you use ETO's new made the 7 8 our most popular ALPHA
maximum legal power ALPHA 87 ever. 1.5kW FIF power 01~ t p uin t any' mode [aux
cooling 1'an require(j for Pavg. >1 kW)
bandpass linear amplifier. The new ALPHA 87can safely deliver Full rated power into load VSWR <1.5:1:
ALPHA 87 is identical with the man- far more long-term average RF output electronic VSWR and overload protection
ually tuned ALPHA 86 except for its power than its famous predecessor.. . Instant,silent PIN diode T/R and OSK
output tuning networks. The '87 up to a full 1.5 kW . . . from the same 60 to 80 watts drive for rated output
employs an improved version of band- size cabinet and AT THE SAME Quiet, full cabinet forced air cooling
pass circuitry !hat's been thoroughly PRICE! Same exclusive 3 year ALPHA ETO's exclusive 3 year limited warranty
proven since 1974 in famous "no- limited warranty and same famous
tune-UD" ALPHA 374's and ALPHA ETO service, too. No-tune-up ALPHA 87:
$3,495.00
Manually tuned ALPHA 86:
$2,995.00
All ALPHA3 are available FACTORY-
DIRECT from ETO, freight pre-paid in
North America. To order, or for a
detailed brochure describing the
ALPHA 86, 87 and the forthcoming
fully automatic ALPHA 88, call or
write ETO.
H 104

Factory pre-tunedbandpass output networks ALPHA 87power supply uses 3.5 hVA tape-
EHRHORN
provide luN coverage 01each amateur HF band.
Maximumlegal RFoufputis instantlyavailableon
any band.
wound Hipersil' transformer and full wave
bridge rectifier for maximum power and
durability with mimimum size and weight.
.,
t -
* IEC HN@LlJ(;ICAL O P E H A I I ( J N S INC

P O BOX 888
Matched and pre-aged computer grade CANON CITY. CO 81212
Tuned input provides excellent match to
capacitors used in 50 pE 3+ kV filter yield (7191 275-1613
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excellent dynamic regulation and long life.
and linearity.
ALPHA 87 will be available for sale pending grant of FCC type acceptance which is expected before this ad appears.
 COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALISTS, /#C.
Tall Avenue Orangc LA 92665-4296
998-3021 .FAX (7141974-3420
Ent~reUS.A 1-800-854-0547 J 105
 Feed the antenna with a 1:l coax
balun and a coax feedline. Optimize
feedline SWR on 21 MHz by varying
I BACK TO BASICS.. .
But far more advanced.. .I
the length of the stub an inch or two
at a time. The antenna performs well
when elevated 30 feet, or higher. On
40 meters the pattern is that of the Model AR501 Telegraph Terminal
conventional dipole; on 15 meters it is
$229.00
also bidirectional but with sharper (California res. add'$13.74tax.)
lobes.

the "Carolina" windom Visa and Mastercard orders

antenna are welcomed. Price includes
shipping & handling. Purchase
This antenna, popularized by W G Z * orders accepted from
in the early twenties, is still with us in Government agencies
various forms. The latest idea was sent
to me'by Edgar Lambert, WA4LVB. It
501 covered by One Year Limited
seems the idea was conceived by rrantv. Extendedwarrantv service
W4UEB, WY4R and WA4LVB. The F aiailable at the followi'na rates:
antenna is shown in fig. 4. The flat top I -
$25.00 3 Years U5.00 - SYears
is cut for 3550 kHz and is off-center fed AR501 is a compact triple mode CW terminal in a small package (4.5" x
with a 4 : l balun and a coax line. Since 6.25"~2.25") but a powerful gear to practice and play with. As a CW
Edgar told me about it, I have heard decoder, it detects morse code between 5 to 30 WPM. For practice?, it
activates and displays the code. More?, it operates as an electronic keyer
several of these antennas on 20 meters both standard and iambic. More yet?, How about a print-out function? The
and they seem to poke out a good ARSOl does just that. We offer a stand alone thermal printer as an option.
signal. Edgar says it's a good approxi-
mation of the mythical "all-band"
antenna. Maybe so. Why don't you try
it out and send me your results?

sunspot cycle 22 coming

up! 1500 + WATT TRANSMATCH KIT $169.95 OTHER KITS
Article Reprlnts (refundable). .S1.50 .............
A t last! Old sunspot cycle 21 ended GJRUH, PSK Packet Modem. Satl.TTerrestrialS99.00
PC Board for above only, dellversd.. ...... ,527.99
about September, 1987. There's no Ten-Tec Desl~nerCablnet for above. .......S12.00
doubt about it. Ten meters has been KSCW Memory Contest Keyer.. ..........S109.00
"hot" since the fall of 1987. Happy Yeesu FRG-9600. .1 to 60 MHz Converter.. . .$94.95
20m CW. 15w Transceiver (H.R.6/87), . . . . . .$159.95
days are here again! 50W 75M SSB XCVR.. ................. ,519995
While 10, 12, and 15 may be "flat" BASIC KIT: INDIVIDUAL ITEMS ~ a c t o t yWired
during the summer months, there will 1 -rotary inductor 2 8 r h . . . . . . . . . . . $59.00 Nel-Tech DVK-100A (New Model)..................-$269.00
be plenty of sporadic-E short skip to
.
2 6:l ball drives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$900 ea. B a w PT-2500~ Amp ............................. ..$I ,670.00
.
1 0.100 turns counter. ..........
.%65.75 B a w vS1500A Tuner ................................. $388.00
liven up the bands. They will come 2 -variable capecltors Amp Supply/Amer~tronLinears . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CALL
alive with a bang in mid-fall! 25.245 p i 4500 v. ..........,544.00 ea.
OPTIONS-
Shlpplng Extra Unless Noted
Catalog 51.00
., 1m
So what are the prospects for the enclosure (pictured In Sept. 88 CQ).S64.00 RADIOKIT P.O. BOX9 7 3 4
next sunspot cycle: cycle 22' The
Space Environmental Services Center
4:l balun kit.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..S22.50 Pelham. NH 03076 (603) 635-2235
dirls, terminals, chassis. wamk r(mdeflc. hardwm, torolds. amp componmts, B i W coll stock. ntc. a
of the National Bureau of Standards
predicts the next cycle wil! peak in ATV CONVERTERS HF LINEAR AMPLIFIERS
1990 through 1992 with a plateau of OISCOVfR THT W O R L D OF
1tLEYISION
U f A M P ~ M V T ~ L A . P V L L C T l N 3f E M Q X C U D E OLYlCU
cornpin. P..,. LlllfC4 Hr h#lb..I)..ll.*d .n ""HXI-M,&B RF C h 0 U I lla
about 110. The general prediction IC U O T O I O L I Bdkl,n.
1 M 1 1 0 - Im w.lls Em3 --
t 4 0 Watts
I L ~ I ' X I - 6 5 I 8 l e t , , . Wad 1 m
A U I 1 1 - 140 Walls
for cycle 22 is shown in fig. 5. It tBIIA
E B ? D I -a
YXI w.12.
Walls
I(lblllll6-
Wodd PD *..I I.nll6 IsI1.1 I ) I ~m
seems as if 10 meters will be a good -Y%iP'Mm- (HI-LC-P.
ms 1,m
S.~.*(~.~.I/~I
.h,..<",
Iam

DX band until at least 1997! That's nine 'lCU MO W.,, 1-PC42 SIPPI Y Y - m - -
~ E L ~ V I s I Q ~ n'*W"'* I ,'-'".' I W R
years of good DX conditions ahead for A T V I 110 - 4 %
A T Y l 420-450 14.95 lit 8?
-as
u
I
CHIP C I P I C I T 0 I ) S
M L T I I < L A O M l L l CAPACITORS
A T v 4 W1-928 I 59.5 .nl
limo dQT3RQlA~anrrn~II11~ SEMICONDUCTOItI
Amateur Radio. I'll drink t o that! RF POWER T R l H l l S T O l S

ham radio ~Qutluc-PPIIIt

RFm-I
k::E:l:::j
> O u H O IOMH, I 195
1 141
I ,%
IIF C H ( , I E I
MIWIL<IRCUIT M1XEW1
IBL-l 1 6 s

-
RII*~-S ~ a o ~ ~ o ~ o u ~ I I,P I IBL-IX 1 I01
'hem radio regrets that L. G. Windom, W8GZ. tma rat r' &RCO I R I L I U L I CAPACITORS
75 W.ll Udd 1111 1119% I,, *'as*d mlolm.la and C l n . (.I! DI w.1.
In L I I tolm w ~ , ~.nd
. d~ n t . d 'a out 1,-<.1.4 *dd I1 m lol I*& snr hmnms
died on Februarv 1. 1988. ~..,i.b*

munication -

111 8 r . m Street . Om)lton.Ohio 1 5 1 0 1 'lSl1) 210-0111

Ir 112
 MORSE CODE
Morse Tutor wlli take you from beglnnar
through extra class In easy self
paced lessons.

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42 Ll M a y 1988
 the Quad antenna: part 1,
general concepts
A comprehensive study 'The Quad, second in popularity, is usually a two-
element design using the square configuration. Many
are single band, others are two or three single-band
of this popular antenna antennas on a common boom. True multiband Quad
elements have been designed, but are rarely used.
The lower portions of the hf band tend to favor delta
or triangular loop Quads that need only a single high
support. The circular loop is popular on VHF. But total
usage is about one-fourth that of the Yagi - some
This is the first in a series of articles on the Quad 12 to 15 percent of all installations (this includes all
antenna family. In this series I will attempt to: types c)f antennas, not just Yagis). Commercial use
clarify the concepts of Quad family antenna design. of Quads is limited and they are relatively low sales
set forth Ouad theory to the extent needed for prac- items on the Amateur market.
tical design. The pros and cons of using a Ouad are often de-
provide easily used design data for a range of prac- bated. The most common reason given for using a
tical designs, medium frequency (mf) to very high fre- Ouad is that it is a good directive antenna which
quency (VHF). can be built from locally available materials. It's fun
provide data on practical construction t o eliminate to experiment with and has a reputation for good
current physical weakness problems. performance at low height. Long-time Quad users
Included are: seem to stay with the design because they like the
concepts of the loop family performance.
circular loops; octagonal loops Three reasons usually given for not using a Quad
circular loop arrays; octagonal arrays are: susceptibility to damage during high winds, lack
the Quad loop family of space, and lack of design data for the high-per-
arrays of Quad loops formance types. In actuality, these are weak reasons
the triangular loop family for rejecting this antenna. First, the wind damage
triangular loop arrays factor can be reduced by solving aerodynamic and
ground effects on loops and arrays mechanical design problems. Second, for a given gain,
multifrequency loop designs the Quad can have a smaller turning radius than a
other loop designs Yagi. This allows it to fit into smaller places, and makes
loops and array construction techniques it easier to obtain gain at lower frequencies. Finally,
There will be several installments on the elements of there is an enormous amount of literature covering all
theory and design data, each dealing with a single elements of Quad theory, design, performance, and
member of the Quad family. construction.
Unfortunately, Quad literature tends to be fragment-
Quad versus Yagi ed. The theory and most precise design and perfor-
The Yagi is the most popular type of Amateur direc- mance data are written by scientists and engineers;
tive antenna. Surveys on the hf bands show that over 1 the practical construction data appears in Amateur
half of all stations use some form of Yagi. Three-
element triband designs with traps for band isolation By R.P. Haviland, W4MB, 1035 Green Acres
are the most common. Circle North, Daytona Beach, Florida 32019

M a y 1988 Gbl 43
 Radio publications. The scientific data are hard to use
0 0 0 0 in a practical sense because computers are needed to
derive useful design values.

~ ~ i l m -
T R A N S M I S S ~ O N SKELETON OUAD COMPRESSED FOLDEO
shapes of the Quad families
One of the easiest ways to approach the Quad con-
LINE SLOT LOOP OUAD LOOP
DIPOLE
cepti'is to start with a length of open-wire transmis-
fig. 1. The square (4-sided) Quad family, conceptually
sion line, shorted at one end and with a generator at
formed by separating the sides of a two-wire open trans- the other, as shown at A in fig. 1. If the spacing
mission line shorted at the far end. As a first approxi- between the sides of the line is progressively increased,
mation, all members behave as a transmission line. the shapes of B to E successively develop. These
shapes are representative of the rectangular Quad
family. From A to E, the shapes are:
A shorted line
B skeleton slot

($60-
0 0 0 C Quad loop

I)
D compressed Quad
E folded dipole
Instead of keeping the sides of the figures parallel,
VARIABLE HIGH DIAMOND COW DIAMOND TAPER-FOLDED
we could choose the midpoint of the sides as the point
IMPEDANCE
TRANSMISSION
DJ4YOND
LOOP
LOOP LOOP DIPOLE
of inflection and create a second family with diamond-
LlNE
shaped members (fig. 2 A to El. The center shape is
fig. 2. The diamond Quad family, formed by changing the only one commonly named, the diamond Quad.
the separation of transmission line sides at the midpoint. When three points of inflection are used instead of
Again, all members behave as a transmission line. four, the result is two families of triangles as shown
Properties are very close to those of the square Quad
in fig. 3, A t o E, and fig. 4, A t o E. The center tri-
family.
angles in each figure are generally called delta loops,
and are distinguished by whether they are fed at an
apex or the midpoint of a side.
You can use more than four points of inflection. At
the upper limit, the sides become smooth curves -

1
0 0 0 0

-
the ellipses and circle of fig. 5, A to E. At the ex-
tremes, A is still a shorted transmission line section
and E is a folded dipole.

VARlA8LE-
AAA
HIGH TRIANGULAR LOW "ALP-TAPER
It is not required that the shapes remain symmetri-
cal, that the conductor always be along the perimeter
IMPEDANCE
TRANSMISSION
TRIANGULAR
LOOP
LOOP TRIANGULAR
LOOP
FOLDED DIPOLE
of the figure, or that no part of the figure be re-entrant.
LlNE
Three possible shapes are shown in fig. 6. A is an
fig. 3. Triangular loop family, formed by changing the acute triangle, B is a bent-side or bat-wing Quad, and
transmission line spacing at the feed point. Transmis- C is a "line shortened" Quad.
sion line behaviour indicates that the performance will The elenlent need not be eonfined t o a plane. The
be similar to the square and diamond loops. G4ZU Birdcage and the Swiss Quad, examples of non-
planar elements, are basically variations of the bat-
wing element of fig. 6 with the apex of the bent ele-
ment pulled out at right angles to the paper.
Finally, simple and symmetrical shapes are not the

1ivv
0 0 0 only ones that may be used. Figure 7 shows some
other designs: A uses a transmission-line section to
reduce size, and B and C use a form of capacitive hat
for the sarrle purpose. D uses a form of open-wire feed
v to give choice of polarization.
VARIABLE- HIGH DELTA LOW HALF-TAPER
DELTA FOLDED DIPOLE
IMPEDANCE
TRANSMISSION
DELTA
LOOP
LOOP
LOOP conceptual approach to Quad
performance
fig. 4. Triangular or the delta-loop family. Transmission-
line spacing change is at the far end of the line. The end points of the major Quad families have well-
known characteristics, providing a basis for a concep-

44 May 1988
 the

while drawing negligible current..

And measure your hat.tery level
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Thrw's evrn a "Lnw Battery" LED.
Finally, your operation is
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HT operation.
\>lrst~kdual-/)and FT-72TR.

ming TS on ont. t):~ndand RS on \ II

Y
anot hcr.
Conscrvr. powrr with f he bat-
tery s a v r ~It lets yo11 rnonilor silt.ntly
 BEVERAGE ANTENNA
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46 n M a y 1988 I
Put More Punch
in Your Packet

1
Outstanding mechanical design High Performance Hand-Held Anten-
makes the IsoPole the only logical na - The Hot Rod
choice for a VHF base station,
especially for Packet operation. All The Hot Rod antenna can be ex-
isopole antennas yield the maximum pected to make the same improve
gain attainable for their respective ment to hand-held communications
lengths and a maximum signal on the that the IsoPole antennas have made
horizon. Exceptional decoupling from to base station operation. Achieve 1or
the feed line results in simple tuning 2 db gain over ANY 518 wave two
and a significant reduction in TVi meter telescopic antenna. The factory
potential. The isoPole antennas are tuned HR-1 is 20% shorter, lighter and
all impedance matched in the factory places far less stress on your hand-
so that no field tuning is required. The held connector and case. It will easily
IsoPoles have the broadest frequency handle over 25 watts of power, making
coverage of any comparable VHF it an excellent emergency base or
base station antenna. This means no mobile antenna. In the collapsed posi-
loss of power output from one end of tion, the Hot Rod antenna will perform
the band to the other, when used with like a helical quarter wave. Three Hot
SWR p r o t e c t e d s o l i d s t a t e Rods are available; HR-1 112 wave 2M
tranceivers. Typlcal SWR Is 1.4 to 1 or Ant., HR-2 for 220 Mhz, and HR-4 for
better across the entire band. 440 Mhz. Amateur Net Price on all Hot
A standard 50 Ohm SO-239 connec- Rods is $19.95.
tor is recessed within the base sleeve
(fully weather protected). With the For either base station or hand-held
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gravating deviation in SWR with VHFIUHF antenna. Put more punch in
changes in weather. The impedance your Packet station with an AEA
matching network is weather sealed IsoPole or Hot Rod antenna. To order
and designed for maximum legal your new antenna contact your
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IsoPole Specifications

Model 144 220 440

Freq. Coverage (Mhz) 135160 210-230 415465
2.1 VSWR bandwidth )12Mhz @ 146Mhz )15Mhz @ 220Mhz )22Mhz @ 435Mhz
Power Rating 1 kw 1 kw 1 kw
Gain" 3 dbd 3 dbd 3 dbd
Radiating Element Length 125.5" (3.2m) 79.25" (2m) 46" (1.2m)
Amateur Net Price $49.95 $49.95 $69.95

"dW - db gain over a dipole in free space

Prices and Specifications subject to change without notice or obligation.

AEA Brings you the

Breakthrough!

Reader Service CHECK-OFF Page 106 r / 115 M a y 1988 a 47

 NOTCH FILTER
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 tual approach to Quad performance. Let's start by
looking at the shorted transmission line.
First, suppose the generator frequency for the line
of fig. 1A is varied. At very low frequencies, any prac-
b n 6 ba 0

tical line is basically a short circuit and has little effect.

The resistive component of impedance is small, essen- VARI4BLE
1MPEL)ANCE
HIGH-
ELLIPSE
CIRCULAR
LOOP
LOW.
ELLIPSE
ELLIPTICALL"
FOLOEO
T R A N S H ~ S S ~ O N LOOP LOOP DIPOLE
tially zero. The reactance is also small, and inductive. LINE

Both resistance and inductive reactance increase

fig. 5. Circular-loop family, formed by smoothly chang-
with frequency. This increase continues until the line ing the transmission line spacing. For a given length of
becomes one-quarter wave long. At the frequency conductor, the circle has the greatest area, and will show
where this occurs, the input impedance is very high, higher gain than the square. (For the same given
and purely resistive. The line acts as a parallel resonant perimeter. the area of a circle is 27 percent greater than
that of a square.-Ed.) However, the figures with greater
circuit. This is also known as the first resonance point.
separation of the current maxima can show still higher
For still higher frequencies, the resistance decreases, gain: this is true for all loops.
and the reactance decreases from its infinite value, but
1
is now capacitive. When the line is one-half wave long,
the reactance again becomes zero. The input resis-
tance would be zero for a lossless line. This is the first
series-resonance point. A t slightly higher frequencies,
the resistance and reactance increase, and the reac-
tance is (again) inductive.
The pattern of alternating low and high impedance, A S I M E I R I C IRIANGULIIR 841-WING L I N E LOAOEO
and inductive and capacitive reactance, repeats at in- LOOP LOOP LOOP

creasing frequencies. Figure 8 shows the pattern with fig. 6. Examples of other possible shapes. In each case.
the peaks and nulls marking additional resonances. the area in the figure is less than that for a correspond-
At the other (shape) extreme is the folded dipole ing simple symmetric member. This reduces gain below
maximum (possible), but allows attainment of some
of fig. 1E. At low frequencies, its input resistance is
other objective, such as small size or use of a given
very low. Its reactance is high, and capacitive. The support.
antenna looks like a small capacitor in series with a
small resistor.
Reactance decreases and resistance increases with
increasing frequency, until the antenna is somewhat
less than a half wavelength overall. A t this point the
reactance is zero, and the resistance is very nearly 300
ohms, just four times the resistance of a resonant
single-wire antenna. This is the first resonance point.
LINE-SHORIENEO CAPACITIVELI- CAPACITIVELI- DUAL VOLTAGE FEO
A t still higher frequencies, the resistance continues DIAMOND LOOP LOAOEO
OUAO LOOP
LOADED
DIAMOND LOOP
OIAMONO LOOP

t o increase. The reactance also increases, but is in- fig. 7. More examples of special shapes, all using some
ductive in sign. With the antenna just less than a full form of loading to reduce antenna size. Line sections can
wave overall, reactance again becomes zero, and be replaced by inductors, and the capacitive sections by
impedance is very high. actual capacitors. The fourth shape uses the capacitive
lines as the feed point, to allow horizontal or vertical
This pattern also repeats, at close t o each half
polarization.
wavelength. The points of low impedance and zero
reactance mark the second, third, etc. current-feed
resonances, and the high impedance points to the
voltage-feed resonances. eight points of current shown appear as in the small
vector diagram, and add up to zero. In the plane of
frequencylsizelpattern relationship the paper, the components from the near and far side
Before going on, let's consider the effect that of the loop have an out-of-phase component, because
changing frequency (or size) has on the radiation of the time required for a radio wave to travel across
pattern. the loop. A doughnut-shaped pattern results. The hole
A t frequencies small compared to first resonance, axis is at right angles t o the plane of the paper.
the current on all parts of the wire will be nearly equal These very small loops will radiate well, but will be
in magnitude and phase, as indicated for the loop in difficult to feed because they have very low resistance
fig. 9. For a point on the loop axis, at right angles to - not much more than the conductor itself. Loss in
the plane of the paper, the field contributions of the the matching system will be high.

