NO MORE MORSE CODE EXAMS as of FEBRUARY 23rd!
By Bob Wexelbaum, W2ILP
As of
Another situation may not be clear to
many, and that is that Technician Class hams who passed the Technician exam
between March21, 1987 and
The Grumman Amateur Radio Club
traditionally holds VE sessions on the second Tuesday of each month. Our next scheduled session is on February 13th. We will be unable to issue upgrades without
CW credit at that time. One applicant
has contacted me who wants to take the 5 wpm CW exam. This is the last VE seesion where it will be
available. Our March VE session will be
the first without any CW exams and the first where we will be able to
officially upgrade applicants to General or Extra Class without any CW exam.
I don’t know why the FCC made it
mandatory to apply for upgrades through the VE system, even when no additional
tests are required.. I don’t think that
ARRL, W5YI or any other VEC can directly profit much from handling the delayed paper
work. I think that perhaps there are
other motives to this requirement.
Obviously only the folks who remain interested in amateur radio will
bother to upgrade by going to a VE session.
If upgrading were to be automatic there might be a lot of grandfathering
of people who don’t really care to upgrade by taking the trouble to visit a VE
session and pay the application fee.
I noticed something at
the HRU 2007 event, where I was helping as a VE at a VE session for which ARRL
was the VEC. Attached to each certificate
of passing there is an application for ARRL membership.
W5YI-VEC has no such advertisments for membership attached to
certificates of passing. The W5YI Group,
unlike the ARRL, is not a membership organization. W5YI no longer publishes a newsletter, so it
has nothing to sell.
NO MORE MORSE CODE EXAMS (continued)
VE sessions are maned by non profit volunteer examiners. As such, all
VE sessions are supposed to be extensions of the Federal Communication
Commision, and it is not their purpose to sell anything or initiate anyone into
any non government organization. The
purpose of VE Sessions should be, in my opinion, solely to determine if
applicants are qualified to be issued licenses by the FCC, by applying the
rules of FCC Part 97. That is why there
is more than one VEC and that is why the original rules were made to prevent
selling anything or having the possibility of being influenced by any
transactions other than license examinations themselves at VE sessions. The FCC, it seems, has relaxed those rules
for the ARRL.
The FCC has also long permitted W1AW, the ARRL station, to
broadcast on ham radio frequencies, while banning anyone else who broadcasts. In lobbying for all hams, apparently the ARRL
lobbies for themselves. This is not a
bad thing, except for the fact that all hams have not been polled to justify
the ARRL’s lobbying positions. The ARRL
can not please all hams and the FCC does not always approve of ARRL petitions,
although they do seem to generally carry more weight than those from individual
hams.
Now I too am a member of the ARRL, and I find their QST
magazine to be valuable but that does not mean that I think that all hams must join
it. I like our elected ARRL
representatives. I appreciate the ARRL’s
organized volunteers and thei dedicated staff in
The gate to ham radio has been narrowed and widened over the
years and at every change there has been conflicts of opinion and questions
about the quantity verses the quality of hams (that result from exam
requirements), as well as technology verses tradition. Because ham radio means
different things to different people there will always be differences in
opinuion on how it should be defined and what in reality can be expected to be
its basis and purpose, if any. Ham Radio
may be defined as a service, but it is only a voluntary service at its best.
There was a time when there were only three classes of ham
licenses:- Class A, Class B, and Class C.
Clasas A gave full ham band privileges, Class B gave all CW subband
privilages but no use of 75 Meter or 20 Meter Phone. !0 Meter Phone was permitted for Class
B. At that time there were no phone
subbands on 40 or 15 Meters. Class C was
a Conditional Class for those who were tested by hams, but not be tested at an
FCC office because they lived more than 125 miles from one. Class C operators had the same privilages as
Class B, but they could not upgrade to Class A without being tested at an FCC
office. It was then recvognized that
there were too many hams crowding the HF bands.
VHF frequencies were not being used by many at that time. The problem was handled by increasing the CW
test speed from 10 to 13 words per minute.
This was a stumbling block for many of the would-be ham applicants,
because it takes a good deal of practice for most to get over the 10 wpm
hurdle. The Class A, B, C situation
remained the same prior to and after WW2.
