ARRG Newsletter
Amateur Radio Relay Group
Fall Edition
Amateur Radio
Relay Group, Inc.
P.O. Box 91213
Portland, OR 97219
www.arrg.org
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Welcome/Presidents
Corner
Ham News Everywhere
Member Spotlight
New Members
Technical Team Updates
Membership Info
Amateur Radio
Relay Group, Inc.
P.O. Box 91213
Portland, OR 97219
The ARRG Mission
Statement
ARRG is dedicated to
the advancement and
enjoyment of
amateur radio, to
promote our hobby,
to provide reliable
repeaters for
community service
activities, emergency
communications and
other types of ham
radio activities.
Presidents Corner
By Marc Peterson, W7PM
September 1 s t , 2012
ARRG President
Happy Holidays Everyone!
I’ve often been asked about why our group doesn’t hold regular member meetings or hold
other member activities.
I think most of you understand that ARRG is a true repeater group and not necessarily a social
group. We concentrate almost all of our spare time and energy in maintaining (and upgrading)
our expansive repeater system. I’ll be the first to tell you that it’s been exhausting and most
of us have been handsomely rewarded with new grey hairs.
As most of you already know, ARRG is made up of a large number of supporting members,
most of whom only use the repeater system on rare occasions. Like you, they understand the
need to support and promote Amateur Radio systems like ours, for the good of the
community. Amongst those supporting members is an even smaller core group of people who
train with the ARRG Technical Team. These people actually give their time and expertise to
serve as Technical Team Members and they are the ones who actually keep this whole thing
running smoothly. These guys have done some amazing things over the years and most
recently this year, assisted in ARRG major updates in an effort to make some significant
system improvements. I couldn’t be happier than being able to serve this past year with a
great team of people.
Each Technical Team Member have really worked their butts off on several different projects,
site visits, maintenance and some technically difficult conversions of commercial repeaters
over to Amateur use.
We still have a couple positions open on the ARRG Tech Team, so as I normally do, I want to
invite any of you, young or old or super technical or not, who have the Time, Energy and the
ability to learn to apply for the Technical Team and make a real difference.
As many of you already know, ARRG provides emergency radio facilities for several ARES and
CERT Response teams, and provides communications facilities to Search & Rescue, Race
Events and other Public Service events. We’ve added emergency b/u power to several of our
sites and installed new and larger antennas and power amplifiers all to help the system work
better and clearer into rural areas.
We’ve added a new IRLP Node to the 147.380 Cedar Mill machine and I’m very happy to report
that we have a new wide area 440 repeater that will be part of the 147.380 IRLP system. It’s
going in at a beautiful (rf free) site above Newberg at about 1100’ level.
The Sylvan Hill (KOIN tower) 442.225 + 100.0 hz wide area machine now has ECHOLINK
installed and running 24/7. The Node is K7RPT-R, so give it a try from your IPhone, IPad,
ITouch, Razor, Droid, PC, Laptop or MAC or your radio.
I hope you have appreciated the fact that we are trying harder than ever before to be more
inclusive and supportive to a host of new members, both young and old, who have joined this
year. I think our team has done a wonderful job as of late when it comes to sharing news
about our repeater upgrades, repairs and complete machine replacements. We’ve tried to
include each of you along the way. Make sure you check out all our weekly updates over at
www.arrg.org or via our Facebook page.
The Officers and Board of Directors here at ARRG want to wish each of you Happy Holidays.
www.arrg.org
Page 2
Solar activity is well below normal levels.
Scientists are puzzling over the sun and why its activity is low when it
should be much higher. Despite the predictions of an active sun for
2012 and 2013, the sun is quite pacific leaving scientists to wonder
over what appears to be the sun's quietest period over the last century.
Solar activity is well below what has been predicted for 2012.
LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - It is an established fact
that the sun has cycles. Every 11 years, the sun completes a
cycle of activity, becoming alternatively active, then quiet
during that span. Right now, the sun should be active, but it
isn't. It's nearly as quiet as it is during its minimum, which has
scientists scratching their heads.
