THURSDAY APRIL 15, 2010.

THE CHICAGO SUBURBAN RADIO ASSOCIATION

Illinois’ Oldest Amateur Radio Club - N9BAT

CSRA BOARD AND COMMITTEE

CLUB PRESIDENT 2009-2010

708.562.2827 | eddiewa9gqk@att.net
April 2010
VICE PRESIDENT 2010-2011

773.556.6459 | f2@crescenzi.net

SECRETARY

773.281.0489 | tomnsherry@ameritech.net

TREASURER

708.383.5349 | aa9f@arrl.net

SARGEANT-AT-ARMS/WELCOME & RAFFLES

THIS MONTH OUR eyes are to the 708.485.2687 | urbieman@yahoo.com

skies as Doug Anoman KC9MLN
will give us an introductory look at MEMBERSHIP CHAIRMAN
AMSAT and satellites! This will be
an audio and visual presentation 708.788.8316 | njmalina@yahoo.com
you won’t want to miss!
TXT EDITOR/PUBLICITY
Another interesting development is
that CSRA now has a spot on the 708.287.1336 | w9chi@arrl.net
social networking site Facebook.
You can access it via our website EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS CHAIRMAN
at www.CSRAham.com
630.655.6312 | mpauschke@worldnet.att.net
Hope you enjoy spring!
COFFEE & MEETING REFRESHMENTS CHAIRMAN
Scott Childers - W9CHI
TXT Editor
708.484.7384 | tomn9tm@prodigy.net

HEARD N9BAT CLUB CALLSIGN TRUSTEE:

Boy - "Hey mister, are you a CLUB WEBSITE: http://

CBer?"
CLUB EMAIL ADDRESS:
Elmer - "No, I'm a Radio Ham - a
bit like a CBer's big brother, but
much more complicated"
24/7 CSRA HAM HOTLINE:

TXT copyright ©2010

TXT | APRIL 2010 | TWO

 FRONT PAGE
MINUTES OF MEETING FOR MARCH 18, 2010
NEXT MEETING The Minutes for the February meeting were approved as printed in TXT.
There was no report for the Treasurer or Secretary as they were unable to
attend. Reports were heard for the Net Managers, 2m NM report given
at Grace Lutheran Church by the President as the position is still open. Attendance was given by the
in the Fellowship Room on the lower level. President as the Sargent At Arms was not in attendance. Membership
Chairman received one renewal (two more renewals were received
Doors open at 6:30pm Meeting begins at 7:30pm during the meeting) and W9CHI turned in another QSL from the W9C
operation.
Grace Lutheran Church is located at
1101 Manchester Avenue Under Old Business it was repeated that the position of 2m Net Manager
in Westchester, Illinois. is still open and volunteers are needed for the next round of Net Controls.
One block north of Roosevelt Road, There was no response from the members. An update on the Brookfield
just west of 25th Avenue. antenna situation was received from W9CKG to the effect that the issue
has been dropped by the village and there are no further concerns for
Directions and maps on our website at the Amateur community. In light of this it was agreed that there would be
http://www.CSRAham.com no need for preparation of the Position Statement discussed at the last
meeting. K9KTU reported progress with the scouts for a presentation to be
given possibly at their April meeting.
Amateur Radio Quiz: Workbench Wisdom
1) What is the name for the solder composition with the Under New Business the following were presented: next monthly social will
lowest melting point? be held on April 8 due to the first Thursday being Holy Thursday and will
a. Acid core be at Tony's in Brookfield; the 85th Anniversary operation will be held
b. Eutectic around the actual anniversary date of May 19 and the call N9BAT/85 will
c. RoHS be used by club members and Net Control stations for the selected days
d. Silver-bearing of operation; KB9IGG has offered space in his garage for storage of club
property that anyone wishes to relocate from their own premises; discus-
2) A bipolar switching transistor's fully-saturated collector- sion of this year's Field Day was opened. It was recommended that this
to-emitter voltage is ___________. year we specifically invite Village of Brookfield officials to our site in order
a. 0.3 V or less to present positive aspects of Amateur Radio to them. K9KTU is willing to
b. 0 V again head up the effort to have the City of Chicago Council declare
c. 0.7 V Amateur Radio Week and requested some additional member participa-
d. 5 V, +/- 10 percent tion for the photo op. A cookout will again be part of our event on
Saturday. W9PXZ will be contacted about use of his camper again this
3) An op-amp's ability to change output voltage rapidly is year. Support items such as generators and PCs/software were also
called _____________. mentioned.
a. beta
b. CMRR The meeting was then adjourned for coffee and continued discussion.
c. slew rate
d. open-loop gain Submitted: Ed Schumacher, WA9GQK President

