Radio Technique
XMAS GIFTS: This issue should come to you about in the last stages of the XMAS buying frenzy. Some of the following ideas may be different enough to help you pick a gift for the person who's "hard to buy for." Portable power tool kit: The Wen Power Tool Task Force, Model 2336, comes in a handy plastic briefcase which contains four 12 VDC tools: a jigsaw, 1/4-in. drill motor, 14,000-rpm grinder, 25-watt soldering iron, accessories, and a 12 VDC, 2-amp power supply that plugs into 110 VAC household current.
Radio Technique
WORLD ENGINES Expert FM radio: The similarities of the Polk's Challenger and the World Engines Expert RC systems are inescapable. You see, they are in fact made by the same company, Hi Tec, in Korea. But they are not identical. Both came on the market in 1986 as very low priced systems which had feature-loaded, narrow-band transmitters, low-priced servos, and inferior receivers. Both have come back a year later with truly excellent receivers and a program to trade good receivers for bad. I described the Polk's exchange program on page 35 of the March 1988 issue. Here's the World Engines exchange policy: 1) Send back ANY old World Engines system (even one on 27 MHz) and receive a complete new Gold-stickered, seven-channel World Engines Expert FM system for $135.
Radio Technique
Narrow-band systems available now: Airtronics, Inc. offers a new line of super narrow-band Gold label receivers for the U.S. and Canada. Airtronics is also the first manufacturer to submit independent laboratory test results to AMA HQ which demonstrate that both the new receiver and transmitter modules meet and/or exceed the AMA Guidelines for narrow band (1991 and later) performance. The best part is that these narrow-band receivers and matching transmitter modules are being made available to owners of existing wideband Airtronics equipment. (Isn't that what I predicted last year?)
Radio Technique
A LEADER RETIRES. Bob Aberle-past chairman of the AMA Frequency Committee, prolific model designer/builder/tester, and Technical Editor of Flying Models magazine for the past 15 years-has retired from writing for model magazines. He has not retired from working for a living as a manager in a large aerospace firm. Bob is one of my best friends, and I can testify that he put more time and effort each and every week into being FC chairman, writing, and photography than most people put into the jobs that pay their way through life. That's what filled a file cabinet at AMA HQ, and made his writing good enough to earn the McEntee medal from the WRAMs.
Radio Technique
IT AIN'T CHEAP, but it is cheaper. It used to be that all a Contest Director for an RC meet wanted was a scanner, in order to be able to verify that the flag on a contestant's transmitter matched the transmitter's operating frequency. Now he/she may want to verify transmitter power levels as well. The AMA rule book authorizes the Contest Director to make whatever measurements are necessary to insure that he/she is able to conduct a contest that doesn't create any unnecessary risks for the contestants. What tool makes these measurements possible? Section 3.4 of the "AMA Guidelines for Narrow-Band Operation of 72-75 MHz Radio Control Frequencies" (hereafter called the "AMA Guidelines"-which were published in the September and October 1987 editions of AMA News) calls for a transmitter frequency tolerance of ±1,500 cycles in the 72 MHz band.
