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Every Monday Evening at 8pm Eastern Time, the W3GMS/R Crew get together on the repeater at 146.985Mhz and discuss technical questions and sometimes do lessons related to Ham Radio for newer Operators to learn from experienced Elmers. The Workbench was set up to be a safe place for any technical questions to get asked and good answers to be given.
Thank you.
Thank you.
At 146.985 on your FM dial, this is the 985 Workbench.
I am Chuck and my call is NA3CW, tonight's host for the Workbench.
I'm located in beautiful Parksburg, Pennsylvania, under all the ice and snow.
We meet every Monday at 8 p.m. on the W3GMS Parksburg repeater 146.985 megahertz.
The PL tone to access the repeater is 100 hertz.
For those who use tone, squelch, and receive, the repeater transmits a squelch tone of 94.8 hertz.
Newcomers are very, very welcome.
We encourage all stations to check in.
Take a look at the repeater website located at www.w3gmsrepeater.com.
It has lots of information, including technical articles, pictures, repeater etiquette and history, and all kinds of good stuff.
Please be aware that on occasion, the repeater experiences intermod interference.
Please run maximum power or be prepared to check in digitally through Echo Link or All Star.
We want to hear you.
To be able to use Echo Link and All Star on 985, you need to register with us.
Directions for doing so can be found on the website, w3gmsrepeater.com.
Also an inner modest present, and I think it is, before starting a transmission, give a short call.
Am I getting in okay?
Once the host confirms that, then you can share your longer comments.
Here on the workbench, we focus on answering general questions of radio theory and operation.
And additionally, we invite each station to, briefly, like one minute, comment on your amateur radio activity in the past week.
When checking in, please indicate if you have a question for the workbench.
If you don't have a question, still check in.
After all stations have checked in, we will first share what we've done this past week in ham radio using the roundtable format.
Please write down, please write down the call of the station that checks in right after you.
When you've finished your comments, turn the mic over to that station.
Once we've all made our comments, we will start the question and answer portion of the workbench, operating as a directed net.
I will call on the station that indicated having a question, and then for stations who wish to respond to that question.
Please wait to be recognized by net control, me, before beginning a transmission.
This helps us handle the questions efficiently and keep the net running smoothly.
At times, it helps for two stations to pass the mic back and forth to help clarify the situation and pass information.
Feel free to do that as needed, and then pass it back to net control.
Some things to remember.
Don't be too quick to talk.
Pause a couple seconds before hitting the press-to-talk switch.
It's good repeater etiquette, and the pauses are especially helpful to those on All Start or Echo Link to get in an edgeways.
When you do click the push-to-talk button, wait a second before starting to talk.
This includes while we're checking in so we get the rest of your call.
We don't want to miss what you're saying first.
It takes a moment for the repeater to process your PL tone.
Also, the repeater has a three-minute timer.
If you talk for more than three minutes without letting up on your mic button, the repeater completely shuts down.
Until you release your push-to-talk switch.
So every two or three minutes, release the mic button just for a moment like this.
Then you can continue.
Before we begin, I want to say thanks to all of our workbench hosts.
They're the ones who make this happen.
If you happen to be interested in hosting the workbench, please contact Jim, AF3Z, or any of us, and we'll help you get started.
Lastly, please join Luke, W3SCY, this Thursday at 8 p.m. for the 985 Roundtable.
So at this time, we're going to start the check-in process.
Remember to indicate if you have a question for the group.
So, digital stations using Echo, Link, or All Star.
I will leave long pauses to make it easier for you to check in.
So everybody else, please be patient.
Digital stations, please call now.
This is NA3CW.
KN3I, no questions.
Whiskey 8, Charlie Romeo Whiskey, CR, no questions.
SQI, no questions.
Last call for any digital, Echo Link, or All Star stations.
Please check in now.
All righty then, let's go with RF and digital stations.
Please call and spread them out a little bit.
NA3CW.
Whiskey Alpha 3, Victor Echo Echo, WA3, VEE, and beautiful Westchester.
No questions, Chuck.
No questions, Chuck.
Just tried to get in.
You're not making it.
So either run more power or something or go on digital.
Carry on.
Carry on.
All stations.
C3, Mike Foxtrot, Bravo.
No questions at the moment.
AC300K, questions.
W3, KZG.
Question.
WGLI.
WC3NZT no question.
WA3KingFoxTango WA3KFT no question.
Okay, what I got is KN3I, WHCRW, and these are the orders that we'll rotate around in.
KN3I, WHCRW, KC3SQI, WA3VEE, KC3RFG, and there was another station that wasn't able to get in over the Intermod.
The Intermod will usually go away, so when it does, please call in at random.
So, followed by W3MFB, KC3OOK with a question.
W3KZG, KA3GLI, KC3NZT, and WA3KFT.
Do we have any other stations to check in?
Please call now.
Just checking in.
KC3HQZ, check it in just to say hi if I'm checking in and out.
I wanted to say hello to everybody.
A308, full time.
Gotcha, Gene.
KC3HQZ.
Always good to hear from you.
And Leon, AA3LH.
All right then.
So let's begin the roundtable session.
How was your week in ham radio?
And starting with John.
KN3I, NA3CW.
This is KN3I.
Good evening to everyone.
It's a balmy evening.
And thanks, Chuck, for...
So it's a pretty good week.
I think ham radio may have saved my sanity.
Because it gave me a good distraction from the...
I don't know, the mind-numbing, body-numbing, cold.
The wind blowing through the house, like, as if the windows were wide open.
And just, you know, kind of cringing, waiting for the power to go out and all that.
So anyway, it didn't happen.
So I got through it.