Solar activity can only be generally predicted and has
fluctuated considerably in the past. Solar minimums,
represented by weak activity are generally correlated with cold periods in Earth's history. The "Little
Ice Age" that lasted somewhere between 1550 and 1850, saw temperatures well below average
normals and has been correlated to a decline in solar output. That period of solar decline is known to
scientists as the "Maunder Minimum."
The Little Ice Age was typified by unpredictable weather and colder summers in northern Europe. The
region was beset with sporadic famines. Glaciers crept down from mountains and consumer farms and
villages, while lakes and ponds froze over across Europe so that people could skate on them.
The current level of solar activity is still well above Maunder Minimum levels, but it could portend the
start of a general decline. Such a decline could affect Earth's climate for several centuries.
Scientists have several ways of measuring solar activity, but one easy way is to count the number of
sunspots on the solar disk. Currently, there are less than 50 identified and recognized sunspots on the
solar disk, which means activity is very low.
Sunspots are dark areas on the sun's surface which appear black to observers on Earth. Sunspost are
not actually black, but they appear that way because they are cooler and less luminous than the
surrounding surface of the sun. Sunspots are created when the suns magnetic field becomes twisted
and distorted in places as a result of high internal activity.
Periods of high activity are typified by an increase in the number and size of sunspots, which can
release solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CME). These events are eruptions on the solar surface
which throw incredible quantities of solar material out into space. Many solar flares are much larger
than planet Earth itself.
Fortunately, the sun is so far away that solar flares cannot endanger the Earth. However, coronal
mass ejections, which occur when a flare shoots a pulse of charged particles into space, can affect
the planet.
If Earth is in the path of a CME, people who live in far northern and southern latitudes can see the
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northern or southern lights in the night sky. These colorful displays known as auroras, are caused
when the sun's charged particles strike gas molecules in the upper atmosphere. They pose no threat
to humans.
However, in the rarest cases, the electrical charge of these particles can cause power fluctuations on
the ground. At least one such event caused a blackout across much of Canada in the 1980s. Today,
these events can be predicted and prepared for to prevent disruptions.
During the solar minimum, these events simply do not occur. So while solar minimum means auroras
become rare, it may also mean cooler temperatures for the planet.
Scientists still do not fully understand the processes involved, so they cannot make any firm
predictions. Although the sun is quiet just now, it could erupt with activity in the days to come. There
is simply no way to forecast what will happen next.
However, if the sun remains quiet, it'll be bad news for fans of the northern lights, and puzzling news
for scientists who predicted this would be an active year for the sun.
Winter Solstice makes for possible E-Skip (Sporadic E) Conditions on 6 Meters
Sporadic E or Es is an unusual form of radio propagation using characteristics of the Earth's
ionosphere. Whereas most forms of skywave propagation use the normal and cyclic ionization
properties of the ionosphere's F region to refract (or "bend") radio signals back toward the Earth's
surface, sporadic E propagation bounces signals off smaller "clouds" of unusually ionized atmospheric
gas in the lower E region (located at altitudes of approx. 90 to 160 km). This occasionally allows for
long-distance communication at VHF frequencies not usually well-suited to such communication.[1]
Communication distances of 800–2200 km can occur using a single Es cloud. This variability in distance
depends on a number of factors, including cloud height and density. MUF also varies widely, but most
commonly falls in the 27–110 MHz range, which includes the FM broadcast band (87.5–108 MHz), Band
I VHF television (American channels 2-6, Russian channels 1-3, and European channels 2-4, the latter
no longer widely used in Western Europe), CB radio (27 MHz) and the amateur radio 10- and 6-meter
bands. Strong events have allowed propagation at frequencies as high as 250 MHz. [citation needed]
As its name suggests, sporadic E is an abnormal event, not the usual condition, but can happen at
almost any time; it does, however, display seasonal patterns. Sporadic E activity peaks predictably in
the summertime in both hemispheres. In
North America, the peak is most noticeable
in mid-to-late June, trailing off through July
and into August. Interestingly, a much
smaller peak is seen around the winter
solstice. Activity usually begins in
mid-December in the southern hemisphere,
with the days immediately after Christmas
being the most active period.[citation needed]
INTERNATIONAL REPLY COUPONS MAY SOON BE
PASSED OUT IN THE USA
www.arrg.org
Page 4Reply Coupons may soon be a thing of the past. At least here in the United States with
International
word that the U.S.
