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Morning on the Mountain

Nashville Op Pos

October 26, 2012 IP Log

Notice the IP address change at 0808 this morning even though I was connected and the link was active.

W4BXI Bow and Arrow Antenna Installation System

Back by request.  Here is a video showing the W4BXI bow and arrow system for putting up antennas.
It is a GREAT system.  The bow allows very short AND very long shots.  Enjoy.

Proposed QSL Card

RG-8

You can do it!

TRX-Manager

Huntsville Hamfest a Success

This year's Huntsville Hamfest was the best ever.  Attendance was up and the forums were great.  Several of you have ask me to post the Internet Remote presentation.  The following is the complete presentation.

So...the proper name for this is:

A: IBM Card
B: Punch Card
C: Hollerith Card
D: A FSM Card (Fold, Spindle, or Mutilate)
E: Expediting File Card

Serial Port Server

Source: QST, August 2012

Internet Remote

You can see a draft of the Internet Remote presentation here.  A PDF version is also available.  I invite your thoughtful comments.

Addon Chat Java Fix

For complete details on Addon Chat issues please see:

http://thebellringers.blogspot.com/2012/06/chat-room-issues.html

FT2K

Digi Log Terminal

FD Log Snippet

40m Field Day Exchange

Click to hear 40m Field Day Exchange.

Ok Ok Ok ... So ... your really are ready for Field Day?

So....you think you're ready for Field Day?

RJ-45

FT2K CAT Program for the FT-2000

The Tale of the Bronze Rat

A tourist walked into a Chinese curio shop in San Francisco . While
looking around at the exotic merchandise, he noticed a very
lifelike, life-sized, bronze statue of a rat. It had no price tag,
but was so incredibly striking the tourist decided he must have it.
He took it to the old shop owner and asked, "How much for the
bronze rat ?"


"Ahhh, you have chosen wisely! It is $12 for the rat and $100 for
the story," said the wise old China-man.


The tourist quickly pulled out twelve dollars. "I'll just take the
rat, you can keep the story".


As he walked down the street carrying his bronze rat, the tourist
noticed that a few real rats had crawled out of the alleys and
sewers and had begun following him down the street. This was a bit
disconcerting so he began walking faster.


A couple blocks later he looked behind him and saw to his horror
the herd of rats behind him had grown to hundreds, and they began
squealing.


Sweating now, the tourist began to trot toward San Francisco Bay.


Again, after a couple blocks, he looked around only to discover
that the rats now numbered in the MILLIONS, and were squealing and
coming toward him faster and faster.


Terrified, he ran to the edge of the Bay and threw the bronze rat
as far as he could into the Bay.


Amazingly, the millions of rats all jumped into the Bay after the
bronze rat and were all drowned.


The man walked back to the curio shop in Chinatown .


"Ahhh," said the owner, "You come back for story ?"


"No sir," said the man, "I came back to see if you have a Bronze
Republican?

FT-2000 Telemetry at 19,200

Remote Equipment

Smart Remote Power

Modem and Router can now be power cycled via telco

The Return of the Tube!

Peer inside an antique radio and you'll find what look like small light bulbs. They're actually vacuum tubes—the predecessors of the silicon transistor. Vacuum tubes went the way of the dinosaurs in the 1960s, but researchers have now brought them back to life, creating a nano-sized version that's faster and hardier than the transistor. It's even able to survive the harsh radiation of outer space.

Developed early last century, vacuum tubes offered the first easy way to amplify electric signals. Like light bulbs, they are glass bulbs containing a heated filament. But above the filament are two additional electrodes: a metal grid and, at the top of the bulb, a positively charged plate. The heated filament emits a steady flow of electrons, which are attracted to the plate's positive charge. The rate of electron flow can be controlled by the charge on the intervening grid, which means a small electric signal applied to the grid—say, the tiny output of a gramophone—is reproduced in the much stronger electron flow from filament to plate. As a result, the signal is amplified and can be sent to a loudspeaker.

Vacuum tubes suffered a slow death during the 1950s and '60s thanks to the invention of the transistor—specifically, the ability to mass-produce transistors by chemically engraving, or etching, pieces of silicon. Transistors were smaller, cheaper, and longer lasting. They could also be packed into microchips to switch on and off according to different, complex inputs, paving the way for smaller, more powerful computers.
But transistors weren't better in all respects. Electrons move more slowly in a solid than in a vacuum, which means transistors are generally slower than vacuum tubes; as a result, computing isn't as quick as it could be. What's more, semiconductors are susceptible to strong radiation, which can disrupt the atomic structure of the silicon such that the charges no longer move properly. That's a big problem for the military and NASA, which need their technology to work in radiation-harsh environments such as outer space.

"The computer you and I buy is what NASA buys, but they won't want it exactly the same way," says Meyya Meyyappan, an engineer at NASA Ames Research Center at Moffett Field in California. "It takes them a few years to radiation-proof it. Otherwise the computer you put in the space shuttle or the space station basically will get zapped and stop working."

