25 Years VE3MIS/VE3RCX Vol 14.01 January, 2011 From the Gavel Greetings MARC members and welcome to 2011! I trust everyone enjoyed the holiday season, ate themselves silly and generally celebrated the winding down of 2010. I ve always looked forward to Christmas, to being with family and friends. And I especially enjoy experiencing it with my two children who really find it to be a magical time of year. We are now officially in the 10 s as the first decade of the millennium is behind us. It is an interesting time as we both usher in a new decade and continue celebrating a quarter century of the Mississauga Amateur Radio Club. Before we broke for the holidays several MARC members participated in the annual RAC Winter Contest. We had originally sought to use the VA3RAC callsign. However, it had already been reserved by another group. So we signed on the air with the mighty VE3MIS and worked as many Canadian stations as we could. Congrats to Rick VE3IMG and the rest of the group for a fine effort. See the VE3MIS Contesting Scene article for our excellent results. With 2011 now in full swing, it is time to seriously think about the big fundraising event happening in March: Ham-Ex. As co-chair again this year, Rick, VE3IMG, will be looking for volunteers from MARC to assist both on event day and for set-up and take-down. Yours truly will be parking manager again this year so I will be calling on last-year s volunteers to come out and lend a hand as well as anyone else interested in parking duty. I also know Rick always looks for vendor assist volunteers and people to man the MARC club table. Ham- Ex provides MARC with a significant amount of revenue to run all aspects of the club. It doesn t matter if you re a new member or a veteran, I strongly urge you to help out. Rick will be making announcements at all the upcoming general meetings so there will be ample opportunity to sign up. I can t stress enough that the success of Ham-Ex depends a lot on the efforts of its volunteers. Another annual club event coming up in a few months is Field Day. Several months ago Dave, VE3MDX, volunteered to be the new co-manager for the event along with Tom, VE3TWG. At the last Executive meeting, David introduced a couple of individuals who work with him in planning and organizing group events. With all that expertise it sounds like Field Day 2011 will be a lot of fun. The first Field Day planning meeting will be held in February. Stay tuned for more information. Finally, the 25th Anniversary Celebrations continue. At a recent general meeting more Worked All Mississauga awards were handed out by Ed, VA3TPV. Be sure to get your logs in to Ed so that you too can be recipient of this fine award! Also, the final plans for a big event in February are underway. I can t give too many details suffice to say that every MARC member will have the opportunity to participate. Stay tuned for further details. In closing I want to remind all the MARC members that Ed is always looking for articles for the Communicator. So, please consider submitting an article or two on anything amateur radio related. I would also like to remind everyone that Executive elections are coming up in April. If you have any political aspirations please consider throwing your hat into the ring. A well-run club is reflective of a well-run Executive. And with that I m signing off for this month. Welcome to the new year and see you at the club meetings! 73 --- Jeff Stewart, VA3WXM This Month 1. From the Gavel 2. Commentary 3. Club Calendar 4. VE3MIS Contesting Scene 4. The MARC DX Award Update 5. The Roving Reporter 6. W1AW Operating Schedule 6. Accurate Frequency Measurements 9. Contest Tip Check Partial Callsign 11. RAC Application Form Sunday Brunch Sunday brunches are held on the first Sunday of each month. Time is 9:30AM at Symposium Restaurant, 6677 Meadowvale Town Centre Circle, Mississauga (at the corner of Winston Churchill Blvd and Battleford Rd). All are welcome to come out and have an opportunity to chat in an informal setting. Club Nets 2 Metre Tuesday Night Phone Net Join in on the chatter starting at 8:30PM every Tuesday on the club repeater. Hosted by various net controllers. 145.430MHz Tone 103.5 Minus (-) offset. Contact our VHF Net Manager, Lorne (VE3CXT), if interested in becoming a net controller. 75 Metre Sunday Night Net Starts at 8:30PM every Sunday. Hosted by various net controllers. 3.775 MHz +/- qrm. Contact our HF Net Manager, Michael (VE3TKI), if interested in becoming a net controller.
