CQC
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The Colorado QRP Club was formally organized in 1994 and had a solid web presence by the mid 90s when this Bulletin Board page was created. Hope you enjoy reading about some of our history hiere!
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From:
Sam Billingsley <SBillingsley@usaninc.com>
Subject: Lucky Visit
to Colorado QRP Club Seminar at Pikes Peak Radio Assn
. Hamfest in Monument,Co 5/1/99
Date sent: Tue, 11 May 1999 12:24:18
-0400
My wife, two other friends and I had decided to make a visit to Golden (Genesee), Co to visit two of our old exAtlanta friends (now Bronco fans) because we lost the Superbowl bet between Atlanta and Denver. Whoever lost had to visit the other next. This trip my wife said it's a short trip and you're not taking any radio stuff OK? Well I slipped my QRP Alinco QRP 2 mtr Credit card xcvr in my pocket and we headed out. I had programmed in some of the Denver area repeaters so I was monitoring from the time we got to town. Lo and behold I heard chatter that the Denver area was having a Hamfest/Swapmeet in Monument,Co about 40 miles south of Denver. So I borrowed my friends jeep and headed out early Sat. morning. No knowing what to expect I ran into a fellow right off that had a QRP? tag clipped to his shirt. Me being a CO QRP member (#454 remote from Atlanta,GA) asked how were things going and was there any QRP gear for swap or sell. Well I was talking to Dick ABØCD and Rich WØHEP. They gave me some pointers and mentioned that they were conducting a QRP seminar at 10AM. Well I had an hour or so to go so started my combing of the tables. Found a clean MFJ mobile tuner and a fold-down mount that hinges into the trunk. Both were bargains so my mission was accomplished just in time for the QRP seminar. BTW I saw a late Serial # QRP+ for sale for $350 but passed since I had one. The hamfest was is a local high school so the classrooms were available for side meetings and discussions. Rich/WØHEP with the help of Dick ABØCD gave a great overview of QRP and the many reasons to checkout this aspect of the ham radio hobby. The folks in the room, including me, got a great broad brush tutorial on QRP. They had a super multi-media PC slide projection visual presentation and it was obvious that Rich and Dick were both experienced QRPers in a wide variety of QRP topics particularly field operating and contesting. I enjoyed their discussion very much.The special added attraction was Nick KG5N the famed "Homebrewing the Sierra" from the ARRL Handbook guy. Not only did he give a great talk on the Sierra and other fine kits that are available he had a Homebrewing transparency presentation that was the best I have ever seen.In fact with just a little more data including diagrams and schematics it would have a fine basis for a well needed QRPer's book on Homebrewing and Kit building. I know that some of the crowd that was there to pickup some basics of what QRPing is all about had no idea of the magnitude of the expertise of the three members of the Colorado QRP Club that covered a great deal of territory in one hour.
I, for one, am proud to be a member of such a fine group of folks and although I can only normally participate with them in contests and sharing their experiences via "The Low Down" the CO QRP Club's quarterly journal it is great to know that folks such as Dick, Rick and Nick (Wow is there some name requirement I don't know about?) and many others in the CQC are taking the QRP word to the masses. Page for page would put the Low Down up against any of the other clubs journals. I think everyone walked out of that room realizing that QRP is fun and a very important component of the ham radio spectrum of activities. I know I did. Driving back to Golden I thought to myself "Is this a great hobby or what?".
BTW since you folks don't have too many trees out there you might want to build a Parking Lot Portable Vertical (PLPV) to solve your field trip antenna problems. Check out my web page for more details.
Sam Billingsley AE4GX CQC #454 Atlanta (Buckhead), GA http://ae4gx.home.mindspring.com/
Gentlemen,
I am just breaking into QRP work. My little 80 Meter Emtech NW 80 rig
doesn't deliver enough rf to give a full scale reading on my in line Radio
Shack SWR meter. I have an old Heath HM 102 SWR Forward Power Meter.
Haven't tried using it but am anticipating similar results to those on the
Radio Shack meter. Was wondering if anyone out there had ever tried
changing the voltage divider circuits in the Heath meter to allow for
let's say, a 20 watt full scale range (meter presently has 200 and 2kw
ranges). Or do I need to try and build a DC meter amplifier to increase
meter sensitivity?