And I kept telling myself this is the way it used to be when I was a kid here up in Lehigh Valley during the winter.
But my wife told me she didn't think so.
Because she lived up in Stroudsburg, which is a half hour north of where I grew up.
Anyway, so I've been working on my boat anchors.
I have an old ranger.
You've probably heard me say it six times on the repeater that I've been working on.
And pulled up the old assembly manual.
Because the Viking Ranger, Johnson Viking Ranger, circa, I don't know, 1950s AM transmitter, was a kit.
We could buy it as a kit, which is nice.
Because now I have this, like, I download these instructions on where to rewire things.
So I did that.
And I worked on a number of other little projects in HR07 National Receiver.
We built a power supply.
Starting to go through it.
It's a very nice unit.
Heathkit ultrasonic cleaner, which I think I'm going to give up on.
I was getting some help from the W8-3JYU on parts.
He basically told me I was kind of stuck on that one.
And just a whole lot of other cool things here in the lab.
So having a lot of fun.
So I'm going to turn it over to W8CRW.
This is KN3I.
Very good, John.
Stay warm.
Good evening, all.
CR here.
Thanks, Chuck, for taking the net tonight.
And I've been very busy doing other things.
Well, I haven't been on the radio much this past week.
But with that, let's go to Wayne.
KC3SQI.
W8CRW.
Good evening, everyone.
Thank you for the turnover, W8CRW.
CR.
And this is KC3SQI.
Not much in the way of radio.
doggies and ice are taking up more of my time than anything else.
And since I can't get to the antenna mast right now to drop it to put the 10-meter antenna back together,
and I really don't want to be climbing ladders in this weather,
it's just going to have to wait for a while.
So with that, I'll turn it over to Ron, WA3VEE.
This is KC3SQI.
Very good, Wayne.
Thank you very much.
KC3SQI and the group WA3VEE over here in Westchester.
Very good, very good.
Chuck, of course, thanks for doing the net.
Wonderful.
Okay, I've been helping my old alma mater, the second alma mater, Drexler University,
get their station back on here.
Now, it looks like that's going to go.
So more on that coming up.
But more opportunities to mentor and to guide and to provide help.
So very fulfilling to do that.
The old saying is don't worry about being happy.
Worry about being fulfilled because happiness follows.
A little philosophical stuff there.
And, boy, that is so true, especially in my case.
Again, very nice to go back to the old school.
Just kind of stood in the main hall for a few moments and just let it sink in.
It's like, wow, that's cool.
Especially good because there's no more grading.
That's all over with.
And that's the best part.
Okay.
Okay.
So, anyway, more stuff.
Attended the Potsdam Area Amateur Radio Club meeting on Friday night.
There was an interesting presentation on listening to Jupiter.
Evidently, one of the most active moons, Io, the most active, volcanically active moon in the solar system, produces quite a bit of electromagnetic energy when there are eruptions.
And that energy collides with the torus magnetic field around Jupiter and produces low-frequency RF signals.
So that was quite an interesting presentation.
Never would have known that.
Okay.
Other stuff here, very briefly.
Every DTS is really starting to spin up, starting to get some interest in amateur radio licensing courses.
I'm going to – I'm in the process of revising those.
Corbin has contacted me.
Some of the students at Drexel University will be doing a lot of this by Zoom.
And so what I'm going to suggest is that anybody who is interested or knows anybody who is interested in getting licensed or upgrading – I'm also working on general here.
So anybody who is interested in new hams tech or upgrading to general, please e-mail me because once I get a list of critical mass of people and their e-mail addresses, and I'm good on QRZ, then I will conduct these classes probably starting within the next month for sure this time.
So, like I said, most of them will be done over Zoom because it's hard to align everybody at the same time.
And also there will be enrichment stuff in there too as well.
Saturday coming up, I'll be up at Pottstown again, actually Quaker Town, with KE3AAR, the Education Alliance for Amateur Radio, run by the president of Pottstown Amateur Radio Club.
We will be doing license instruction up there on Valentine's Day and next Saturday, the 21st, actually be doing VE-ing.
So busy boy over here for sure.
So, Jim, what's on your plate?
KC-3 RFG over in Malvern, WA3 VEE with the group.
Thank you, Ron. W-A-3-V-E-E. This is Jim, KC-3-R-F-G here in Malvern.
Thanks to Chuck for hosting this evening's Workbench. Thank you, Chuck.
I have not been very busy on the radio either, kind of like CR.
I've been so busy with outdoor ice work as well, and I had to cut up a few trees today.
Back when it was really windy, when I was walking out front in the circle,
a driveway circle in front of the house, I heard some cracking sounds
and found out that there was a dead tree that I didn't know was dead,
and it was going to be aimed for where I parked one of the vehicles outside.
So we got that dropped today, and we'll take our time cutting it up.
Thank goodness it's dead, actually, and when we process it, it'll be ready to go to the wood stove.
So that's the good thing about it. I don't have to wait to burn it.
So that's about it. I've been outdoors almost all the time.
So with that, I will pass it over to Mike, W3MFB, from KC-3-R-F-G.
W3MFB, W3MFB, in the group.
Good to hear everybody, and thank you, Chuck, for driving the bus.
Hey, Ron, I got a Hattie on my lap here, and I had to reach really carefully to grab the microphone.
Got a kitty cat, about a year old here on the lap.
Rescue from 322 right out, right by Crickets on a 103-degree day last year.
Anyway, gave points to folks during the 10-10 contest, 10-meter radio contest this weekend.
A lot of folks out there, great operators.
Oh, there she goes.
And, yeah, had fun with that.
The band was working pretty well, and heard a lot of European stations in the evening,
and a lot of folks in the country and this side of the Americas during the day.