VE3MIS/VE3RCX Vol 14.01 January, 2011 Page 2 Commentary December, 2010, is behind us and January, 2011, has arrived. The winter weather is with us. Now our thoughts turn away from antennas and on to other subjects. Contesting is a major part of MARC. Be sure to see the VE3MIS Contesting Scene article, by Rick, VE3IMG, detailing the VE3MIS results in the RAC Winter Contest, December, 2010. There has been one additional recipient of the MARC DX Award Certificate. See the DX Award Update article for details. The Roving Reporter is back this month with an interesting interview with Scott Gregory, VA3NMI, our past treasurer. Have you ever wondered how accurate is the digital readout indicating the operating frequency on your transceiver. Read the Accurate Frequency Measurements article to find out how to check your transceiver. For those individuals taking the CW course, you will be interested to know that the ARRL broadcasts daily code practice sessions. See the W1AW Operating Schedule article for details. See the Contest Tip Check partial Callsign article for information on how to use that Master.DTA file in your contest logging program. The Communicator is one of MARC s methods for communicating information to club members and is your newsletter. Let me know what you would like the newsletter to be and what type of articles you would like it to include. I solicit your input on topics for articles i.e. antennas, kits you have built, great operating experiences, operating tips, book reviews, etc. for consideration by the technical committee. Without your constant support in the form of ideas, suggestions and article submissions, we would not have such a fine newsletter month after month I can be reached at any club meeting or via email at va3tpv@rogers.com 73, Ed Spingola (VA3TPV) President 1st Vice President: 2nd Vice President: Treasurer: Secretary: Past President: Executive Directors Membership Manager Education Manager House / Visitor Host Manager Newsletter Editor Net Managers HF Net VHF Net Repeater Manager Trustee Club Station Manager Field Day Joint Chairman Joint Chairman FSV Manager Program Manager Webmaster Manager Legal Consultant Public Info/ Media Relations Education Basic Course Prime Advanced Course Prime Auditors Coordinator Jeffrey Stewart, VA3WXM Ki-Hup Boo, VA3PEN Jim Brampton, VE3JIW Asim Zaidi, VE3XAP Club Managers Audit Committee ARES Emergency Coordinator CANWARN Manager Brad Thomas, VA3ZRT Earle Laycock, VE3XEL Murray Yewer, VE3JMY Edward Spingola, VA3TPV Michael Brickell, VE3TKI Lorne Jackson, VE3CXT David Shilling, VE3XDS Michael Brickell, VE3TKI John Lorenc (Sr), VA3XJL John Duffy, VE3DRZ Stefan Bejusca, VA3OBR Asim Zaidi, VE3XAP David Kingsland, VE3MDX Thomas Godden, VE3TWG David Malar, VA3MLR John Duffy, VE3DRZ Thomas Bernard. VA3TMB Lorne Jackson, VE3CXT T.B.D. Lorne Jackson, VE3CXT Tony Champion, VA3QC Earle Laycock, VE3XEL Thomas Bernard, VA3TMB Basil Burgess, VE3JEB Public Service Dan Goodier, VE3NI Thomas Bernard, VA3TMB Michael Brickell, VE3TKI David Malar, VA3MLR Bob Boyer, VE3XBB John Duffy, VE3DRZ Peter Mosher, VA3PKM Special Events / Walks Manager Bob Boyer, VE3XBB Special Interest Groups Contests Manager: QSL Manager Asim Zaidi, VE3XAP Michael Brickell. VE3TKI