In spite of the fact that many veterans of WW2 became hams, it was
recognized that there were not as many young people becoming hams. This was believed to be because of the popularity
of television. Kids, even those who were
technically inclined, were spending too much of their spare time watching
TV. Also the VHF/UHF technology was
improved so that there was room for lots of ham radio on 6 Meters, 2 Meters,
and above. The Novice license that
began in 1951 provided what was thought to be a learners permit to get
youngsters started in ham radio. It
requiered a simple written test and only 5 wpm of CW. The Class A license became the Advanced
Class.
Page 2
NO MORE MORSE CODE EXAMS (continued)
The Class B license became the General Class. A new Technician Class was also starteed in
1951. It required the same written test
as the General Class but no CW exam, and it offered only VHF/UHF
privilages. Obviously this was supposed
to be for the techie experimenters, who were to pioneer the development of VHF
to microwave frontiers. In my opinion
neither the Novice nor Technician Class achieved exactly what they wee meant to
achieve. The Novice Class license late became
renewable and was no longer a functional learners permit. Most of the Technician Class OPs were yacking
on 6 or 2, much like CBers, and very few advanced the state of the art.by communicating
with newly evolving auto-directed microwave dishes.
Now we get to the present day when it is feared that
youngsters are busy learning to operate computers and communicating on the
worldwide Internet and with their Cell Phones locally. The attempted way to get more hams into the
hobby is now the total elimination of all CW exams and the continuation of the easy
finite fixed Q & A, multiple choice exams, which can be passed without any real understanding of
radio technology, by applying rote memorization. This is all done in order to get more people
into ham radio. Lobbyists like to say
that they represent lots of people, and thus lots of potential voters. I don’t know if there will be as many youngsters
attracted away from their computer monitors and iPods now than there were
attracted away from their TV CRTs (boob tubes) in 1951.
I suspect that there will not be as many as hoped for.
Last month I wrote about Ham Radio University 2007 (HRU2007),
which is an annual event with the main purpose of presenting information and
education to hams and those who may want to become hams. I had to release the newsletter before the
event actually took place, so I could not report on its results at that time. HRU2007 was attended by about 300 people,
which seemed to me to be a lot less than the attendence at HRU2006. I missed seeing many of the hams who had
showed up at previous HRUs and I had the impression that there weren’t very
many newcomers, although there were a few.
The most interestiung thing was the VE Session at HRU2007. This did attract many applicants, as HRU VE
Sessions usually do. Some take exams
impulsively because they are there, without adaquete study preparation , so
that there are usually more failures at the HRUs than at normally scheduled VE
Sessions. This year the anticipation of no
code General and Extra class licensing led to many applying for the element 3
and/or 4 written exams. When it was
explained that they would have to attend another VE Session to get the CW
credit, only one prospective applicant decided not to apply, so as to avoid
paying two fees. The following numbers
were provided by Walter Wenzel, KA2RGI, who ran the HRU 2007 VE Session from
Elements:
1 2 3
4 Total
Passed:
0 8 15
2 25
Failed:
1 3 4
8 16
Total:
0 11 19
10 41
New Licenses earned:
Tech = 9 General = 0 Extra = 1
Total = 10
Candidates that did not earn an upgrade or initial license at
this session =23
Total candidates served at this session = 33
Number of VEs that participated at this session = 11
VEs were: KA2RGI, K2TV, N2UHR,W2EUL, WB2KHO, WA2AQQ, W2ILP,
K2KFV, KC2E, KKG4IKG, N2RQ
Note that there were 17 applicants who passed Element 3 or 4
Exams. Only one upgraded to Extra. The
applicant who took the Element 1 (CW exam) failed it. Thus there are 16 applicants who can upgrade
without further testing after Feb 23rd, by going to another VE
Session and applying for the upgrade without CW credit.
Pasge 3
PRESIDENT’S PAGE
BY
KE2LJ
The situation on
the
-Pat
KE2LJ
GRUMMAN AMATEUR RADIO CLUB
MINUTES OF GENERAL MEETING -1/17/07
Secretary, Karen KC2OPX
The
meeting was called to order at
TREASURERS REPORT – Ed, WB2EAV REPEATER REPORT – Gordon, KB2UB
(not Present) (not present)
Finances
continue to be in good shape. Nothing new, Repeaters working.