The new device is a cross between today's transistors and the vacuum tubes of yesteryear. It's small and easily manufactured, but also fast and radiation-proof. Meyyappan, who co-developed the "nano vacuum tube," says it is created by etching a tiny cavity in phosphorous-doped silicon. The cavity is bordered by three electrodes: a source, a gate, and a drain. The source and drain are separated by just 150 nanometers, while the gate sits on top. Electrons are emitted from the source thanks to a voltage applied across it and the drain, while the gate controls the electron flow across the cavity. In their paper published online today in Applied Physics Letters, Meyyappan and colleagues estimate that their nano vacuum tube operates at frequencies up to 0.46 terahertz—some 10 times faster than the best silicon transistors.

The team's device isn't the first attempt at miniaturizing the vacuum tube. Contrary to previous work, however, the researchers do not need to create a "proper" vacuum: The separation of the source and drain is so small that the electrons stand very little chance of colliding with atoms in the air. This is a huge benefit, says Meyyappan, because it opens the door to mass production.

Electronics engineer Kristel Fobelets at Imperial College London agrees. "Vacuum technology within a semiconductor fabrication line would make fabrication costs very high," she says. Still, she cautions, the nano vacuum tube is more of a "proof of concept" than a working device, since its operational requirements do not yet match modern transistors. As one example, about 10 volts is needed to switch the device on, whereas modern transistors operate at about 1 volt; in this respect, the nano vacuum tube isn't compatible with modern circuits.

Even so, the potential is great, says Meyyappan. The new vacuum tube's inherent immunity to radiation could save the military and NASA a lot of time and money, while its faster operation makes it a rare candidate for so-called terahertz technology. Sitting between the microwave and infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, the terahertz region can pick out the "fingerprints" of certain molecules. The technology could therefore be used at airports to safely scan for illicit drugs, for instance.
So are vacuum tubes poised to make a comeback? Meyyappan thinks so. "We are combining the best of the vacuum," he says, "and the best of what we have learned in the past 50 years about integrated-circuit manufacture."

Teleco/IP Power Switch

Alabama QSO Party 2012

Alabama QSO Party (AQP) 2012
Suggested HF Frequencies
ref v.09/03/11
160 METERS				20 METERS
Mobile	CW	1.800-1.810		Mobile	CW	14.025-14.035
Non-Mobile	CW	1.810 CENTERED AROUND		Non-Mobile	CW	14.045 CENTER
Mobile	PH	1.800-1.810		Mobile	PH	14.225-14.235
Non-Mobile	PH	1.865 CENTER		Non-Mobile	PH	14.250 CENTER
80 METERS				15 METERS
Mobile	CW	3.525-3.535		Mobile	CW	21.025-21.035
Non-Mobile	CW	3.545 CENTER		Non-Mobile	CW	21.045 CENTER
Mobile	PH	3.800-3.810		Mobile	PH	21.275-21.285
Non-Mobile	PH	3.855 CENTER		Non-Mobile	PH	21.300 CENTER
40 METERS				10 METERS
Mobile	CW	7.025-7.035		Mobile	CW	28.00-28.010
Non-Mobile	CW	7.045 CENTER		Non-Mobile	CW	28.045 CENTER
Mobile	PH	7.175-7.185		Mobile	PH	28.300-28.310
Non-Mobile	PH	7.230 CENTER		Non-Mobile	PH	28.450 CENTER
www.alabamaqsoparty.org
QST Frequency chart, June , page 67
Prepared by W4BXI

FTDX-3000

See http://www.radiocronache.com/2012/05/p4020/ for more details.

Coffee Club in Lab

Morning on the Mountain

New power distribution!

Stone border project finished....

Another Mentone Mountain Creature!

"Too many devices on a power strip?"

"Multiple power strips connected to the same electrical outlet?"

"New" Op Pos

ARRL Internet Remote

Please see Steve Ford's new book!

Mountain Wild Life

I need help identifying this young snake.  He/she is about 5 inches long.
He is in captivity until I get a good guess on family.

WA5MLF Patch Configuration

DTS-4 Control Program Now Available

The LDG Electronics DTS-4 antenna switch can be controlled via a COM port from a local computer.  A functional control program is available for download at:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/9lsszp3gchyanjt/DTS-4.zip?dl=0

You will be shown a configuration dialog the first time you run the program.  You will only be shown available COM ports.  Be sure to select the COM port to which the DTS-4 is connected.  You can name the antennas in the text boxes provided.  Select the antenna number you want to be the default antenna.  This antenna will be selected each time you run DTS-4.  Once running, change antennas by selecting the new antenna desired.  All the antennas can be grounded by selecting "Ground All".

Once configured you will see a much reduced window each time you run DTS-4.

You can later change the setup by clicking on the pull-down next to Help and selecting Configure DTS-4.  All of your selections are saved in the System Registry.  To remove these entries, click on Help and Uninstall.

Direct any questions or comments to W4UOA.  My email is good on QRZ.

73,
W4UOA

Cincinnati Remote

Interface on FT-2000D

John's new beach QTH!

Actually the beautiful Pearl Beach QTH of 9K2UU.  More pictures available on QRZ.

Raspberry Pi

See this link for more details!