4) What component is used to keep plate voltage out of

an amplifier's output matching circuit?
a. Plate Choke
b. Neutralizing Capacitor
c. Bleeder Resistor
d. Blocking Capacitor

5) Which of these is a Germanium diode? The Chicago Suburban Radio Association will continue
a. 1N28
b. 1N34A
to celebrate the club’s 85th Anniversary with another
c. 1N914 Special Event Station operation, which will be held
d. 1N4148 around the actual anniversary date of May 19 and the
6) Which type of logic element's output is false when both
call N9BAT/85 will be used by club members and Net
inputs are true or both inputs are false? Control stations for the selected days of operation. We
a. NAND will once again offer special QSL cards. More details
b. NOR
c. XOR
coming soon and on the club nets and at the
d. D-type Flip-Flop meetings, so stay tuned!
ANSWERS APPEAR ON PAGE FIVE
TXT | APRIL 2010 | THREE
 QRM
A BIT ON AMSAT CSRA DUES ARE
In anticipation of Doug’s talk about satellites and AMSAT - here is a little
primer on AMSAT, courtesy of the AMSAT website. NOW DUE
AMSAT is a worldwide group of Amateur Radio Operators (Hams) who It’s that time of the year!
share an active interest in building, launching and then communicating CSRA club dues are now
with each other through non-commercial Amateur Radio satellites. By due. Please remit 10
any measure, AMSAT's track record has been impressive. Since its found- dollars to club treasurer
ing 25 years ago, AMSAT has used predominantly volunteer labor and Ray Good AA9F at the
donated resources to design, construct, and, with the added assistance next meeting or send your
of international government and commercial agencies, successfully check or money order to
launch, over 30 Amateur Radio satellites into Earth orbit. Today, almost the club Post Office Box.
20 of these satellites are operational.
CSRA dues remain the
The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (as AMSAT is officially known) was
lowest and the best value
formed in 1969 as a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) educational organization
in the ham radio
chartered in the District of Columbia. Its aim is to foster Amateur Radio's
participation in space research and communication. Since that time,
community.
other like-minded groups throughout the world have formed to pursue
the same goals. Many of these groups share the "AMSAT" name. While the Please continue to support
affiliations between the various groups are not formal, they do cooperate Illinois’ oldest amateur
very closely with one another. For example, international teams of AMSAT radio club. Your club -
volunteers are often formed to help build each other's space hardware, CSRA!
or to help launch and control each other's satellites.

CLUB NETS
Since the very first OSCAR satellites (OSCAR stands for Orbiting Satellite
Carrying Amateur Radio) were launched in the early 1960s, AMSAT's
international volunteers, often working quite literally in their basements
and garages, have pioneered a wide variety of new communications
technologies that are now taken for granted in the world's satellite Do not forget about our club nets
every week! Be sure to check in to
marketplace. These breakthroughs have included some of the very first
get the latest info on the club as
satellite voice transponders as well as highly advanced digital "store-
well as a chance to chat with
and-forward" messaging transponder techniques. All of these accom- other members and hams too!
plishments have been achieved through close cooperation with interna-
tional space agencies which often have provided launch opportunities
at significantly reduced costs in return for AMSAT's technical assistance in CSRA Info Net
developing new ways to launch paying customers. Spacecraft design, Mondays at 8:00pm
development and construction has also occurred in a fiscal environment 146.76 Repeater
of individual AMSAT member donations, thousands of hours of volunteer
effort, and the creative use of leftover materials donated from
aerospace industries worldwide. CSRA CATS Net
Wednesdays at 7:00pm
CSRA IS NOW ON FACEBOOK! 21.331 USB +/-
Pictures, meeting notes, information and social CSRA CW Net
networking. Become a fan of CSRA on Facebook
Sundays at 8:00pm
by logging on from our website.
7.100 MHz

