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ARRL Montana Section (MT)Section Manager
Douglas R. Dunn, K7YD 216 Fiddle Creek Rd Livingston, MT 59047-9313 406-686-9100 k7yd@arrl.org |
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Montana is enjoying a long Indian Summer, be sure to get out and enjoy it before Winter returns and we're stuck in the house for a few months. Holiday season is almost upon us, hope you can take time to enjoy the company of friends and family at this time of year. Patti, KE7VDN and I visited the "Bean Feed" put on by Todd, AE7V and his XYL at their home in Worden, MT, last weekend. Amateurs attended the gathering from all over the Eastern part of our state. It was a great time and enjoyable to meet new hams and those we havent seen in a while. Thanks to Todd and Natalie. I'd like to again ask all amateurs in MT to read and understand the paper by ARRL on "Appropriate Use" posted on the League website. It has been made clear by FCC what is acceptable and what isnt. Keep in mind that working outside the guidelines of Part 97 may expose you to an enforcement action and possible forfiture of funds, should the offense be judged as serious enough. I believe there will be further actions by FCC in the future that may clear up some ofhe confusion, but until there are changes we should follow Part 97 as written. Grounding in many Amateur stations is poor or even nonexistant. We must remember that one ground rod with a single #12 stranded wire attatched isnt sufficent to protect our equipment from a surge or static discharge near your station. Use of a "ground source" made up of 3 or 4 8 foot rods driven close to each other and wired or strapped together with large copper (not aluminum!) conductors is necessary to provide needed protection. Clamps can be used, but "exothermic" also known as "Cad Weld" techniques are lower resistance and require no maintenance. Wire from your equipment location with heavy guage copper wire or strap (an inch wide is sufficient in most cases). Stranded wire exibhits reactance to high peak current flows and shouldnt be used. Even a network of copper wire buried in the ground near the station location would be of tremendous help in dissapating a large surge. The trick here is to keep the surge away from the station area and pass it to ground quickly. Ground towers at their bases, coax braids and even look at discharge devices on your rotator cables. Check out Polyphaser's website and information pages for further background, there's a wealth of good advice there. ARRL CW Sweepstakes were held last weekend. I hope many of you got a chance to join in on the fun. Phone Sweepstakes come up shortly, so get ready for some more action. It's an easy contest, just work as many as you can. Check out page 95 in the November QST for more info. MTN, W7MPK-QNI 2219, QTC-44 IMN, VE7AWG-QNI 493, QTC-88 MSN, K7YD-QNI 141, QTC-7 Thanks to all 73 Doug, K7YD