M a y 1988 49
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50 M a y 1988
 4
3
-
XI" 2
z. I

X,"
0 - ZERO FIELD
-
zo ~ 1 !a"( +) -1 ON AXIS

-
-2
-3
-4
FIELDS FROM
0 0 5 1 0 I 5 2 0 25 3 0 35 4 0
EIGHT POINTS
I L J L E N G T H OF CONOUCTOR I W A V E L E N G T U S J C U R R E N T S AT
IElGHT P O I N T S
2.. 116 ~ a g , 0 1 2 $ 1 VHEIIL I , .CHARACTERISTIC IMPEOANCE
c . l V E R A G E S(O€ SPACING
a . AYERIG€ CONDUCTOR DIAMETER
fig. 9. Vector field pattern of small loop, showing that
fig. 8. Generalized terminal reactance of a two-wire trans- the fields from individual wire segments cancel for on-
mission line. The characteristic impedance is determined axis radiation. The resultant field is doughnut shaped.
by wire size and spacing. From the standard formula,
Z0=276log (2:). c being the separation and a the wire
diameter. Use the average separation for nonparallel-
sided lines. Lacking other data, use this curve to give
(approximately) the feed-point reactance for any mem-
ber of the Quad family of loops.

At frequencies close to first resonance, maximum -

C U R R E N T S AT
FIELDS FROM
FOUR POINTS
MAXIMUM FIELD
O N AXIS

current will occur at the feedpoint and half-way around FOUR POINTS

the loop from it, as shown in fig. 10. The major field fig. 10. Vector field pattern for a one-wavelength loop.
components from the upper and lower parts of the Components from the loop top and bottom add to form
a major lobe on axis. The components at 45 degrees do
loop, on axis and at right angles to plane of the paper,
not completely cancel, so there is a small doughnut pat-
are now in phase. In-the plane of the paper, the com- tern of vertically polarized radiation.
ponents on the line of maximum current are out of
phase. Maximum radiation is at right angles to the
loop, and is horizontally polarized.
There are small components of current on the verti-
cal parts of the loop. These are equal and opposite
in phase and form a vertically polarized pattern. Most
Quad analyses neglect this component, since it is
much smaller than the main lobe. Its practical impor-
tance is not clear, but it may be responsible for creat- C FIELDS FROM
FOUR POINTS
CURRENTS AT
ing the reputation of the Quad as a good performer FOUR POINTS

at low heights and under marginal conditions. fig. 11. Vector-field pattern for a two-wavelength loop.
For frequencies close to second resonance, maxi- Components on axis cancel. but add to form a double
mum currents occur at each one-quarter point around cone-shaped pattern. Cancellation of on-axis radiation
occurs for wire lengths of three or more integral
the loop (fig. 11).Because currents on opposite sides
wavelengths also.
are equal but opposite in phase, there is no net radia-
tion on the loop axis. Maximum radiation occurs in
the plane of the paper, with lobes of 90 degrees each.
This is the general pattern for all resonances higher next (or parallel) one gives a simple lobe structure on
than the first, with the number of lobes equal to twice the axis of the loop, which is useful in itself or as a
the order of the resonance. The pattern is the same switched openlshorted two-frequency loop. This was
for all simple shapes. the basis of the now rarely used bi-square beam.
The considerations above indicate that the primary
area of interest for the Quad family of figs. 1 through drive resistance relationship
6 will be at or near first resonance, where the lobe The input resistance of a shorted one-half wave
structure is simple and on the axis of symmetry. For transmission line is almost zero (see discussion refer-
all of these shapes, the total conductor length is very ring to fig. 1). For the folded dipole, the drive resis-
close to one wavelength. tance is about 300 ohms. Considering that the currents
Quads with conductor lengths of two or more wave- in two wire segments interact less the further they
lengths don't have useful radiation patterns at right are apart, we expect the input resistance of the in-
angles t o the loop plane. One exception occurs if the termediate shapes to fall between these limits. For
basic transmission line is open circuited (fig. 12). The the shapes designated as C, the input resistance
first, or serial, resonance point isn't too useful. The shoi~ldbe near 150 ohms. The resistance will be lower

M a y 1988 51
for the skeleton slot, or B types, and higher for the
squashed D types. The exact pattern of variation must -

x
/#
'
be worked out. -
- 7

drive reactance and resonance

relationship \ FIELDS FROM
FOUR POINTS
MAXIMUM FIELD
ON AXIS
CURRENT5 4T
FOUR POINTS
Antenna resonance is defined by zero input reac-
tance. All of the shape variations will have a specific fig. 12. Vector field pattern for a two-wavelength loop
point or points of resonance, and we can't expect formed from an open transmission line. The components
add to produce an on-axis lobe. This lobe exists for longer
them t o be independent of conductor shape. For a
wires also, but there are also added lobes.
shorted, air-insulated line, resonance will be very close
to the physical half-wavelength point. The resonant
frequency of a folded dipole will be some 5 percent
lower. Because we don't know the current change due the gain of the resonant open-circuited (two wave-
t o variations in the separation of current points, we length) square should approach 6 dB above an iso-
must determine the effect of changing shapes. tropic at parallel resonance. We would expect many
The magnitude of reactance change in moving away of the odd and re-entrant shapes t o have gain, but the
from resonance involves cosine functions. For small ones with small area will show a loss compared to a
deviations from resonance, it is reasonable to expect dipole.
that the reactance can be approximated by a simple
linear function. The reactance, then, can be specified Quad elements in beams
by two values - the frequency of resonance and the Any of the above shapes can be used in either a
slope of the reactance curve. We must see if an addi- driven or parasitic beam. One way of looking at such
tional simple function for shape can be developed. beams is t o assume that the radiation effect of each
element is the same as if it comes from a point source
gain relations near resonance located at the center of electrical symmetry of the ele-
We can look at the gain from two viewpoints. The ment. This leads to the concept of pattern multiplica-
first is based on element separation. The gain of the tion, where the overall pattern is the product of the
shorted line section is zero, because the radiating sec- element pattern and an array pattern, as determined
tion is approximately zero length. As we move toward by the relative spacing, current, and phase.
other shapes, the radiating length increases, but the Because array patterns are well known (and quite
spacing between the two high-current sections simple in many cases), beam patterns will be easy to
decreases. As the shape approaches that of the skele- develop when the element patterns are worked out.
ton slot, there will be two well-separated high-current There is, however, a corollary t o this. Any unusual
sections of reasonable length. The gain should ap- benefit from the Quad family will have to come from
proach twice that of a simple dipole. the elements themselves and not from the fact that
At the other extreme, the gain of the folded dipole they are assembled into an array.
is the same as a simple dipole. Thus, we expect a gain In this simplified consideration, some gain above a
decrease when going from the very tall, narrow slot dipole has appeared. It is expected that a Quad array
toward the dipole. Overall, the gain should increase can be shorter than an array of dipoles (Yagi) and still
slowly as the sides of the dipole are pulled apart, reach- achieve the same gain. Although the vertical height
ing a maximum at some separation, and then falling is much greater, the horizontal span and the turning
t o zero gain. However, without some other guidance, radius are less. For a given gain, Quads require less
we cannot state the gain of intermediate shapes. space.
A second way of looking at this gain variation is
from the view of the effective area. Considering just neglected factors
the high-current part, the area measured in average A number of implicit assumptions were made in the
amperes times electrical degrees of length will be near- preceding paragraphs. One is that the conductor has
ly zero for the shorted line, unity on a per unit scale no loss, and is very thin. Currents were assumed to
for the folded dipole, and basically two for the shapes be sinusoidal. Small pattern factors, like the lobes in
(C). Thus we expect the gain of an optimum member the plane of the elements, were ignored. These are
of the Quad family t o approach 3 dB above an iso- important in a detailed analysis, but should represent
tropic. The circular loop should have the best gain, only variations from simply derived values and not
the rectangular one slightly lower, and the delta loop major changes.
lower still. However, all nearly symmetrical shapes Part 2 will cover the theory of circular elements and
should show some gain with respect to a dipole. the beams constructed from them.
Further consideration of the same area indicates that ham radio

52 May 1988
 COAX SALE!

Hlpk-qaallv precut 50 ohm coax lengths with "N"

connectors that are bener substitutes lor RG-8, unused
ATLT surplus YRG-213-18. I 8 tt
4 I ~ Ssh $9 95 s x 2 f a S17.W
wRG-21445. 45 ft RG-214 s~lver-tinnedconductor.

Idouble shleld for low DC resistance:

15 Ibs" sh. ......................$24.95 0,: 2 11 $45.00
CENTRAW 150 7.5 KV RF capacitors: 25.50. 75, or
I
100 pf (specify). Used .......... $3.00 sa: 2 lor $5.00
4CXZMR tube. 6.3 V RI; usad-checked ....$35.00 sa
EIMAC/JOHNSON SOCKET for 4CX250. used .S12.00
Pdrss F.O.B. Uma. 0. .VISA. WlSTERCAllD Aaaplad.
.
Now that
Allow lor Sh1ppl.q WMs hf IN8 Cabloo
A d b n s Deal H R . Phona 419/227.6573

you canspeak,
talk to Larsen.
Novice Enhancement opens up a
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260 lmbY m m lo1 v-I S l m W gsM SOctlCh DMU opnlb7 fKh
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to Larsen Electronics.
t~ Vmwal l u n q m rmn n t h hrOlg d h w n am r d e 5
111mtn11 We'll tell you how Larsen antennas
can greatly improve your powers of
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doesn't speak for itself.

HORSETRADERS
HAMFEST
The Amateur's Professional"
See your I;lvcit~tc a ~ i i a t c u dr r a l c r krr w r l t c Ikrr ,I I r r c a i l a t c u r catalog
Will be held IN USA: Lanen Electmn~cs,lnc.. 11611 N.E. 50th Ave. PO. Box 1799. Mncower. WA98668.206-573-2722.
IN CANADA Canadian Larsen Eleclronics. Ltd , 149 West 6th Avanue. Vancouver. B C. V5Y 1K3. 604-872-8517.
Saturday May 7
at the
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at the intersection of
routes 125 81 111
HIGH PERFORMANCE
When you think of high performance, you should be thinking of
Kingston, NH. "International Radio Inc." We Sell High Performance 8 and 10 pole
Crystal Filters f o r most models of ICOM@,KENWOOD@ a n d
$5 admission for all. YAESUB Radioswe also sell High Performance radios with up to
Campground area opens 16 -poles of Crystal Filtering, instal1ed.W~can also install a n y
factory changes, or changes from our Monthly lntl Radio ICOM@,
Friday afternoon at 4PM. Kenwood@ or YaesuB NEWSLETTERS.Back issues available from
Talk in on Haverill .625 1979. We s e r v i c e most Amateur Radio products. We also Sell
and Derry .85 repeaters. IBM@ Compatible XT-AT Computers, call or write for our latest
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For more information I N T E R N A T I O N A L R A D I O INC.
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Star Rte. Box 56 J 122
Bucksport, ME
M a y 1988 L l 53
54 M a y 1988 Tell 'em you saw it in HAM RADIO'
 YOU CAN OPERATE SIX BANDS
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TRANSCEIVER
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Reader Service CHECK-OFF Page 106 v 123

 7

4 AMSAT-NA FIFTH Space Symposium

+ Widebond Preamp 10-1000Mhz
This conference was held in conjunc- 21st Central States VHF Society Con- Dual GosFet low noise
tion with the 1987 Amsat Annual Meet- ference held in Arlington. Texas. July 23- preamplifier for HF, UHF or VHF
ing in Southfield. MI. Nov. 6-8. 1987. 11 26. 1987. 28 papers covering everything systems. Just perfect for the R-
papers are presented with topics on: from use of TVRO dishes for moon- 7000. Excellent f o r Spec
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space science education. FO-12 mail-
box. QRP EME. Phase Ill-C and Phase
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Db +/-1 DB, -3 Db at 2 8 1100
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RD 1 BOX 272
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VHF Radio Club. Oct. 10-11. 1987. 11 17 papers on equipment, antennas and 717-386-4032
techniques for 902 MHz through 10 GHz.
I
papers cover everything from mountain
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by Vic Misek. WlWCR New Edition
WlWCR has spent LO(IIIIIP\\ hours developlnq new
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GREENVILLE. NH 03048 603-878-1441

56 Fbl M a y 1988
I
short circuits the Microwave Bands" In the Febru-
ary 1988 issue. 2x42 BASE
On page 52, although many parts
SMGCPI November 1987
In fig. 1 of SM6CP11s November,
had labeled values in fig. 4, the mater-
ial list was not included. It is as follows:
REPEATER
1987 article, "A CAT Control System
for the Yaesu FT-757GX," you may
like to make one or two changes in line
R42145 and C32133 are from table 6
or calculated as shown in text, ANTENNA
U1,2,6 are 113 10116 ECL Line
4107. The first is related t o the word Receiver, THE HIGHEST GAIN DUAL BAND
format and the second should is only The extra gain of ~2 is required when BASEIREPEATER ANTENNA
for C-64 machines made for the NTSC using harmonic downconverters,
TV system, which have a slightly U3.4 are OP07, 741 or similar opamp, HIGH POWER 200 WATTS
higher clock frequency than the PAL U5 is 12040 ECL Phase/ Frequency De-
versions available in Europe. After the CENTER FREQUENCY
tector.
changes the first part of the line should 146.500 MHz
Jumpers on U5 pins 6 and 9 are con-
read: 446.500 MHz
nected as follows:
4107 DATA 195,255,96,128,0,6,0,
0,206, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GAIN:
You should also change the check fRFHrelative oscillator tuning VHF - 8.2dB
sum (22360) in line 10020 correspond- UHF - 1 1.5dB
to ~ P O F * sense (MHz/volt)
ingly: to 22492 in the NTSC version or VSWR - 1.-1.2 or less
22488 for a PAL machine.. Neither of Below + -

the two data seems to be critical in the Above - + CONNECTOR:

present application, but they may N TYPE FEMALE
'~RFH PLL downconverter
create some confusion if you want to reference frequency
use the subroutines in other programs. LIGHTNING PROTECTION
~POF Phaselocked oscillator
frequency GROUNDED DIRECT

K7NH December 1987 LENGTH: 1 6 FT.

In the article, "A Simple rotor in- WEIGHT: 5 LBS. 3 OZ.
terface board for the C-64 and the In the schematic, fig. 4, U4 has its WIND LOAD: 90 MPH
VIC-20," by Neil Hill, K7NH in the inverting and non-inverting inputs MOUNTING: UP TO 2 IN.
December 1987 issue three corrections shown reversed. The same circuitry is MAST
to the diagram reproduced on page 18 shown correctly in fig. 6. CAN SIMULCAST O N
are required: Resistors may be 5 percent tolerance BOTH BANDS
Four jumpers are indicated but only or better.
the first three (counting from the left) Similarly for fig. 5 on page 58 the WATERPROOF
should be used. material list should be: CONNECTING
The change you need t o make is a CR1 is Motorola 66105 UHF TV tun- JOINTS
tricky one, so work carefully. Instead ing varactor or similar,
of connecting the jumpers to the land L3 is 4-1 I 4 turns No. 28 on 5/32 inch UPS SHIPPABLE
above (as shown in the diagram) con- form with adjustable core 180 nH
nect all three to the land immediately nominal,
t o the right of their present (top) con- U7 is 113 of 10116 ECL Triple Line
nections (in all three cases). If you Receiver,
haven't already, do not install the U8 is 10138 bi-quinary ECL divider,
fourth or right most jumper. If you Y1 is 100 MHz 5th overtone series
have, remove it. If you can't visualize resonant crystal.
the changes, send for our simple The values for R42145 in table 2, AMATEUR SPECIAL
sketch. page 60, should be 25k ohms and 1.1
1275 NORTH GROVE ST.
K ohms not 25 and 1.1 ohms as ANAHEIM, CALIF. 92806
shown. Some omissions from table 1, (7 14) 630-4541
NGGN February 1988 page 44, will be included in a later part CABLE: NATCOLCLZ
Some omissions and errors crept of the series. FAX (714) 630-7024 ,, 128
into Part 1 of "Designing a Station for editor

May 1988 blP 57

CALL
- - - FOR ORDERS

1 (800) 231-3057
1-713-520-7300 OR 1-713-520-0550
TEXAS ORDERS CALL COLLECT
FAX 1-713-771-7759
ALL ITEMS ARE GUARANTEED OR
SALES PRICE REFUNDED
NCWlk.ot~>
K
I. Itit Tratles wanted
tebook
three-band sloper wavelength long and provides a low
for 7, 18, and 24 MHz SWR.
Anticipating the activation of 18 MHz The sloper is hung from the top of
for United States Radio Amateurs and a 40-foot tower which supports a
because I needed an antenna for 24 three-element tribander. My sloper
MHz, I built the sloper shown in fig. produced SWRs of 1.5 or less across
1. On 24 MHz the 27-foot, 10-inch sec- all three bands. Pruning the 4-foot,
tion is three quarter waves long. The 10-inch section and adjusting the slope
24-MHz trap isolates the remainder of affects performance on 7 and 18 MHz.
the antenna on this band. On 18 MHz The inductance L is ten turns of No.
the entire antenna again resonates as 14 wire on a 1-518 inch diameter form.
I~,r)polr~ I44 MH7 14 95
Cu\lhr r,$tl 12'1 WE (1.16 hlH/I 33 00 three quarter waves. On 7 MHz the The 2-inch long coil has an inductance
R u l l t ~ r l ~HFCV
>r 80 10 vrrl~cal 12500
t+t~<ttcr G 7 1.14 11'3'35 antenna is roughly one quarter of 2.2 pH. The capacitor (see fig. 2)
K I M KT 7dA 399 00
N I W K.1 M I ? 461 EX 12900
G5 RV ill1
.$.I
Iarsm 2 rn~.l<?f on qlass '11 95
Ncw Lnr,it-r? L M 490CO 5 00
Antcro?M 518 M:tq M o ~ r n Cornll
l 25 00
Ihousaml.; d 17.llirl rnorrr: 3 95 un CAL I
B580A '35 00
Arrovr,x 1000 lrll5U0 V I ~ r ~ t l l l ~ ! r )caps
~ic)l~ 1 95
! ~ PI) IKlSIIVIlA (Scc I l l 8 Wlre)SO 00
T m o s l a r ~ n ~17DV
100 r1~lrl,45llV Axt;ll Cart ? 00
il3lSP PI 259 Sdvnr(11nlr 1 25
62 61 N M ~ l r . 3 00

4 F A PK 232 wjlh rlrw WX FAX 799 00

Kanlron~l-sKPC I1 1.49 00
ACA P;$r ksl Ivrrrlnal C.111
Kanlrol81i . KAM:WX 20!1 00
USED EOUIPMENT
A I I.rlll,llill,.ll~ II..~.,II . ~ ~wlttlt i ~311
l d,~vw,w,mty .AWI 30
,lay 118,tlS,? mrlntlls lh~iltrade naig,nsl inrw eqncpmenl h l r
ITW" IVIIIIIIIP~I 11 rlril sil1tslit.d

l't>$reI;l~l>
5il? Guy lrx;\11:4tot% lt,4\ 3 39
POLICIES
Mrir~,t,<r~orrl~f Sl0@3 Ma-a-rwrrl VISA ofC 0 D AllprcrL.
IORHrnic,lr,n eho~l,tasnole~tP!c4s~ill~ltochanq~~wwllloul
llotlcr Il4~tliS\trlrlertloI,I1<~t
-10 Cnllanyl~meloChRhlhPsIRt~~5
i>lYOUCo c . I ~ t T~~X.~S~(+L<ICIIISi1d0 WlC5 tar All tents 1h111 1 ; ~
lory warr;lnly 1,1us Mail~%rln wardr!Iy
Bird and Belden producta In stock. Call today. J 129

fig. 1. Sloper configuration.

r I tuned the antenna by alternately ognized by its stiffness and milky
@ 18 measuring SWR and tack soldering appearance). You can test question-
bits of wire between the coil turns at able material for rf loss by placing it in
the top of it to short them out. Short- a microwave oven beside of a cup of
- .
ing 6-112 turns minimized the SWR. I water (to act as a load); the material
2 2pH
removed these turns, cut off the ex- should not be hot after one minute of
cess poly tubing, and resoldered the exposure.
0 end of the coil to the cap. After con- Soldering wire to the copper fittings
firming that the SWR remained low without melting the tubing is tricky.
(nearly 1: I at 145 MHz), I covered the Work quickly: tin the fittings before
-
A completed antenna with heatshrink
tubing.
assembly, and use a high-wattage
iron.
Ideally, the bolt and nut should be My antenna mount extends about 1
brass for corrosion resistance, easy inch above its bracket, adding an inch
fig. 2. Trap details.
soldering, and good conductivity. to the electrical length of the antenna.
Brass 318-24 hardware is difficult t o If your mount is different, you may
find, but zinc-plated steel will work if need t o experiment with the number
of coil turns.
is approximately 8 inches of RG-58. This antenna meets all my needs for
Prune and adjust the trap with a GDO local communications. It covers the
to 24.5 MHz. 3/8'C3PPCR CAP
entire band with less than 2:l SWR,
-- -.-. -
Jack Najork, WSFG

miniature 2-meter
1 and with 25 watts I have no trouble
working repeaters 20 miles away. Best
of all, I can leave it on my van.
Gary Myers, K9CZB
mobile antenna 2 5 ;/2 TURzVS
N 0 . 1 6 T ' N N E D WIRE
ON 3 / H " D l A
A full-size 2-meter mobile antenna is POI.YE r t i r L ~ . v ~

not needed to work local repeaters, 2 5/8"

short circuit
and may be undesirable. I had to re- I
2-meter halo antenna
move my 518-wave thread-mount an- i

I
tenna every time I garaged my van, so Figure 3 of N6RA's May 1987 arti-
I stopped using the rig on short trips.
A highly visible mobile antenna can
! cle, "A 2-Meter Halo Antenna,"
should show a wire going from the
also be an invitation to thieves and center pin of the SO-239 t o the rotor
vandals. Considering the options, I - ..
plate of the gamma match capacitor.
realized that since I could work my a-3 / 8 " CCPPER
Also note that the halo's main element
favorite 2-meter repeaters using a COUPLIIVG and gamma rod were bent around a
large pot to form them in the circular

L'
rubber duck on a handheld, a similar
antenna would do at least as well on shape. The illustration below shows
the van. -
Figure 1 shows the construction.
To make a threaded base for the an-
.
. -...- .
-- 3 / 8 - 24 N U T
HALO MAIN ELEYENT-
7 INSULATOR
tenna, I sawed the head off a 3/8-24 3/8-24 BOLT

bolt and soldered on a stopnut. A

coupling for 318-inch copper tubing
was soldered to the bolt. Three and
one-half inches of 318-inch diameter
polyethylene tubing was inserted into soldered carefully with a good flux. SHORTING 'OX

the coupling to support the coil - However, it may rust. Do not use
made by close winding 32 turns (about cadmium-plated hardware - it may
38 inches) of No. 16 tinned wire on a produce highly toxic cadmium fumes
318-inch drill bit. I slipped it over the when heated.
polytubing and stretched it for a tight Polyethylene has good dielectric
fit. A copper tubing cap was used to properties and low rf loss; some other
terminate the top of the coil in a small types of plastic do not. Many hardware the halo and gamma rod in clearer de-
capacity hat. stores carry polyethylene tubing (rec- tail than the original fig. 3.