So it was fun.
So I'll pass it over to Bill, KC-3-O-O-K, W3MFB.
Bill, can I hold for a second?
Of course.
Station that was not able to get in because of the Intermod.
At the moment, we don't have Intermod.
Can you jump in here?
Okay.
I guess they gave up.
Go ahead, Bill.
KC-3-O-O-K, NA3CW.
Thanks, Jeff.
NA3CW and KC-3-O-O-K.
Well, not a lot of activity radio related for me this week, or directly related.
I did host the roundtable on Thursday night.
I think it was just last Thursday night.
It was track of time.
That's always fun, although it's a mix of nervousness and fun, but I do enjoy doing that.
And other than that, I've just been working on the next phase for the ham shack,
which is run the tower in and put a subpanel in there and start running the conduit and outlets.
So, and that and lighting, and it's pretty much done.
So, I said I'd get it done in the spring.
That was three springs ago, but maybe it will be this year.
So, with that, I'll turn over to Scott.
W3-KZG, KC-3-O-K.
Thanks, Bill.
W3-KZG.
Good evening, everybody.
Thanks, Chuck, for taking the workbench, and I hope everybody's doing well.
My ham radio this week.
Been cold, so I've kind of been hanging out in the shack doing a bunch of radio repairs on other radios and stuff that have been put off for many years,
now that I finally have my electronics repair bench back in order.
And on Sunday, I had ordered it, I think I ordered it Friday night.
I keep all my ham radios in a rolling network rack.
It's a network rack that sits on forecaster wheels, and you can wheel it around.
It's really convenient, and it's nice and compact.
It keeps everything in one place.
Ran out of room, so I bought a taller one.
It's a 30U, and if anybody knows network racks, I know what that is.
It's a 30U rolling, self-standing network rack that's on casters to replace my smaller, older one.
I got all my ham gear in it, and I absolutely love it.
It's still got some spare space, which is always good for a ham for a little bit of expansion.
But it got that assembled on Sunday and got some stuff in it.
Ordered a few more shelves and some other tchotchkes for it.
I'm going to make a patch panel for coax and different antennas and different radios for it.
But, yeah, real happy with the way it turned out.
Chuck, I did not catch who goes after me, so can you please facilitate that?
This is W3KZG.
Very good, Scott.
KA3GLI.
Your turn, NA3CW.
All right.
Thanks, Chuck and Scott.
KA3GLI here.
I finally started working on my un-un for the NFED half-wave.
And got that about three-quarters done, I suppose.
And also spent some time reading the W1FB antenna notebook.
Stopped by the New Holland Radio Shack today for the first time in a few years.
Sounds good getting back in there.
And got a few odds and ends.
That's about all, I guess.
Also, just a general comment.
I've just been amazed the last few weeks how long the snow's been sticking around.
I can't remember the last time we've had snow last this long.
I'm just finding myself re-amazed every day.
So I think it's kind of neat for once.
So let's see.
I'll send it on down here.
I believe it's Harvey.
KC-3.
Thank you very much. This is Harvey, KC3NZT in Malvern, Pennsylvania. My week in amateur radio was exciting for one reason only. I got my Galapagos Island contact. They finally confirmed.
So I was happy for that. Got that confirmation not via a card. It's just on QRZ. That's how I do most of my confirmations, QRZ and Logbook of the World. But it counts, and I like it. It's a small spot, and I got it, I don't know, a month ago, maybe more.
But that was the only thing that happened of note. My antenna is still down. I took it down before Snowmageddon because I didn't want it to break the fishing line link. And I haven't gotten it back up yet because the snow is so icy. But it looks like this week is the thaw out. So I'll get that back up soon.
But that's all I have. I'm over to John, WA3KFT. This is KC3NZT.
KC3NZT. WA3KingFoxTango. Alrighty. Well, I've been playing with a recently acquired amplifier.
An Ameritron AL80. Well, AL80 Bravo.
And kind of getting used to it and experimenting. I had it on 40 meters on Sunday.
And the comments were, gee, got a nice signal.
Well, I hope so.
So, I drive it with an Icom 7300.
And I do have a full-size 40-meter dipole.
So, the match is good, and we kind of go from there.
So, now I'm going to explore some of the other bands and what have you.
That type of thing.
Okay. Over to Gene.
KiloUpCharlie3. Hotel Queen Zulu.
From WA3KFT.
From WA3KFT.
From WA3KFT.
From WA3KFT.
From WA3KFT.
Yeah, Gene was in and out. Go ahead, Leon.
All right. This is Alpha Alpha 3 Lima Hotel.
From the big city of Gobbler's Knob.
The population, too.
Chuck, when you pull that bus out of the garage, I want to hit the down switch of the garage.
We'll make sure the bus doors are open so I can quickly run inside and not freeze.
I don't want to run too fast and slip and fall on a sheet of ice from the parking lot.
So, we want it to do this easy.
But I'll be able to run right inside and get them doors shut.
Man, it's cold.
We've got to tip.
We're having two degrees or so tonight.
But anyway, what I've been doing at AM radio is this.
We played around 80 meters.
I talked in the rooster's net again, which I'm not a rooster.
I don't really hang on that one all that often.
But I hang on, you know, play with 80 meters up and down the bands.
And this week, I've been playing around 40 meters with a radio that I have.
Playing around 40 meters.
Making contacts in the lower end of the band.
For the extra class portion.
That's all the further I got away from it.
But that's what I did on AM radio.
I am looking forward when the snow and ice melts to go ahead and do some antenna work.
And maybe I'll get that done this coming week.
Let's get some of it done.
My grandson said, well, my grandson came and said,
Oh, help me work on that and do that.
