Bulletin

Left to right: WB7OTC, Bruce---K7YB, Bob---WV7Z, Mike---K7PTO, John. Not pictured: urs trooly.

We want to say Thank You to KD7HWV Jack for all the years of service running the Montana Traffic Net.

It is not an easy task keeping things running smoothly and taking the Flak and everybody wanting it perfect.

Below is some information sent to me by N7VLC that relates to an article listed below

Greetings from Great Falls MT.

Just happened across your story about Darrel Moore - K7CPJ and his clandestine Ham station at the University of Montana, on the MTN website (Donnie Fort)

I couldn't find an E-mail address for Darrel, but if you do, feel free to forward this to him.

********************

I don't remember who it was who said back in the 1800's something to the effect that

in regards to technology, "everything has already been invented... etc." (was that Edison?)

Well, guess you beat us to the punch by a few decades.....

My friends and I were at the University of Montana back in the EARLY 1970's. We ALSO strung a long wire between the Craig - Elrod - Dunaway dorms (I lived in 341 CRAIG). I don't remember the room numbers of the other guys that actually had the wire out their windows, we were all on the top floors... (FATE?)

Several times we had a heavy, heavy frost, and there... very obvious and highly visable.... was this THICK "frostly line" up in the sky between the buildings where NO wire should be ! Being the geeks we were, we decided to run a current through that line to heat it up slightly and melt the ice, so that it would not be as visible. We would ground one end and apply voltage to the other. This worked rather well several times, until one day, someone of us got a bit too liberal with the voltage/current (we were using a variac) and melted the wire. This necessitated enlisting the help of yet another friend (a Senior Forestery major by the way) with a bow and arrow. Four tries and one broken window later, he managed to "hit" the wooden frame of the window across the way, and we were back in business...

The last two years, we ALL applied for and got rooms right next to one another in MILLER HALL top floor.... South end. (Back then it had a flat roof, which has since been remodeled into a peaked roof). We BRIBED the janitor to let us on the roof. AL, I think was his name, but I might be wrong. He was a very sweet older guy, with a strong understanding and tolerance for youthful shenagians. The bribe consisted of a plate of cookies (a care package from home), and he let us on the roof to place an antenna. Part of his charity toward us, I think stemmed from the fact he thought we were "pretty good kids" since he never had a problem at "OUR END" of the dorm / floor. The second year we were there, he actually GAVE us a key to the trap door to get up to the roof, so that we wouldn't have to bug him when we needed access. (his idea, not ours).

Of course, since no holes in the roof were allowed, the only way to secure it was to build a large "X" with lumber (Four Ten Foot 2x4) weighted down with cement blocks (four to a side) This held our vertical and we spread several small spools of 18 ga . hookup wire out as the ground radials. We were supposed to remove it each quarter, but the janitor let us just disassemble it and lay it off to the side, still on the roof. We had to remove it at the end of each year, just in case of "roof maintenence". If you knew what you were looking for, you could just barely see the tip top of it from EDDY St, and not at all walking around the building. I'm sure some people elsewhere had seen it and commented, but we followed proper procedure, and got the NO HOLES mounting stand approved by the physical plant staff. It was grounded and according to a few of our dorm mates, caused little TVI.... of course back then there were only a few rooms with T.V.s and there was NO internet to be concerned with disrupting.

We made many contacts with that setup....

I was really amused that someone else did the same thing... and somewhat saddened, too,

because at the time we thought we were really something thinking that idea up !

Cam - N7NBB

present calls of the past guilty parties:

N7NBB

KL7AK

KA7AZY

N7EMW

and a couple others who never took the plunge to move from CB to HAM.

Here is a bit of Missoula Ham history relating to the new check-in to the MTN tonight - K7CPJ - of Soda Springs, ID. In 1958 I started school at UM (Montana State University in those days) and stayed in Dunaway Hall mens dorm. About the second week of school I discovered what appeared to be a long wire antenna strung between one wing of Craig Hall and Dunaway Hall. Being curious, I traced the wire to a window in Craig - counted the windows from one end -then went to that hall and counted doors and knocked. Lo-and-behold there WAS a ham living there and his name was Darrel and his call was K7CPJ. We struck up a friendship that lasted for a long time, but we lost track until I heard him check into the Farm net some time back and called him by land line to re-connect..

In the dorm he had a Heathkit CW transmitter (either DX 35 or DX 65 - don't remember) He had recently up-graded his Novice to a General and was anxious to get on phone. I gathered up some junk and built him a one tube 6L6 Heising modulator (often referred to as "choke" modulation) and drove it with the high impedance audio output of an Allied Radio tape recorder that I had. Darrel didn't think it could possibly work, but we but hooked it into the B+ line to the final amp via a plug already built into the Heathkit backside for similar purposes. Other voltages were available there for the 6L6 tube, so hook-up was relatively simple. We called George, W7IOJ, on the phone and we got on the air on - guess where ??? (3910) and carried on a good QSO with a good audio report from George. Darrel continued to use that get-up for a couple years while he was at school, making contacts all over the country.

I haven't talked to him since I got my general, so am looking forward to connecting sometime when conditions are compatable. I've listened to the Farm net lots of times, but never found good conditions between Soda Springs and Plains.

In case you aren't familiar with Soda Springs - it is located in the very southeast corner of Idaho east of the place where that ham radio outlet is located (don't remember the name of the town or the store - it's hell to be getting old Hi!)

The communication industry would like to use the electric power network of distribution wires to carry, along with power for your toaster and vacuum, very high frequency signals that could be picked up and used by your personal computer. This would replace your use of telephone lines to reach the Internet. All these power line wires already function as radio transmitting antennas, but the 60-cycle per second radio energy does not interfere with broadcast or short wave radio.

BPL (Broadcast by Power Line) use would insert huge numbers of signals at all of the so-called "short wave" frequencies onto the lines, superimposed on the 60-cycle power current. The result would be a jumble of transmissions all across the short-wave band. To a receiver listening at any one frequency the result is a steady hissing noise strong enough to override any ordinary message being sent at that frequency.

Proponents of the system say it will occupy all frequencies from 1800 kilohertz to about 80,000 kilohertz. KGVO uses a frequency of 1290 kilohertz. Within the part of the spectrum are found stations from around the world (England, Berlin, Moscow, etc.), and many radio systems used by police, fire, marine and other services. Amateur radio operators use this band heavily to provide emergency service when disasters interrupt commercial communication systems.

A good analogy: Imagine a back-fence conversation with an air raid siren running steadily on a 50-foot pole at each end of every alley.

At least six important nations (e.g. Holland, Japan) have rejected this system. We should also. Our FCC has not taken a stance.

Wayne P. Van Meter,

2224 1/2 Rattlesnake Drive, Missoula