Articles of Interest

The Downey Amateur Radio Club turns 75 in 2026. From the pages of our Constitution and By-Laws:

“The (original) constitution and bylaws were read and adopted by Charter members of the Downey Amateur

Radio Club, Inc., at its second meeting held June 12, 1951”. The officers noted were Herb Black, W6HQR,

the Secretary, and Ray Reynolds, W6PNW, the President.

Ah, the summer contest season is finally here. Lots to do with Ham

Radio. There is increased activity on the Microwave bands, 2, 3, 5,

10, 24, 48 and 76 Ghz. Mike, WB6DJI, has built some very im-

pressive rigs for the upper bands, and they are small and light-

weight. Perfect for roving in the VHF and up contests.

Of course, 6 meters is starting to get active as these are the

months that it typically ‘opens up’ giving us lots of DX. The only

problem is it opens and closes throughout the day and goes by

pretty fast. Best to have a second rig or an SDR watching for activity.

Tech Notes #14, What HF Band to use?

Its always a question for Hams new and old (with a General class or higher license), as in what HF band

should I use? I posed this question to the tech gurus at ARRL and was given a simple reply: “10 MHz and

below, best at night. Above10 MHz, best day”. Its of course a bit more complicated than that, but it seems

20M is good almost any time. The reply went on: “where the bands near 30m are decent any time but best at

day or night depending on what side of 10 MHz they are”. Also: “the reverse beacon net is the easiest way to

tell at a glance which bands are good.”

One handy Web page to determine live band conditions is https://hamradiolist.com/hf-propagation.php. It

covers 6M to 160M.

Antenna Woes?

From time to time some Hams have faced problems with complaints about where and what type of antennas they install. Other than making sure local city regulations in the form of permits are followed, there are legal rules such as PRB-1 (see https://www.arrl.org/prb-1) that can help with the confusion. Basically, from the mentioned ARRL page, this portion is most important: “PRB-1 was not intended to cover CC&R's, but it was intended to give local zoning authorities guidance in enacting and enforcing their ordinances. Local governments are required to reasonably accommodate Amateur Radio installations and what is in the electronic PRB-1 package can be very helpful as a part of a presentation before local planners. 

It is still up to you, the amateur, to be well versed in what PRB-1 says and which documents you want to present to local planners as they consider or reconsider the ordinance and/or your application. As stated in September 2000 QST, pp. 87-88, PRB-1 is "a good thing, but still not a panacea." It is still your responsibility and the responsibility of other amateurs to help educate local zoning authorities as to what PRB-1 is and how it applies. This means that you will need to read and understand PRB-1 and other documents.” More from this handy web page https://codes.findlaw.com/ca/government-code/gov-sect-65850-3 “Any ordinance adopted by the legislative body of a city or county that amateur radio station antenna structures shall allow those structures to be erected at heights and dimensions sufficient to accommodate amateur radio service communications, shall not preclude amateur radio service communications, shall reasonably accommodate amateur radio service communications, and shall constitute the minimum practicable regulation to accomplish the city's or county's legitimate purpose.”

So, while pondering your antenna installation its good practice to at least discuss the situation with your neighbors, check on local permits and codes as they pertain to tower installations, and keep up with any changes to PRB-1. It may also be good practice to print out the full PRB-1 regulation and keep it handy should any official conflicts arise.

For those who got their Ham Radios after, say, the late 1960s, most earlier Ham transmitters used plug-in crystals in order to transmit on one fixed frequency. Need to change bands? You’d need to do a lot of knob and switch changes and plug in a new crystal. That’s why they were mostly called ‘rock-bound’, as the crystals were basically thin slices of quartz. In fact, until 1972 Novice class operators were required to use crystals [per the September issue of the QST Magazine]. Some enterprising Hams learned how to change the crystal’s frequency by adding some pencil lead (yes) or taking apart the crystal’s housing and shaving down the quartz piece. Both were time-consuming and prone to mistakes. That’s why some avid operators kept a box of crystals. These crystals were housed in a small enclosure, usually with the frequency indicated, and had two prongs which plugged into a simple socket on the front of the radio. A bit of history from the web: before VFOs, hams had to buy or grind physical quartz crystals to change frequency. If they wanted to call CQ on a different frequency, they had to unplug the crystal and plug in a new one. The  integration of VFOs into transceivers allowed operators to sweep the bands, adjust their transmit frequency to dodge interference, and transition smoothly from one station to another. An inside view of a ham radio crystal reveals a highly polished slice of natural or synthetic quartz. This slice is sandwiched between two metal electrodes (usually coated in silver) and suspended in a sealed metal, or ceramic can. Internal springs or wires allow the quartz to vibrate freely.