VE3MIS/VE3RCX Vol 14.01 January, 2011 Page 3 CLUB CALENDAR FOR 2010-2011 January, 2011 02 Sun Sunday Brunch Symposium Restaurant 02 Sun HF - 75/80 Meter Net 03 Mon Advanced Class 1 04 Tue VHF/UHF - 2 Meter Net 06 Thu Exec Meeting 09 Sun HF - 75/80 Meter Net 10 Mon Advanced Class 2 10 Mon CW Class 1 11 Tue VHF/UHF - 2 Meter Net 13 Thu Club Meeting - Speaker s night 16 Sun HF - 75/80 Meter Net 17 Mon Advanced Class 3 17 Mon CW Class 2 18 Tue VHF/UHF - 2 Meter Net 20 Thu ARES Meeting 23 Sun HF - 75/80 Meter Net 24 Mon Advanced Class 4 24 Mon CW Class 3 25 Tue VHF/UHF - 2 Meter Net 27 Thu Club Meeting - Speaker s night 30 Sun HF - 75/80 Meter Net 31 Mon Advanced Class 5 31 Mon CW Class 4 February, 2011 01 Tue VHF/UHF - 2 Meter Net 03 Thu Exec Meeting 06 Sun Sunday Brunch Symposium Restaurant 06 Sun HF - 75/80 Meter Net 07 Mon Advanced Class 6 07 Mon CW Class 5 08 Tue VHF/UHF - 2 Meter Net 10 Thu Club Meeting - Speaker s night 13 Sun HF - 75/80 Meter Net 15 Tue VHF/UHF - 2 Meter Net 17 Thu ARES Meeting 18 Fri ARRL International DX Contest - CW 20 Sun HF - 75/80 Meter Net 21 Mon Advanced Class 7 21 Mon CW Class 6 22 Tue VHF/UHF - 2 Meter Net 27 Sun HF - 75/80 Meter Net 28 Mon Advanced Class 8 28 Mon CW Class 7 March, 2011 01 Tue VHF/UHF - 2 Meter Net 03 Thu Exec Meeting 04 Fri ARRL International DX Contest - SSB 06 Sun Sunday Brunch Symposium Restaurant 07 Mon Advanced Class 9 08 Tue VHF/UHF - 2 Meter Net 10 Thu Club Meeting - Speaker s night 14 Mon Advanced Class 10 15 Tue VHF/UHF - 2 Meter Net 17 Thu ARES Meeting 22 Mon Advanced Class Review 22 Tue VHF/UHF - 2 Meter Net 24 Thu Club Meeting - Speaker s night 25 Fri CQ WPX Contest - SSB 28 Mon Advanced Class IC Exam 29 Tue VHF/UHF - 2 Meter Net April, 2011 03 Sun Sunday Brunch Symposium Restaurant 03 Sun HF - 75/80 Meter Net 05 Tue VHF/UHF - 2 Meter Net 07 Thu Exec Meeting 10 Sun HF - 75/80 Meter Net 12 Tue VHF/UHF - 2 Meter Net 14 Thu Club Meeting - Speaker s night 16 Sat Ontario QSO Party 17 Sun HF - 75/80 Meter Net 19 Tue VHF/UHF - 2 Meter Net 21 Thu ARES Meeting 24 Sun HF - 75/80 Meter Net 26 Tue VHF/UHF - 2 Meter Net 28 Thu Club Meeting - Speaker s night May, 2011 01 Sun Sunday Brunch Symposium Restaurant 01 Sun HF - 75/80 Meter Net 03 Tue VHF/UHF - 2 Meter Net 05 Thu Exec Meeting 08 Sun HF - 75/80 Meter Net 10 Tue VHF/UHF - 2 Meter Net 12 Thu Club Meeting - Speaker s night 15 Sun HF - 75/80 Meter Net 17 Tue VHF/UHF - 2 Meter Net 19 Thu ARES Meeting 22 Sun HF - 75/80 Meter Net 24 Tue VHF/UHF - 2 Meter Net 26 Thu Club Meeting - Speaker s night 27 Fri CQ WPX Contest CW 29 Sun HF - 75/80 Meter Net NOTES 1. Meetings start 7:30PM at St. Thomas A Becket Church Hall, 3535 South Common Court unless otherwise noted. 2. Brunch is at 9:30AM unless otherwise noted. 3. Classes are from 7:00PM - 9:00PM at Meals On Wheels at 2445 Dunwin Drive Visit our website: http://www.marc.on.ca for any updates of the calendar.
