Date: Tue, 23 Aug 94 04:30:21 PDT From: Ham-Equip Mailing List and Newsgroup Errors-To: Ham-Equip-Errors@UCSD.Edu Reply-To: Ham-Equip@UCSD.Edu Precedence: Bulk Subject: Ham-Equip Digest V94 #298 To: Ham-Equip Ham-Equip Digest Tue, 23 Aug 94 Volume 94 : Issue 298 Today's Topics: Do artificial grounds work? FT-530 current draw ? (2 msgs) Opinions on TS50 vs TS450 (or FT890) Power Source for HT in Wilderness?? (2 msgs) Radio shops in Toronto Replacing bandswitch on BTI-2000 AMP (advice?) What is an ICOM IC-03N? Yaseu FT470 like/dislike comments? Send Replies or notes for publication to: Send subscription requests to: Problems you can't solve otherwise to brian@ucsd.edu. Archives of past issues of the Ham-Equip Digest are available (by FTP only) from UCSD.Edu in directory "mailarchives/ham-equip". We trust that readers are intelligent enough to realize that all text herein consists of personal comments and does not represent the official policies or positions of any party. Your mileage may vary. So there. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 22 Aug 1994 19:38:54 GMT From: agate!howland.reston.ans.net!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!uhog.mit.edu!news.kei.com!yeshua.marcam.com!charnel.ecst.csuchico.edu!csusac!csus.edu!netcom.com!markeh.slip.netcom.com!@ihnp4.ucsd.edu Subject: Do artificial grounds work? To: ham-equip@ucsd.edu Well, I have one of the MFJ Artificial Grounds, and I think it works. I had a problem with rf getting into my recievers audio and mike circuits at QRO power levels. And I have a real ground ( a long copper rod, driven into the ground immediately below my location, about 10 feet down). The art. gnd. seems to reduce the problem. I had to add more than one radial in my room before it seemed very effective. I suppose that possibly cutting tuned radials to the bands would have been just as effective without the MFJ box, but thats more like real work :-) The result is enough improvement to make the problem tolerable on some bands, and non-existent on others. 73 Mark KM6FM In article , hamilton@BIX.com (hamilton on BIX) wrote: > > The claims in the MFJ ads for their artificial grounds sound interesting > and the cost is not prohibitive if they really work. But I notice these > units keep showing up over and over again, for sale in rec.radio.swap. > This makes me suspicious there are a lot of folks who get drawn in by > the ads but decide they don't really work well enough to bother with. > I don't have one, but have considered getting one. I just don't want > to waste my money. Comments, please? > > Regards, > Doug Hamilton KD1UJ hamilton@bix.com Ph 508-358-5715 > Hamilton Laboratories, 13 Old Farm Road, Wayland, MA 01778-3117, USA ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Aug 1994 23:16:37 GMT From: vigra.com!news.vigra.com!steve@network.ucsd.edu Subject: FT-530 current draw ? To: ham-equip@ucsd.edu -=> On Mon, 22 Aug 1994 16:10:00 GMT, drobert@vax2.concordia.ca (Denis Robert, ve2ilf) said: > Could an ft-530 owner please tell me what the current draw is in the > following modes ? I checked mine when I got it, but I lost the sheet where I wrote it all down. I can give you some idea from memory, but consider them approximations. Best advice would be to get a good power supply with a nice current meter and do your own measurements for the cases you're interested in. > power off: What power source are you using? I did all my measurements from the power jack. If you have a battery connected, the radio will always draw current to charge it. I recall this being about 60 mA with the radio off. Current draw with no battery is almost none, just a few mA to run a regulator and the clock. > power on (single band - no batt saver): Not much different from dual-band standby. > power on (single band - with batt saver): See dual-band. > power on (dual band - no batt saver): This was around 110 mA, both bands on standby. It goes up if they're receiving and the volume is cranked up, of course. > power on (dual band - with batt saver): The most remarkable thing