So, my wife doesn't need to help.
And that will put, if we don't have any questions,
I don't have any questions, I do have a question I would like to ask.
If that is the case.
I'll be on the tail gunner.
We got inside the bus.
Thanks, Chuck.
MSB, your coffee's very hot.
Man, accommodations are great in this bus.
That way, back to that control.
So, NA3CW, NA3OH.
Wow, you're a hard station to follow, Leon.
But, yeah, we made it.
The bus is safe.
This is NA3CW.
Do we have any other check-ins, any late check-ins to the workbench?
Please call.
Kilo Delta 3, Echo Echo.
Okay.
Okay.
I got you, John.
KD3EE.
There was a station before.
It sounded kind of like it might have been mobile, but I just weren't making it.
Want to try it one more time?
One more time.
Kilo Delta 3, Zulu, India, Mike.
KBZIM, KB3ZIM.
Do you copy?
Got you that time, Bob.
And do you have any questions?
I do not.
I am motoring south on 283 in Elizabethtown.
So I fired up the transceiver.
I'm on my way home from my brothers in Harrisburg.
Fired up the transceiver and heard me.
That's right, it's workbench.
So I said, I wonder if I can make this.
Elizabethtown.
AF3Z lives up this.
She doesn't try mobile.
I'm mobile.
I want to see if I can get in there.
And I can.
So I have no questions.
And I'll follow up, Chuck, with whatever you wish.
Go ahead.
I hope you copied that.
Yeah, I did, Bob.
Quite a bit of chop, but 100% copy.
And, John, do you have any questions or comments for the net on your week in ham radio?
KD3EE, NA3CW.
Thanks, Chuck.
This is KD3EE.
I don't have any questions.
Last week I reported some SWR trouble on my HF antenna that the tuner would handle.
It turned out to be a connection issue at the window, so I didn't have to go too far.
I did go out to the antenna and poke at things.
But I found it was just a bad connector, so I fixed that.
I now have another antenna.
One of my two-meter antennas that are pulled up into a tree.
The J-Pol is misbehaving, so my APRS radio was awfully quiet.
So that kind of clued me in.
And I am on RF right now because I'm sitting in the parking lot on the east side of Lancaster after the camera club meeting.
So I've got a clear shot from here.
So back to net.
KD3EE.
Very good, John, and a solid copy all around.
Okay, we will now turn to the questions and the answers.
And so far I've got questions from Bill, KC3OK, and Leon.
And we encourage all stations to make comments, observations, or share experiences,
and don't assume your level of experience and knowledge isn't enough.
We can all learn from each other and contribute to our discussions,
so feel free to pick up the mic and have some fun.
So, Mr. Bill, your turn.
KC3OK, what is your question?
NA3CW.
NA3CW, KC3OK.
Well, my question is a small one and a very quick one, so thankfully Leon has a question.
It's about tools for pot trimmers for adjusting potentiometers.
I was looking online at Amazon, and I remember back in the day, my fathers were actually different size.
It was like hardwood dowels with screwdrivers, hands on them.
But I noticed there's plastic, which I was familiar with, but there's also ceramic.
So, any big difference between one or the other, if you're going to be buying these tools, which should I go with?
Is there any real difference between the two?
So, real quick question.
Back to you, Chuck.
Thanks, Bill.
Thanks, Bill.
And as a follow-up, is it ceramic all the way to the tip, or is it ceramic with a metal end on it?
To tell you the truth, Chuck, it's really hard to tell just looking at the pictures on Amazon.
They just, they all seem to specify them as either plastic or ceramic, so I can try and look into that.
Well, very good.
Does anybody have any words of advice or experience for Bill?
Please call.
Okay.
Yeah, go ahead, John.
UA3 KFT.
My inkling is that ceramic, a ceramic tool, is probably for VHF, UHF.
And also, a ceramic is not going to absorb any moisture either.
Whereas, I'll say a fiberglass rod, that could absorb some moisture and so forth.
If it was plastic, then it's not going to absorb any moisture or anything.
But, that moisture would detune the circuit when you're poking that tool in.
So, that's the only, that's the only thing I can think of in terms of different kinds of insulators for the alignment tool.
WA3 KFT.
Thank you, John.
Anyone else?
W3 KZG.
Yes, Scott.
Missed a question, but I think he's talking about insulated tools to work inside radios.
Is that what he's asking?
Go ahead, Bill.
Scott, I was specifically looking at the pot trimmer tools.
Okay, yeah.
I have a set of just cheap plastic ones that I think I got off either Amazon or somewhere.
It's, I think there's six or eight different ones in the kit.
All different sizes and shapes.
And then some of them actually have little metal flatheads in them for different size trimmers and pots.
And I've never not found the one I needed in that little kit.
I know some people prefer ceramic ones, but they can be kind of pricey.
And these days, the radios come with so many variables of pots in them, different shapes and sizes.
Metal, plastic.
So you need a decent selection of them.
So I would recommend just to, and you're not in there in your radios every day, so it's not like you need snap-on quality.
And like I said, these ones have worked fine for me for years.
So I would, if I could find a link for them, I'll email it over to you.
But it's just a set of six or eight little plastic screwdrivers that are all different shapes and sizes for pretty much cover all the bases.
Hope that helped.
Back to you, Chuck.
Thank you, Scott.
Any other comments and contributions?
Okay, I'll make my comments.
I have various plastic ones.
I've never tried a ceramic one.
If you're just doing pots, I haven't found anything more or less useful than a plastic tool with a little tiny fleck of stainless steel.
on the very end of it.
And preferably one that kind of cups the adjusting screw.
If it's like a trim pot, one of those totally enclosed ones with a little bitty screw head on the top.