VE3MIS/VE3RCX Vol 14.01 January, 2011 Page 4 VE3MIS Contesting Scene By RAC Winter Contest Results Thanks to those who participated. Hope all had fun. Considering that most of the hired guns either fled the country or did not participate, the "Second String Team" did fairly well. Here are our results. Not our best effort, but not our worst either. See you in the next contest. Contest: Callsign: VE3MIS RAC Winter Contest Operator(s): ; John Koren, VA3JK; Michael Brickell, VE3TKI; Lorne Jackson, VE3CXT; Tom Godden, VE3TWG; Scott Johnston, VA3CCU; Jerry Wald, VE3ESN Station: VE3MIS Class: M/S LP (Multi-Operator Single Transmitter Low Power) (max. 100 Watts output) QTH: Mississauga Operating Time (hrs): 19 Score Summary: Band CW Qs Ph Qs CW Mults Ph Mults ---------------------------------------------------------- 160: 47 4 6 3 80: 138 74 9 9 40: 103 30 10 9 20: 62 36 9 10 15: 21 10 6 4 10: 6: 2: ---------------------------------------------------------- Total: 371 154 40 35 Total Score = 269,700 Club: Contest Club Ontario 73, The MARC DX Award Update By Ed Spingola, VA3TPV In commemoration of the 25 th Anniversary of the founding of the Mississauga Amateur Radio Club (MARC), MARC has reintroduced the DX Award for the current club year running from September 1 st, 2010, to June 30 th, 2011. The DX Award rules were published in the October, 2010 issue of The Communicator and are also available on the MARC web site under Club Events/MARC Awards at http://www.marc.on.ca/marc/events/events_awards.asp. This month we have another club member receiving their MARC DX Award. Here is a photo of Michael Brickell, VE3TKI, receiving his MARC DX Award at the December 9 th, 2010 club meeting, from Ed Spingola, VA3TPV. We are fast approaching the half way point in the club year. However, there is still lots of time left in the award period to submit your logs. Logs may be submitted to myself, Ed Spingola, VA3TPV, on paper, or via email (va3tpv@rogers.com). Email submissions may be as an attached standard ASCII text format, or MS Word, or MS Excel file using standard MIME encoding. There is no need Photo 1: (Right to Left) Michael Brickell, VE3TKI and Ed Spingola, VA3TPV. to submit QSL cards as the QSOs do not need to be confirmed. If you need help converting your log from an ADIF file into an Excel spreadsheet for further editing, please let me know and I may be of some assistance.
VE3MIS/VE3RCX Vol 14.01 January, 2011 Page 5 The Roving Reporter By A. Nony Mous Each month your roving reporter goes out into the cold dark night to clandestinely meet with an unsuspecting MARC member for the purposes of holding an interview. The poor follow who was coerced this month is our former Treasurer, Scott Gregory (VA3NMI), a native of Mississauga. Without further delay, let s see what Scott has to say. Photo: Scott Gregory, VA3NMI Bio: RR: Bio: RR: Where did you spend your youth? Not that most people would want to divulge their past VA3NMI: I m a Mississauga boy, born and bred. My parents still live in Applewood Heights, in the house I grew up in. Profession: Computer programmer - high-speed financial trading systems. Personal: Married and two school-age kids. So far they just like to spin the VFO and try to find people. My son makes fun of my calling CQ. Amateur Status: Basic+, Advanced, CW RR: How long have you been licensed? When did you get your license? VA3NMI: I achieved the Licence Basic+ in December 2007 RR: How did you get interested/started in amateur radio? VA3NMI: I always remember the displays down at the CNE - just about the only thing that interested me in the hobby/crafts building. Never looked into it seriously then. Later in University, I learned about the original packet radio and the Aloha-net that later morphed into Ethernet. But that still was not enough to get me to try it out. When my job changed a few years back, I was looking for something new to learn, and decided that Amateur Radio would be worth a try RR: How did you find out about the club? When did you join the club and what was it that attracted you to MARC? VA3NMI: I ordered the basic guide directly from RAC, and only after that went looking for a place to get tested. I found the Basic class already underway and joined both the class and MARC part way through my Basic studies. I have stayed a member because there was always something going on, the camaraderie of the members, and the interesting speakers and presentations we have. RR: What made you agree to be the Treasurer? VA3NMI: Good question: I m still asking myself that! In all seriousness, I have been treasurer of various organizations before (even way back in my Scouting days) and find it is a good way to get to know the organization and people in power as it were. RR: Tell me about your station. What equipment do you use? VA3NMI: I have an IC-7000 hooked up to an Alpha Delta DX- EE (short-40 parallel dipole good for 40/20/15/10). I have a used Cushcraft R8 vertical to put up in the spring RR: Do you have a wish list? VA3NMI: One of everything and a place to put it. Seriously - after the R8, I can see still wanting more/better antennas. The IC- 7000 rig does everything I need for now, even if it is a bit small. RR: What are your main interests in ham radio (modes, kits, ragchewing, etc.)? VA3NMI: Mostly SSB, so far; I am trying to get back what little CW I knew to pass the 5wpm! I seem to have instigated a PICAxe programming project - by accident! Having fun when I can make it out to Wednesday project nights, building and programming the chip. I want to build more kits - might try my hand at a transceiver some day soon. RR: MARC could always use more CW operators. RR: Do you have other amateur radio related interests? VA3NMI: I am an occasional contester, and enjoy working as part of the MARC team when I can. RR: Do you have any other non ham radio related interests? VA3NMI: Sailing - I own a Bayfield 29 - so far not ham equipped, though I do take my handi-talkie down to the boat and have chatted sometimes from onboard. RR: All the best Scott and keep practicing your morse.