73
Bud
WAØRGG
Colo Springs HWintche@stai.com
On 10/3/98 the Pikes Peak ARA held an Amateur Radio Exhibition at the East Library and Information center in Colorado Springs. CQC was there-- Marshall (N1FN), Dick (ABØCD), and Larry (WJ1R) got club station WØCQC. We handed out some pamphlets, and caught up with some of our Springs members, and made a few contacts in the California QSO Pary. Here are some pictures-- click to view:
CQC will run TWO sites for Field Day this year. The number one
site will be at the same location as last year, and will be highly competive.
The second site will be at Cherry Creek Reservoir, and will be known as
the "Aloha" site. It will be informal, relaxed, and a perfect opportunity
to get your feet wet in Field Day.
Number One site: Near Elizabeth, about 50 mi. south of Denver. Click here for a map, and click here if you would like to see last year's antenna array (this year will be a little different, but you get the idea. For more information, contact our Field Day Chairmain, Paul, KF7MD at pbecket@uswest.com (303) 670-5837.Number Two site: Cherry Creek State Park, off Parker Road just south of I-225. Camping is available but you need to make a reservation through Dick or Jan. Dick Schneider, ABØCD dschneider2@uswest.net(303) 758-9519. Jan Medley, NØQT jmedley@ix.netcom.com(303) 286-8244
5/16/98
The May meeting of CQC was held on May 16th at the Castlewood Library.
Attendance was down a bit, due to several members being out of town (e.g.
at Dayton), but it was definitely a "quality crowd." Hal, WØMXY
took a bunch of pictures
which you will find in the CQC Photo Gallery.
Features of the meeting included:
Presentation of the club's Gold Star Certificate to Jim, NØCOT and Nick, KG5N...
Discussion of Field Day and Picnic Meeting plans (more details will be posted here later)...
Election of Officers:
Many interesting items were presented for "Show and Tell," and the meeting adjourned at noon for lunch at a local establishment.
11/1/97 The November meeting took place on Saturday at the Castlewood Library, followed by the now-traditional lunch at Bennet's Pit Barbeque. Attendance was good, and the talk by Walt Stinson, WØCP, Vice Director of the Rocky Mtn. Division of ARRL, was interesting and well received. There was great interest in our new "quickie" contest December 13th, the Great Colorado Snowshoe Run. Awards were issued to Brad Bugleston KBØROL (Gold Star), Michael Stewart KBØZTN (Colorado Counties), and Mike Garkie KCØCAJ (ARRL 1st Contact). Lunch was probably ok, but most of us were too busy talking to pay much attention to it. Film at 11!
9/15/97 Things to ponder, from N1FN.
I have recently been trying to decide on a design for a new QSL card. One of the printers had a section of "Questions and Answers" in his brochure, and here are two of them which had me scratching my head...
Q. How long does delivery take?A. Delivery takes from 4 to 6 weeks. The average delivery time is 3-1/2 weeks.
Q. Can I design my own backside?
A. Yes! [Ed-- if you take up body building?]
9/6/97 The September meeting took place on Saturday at the Castlewood Library, followed by the now-traditional lunch at Bennet's Pit Barbeque. Attendance was down, and nobody knows why. Could have been the Low Down was late (nah-- the whole year's schedule is printed every time), or maybe everybody stayed up to watch Lady Di's funeral, or it could have had something to do with a local college football game. In any case, those of us who attended had a good time, and here's photographic proof!