M a y 1988 59
 PRACTICALLY
SPEAKING
Joe Corr, KJIPV

feedback Because square waves (or pulses) in waveform with a period of 1.8ps, so
Feedback is a necessary component the 10-kHz t o 3-MHz range are used, the high portion was one-half that
of control systems, quality amplifiers, the vertical bandwidth should be at amount, or 0.9ps. The cable I used
and other circuits. It is also important least 15 MHz. This enables fast lead- had a polyethylene (not foam) dielec-
for magazine writers and publishers. ing and trailing pulse edges to be tric, and according to standard wis-
That's why I publish my address each reproduced with only slight degrada- dom, has a velocity factor of 0.66.Test
month, encourage people to make tion. Adjust the pulse width (or square results found the "pip" at 0.3 ps,
comments about what I've said (posi- wave period) to permit the reflected which means that a round trip took 0.3
tive and negative), ask questions, and pulse to return t o the source while the ps. Calculate the length of the cable
make suggestions for future columns. pulse is still high. Accordingly, adjust using the formula below:
In at least one instance I wrote a reply the signal generator output to approx-
LENGTH =
v Td
-
C
(11
t o a reader question, and then edited imate the length of the line. I have 2
and expanded it to become a column. found it best to adjust the period/ Where:
In June 1987 we discussed time do- duration to permit the reflection to hit LENGTH is the length in meters
main reflectometry (TDR) - a measure- the waveform close to the center of c is the speed of light (3x lo8 m/s)
ment method in which an oscilloscope the pulse. V is the velocity factor
and pulse (or square wave) generator A reader asks, "How does one de- Td is the round-trip time measured
are connected in parallel with each termine the length of the transrnission on the oscilloscope
other across the input end of a trans- line from the TDR display?" Figure 2 Using our example:
C v Td
mission line (fig. 1). By analyzing the
interference of forward and reflected
shows a pulse as displayed on the
oscilloscope when the line is matched
LENGTH = - 2
(2)
waves we can deduce much about the to the load. The pulse width is 0.96s. LENGTH=29.7,or 13)
transmission line and its load. The Because the connectors on the end of
article included oscilloscope photos of the line represent an impedar~cedis-
2
waveforms associated with various re- continuity, there is a small reflected
W i t h i n experimental accuracy
sistive loads. signal which shows up on the display
as a "pip" on the top of the pulse. A (measurement of both the length of
This month we will discuss some
points you readers felt I overlooked in matched load, with the discontinuity, the coax and the return time) this
my June 1987 column. For those of is easier to measure than a mismatch- result agrees closely with the actual
you who may have missed it, I will ed load, because the point at which physical situation. We can also meas-
briefly reiterate some of the basics of the discontinuity occurs is easier to ure the velocity factor of a particular
see. sample of transmission line using the
TDR measurements.
In a test setup I used 100 feet (30.5 TDR approach. Rearrange the same
review of TDR meters) of RG-58/CU cable connect-
equation to solve for V:
Figure 1 shows the basic setup for ed to the load box described in my
TDR testing of transmission lines. You June 1987 article. The square-wave
need a moderately wideband scope. generator was adjusted to produce a Which is calculated at 0.66.

60 5 May 1988
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64 5 May 1988
 device will trigger because the nega-
OSCILLOSCOPE tive-going slope meets the triggering
criteria. To make an astable sawtooth
multivibrator, drive the input of this cir-
cuit with either a square wave or pulse
train that produces at least one pulse
for each required sawtooth. Because
the circuit of fig. 3 is a non-
retriggerable monostable multivibrator
it will ignore subsequent trigger pulses
during the one-shot's "refractory"
period.

transmission line stubs

Transmission line sections can be
used for impedance matching in an-
tenna systems and other applications.
In microwave circuits, transmission
line segments are commonly used to
match system impedances (e.g., 50
ohms) to device impedances. A quar-
fig. 1. Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR) test set-up. ter-wavelength transmission line has
- an interesting property. The impe-
dance "looking-into" the line is equal
another sawtooth generator to:
In several columns we discussed the
Poor Man's Spectrum Analyzer pro-
ject. I offered a digitally derived saw- Where:
tooth generator circuit to replace the Z is the driving point (or input) im-
original one. In response to the column pedance
I received a circuit from lsak Nowik Zo is the characteristic impedance of
(SMBNHS) in Stockholm. The simple the line
circuit in fig. 3 is based on the 555 ZL is the load impedance
timer IC. The basic circuit is the mon- -------0.9"s -- ---- By forcing the characteristic im-
ostable multivibrator configuration of pedance to a specific value we can
the 555, in which one of the timing force the input impedance to match
resistors is replaced with a transistor
operated as a current source (Q1). You
- II-
the source impedance. For example,
when we have a source impedance Z,
can use almost any audio small signal fig. 2. Oscilloscope display for TDR test. (such as the output impedance of a
NP silicon replacement transistor, "Pip" is caused by the interference of transmitter), we can rearrange the
although for this test I substituted forward and reflected signals. equation above to find the characteris-
a Radio Shack replacement for the tic impedance the quarter-wave trans-
2N3906 device (sold in packs of 15). mission line requires t o effect the
The Zener diode specified by SMBNHS fine for some purposes, but for the match:
was 4.3 Vdc, but I used a 5.6 Vdc unit slow speeds needed in the spectrum
that happened t o be on hand and it analyzer I found that increasing the
worked well. Note that the output is value to 0.01 provided a better tradeoff. In many applications the usefulness
taken from pins 6-7, rather than the The value is not critical for circuit oper- of this fact is limited by the available
regular chip output, pin no. 3. ation, so experiment with it to meet standard transmission line impedances.
Looking at fig. 4, you can see that your particular timing requirements. But in UHF and microwave work we
the sawtooth wave is a lot more linear The circuit as shown is a one-shot can design pc transmission lines that
than the original sawtooth available multivibrator. Triggering occurs in the have any practical impedance. We can
from the spectrum analyzer sweep 555 when pin no. 2 is within 66 per- also design custom parallel transmis-
board. The period of the sawtooth is cent of the supply voltage. When a sion lines for hf and VHF antennas.
set by capacitor Cg in fig. 3. SMBNHS pulse is applied to pin 2 through Another application of the line, a
recommended 100 t o 500 pf, which is differentiating network R 1 C1, the shorted quarter-wavelength transmis-

May 1988 65
 .

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Zn is the characteristic im~edanceof 50 + i30 ohms. The reactive cornoo-

~ -~~ .~
the line nents cancel each other, leaving the
f is the frequency in hertz impedance resistive.
C is the capacitance per unit length in The equation above contains a "j-
farads operator" telling us that the answer is
L is the length in meters reactive; a " - j" says it is capacitive
This equation's usefulness is appar- reactance, while a " + j " says it is
ent when matching antennas that are inductive. Thus, a shorted matching
reactive. Most Amateur Radio litera- stub, with a length designed to can- BALUNS
Gel POWER lo your anlenna' Our Baluns are
ture tells us to add some capacitance cel out the reactance, can be placed already wound and ready lor ~nstallal~on
In your
tfansmalch or you may enclose them In a
t o match an inductive antenna, and at an antenna feedpoint in lieu of an weatherproof box and connect lhem dlreclly a1
vice versa. This is merely a restatement inductor-capacitor matching network. the anlenna They aredestgned lor 3 30MHzop.
eralron (See ARRL Handbook pages 199 of
of the fact that the match of a com- Joe Carr, K41PV. can be contacted 6 20 for conslrucl!on delatls I
plex impedance (to make i t resistive) at POB 1099, Falls Church, Virginia ~ r n w m l al r~ 9 1 o r ~ t m p a m . - . * c t a )
Yn(r.r.*T,nmlcnt I W ( 4 I Imp.dnc.1
110 sa
I 4 I0
is the complex conjugate of the im- 22041. Reader comments, inquiries, Untmw 1,nmdlh ?XI I 4 I ~mp.d.nc.l
Unlrrull,mm** I I'"!(. 9 9 l or I ,--,-I
1700
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~ 10 10
Please rend large SASE for #"lo 1
impedance of 50 - j30 ohms, we can ham radio

May 1988 67
 Yagi vs. Quad: part 1
(both real and imaginary), the mutual impedance be-
Development of tween elements, and the field pattern of the quad loop.
In Part 1 of this article we will develop a means of
the quad model estimating these parameters and examining the two-
element quad. In Part 2, various quad configurations
will be altered to maximize forward gain for a given
Few controversies in Amateur radio have sparked boom length, and the calculated maximized forward
as much interest as the debate over which is the better gain will be compared to that found for similarly
antenna: a Yagi or a quad. Comparing models of both manipulated Yagi antennas. The following three sec-
antennas at 440 MHz suggested that for a given boom tions deal with the estimation of the quad model. Skip
length, the quad antenna holds about a 2-dB advan- to the "two-element quad" paragraph if you wish to
tage.' However, this advantage does not seem to hold avoid technical aspects not essential for an under-
for quads on lower frequencies2 standing of this series.
This article approaches the Yagi vs. quad con-
troversy from a different perspective, that of computer estimation of self-impedance
models. While a computer-generatedantenna design I originally tried to use MININEC, a general analysis
is a step or two away from the real thing, it allows for
greater manipulation of antenna geometry and a repro-
ducible means of measuring antenna gain which is dif-
ficult to achieve in a real-life situation. Both Yagi and
1003.
.
Quad

......
quad antennas may be "tuned" to maximize a specif- -
-m 50-
"mm8
I
ic parameter - for instance, maximum forward gain.
- q

Thus a Yagi and a quad may be compared for a given

boom length and tuned for maximum forward gain,
-Fm
- 0-
q
*ma
. Dipole
ma
,,rn~m8m,

without worrying about compromising gain perfor-

mance due to tuning for frontlback discrimination or
bandwidth.
N
E'
-50 - *. *.
~.Qmm8wa

An efficient means of analyzing quad antennas has

-100 I I i
not, to my knowledge, been developed. Although
0.0 0.5 1 .O 1.5
quads may be analyzed using general analysis pro- Separation (wavelength)
grams such as NEC and MININEC (see Appendix for
fig. 1. Real value of mutual impedance between 1.05
brief description of these programs) they require
wavelength quad loops and 0.5 wavelength dipole ele-
enormous amounts of computer time. A NEC model- ments as a function of separation. Note the similarity
ing of a four-element quad with 40 match points per in the trajectories and the large magnitude of the quad
element requires computing and inverting a 1600- values. This suggests that quad loops are at least as well
element complex matrix, not an easy job for a Mac- coupled as Yagi elements.
intosh. By accepting some simplifying assumptions we
can develop a means of analysis similar to that suc-
cessfully used for Yagi The three needed By Dave Donnelly, K2SS, 8 Alder Street, Lin-
parameters are: an estimate of element self-impedance coln Park, New Jersey 07035

68 May 1988
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H 144 TELEX 4932256 K
Division of Kendecom Inc.
23 Elm Park, Groveland, MA 01834 (617) 372-3442 FAX 617-373-7304 A

A RACE ON THE EDGE OF TIME

The XP-706-US Radar - The Decisive Weapon of WW II
by David E. Fisher

Antenna
A Race On The Edge Of
Time reads like a thriller but
is based upon painstaking
and comprehensive research
by the author. In fact. Fisher
argues rather convincingly
that radar was the crucial
inal factor that allowed the allies
to win the war and that
s qua1 radar has played the same 1
importanl role in our current ~ h m - ~ ~ ~ y :' t ,
military and political environ-
Thr un#qn#rd r v ~ nof Ihr XP7Cl6 US snlenna syalvm p l v r r you MONORAND PEK
ment. Filled with fascinating
FORMANCE,nn Mall#lmndk n m Thr~vtlrnnnf~Sl~.SA'OTflAPSnf lclad,n):coil~Ih~t twists and turns of history
mh p w r r and llmlt hnnrlwidlh .(omrnrr Antt.nnar t 8 w Ihr Fll1.l. sorf.srr nren c ~ thr
l that could have changed the war's outcome.
rlemmlron AI.1. hands
anecdotes about the personalities involved in the
Ourcommitrncnl louse only the fines1 matcrmal%inrurrr Ihnl your invcslm~nlwill Inst development of radar and other military insights.
lor year- Our ryrtcm urps a Douhlr reclan)(ulnr lrx,m. CAST slaminurn elt.mlml
mounling hmckrl\. all rtainlrss hardware anrl n hvzh I n w r r hnlun Also includes radar development post WW I1 and
how it will influence future battles. Illustrated with
M<,nohondp~rfnrmnnccnn 8 Mulrrhandhr~n> i. yntnrr when ynu move up lo 'iomnwr
the lor1 Ixam you'll hnvc lo h u y WP Iwlievs- Commer is your h.51 snlcnna vslee r h t m
rare vintage photographs and diagrams.
r n m p r d In the conrln~rlion
ryrtrms
and prrlorn~nnc?of other n w l l ~and nr>n<,hnndanlwnn UMH-21088 Hardbound $19.95
I Please enclose $3.50 shipping and handling. I
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P urn-
* ' -I
Llnaar l m ~ l l l ardl
h M to 50 r
 length loops (1-inch diameter wire), separated by 0.05
50
7,
. q Dipole
.......
sosag
wavelength and calculating mutual impedance from
the induced current in the second loop due to current

8
-E"
O-
q

s
s q 8
rn
sn

....
ugosss
in the first loop:

........
.-
- PsnssP.
-2 -50- •
where V1 is the voltage applied to the first loop, II is
z
N
-100- . Quad
the current in the first loop, I, is the current induced
in the second loop and Z l l is the self-impedance of
the first loop. The real and imaginary parts are plot-
ted in figs. 1 and 2, with similar values computed for
-1509 I I 1
half-wavelength dipoles shown as a comparison. As
0.0 0.5 1 .O 1.5
Separation (wavelength)
you can see, the magnitude of mutual impedance (or
coupling) between quad elements stays quite large as
fig. 2. Reactive values of mutual impedance between 1.05
wavelength quad loops and 0.5 wavelength dipole ele-
the elements are separated. This suggests that the old
ments as a function of separation. adage that quad elements are a "Low q" circuit and
hence are poorly coupled is wrong!

pattern
program, to estimate the self-impedance of a quad The quad field pattern computed by MlNlNEC was
loop. I started breaking a single I-wavelength quad stable as the number of segments increased and could
loop into 16,40, 80, and 160 segments and examined be trusted for an accurate field description. The field
the computed pattern and driving point impedance. pattern was translated into spherical coordinates and
While the loop gain and pattern were constant as the used for subsequent pattern and gain computation.
number of segments increased, the estimate of self- A I-wavelength loop showed 3.01 dBi gain compared
impedance did not converge on a single value. This with 2.18 dBi for a dipole. This gain for a square quad
poor convergence was worse as the quad element wire is consistent with that calculated using different
got thinner. Compounding this, the computer results methods5 These estimates of self- and mutual im-
showed that a I-wavelength loop was shorter than res- pedances for quad loops allowed the computation of
onant. In contrast Lawson had predicted, using differ- the mutual impedance matrix. The currents flowing
ent assumptions, that the zero reactance point on a at the center of each element are determined by
quad loop should be close to one physical wave- inversion of this matrix and multiplication by the
length.5 Why the discrepancy? driving voltage at each element. The pattern and gain
Rather than rely on computed values, I decided to can now be calculated from these current^.^ As in
measure the impedance. I bought four FiberglasTM reference 6, it is assumed that the mutual impedance
spreaders, strung out a I-wavelength loop of No. 14 and single element pattern are independent of element
stranded wire at 14.1 MHz, and moved the loop up
and down an 80-foot tower while measuring the drive
impedance with a Delta Electronics OIB-2 impedance
bridge. I measured the drive impedance between 14.0
and 14.3 MHz, and at several different heights. As-
suming that the presence of the tower and coupling
of the bridge to the element (or element to ground)
did not affect the measured value, I estimated the drive
impedance from measured values as: R = 3810 L - 277
(R = real component) and X (reactive or imaginary
component) = 23300 L 2 4 5 2 , where L is the element
length in wavelengths. A 1 wavelength loop measured
104 - j152 ohms, which is close to that calculated by
MlNlNEC using 80 match points (108 -j162). 0 100 200 300 400
Angle (degrees)
mutual impedance
fig. 3. Free space pattern of 2-element quad with reflec-
The calculated values for impedance using MlNlNEC tor = 1.050 wavelength, driven element = 1.021
were found to be stable for larger wire diameters (1- wavelength and spacing = 0.15 wavelength. Note good
inch diameter wire at 14 MHz). Mutual impedance was frontlback of about 20 dB.
calculated by constructing two identical 1.04-wave-

May 1988 71
"America's Weekly Guide to Satellite TV" I
The best in satellite program-
,. +
ming! Featuring: Over 120
Channels listed + Weekly,
f Updated Listings +Magazine
Format + Complete Alpha-
0.97 0.98 0.99 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03
betical Movie Listings Frequency
+ +
S ~ o r t sS ~ e c i a l s Prime
~ime rids + Specials
fig. 4. Free space forward gain and frontlback as a func-
tion of frequency for a 2-element quad with reflector =
+Programming Updates! 1.050 wavelength, driven element = 1.021 wavelength
and spacing = 0.15 wavelength. Frontlback values are
divided by 2 hence vertical scale for frontlback should
Only $45.00 per year (52 weekly issues) be 0-20 dB. The 2-element quad retains good gain over
2 Years $79.00 (104 weekly issues) a 4 percent change in frequency.
$1.OO for sample copy
'NC Res~dents
must add 5% Sales Tax
length. Although this is not exactly true, it is hoped
Subscribe Today! that the "not true" part is minor. Since this assump-
call toll free 1-800-234-0021 tion works for Yagi antennas it should also work for
Visa" and MasterCard" accepted quads.

OnSat PO Box 2347 Shelby, NC 28151-2347 \ // 1 two-element quad

The dimensions for a two-element quad were taken
from the ARRL 1986 Handbook: REF = 1006lFreq
and Driven element = 9991Freq. Once again, I was
skeptical of the computer model since my calculation
of self-impedance indicated that this ARRL reflector
was shorter than resonant. (I always believed that
reflector elements should be longer than resonant.)
However, computer results indicated that this antenna
The new STV Guide con- worked well. Forward gain with a spacing of 0.15
tains valuable information on wavelength was 7.5 dBi and frontlback was 17 dB,
zoning regulations, scram- straight off the back (fig. 3). Bandwidth was sufficient
bling, plus technical tips for to cover both the phone and CW segment if construct-
installing or updating a satel- ed for any band between 10 and 40 meters (fig. 4).
lite system-and now a pre- The forward gain as a function of element separation
cise monthly guide to satel- indicated a maximum forward gain occurring at 0.15
lite TV with the latest pro- wavelength (fig. 5). Increasing the reflector length to
gram listings for over 90 1.040 wavelength while keeping the spacing constant
channels! at 0.15 wavelength could increase forward gain to 8.0
All this in each complete issue of STV Guide! dB, but also caused a low of frontlback to 10.6 dB.