VE REPORT – Bob, W2ILP NET REPORT- Zack, WB2PUE
No applicants applied.early. No GARC Sunday morning net was
good.
VE Session in Jan. See HRU-VE Session Thursday night was good.
described elsewhere in cover article..
OLD
BUSINESS:
Pat
had some DX magazines from Marty, NN2C house to pass around.
NEW
BUSINESS:
The
new meeting place in Farmingdale worked out well. The directions were easy to follow and the room
was big and well heated.
PROGRAM
Bob,
W2ILP was the speaker. The topic was The
Evolution of Frequency Control.- from crystal oscillators to frequency
synthesizers.
The meeting was adjoined at
GARC NETS:
40 Meters:
7.289 MHz at 7:30 AM EST Sundays.
2 Meters
(via repeaters): 146.745 MHz (-.600)at
8:30 PM EST Thursdays. Suspended 2/07.
145.330 MHz (- .600) at
[Tone for
both repeaters is 136.5 Hz]
(ARES/RACES) Mondays
MEETINGS
General Meetings of the GARC
are held on the third Wednesday of each month, starting at
Page 5
GARC WEB SITE
The web site of the GARC can be found at http://www.qsl.net/wa2lqo/ Webmaster is Pat Masterson KE2LJ. Pictures of GARC activities, archives of
newsletters, roster of members, and other information about the GARC may be
found there.
SILENT KEY
We note with sadness the
passing of Dave Ramsey, WA2HGK on
INTERNET
LINK OF THE MONTH FOR INTERNERDS
I
found a very good web site when I did a search for information about military
equipment. It is:
http://hereford.ampr.org/cgi-bin/millst
This
is a data base for military equipment.
When you get to this site you type in the nomenclature of any military
equipment that you want to look up. Then
you click on it. There are block
diagrams, schematics, descriptions, and/or pictures of most pieces of military
equipment there. I found ARC-5, BC-610,
PRC-6, AN/GRC-3, SCR-522, BC-221 and others there. This could help to identify or modify surplus
equipment, or in my case, to remember some of the gear that you may have used
or worked with in my past. It has
historical value as well, because you can see what was being used during WW1,
the Korean conflict, and the
2007 DUES
Dues
for 2007 are now due. You are paid up
the end of the year that is on your address label.
Basic
membership dues are $20 per year.
Multiple members of the same household pay the family rate of $25. Retirees living outside of the
Send
dues checks payable to G.A.R.C., or any other mail to:
GARC
PUZZLE
Here
is another cryptogram:
L
HJVBJHW DF L
WQAFGO QXJELUQX ZQIGOX
PDF DOUQYYQEU. –PGALEQ
WGAUQA-
Solution to December 2006
Cryptogram: I WAS THROWN OUT OF COLLEGE
FOR CHEATING ON THE METAPHYSICS EXAM. I LOOKED
INTO THE SOUL OF THE SOUL OF THE BOY NEXT TO ME.
--WODDY ALLEN--
Page 6
GARC VE SESSIONS We
are continuing to proctor exams for all classes of ham licenses on the second
Tuesday of each month starting at The present
exams are: Element 1: 5
WPM CW, [Note that the 5 WPM exam may no longer be required according to the
FCC Report and Order.] Element 2:
Technician Element 3:
General Element 4:
Amateur Extra Class. The fee for
2007 is $14 for all exams taken at one sitting. Applicants
for upgrades should bring a photocopy of their license and any CSCE and their
FRN number. New, first
time applicants should be aware that their Social Security number will be
required on their application form. All applicants should bring driver’s license
or other picture ID. Until
further notice, VE exams will be at Room: Briarcliffe
in All
applicants should contact W2ILP to preregister so as to confirm location. If no applicants apply, exam sessions may
be cancelled. For any information
e-mail: - [email protected]
or phone: - (631)
499-2214 Study
material information is available at the http://www.arrl.org or the http://www.w5yi.org web site. All VECs use
the same Q & A pools. Since the
beginning of the VE program the GARC has provided opportunities to take ham
exams monthly, during all twelve months of every year. Bob
Wexelbaum, W2ILP and
the Grumman VE team. |
CQ de WA2LQO VOL.