9/1/97 from KBØMEE-- info on the Heathkit reflector (mailing list)
QUICK ON/Off info:
To subscribe: listserv@listserv.tempe.gov
Here's the Majordomo info: Please save this message for future reference, especially if this is the first time you subscribe to an electronic mailing list. If you ever need to leave the list, you will find the necessary instructions below. Perhaps more importantly, saving a copy of this message (and of all future subscription notices from other mailing lists) in a special mail folder will give you instant access to the list of mailing lists that you are subscribed to. This may prove very useful the next time you go on vacation and need to leave the lists temporarily so as not to fill up your mailbox while you are away! You should also save the "welcome messages" from the list owners that you will occasionally receive after subscribing to a new list.
and in body: subscribe HEATH yourfirstname yourlastnameTo unsubscribe: listserv@listserv.tempe.gov
and in body: signoff HEATHArchives for HEATH: http://www.tempe.gov/archives
To send a message to all the people currently subscribed to the list, just send mail to HEATH@LISTSERV.TEMPE.GOV. This is called "sending mail to the list", because you send mail to a single address and LISTSERV makes copies for all the people who have subscribed. This address (HEATH@LISTSERV.TEMPE.GOV) is also called the "list address". You must never try to send any command to that address, as it would be distributed to all the people who have subscribed. All commands must be sent to the "LISTSERV address", LISTSERV@LISTSERV.TEMPE.GOV. It is very important to understand the difference between the two, but fortunately it is not complicated. The LISTSERV address is like a FAX number that connects you to a machine, whereas the list address is like a normal voice line connecting you to a person. If you make a mistake and dial the FAX number when you wanted to talk to someone on the phone, you will quickly realize that you used the wrong number and call again. No harm will have been done. If on the other hand you accidentally make your FAX call someone's voice line, the person receiving the call will be inconvenienced, especially if your FAX then re-dials every 5 minutes. The fact that most people will eventually connect the FAX machine to the voice line to allow the FAX to go through and make the calls stop does not mean that you should continue to send FAXes to the voice number. People would just get mad at you. It works pretty much the same way with mailing lists, with the difference that you are calling hundreds or thousands of people at the same time, and consequently you can expect a lot of people to get upset if you consistently send commands to the list address.
You may leave the list at any time by sending a "SIGNOff HEATH" command to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.TEMPE.GOV. You can also tell LISTSERV how you want it to confirm the receipt of messages you send to the list. If you do not trust the system, send a "SET HEATH REPRO" command and LISTSERV will send you a copy of your own messages, so that you can see that the message was distributed and did not get damaged on the way. After a while you may find that this is getting annoying, especially if your mail program does not tell you that the message is from you when it informs you that new mail has arrived from HEATH. If you send a "SET HEATH ACK NOREPRO" command, LISTSERV will mail you a short acknowledgement instead, which will look different in your mailbox directory. With most mail programs you will know immediately that this is an acknowledgement you can read later. Finally, you can turn off acknowledgements completely with "SET HEATH NOACK NOREPRO".
Following instructions from the list owner, your subscription options have been set to "NOFILES REPRO MIME" rather than the usual LISTSERV defaults. For more information about subscription options, send a "QUERY HEATH" command to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.TEMPE.GOV.
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Please note that it is presently possible for other people to determine that you are signed up to the list through the use of the "REVIEW" command, which returns the e-mail address and name of all the subscribers. If you do not want your name to be visible, just issue a "SET HEATH CONCEAL" command.
More information on LISTSERV commands can be found in the LISTSERV reference card, which you can retrieve by sending an "INFO REFCARD" command to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.TEMPE.GOV.
The CQC contingent put in a lot of work at the DRC hamfest on Sunday, August 17th. Then they put in even more effort at a local restaurant. Film at 11.
Denver, August 7. A secret cabal of CQC officials met at a local watering hole to consider the fate of CQC and other weighty matters. Fortunately, a spy equipped with a miniature Kodak DC-20 digital camera was lurking in the bushes and was able to capture photographic evidence of the conspiracy. According to our anonymous source the group devoted approximately 4 hours to a wide-ranging discussion which touched on several radio-related matters as well as the traditional taboo topics of religion, politics, and sex. However, the secret meeting was adjourned before any actual CQC business was discussed, and our informant says he overheard plans to "do it again."
8/15/97 From The Rocky Mountain News (Strange Things in Newspapers Dept.)--
According to a classified ad, someone wants to sell a "Complete hamset."
And from the same paper on 8/16/97, this headline, which is amusing
even if not related to radio: Smoking Penalties to ratchet
up
Clinton to tighten vice on tobacco industry.
I'm reasonably sure they meant vise, but given our Prez's reputation it's a natural mistake. Freudian slip, even.