II
Only $48.00 per year (12 monthly issues) conclusions
$2.00 for a sample copy The results suggest several conclusions: (1 The gain
'NC Res~dentsmust add 500 sales tax of a single quad loop is 3.0 dBi compared with 2.16
dB for a dipole. (2) Coupling between quad elements
Subscribe Today! is at least as good as Yagi elements, but the reactive
value is quite different from dipole elements - stay-
Call toll free 1-800-234-0021
ing negative until elements are separated by 0.7 wave-
V~sa* and MasterCard"accepted
length. (3) Despite having a reflector which is actually
shorter than resonant, a two-element quad from the
STVGulde PO Box 2364Shelby, NC28151-2384

r/ 148
72 M a y 1988
 appendix
The single quad loop field pattern and two-loop
mutual impedance values were estimated using
MININEC, a general analysis program for thin wire
antennas written by Alfredo Julian and colleagues at
the Naval Ocean System Center. This program uses
the method of moments for obtaining the current dis-
tribution along any antenna. Basically, the antenna is
broken into many small pieces, the current is assumed
constant along any given piece, and the wave equa-
tions are simultaneously solved to give a current dis-
tribution. The accuracy of the solution depends on
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
Separation (wavelenglh)
breaking the antenna up into enough small pieces so
that the calculated current distribution is smooth and
separation for a 2-element quad. Reflector
wavelength and driven element = 1.021 wavelength.
-
fig. 5. Free space forward gain as a function of element
1.050
approximates the real thing.
The MlNlNEC program used here was slightly modi-
Frontlback values are divided by two. fied: it was translated from the original BASIC lan-
guage into PASCAL and the matrices were expanded
to allow for more match points.
references
Antenna Handbook has good pattern and gain com- 1. J.E. Lindsay. "Quads and Ya:lis." 0.51. May 1968. pages 11 19.
parable to a two-or-three element monoband Yagi on 2. W. Overbeck. "Quadsand Yaga Revisilad." hanrradin. May 1979. pages
12-21
the same length boom, but the gain is less than that
3. J.L. Lawson. "Yagi Antenna Design: Performance Calcolations." harn
for an optimum spaced three-element Yagi.= radio, January 1980. pages 22-27.
In the next part we will calculate the performance 4. J.L. Lawson. "Yagi Antenna Design: Experiments Conlirm Complrler
Analysis." ham radio. February 1980. pages 19 27.
of larger quads, examine the improvement that may
5. J.L. Lawson. "Yaqi Antenna Desugn: Qt!adsarid Ouaga." hnrnr8d10, Sep
be expected when gain is optimized, and compare cal- . .. 37 45.
temher 1980. Daues
culated forward gains with Similarly computed gains 6. D.F. Donnellv. "Optim~zingGain on Yagi Antennas.'' hanr radro. March
1988. pages 21 24.
from Yagi antennas. ham radio

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 a shortened 40-meter
four-element
sloping dipole array
Instant azimuth change ropes designed for mountain climbing! Four dipoles,
spaced 90 degrees apart, are run along the nylon rope.
Usually a tower has only three guys, separated by 120
by switching characteristics degrees. Three elements are probably just aseffective,
as observations of the incoming signals show that the
of each element forward lobe is rather broad."

shortened elements
Here's how to build a four-element sloper system The tower is about 56 feet high, and two of the four
for 40 meters on a small city lot using the same rnast guys are fastened to the house about 6 feet above
that supports your triband Yagi. ground -- a serious problem. Consequently, with the
One of the best low-angle radiators for the lower maximum possible element length, shortened dipoles
bands is a vertical dipole. It concentrates the radia- had to be used. My design, shown in fig. I,uses a
tion at low angles and lessens dependence on a radial 4.5 inductance in each leg. A coil, 12.5 turns, 1.5
system, often a problem in vertical arrays. The radials inches in diameter and 1.4 inches long, provides the
are not as necessary as are verticals that have their value of inductance.
maximum current at ground level. Tuning of each shortened dipole is critical. They
Though the dipole in this array may not be exactly were tuned in a horizontal position about 13 feet above
vertical, the signal is vertically polarized with a low ground. As each antenna was put on the tower, the
angle of radiation. To get both directivity and gain, resonarit frequency changed. I spent quite some time
space several elements around a single support and tuning the elements for resonance by connecting one
use a switching network to select one dipole as the element through an SWR bridge to the transmitter
driven element. A t the same time, lengthen the other while the other elements were disconnected. Though
dipoles electrically to act as reflectors. Add a 318- not grounded, they must be there with the required
wavelength stub to make the dipole, which is self- open feedline as there is always some interaction be-
resonant at the operating frequency, perform like a tween the elements. Each element has to be tuned for
reflector. This stub looks inductive to the antenna and the sanie resonant frequency and must show the same
decreases its resonant frequency by about 5 percent. SWR across the band in order to switch direction with-
Select one of the sloping dipoles through the switch- out retuning the transmitter or linear. Figure 2 shows
ing network to electrically rotate the antenna pattern. a plot of SWR for one of the elements. The resonance
We live on a small city lot, and our tower with a five- is in the CW portion of the band. To tune for a higher
element tribander at the top is a rather fragile oneguyed frequency, just shorten the antenna.
-
.
to resist strong winds. A t first it seemed impossible to "Using a similar array for 80 meter, Fuller, W2LU, comes to the same
use any slopers because of potential interaction with the conclusion. See reference 2.
guy wires. The problem was solved by replacing the
metallic wireswith strong nylon rope. Good UV-resistant By Jurgen A. Weigl, OESCWL, Karntnerstr.
nylon ropes are available in yachting shops. (Donotuse 212/59, A-8053 Graz, Austria

74 M a y 1988
 2 ' 7 8 . 7 1 ij78.7'l 2
1
3
"-
1

.- --N-TYII -.

: - '
4 5067
I
4 5vH

fig. 1. Shortened 40m element lengths and loading coil locations.

1 5 ------------

10
6 9 - -70 - -
71 -7 2 _ I
FREOUENCY I M H z I

fig. 2. Shortened 40m dipole SWR versus frequency. Antenna was tuned for lowest SWR over the European segment of
the band. Note the SWR is less than 2.0:l over 200 kHz of bandwidth.

velocity factor of your coax cable. Equation 1 gives

attaching the dipoles to guy lines you the physical length for cutting your feedlines.
The antenna should be attached t o the guy at only R = 0.375 XK (1)
three points. The guy line passes through the tube of where X = wavelength
the upper loading coil, through a small loop fastened K = velocity factor
to the center insulator, and then through the tube of For HG-8 or RG-58 coax, K is about 0.66 so X is 36
the lower loading coil. The upper end of the antenna feet. You can determine the velocity factor for other
is suspended from a 20-inch rope. Be sure the anten- cables from antenna handbooks. Do not use inexpen-
na moves along the guy freely or it may break in strong sive TV coax since no reliable velocity factor value is
winds. available. The feedline from the control box t o the
transmitter may be any length but should be the same
controlling the direction type of cable as the stubs. Figure 4 is a schematic
Figure 3 shows the basic antenna layout. The feed- of the control box. For the four-element array, three
lines (318 wavelength long), which connect the vari- relays are required to select the proper feedline. (If you
ous elements to the control box, are a vital part of the use only three elements, you need only two relays.)
system. Remember that you have t o consider the The contacts should be rated for about 6 to 10 amps

M a y 1988 75
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76 GI M a y 1988
 +--,I :,.' - 7p- r.. -
t-- II
-,T 2 7 -- lr 7.5,,o" -1

I
-1
,="," ' I
I
I

I
I
1 ----
I
I

r;
1
- L-p - - - ..o
----- . .- w - 3 n . X . -
I
.
. - - - .- -
I
1
I 1
I I
I I
I I
I I
I
I
I
I
i6 7 5 y H 6 ?5,,U
CCAX ' 5 7 0 H M S :

fig. 5. Shortened 80m dipole, overall length 26.1 meters. approximately 86 feet.

and contact spacing should be good for at least 200 is available for other frequencies.' A n 80-meter dipole
volts. This handles up to 800 watts at low SWR. Never for use at 3.8 MHz is described in fig. 5. With an an-
switch the direction when power is applied t o ont? of tenna tower only 78 feet high you will be able t o join
the elements - hot switching may result in damage. other Amateurs with a directive 80-meter antenna.
Because the feedlines of the unused elements are not This bandwidth is small but if you use low-loss coils
grounded, the braid of the coax is open circuited when the antenna should be quite effective and possibly
not in use. This is the only way to achieve the proper achieve 4 dB of gain.
tuning that allows the elements to act as reflectors.
references
other bands 1 The ARRL Anrenria Book. Newlngton. Connecticut 061 11. 1974
2. Fullt?r.Eugene 0 , W2LU. "Slop~rig80 meter Array." hani radro, May 1979.
I hope this article will encourage you t o build this page 70
or a similar array. If space permits, use full-size ele-
ments. If a shortened dipole is needed, design data ham radio

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 ASTRON Irv~ne,
9 A u t r yCA 9271 8
C OR PORAT I O N (714)
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 UHF WORLD
Joe Reisart, W1JR

power splitters and

summers why use a power divider? both (see references 4 and 5). Open
VHFIUHF World has discussed As references 4 and 5 point out, wire lines are recommended for stack-
optimum high gain the first step in antenna selection is to ing, especially on EME, but for reliable
antennas3, and how to obtain addi- choose the desired gain. Second, all-weather performance they should
tional gain using multiple or "stacked" select an antenna design that fits your be configured as described in refer-
antennas in an "array".4,5 At VHF and physical requirements. Remernber that ence 5 to maintain a low VSWR.
the lower UHF bands I have often Nowadays when you want high
if the type you choose is a collinear or
recommended using the longest pos- gain, it is common practice to stack
Yagi, even the largest one may not
sible Yagi with a clean at tern.^ If the have the necessary gain. A practical several of the newer high performance
antennas do not have the desired gain, alternative is to "array" or "stack" Yagis in an array. Since most Yagis
an alternative is to stack similar have a feedpoint impedance of 50
several of them to reach the gain you
ohms unbalanced, the use of coaxial
antenna^.^,^ want.
power dividers is a natural. Just build
Stacking usually requires phasing Stacking standard or extended1
lines and power splitter(s) or sum- expanded collinears was common up a set of identical phasing lines, con-
m e r ( ~-
) Amateurs call them power nect them to a suitable coaxial power
practice until the late 1970s.' Most col-
dividers. Several have appeared in this divider, and you're ready to go.
linears use open wire or twin lead trans-
column, but I still get letters asking mission lines that are often paralleled
how they work, how to design them, to form the power divider function. At power divider
and what types I r e ~ o m m e n d . ~ , ~ the final feedpoint, an impedance fundamentals
This month I will discuss various matching network or tuning "stub" From this point on I will describe
types of power dividers, their advan- (and possibly a balun) are used to only coaxial power dividers - by far
tages and disadvantages and specific match the transmission line to the the most common types. For more on
electrical and mechanical examples. antenna. open-wire line read references 5 and
After reading this column you should With the Yagi, it's common practice 7.
be able to either duplicate the designs to stack antennas one above the other, The six most important power divi-
or build your own. side by side, or in combinations of der properties are: impedance, number

80 May 1988
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 Table 1. Some of the common properties of coaxial power dividers as descibed in the
text. other common / .N"
INPUT .: our~urs
parameter most common possibilities 21 N a

Input/output impedance 50 ohms 12.5 to 100 ohms

Number of outputs 2 and 4 6 and 8 '2' - I T A E L E 2,

Power level at output 3 and-6 dB --8 and -9 dB

Phase between outputs 0 degrees 90 and '180 la1

Isolation between outputs none >20 dBs typical

Insertion loss negligible 0.1-0.5 dB typ~cal

of output ports, power level at each

output port, phase of each output
port, isolation between outputs (if
dividers are the two-way quarter
wavelength types using hybrid coup-
lers described in last month's c o l ~ m n . ~
es
,/,414

L2

z rr 70 7n
::T7uT
OUTPUT
NO 2

applicable), and insertion loss as The coaxial power dividers favored

shown on table 1. Did I miss by Amateurs are sometimes called
anything? "reactive" power dividers as shown in lbl

*>P
Power dividers can be designed for fig. 1A. They perform best when all
virtually any impedance. If only coax- the outputs are well matched in im-
ial phasing lines are used, impedance pedance and phase. More on these
matching is greatly simplified by using later.
50 ohm input and output impedances. Another widely used power divider
'WN T'W T S %PUS
This greatly reduces the complexity of is the isolated type shown in fig. 16.
the phasing lines and the overall array. It consists of two transmission lines
Power dividers can theoretically be with an extra port or junction, which t
Z L (SEE TABLE PI

designed with any number of outputs. absorbs any mismatches on the out- INPUT

The most common types used by puts, and is often referred to as the IS I

Amateurs are symmetrical 2 and 4 way "Wilkenson" type after its i n v e n t ~ r . ~ fig. 1. This figure shows the three most
although 6- and &way types are some- These power dividers are usually found common types of power dividers used
times used. The greater the number of in low power applications like local 0s- by Amateurs: ( A ) The reactive quarter
cillator power splitters in tran~ceivers.~ wave impedance transformer type
outputs, the more difficult it is to
where the impedance is the geometric
impedance match between the input The Wilkenson power divider's mean betwen the input and output as ex-
and the output ports and the greater problem is that it requires an external plained in the text and as shown in
the mechanical complexity. In addi- "floating" load, R 1 in fig. IB, typically Table 2. (B) The Wilkenson isolated pow-
tion, 8-way power dividers require I00 ohnis in the two-way types. These er divider uses t w o quarter-wavelength
resistors must have very low reactance transformers. The impedance of L, and
longer phasing lines which have loss
LZ are 70.7 ohms and R, is 100 ohm for
and tend t o be counter productive. and the ability to absorb at least 50 the 2-way version.= (C) The "so called"
In a lossless equal output power percent of the available input power. half wavelength power divider is really
divider, the output at each port is a A 2-way Wilkenson power divider t w o quarter-wavelength types connect-
function of the division ratio. For operating at maximum Amateur power ed back-to-back as described in the text.
instance, in a two-way divider, the out- levels would require a 100 ohm 750
put power will be one-half the input watt resistor - not your common
level or minus 3 dB. In a four-way everyday flea market item! You can power divider design
divider the output will be one-fourth understand why they're not very pop- We will concentrate solely on the
the input or minus 6 dB, and so on. ular in high power applications. reactive power divider type shown in
The phase of a power divider's out- The loss in power divrders is impor- fig. 1A. The principal of operation is
puts is a function of the design. tant, especially in high power applica- best described as an impedance trans-
Amateurs usually prefer the outputs tions and high performance antenna former. At hf, this could be an "L" net-
for stacking antennas to all be the arrays. The reactive type in fig. 1A has work but at VHF and UHF it usually
same phase, simplifying the phasing inherently low loss, particularly if the consists of a quarter wavelength of
line design. impedance transformer is made from transmission line.
Ninety degree or quadrature phas- an air (dielectric) line. The Wilkenson The transmission line impedance is
ing may be preferable when antennas type in fig. 1B usually has a small loss the geometric mean impedance be-
are used in circularly polarized arrays. because of the construction and the tween the input and output loads as
The most common 90 degree power isolation load. shown in the equation below:

82 May 1988
 Table 2. The impedance of the transmission line used in common quarter and half
Where Z1 is the impedance of the wavelength power dividers using 50 ohm input and output impedances.
transmission line, Zi, is the input im- number of outputs quarter wavelength half wavelength
pedance, and ,,Z, is the impedance 2 35.36 70.71
with all the outputs in parallel. For 3 28.87 NA
example, in a 50 ohm 2-way power 4 25.00 50
6 20.41 40.82
divider design, the output load will be 8 17.68 35.36
25 ohms (two 50 ohm lines in parallel)
making the required line impedance of
the quarter wavelength transformer
35.36 ohms. If a 4-way design is used, even simpler because the impedance
the output load will be 12.5 ohms and of the matching transformer is 50
require a 25 ohm quarter wave line ohms throughout! (See table 2.)
section.
Other power division ratios are also simple coaxial power NO I
RF OUTPUT

possible (see table 2).However, the dividers son

1 4 PLACES) U G l 0 7 TEE
SEE T E X T RF ADAPTER
impedance of the matching transform- One of the simplest and lowest-cost INPUT
5 0 0
er of a quarter-wave power divider can power dividers you can build for 6 and
get very low, especially when four or 2 meters is the half-wave type using (0 )

more outputs are required. Also, the quarter wavelength pieces of standard
OUTPUT OUTPUT
mechanical problems of co-locating coaxial cable and "Tee" connectors. NO I NO 3

more than four output connectors are I developed them for a commc?rcial
formidable, especially on the higher antenna company and have used them
frequencies. for almost ten years on my 2-nieter
For these and other reasons, two EME array. It is relatively small and
quarter-wave transformers are often very flexible, with good VSWR and
connected back-to-back as shown in negligible insertion loss. NO 4
fig. 1C. This is often referred to as a Construction details are shown in Son RF
INPUT
500
501)
"half-wave power divider"; in reality it fig. 2. In the 2-way type, the transmis-
is still a quarter-wave type. Table 2 sion lines are standard RG 11A/U or (b)

shows that not only is the impedance equivalent coax cable. The 4 way uses fig. 2. This is an example of simple power
of the transformer higher, but the standard RG 8A/U, RG 213A/lJ, or dividers made from ordinary coax cable
and coaxial adapters. L, and L2 are 58
length is twice as long so the phasing equivalent. Because the dielectric
and 12 112 inches long for 50 and 144
lines can be shortened somewhat, velocity factor of the coax is 66 per- M H z , respectively. See text for other
decreasing system losses. cent and the coaxial Tee fittings have frequencies. (Al This is a 2-way power
The half-wave power divider works some finite length and a different di- divider. L, and L2 are made from 50 ohm
on the same principle as the quarter- electric, the lines are shorter than coax such as RG 8 A / U or RG 213 A I U .
wave type, but this time the inputs as expected in the 2-meter verslon. Equi-
well as the outputs are in parallel. For valent models can surely be used at
instance, if two 4-way quarter-wave higher frequencies, but you may have
types were connected back-to-back, to experiment with the length of the brass tubing to make 2-way quarter-
the input impedance would become 25 lines to fully compensate for all the wave and 4-way half-wave power div-
ohms. To keep a constant 50-ohm im- connectors. iders. Because they are essentially air
pedance throughout, each impedance A few words are in order on the con- dielectric coax, they exhibit very low
transformer must transform its outputs nectors used for these low cost power loss.
to 100 ohms. Thus, when the two dividers. Low cost PL 259s and UHF To design an air dielectric power
transformers are connected in parallel Tee connectors are usable but not ad- divider, first choose the proper trans-
at the input port, the impedance is visable as they are difficult to weather- former impedance from table 2. De-
50 ohms. proof. I recommend weatherprool "N" termine the desired inside diameter of
The half-wave power divider has connectors like the UG21 series and the outer tubing and the outside diam-
several other properties. In the 2-way the UG-28A/U Tee connector. eter of the inner tubing (or rod) using
type, the impedance of the line is the standard equation for a coaxial
approximately 71 ohms and two stan- air dielectric power divider transmission line as follows:
dard 70-75 ohm coaxial transmission construction Zo = 138 log b / a (2)
lines can be used. The 4-way type is In the early 1970s I used copper and Where Zo is the impedance of the line,

M a y 1988 83
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84 a M a y 1988
 Where L is a quarter wavelength in
inches, and f is frequency in MHz.
HALF - ROUND T Y P E ' N ' P A N E L JACKS
At 144 and 220 MHz a quarter wave-
.-A
F I L E D ACCESS WITH FLANGES REMOVED
HOLE - ( 3 PLACES)
length would be 20.5 and 13.4 inches, \
respectively.
I discussed some of the complexities
of this divider's construction with Dick
Turrin, W21MU. He fabricated a 432
MHz 2-way power divider using stan-
dard type-L copper water pipe, 112
inch copper pipe "T" fittings, and a
pipe coupling he got from a plumbing
supply house.
For the inner conductor he used the ROO T A K E N F R O M
7 / B a RIG10
COAXIAL L I N E
copper center conductor from an old 0 3 0 0 " 0 D

defunct 718 inch rigid coaxial air line

that got contaminated with water, 1 / 2 COPPER
PIPE COUPLING
but 5/16 inch brass or copper tubing
should be close enough. Details on his
2," O H M S
432 MHz 2-way power divider are fig. 5. This is an example of a 2-way
"plumbers delight" power divider
fig. 3. This chart can be used to deter- shown in fig. 5.
mine the impedance of an air dielectric designed by W2IMU. Length Ll is the
I recommend this power divider same as in fig. 4
coax transmission line made from either
round or square outer conductor.
design because it has very low VSWR
and insertion loss. Again, the lengths
can be adjusted for any frequency with
eqn. 3. It should also be easy to con-
"b" is the inner diameter of the outer vert it to a half-wave 4-way type sirn- M y favorite power divider construc-
tubing and "a" is the outer diameter ilar to fig. 4 by placing a pipe "T" tion technique uses 1 by 1 inch square
of the inner line, both in the same at the center junction and using an tubing with thin (1116 inch) walls.
units. To simplify calculations, I pre- appropriate center conductor. Some have used thick wall (118 inch)
pared the graph in fig. 3 which shows tubing but when I tried it, my tap broke
various ratios and their corresponding through the walls.1°
impedances. Many have avoided constructions
For example, in a 4-way half-wave with square coaxial transmission line
/--CAP ENDS AFTER
power divider, the impedance of the F I N A L ASSEMBLY because there have been many con-
line should be 50 ohms (per table 2). - 3 / 8 " ACCESS HOLI'
FOR SOLDLRING
flicting formulas published in Amateur
CONNECTOR TO
From the graph or eqn. 2, the b/a ratio C E N T E R TUBING literature. The true formula is found in
CAP HOLE
of the tubing chosen should be approx- AFTER
A55€MBLY
reference 11 but is complex and
imately 2.3. This can be constructed difficult to use. A simple, accurate
from brass tubing 9/16 inch inside formula for impedances between 30
diameter (518 inch outside diameter) -NOTCH BRASS and 140 ohms follows:
and an inner tubing with an outside 15 PLACES1 B R A S 5 TUBE
Zo = 138 log ((b/a) 1.08) (41
diameter of approximately 114 inch. 1/4"0 0
L E N G T H AS Where Zo is the impedance of the line
REQUIRED
Although this is an impedance of 48.6 U G 2 B WITH
FLANGE I- OUTER BRASS TUBE
in ohms, "b" is the inside width and
REMOVED
ohms, its maximum VSWR is 1.03:1. ( 5 PLACES1
9/16' I D L E N G T H
AS RFOUIRED "a" is the diameter of the center tubing
A typical 432-MHz power divider of in the same units. For example, if you
the type just described is shown in fig. use standard 1 by 1 inch square alum-
4. It uses brass tubing available at hob- inum tubing, it has an inside dimension
by shops or from "Small Parts, Inc."". of 0.875 inches. When used with a
It can be adapted for any frequency by center conductor of 13/32 inches out-
changing the distance between the side diameter, you obtain an im-
fig. 4. This is an example of a 4-way pow-
connectors for a quarter wavelength pedance of 50.6 ohms, close enough
er divider made from hobby shop or
with the following formula: equivalent brass or copper tubing. L1 for a 4-way half-wave power divider.
L = 2950/f (3) and L2 are 20.5. 13.4, and 6.83 inches for A graph of this function appears in fig.
Small Parts, Inc., P.O. Box 381736, Miami. Florida
144, 220, and 432 MHz, respectively. 3 using the more accurate formulas
33238 from reference 11.