was how drastic the savings were with the Rx power saver. I now use the ABS setting all the time when I run off batteries. Basically, when you set the Rx interval to non-zero, it polls the receiver that often instead of constantly. When it says 1.2 seconds, it means it! You can see the current meter give a very short pulse ever 1.2 seconds. In between, it draws almost nothing (forgot exactly how much). I was also pleased to see that ABS takes quite a while to get down to that slow a poll rate. This means you won't miss the first word of a transmission unless there hasn't been any activity for many minutes. I wish it would autmatically disable all power saving features (and auto-power off) when it's on 12v DC, though. I'm almost always in an unlimited-power environment when running 12v through the jack. > TX on VHF: > TX on UHF: Both were about 1.1 amps draw at 12v on high-power (5W). Surprisingly, UHF draws just slightly less than VHF at all transmit powers. I dunno why. I didn't check the Tx power saver since I think it's hokey and frequently confused. I checked the Low power settings, but I don't remember the specific current draw. I should check again. 1.1 Amps was the maximum draw. It took this from about 11 volts on up to 16 volts, where I stopped (maximum rating). As I dropped below 11 volts, it drew less and less current, right down to 5.6 volts, where it powered down. That's most of what I remember. It was good enough to give me an idea of what to expect and plan for as far as current draw. If there is sufficient interest, I can do more measurements and post a chart or something. Happy Hacking! -Steve Steve Haehnichen Vigra, Inc. San Diego, CA steve@vigra.com (619) 597-7080 x116 Fax: (619) 597-7094 ------------------------------ Date: 22 Aug 1994 20:37:23 GMT From: ihnp4.ucsd.edu!sdd.hp.com!col.hp.com!fc.hp.com!paulc@network.ucsd.edu Subject: FT-530 current draw ? To: ham-equip@ucsd.edu I can give you part of the picture for single band 2M operation. The last measurement (70 mA) is equivalent to no battery saver mode, the comments following detail the ABS mode. TX with 5 watts draws about 1.5A. Signal received (squelch open), volume at a reasonable level: ~105 mA Signal received (squelch open), volume at quiet level: 90 mA Signal received, paging mode on (squelch closed until code recvd): 80 mA * No signal, paging mode on (squelch always closed): 70 mA * No signal, non-paging, squelch closed 70 mA In the last 2 modes (the * modes), the "smart" battery saver very quickly drops it to 60 mA; within a minute or so it's down to ~30 and at 2 minutes its down to around 20. -Paul C. KG0CZ ------------------------------ Date: 22 Aug 1994 21:23:48 GMT From: pa.dec.com!oleum.zso.dec.com!robin@decwrl.dec.com Subject: Opinions on TS50 vs TS450 (or FT890) To: ham-equip@ucsd.edu Hi , I`m considering buying a TS50. I have however two others on my list the TS450SAT and FT890AT. I like the TS50 because of its size, and since a lot of my HF work is mobile, size and ease of installation is important. I really want to know how it performs as a base station HF rig also. I am not a real DX chaser or a CW operator. Since I can find no reviews on the TS50 - the internet is the next best thing ?? Any comments on the TS450/Ft890 as mobiles or base stations woul also be very welcome. Thanks Robin ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Aug 1994 10:26:45 GMT From: news.sprintlink.net!demon!betanews.demon.net!news@uunet.uu.net Subject: Power Source for HT in Wilderness?? To: ham-equip@ucsd.edu In article , Charles W. McMullen writes: > Buy the battery carrier pack and take a bunch of alkaline cells with you. > Alkalines last much longer than Ni-Cads and, when they go dead, you just pop > them out and stuff in a new set. You can buy a big pile of alkalines for > the cost of a solar charger. What do you suggest is done with the dead batteries whilst out in the Wilderness Chuck? Carry them home for safe disposal? I guess you have a typical North American attitude to the environment... Yves Remedios ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Aug 1994 10:18:39 GMT From: news.sprintlink.net!demon!betanews.demon.net!news@uunet.uu.net Subject: Power Source for HT in Wilderness?? To: ham-equip@ucsd.edu We have a good source of dryfit batteries that appear at Hamfest stalls in the UK. Typically, these batteries have been taken out of alarm systems on periodic services. They are small lead/acid batteries where the electrolite is in gel form so they are sealed units. I usually buy the 12v 7ah type and I paid UKP 2.50 for the last one. They are ideal for portable operation. The only complication is the method of charging. They need a constant voltage charger to prevent them from gassing. There are circuits around. Car chargers are not suitable. I use the batteries to run my HT and my cellular phone. The cell phone runs for a week on one charge. I have rigged up the terminals of the battery to a cigarette lighter socket and plug my portable equipment into that setup. Yves Remedios ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Aug 1994 23:22:03 GMT From: psinntp!isc-newsserver!ultb!cap2624@uunet.uu.net Subject: Radio shops in Toronto To: ham-equip@ucsd.edu What areas of the world ARE full 800Mhz range scanners allowed out of the box? Does Canada sell 800Mhz Celular scanners? -- +------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Rochester Institute of Technology Chris A. Peskin | | Electrical Engineering | +------------------------------------------------------------------+ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Aug 1994 19:26:41 GMT From: ihnp4.ucsd.edu!library.ucla.edu!csulb.edu!nic-nac.CSU.net!charnel.ecst.csuchico.edu!csusac!csus.edu!netcom.com!dgf@network.ucsd.edu Subject: Replacing bandswitch on BTI-2000 AMP (advice?) To: ham-equip@ucsd.edu I'm trying to resurrect an old BTI ("Brad Thompson Industries") 2000 amp; it's a 3-1000Z in a floor mount console for 80-10. The bandswitch was destroyed (toasty brown color). Anyway, presuming I can't get exact replacement parts, the complication is this: the front panel bandswitch drives two pulleys; one drives the input network selection, and the other drives the output tank coil tap selection. Even _if_ I can find a rotary switch with enough insulating power, I'm not sure if it would have the same rotational angle between positions. I'm open to any suggestions! 73 Dave WB0GAZ dgf@netcom.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Aug 1994 13:53:41 -0500 From: ihnp4.ucsd.edu!library.ucla.edu!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!howland.reston.ans.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!newsfeed.ksu.ksu.edu!moe.ksu.ksu.edu!usenet.uc.twsu.edu!kushiro.yx@network.ucsd.edu Subject: What is an ICOM IC-03N? To: ham-equip@ucsd.edu In article faunt@netcom5.netcom.com (Doug Faunt N6TQS 510-655-8604) writes: >From: faunt@netcom5.netcom.com (Doug Faunt N6TQS 510-655-8604) >Subject: What is an ICOM IC-03N? >Date: Sat, 20 Aug 1994 23:22:56 GMT >I saw one of these today, and was told it was a UHF radio. It looked >just like a 02AT from a short distance. Any information out there >about them? >73, doug Hi Doug, IC-03N is a HT sold in Japan, and the freq range is between 430-440MHz. Also, IC-02N is for 2m band (144-146MHz). Yuichi W0/JR0EFE ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Aug 1994 10:00:06 GMT From: news.sprintlink.net!demon!betanews.demon.net!news@uunet.uu.net Subject: Yaseu FT470 like/dislike comments? To: ham-equip@ucsd.edu In article <1994Aug20.003725.1@vax.sonoma.edu>, harrisok@vax.sonoma.edu writes: > On Thursday I was at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco and happened to stop in > at one of the ripoff "will sell anything to anyone" no-name electronic stores > there. I found a FT-470 and asked the salesman how much it was. He told me it > was _only_ $530. Ha! I said nothing but broke out in laughter and walked out. Sounds like the average ham store in the UK! Yves Remedios ------------------------------ End of Ham-Equip Digest V94 #298 ******************************