There's also, you know, larger ones that take screwdrivers and whatnot.
Where the materials matter is, as John was saying, if you're poking around amongst variable capacitors,
like trimmers with tuned circuits, there you can have, you know, capacitive effects and make things move when you're trying to line them up.
Even if you did, it's no terrible thing to tweak it, pull it out, see where you end it up with, and tweak it again until you get it right.
But on pots, I've never found anything, you know, you can use anything from a tire iron down as long as it fits the screw properly.
So, does that beat your question to death, Bill?
KC3LOK at A3CW.
Yes, it does.
It does.
Thank you, John and Scott and Chuck.
And I probably, Scott, if you see that, send it over to me.
I was looking online.
Yeah, the plastic ones in an assortment don't look too expensive.
I did see, because I'm always leery of Amazon and everything's from China for the most part,
but I did see one that Vichay made, which is a name I recognize, but they were quite pricey.
So, that's enough.
I said it was a quick question, so I appreciate it.
Back to you, Chuck.
NA3CW, KC3LOK.
WA3VEE with a follow-up question.
See it, Brother Ron.
Brother Chuck.
WA3VEE.
I just learned something here.
I mean, I had never heard.
All the years have been in electronics, so 50-something or whatever, back from the 1800s.
Somebody said when everything was black and white and the world was flat.
Sound familiar, Chuck?
I mean, I just learned.
I never knew there were ceramic trimmers.
So, my question is to the group, kind of interject the question here,
care and feeding of these things.
I mean, it seems to me that these are for tuned circuits and for high-impedance circuits as well.
One circuit I remember when I was at HP, I had designed a pulse-stretching circuit, very, very high impedance.
The only way I could look at anything in that circuit was a 10-meg scope probe.
You wave your hand over it, it changed.
Characteristics were very, very dependent upon capacitance and everything else.
Would these also be used in that?
And if you're going to get into a circuit, would you have to take something like 90% isopropyl and actually clean the tool before you went in there?
So, that's my follow-up.
Help me further my education here.
This is fascinating.
Back to you, Chuck.
NA3CW, WA3VE.
I got nothing there because I don't like high-impedance circuits any more than I have to.
But, yeah.
So, does anybody else have any experience with such things?
Please call.
Hey, Scott.
Not specifically that, Ron, but the plastic and ceramic trimmer tools is what we're talking about.
I don't know if you confused that or not.
Mainly, they're non-inductive and non-conductive because there are a lot of trimmer pots that if you stick a metal screwdriver down in them,
they're open and they will actually short out the pot.
So, that's one of the reasons why they use plastic and or ceramic because they're non-conductive.
And you have to be careful because even some of the plastic screwdrivers have a metal, like a little tang in there to actually grab a hold of the trimmer.
So, you've got to make sure that that tang is not going to go down inside the pot and short it out.
And also not to be inductive, like Chuck said, with variable capacitors.
Over to you, Bill.
I'm sending you a link right now.
It's on Amazon.
They're made by GC Electronics.
They're actually made in USA, Rockford, Illinois.
I'm sending you the link right now.
And it's a nice little package of, I think it's six or eight little screwdrivers and a nice little package.
And like I said, I've never run across a spot that there wasn't the right tool in that pouch.
It's $28.
It's not super expensive.
So, yeah, I'm going to send it over to you.
Back to you, Chuck.
Thank you, Scott.
Any other comments before we send it back to Bill?
This is KN3I.
I was wondering about you.
Go ahead, John.
Yeah, just the GC Electronics.
As far as I'm concerned, that's an old name.
I went to a tech school back in the 70s, and I remember them.
And so if they have a kit, it's probably really good.
I would get that just based on the name.
I have several of their alignment tools here, and they're all great.
So that's it.
KN3I.
Did we hit the spot, Bill?
Did we hit the spot, Bill?
You did indeed.
You did indeed.
And I always learn something here.
And I always learn, even when I think it's a simple question.
Maybe it's not all that simple, but there's always learning involved.
So I appreciate it, Chuck.
Thanks a lot to all.
Back to you, NA3CW, KC3OK.
John, any follow-ups to your follow-up?
Something else there, Nat.
Last one.
Chuck, thanks for letting me interject that question, Nat.
That's very, very valuable.
So, yeah, pushing a small plastic.
I've got a drawer full of plastic ones up here.
But, yes, some of them have the blade on the end.
And pushing it through, yes, definitely could short.
So thanks for the advice on that as well.
That's it.
You guys did it for me, too.
And I appreciate the education.
Always learning, definitely.
Back to you, Chuck.
NA3CW, WA3VE, here with the group.
Thanks, gents.
So, Leon, it's up to you.
AA3LH, NA3CW.
All right.
This is AA3LH.
This is the time of the year I like to put my traveling antennas up,
as I said before, and try and tweak them and make sure that everything is working before I go traveling.
I'm not caught out there trying to set something up that just doesn't work just because the book said it does.
It does well on 40 meters.
It does well on 40 meters.
I was playing with that tonight, and it's working well.
It doesn't do so good on 10 meters.
But on the other hand, when I travel, I don't worry about 10 meters.
I don't really do much on 10, or I'm not in the past.
Anyway, I was wondering if I would put 10 feet of wire on the end of each radio on the G5RV,
and would make it 122 feet long.
Would I need to go ahead and make my lateral line longer to support that?
That is the question.
Back to that control, AA3LH.
An A3CW.
Interesting question.
So if you extended it out to the full 80 meter half wave, in other words, how long is the window line that's on that?
37 feet long.
And then you go through some sort of ballon or choke or whatever to coax?
To one choke, yes.
Okay.
Yeah.
So, does anybody have any comments for Leon?