M a y 1988 85
 A typical 432 MHz 4-way power div- adapters (fig. 8).13These adapters are
ider using square outer tubing is shown expensive if purchased new but are
in fig. 6. It uses standard UG 58 type reasonably priced and abound at Ama-
N coax connectors with hobby shop teur flea markets. If you have the
brass for the inner conductor. All con- fittings in your junk box, the whole
nectors are attached by drilling and assembly won't take more than five
tapping 4-40 holes in the tubing. minutes to construct. The measured
Start by drilling all the connector VSWR is very acceptable - about
holes. (I use a Greenlee punch.) Next, 1.1:l.
drill and tap the connector mounting Reed Fisher, W2CQH, later develop-
holes. Don't forget to make a few ed a similar but simpler 4-way power
small "weep" holes on the bottom side divider for the 23-cm (1296 MHz)
of the power divider near the connec- 5EAL ENDS UND
ACCESS H O L E
band.14 made up of three type N Tee
ISF1- T E X T 1
tors to let moisture escape. Then connectors as shown in fig. 8B. Note
1 4 - 4 0 r 114''
remove all burrs or metal filings. STAINLESS that the outer adapters are UG 107
SCREWS
If your center conductor material is f (20 P L A C E S ) A/U, an older and slightly longer
/ "

too short, you can join hobby shop I version of the more common UG 107
brass by soldering a short piece (2 B/U. If you can't find the "A" version,
E N D VIEW
inches) of the next smaller diameter a "B" version can be substituted with
tubing inside. You can drill a few small fig. 6. Half wave power divider using slightly higher VSWR.
diameter holes in the center tubing square tubing for the outer conductor.

where the connectors are attached. In-

The lengths of L, and L2 are the same as build or buy your own
in fig. 4. power divider?
serting a short piece of No. 14 copper
wire aid solder flow to the center pins Building a power divider is not
of the connectors. Finally, seal the difficult if you have access to the
ends of the tubing. I prefer to use two Although we have concentrated on necessary materials. As I mentioned
layers of I-inch wide metallic tape 50 ohm input and output impedances, earlier, metal parts are available at
which can be removed for periodic there is no reason why a power divider most hobby shops or through Small
checks. can't be made with different input and Parts, Inc. At least two Amateurs offer
The power divider in fig. 6 can be /or output values if you choose the parts or kits of parts for power dividers,
redesigned as a 2 way by changing the proper transformer impedance. For
inner tubing diameter to 9/32 inches. example, antennas could be fed with
I designed and built a 6-way power low loss 75-ohm cable like the CATV
divider for 2 meter EME using a 15/32 type and connected to a 75-ohm out-
inch inner tubing diameter with 20.5 put impedance power divider that
inch spacing between connectors. You matches to a 50-ohm transmission line
can use other division numbers by or vice versa. Obviously a 75-ohm in-
WITH 1/16' WALL
changing the transformer impedance put and output impedance IS also ac-
per table 2. Similarly, spacing the con- ceptable if the transformer is modified Ut2B ( 3 P L A C E S )

nectors a quarter wavelength (using using eqn. 1. O U T P U T NO 2

eqn. 3) will effect a frequency change. Most power dividers, especially the
The half wave power divider in fig. air dielectric type, will also operate
6 can be converted to a quarter wave- normally at their third harmonic with
length power divider by removing one low VSWR. As mentioned earlier, this
side of the divider and using the im- will probably allow the phasing lines to
pedance recommended in table 2. A be shortened. One possiblity is to use
1296-MHz version is shown in fig. 7. a 144-MHz power divider at 432 MHz.
It uses most of the mechanical details If the tolerances and fabrication are
of the half wave type in fig. 6. accurate enough, a 432-MHz power SEAL BOTH E N D S
AFTER
divider will operate at 1296 MHz. Other ASSEMBLY

some unique power versions are described in reference

dividers 12. fig. 7.2-way quarter-wavelength power
divider using square tubing. L, is 2 1/4
So far, I have described ordinary Several years ago Cliff Schaible, inches for 1296 MHz. For other frequen-
quarter and half wavelength power divi- W2CCY, devised a unique 432-MHz cies see fig. 4. Construction follows the
ders. There are several other techniques power divider composed entirely of same scheme shown in fig. 6.
or variations also worth mentioning. standard type N coaxial fittings and

86 M a y 1988
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May 1988 87
Tom Rutland, K31PW*, and Charley First, place a good low-VSWR term- discuss them. After all, this is your
Byers, K31WK."" ination at all power divider output column!
Most antenna manufacturers offer terminals. Next, measure the power acknowledgements
suitable power dividers. If you prefer divider input VSWR (it should be 1.2:l I would like to thank Dick Turrin,
to purchase a finished product, check or better) and remove one of the term- WZIMU, for letting me publish his
through the advertising section of inations. The VSWR should increase. "plumbers delight" power divider
this and other Amateur publications. If not, something is wrong with the im- shown in fig. 5.
Whichever way you choose to go, pedance transformer.
power dividers should no longer be a When installing the power divider in new records
mystery. the antenna array, mount all the an- This has been a record month for
tennas at their final locations with new VHF/UHF records. In last month's
evaluating your power phasing lines in place. For optimum column I mentioned a new 6-meter
divider performance the length of the phasing EME record. It didn't last very long. On
As we have discusssed, 2- or 4-way lines should be odd-multiples of a January 5,1988, Ray Rector, WA4NJP
power dividers are common in Ama- quarter wavelength (see reference 5). (EM84DG1, extended his own EME
teur arrays. The half-wave power Continue by testing each antenna record on 50.005 MHz to 4470 miles
dividers, especially the 2- and 4-way separately. The VSWR should be low, (7193 km) by working Mike Staal,
KGMYCIKHG (BK29AO). Ray was
using his same 4 Yagi array and Mike

- UGIO7 A / U T E E
( 3 PLACES1
was running a quad array of 10-ele-
ment 50 foot long Yagis. Both stations
were running the legal power level.
U G 2 9 B/U
FEMALE-TO-FEMALE
OUTPUT
rUGlO7 B/U
OUTPUT
On October 18, 1987 at 1945 UTC,
B A R R E L ( 2 PLACES1
the EME contest expedition to the
UG107 A
I2 PLACESl
/ u w a T NRAO Greenbank, West Virginia radio
telescope set a new 13-cm (2304 MHz)
UG57 B/U
MALE-TO-MALE OUTPUT EME record. As W31W118 (FMmCK),
B A R R E L 1 2 PLACES) NO 2
INPUT
t NO 4
they had a 2-way QSO with John
Shorland, ZL2AQE (Rf5'8JS), Welling-
UG27 ClU
ELBOW ton, New Zealand. The record shatter-
( 2 PLACCSI Ibl
ing distance is8658 miles (13,931 km).
W31W118 was using a 150-foot (!I dish
fig. 8. Power divider made completely from coaxial adapters: (A1 4-way for 432 MHz. and 100 watts while ZL2AQE had a
(El 4-way for 1296 MHz. See text for further information on the adapters. 12-foot dish and 18 watts.
On January 29, 1988, Jay Lieb-
mann, K5JL (EM15DQ1, and Gary
types, are preferred because they preferably 1.2:l or better. Then con- McCormick, WA5ETV (EM15EM1, had
allow the use of shorter phasing lines. nect all the antennas to the power what is reported t o be the first ever
Although I don't have concrete in- divider and retest the array VSWR. 2-way 33-cm (902 MHz) EME QSO.
formation t o support it, my feeling is Don't worry if VSWR increases a bit The distance was approximately 13
that the higher the mismatch at the because the individual antennas may miles (21 km). Jay used a 28-foot dish
output end of a power divider, the each have a different impedance. Fur- and 150 watts while Gary used a 30-
more likely that array performance will thermore, there are usually mutual 112 foot dish and 200 watts. I'll bet this
be degraded because the antenna sees impedance affects in stacked arrays. record won't last long!
a big mismatch when looking into the I'm sorry about the improper listing
power divider. In this regard, the summary of the 47-GHz record in February 1988
8-way half-wave or the 4-way quarter- This month we discussed different ham radio. I forgot to update the table
wave types are less desirable. power dividers with emphasis on the to include the 13.9 mile (22.4 km)
After building or purchasing a power more common types Amateurs use. record of WA3RMXl7 and WB7UNUl7
divider, test it before installing it in the Other power divider configurations are reported in the September 1987 issue.
antenna system. An easy method for possible and the formulas, graphs, and My apologies to Tom and Lyn.
testing power dividers at low power construction techniques described Congratulations to all the new
levels is described in reference 15. above should help you design models record holders. These are exciting
Rutland Arrays, 1703 Warren Street, New Cumber that meet your needs. times and i t is good to see that the
land, Pennsylvania 17070
" Byers Chassis. 5120 Harmony Grove Road, Dover. Did I miss any important points? If records can always be extended. Keep
Pennsylvania 17315 so, please let me know and we'll it up!

88 M a y 1988
important VHFIUHF events: 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ~ 1 1 ( 1
A p r ~ 2l 9 ~ M a y1 Dayron HamVenttor~ references
May 4 Predtcted peak of the Eta
Aquarids mereor shower ar
1. Joe Reisen. WIJR. "VHF!UHF World: Optimlred
2 and 6 Meter Yag~s:' harn radto, May 1987, page 92.
FREE CATALOG! I
1 W UTC
2 . Joe Reisen. WIJR. "VHF/UHF World-Yagt Facts Features Hard-to-Find Tools I
May 6 ARRL 902 MHz Spring
and Fallac~es,"ham radio. May 1986. page 103. and Test Equipment m
3. Joe Reisen. WIJR. "VHFIUHF World A High Gain
Sprint Contest (Friday even- 70 cm Yag~." horn rad,o. December 1986. page 75.
ing local1 4. Joe Reisen. WlJR. "VHF'UHF World Stackll~gAn
M a y 10 ' EMF perigee tennas: Part 1." ham rad~o.April 1985. page 129.
M a v 12 ARRL 1296 MHz Spring 5. Joe Reisen. WIJR. "VHFIUHF World Stacking An
Sprtnt Conrest (Thursday tennas: Part 2." ham radto, May 1985. page 95.
eventng locall 6. Joe Refserr. WIJR. "VHFIUHF World-33 CM Our
M a y 15 New moon Newest Band." ham r;#d,a. Aprd 1986. page 83.
7. Joseph H. Resert. Jr.. WBFZJil. "VHF Antenna
M a y 20-22 14th Annual Eastern I I
Arrays for High Performance." 0.77. December 1974.
VHF/UHF Conference,
page 38. Jensen's new catalog features hard-to- i
Nashua, New Hampshire
/contact W I E J I
8 . Joe Reiserl. WIJR. "VHF!UHF WorldM~crowave
Components and Technology: Part 2, ham md~o.April
find preclslon tools, tool klts, tool cases
and test equipment used by ham radio 1
M a y 21-22 ARRL 50 MHz Spring Sprinr operators, hobbyists, scientists, en-
1988. page 67.
1
-
Conresr (Saturday evening gtneers, laboratories and government
9. E.H. Wilkinson. "An N-Way Hybrid Power D~vidmr."
locall IRE Transacr,ons on Microwave nreov and Tech
agencies. Call or write lor your free copy 1
today.
M a y 26 ARRL 2304 MHz Spring ntques, Volume 8. No. 1 January 1 W , page 116.
Sprint Contest (Thursday 10. Don Hilliard. WOEYE. "50 ohm Power Dividers."
evening IocaN OST. October 1973, page 97.
11. Reference Data For Rad~oEngineers. Howard E.
June 4 €ME perigee
Sams b Co.
June 7 Predicted peak of rhe day- 12. George Charrev. W5JTL. "Extended Expanded
time Ar~etidsmeteor shower Power Dividers.'' ham radto, October 1984, page 73.
ar 0150 UTC 13. Loren Parks. K7AAD. "The W2CCY Quad Yagt
June 9 Predicred peak of the Zeta Array," The VHFER, March 1966. page 6 .
Perseids meteor shower 14. Reed Fisher. WZCOH. "A Successful 1296 MHz
1020 UTC Yagi." ham radto. Mav 1972. page 24.
June 11-13 ARRL June VHF OSO Parry 15. Joe Relsert. WIJAA. "Matchtng Techn~quesfor
VHFlUHF Antennas.' hamradto. July 1976. page 50
June 14 New moon
June 21 t 1 month. Peak of mid.
latitude Sporad~cE propa-
gation. h a m radio

CTM is the ham radio and computer There is always time for some
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a more thorough explanat~on. TRANSMISSION LINE TRANSFORMERS gram is for you.
027-01 Novice Class $4.95 by Jerry Sevlck, W2FMl $49.95
012-01 TechnlclanlGeneral Class $4.95 Contains a complete explanatim and discussion of trans- KA-DPI1
026-01 Advanced Class $4.95 mission line transformers and how to use them. Written by
one of the experts In the field-this book IS full of helpful
017-01 Edra Class $4,95 informatton. o 1987 1st Edition 144 pages THE PACKET RADIO HANDBOOK
0102-01 Radlo Amateur Theory Course f6.95 OAR-TU ~ o ~ b o u n$9.95
d by Jonathan Mw, KRST
Packet radio is the fastest growin mode in Amateur oper-
AMECO CODE COURSE ation today. No wonder - it comiines the power of
for MS-DOS computers today's mkcrocomputer with worldwide digital cornmunica-
Plenty of good code practice programs are already avail- by Doug DeMaw WlFB tions. Newcomers will find this book to be full of helpful
able. But this exiting new program offers more d~fferent The thrill of working a rare one using a QRP radio is hard to ex- tips, tricks and information that will help get them On
ways to learn the code than any of the others! Take ran- plain, 11can even be more thrilling if the radio is unsophisticat- Packet as quickly as possible. Providing YOU first, with
dom code ractice Or listen to existing ASCII files at your ed and homebrewed. The QRPHandbook stays away from packet basics, this book progresses through the Inner
chosen Cod18 speed. A comprehension quiz is in,cluded that heavy technical discussionsand formulas and gives ou in a workings and operational aspects of packet 10 a look at
tests your code copying ability at any polnt durlng the plain, easy-to-read format all the essentials you neeJto build future technology still in developmental stages. ~ l s oin-
learning process. You can also use the computer as a your own QRP gear. Six chapters cover: The essentrals of cludes: using bulletin boards, traffic handling on packet,
code practice oscillator. Finally, the computer will enerate receiving, the world of QRPtransmitters, QRP accesspry gear, modulation methods and networking Principles, protocols
random QSO's that are very similar in format to VC! code QRptranscelvlng, the QRP workshop and QRPoperating. An (both AX.25 and VADCG) and a thorough discussion Of 'he
examinations. Great for either beginners or those gett~ng appendix gives su ested books, magazine articles and parts various TNCs and accessories available. @ 1987 1st
ready to upgrade. O 1987 suppliers. @ 198816 pages 1st Edit~on Edition 218 pages.
0107-PC (MS-DOS)
...................................................
519.95 OAR-4RP Softbound $5.00 DT-2722 SoHbound $14.95

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 OX FORECASTER
Gorth Stonehockat. KORY W
bances were related to coronal trans- ber 1985. More disturbances as well as
parency and its resulting solar wind visible aurora occurred on August
particle increase. Midlatitude noontime 26th, September I 1th and 25th, and
maximum usable frequencies, MUFs, November 23rd. These were solar
were around 16 MHz. Solar activity in- flare-related and each caused a 10 to
creased in April, and from then 15 percent MUF reduction at midlati-
through May the level of the geomag- tude at local noontime. The dozen
netic disturbances decreased in step other disturbances that occurred over
with increased solar flux radiation pres- this same time frame were due to
sure against the earth's mag- coronal transparency or changes in the
netosphere. The only reported Sudden sun's magnetic field structure, which
Ionospheric Disturbance (SID) was on increased the solar wind particle speed
May 25th. However, the geomagnet- and density. This period of increased
ic field came alive with a long series of solar activity and related disturbances
1987 propagation disturbances from May 23rd to June was probably caused by rapid changes
summary 20th, just as solar flux values were on the sun as it "heated up" for cycle
I t wasn't until May 1987 that the returning to a 27-day minimum. Mid- 22. These disturbances are an indica-
necessary 12 months of sunspot data latitude noontime MUFs decreased 27 tion of what to expect during cycle 22.
were available to determine when the percent during this period. High lati- The next two years will show increased
actual 11-year solar cycle minimum tude and polar signals were also at- activity, the following two a leveling
had occurred. A fairly rapid and sus- tenuated. The geomagnetic field was off at a maximum and, after that, the
tained increase thereafter tentatively not really quiet again until November start of a decreasing trend.
confirmed September 1986 (SSN-12.3) and December, and then only for a day Propagation conditions during this
as the sunspot minimum month. Simi- at a time until December 24th. This is active period will have their ups and
lar data defined June 1986 (flux = the usual annual scenario. SlDs were downs. An increased number of open-
67.6) as the solar cycle flux minimum. reported on July 24th, August 23rd, ings with better signals on 6 and 10
In light of these two mimima, 1987 can October 30th, November 6th and 27th, meters are the pluses; lower daytime
be considered the first year of solar cy- and December 26th. SlDs last only up signal strengths on the lower bands
cle 22. to one hour or so at the subsolar point and greater numbers of more intense
During 1987 the sunspot number in- on the sunlit side of the earth. geomagnetic disturbances causing
creased from 17.4 to about 50 while Because of a flare, a medium size periods of no high latitude and polar
the solar flux increased from 72.5 to geomagnetic disturbance of short du- propagation are the minuses. The sig-
100. Using the superimposed epoch ration occurred on July 29th. From nal strength and direction variability
method it is apparent that these in- August 26th through the end of the may increase the possibility for open-
creases are comparable to the early year a sizable disturbance was report- ings to unusual DX locations, making
rise of cycle 21. This indicates that the ed every few days. This is unusual be- ham radio more fun. Learn to use
new cycle is right on target. cause the autumnal equinox is usually these minuses in your favor.
Little solar activity was evident dur- a quieter period than the springtime
ing January, February, and March. equinox. There were so many distur- last-minute forecast
Therefore no solar flare-related sudden bances in September that the midlati- Expect very good openings on 10 to
ionospheric absorption (SID, ultravio- tude noontime median M U F 30 meters during the second and third
let, and x-ray radiation) occurrences diminished from 18 to 11 MHz. The weeks of May. This is one of the last
were reported. The geomagnetic field MUF decrease during these distur- months to expect many or very good
was also quiet during this time (which bances was about 8.75 percent of an transequatorial openings before going
is normal for the winter season) except A unit (geomagnetic index), which is into the summer season. The best time
for two periods, February 20th-22nd within the sunspot minimum relation- for these openings will be during medi-
and March 27th. The resulting distur- ship discussed in harn radio, Decem- um sized geomagnetic disturbances.

92 May 1988
 I Measure Up With Coaxial Dynamics Model I
I 83000A RF Peak Reading Wattmeter I

A5A P- I . Anrenno Swi& o d Preamp.

For the senous DXr, [he M A P - 1
oprtmizes sc~nolreodobiliry from
1.8-30Mhz by selecr~ngbetween 5
receive ontennas ond 3 gain settings. Hi
ond Lo-Z inputs permit use of whip, long-
wlre. dipole. loop or beveroge ontennos.
Proven I-Fet ond Bi-Polor arcuits used for
low nbise figure ond uncondiciona~
wobility. Mulcitolored LEDs indicote
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hodling). Complete cechntcoqond
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money order. Allow
2-4weeks deiwery.
Info pod$.52. J-Tec.
Cox 630. Man HIII.
ME 04758.(207)
429-8247.