Then there was this, on 5/2/97, from the "Legislative News Briefing," a piece headed "Crackdown on imates."
And finally, HOW LASERS WORK, in case you'd always wondered. In an article
headed "Army may blast satellite with New Mexico laster" on 9/3/97 the
Reuter writer said "Miracl [defined early as 'Mid-infrared Advance Chemical
Laser] produces a 6-foot-wide beam of light of millions of watts by burning
fuels and then extracting the energy with mirrors." Yep, a classic Pentagon
technology project-- it's all done with mirrors!
8/11/97 From Rich High, WØHEP (CQC #1 and Editor of The Low Down)
Low Down #22 is in the works now.Here are some of the articles that will appear in the next Low Down:
Homebrewing the Sierra (pictures included) - Nick Hulbert KG5N
Antennas from the Ground Up - Part 6 But My Yard's Too Small or a 102' center-Fed Multi-Band Dipole Data Compendium -- L.B. Cebik, W4RNL
??? - Paul Harden, NA5N
Building Your First Transceiver Kit - Ten Tips for the First-Time Builder - Rob Capon, W3DX A
Current-Limited Battery Controller - Marshall Emm, N1FN
Review: Emtech Z-Match Antenna Tuner Kit - Marshall Emm, N1FN
QRP to the Field 1997 - Mark Meyer, WUOL Hammin' on the Go - Dick Schneider, ABOCD
CQC Top Ten ... Great Things About QRP in Colorado
The Doctor is Destinated (Help for the New Ham)
The W3EDP Antenna and 70 Years of DX - Yardley Beers, WØJF
and more................
The Low Down is printed bi-monthly and is available to members only. Membership is open to all amateurs. The dues are $10 per year (U.S.) and $12 (Outside U.S.). ******* Note ******** The dues will increase on September 1, 1997 to $12 (U.S.) and $15 (non-U.S.) Additional family members at the same address remains at $2 per year. Dues should be sent to: Colorado QRP Club, POB 371883, Denver, CO 80237-1883. Please include name, call, address, phone, e-mail address, packet address, class of license and ARRL membership status.
Address CQC inquiries to: rschneid@ix.netcom.com or to CQC@aol.com. Address Low Down mail to CQCLOWDOWN@aol.com.
On-line membership application is available here.
9/12/97 from QRP-L, uses for a dead CB
Date sent: Thu, 11 Sep 1997 14:34:44 Send reply to: kd1jv@moose.ncia.net From: Steven Weber <kd1jv@moose.ncia.net> To: "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion" <qrp-l@Lehigh.EDU> Subject: HB idea for the day
Howdy Gang!
I was just fixing a CB set here at the shop and realized it would make a great cabinet for a qrp rig. Just remove the original board and add your own. You get a nice small case, with SO239 jack on the back, a speaker, couple of 1/8" phone jacks, and a front panel with several controls on it.
BTW, if your wondering what the common problems with CB sets are, in case you happen to have or pick up one, here they are:
1. Broken wires in the mic cord or open dynamic mic element 2. Shorted polarity protection diode on the DC input (susspect if fuse holder is missing or 20 amp fuse in holder, before powering up a unknown set, check to see if power leads are shorted, with set turned off) 3. Bad solder joints in the area of the PLL VCO. (generaly under the tin shield) 4. Bad speaker
(the one I just fixed had 1,4 and maybe 3)
And don't forget, a dead CB you can have for the asking or a few bucks has a lot of good qrp type RF parts in it. Happy hunting! 73/72 Steve, KD1JV....In the White Mountains of New Hampshire
"Melt Solder"
Date sent: Mon, 07 Apr 1997 21:19:53 -0600 Subject: Japan Ham Gear
TO: AAØXI FROM: KEØXL DATE: 7 April 1997
Source of QRP HT, 2 watts SSB and CW (the CW key is built-in button!)
Model MX-6S 50MHz Model MX-21S 21 MHz Model-7s 7 MHz
About 32,000 Yen each for above
Model PAN-62 Antenna, 5,200 Yen
While visiting Nagoya, Japan I saw this gear for sale on their Radio Row.