Postal Service has proposed doing away with them due to what it says is a very low demand.
The Postal Service says that even if it stops selling International Reply Coupons that it will continue to accept
those purchased in foreign countries and presented at its U.S. facilities.
International Reply Coupons have long been a staple in the DX community used to help offset the cost of DX'ers to
provide QSL cards especially from some of the words rarer DX locations. They have also been used to assist hams in
nations where sending in foreign currency is not allowed.
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Technical Corner
Amateur Radio
Relay Group, Inc.
P.O. Box 91213
Portland, OR 97291
email: k7rpt@comcast.net
web site: www.arrg.org
Operating the K7RPT Repeater System
Officers
President:
Vice-President:
Secretary:
Treasurer :
Marc Peterson, W7PM
Terry Biggs, WB7CHK
Peter Jones, KE7CKB
Warren Winner, W7JDT
Board of Directors
Chairman: Terry Biggs, WB7CHK
Vice-Chair: Brian Nordlund, AC7QE
Directors: Jim Campbell, N7QME
Marc Douglas, AE7KK
Peter Jones, KE7CKB
Dale Justice, K7WW
Dee Lynch, K7JRB
Marc Peterson, W7PM
Jeff Scheetz, KF7HG
Mark Walker, W7CLU
Warren Winner, W7JDT
Committee Chairmen
Electronic Communication Jim Campbell, N7QME
Web Site - Marc Peterson, W7PM
Newsletter - Pat Roberson, W7PAT
Membership -Peter Jones, KE7CKB
Purchasing -Warren Winner, W7JDT
Sea-Pac -Dale Justice, K7WW
Standardization -Terry Biggs, WB7CHK
Technical & Site Maintenance Chair-Jeff Scheetz, KF7HG
By Marc Douglas, AE7KK
Here is a summary of some of the work done on the K7RPT
repeaters since the last issue.
The controller at Sylvan (147.04/442.225) has been replaced,
audio levels brought up to standard. The Autopatch has been
placed back into service. The 442.225 transmitter and
receiver have both been put on the bench for a tuneup and
addition of CTCSS decoding/encoding. The “Marx” brothers
(W7PM, W7CLU and AE7KK) met up with Dee (K7JRB) in Bend
to reinstall the 147.04 repeater along with the 444.225 link
radio to Mt. Hood, both of which had been removed for other
maintenance at the site. W7PM also made a trip to Medford
and found a failing power supply, but was still able to push out
6 Watts from the 147.02 machine. In the meantime, the other
two UHF repeaters in the Portland metro area (Mt Hood
444.225 and South Saddle 442.325) both started having
problems. A couple of trips to South Saddle were made to
replace a failing UHF transmitter, upgrade the firmware and
programming in the controller (including the autopatch) and
add a rebuilt Henry PA to the VHF (147.32) repeater.
Immediate plans are to get the other two UHF repeaters (Mt
Hood and Sylvan) back on the air, install a 7 DB 24' Collinear
VHF replacement antenna at South Saddle, install our first
MSR2000 VHF repeater at Cedar Mill (147.38) with IRLP link,
and get a replacement power supply down to Bill (W7QMU)
who has graciously offered to install it for us. If you like
working on this kind of stuff, come join us! As you can see,
there's never a dull moment! 73, Marc AE7KK
Rural Area ARRG Repeaters: Trip to Medford
By Marc Peterson, W7PM
On August 3rd, 2012 our trusty ARRG Helper Tony and Myself had
the opportunity to travel to Medford, to work on the 147.020
repeater. The machine had been down for many months.
Upon arrival we had the opportunity to meet with long time ARRG
supporters, Bill Shrader, W7QMU and Gordon Marx, KC7YNY. These
two guys have been instrumental in housing and maintaining the
147.020 repeater system for many years.