VE3MIS/VE3RCX Vol 14.01 January, 2011 Page 6 W1AW Operating Schedule By Ed Spingola, VA3TPV Of interest to those taking the MARC CW course, the ARRL amateur radio station, W1AW, transmits morse code practice sessions and bulletins of interest to hams every weekday throughout the year except on specific holidays. Table 1 shows the W1AW operating schedule for the eastern time zone. EAST Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri 9 AM 10 AM 4 PM Visiting Operator Time 4 PM 5 PM CODE BULLETIN 6 PM DIGITAL BULLETIN 7 PM 8 PM CODE BULLETIN 9 PM DIGITAL BULLETIN 9:45 PM VOICE BULLETIN 10 PM 11 Pm CODE BULLETIN Table 1: W1AW Operating Schedule W1AW's schedule is at the same local time throughout the year. Morse Transmissions Frequencies are 1.8025, 3.5815, 7.0475, 14.0475, 18.0975, 21.0675, 28.0675 and 147.555 MHz. = practice sent at 5, 7-1/2, 10, 13 and 15 words per minute (wpm). = practice sent at 35, 30, 25, 20, 15, 13 and 10 wpm. practice text is from the pages of QST magazine, the League's membership journal. The source is given at the beginning of each practice session and alternate speeds within each session. For example, "Text is from July 1992 QST, pages 9 and 81," indicates that the practice session's plain text is from the article on page 9 and its mixed number/letter groups are from page 81. bulletins are sent at 18 wpm. CW frequencies include code practices, Qualifying Runs and CW bulletins. World Wide Web: You can also find W1AW code practice here on ARRLWeb, in MP3 format. Other resources can be found on the ARRL Web Learn CW page. W1AW Qualifying Runs are sent on the same frequencies as the Morse code transmissions. At the beginning of each code practice session, the schedule for the next qualifying run is presented. Underline one minute of the highest speed you copied, certify that your copy was made without aid, and send it to ARRL for grading. Please include your name, call sign (if any) and complete mailing address. Send a 9 12 inch selfaddressed, stamped envelope (SASE) for a certificate, or a business-size SASE for an endorsement. See the ARRL web site for more information ( http://www.arrl.org/ ). Accurate Frequency Measurements By Ed Spingola, VA3TPV Modern transceivers have a digital frequency readout indicating transmit and receive frequencies. However, how accurate are these frequency indications? As a requirement of operating an amateur radio station in Canada, the Industry Canada document RBR-4e1 specifies that an amateur station shall be equipped with a means of determining the transmit frequency to the same degree of accuracy as would a crystal calibrator1. Although this may be a holdover from the days of analogue dials, this requirement to be able to determine ones frequency still applies today. Although the frequency readout on modern transceivers, theoretically specifies the operating frequency, its accuracy is dependent upon the transceivers master reference oscillator and frequency generation circuits (phased locked loop) working properly without error. The frequency determining element, the master reference oscillator, in these transceivers is usually a high stability temperature controlled crystal oscillator which is used as the reference for a phased locked loop frequency synthesizer. Errors are introduced in the accuracy of the master reference oscillator by long term aging effects of the crystal element, changes in ambient temperature, and turn on shock. Once you know the accuracy of the master reference oscillator, many transceivers have a means of correcting or adjusting the crystal oscillator frequency under menu driven software to compensate for aging affects. But how does one determine the accuracy of their transceivers transmit and receive frequency to determine if or how much correction is required?