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Please send all reader lnqulries directly
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1988 CALL DIRECTORY
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--

M a y 1988 fl 93
 d d d - 4 -

ASIA
FAR EAST

W N N N W N N N N N N N N N N N N W
EUROPE

C - r w w w W W W W l - I - w
S. AFRICA V I N N O

S. AMERICA U I ~ ~ N N O O O
T
. u
C
ANTARCTICA N N N N V N N N N ~ ~ ~ : ~ ~ W W W W N N cN w N V) N
O O O O O O O O O o Q 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 s
NWZLAND u w w W P P
O N N N u l u l O NgNZ 2 :: f: - 2
N + J C . l - C . C . W W w l -
O u l u- l N N N O O O O
OCEANIA
AUSTRALIA ul ul ul N N 0 0 . 0 0

JAPAN N N N N W ' J
O%O 0 0 3 0 0

- & A - 4 - 0

- 4 4

ANTARCTICA N N 'J 'J N N g ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ W W W W N Z

N N
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ~ - "
C
NEWZEALAND
u " ' " ' u b b N N l - P w l - w w l - P V)

OCEANIA
AUSTRALIA
r
o o
w w
Iu
W l -
Iuul ~ g N f : ~ ~ f :
w
~
l - w
~
w
~
w
~
w w
~
w
~ 1.N N N
N N N N N N N w C . L l - + + C - ' N
JAPAN

The italicized numbers signify the bands to ty dwing the transition and early morning hours, while the standard type provides MUF during "normal" hours.
'Look at next higher band for possible openings.

94 M a y 1988
These should occur around May 2nd. from most areas of the world during
11th, 17th, and 24-28th. Toward the daylight hours and into the evening,
end of the month sporadic E short skip with long skip out to 2000 miles (3500
openings will probably help higher km) per hop. Signals on the upper
band DX conditions a little. However, three bands arrive mainly from the
in this early stage of the E, season the southern countries and occur near lo-
lower bands are expected to have cal noontime. Sporadic-E short skip
more o f these openings. The lower will be available at local noon on some
bands are also ex~ectedto be very days toward the end of the month.
good during the first and fourth weeks, The direction of propagation will fol-
except for local thunderstorm noise low the sun across the sky: morning
during spring storm passages. Enjoy to the east, south at midday, and west ti,$r<tw,~ , ~+f >, t\ l o l ~ v s t ;),I<
,~~ k,,,]c
~~ lF3h.l f ' l \

the evenings on these bands, because in the evening. . ~ r ~cl<>r>c,.r

i A u t ~ r l , . ~ ~ t,1111110111
.<l .11111f I N
a r ! t ~ v t r > ; * ,jfm>#n<]lor l,mc s ; ~ ~ f ~ Ii Cl ~FME
l~
in another month or so the summer- Thirty, forty, eighty, and one-sixty work
time air mass thunderstorm noise will meters are the nighttime DXers' SATELLITE AFSD EME WORE
be upon those of us in the Northern bands. Because of low solar flux early wtfl, AMSAT S OUIKTRAK
Fullv r:<ln~l>albhlr
13 21 R Slllcon Solut,on s GRAFTRAK 12 0 )
Hemisphere. and late in the month, daytime DX - Preprogram morp lhan 50 salrlltte passes a1
The full moon, of interest to moon- particularly in the early mornings - one IlmP We also supply assembler1 & It!sletl
TAPR PSK modems
bounce DXers, occurs on the 1st and may be worthwhile on those days. The
PACUET 888 OPICRATORS
31st of this month. An Aquarid meteor direction of propagation follows the VISION-IMPAXRED RAMS
shower (for meteor-scatter and darkness path across the sky: evening DX. COWTESTS.AND NETS
meteor-burst DXers) peaks between to the east, north and south around S[IV(:I'II Pro{~r,irii\ . ~ r o , t r ~ < . l u ~ l e d tlif!se*
for
May 4th and 6th, with rates of 10 and midnight, and toward the west in the
25 per hour for the northern and predawn hours. Distances will gener- 1 Call or wrlle lor our ~ n f o r r n a l ~ opacker
n
I
southern hemispheres, respectively. ally decrease to 1000 miles (1600 km)
The lunar perigee is on the 10th. for skip on these bands. Sporadic-E
openings will be most frequently ob-
band-by-band summary served around sunrise and sunset
Ten, twelve, fifteen, and twenty toward the end of the month.
meters will support DX propagation ham radio

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 esting little package. How about putting one at "FARNSWORTH" (spaces lengthened relative
the N set? The possibilities are endless. t o dits and dahs) methods.
Iwant to point out that using this product does The program introduces each of the letters.
not provide a dc ground for your station. You numbers, punctuation marks, and special com-
are still responsible for ensuring that your rig and bination characters in 11 lessons. Each lesson
antenna system are properly grounded for both features a review of previous current ones,
operator safety and equipment protection. The through random character and word drills.
instructions are clear on this point, and it is to Lesson 12 provides random QSO practice of
their credit that the manufacturershave not over- durations up to 10 minutes per QSO.
looked this most important item. They have also Character display can be selected to occur
correctly pointed out that at times the counter- simultaneously with code sending or after the
poise itself might get rather hot with rf energy. lesson. A self-calibration utility to control the
MFJ Model 931 artificial Thus, care must be taken to insulate this lead clock speed of the computer ensures accurate
ground t o protect anyone who might accidently come code for speeds ranging from 1 to over 100
Here's a gadget that's new (but it isn't) and in touch with it. words per minute. Morse Tutor provides for set-
just might be the answer to some problems you The concept of using an indoor quarter-wave ting the tone frequency over the full audible fre-
may- be having. It certainly was a help to me. counterpoise at the transminer t o act as an rf quency range. All selectible variables - tone
I had just changed to one of the new, all digi- ground certainly is not new. But as far as I know. frequency, code speed, display mode, and cali-
tally controlled hf transceivers. The rig was a the idea of a tuning network specifically designed bration values - are remembered from session
dream until a full power linear was put on line. to accomplish this task easily over the whole to session.
Suddenly there were instability problems in the Amateur hf spectrum is new. From my exper- Morse Tutor is $19.95 plus $2.00 for shipping
new rig, even though the antenna was a fairly ience. MFJ-931 is worth consideration by any- and handling (California residents please add
good match and had been installed for a num- one having problems in this area. $1.20 sales taxl. Order from GGTE, 21881 Sum-
ber of years without incident. WlNLB mer Circle, Dept. MTH. Huntington Beach.
My first attempt at fixing things invohred going Circle CjOZ on Reader Service Card. California 92646.
over the grounding system and improving about Clrcle rJM on Reader Service Card.
as much as I could in an old house that was not
wired with Amateur Radio in mind. After doing
this, I could use a bit more power before the
problems would begin, but the station was still
NETLINK high-speed data
only running at about a quarter of its capability. transceiver
Frustration was rampant. GLB Electronics has announced a digital-in.
Then Iremembereda new MFJ product in the digital-out data radio for high-speed packet link-
other room waiting for review. Called an anifi- ing. The NETLINK 220 features 220-225 MHz
cia1 rf ground, it is basically a modified antenna simplex operation, 2 watts of output and a data
tuner designed to make a short random length products rate of 19,200 baud. It is adaptable for use with
of wire look like a quarter-wave counterpoise. any node controller that generates and accepts
There are just two connections: one to a short
wire from the transmitter ground, and the other
to a random length of wire thrown on the floor. NETWORK 1000 ringrotor
The MFJ-931 includes an rf current sensor to TIC General has introduced the NETWORK
help make tune-up a very quick process. Just 1OOO ringrotor antenna mount designed to con-
adjust the tuning capacitor and the inductor tap vert your tower into the axis for networking. It
switch to peak the current reading and you're rotates your antenna around rather than above
in business. The whole package comes assem- the tower. making it possible to have multiple
bled in a neat metal enclosure that could very rotating antennas (with individual rotation abil-
easily be mistaken for a modest sized antenna ity) on a single tower.
tuner. It should look right at home in the typical Features include a steel gear drive with 24 VDC
ham shack. gear motor. I-beam ring construction, and posi-
Needless to say, this artificial ground was all tioning to 1 degree. They also manufacture a
I needed. Installation took only a minute or so. digital control box designed to work with the
The new rig immediately senled down and ran rinorntor
... .= . - - - -
just as well as it had before the amplifier was For more information contact TIC General. PO
turned on, and peace returned to the household. 5volt CMOS logic levels. It uses the FSK mod-
Box 1, Thief River Falls, Minnesota 56701.
I do plan to work a bit more on my ground prob- ulation method, requiring a 25kHz receiver
Circle 1303 on Reader Service Card.
lem and try to eliminate the need for this extra bandwidth at 19.200 baud. Operational temper-
crutch in my station. However, this product ature range is - 30 to + 00 degrees C.
certainly gained my respect in the middle of a NETLINK is compatible with most data for-
DX contest, and I will be glad to have it on hand
learn Morse Code with mats, including NRZ and NRZl used in packet
until matters are under better control. your pc node controllers. No external clocks or syn-
There should be no end to the number of other GGTE announces Morse TutorQ, Version 2.1, chronization are needed. Duplicate input-output
uses that one could make of this box. Field Day for learning the International Morse Code or im- paths are provided, so that either CMOS (0-5
quickly comes to mind along with any other port- proving code skills. volts1 or RS-232-compatible ( + - 10 voltl signals
able or temporary operation, particularly higher Morse Tutor is available for IBM PC, XT, AT can be used for data.
power usage is anticipated. I'll bet that some TVI and equivalents. The program features both Wnh the use of PIN diodesfor antenna switch-
problems might even be lessened with this inter- Standard (uniform dits, dahs, and spaces) and ing, turnaround time is 1 millisecond making it

96 May 1988
 possible to use simplex operation at high data lizes efficient thermal packaging that allows it stand much heat from any source, and will
rates. To prevent interference through "key to operate at 50 degrees C using only convec- absorb moisture if not well sealed. In 100 feet,
clicks", NETLINK uses time sequencing and tion cooling. losses at 10 meters are about 1 dB, at 2 meters
shaping of the turn-on and turn-off envelopes. The use of advanced solid-state hybrids allows about 3 dB.
Frequency drift is regulatedby oven-controlled the VHP-06 to amplify several combined signals Certified Quality RG8XllA IIhas all the charac-
crystals and temperature compensated oscilla- while generating few intermodulation products. teristics of CQRGBX plus a non-contaminating
tor circuits. A frequency tracking system keeps making this amplifier appropriate for CATV dis- Class IIA PVC jacket for extended cable life.
the signal centered in the receiver passband. The tribution networks, local area network repeater Certified Quality 4XL 8 IIA is the latest addi-
frequency last received is "remembered be- sites, and last-mile distribution of any video or tion to the "Poor Man's Hardline" class of coaxial
tween packets; this feature avoids the need to broadband signal. The VHP-06 comes with 75- cable. It has a non-contaminatingClass IIA PVC
acquire the signal on every transmission. ohm input and output impedance and a choice jacket. Inside is 95 percent coverage tinned
The receiver uses five large helical resonators of BNC. SMA or "F" type connectors. The am- copper braid shielding over 100 percent alumi-
for image and out-of-band rejection. A l-milli- plifier is powered from a user-supplied + 24 volt num polyester shield. Semi-solid polyethelene
second squelch is available at the rear connec- source and draws less than 480 milliamperes. dielectric encloses a 9.5 AWG solid bare copper
tor. NETLINK selects filters that achieve good Other impedances and gains may be obtained center conductor. Velocity of propagation is 84
adjacent channel performance with reasonably upon request. percent, impedance is 50 ohms, and loss figures
good phase linearity, and uses a phase correction Complete information on the Model VHP-06 are about 1.6 dB at 2 meters, 3 dB at 450 MHz.
filter for final waveform correction. Sensitivity is available from Rob Wellins at TIW Systems, and 4.2 dB at 900 MHz. This class of cable will
is rated at 0.5 uv for a bit error rate of 10-3. The Inc.. 1284 Geneva Drive, Sunnyvale, California not withstand constant movement; for some
ultimate error rate is better than 108. 94089. uses a more flexible jumper is indicated.
The transmitter is designed for continuous Circle CJ06 on Reader Service Card. For further information contact "The Wire-
operation. Six poles of filtering keep adjacent man". Certified Communications. P i a n Road.
channel interference at a low level. For un- Route 2. Landrum, South Carolina 29356.
attended operation. NETLINK has a keydown large character environ- Circle CJ08 on Reader Sarvica Card.
timer set to 10 seconds with reset on key-
up. Panel LEDs indicate transmitter keying,
ment for computers
squelch, and power status. All data and con- Kidsview Software. Inc. has refeased
trol signals are brought to a DB-25s connec- KidsviewTM and KidswordTY software transform- high-power linear amplifier
tor on the rear panel. Additional connections ing the Commodore 64 and 128 into a quadruple- The 230A is a continuous duty linear cover-
include transmit key, squelch, discriminator. sized character environment for visually impaired ingall Amateur bandsfrom 1.8 to21 MHz (1.830
tracking status, and tracking control. NETLINK and special needs users. Kidsview quadruples MHz for export). Tuning and protection are con-
operates on a 12-volt dc supply wired to an character size while closely preserving normal trolled by a microprocessor. There is a microcon-
independent jack. The antenna connector is computer operation. The entire contents of the troller for metering and an rflpower supply deck
a BNC female. All input-output signals are RFI- "regular" screen are presented in original order with remote location capability.
filtered, and NETLINK complies with all applic- so text continuity is maintained. Features include two back-lighted LCD dis-
able sections of part 15 of FCC rules. It also Kidsview may be used to write or run pro- plays, drive power of 50-70 warts. and a built-in
has passed tests to part 97 specifications. grams. Although some commercial software will SWR computer LDC display readout. The 230A
The cabinet measures 12 x 10 x 4 inches run, it is intended primarily as a development and has heavy duty power components, automatic
and weighs 5 pounds. 8 ounces. The list price display tool. safety monitoring for reverse power, grid and
is $799. $699 Amateur net. For more informa- Kidsword is a large character word processor plate current, air flow, filament voltage, and is
tion contact GLB Electronics. Inc.. 151 Com- designed for children, with features making it in compliance with FCC regulations.
merce Parkway. Buffalo. New York 14224. suitable for more advanced applications. The
Circle 1305 on Reader Service Card. characters and background change color so that
visually impaired users can adjust the screen for
maximum comfort and clarity. Kidsword prints
large, standard size characters and will be avail-
high-power rf amplifier able for the Apple Ile soon. For more informa-
TIW Systems has announced the addition of tion contact Kidsview Software, Inc., P.O. Box
the VHP-06 to its existing line of high-power rf 98,Warner, New Hampshire 03278.
amplifiers. With a 40- to 400-MHz bandwidth, Circle CJ07 on Reader Service Card.
1-watt contindous output, and 44-dB nominal
gain (with up to @%dB gain available by arrange-
ment with the factory], the VHP-06 features a new coaxial cable
footprint of only 2 x 5 inches, this amplifier uti- Certified Quality RG8X is similar to the RG8X
and mini 8 type of coaxial cable introduced by
BERKTEK. It has a characteristic impedance of
50 ohms, a 78 percent velocity of propagation,
-'
and 95 + percent bare copper shielding over

y
foamed polyethylene dielectric which covers a The commercial model 230C pmvides continu-
* 16 AWG stranded bare copper center conduc- ous frequency coverage from 1.8 through 30
tor. Its outer diameter is 0.242 inches. The outer MHz with a constant duty power output rating

,tf"lj.I- 5%'
jacket is PVC Class I. of 2250 watts PEP.

w
,
"" '
.
I.. -- Advantages are low cost, high flexibility, light
weight, and haw the signal loss of RG58 at about
For more informationcontact Advanced Radio
Devices, 103 Carpenter Drive, Sterling..Virginia
the same cost. Limitationsare those associated 22170.
with foamed polyethylene dielectric. It won't Circle IJ09 on Reader Sawice Card.

M a y 1988 97
 -
*
PROFESSIONAL QUALITY OTMF Decoder and Select Call
System, by Vince Yakamavich, AAIMY, see Feb OST Maga- COMING EVENTS
- "Places to go . . ."
flea# 1-1
zine for details. Blank board #152-PCBonly $17.95. Kit of Pans
Activities
E;?;W~;& ~;-;;,;;~y;g.;;, .g;;;,"r~,"~
yp;,eFt
A ENGINEERING, 2521 W. LaPalma, Unit K. Anaheim. CA

