NZART Headquarters Infoline Issue 204
04-APRIL-2010
NZART Website: http://www.nzart.org.nz/

Greetings
Welcome to Headquarters-Infoline a twice-monthly bulletin of news from NZART
Headquarters e-mailed directly to Branches, the amateur radio packet
Bulletin Board Service and to others that subscribe through the NZART
Website at:

http://www.nzart.org.nz/lists/infolinelist.html

In This Issue
*From The Business Manager ZL2TDM
*ARRL IN ACTION: WHAT HAVE WE BEEN UP TO LATELY?
*Sixty-two Years of The Transistor
*WEIRD AND WONDERFUL
*Copper Wire
*Top 10 Worst Passwords
*Upcoming Events
*Contest News
==VHF/UHF/SHF Contest Notes
==HF Contests
*General Information For Break-In and HQ Infoline
*Attachment(s) for Branches: NZART Headquarters Infoline 204.doc

*******
From The Business Manager ZL2TDM
Debby says....
Not a lot of news this week.
Just wishing you all a very happy Easter. Not long now until the Conference
in Auckland, so as advised, I posted out the branch membership voting
figures to all secretaries yesterday.
Talk soon....Debby ZL2TDM

*******
== ARRL IN ACTION: WHAT HAVE WE BEEN UP TO LATELY?
This feature -- including convenient Web links to useful information -- is a
concise monthly update of some of the things ARRL is doing on behalf of its
members, including signing a new Memorandum of Understanding with the
American Red Cross, preparing for WRC-12 (World Radio Conference-12),
legislative actions, holding workshops to help teachers introduce wireless
technology in their classrooms, promoting on-the-air events, investigating
power line noise and more. This installment covers the month of March. Read
more he
http://www.arrl.org/news/features/20...01/11415/?nc=1

*******
Sixty-two Years of The Transistor
"Where a calculator on the ENIAC is equipped with 18,000 vacuum tubes and
weighs 30 tons, computers in the future may have 1,000 vacuum tubes and
perhaps weigh 1.5 tons."
Popular Mechanics, March 1949
In 1947, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain at AT&T's Bell Labs in the United
States noted that the output power was larger than the input power when
electrical contacts were applied to a crystal of germanium. Another worker
at the AT&T's Bell Labs, William Shockley, saw the potential in this and
developed the transistor. The term, 'transistor', was coined by John R.
Pierce from the words 'transfer' and 'resistance'.
The first silicon transistor was produced by Texas Instruments in 1954. This
was the work of Gordon Teal, an expert in growing crystals of high purity,
who had previously worked at Bell Labs. The first MOS transistor actually
built was by Kahng and Atalla at Bell Labs in 1960.
The transistor is the key active component in practically all modern
electronics.
Although several companies each produce over a billion individually-packaged
(known as discrete) transistors every year, the vast majority of transistors
now produced are in integrated circuits (IC). Complete electronic circuits
are made by combining integrated circuits with diodes, resistors, capacitors
and other electronic components.
In 2010, a microprocessor, the heart of your home computer, could have up to
820 million transistors with a speed of over 3 GHz.
Do you remember the XT or '286' computer? This computer, from 1982, had a
microprocessor that had 134 000 transistors in it and a speed of 6 MHz!
About 60 million transistors were built in 2002 for each man, woman, and
child on Earth.
The transistor's low cost, flexibility, and reliability have made it a
universal device. Transistorised mechatronic circuits have replaced
electromechanical devices in controlling appliances and machinery. It is
often easier and cheaper to use a standard microcontroller (a microprocessor
with input and output circuits), and write a computer program to carry out a
control function than to design an equivalent mechanical device.

