Well, progress has been made... I finished my standoff with clamps, pulleys, water-proofing, etc. I borrowed a safety harness from a buddy (my rope rescue harness from the 80s doesn't quite fit anymore). Another buddy will help me from the top of my roof, while I'm 40 feet in the air. Anyway, once that is done, I can run the wires and tune the 80m OCF. It should outperform my 20m vee by a good margin (I hope).
I'm hoping to get that done by this weekend, as it will be Lighthouse/Lightship Weekend. I'd like to make some contacts.
In other news, I tried out my EndFedz 20m. Haven't run it through its paces yet, but it seemed to do well. I got some QSL cards during the past week or so. Today, I got 3 cards. N7LE Central Oregon DX Club, K1MQ from Rocky Hill, CT, and W5WAZ for the Maritime Net check in on 14.300 MHz. That was the first time I've ever checked in on it. Sounded interesting though and I'll try to catch it again.
Some other cards from the past couple of weeks include SP4XQN from Poland, PD5DB in The Netherlands, and S51ZZ in Slovenia. I'm happy to get a card from W4LEX, from Museum Ships Weekend aboard the USS Lexington.
Anyway, don't forget about trying to get a lighthouse this weekend.
About Me
- Steve, KJ4KKI
- Welcome to my little piece of the cyberworld. I am an Amateur Extra Class ham radio operator from Kentucky. In addition to ham radio, other interests include paddling kayaks and canoes, camping, flyfishing, shooting and photography...I am a major Jimmy Buffett fan (fans are known as Parrotheads). But, location, work and finances sort of got in the way of being a beach bum as a career. I am also an animal lover and have several pets. I also have a Facebook page at steve.kj4kki.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Vacation and Portable Antennas
Edited on July 30, 2011. I originally blogged this as ideas for vacation antennas and portable ops with my FT-450. Since then, I've made some purchases which alter my original plans a bit...not much.
First of all, I ordered a Balun Designs QRP balun with wing nut side posts. I plan on making several lengths of antennas with ring end connectors for different quick change bands. Add 50 feet of RG-8X coax for portable use. Then, while I was in the mood, I ordered an EndFedz 20m antenna. EndFedz has mono or dual band, but can be horizontal, vertical, L or sloper and only needs one tie-off point. I chose the 100 watt 20m over the 10/20/40 model because if the location is poor and band conditions aren't good, that extra 75 watts might come in handy. That is a 6 dB difference. I also considered the 20/40 combo, but the extra $40 was spent on other accessories, and 20m is the best band overall.
If no trees are handy, I also worked on my painter pole. The heavy duty one sits in an RV satellite dish tripod. I added an 8 foot lighter, aluminum pole on top of that, with a pvc "T" in the middle for them to slide into. This makes the total height 22 feet high. I've worked northern Europe at 13-15 feet. *Addendum: I got another painter pole and am going to try to attach them together. That will give me 33 feet if it will stay up with guys and not fall over.
For the final touch, I got a second power supply. I have a big and heavy linear for home use. I got a smaller and light weight Jetstream JTPS28, which will fit in a satchel or pack nicely.
This combination of ways to rig an antenna and run portable isn't quite as fancy as a Buddipole or Buddistick, but it was much cheaper and once the antennas are cut to resonance, there isn't any of that tapping coils.
First of all, I ordered a Balun Designs QRP balun with wing nut side posts. I plan on making several lengths of antennas with ring end connectors for different quick change bands. Add 50 feet of RG-8X coax for portable use. Then, while I was in the mood, I ordered an EndFedz 20m antenna. EndFedz has mono or dual band, but can be horizontal, vertical, L or sloper and only needs one tie-off point. I chose the 100 watt 20m over the 10/20/40 model because if the location is poor and band conditions aren't good, that extra 75 watts might come in handy. That is a 6 dB difference. I also considered the 20/40 combo, but the extra $40 was spent on other accessories, and 20m is the best band overall.
If no trees are handy, I also worked on my painter pole. The heavy duty one sits in an RV satellite dish tripod. I added an 8 foot lighter, aluminum pole on top of that, with a pvc "T" in the middle for them to slide into. This makes the total height 22 feet high. I've worked northern Europe at 13-15 feet. *Addendum: I got another painter pole and am going to try to attach them together. That will give me 33 feet if it will stay up with guys and not fall over.
For the final touch, I got a second power supply. I have a big and heavy linear for home use. I got a smaller and light weight Jetstream JTPS28, which will fit in a satchel or pack nicely.
This combination of ways to rig an antenna and run portable isn't quite as fancy as a Buddipole or Buddistick, but it was much cheaper and once the antennas are cut to resonance, there isn't any of that tapping coils.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
I Can Finally Put Up My OCFD!
Patience finally paid off. Thanks to our storm in May, a broken tree is hanging in several pieces in my yard. Another tree is growing around my antenna tower. The tree company took forever to get to me, but tomorrow they are cutting down the damaged tree and trimming the limbs by the tower. Then, up goes my 80m OCFD, with a 4:1 Balun Designs dual core balun. It will be nice having twice the elevation and 80/40/20/10m. I'm not certain if I can use 6m, but it's so dead most of the time that it doesn't really matter. While the insurance company won't pay for cutting down the tree, they can work clearing debris and removal from the house area and roof into a claim, which hopefully will pay most of the cost. Yeah for me!
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