Please call NA3CW.
I'm not hearing anything.
Hmm.
So, it would be a dipole with X number of feet of open wire to a one-to-one ballon to coax.
And how long is your coax?
About 25 feet.
Probably still okay.
What you don't want is an electrical quarter wave or a combination of electrical quarter waves on a feed line,
anybody's feed line, unless you're doing something specific.
Because the impedances can get all out of whack.
But, hmm.
I guess, without simulating it, I guess I don't have an opinion on that.
I'm thinking you probably are okay.
It's going to give you a lower, less capacitive driving impedance, which should be friendlier.
So, I'm going to go with you're probably okay.
Any other comments from people?
Could the stating of the adjustable length, could that be restated for me?
I don't know if I quite understood that.
This is KC-300 NZT.
I have a G5 RV antenna.
It is 102 feet long.
Each side is 51 feet long.
And it has 37 feet of, listen, that's crappy brown stuff on for traveling.
And then it's fed to a one-to-one choke balance.
It's a choke balance.
And to somewhere around 25, 30 feet of LMR 400.
And I would like to extend the radials from each side being 51 feet to about 61 feet each side.
Or 122 feet long.
Do I have to change the length of my lateral line?
Do I need to use a four-to-one balance?
What do I need to do?
It's a question.
A30H.
I'm asked for the comment as well.
Hey, Joe.
Good evening, all.
W3 GMS.
A little bit familiar with the G5 RV.
I've never used one.
But friends have.
And it's my understanding.
It's my understanding that for that given length, and with that length of open wire line or crappy brown stuff
or whatever they use, that the impedance at the end of the ladder line is kind of around 50 ohms for most of the bands.
So it presents a reasonable match.
I've never heard of anybody using a four-to-one balance or anything like that.
So in thinking about it, if you're going to change the length of the antenna, the feed point impedance on the amateur bands are going to be different.
And that's going to have different reflected impedance as viewed at the end of the crappy brown stuff ladder line where the coax connects.
So I don't think you need to do anything with the coax.
I think, if anything, you would need to trim either one way or the other, the ladder line.
And that's my high-level overview.
So back to you, Chuck, W3GMS.
Thanks, Joe.
Leon, I have a question.
Why do you want to do that anyway?
Because at that frequency, the main current is at the center of the antenna.
A G5 RFE, for those that aren't familiar with it, is a three-half waves on 20 meters.
And that's really its design frequency.
It just happens to be that you can use it on other bands as well with a tuner.
The additional wire length, I don't think is going to buy you much.
Because the current is going to be in the middle on that band.
And, of course, as Joe said, it would detune the other bands.
So I'm just wondering what you have in mind, Leon.
And A3CW.
All right.
80 meters tunes really, really hard.
But it does.
It does.
Once you have it tuned, it works well.
I can work with Midwest.
I work, oh, my goodness.
West, I can't think of the country, Western Canada.
It does well.
But it tunes.
And I thought if I put more wire in the sky, it might work better.
If it was going to detune the other bands, I don't want to do that.
That's where it's at.
But I thought I could maybe improve on it a little bit.
Yeah.
Well, for temporary use, I mean, if you're in a position to take it down and clip something on, people have done that as well.
Like, put in an insulator.
And, you know, add your extra length and, you know, one or two insulators maybe to get a little bit better isolation off the end.
And you can clip on some extra length.
But if you can tune it, if you can tune it, yeah, I could see where it would be cranky.
But if you can tune it, I'd probably just leave it alone if I was concerned about the other bands.
EMS with a follow-up.
Joe?
Joe, that's what you use to clean your hands with.
I totally agree with Chuck on this.
And, Leon, I would not do it because you're going to mess up the other bands.
And I don't – I know a lot of people that use a G5 RV.
And there's also a – if you do some Internet research, there's also – they call it an improved G5 RV,
where they tweak the length of the ladder line a little bit and they tweak the length of the flat top portion a little bit.
And I encourage you to do some research on that.
But I don't think you would gain anything by – just as Chuck said,
because your high current portion is still going to be in the center.
And I don't think that extra length is going to buy you a diddly squat.
So that's my comment.
Go ahead.
That's what I'm here to learn.
I just know somebody who did that.
And for what he used it for, it appeared to work.
How well it worked, I don't know.
Maybe it would have worked better if you wouldn't have did that.
But he just put about 10 feet, 5 feet on each of the radials and put it up.
And it seemed to work okay.
So I thought it might do the same for me.
But if it doesn't mess with it, I'm not going to mess with it.
I think the only thing to do is ask him what it did to the other bands when he did that.
Anyway, okay, well, I'm working on Luke's transmitter here.
But I heard that, and I do have a little bit of familiarity from afar with that antenna.
And there's a lot of excellent, excellent material online.
But I don't think 10-foot extra is going to buy you a diddly squat.
You've got to be careful when people say it works better.
You know, it's very, very subjective.
Unless you're collecting data, I mean, hard scientific data,
the perception and reality might be separated by many, many, many miles.
7-3, take care, guys.
Good hearing everybody on.
W-3, GMS, clear.
According to him, it tunes easier.
That's what I was concerned about.
But I can use it the way it is, no problem.
Thanks for your help.
I hate to pick it up again, but if you want to go to a longer antenna,
just put open wire line on it or ladder line from the top and all the way down to your tuner,
and then you'll have a very efficient multi-band antenna
that will outplay the G5RV on any day of the week.
Okay, maybe that's what will work in the next few weeks when the thing warms up.
Well, I voted on that one with my feet and hands.
I have an 80-meter inverted V fed with homemade open wire line for most of it.
It lasts a couple of feet CBS as I go through the wall into the tuner.