TXT | APRIL 2010 | FOUR


The Comet GP9 dual band, three-
section, fiberglass vertical base an-
tenna is for 2 meters (5/8 wave x3)
and 440 MHz (5/8wave x8).
Gain: 8.5/11.9 dB
Power: 200 watts
VSWR: 1.5:1 or less
Connector: UHF (SO-239)
Height: 17.75 feet
Weight: 6 Lbs.
Sells for over $200 new, will
sell for $120.
Scott W9CHI
708/287-1336 or W9CHI@arrl.net
Tired of having the ugliest installation in the neighbor-
hood? Tired of that walked-on feeling when you don’t get
through the DX Pile-up? Unable to rag-chew through the
Tuner-Uppers? Take Heart! Throw away those ugly and
weak dipoles and verticals.
Alset Engineering Sunspot Special Price....$250.00
Hy Gain 103CA 10 Meter monoband 3 element Yagi.
Stainless Steel Hardware, Manual & Spare hardware. Hy
Gain BN-86 Balun with stainless steel hardware and
manual. Alliance T-45 Rotor with 5 conductor cable
With this antenna you can command the 10 Meter band
during the upcoming sunspot peak and beautify your
property.
Free consultation and installation advice from a
competent Registered Professional Engineer included.
Other Items For Sale:
Aztec Balun & Manual............................................$35.00
Heathkit Phone Patch with Manual........................$75.00
Grandmaster Memory Keyer with Manual.............$100.00
Tube Socket - Johnson #275 (for 3-500Z)..............$25.00
Power Supply 12VDC @ 5.0 amps........................$50.00
Classic HP-205AG Audio Generator & Manual.....$100.00
Contact: Alset Engineering at PO Box 512, Western Springs,
IL 60558 or call Al Whetter - W9WJ at 708/246-2692. 6. c -- XOR stands for Exclusive-OR.
CLASSIFIED
AUTEK RESEARCH WM-1 computing SWR meter
w/ manual.
$100 OBO Contact Ed, WA9GQK at roster
W9ZD and I have Flea Market spots FW3508
and 3509 for Dayton Hamvention. I’ll be happy
to sell any equipment for club members.
Please make sure that the items are in
waterproof containers & have your asking
price, how much variation is allowable and
manuals. Please be sure they are one man
portable. I have my cell phone so that if you're
there you can get in touch and any club
members are welcome to stop by.
Vince Formanek N9YIB
vcforman@yahoo.com
A reminder that the stock of repair parts from the
estate of Frank Bacci, W9IJN, is available to mem-
bers in need of specific items. This stock includes
various tube sockets, connectors, resistors in now
hard to find sizes of carbon composition, capaci-
tors of all types, many other small components too
numerous to list individually. Almost all are unused
and very clean vintage manufacture. Perfect for
repair or restoration of gear from the fifties through
sixties. No modern Asian junk manufacture. Please
limit requests to items actually needed for a repair
as some quantities are limited and we would like to
help the most members possible, i.e. please do not
request items merely for personal inventory. So
before going to eBay or the replica catalog suppli-
ers, check with me for availability. This is a free
member service. - Ed, WA9GQK.
1. b -- Eutectic refers to the mix of metals that
melts at the lowest temperature.
2. a -- The exact voltage depends on the circuit.
3. c -- Slew rate is measured in V/µsec.
4. d -- This component passes output
RF, but not dc.
5. b -- Germanium is used for its special
temperature coefficient and lower forward volt-
age drop.
TXT | APRIL 2010 | FIVE