Amateur Radio From Loudoun County VA

      The next LARG Club meeting will be on April 21, 2001, at 8:30 in the Conference-Training Room at the Leesburg Police Station on Plaza Street at 8:30 a.m. The facility is located on Plaza Street between East Market Street and Edwards Ferry Road. Talk-In is on 147.480 MHz. You can join other LARG members for breakfast (~7:30) before the meeting at the Bob Evans Restaurant located in the Leesburg Corner Shopping Center.

      March Club Meeting - Norm, AI2C, and Larry, KC1YC, showed the MZ-104 Unix microprocessor and its assorted peripherals that the club had received for its winning entry in the Unix World contest, thanks to the hard work of Tom, WB3AKD. The impending Virginia QSO Party (VAQP) was on almost everyone's mind at this meeting, held just a few hours before the start of the QP. John, W4AU, gave us a pep talk and distributed some final information and advice.

      April Meeting Notes - The main event at the next meeting will be a Fox Hunt to be held after the business meeting. We need to tune up our direction finding and recovery skills so that we will be ready for the next balloon launch. Gary, NC4S, will bring us up to date on this year's Field Day plans and will have the operator sign-up sheet at the meeting for everyone to pick an operating or logging time. Also, if there is interest, we may also try to do some more TRLog training to get people ready for Field Day and computer logging.

      Club News - Norm, AI2C, and Dale, KD4LSL, are spearheading the club's participation in the Boy Scout Camporee, which will be held on April 21-22. LARG will be setting up a amateur radio demonstration. If you would like to help out, contact Norm or Dale. John, W4AU, reports that the total LARG score for the VAQP was 848,549 points, an increase of almost 210,000 points over last year's club total! This may be the year for LARG to win the club plaque. Several individual outstanding scores were turned in by LARG members, but it was the increase in overall scores that made this such a successful VAQP for LARG. WAY TO GO EVERYONE!!
Contact Mark, N3GMW, if you are interested in participating in the annual Red Cross - Reston Bike Club Century ride, which passes through Loudoun County.
      Please keep Charlie's, K4LJH, father, George, in your thoughts and prayers; he is in the Winchester hospital recovering from surgery.

      Temp, W4HZV, has kindly sent us two reviews of some ham equipment that he and Wes, WA4TSC, have recently acquired and written about; thanks for the information, Temp and Wes

THE NEW KENWOOD TS-2000 TRANSCEIVER
By Temp Titus, W4HZV

      With the introduction of DSP, the amateur community began to appreciate good receive filtering and high quality transmit audio at a reasonable price. The TS-2000 is the latest of the new 'digital' radios. In the 2000, ALL the transmit and receive signal filtering, shaping and rejection is done digitally. Kenwood has expanded the single transceiver concept with the 2000 to include frequency coverage from HF through 1200Mhz(an optional internal module). This includes HF and 6 meters as well as the VHF/UHF frequencies. The HF and VHF/UHF modules are separate, therefore received signals from both modules can be monitored at the same time.

      The TS-2000 is about the size of a TS 440 or 570, weighs 17 pounds, and draws about 2.2 amps in the receive mode. It has a TCXO for excellent stability as well as an automatic antenna tuner, usable through 6 meters. Kenwood also offers a control head for use when the 2000 needs to be remotely located as in RV mobile applications. Transmit audio is excellent. One can adjust the digital audio to your voice. Also you can adjust the receive audio to your ear. The DSP noise reduction and signal rejection modes are adjustable to suit the situation.

      The Kenwood 2000 uses a dual Menu System to tailor the radio to your needs. There are about 100 menu and sub menu selections which include everything from display lighting to packet operation. Kenwood's Menu System includes 'help info' on screen and is user friendly. The Radio has built in 1200/9600 baud packet capability. A DX cluster module is included, to automatically display and save the call sign, frequency and time. No external equipment is required for this DX cluster function.

      The TS- 2000 is as good a transceiver as I have ever used. It certainly is the most versatile. One radio for HF, VHF/UHF FM and packet, configured with an HF TNC, amplifier, screwdriver antenna and laptop, I'm ready to go. Oh, did I mention the TS 2000 does satellite stuff? Yes, but for another time.

The 5 BAND TENNADYNE LPDA ANTENNA
by Wes Boxwell (WA4TSC) and Temp Titus (W4HZV)

      Several years ago we became interested in LPDA (Log Periodic Dipole Array) design and built a 7 element model for W4HZV's home station. The LPDA or Log for short is an interesting antenna. It allows for continuous operation over a wide frequency range at good gain, front-to-back and front -to-side ratios with a reasonably low SWR.

      The general design has appeared in the ARRL Antenna Handbook for years. One can select the parameters and simply mathematically design the antenna. Basically in the design, one selects the frequency range, boom length and number of elements. The greater the boom length, the higher the forward gain. The more elements, the lower the SWR. Once the element length and spacing have been calculated, that is it. No adjustment is necessary or practically possible.

      Tennadyne (www.tennadyne.com) has developed a series of LPDA antennas of which the T6 is one. The electrical specifications are as follows: 1.5 Kw on 5 Bands (20 thru 10 meters), maximum VSWR is 1.9 (typically 1.5 or less) over All bands at 50 ohms input, one 'S' unit gain, 2 'S' units front-to-back and 5 'S' units front-to-side. Mechanically, the Antenna weighs about 29 lbs, has a boom length of 12 ft and the longest element length is 38 ft. This LPDA uses T-6061 aluminum, with stainless hardware. The T6 is fed directly with 50 ohm coax; no balun is required. The price is in the $400 range delivered.

      This is a great 'small' beam. We don't think there is a better antenna on the market today considering its price, band coverage and size. WA4TSC is currently using the T6 with excellent results.

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