80, NO. 2 EDITOR Bob Wexelbaum W2ILP (631) 499-2214 CONTRIBUTING WRITERS PAT MASTERSON, KE2LJ And all the members of GARC (we hope!) CQ de WA2LQO is published monthly by
the Grumman Amateur Radio Club for its members and friends. Send articles
and amateur equipment advertisements to: KE2LJ or W2ILP ELECTRONIC SUBMISSIONS If you want to
submit articles or amateur equipment ads via e-mail do the following: 1. For
submission direct to editor call him at above number to set up a transfer. 2. For e-mail
transfer: Internet Address We had our first general meeting at Ellsworth Allen
Park in Frmingdale. It was not
attended by as many members as I would have hoped. I can’t blame myself
for that because the fact that I was to be the speaker of the evening had
not been previously announced.
Maybe it was because it was a cold night and maybe because those
who were not familiar with the aria could not find it in the dark. The meeting room was however excellent,
and I hope to see more members at future meetings. I covered HRU 2007 and the NO CW requirement news
elsewhere, so there is not much to report here. I don’t want to get off topic here so
I’ll sign off…over for your finals (if any)…I’ll be QRT for now. The 146.745 repeater is in the process of being moved
at the time that I am writing this newsletter. Peace. Vy 73, w2ilp (Increase Loquacious Population) of phone band
hams, even though the number of new CW OPs is certainly going to decline
now. GRUMMAN
AMATEUR RADIO CLUB OFFICERS FOR 2007 President Pat Masterson KE2LJ V01-01 516-346-7125 Vice President Gordon
Sammis KB2UB Retiree 631-666-7463 Secretary Karen
Cefalo KC2OPX 631-754-0974 2Yr Board Member
Zack Zilavy WB2PUE Retiree 631-667-4628 2Yr Board Member
Bob Christen W2FPF 1Yr Board Member
Bob Wexelbaum W2ILP Retiree 631-499-2214 1Yr Board Member
Jack Cottrell WA2PYK
Retiree 516-249-0979 Trustee
WA2LQO Ray Schubnel W2DKM Retiree STANDING
COMMITTEE CHAIRMEN Meeting
Programs Contact a Board Member FCC
Exam Coord. Bob Wexelbaum W2ILP
631-499-2214
EDITORIAL
Treasurer Ed Gellender WB2EAV X02-14 516-575-0013
2YrBoard Member Dave Ledo AB2EF
TECHNICAL BITS
Almost
all modern radio receivers are superheterodynes The superheterodyne principle was invented
by Armstrong and it has been in general use for most commercial AM and FM radio
receivers, as well as short wave
receivers since its conception. It is
also used for SSB ham transceivers both in their receiving and transmitting
circuits. Basically what the superheterodyne
principle entails is frequency conversion.
A converter consists of a mixer and a local oscillator (LO). The input of the converter is the received RF
signal and the output of the converter is the intermediate frequency (IF). The purpose of using a frequency converter
is to permit IF amplification of a fixed center frequency, while the mixer, the
.LO and any RF amplifier circuits must tune over a wide frequency range. This is accomplished because the input RF +
or – the LO can produce a fixed IF frequency. The IF frequency used for most AM radios is
455 KHz and the IF for most FM radios is 10.6 MHz, but there can be any
frequency used for IF amplification if that can be advantageous to producing an
IF amplifier with desirable specifications.
If we just connect the LO to the input signal we will not produce an IF
signal. To do so requires a mixer. The mixer may be a diode, a transistor or a
vacuum tube but it must be a non-linear device in order for it to produce a sum
or a difference frequency. The design
can be for either the sum or the difference, but both are produced. It is the job of the IF amplifier to
eliminate the undesired one, which is called the image. If the LO frequency is too close to the RF
frequency then it is more difficult to filter out the image. Another bad effect called pulling occurs when
the frequencies are close. .