*******
WEIRD AND WONDERFUL
Up to 250 watts harvested from your shock absorbers
All you mobilers could be generating enormous amounts of energy as you hit
those bumps...HIHI.
In a recent study, mechanical engineers from the State University of New
York have designed and tested a retrofit regenerative shock absorber that
recovers a vehicle's vibrational energy.
The researchers built a 1:2 scale prototype of the regenerative shock
absorber, and demonstrated its ability to harvest 2-8 watts of power during
typical driving conditions at a speed of about 45 mph. They predict that a
full-scale system on a four-wheel car should be able to recover up to 256
watts under these driving conditions.
The researchers predict the ability to harvest approximately 64 watts per
wheel, for a total of about 250 watts for a 4-wheel car, the value
increasing considerably when the system is used on irregular roads.
It was found that the power regenerated is proportional to the square of the
magnetic flux across the coils. Consequently, increasing the flux by twos,
quadruples the peak power output.
http://iopscience.iop.org/0964-1726/19/4/045003/
(Sourced from Elektor E-Magazine and WIA Weekly News)

*******
Copper Wire
After having dug to a depth of 10 feet last year, New York scientists found
traces of copper wire dating back 100 years and came to the conclusion, that
their ancestors already had a telephone network more than 100 years ago.
Not to be outdone by the New Yorkers, in the weeks that followed, a
California archaeologist dug to a depth of 20 feet, and shortly after, a
story in the LA Times read: "California archaeologists, after finding 200
year old copper wire, have concluded that their ancestors already had an
advanced high-tech communications network a hundred years earlier than the
New Yorkers"
One week later, a local newspaper in Ohio reported the following:
"After digging as deep as 30 feet in his pasture near Findlay, Ohio, Bubba,
a self-taught archaeologist, reported that he found absolutely nothing.
Bubba has therefore concluded that 300 years ago, Ohio had already gone
wireless".
Buckeyes are such a proud bunch.
(BUCKEYES is the general name for members of The Ohio State University
Department of Athletics)

*******
Top 10 Worst Passwords
The following is a list of the most predictable passwords, and should not be
used under any circumstances (Source: pcworld.com):
1. 123456
2. 12345
3. 123456789
4. Password
5. iloveyou
6. princess
7. rockyou
8. 1234567
9. 12345678
10. abc123

*******
Upcoming Events
NZART Annual Conference Auckland 5th - 7th June 2010
http://nzartconference.cjb.net/

2010 Silver Rally 14-20 Nov 2010
http://www.silverfernrally.co.nz/, or
http://www.nzart.org.nz/html/2010/02.html#feb03

*******
Contest News

VHF/UHF/SHF Contest Notes
NEXT WEEKEND
The next contest is the LOW BAND CONTEST, 50 MHz to 440 MHz, on Saturday the
10th and Sunday the 11th of April 2010. This is the weekend after Easter.
The operating times a Saturday 1700 to 2300 NZT and Sunday 0700 to 1300
NZT.

The rules are available at: http://www.vhf.org.nz/VHF-UHF-SHF-ContestRules
Logs should be sent within two weeks, to:
with Contest Log in the subject line,
or by post to:
Contest Manager, Wellington VHF Group, P.O. Box 12-259, Thorndon, Wellington
Wellington VHF Group Website http://www.vhf.org.nz

====
HF Contests
NZART WARO THELMA SOUPER MEMORIAL CONTEST
When: - 10 and 11 April 2010
Times:- 0800Z until 1000Z both evenings
Modes :- CW and SSB
The Annual memorial contest activity to commemorate the memory of the Late
Thelma Souper a former stalwart of the NZ Women Amateur Radio Operators and
considered to be "The Grand Old Dame" of WARO.
Contest Rules and Other Operating information are now available from the
WARO Website :- http://www.qsl.net/zl6yl/awards.html.