VE3MIS/VE3RCX Vol 14.01 January, 2011 Page 7 A frequency counter is the obvious choice for determining your rigs transmit frequency. A frequency standard could be used to determine your rigs receive frequency. Today, however, few amateur stations today are equipped with a frequency counter or a frequency standard to use in making fssuch measurements. As an alternative to an external frequency counter, an accurate frequency measurement to +/- 1 Hz may be made using your PC s sound card. Neill Fry 5, K4AYD, has described a method in his article Accurate Frequency Measurements, QST, June 2003. Basically, you tune your receiver to one of the WWV 3 or CHU 4 frequencies and with a PSK-31 (Digipan 2 ) program make the appropriate measurement of the audible tones generated by these radio stations. I prefer the Digipan 1.7 or 2.0 software since it is so easy to use. Although other implementations of PSK-31 will work equally well. I will expand upon Fry s method with some examples and explanation. But first let s explore the transmission characteristics of radio stations CHU and WWV. Transmission Characteristics The CHU radio station is located 15 km southwest of Ottawa, Canada. Chu uses these three frequencies: 3330, 7850, and 14 670 khz. The main transmitter powers are 3 kw at 3330 and 14 670 khz, and 10 kw at 7850 khz. Individual vertical antennas are used for each frequency. Radio station CHU transmits time broadcasts in USB with the carrier reinserted. In this way a special SSB receiver is not required to receive their signals. You can listen to CHU on a desktop short wave AM receiver. The primary time signal is a series of 300 ms-long 1000 Hz tones, transmitted once per second, on the second. Radio station WWV located in Fort Collins, Colorado, USA, about 100 kilometres north of Denver, radiates 10 kw on 5, 10, and 15 MHz; and 2.5 kw on 2.5 and 20 MHz from separate transmitters. The time signals broadcast by WWV use double sideband amplitude modulation with transmit tones of 500 and 600 Hz. Equipment Setup What do you need as far as equipment other than your HF transceiver. The equipment setup requires a connection between the audio output of your HF transceiver and either the Line In or Mic Input of your PC s sound card. Normally the Line In would be used because this input can handle a higher input level than the Mic In. However, if the audio output from your transceiver is not sufficiently high for the PSK software to function properly, then the Mic Input of your sound card is sure to work. Keep in mind that the sound card Mic In is designed for an Electret microphone and will have some DC voltage present on the input to power the Electret microphone. This DC voltage will need to be blocked, to prevent interaction with your transceivers audio output circuit. It is recommended that you use a 600:600 ohm isolation transformer to connect to your PC to prevent ground induced noise. Receive audio from the transceiver may be obtained from the transceivers speaker or headphone output. A Radio Shack 273-1380 (1000 ohm to 8 ohm audio transformer) or similar audio transformer would be required if the speaker output is used. Otherwise a 600:600 ohm transformer would be required if your transceiver has a high level audio output available from the demodulator circuit. This last output is usually available on an accessory jack on the rear of the transceiver. Check your transceivers manual for connection information. Setting Up the PSK Software How does one use the PSK-31 program to check the frequency accuracy of your transceiver? Those familiar with this or similar programs will know that they utilize your PC s sound card to provide a panoramic display of the signals within the audio passband of your transceiver. First one needs to connect the audio output of your transceiver to the audio input of your PC s sound card as described in the previous section. What makes the PSK program useful to our measurement requirement is that the PSK program has a digital frequency counter which covers the receiver passband and can be accurately read to +/- 1 Hz. Open the PSK program and from the View menu select Show frequencies. This will display a frequency counter beside the RX characters on the bottom row of the PSK window. Figure 1: PSK Band Properties Setup