market
92801. 1714) 952-2114. SPECIAL REQUEST TO ALL AMATEUR RADIO PUBLICI-
- TY COORDINATORS: PLEASE INDICATE IN YOUR AN-
WANTED Rohn 25G sections 15or morel, guys, guy grips, turn- NOUNCEMENTS WHETHER OR NOT YOUR HAMFEST
buckles, insulators, etc. LDF5-50 hellax plus connectors up to LOCATION, CLASSES. EXAMS, MEETINGS. FLEA MAR-
250ft. Will pick up within 150 miles of Huntsville, AL. HAM-M KETS, ETC. ARE WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE. THIS INFOR-
or Ham-VIwill pay shipping. Roben Walls, 128 oollywood Drive, MATION WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED BY OUR
BROTHERISISTER HAMS WITH LIMITED PHYSICAL ABILI-
RATES Noncommercialads 10Qper word; AL 35773 (2051 TY.
commercial ads 60c p e r word both' payable PROGRAMMER for single component microcomputer. Learn
to program, corrtrol circuits. generate wave forms. SASE de-
in advance. cash Or agency tails. DELL COMMUNICATIONS. 538 Griscom D~lve.Wood- OHIO: Aorll29. The 19th A ~ B ' A ' S ' Hwill be held on Fri-
missions allowed bury, NJ 08096 day nlghi of the Hamventlon at the Conference Center IMadl-
son Rnnml of the HARA ARENA AND - CONFERENCE
- - . - -. ..- CENTER
.- -. ,
HAMFESTS Sponsored by n o n - p r o f i t or- SB220 OWNERS: Add 160 meters. QSK, + 8 additional en- (the sike'lbcaion asthe iamventionl, starting at 7:00 PM.
hancements. 40 pagestep by step manual includes parts sources, There is no admission charge, and free continuous entertain-
ganizatiDns one free ~l~~~ ~ad ~ k
and 3-500z ~ manual.
tech t SASE for details. $10 plus $1 postage. ment. Hot dinner, sandwichs, snacksand beverages are availa-
( s u b i e c t t o o u r e d i t i n a ) on a S D ~ Cavailable
~ w p a s Q 0 . 69 Memorial Place. Elmwood Park. N.1 07407. ble. Two excitina top awards. and many others. Stay right at
basis Only. Repeatinsertions of hamfest ads ANALOGANO RF CONS*for the San Francisco Bay
HARA when thei(amvention closes on ~ r d a evening
y and-meet
your friends and join us for an evening of fun and entertainment.
pay the flon-commercial r a t e . area. Commerctal and military circuits and systems. James Long, Sponsored by the M~ami Valley F.M. Association, PO Box 263,
733-83~29 Dayton. Ohio 45401.
COPY NO special l a y o u t o r a r r a n g e m e n t s Ph.D.z N6YB
available. ate rial shobld be t y p e w r i t t e n or COMMODORE/AMIGA CUSTOM CHIPS FOR C641128 Com-
puter perlpheril~sat low prlces. 24 hour de very W510- $9.95.
ARIZONA: April 30-May 1. The Cochise Amateur Radio Associ-
ation (CARAI will hold its 1988 Hamfest at the club's tratning
clearly p u n t e d (not all capitals) and must in- 6526- $9 95. 6567- $14.75. 6581- $12 a!). PLA. $12 50. 901 facility, south Moson Road and Rt 90, Sierra Vista. VE exams,
clude full name and address. We r e s e r v e t h e ROMS at $10 95 each and many others fncludlng Amga "The f e e tailgating. Talk ~non 146.16176 or 146.8. For more Infor-
COMMODORE DIAGNOSTICIAN" A comulete dlasnost~crefer mation contact Steve Wagner, WICl(6021458-6946 or CARA,
r~ghtto r e j e c t unsuitable copy. Ham Radio can- ence chart for fixina Commodore comouters. etc. A n absolute PO Box 1855. Sierra Vista, AZ 85636.
not check each advertiser and thus cannot be must for those who want to fox the~rown ~omputersand save
money and aowntlme $6 95 plus $1 00 postage COMMO FLORIDA: May 8. SPARC, the St. Petersburg ARC is spon.
held responsible f o r claims made. Liability f o r DORE REPA R We are the largest oldest Authollzed Servlce sorino a Hamfest. Lake Maooiorie Park. Shelter 1 and 2. Ninth
correctness o f material limited to corrected ad Center in the cr,untry. (eg. ~64-$39.351.Fast turna~ound.Heavy Sts &d Lake Maggone. ~ i " ~ e t e r s b u8r AM
~ to 3 PM Free
duty Power Supply for C64- $27.95 plus UPS. Send for com- admlss~on.Free swap tables. Talk in on 147 06/66. Contact Hank
in n e x t available issue. plete chipslparts catalog...VISAIMC ...Kasara. Inc. 36 Murray .
Briese. WA4RLV. 10804 -84th Avenue N Seminole. FL 34642
Hill Drive, Sprlng Valley. NY 10977. 1-8(10-642-7634,
DEADLINE 15th o f second p r e c e d i n g 800-248-2983 (outside NYI or 914-356-3131 OHIO: May 8. Medina County Hamfest, sponsored by the Me-
month. dina 2 Meter Group. 8 AM to 2 PM. Medina County Communi-
WANTED: Klystron tubes especially 291 1; Magnatrons; also ty Center, 735 Lafayette Road, Medina. Donations 54.00ldoor;
SEND MATERIAL TO: Flea Market, Ham 304TL. 6012.810 and 5CX1500A. All types of sockets for trans- S3.Mladvence. Vendor tables $6.00. Setup 6 AM. Mobile check
Radio, Greenville, N. H. 03048. mitting tubes. Harold Bramstedt, 6104 Egg Lk Rd. Hugo. MN in 147,63103 K8TVlR. Free parking. Medina Hamfest Commit-
55038. 1612) 429-9397. tee. PO Box 452. Medina. OH 44258.
--
UHF PARTS. GaAs fets, mimics, chip caps, trimmer caps, and OKLAHOMA: May 14 and 15 The 1988 Green Country Ham-
other builder pans. MGF 1402 @$14.00. MFG 1302 @$10.00. fest, sponsored by the Broken Arrow and Tulsa ARCS. Tulsa
TEST EQUIPMENT WANTED. Don't wait - we'll pay cash .8-l0pf Trimtronics trimmer @$3.75. Porcelain chip caps State Fairgrounds Pavdion. 9 AM to 5 PM Saturday and 8 AM
for LATE MODEL HP. Tek, etc. Call Glenn. N7EPK, at @$1.75. Orders add $1.00 p + h. SASE for complete list. MICAO- to 4 PM Sunday. All indoors flea market and dealer exhibits,
Skagitronics Co. (800)356-TRON. WAVE COMPONENTS. 11216 Cape Cod. Taylor. MI 48180. prcgrams, exams. Nearby Amusement Park. Evening family BBQ
affordablv oriced at $7.00. Blue Grass band entertainment. Pra-
FOR SALE: Ham Radio Ten-Tec solid state, Model 540, 200 WASGFR COMMUNICATIONS SOFTWARE. $15.00 disk con- reglstratldh$6 $8 at the door Flea market tables $7 50 advance,
watt transceiver. ACIDC power supply. John Spencer. Fa!r- tains HFIVHFIUHFIL-Band propagation programs lo predct 8101door Chlldren under 12 free For lnformal~oncontact Ron
mont. MN 56031 (5071 238-1621. range in miles based on transmitter power, receiber sensitivity, Gamel. N5WX (9181663-a385or wrlte Green Country Hamfest.
and antenna height b gain. A "must" fur desigr~ingrepeater PO Box 4283. Tulsa, OK 74159
DIGITAL AUTOMATIC DISPLAYS. All Radios. GRAND SYS- installations. Also includes Smith Chart ~mpedancematching
TEMS, PO8 2171. Blaine, Washington 98230. programs. Commodore-64 or IBM. Lynn Gerig. RR1. Mon- ILLINOIS: May 15. The Knox County Radio Club will hold its
--- roeville. IN 46773. annual Knox County Hamfest, Knox County Fairgrounds, Knox-
MOTOROLA 745 RTA 860 MHz Trunrtng $450 Several H23, - ville. Large outdoor flea market area space available at no charge.
H33. HT 220's VHF low spltt $100 each Scott t80ll 224.3783 BM-PC RTTYICW. New CompRtry II IS tht! complete RlTYlCW Opens 7 AM. Indoor m m e r c i a l opens 8 AM. VE exams on sits
program for IBM-PC's and compatibles. Now with larger buffers. Knox County Pork Producers will serve their famous Butterfly
ANTENNA SPECIALISTS-Astron. Decibel Products, New- better support for packet units, pictures, much more. Virtually pork chops and more. Talk in on 147.001146.40, For table reser-
mar, Riiron. Shure, TPL, Tripplite. UnidenlBearcat, Valor. Deal- any speed ASCII, BAUDOT, CW. Text entry via built-in screen vations, exam registration and tickets write Keith L. Watson,
er cost plus la: DW COMMUNICATIONS. 16021 669-2483 editor1 Adjustable split screen display. Instant modelspeed WBSKHL, 119 South Cherry Street #3, Galesburg, IL 61401-4527
- change. Hardcopy, diskcopy, break-I~Ibuffer, select calling, text or call 13091 342-3885 evenings.
TEN-TEC, Now shipping new boxed latest models 1988 produc- file transfer, customizable full screen logging, 24 programma-
tion USA made. 585 Paragon. 561 Corsair 11.2298 Antenna Tun- ble 1000 character messages. Ideal for MARS and traffic han- OHIO: May 15. The Athens County Amateur Radio Associa-
er, 425 Titan 1.5 KW amplifier, new model 1 KW Hercules II dling. Requires256k PC or AT compatible, serial port, RS-232C tion's ninth annual Hamfest. City Recreation Center, East Stete
MobilelBase Amplifier, 2510 satellite station. TT920 aviation air- TU. $65. Send call letters (including MARS) with order. David Street, Athens. 8 A M to 3 PM. Admission 54.00. All levd license
band HT plus accessories all models. For k t deal write or phone A. Rice, KCZHO, 25 Village View Bluff, Ballston Lake, NY 12019. exams. Send completed 610.54.56 check payableto ARRLIVEC
Bill Slep (7041 524-7519. SLEP ELECTRONICS COMPANY, to John Cornwell NCEV 101 Covenfrv Lane. Athens. Ohio
Highway 441, Otto. NC 28763. JENNINGS UCS-3007.5 KV var~ablevacuum capacitor 5135. 45701 ~ i l k m scieatid
s Free naved fle; market Indoor soaca
- RJlA, HC-1 vacuum relay $75. RJ2C $140. Cantwell 2100pF-3
HAMLOG COMPUTER PROGRAMS. 17 modules auto-logs, KV variable capacator $45. Elmac 3CX120UA7 S315.4CX3.000A
sorts7-band WASIDXCC. Full features. Apple $19.95. IBM or $675. 4CX5.000A $950. SK-2210.SK 2216 $85 Centralab
CP/M 324.95. KAlAWH. POB 2015, Peabody, MA 01960. 858-1000pF $5 ea. (All newl. A. Emerald, 8956 Swellow. Ftn.
Vly, CA 92708 1714) S&-5940.
CALL SIGN BADGES: Custom license plate holders. Personal. NEW YORK: May 15. LIMARC ARRL Long Island Hamta~,New
distinctive. Club d i i n t s . SASE. WB3GNO. Box 750, Clinton, RTTY JOURNAL-Now in our 36tlr year. Read about RTTY. York Institute of Technology, Rt 25AINorthern Blvd, Old Wen-
MD 20735. 13011 248-7302. AMTOR, PACKET, MSO'S, RTTY CONTESTING. RTTY DX bury, NY. Outdoor tailgating b5.001car space. General admis-
- and much more. Year's subscription to RTTY JOURNAL $10.00, sion $3.00. Non-Ham spouse and children admitted free. Open
R-390A RECEIVER PARTS: Info SASE. CPRC-26 military Man- foreign slightly higher. Order from: RTTY JOURNAL, 9085 La 7% A M for sellers; 9 AM for buyers. Food, refreshmentsavail-
pack Radii, 6 meter FM, with antenna, crystal. handset: $22.50. Casita Ave., Fountain Valley. CA 92708. able. For more information call Hank Wener, WB2ALW 1516)
$42.50/pair $97.50/six. Military-spec TS-352 Vol- 4&e4322 or Mark Nadel. N U T 15161 796-2366.
-
tohml~ultin;eter, leads, manual: $12.50. $4.50/piece shipping, IMRA International Mission Radio Association helps mission-
$9 maximum. Baytronics, PO Box 591, Sandusky. OH 44870. aries. Equipment loaned. Weekday net. 14.280 MHz. 1-3 PM ILLINOIS: May 15 Chlcago ARC's annual Mini-Hamfest. North
Eastern. N~nehundred Amateurs In 40 countrie!; Rev. Thomas Park Village. 5801 N. Puleskl, Chicago. Admission $2 9 AM to
75A-4, NC303 WANTED. State model, condition. prlce and Sable, S.J., University of Scranton, Scranton. PA 18510. 3 PM. Refreshments. For informat~oncall 545-3622.
telephone. Bob Mattson, KC2LK. 10 Janewood. Highland. NY -
12528. MARCO: Med~calAmateur Radio Council, Ltd, operates daily PENNSYLVANIA. May 15. The Warminster ARC's 14th annu-
and Sundav nets. Medicallv oriented Amateurs (ohvsicians. den- al Hamfest, Middletown Grange Fairgrounds, Penns Park Road,
AM TRANSMITTER WANTED. State model, cond~t~on, prlce tins, veteri;larians, nurses, 'physiotherapists, lab technicians, etc) Wrightstown. Gates open 7 AM. Vendors 6 AM. Admission
and telephone Bob Mattson. KC2LK. 10 Janewood. H~ghland. invited to join. Presentlyover 560 members. For information wine $3.00. Indoor 8' tables 55.001space. Unlimited outdoor space
MARCO. Box 73's. Acme, PA 15610. S5.00lspace. Talk in 146.52simplex. 147,69109 repeater. For in-
formation or pre-registration contact Frank Charlton, KAJFBP,
FOR SALE: Kenwood TS-820S, digital display. Excellent con- RUBBER STAMPS: 3 lines $5.00 PPD. Send check or MO to 1479 Kingsley Drive, Warminster, PA 18974. (2151 675-2549.
dition. very clean. $475. Matt, WAlHRE, (203) 693-0468, G.L. Pierce, 5521 Birkdale Way, San Oiego. CA 92117. SASE
brings information. PENNSYLVANIA: May 15.1Oth annual Hamfest sponsoredby
-
the Tioga County Amateur Radio Club, Tioga County Fair-
ELECTRON TUBES: Receiving, transmitting, microwave... all grounds, WhitneyviUe. 8 AM to 4 PM. Gate admission $3.00.
CHARGE
'm types avellable. Large stock. Next day delivery, rnost cases. Advance $2.50. Inside tables $3.00. Outdoor flea market free.
DAILY ELECTRONICS, PO Box 5M9, Compton. CA 90224.1213) VE testing. For advance ticketssend check or MO with 110 SASE
YOUR CLASSIFIED ADS T74-1255.
-..
-
to Bill Reillv. RD 4. Box 103. Wellsboro. PA 18901. Deadline
May 1, 19& Talk in on 146.hor 146.G'simplex. For more in-
to your MC or VISA, write or call CUSTOM MADE EMBROIDERED PATCHES. Any size, shape, formation John Winkler. WB3GPY. RO 2. Box 267. Wellsboro,
HAM RADIO MAGAZINE colors. Five patch minimum. Free sample, prices and ordering
informatlon. HElN SPECIALTIES, Inc.. Dept 301.4202 N. Drake,
PA 16901.
Greenville, NH 03048 Chicago, IL Ml618. ILLINOIS: Kankakee. May 15. The annual Kankakee Hamfest.
(603) 878-1 441 sponsored by the Kankakee Area Radio Society will be held at
RECONDITIONED TEST EQUIPMENT $1.25 for catalog. the Kankakee Counw Fairgrounds from 8 AM to 3 PM. Free flea
Walter, 2697 ~ i c k e l ,San Pablo, CA 94806. market tables Ilimitedl and many exhibitors. ARRL Booth. Free

98 Pbl May 1988

 A!%&-California
A-TECH ELECTRONICS
Ham Radio "s guide to help you find your locar
AMATEUR ELECTRONIC SUPPLY
621 COMMONWEALTH AVE.
ORLANDO, FL 32803
1 Maryland
1033 HOLLYWOOD WAY 305-894-3238 MARYLAND RADIO CENTER
BURBANK, CA 91505 Fla. Wats. 1 (800) 432-9424 8576 LAURELDALE DRIVE
(8 18) 845-9203 Outs~deFla: 1 (800) 327-1917 LAUREL, MD 20707
New Ham Store and Ready to Make a Hours M-F 9-5:30, Sat. 9-3 301-725-1212
Deal! - - Kenwood, Ten-Tec, Alinco, Azden. Full
JUN'S ELECTRONICS service dealer.
3919 SEPULVEDA BLVD. Georgia M-F 10-7 SAT 9-5
CULVER CITY, CA 90230
213-390-8003 DOC'S COMMUNICATIONS
800-882-1343 Trades 702 CHICKAMAUGA AVENUE
Habla Espanol ROSSVILLE, GA 30741
(404) 866-2302 1 861-5610 Massachusetts
ICOM, Yaesu, Kenwood, Bird
Colorado 9AM-5:30PM
TEL-COM, INC.
We service what we sell.
COLORADO COMM CENTER 675 GREAT ROAD, RTE. 119
525 EAST 70th AVE. LITTLETON, MA 01460
SUITE ONE WEST 617-486-3400
DENVER, CO 80229 Hawaii -
617-486-3040
(303) 288-7373 The Ham Store of New England
(800) 227-7373 HONOLULU ELECTRONICS You Can Rely On.
Stocking all major lines 819 KEEAUMOKU STREET
Kenwood Yaesu, Encomm, ICOM HONOLULU, HI 96814
(808) 949-5564
Kenwood. ICOM, Yaesu, Hy-Gain,
Connecticut Cushcraft, AEA, KLM. Tri-Ex Towers,
Missouri
Fluke, Belden, Astron, etc.
HATRY ELECTRONICS
500 LEDYARD ST. (SOUTH)
HARTFORD, CT 061 14 MISSOURI RADIO CENTER
102 NW BUSINESS PARK LANE
203-527-1881 Idaho KANSAS CITY, MO 64150
Call today. Friendly one-stop shopping - p - p - p - p ~

(800) 82 1-7323
at prices you can afford. ROSS DISTRIBUTING COMPANY Missouri: (816) 741-8118
78 SOUTH STATE STREET ICOM, Kenwood, Yaesu
PRESTON, ID 83263 Same day service, low prices.
Delaware (208) 852-0830
M 9-2; T-F 9-6; S 9-2
AMATEUR & ADVANCED COMMUNI- Stock All Major Brands
-

CATIONS Over 7000 Ham Related Items on

3208 CONCORD PIKE Hand
WILMINGTON, DE 19803 Nevada
(302) 478-2757
Delaware's Fr~endl~est
Ham Store
DELAWARE AMATEUR SUPPLY lllin ois AMATEUR ELECTRONIC SUPPLY
1072 N. RANCHO DRIVE
71 MEADOW ROAD LAS VEGAS, NV 89106
NEW CASTLE, DE 19720 ERICKSON COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
702-647-3114
302-328-7728 5456 N. MILWAUKEE AVE.
CHICAGO, IL 60630 Dale Porray "Squeak," AD7K
800-441-7008 Outside Nev: 1 (800) 634-6227
Icom, Ten-Tec, M~crolog,Yaesu. 312-631-5181
Hours M-F 9-5:30. Sat. 9-3
Kenwood, Santec, KDK, and more. Hours: 9-30-5.30 Mon, Tu, Wed & Fri;
One mile off 1-95. no sales tax 9:30-8.00 Thurs; 9:OO-3:00 Sat.

Florida Indiana New Hampshire

AMATEUR ELECTRONIC SUPPLY - - -

1898 DREW STREET THE HAM STATION

CLEARWATER, FL 33575 220 N FULTON AVE. RIVENDELL ELECTRONICS
813-461-4267 EVANSVILLE, IN 47710 8LONDONDERRYROAD
Clearwater Branch (800) 523-7731 DERRY. N. H. 03038
West Coast's only full service (812) 422-0231 603-434-5371
Amateur Radio ~ i o r e . ICOM. Yeasu, Ten-Tec, Cushcraft, Hy- Hours M-S 10-5; THURS 10-7
Hours M-F 9-5:30, Sat. 9-3 Ga~n,AEA & others. Closed SunlHolidavs
-- -

SHOULD BE HERE TOO!

Dealers: cYOU
ontact Ham Radio now for complete details.
100 May 1988
4mateur Radio Dealer
-- - - ~ -

UNIVERSAL AMATEUR RADIO, INC.

New Jersey 1280 AlDA DRIVE
REYNOLDSBURG (COLUMBUS), OH
Wisconsin
ABARIS SYSTEMS - -
43068
276 ORIENTAL PLACE 614-866-4267 AMATEUR ELECTRONIC SUPPLY
LYNDHURST. NJ 07071 Featuring Kenwood, Yaesu. Icom, 4828 W. FOND DU LAC AVE
201-939-0015 and other fine gear. Factory author- MILWAUKEE. WI 53216
Don WB2GPU ized sales and service. Shortwave 414-442-4200
Astatic, Azden, B&W, Butternut. Larsen. specialists. Near 1-270 and airport Wisc. Wats: 1 (800) 242-5195
MirageIKLM, Kenpro. Nye, Santec, Outside Wisc: 1 (800) 558-0411
THL, and many others. M-F 9-5:30 Sat 9-3
M-F 10 am-9 om
SAT 9 am-7 pm
VlSAlMC I ~ennsy~vania I Foreign Subscription Agents
KJl ELECTRONICS
HAMTRONICS, for Ham Radio Magazine
DIV. OF TREVOSE ELECTRONICS
66 SKYTOP ROAD 4033 BROWNSVILLE ROAD am Raara Austria Canada
Usrln Ueber Send orders to
CEDAR GROVE, NJ 07009 TREVOSE, PA 19047 Poslfach 2454 Ham Radlo Magmns
D 7850 Loerrach Grsenvblle NH 03048 USA
(201) 239-4389 215-357-1400 West Germany PIICBS m Canadtan lundr
1 yr 141 85 2 yrs $74 25
Gene K2KJI Same Location for over 30 Years 3 yrr $99 90
am Raalo Belg~um
Maryann K2RVH Stereohouse Ham Rsdlo Italy
Br~s~sl~e~lee 416
n~eg Vla Manla o I 5
Distributor of: KLM, Mirage. ICOM, Lar- B 9218 Genl I 20134 ~ l ( a n o
sen. Lunar. Astron. Wholesale - retail.
Bslglum Italy

Tennessee Ham Aadlo Holland

Ham Radio Japan
Kals~mrEleclronlc Co Ltd
- Postbus 413
NL 7800 Ar Emmen
27 5 Ikqaml
4 Chame Ota Ku
~ollana Tokyo 146 Japan
MEMPHIS AMATEUR ELECTRONICS Telephone (03) 753 2405

New York 1465 WELLS STATION ROAD Ham Radm Europe

Box 2084
Ham Radlo Switzerland
Karm Ueber
MEMPHIS. TN 38108 S 194 02 Upplands Vasby
~ ~ & ~ ~ ~ : c h
Sweden
BARRY ELECTRONICS Call Toll Free: 1-800-238-6168 West Germany

512 BROADWAY M-F 9-5; Sat 9-12 Ham Radio France Ham Rad80 England
SM Electron8c clo R S G B
NEW YORK, NY 10012 Kenwood, ICOM, Ten-Tec, Cushcraft, 20 bas AYB des Clarions Lambda House
F 8 9 x 0 Auserre Crsnborne Road
212-925-7000 Hy-Gain. Hustler, Larsen, AEA, Frsnce Pollerr Bar
Hens EN6 ?dW
New York City's Largest Full Service Mirage. Ameritron, etc. England
Ham Radlo Germany
Ham and Commercial Radio Store. Karin Ueber ~ o l l a n aadl lo

~
Postfsch 2454 143 Greenway
D 7850 Lmrrach Grsenslde Johanns9burg
West Germany R ~ D U I I 01
C South Africa
VHF COMMUNICATIONS
915 NORTH MAIN STREET Texas
JAMESTOWN, NY 14701
716-664-6345 MADISON ELECTRONICS SUPPLY
Call after 7 PM and save! Supplying all 3621 FANNIN -I Discover
of your Amateur needs. Featuring ICOM HOUSTON. TX 77004 56'
"The World System." Western New 713-520-7300
Christmas?? Now?? 30'
York's finest Amateur dealer.
-
KENNEDY ASSOCIATES
Of ,XI" rdeas
AMATEUR RADIO DIVISION
Ohio 5707A MOBUD A I I bands w ~ t n

--- -
SAN ANTONIO, TX 78238 tranlwtch.

512-680-6110
AMATEUR ELECTRONIC SUPPLY
28940 EUCLID AVE.
WICKLIFFE,OH 44092(Cleveland Area)
Stocking all major lines. San Antonio's
Ham Store. Great Prices - Great
Service. Factory authorized sales and
-.-
C m x , cable and w t s
w,ae range o f n c e s s o r , ~

216-585-7388 service. -*-

Ohio Wats: 1 (800) 362-0290 Hours: M-F 10-6; SAT 9-3
Outside Ohio: 1 (800) 321-3594 - Sox 6159, P o r t s m u t h . VA 23703
Hours M-F 9-5:30, Sat. 9-3 l D e a l ~ rI m u ~ r r e sVelccml
MISSION COMMUNICATIONS
11903 ALElF CLODINE
DEBCO ELECTRONICS, INC. SUITE 500 (CORNER HARWIN 8 I J-tnlng Nml tt CAROLINA WINDOH rt I

-:.:
3931 EDWARDS RD.
CINCINNATI, OHIO 45209
(513) 531-4499
KIRKWOOD)
HOUSTON. TEXAS 77082
(713) 879-7764 I The b e s t 75 1 a n t e n n a a r o u n d ? P r o b a b l y l When
70" h e a r one, y o u ' l l w a n t o n e .
a l l bnda with a trmslutcn.
You c a n u s e ~t o n
feed i t w i t h corr. 1
Mon-Sat 1OAM-9PM
Sun 12-6PM
We buy and sell all types of electronic
Now in Southwest Houston-full line
of equipment. All the essentials and
extras for the "ham."
I ALL RADIO W x s
W hERlCAN 6 1 E .
ARE
IN
)(Au V l r n PRIDE
VA/USA.
ar
I
Darts.