KIWI DX GROUP DIGITAL MODES CONTESTS
80M - 17 April 2010
40M - 24 April 2010
Times - 1000 UTC until 1100 UTC both evenings
Contest Rules and Other Operating Information available from the Group's
Website http://www.qsl.net/zl2sky/new_page_1.htm

2010 NZART SANGSTER SHIELD QRP CW CONTEST
When :- Saturday, 15 May 2010 and Sunday, 16 May 2010
Times :- 2000 NZST until 2300 NZST each evening
Band :- 80m
Mode :- CW only.
The contest was established in 1927 at the time the late Mr. Ralph Sangster
presented to the radio Amateurs of NZ the trophy, known as the Sangster
Shield, for annual competition to be won by the most efficient station. It
is pertinent to note not only did the efficiency of the station be taken
into account, but also the efficiency of the operator concerned The terms of
the gift of the trophy were that the competition was to be conducted on the
80 metre band using input power of not more than 5 watts and to be solely
restricted to Morse operation.

2010 NZART MEMORIAL CONTEST
When :- 3 & 4 July 2010
Times :- 2000 NZST until 2300 NZST both evenings
Band :- 80m
Modes :- CW and Phone
The Memorial Contest was established soon after the end of World War 2 to
commemorate those who lost their lives in the service of their country. It
is a fitting way to honour those Hams and others who selflessly served their
country so that we, today, may enjoy the freedoms that we do.
The Contest is split into a number of categories catering for all HF
interests so please spare an hour, or two to honour those who paid the
ultimate price that we now enjoy in our present lifestyles.
Contest Rules and Other Operating Information is available from the NZART
Website :- http://www.nzart.org.nz/contests/index.html
Contest Rules and other Operating Information is available from the NZART
website - http://www.nzart.org.nz/contests/index.html

For the contests below please see the latest "Contest Manager's Report"
This can be found on the NZART Web Contest page at:
http://www.nzart.org.nz/contests/index.html
None this time

*******
General Information For Break-In and HQ Infoline

Break-In - From the Break-In Editor John ZL3IB

1. Closing Date Reminder: Copy for the MAY/JUNE issue of Break-In closes on
10-MAY-2010.

2. Document File Format: Please do not send copy for publication as Word
2007.docx files; they cannot be processed. Please send in Word 2003 (or
earlier).doc or *.rtf file format.

3. Early receipt of copy is much appreciated.

4. Break-In Contents Index from 1947 can be found at:
http://www.nzart.org.nz/breakin/index/index.html

5. To search the COMPLETE CONTENTS from 1947, use the page menu entry of:
"Search all index pages up to Jan 2010 HTML 435 kB" Found on the "Index for
Break-In Volumes 20 to 82" page. All the yearly pages have been combined
into one page for your convenience.
http://www.nzart.org.nz/breakin/index/all-bi-index.html 433 kB

6. Copy for the AREC Break-In Column - From Geoff ZL3QR: The close-of-copy
date is the 03-MAY-2010 for articles for publication in the AREC COLUMN OF
BREAK-IN. Photos, if available, to be on a separate floppy or CD (with
captions), posted DIRECTLY TO US Call Book address. All other material can
go to e-mail:
or .

====
The WIA Weekly News Bulletin and The ARRL Letter can be found at:
WIA Weekly News Bulletin:
http://www.nzart.org.nz/html/2010/wia-weekly-news.txt
ARRL Letter: http://www.nzart.org.nz/html/2010/arrl-weekly-news.txt
====
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====
Dates for Official Broadcast (OB) and Head Quarter's Infoline
OBs FOR 2010
FEB-28 MAR-28 APR-25 MAY-30 JUN-08-27
JUL-25 AUG-29 SEP-26 OCT-31 NOV-28 DEC-19

* Next NZART Official Broadcast is on 25-APRIL-2010 * and

* Next HQ-Infoline e-mailed on SUNDAY 18-APRIL-2010 *

INFOLINE 2010 SUNDAY
JAN-17 FEB-07-21 MAR-07-21 APR-04-18 MAY-09-23 JUN-13-27
JUL-04-18 AUG-08-22 SEP-05-19 OCT-03-17 NOV-07-21 DEC-05-19

Infoline on the web http://www.nzart.org.nz/infoline/
Regards, Jamie Pye ZL2NN, Editor