VE3MIS/VE3RCX Vol 14.01 January, 2011 Page 8 The frequency counter displays the frequency where the cursor is located within the waterfall display at the bottom of the PSK window Secondly, you may configure PSK to display a Tone frequency scale. To do this, open the Configure menu and select band. On the Band window modify the 80m band to read 3330 khz and select Tone. Similarly, for the 10m band modify the frequency to read 10000 khz and select Tone. These two changes will enable you to correctly display the CHU and WWV frequencies. Click OK. Frequency Measurement First you need to check the accuracy of your PC s sound card. Tune to radio station CHU or WWV using the AM mode. Figure 2 shows the PSK reception of a 1000 Hz tone from radio station CHU. The PSK cursor has been placed on the received tone and the PSK digital frequency counter has determined that the tone is 1000.2 Hz. Figure 3: WWV Reception 1000 Hz Tone USB Figure 2: CHU Reception 1000 HZ Tone If radio station WWV was being received (AM mode), then either a 500 Hz or a 600 Hz tone would be received and upon selecting either of these tones with the PSK cursor, the digital frequency readout would read approximately 500 Hz or 600 Hz accordingly. The following is a procedure for checking the accuracy of your transceivers oscillators. 1) Set the receiver to 9.999000MHz and to USB. 2) Using the PSK program, the desired signal will appear at 1 KHz +/- the receiver error and it can be read on the PSK frequency digital readout (1018.3 Hz in figure 3). 3) Set the receiver to 10.001000MHz and to LSB. 4) Again the desired signal will appear at 1 KHz +/- the receiver error and it can be read on the PSK frequency digital readout (1031.9 Hz in figure 4). Figure 4: WWV Reception 1000 Hz Tone LSB 5) The three frequencies generated by WWV and its sidebands, can be analyzed to provide information about the accuracy of the receiver oscillators. a) If the reading of WWV and the two sidebands are displaced exactly 600 HZ apart, the sound card is accurate and the receiver error equals the offset. b) If the numbers repeat, going from USB to LSB, with a sign change, the master oscillator is off by the difference. c) If the numbers do not repeat going from USB to LSB, the up-converting or down-converting oscillator frequency is off and the error can be determined by the difference in each and the sign. Notice that the error can be a combination of the receiver carrier oscillator and the USB or LSB oscillators. A little knowledge of how your transceiver works and some careful analysis will allow you to determine the actual tuned frequency and any errors. The PSK program provides a means of reading the WWV frequencies to within a hertz or two.
VE3MIS/VE3RCX Vol 14.01 January, 2011 Page 9 References: 1) RBR-4e, Issue 1, 2007, Standards for the Operation of Radio Stations in the Amateur Radio Service, Section 13 Measurement 2) Digipan 2.0 PSK-31, http://www.digipan.net/ Contest Tip Check Partial Callsign By Ed Spingola, VA3TPV Super Check Partial Database Files for Amateur Radio Contesting Many amateurs are contesters. But do we really know how our favorite logging program works or what information is required to keep it operating at top performance. As individuals, we have become accustomed to the Plug-and- Play world and rarely read any instruction manual. The manual of many of today s logging programs is a tome of large magnitude. It would be a daunting task to entirely read such a document. You can spend hours trying to figure out the intricacies of the logging program and not doing much operating. I am also one of those who have neglected my reading and I have not fully read all of the 362 pages of the latest N1MM version 10.0 logging program manual. However, curiosity got the better of me and I started to investigate the inner working of one aspect of the program, specifically the Check partial callsign call window. I therefore offer this little bit of info on how the Check partial callsign window operates and how to keep it up to date. The Check partial callsign window, shown in figure 1 severs two purposes. First it displays a list of possible callsigns as you enter the data into the QSO window. Used correctly, the Check partial callsign window can help you more quickly pull a call out of the QRM. Used incorrectly, e.g. to guess calls, it can result in stupid mistakes and significant score reductions. Caveat emptor! Second, if the callsign entered has been worked before then, according to the contest rules, the callsign may be considered to be a Dupe or duplicate. Dupes are usually, but not always, deleted. Another response is Unique indicating that the callsign is not in the database. These responses are shown in figure 2. When you open the N1MM program and the Check partial callsign window is displayed, you will see Master.DTA 3) WWV Home page, http://www.nist.gov/pml/div688/grp40/wwv.cfm 54) CHU Home page, http://www.nrccnrc.gc.ca/eng/services/inms/time-services/short-wave.html 5) Neill Fry, K4AYD, Accurate Frequency Measurements, QST, June 2003, page 70. 73, Ed Spingola, VA3TPV with a date and time. What is this telling you and why do you want to know this? Where did the callsign list come from? Figure 1: N1MM Check Partial Callsign Window Figure 2: N1MM Dupe and Unique indications