The manufacturer of these HT's is:
Mizuiho Tsushin, Co. Ltd. 2-8-6 Morino Machida-Shi, Tokyo 194 Japan
Tel: 011 81 0427 23 1049 Fax: 011 81 0427 26 6793
If you send a request via Fax in English, most companies will respond in "textbook" English.
The JA's have many differnt QRP rigs we never see here. One to check out is the Omega model PB-410 5/.5 watt SSB rig that operates on 7,21,28,50 MHz. Ask for info on this 6"X8" rig at Fax number 011 81 0462 33 4627.
-------------------------------------------
Date sent: Tue, 08 Apr 1997 13:02:44 -0600 Subject: Tokyo Hy-Power
TO: AAØXI FROM: KEØXL DATE: 8 April 1997
Glad to help on info-
Here is additional QRP info-
Tokyo HY-POWER Labs, Inc. 1-1 Hatanka 3 chome. Niiza. Saitama 352 Japan Fax 011 81 048 479 6949
Model HT-750, 7,21,50 MHz 3 watts SSB and CW, digital display 69,800 yen
73's
Neil
-------------------------------------
Subject: OHR SCAF Mods Date sent: Thu, 10 Apr 1997 10:13:00
Joerg had some nice things to say about the OHR Scaf and I'd like to add 2 cents worth.
Main things he didn't say were that you can open it out to around 2400 Hz making it useful for SSB, or narrow it down to 108Hz without appreciable "ringing". In the 108Hz setting the thing works like a "zero beat" indicator, too!Did I say mods? Yes I did, up in the subject line. OK, my situation was that I wanted to use the SCAF with either of two rigs having substantially different audio output (the OHR400 has fairly low output and the IC735 has multiple watts available), so I wanted to be able to add in some amplification. I also wanted to use either headphones or an external speaker (my brief AF career is paying off now in high frequency hearing loss, and I find a speaker a little more comfortable most of the time).
Also, my "rev 1" SCAF is non-op when switched off-- have to take it out of the circuit. I think a later version introduced a double-pole switch which acted as a bypass when the unit is off.
So... design goal was to select either of two inputs, and enable either an audio amplifier or the SCAF, or both. I decided not to worry about switching the input-- it comes from the headphone jack which is on the front of the rigs, so it's easy enough to swap over, but did the other two.
The arrangement was to add a speaker jack on the back of the unit (wired to the already available switched connection on the SCAF's headphone jack) so the speaker is on until/unless I insert a headphone plug.
Two DPDT switches control both audio and power switching, and I put LEDs on the hot side of the power switches so I can see what's on.
I can't do a schematic or even a block diagram very well here so I'll try to do a "virtual block diagram" in text. The two switches are for the SCAF and the audio amp (an RS LM386 amp which fits neatly inside the SCAF case. One side of the switch controls audio, the other controls power.
Looking at the thing from the input side, the signal first encounters the SCAF switch. It goes to the center terminal on the switch, which sends it either to the SCAF unit or to the audio switch. In the on position, the other side of the switch sends +12v to the SCAF unit and lights an LED.
The output from the SCAF is tied to the "bypass" audio line from the SCAF switch-- one side or the other will be dead, depending on the switch position-- and then to the audio amp switch.
The audio amp switch is set up the same way-- one position bypasses the amp (and turns power to the amp off) and the other goes to the input of the amplifier. The "bypass" audio line from the amp switch is tied to the output from the amplifier, and goes to the source connector on the headphone jack.
The SCAF was wired internally with ordinary hookup wire, and the SCAF was a bit susceptible to RF (principally from my nearby 2M rig), so I did all the internal audio wiring with mini coax.
While I was at it, I replace the "gain control" trim pot on the audio amp with an off-board pot on the back of the SCAF enclosure. It's not really a gain control, of course, just a 50K pot across the input to the amp.
The external speaker is a 10" Jensen PA speaker that I got at a swap fest for a buck, and unlike the car speaker and the RS speaker that I tried, will not distort when driven with a full power (1W) signal at 700Hz.
It works very well, and makes a world of difference in terms of convenience.
73
Marshall Emm N1FN/VK5FN N1FN@mtechnologies.com
http://www.mtechnologies.com
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