M a y 1988 101
 Tom Mc Mullen.

This is antenna month, both in populated urban America, real estate of it actually intercepts the earth and
ham radio magazine and in backyards people tout 70 by 130 feet as a "large" ground system. It is this interception
all across the country. For many lot! And it usually has power lines and reflection from nearby "ground"
Amateurs, it's a time to try some of the across one or both ends; this further that cause a large portion of the radi-
ideas that were chewed over during reduces the options for antenna-izing. ation to depart the vicinity at a con-
the cold, short days and long nights of siderable angle above the horizon. Not
the past winter. For others, it's a time antennas for the real world t o worry: the atmosphere is full of
to assess the skywire's readiness to
The view is not too bleak, however. layers of ionized gas just waiting to
start on the next season's DX or rag-
chewing. Whatever the reason, Amateur Radio can and does thrive in bend the waves back down to earth,
antennas are an endlessly popular sub- cramped neighborhoods some that, and often there's another Amateur at
ject in Amateur Radio circles, so 1'11 by comparison, make 70 by 130 seem the other end of the specific ray path!
add a few thoughts. like a really large lot. Much can be done with these sim-
A look at a few antenna fundamen- ple antennas if you remember some
ideal antennas tals will help you find a way to put up basics: the high-voltage end(s1 must
There are certain truisms in the radio a working skywire. be well insulated; and any vertical,
world that are hard to argue with: "a First, note that the portion of the especially the shorter ones, must have
big antenna is better than a small antenna that carries the heaviest cur- a ground system of some sort to work
one," or, "a high antenna grabs DX rent does the work. Current flow, against. Let's look at a few examples.
better than a low one," and "a rotary whether dc, ac, or rf, is the major
beam antenna is more versatile than a energy-transfer medium. With an ideal the nonhorizontal dipole
fixed dipole." center-fed antenna, placed high in the This type of antenna, shown in fig.
Along with these truths is the feel- clear, the current flow in the center 1, has been called a "sloper" in many
ing that one should have limitless produces a magnetic field that sur- publications. It is simply a center-fed
backyard acreage available in which to rounds the wire. If you could see the half-wave antenna suspended
put these marvels of wire, insulation, rf, a sight down the wire from one end between two convenient supports (in
tubing, and tower. Does a ham exist would show you a doughnut-shaped this case, the top of a house and a sec-
who hasn't dreamed of two perfectly field expanding in all directions. Any- tion of mast anchored to a fence post).
spaced tall trees that an 80 (or 40, 160, thing above the horizon would keep on The high end can be anything you can
or whatever) meter dipole will fit going out of sight, and the field that reach to hook the antenna on - a
between nicely? Or how about that intercepts the earth (or houses, wiring, tree, an attic window, a telescoping
sight for sore eyes, the 100+ foot and trees) would bend and reflect in tower made of tubing sections, what-
tower gleaming in its nest of guy wires ways that are sometimes difficult to ever. Never, never use any part of
with half of Alcoa's stock of tubing on predict. nearby power line poles for your sup-
the top, waiting to whirl to a bearing A vertical antenna (like a quarter port! All antenna installations should
for that rare one? Sad to say, far too wave with many ground radials at its be carefully planned so there's no
many hams are faced with the same base) also has a magnetic field around chance of any accidental contact with
pressures for space as the rest of the it, but the "doughnut" is on its side at power wiring; that includes the
population. In many parts of highly the base of the antenna - and much entrance wiring to your house.

102 May 1988

 nut" mentioned earlier) will not be
ideal from antennas that slope or zig-
zag around the lot between supports;
but they'll work, and will snag a sur-
prising number of contacts for you.
It's great if you can increase the
height of the lower support, but you
can put up a relatively inexpensive,
easy-to-install antenna between con-
venient supports. You'll enjoy lots of
QSOs while waiting for that magic day
when you can afford a pair of great
I0 OR I5 FOOT towers on a zillion-acre lot with no
T O WAKE U P CORRECT LENGTH
C L A M P TO P o s r
neighbors within miles.

a vertical dipole
Figure 2 shows another way t o use
a half-wave antenna. This one is espe-
cially useful on 10 meters, a band that
will be really hopping now that Novices
have voice and digital privileges on it.
fig. 1. An antenna can be suspended between a tall object, such as a roof peak or high The idea is simplicity itself: just stick
window, and a lower one that is a convenient distance away. Extensions can be ad-
the longest bamboo (or glass fiber)
ded to gain a few more feet if needed, as shown by dotted lines A and B.
fishing pole you can find out of your
highest window, and hang an antenna
from the end of it. Try it and join the
The antenna in fig. 1 is center fed fun without investing in a lot of hard-
with either a coaxial cable and a balun, ware!
or by twin lead. If you use twin lead Keep the antenna as high as possi-
or ladder line, you'll need either a ble for two reasons: it will perform bet-
Transmatch or a balun transformer at ter, and will keep the "hot" end from
the transmitter end to provide a the reach of curious bystanders.
balanced feed. (Those rf burns are nasty, and heal
You have a couple of options if the very slowly!) Again, the feed can be
space is too short to support a half- either coaxial cable or twin lead.
wave antenna on the band you want The antenna will still work if your
to operate. Putting in some loading house has metal siding, but will show
coils will physically shorten it while still some VSWR on the line and radiate
providing an electrical half wave. most of its power away from the
These coils make the antenna reso- house. You can adjust for the VSWR
nant, so it will absorb and radiate problem with a Transmatch, or change
power almost as well as if it were full fig. 2. A dipole hung from a fishing-pole the length of the elements very slightly
length. Many antenna manuals and out of a high window is a quick solution t o get rid of it. Start with the antenna
for a 1-meter requirement. You can use
handbooks describe how to make sim- a few inches longer than called for by
light-gauge wire and small insulators
ple loading coils wound around por- here. and RG-58A-U is fine for short feed- the formula, and remove an inch at a
celain insulators or plastic rods, but line runs. time from each end until the VSWR
you can find them in magazine adver- gets down t o a level that's right for
tisements or at hamfest flea markets. your equipment.
Another option is to bend the
antenna a bit. You'll want t o support because fields from parallel wires tend a quarter-wave antenna
..
as much of the current-carrying part of t o cancel. If you can get from a half Because of its size, a quarter-wave
the wire as high and clear as possible, to three-quarters of an antenna sus- antenna has many possible mounting
and let the ends run off at the angle pended straight between supports, it schemes. That same chain-link fence
necessary t o make up the correct will perform almost as well as if the that helps anchor the mast for a
length - the shallower the angle, the whole thing were in a straight line. "sloper" can serve as a ground system
better. Don't let it bend back on itself The radiation pattern (that "dough- for a quarter-wave vertical (see fig. 3).

I
May 1988 103
Adapt some mobile-mounting hard- I roost. Don't let the ends of the
ware to clamp the base to the posts antenna wander off into the bushes

B
--TELESCOPING
SECTIONS
or top railing, run some coax across where branches and leaves can make
the lawn, and plug it in. Height helps, t -1/4 WAVE OR contact with the wire. These ends are
M U L TIBAND
but not as much as you might think, COAX L I N E TO WITH T R A P S the most sensitive parts of an antenna,
TRANSCEIVER-
especially on a wide-open 10-meter and a water-laden limb or bunches of
band. A vertical for 15 meters is still leaves will have the effect of putting
within reason for this type of mount, O B l L f BUMPER-MOUNT
ASE F A S T E N E D T(. P I P E
a big resistor across the antenna -
IT* U-BOLTS
but you'll need a rugged fence and they will detune it and absorb power.
plenty of strong tubing to make it work If you must use a tree to support an
for 40 meters. A shortened 40-meter M E T 4 1 FENCE AND POSTS
antenna, clear all branches away from
quarter-wave antenna does work, the wire.
however. It can be made with a load- Most trees do a lot of swaying in the
ing coil at the base and a capacitive wind, and it is best to plan for this at
"top hat" that achieves resonance the beginning. Put some springs
with physical lengths as short as one- fig. 3. A metal fence support structure between the insulators and supports at
eighth wave or less. Be aware; this or porch/balcony railing can serve as a both ends. I like to put at least two
"shorty" is a very fussy, high-Q device ground system and support for vertical springs at the end that attaches to the
that requires retuning if you move your 114-wave antennas or a multi-band ver- tree, and one at the fixed-support end.
tical. A modified mobile bumper mount
frequency very far. The feedpoint Use springs that compress under ten-
can be clamped to the posts or railing.
impedance is often very low, and sion. ( A screen-door spring that
needs a good matching circuit and stretches will eventually fatigue to the
large wires to carry the higher current point where the antenna sags too
without loss. enemies because they reflect or absorb much.) Don't try to pull the antenna
energy from a nearby antenna, but so tight that it resembles a guitar
the multiband antenna they can be friends as well. Use them string. Give it enough slack that tem-
Many Amateurs, beginners and old- as additional "ground plane" for a perature variations and wind sway
timers alike, rack up a respectable roof-mounted antenna. If not attached won't break anything.
number of OSOs each year using ver- to metal siding, they can even be
tical antennas built to work on several loaded up to serve as an antenna. (The
what length?
bands. Most of the available "all- radiation pattern will be strange, and Here are a few formulas to help you
band" antennas now include the new you'll have rf on the bathroom fixtures, decide if you have enough room
frequencies gained at the recent but it will work!) between supports to put up an
WARC conferences. This type of "Verticals" needn't be exactly ver- antenna, or to measure the tubing or
antenna is constructed of aluminum tical. I read about a vacationer who wire needed.
tubing with trap circuits placed at var- carried a collapsible multiband vertical For a half wave in free space:
ious spots along its length. It is fed in his luggage. He simply assembled
length (feet) = -
492 (1)
with coaxial cable, and once mounted the sections and clamped the base to f(MHz)
and adjusted for proper operation, the hotel balcony railing, tilting the for an antenna made of wire (most
needs no further attention. Just switch antenna at whatever angle was needed common):
your transmitter to whatever band you to clear the balcony above. tie made
want; the antenna is ready. Many many exciting contacts in faraway length (feet) = - 468 (2)
fmfHz)
excellent antennas are advertised in places with this bit of ingenuity.
magazines, and you can often get a So don't mourn for the lack of an for a quarter-wave wire antenna:
bargain on a used one when someone
upgrades his system.
ideal location. If you can stick up a
piece of wire or tubing, and make it the
length (feet) = -
234
f(MHz)
(31
The vertical multiband antenna also right length (or use traps or tuners to When an antenna such as a vertical
requires a ground to work against, and make your transmitter think it's the quarter wave is made of tubing, the
the fence comes to mind once more. right length), i t will work and you'll diameter-to-wavelength ratio is large
Alternatives are a metal balcony or have a ball. enough that the length must be short-
porch railing, galvanized pipe driven ened from those derived from the wire
into the ground, or a roof peak with tips antenna formula. Your best bet is to
-
several wire "radials" fanning out from It is relatively easy to put up simple make the antenna out of telescoping
the mounting hardware. antennas, and most of them work sections and vary the length for best
Don't ignore the metal rain gutters well. But there are a few things that performance.
around your house. They are often will turn a useful dipole into a bird ham radio

104 May 1988

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M a y 1988
I
R 105
 ADVERTISER'S INDEX AND READER SERVICE NUMBERS
Listed below are the page and reader service number for each advertiser i n this issue. For more information o n their
products. select the appropriate reader service number make a check mark in the space provided. Mail this form t o
hamfadto Reader Serv~ce.I.C.A.. P.O. Box2558. Woburn. MA01801.

Name -Call

Citypp - State Zip

'Please c o n t a c t t h i s a d v e r t i s e r directly. Please use before June 30.1988.

READER SERVICE N PAGE I READER SERVICE I PAGE I

106 Ace Commun!caltons Inc 41 -.I29 .Msdmon Eleclron~csSupply. . . . . 50
1 3 1 Advanced Recewer Research 62 _ 190 .MadlsonEIeclron*csSupply.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28
115 AEA

141 AlumaTawerCo

- 133 Anlenn -~159 - Molron E

124 ARRL
I40 -ARRL
198 ARRL
-155 -Nuts%. Vdl
......... 108

103 Buckmasler -180 .Radm Amalsur Call

166 Buckmasler Publlshlng 9.4 .-1 14 -The Radlo Connecllo
13: Burghard1Amaleur Cenlef 64 185 .Radra Shack
Bulternul Eleclrontcs 62 -108 -Rad~ok#I ......................... 4 1
'
Caddell Cod Corp 7 -
1 9 6 RadlospMtlng ........... 3 4
189 CIE 8 -169 -The Radm Works .. 101
164 Coaxlel Dynam~cs 3 - 154 - Ramsey Electroncs. Inc . . .81
112 Communlcal#onConcepls Inc 41 - 146 -The RF Connecllon .... . . 5 0
105 Communcallons Speclallsls 40 -
' RF Parls . 2 7
176 ConnecI Syslems lnc I -
197 Rlebslane So 34
171 .Consol~daledElec1ronr.l 106 1 3 8 . Rulland Array 64
163 CTM 89 -
1 7 9 S-Com lndusl 05
130 Cushcrall Corp 61 -
Shemmd Engm 64
150 Cyqnus Ouasar B w k s 76 -161 - Sommer . ..70
134 Delscl#onDynamocs 62 - spec.com . . ... 93
-150 DeVryVEC 87 188 - Speclrum lnternal~onal 24
1 0 7 Doppler Syslems 42 145 .Spm Ra Manulacturlng. Inc. . . . 50
161 Down Easl M~crowave 87 202 - Slone Mountam Englnee
149 DRSl 73 195 .Slr~dsburgEng~neerong C
- 116 EEB , 48 1 4 8 .STVlOnSal
135 EGE Inc 63 194 -Synlhellc Texllles. Inc . .
182 Electron~cB w k Club 23 167 - Tel-Com . .95
Engvnwrtng Consull~ng 76 -102 -Texas Radlo Producls 38
137 Epsilon Co 64 207 .TIC General 24
104 E l 0 39 19: .Unad~llalAnIennasEIc 30
120 Exper10 53 .UnfversnlyM#crol~lm In1 ... .3 4
119 Fa~r RadloSsles 53 _
199 .VanGordPn Enguneerlng . . . 35
Falcon Commun~cat~ons 93 193. VanyuardLab 30
109 GGTE 42 1 7 9 .Varlan ElMAC 13
178 GLB Eleclron~cs 1 118 .VHF Communl 50
168 L L Grace 5 -
I 11 W9INN Anten 42
142 GTI 6 2 0 6 .Wsslern Eleclrontcs . . . . . . 99
126 GTI 56 -
1 1 0 WI-Comm E l e c l r o n ! ~Inc
~ . 42
182 HAL Cammun!callons Corp 16 - - 143 .World Dala Enlerprts 7
200 Hall Electron~cs 35 1 1 3 -Yaesu USA 5
12! Ham RadtoOullel 54 55 1 7 4 -YaesuUSA I1
Ham Radla's Bmkslors 78 90 91 1 5 1 - E H YOslCO 6
Hamlron!cs NY 69
Hamlronlcs PA 105 PRODUCT REVlEWlNEW PRODUCTS
- 175 ICOM Amer~caInc CII
181 ICOM Ameroca Inc 15 309 Advanced Radto Devices 97
172 lnlernalf~nalRsdto Inc 53 308 Cen8Iled Communlcallons 97
165 J Tec 93 - 303 GGTE 96
147 Jensen Tmls Inc 89 305 GLB Eleclrones 96
183 Jun s Electrontcs 17 307 Kndsv~ewSollware 97
152 Kennedy ASSOT~~IBS 84 302 MFJ Enlerprtses 96
Kenwwd U S A Carp 2 5 7 CIV 303 TIC General 96
121 Larsen Anlenna- 53 306 TIW Systems 97

106 M a y 1988
-

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"They said I couldn't work (I used the money I saved on post- a second ten-meter antenna for
DX with just 100 watts. Espe- age for the QSL cards!). satellite work on t,he high end of
cially with a radio that has And my FT-747GX is loaded the band. I use my personal com-
less Ohan 1000 switches on the with other features. The receiver puter to tell me what satellites are
front panel. works from 100 kHz straight going by, and the computer even
Rut the trut,h is, I'm working through to 30 MHz, and it's a sets the frequencies on t,he radio
lots of DX, more than some of fantastic shortwave broadcast for me.
these blockbuster types, thanks receiver. I can use all twenty Now my friends are getting
to my Yaesu FT-747GX. memories for that alone! Plus it's FT-747GX rigs, too. I knew they'd
YOU see, my no-nonsense got dual VFOs. A noise blanker. figure out my secret weapon
FT-747GX was designed with Split frequency operation for t,he sooner or later. But now I'm set-
me in mind, so I can hop around pile-ups. And scanning up the ting the pace!
the band fast to nail those DX band helps me check out open- Thanks,Yaesu. You've made a
stations. While the other guys are ings as they happen. rig that makes sense!
warming up their amplifiers, I'm I just put in the optional
crystal oven, and next month I'm Yaesn USA 1$?10 Edwards Road, Cprrilns, (:A90701
working the new country! (2l:I) 404 27(l(l. &pair Senice:(213)4Wt8W.
My FT-747GX has a super going to pick up the FM board. Parts: (?I:{) 404--1H471'1.ii.l.s and s ~ u . i f i c . : l t i ~ ~ ~ ~ s
receiver, with a directly-driven I can't wait to tell my buddies I s~~tij~>c.t
I I I (.~;IIRI' n i t . h ~ ~~~otin,.
ut
mixer for great overload pro- worked'England on a repeater!
tection. And, Yaesu included the
CW filter in the purchase price
And with the money I saved
when I bought my FT-747GX, I got YAESU
ii
They laughedwhen they sawmy radio.
J 174
Thenthey sawmy logbook"
 :' I ~ ! ' , , ,

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.me AF r u ~ ~t u r ' ,18,,' roauces
"The Number One Rated HF mteflerlnq rlgnair an0 wnltrSnoise or)~r,~tr<iris.
Transceiver!" . T ~ , s tunclion m~,,,ln n l y 1.e used I J i i ~ q r , LCD
r L ; I I ~ d~.;plily r r ~ d r ~
011 M d U r . d s1pn.l
. . , , c..?tt~.;V F O graphrc ~ n ~ l ~ c n t ~
Konwood spec~f~es tlans~rllt(July n ' V E T a n d S S G Slope t k ~ n ~ n g .
1) CWVariable Bandwidth Tunlng. Vary the 3) SSBSlopeTunin#.Operalrng IntheLSBand ;lr'd
i y(:lc time. The TS-940S 1s ~ l r -passband wldlh c o n l l n o u l , ~ ~ y ~the
n cw FSK. USB modes. ~ h r front
s panel control allows
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ttflteetj l i UPt.mte at f0ll Powel AM modes, wlthou~allect~nqthe center :;lmflr

~ndependenl.conl~nuouslyvarlableadlusl- not'p
i)utlrul for r~erlodsexceeding llequency 1hls e l l e c l l v e l y mrnlmlzes ORM 1n.i wr!h C W an:louncement.
menlollheh~ghorlowfrequencyslopesolthe
one hour. 114 250 h?H/.L W 110 from nearby SSB and CWslgnals O ' h c i vital operntlrlg f u n c -
IF passband The LC0 sub drsplay rlluslrates
\v;tlts I Pf.rfecl for RTTY. SSTV. 1 1 ) r l c ; Selectable seml or lilll
2 ) ~ ~ ~ u n e . ~ n a ~ l e d w l ~ h ~ h e p u s l , o ~Ihellllerlng
a b u t ~ o n .Posltlon
;ind other long-dirrat~on modes lhls cw lnlerlerence llgh~er1n;erls a lun- 4) IF Notch niter. The tunable notch l ~ l l e r I~r~:;rk~ln CW (OSK).RIT/XIT,all
.,L,. ,v,,' , able.lhr~epoleaclrvelrllc~belw~!entheSSBlsharply allenualer ~nlerler~ng srgnals by as rrlodr, scl~relch.RF aIlf?nunlor,lllter
I ,. .,-,! CWdemodulalol and !he aud~oampl~l~er Dur- much as 40 dB Asshown here.lhe~nterler~ng s11Ie1:t sw~tch, select;~llleAGC,
, , I . IIng CW OSOs, thls control can b e used l o slgnal IS reduced. wh~lethe desired signal CW variable pitch control, speech
I , I I , : ~ ~ l ~ reduce~ ~ ~ n: i e r~l e r ~~nskgnal
g ( s. and~ nolse. and remalns unallecled The notch l~lterwnrks and RF power o~llput
m,?as,lretl peaksaud~olrequencyresllonselolOPtlmum all modesexcepl f M I:( ~ntrol,progmmrnnt~lf!band
frt lency accur;jcy CW perlormance
In parts per million! sr an or 30 c:tiannei menlory scan

KENWOD
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SM~370 s l ; ~ l ~ on111r11lol
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SW 3000 KENWOOD U.S.A.CORPORATION
11llt~rs.YK HRA 116kH/) AM l~llcra VS 1 vo~r:r, SWl? : ~ r ~ (IIIIWI~I
t nioters IF 732CilF 1013
+ 2201 I. Dirrrl~nrj~rc~/
St.. Long Be'at t1.CA90810
; ~ t i r s ~SOr 1 e r ~ r t i : ~I I rI I ~ ~ S : I ~
(;cl~tllri~li'r 1tlt1'~1;11:(' 1'0 Box 7774'1, Lonq Bc;ic:h. CA 90801-5745