VE3MIS/VE3RCX Vol 14.01 January, 2011 Page 10 When I first started using N1MM, I thought that the callsigns were coming from a callsign database that I had loaded onto my PC. This assumption turned out to be false. I then thought that the callsign list was coming from the Internet, possibly the QRZ.com database. This also turned out to be a false assumption. The callsign data was in fact coming from the Master.DTA file contained within the N1MM program folder. The information in the opening Check window indicated that the Master.DTA file was created on 19/01/2009 at 12:11:18 PM. Since we are now in 2011, the Master.DTA file was two years old. Should I be concerned? Super Check Partial (SPC) Database Files The Super Check Partial (SPC) database files provide a list of callsigns used by active contesters. The data comes from Cabrillo logs contributed by contesters themselves. Contributed logs from the past 24 months are used to create the database. These logs are combined and filtered so that they result in a fairly good (but not perfect) list. The files do not contain any QSO data, such as state, CQ zone, Maidenhead Grid Locator, etc. Super Check Partial is a feature that K1EA first introduced in his CT logging software. However, it is now supported by all the major contest logging programs. The files provided to the logging program are a set of Super Check Partial (SPC) databases 1 created using tools developed by Jim, AD1C and Ken, K1EA. The.dta files can be used with CT, WriteLog, TRlog, SD, N1MM Logger, NA, Win-Test, and others. The scp file is for use with Win-Test. Note: If your callsign does not appear in the latest version of the database and you would like to add it, send an email to logs@supercheckpartial.com. Your callsign will added in the next release. However, remember that this is a database of active contesters. The best way to keep your callsign in the database is to make contest QSOs! If you are an avid contester, I suggest that you contribute your log (Cabrillo format) to this database. All files submitted become the property of WA1Z and will be used only for the purpose of creating the master call files. If your callsign is in the SPC database files and you have not submitted a log to this database, it is because your callsign appeared in one of the submitted logs by another contester. The Super Check Partial (SPC) database 1 contains the following file types: master.dta File with all calls. Use this for international contests where anyone can work anyone. masterdx.dta File with DX calls (outside W/VE) Use this for DX contests such as the ARRL DX Contest (from W/VE side). masusve.dta File with only W/VE calls. Use this whenworking from the DX side of the ARRL DX Contest or for W/VE domestic contests. 15,838 363 Kb masterss.dta File with only W, VE and US Territory calls. Use this when working the ARRL November Sweepstakes Contest. 16,102 370 Kb It is suggested that you periodically update the Master.DTA files in your favourite contest logging program and that you use the correct Master.DTA file according to the contest that you are participating in. If you are using N1MM, then go to the Tools menu and select Download Latest Check Partial File (Master.DTA) (Internet). Specifying the Master.DTA file Upon opening the N1MM logging program, the Check partial callsign window indicates the Master.DTA file being used. But where does one specify the file to use? When you initially setup a new contest log in the database, have a look at the Associated Files tab in the setup window. The field Master DTA Filename will indicate which Master.DTA file is being used. If you select the Change button, you will be able to choose another Master.DTA file providing that file is present in the N1mm program folder. Of course you must have downloaded the file from the Super Check Partial (SPC) Database Files database. Figure 3: N1MM Associated Files Entry I hope that this article has given you insight into how the N1MM Check partial callsign feature works. Check your favourite logging program for a similar feature and keep this database information current. Obtaining a new Master.DTA file once per year would be sufficient. Notes: 1) Super Check Partial (SPC) Database Files, http://www.supercheckpartial.com/
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