But that's the classic multi-band antenna.
If I had a choice, I don't really have a choice.
If I had a choice, it wouldn't be an inverted V.
It would be a flat top with open wire line.
And that would give me much better performance than the high bands, I believe.
But most of what I do is 80 and 40 and occasionally 20,
and I'm thinking about doing a separate high frequency antennas when the ice age is over.
So one thing about higher frequencies with inverted Vs is it tends to have a very strong,
straight-up component, which ain't what you want on 20 meters and up.
So before we go for last words here, does anybody else have any questions or follow-ups?
Please call NA3CW.
...that I am.
Go ahead, Bob.
Okay, I'm a little closer now.
When I first keyed up, I was in Elizabethtown.
Good hike.
But now I'm headed east on 30, and I don't know where I am.
I'm certainly west of Parksburg by a bunch.
West of Gap, actually.
So I know I'm getting in way better now.
Yeah, I was just curious.
I said I had no questions, but I did have a comment, which is kind of a question to the group.
Not technical in any way, shape, or form.
But I was just wondering if anybody worked the AM rally this past weekend.
I did.
Some on Saturday and some on Sunday.
Not to, you know, get points, although I did log everything, and I'm going to submit a log.
But I had, well, well over 30 contacts.
And I had a ball.
I had a blast.
Actually, the first contacts I made, AM mode, were on 10 meters.
And it was terrific.
Then I got on 40 and stuff, and boy, it was a lot of fun.
And there were some great roundtables and everything going on.
So I was just curious if anybody bothered to do that, because I sure did.
I was waiting for that AM rally weekend, and it was a hoot.
I enjoyed it a lot.
So anybody do that, KB3 is at AM mobile.
KN3i.
KN3i.
John.
Yeah, very good.
Yeah, I spent a few hours on that event, and it was a lot of fun.
I really enjoyed it.
I think it was all on 40 meters in the afternoon.
So I didn't try all the other vans, but I opened my eyes to the possibility of doing that in the future.
So it was a good time.
Thanks, John. Anybody else?
A3VEE.
Hello, Ron.
Good, Chuck. A3CW, W83VEE. I worked a little bit at a 10-meter contest this weekend, but not very much.
It was very busy over here, but nonetheless, that was nice.
So 28.4 right in the center of the tech class portion, and there was a lot of activity there.
So at least a 10-meter, I wanted to get some press for that one.
Back to you, Chuck. A3CW, WA3VEE.
AF3Z late.
The late AF3Z.
I heard the photography session ended.
How are you? How was your week? And do you have any questions?
The week has been good.
Talking about the weekend.
I don't know what things you were talking about, but the one was the FYBO, freeze your buns off, QRP thing.
I listened, but I didn't hear any activity.
Just one time I checked it out.
But did a little bit of QRP stuff and some other things, and that's about it.
So good evening, everybody.
AF3Z.
Thanks for checking in.
So before we close down the workbench for the evening, let's see if anybody else wants to check in.
If you've been listening, just lurking around, or just tuned in, we'd like to hear from you.
Any other check-ins to add to our list of 18?
KCW, KC3NZT.
That's it.
That's it, Harvey.
Before you do your check-ins, I have a diode question, but it may not be suitable enough to extend the workbench.
If anybody's willing to hang around after the workbench, I'd love to ask it regarding testing, but I didn't think it was important enough to extend the workbench.
So back over to you, Chuck.
I just want to throw that out there while people are still present.
KC3NZT.
Yeah, I got my phone ringing here.
Thank you, Harvey.
KC3NZT, NA3CW.
Actually, I think that's probably a very good reason to extend the workbench while we've got everybody here.
And what can we do about diodes?
Go ahead, Harvey.
Thank you for your indulgence.
I don't want to hijack the workbench, so sorry in advance.
My question, I'll try to make it as quick as possible.
I had a circuit that was kicking my butt.
I did get it.
I had to do it a workaround way, but it made me question what I know about diodes.
I had a circuit where there's a rectifier before a DC solenoid.
It's fed with AC voltage.
And the problem I was running into is there was no easy way to test the resistance of the DC coil.
And the reason was is because my meter of Fluke 87 was not able to beat the bias voltage required by the diode.
So I'm having a hard time determining whether or not the coil was my intermittent fault or the diodes themselves were the intermittent fault.
What I ended up doing to accomplish the goal was to measure the current.
Once the AC voltage was applied, I measured the current and deduced the resistance of the coil when it did work.
But when it was failed, I had no way really to test that.
Now, the Fluke 87, it can test a diode in diode test mode.
But what it gives me is just the bias breakaway voltage.
But it didn't give me anything beyond that.
So if you can't access what's beyond a diode, my question is, how do diodes perform when they're on the fritz?
What is the common failure mode of a diode?
And is there any way other than just force feeding it a known voltage, which was difficult for me because it's AC fed?
So I couldn't use like a DC lab supply, I don't think.
Maybe I could have.
But is there a way to test that more effectively quicker than what I did?
Because I don't know how diodes perform when they're on the fritz.
What does that even mean?
I don't know.
I mean, that's why I'm asking.
So better methods of testing when there could be a bad diode blocking your ability to test resistance.
KC-3 NZT.
That's a very interesting question.
The best ones are the ones that you think are not a big deal.
That's a very interesting question.
So do we have any responses for Harvey?
WA3VE to get us started.
Okay.
Okay, we'll go with Ron and then turn it over to John.
Chuck, NA3CW, WA3VE.
The common failure mode for diodes is usually short because what happens is the junction gets pierced.
And that usually is due to high current or more commonly an over voltage.
So, John, take it from there.
WA3KFT, WA3VE.