With Bill’s help, we were able to replace the GE Master II PA and
troubleshoot the aging power supply. While not up to 100%
efficiency and operating at lower power, the repeater is working
and wide area coverage has been restored. On the way back to the
Portland area, we diverted and drove out across the mountains to
Crater Lake National Park. I had a lot of fun working a couple
Medford guys on the newly restored 147.020 machine. I am happy
to report that even while operating at a lower power, the repeater
was full quieting at Crater Lake West rim, which is 61 Air Miles away
Coming back towards the Portland Area I was able to work Warren,
N7BIJ on the 147.040 Sylvan repeater while I was 31 miles south of
Eugene on I-5, so talk about great coverage!
www.arrg.org
Page 6
ARRG needs your help.
Immediate Equipment Needs List in order of priority:
1- Dualband Mobile Tranceiver (working with programmable CTCSS and a working DTMF mic).
This radio is needed to begin testing the IRLP Node for 147.380. The radio needs to have dualband
capabilites because we may wish to point the unit during emergencies, drills, ARES tests, etc. to any of
ARRG’s VHF or UHF repeaters. If you have something, even if it is older and lower power, we need it.
In fact we could use TWO dulband rigs if we could get them. One for on the air and the other for remote
programming from our IRLP Node managers QTH. On a side note, it is unfair for the Node Manager to
provide his own equipment fulltime when the ARRG team should be providing the equipment for the
entire link backone.
2- UHF Repeater(s)
The Technical Team is looking for any UHF Repater, Transmitters, Receivers from the GE Master II or
newer or the Mototorla MICOR, MSF-2000 or newer line of Repeater boxes. We have several spare VHF
repeaters (complete bench tested) we could trade towards a MSR-2000 or other newer crsytal or
programmable UHF repeater. The Sylvan and Hood UHF repeaters need replacing ASAP. Only recently
have we got So. Saddle 442.325 up and running again.
NOTE: Legally speaking, if we do not get our UHF repeaters fixed or replaced soon, per Part 97 control
regulations, we may be forced to temporaily shut off the repeator until we are able able to provide positive
control linking. As you may or may not already know, ARRG has always installed a UHF companion to
every VHF repeater at our many sites for this control path.
3- HELP WANTED: Technical Help.. willing to train people who have a desire to assist us on the ARRG
Repeaters! Contact Marc Peterson w7pm@live.com for a complete list of items we need help on right
now!
4- The ARRG IFR-1000 Service Monitor (the device every Amateur Repeater Operator must have to
properly diagnose, treat and cure ailing ARRG repeaters) has finally died. The unit cannot be repaired
and is no longer supported by IFR.
ARRG needs to find a good replacement unit, so everyone PLEASE keep an eye out for a decent
replacement, or if you know your company is surplusing one, please let ARRG put in a request for
donation to grab it! Right now we have an old (and limited) Motorola in it’s place. As a Team, we will
eventiually need to think about replacing the IFR. Good used Service Monitors are expensive so if you
have any ideas on the matter contact us at k7rpt@comcast.net .
Amateur License Testing Sessions
OTVARC SESSIONS Exam sessions are held on the first Saturday of each month except June at 1:00 PM at the Hillsboro Fire
Department, Ronler Acres Station, 4455 NW 229th Street, Hillsboro, Oregon.
All exam elements are administered at each session. You may verify any exam schedule at
http://www.arrl.org/find-an-amateur-radio-license-exam-session as any changes will be posted there.
The test fee is $15.00. Bring check or money order payable to ARRL VEC and a photo ID. Applicants upgrading must bring the
original AND a photocopy of their current license. Contact Carl Clawson, WS7L, 503.629.5796, ws7l@arrl.net, to preregister.
KA0TP SESSIONS SE PDX/Milwaukie "First Sunday" VE testing. 7:00 pm at the Roundtable Pizza at 82nd Ave and King Rd.
Walk-ins welcome! Please come early. Bring Photo ID, photocopy of current license or other paperwork, Pen, pencils, and
check for $15 made out to the ARRL. We accept cash if you have exact change but all funds are submitted to ARRL, as we keep
nothing locally. Contact KA0TP - Tom at ka0tp@aol.com or cell 503-318-5399 2012 schedule: July 1, Aug 5, Sep2, Oct 7, Nov
4, Dec 2
PARG SESSIONS PARG has test session on the Westside by Capitol Hwy and Barbur Blvd. on the 2nd and 4th Sundays at
8:00 pm. For more information and for info on other test sessions in the area, see ARRL Exam Search at arrl.org website.