WA3KFT.
I've been around diodes for a long time.
Little ones and big power ones.
The internal forward dropping resistance changes with current.
So, with a finite amount of current, you can sort diodes.
But an ohm meter is just a go, no-go test.
Not much of anything.
But, like I said, a diode changes resistance with the amount of current going through it.
Now, most of my experience was with power diodes of 200 and 400 amperes.
And they had a pigtail on them the size of your pinky.
But, like I said, the p-on junction changes ohms with the amount of current going through it.
So, if you could isolate the diode and use a DC power supply or something like that, then you can check it.
I'll say you can run DC through the diode to a known resistor and then use a high impedance volt meter, like a VTVM or something, or a TVM,
and look at the voltage drop across the diode.
WA-3-KFT.
WA-3-KZG.
Scott.
So, Harvey, in that use case, you would have to have removed the diode from the circuit to essentially be able to measure the resistance of that coil on that relay, or solenoid, or whatever it is.
The diode is there because that coil, when it is energized and de-energized, can actually send off a high voltage spike, kind of like an ignition coil in a car does.
Same principles.
So, that diode's there to shunt that high voltage spike, or stop it, basically.
It's like a wall.
And keep that from going anywhere else.
That's why the diode's there.
But, yeah, essentially you would have to remove that diode from the circuit to measure the resistance of that coil in that relay or solenoid.
I can't remember which one it was.
Either way, it doesn't matter.
Same thing.
But, yeah, you would have to physically lift one of the legs, then measure the resistance.
The way you did it is a roundabout way, and I'm guessing you got the answer information you were looking for, which is a great way as well.
Back to you, Chuck.
Quick, Chuck.
No, no, I didn't get the answer I needed.
It's potted.
It's potted, so there's no way to lift it.
So, I was, yeah.
So, I'm going to end up just, I guess, replacing the whole thing.
But that was the whole issue, trying to figure out, is it, to figure out which one failed, basically, was the guess.
Because it could be built externally.
If it was just the diodes, for example.
But I had no way of knowing.
I couldn't figure out how to test it other than when it was intermittently bad, there was no current flow.
When it was intermittently good, there was current flow.
That was the only thing I had, and I couldn't figure out if there was another way to test.
NA3CW, I think you picked a very valid way to do it.
It's all about current.
If this thing, it's a potted assembly with the coil and the resist, I mean, and the diode, and all you got is two leads,
you can, you know, you can run the current through a one direction, measure the current, you know, through a resistance,
an external resistance to limit the current.
Run the current in one direction, then flip polarity, run it the other way.
And, obviously, you shouldn't get it going backwards, and you should get it going forward.
And I don't think there's much more that you can do with it.
Yeah, the predominant failure mode for diodes is short.
Not always, but I have, on rare occasion, and I mean rare, found leaky diodes.
But, generally speaking, they're either dead or alive.
If it was horribly shorted, I've seen them blown open to bits.
But, usually, the way they go is shorted.
So, I think the running current through a one way and then running current backwards the other way, it's, yeah, that will give you the resistance.
I don't know about making the rest of whatever it's connected to performing.
But, if it's, if you, you know, can isolate at least one lead of this thing and do the current one way, then the other way,
that's going to tell you anything you need to know, I think.
Back to you, Harvey.
Okay, thank you.
Well, yeah, I don't know too much about, well, I guess, first of all, I don't know what a leaky diode would be.
Shorting as the failure mode would be ideal, because if that were the case, this thing has a, it's a rectifier.
So, it's more than one diode.
But, if they were, for example, shorted intermittently, well, the rectification could just be done externally.
And, then, the expensive component is operational.
If the coils are good and I can build the rectifier externally, Bob's your uncle.
That's no big deal.
But, yeah, there was no way, there was no way other than just AC current on the feed line.
That was all I had to measure.
So, I mean, in the end, you know, the component could be replaced.
But, I just, you got me thinking about, I don't know what the common failure modes of diodes are,
or how they perform when they go completely kaput.
So, this is very helpful, knowing that commonly they are shorted.
Shorted, I assume, means it's functioning like a straight wire.
Please correct me if that's wrong.
And, I guess, leaky, leaky would just be, it's not a hard stop in the reverse direction.
So, basically, also performing more like a straight wire.
Can I just get a little clarification on that?
Leaky and shorted, one is getting towards the other.
They're both moving towards the direction of it's just a straight piece of wire.
Is that correct?
Yes, to all of the above.
Well, thank you very much.
That was a pain, because when DC resistance was measured, it was in the high mega-ohms,
even when it was broken and when it was bad, or when it was working and when it was bad.
So, it was frustrating.
And, I don't have, I don't even know of any AC power supplies that are benched up.
You can get those Chinese DC ones all day long.
But, to test, to make sure it was working properly, I didn't have that at my disposal.
So, I appreciate it, and thank you very much, bit by bit, adding knowledge to the library there.
So, thank you very much.
This is KC3NZT, and thank you, everyone, for indulging me for a late workbench.
Back to you, Chuck.
That's what this one's about.
That's what the workbench is about.
So, do we have any other late check-ins to add to our list?
Please call.
All right, then.
18 it is.
Thanks to all stations for checking into the 985 workbench, and a big thank you to Joe,
W3GMS, for making this thing available to us, this 985 repeater.
And you're invited to use the repeater often.
It's a great way to show that you appreciate the gift of 985 to the amateur radio community.
And finally, I hope to hear you again on Thursday night at 8 p.m., where Luke, W3SCY, will be hosting the roundtable.
This concludes the workbench for the night.
Feel free to stick around and chat, and have a good night and a great week ahead.
7-3.
This is NA3CW clear.
Thank you.