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xergm posted:What's the story behind the donation? xergm posted:I hate you...
 on coax then anything else in my hamshack.There's lots of used equipment out there, you just have to find the guys who have it, and get on their good side. I SHOULD be getting a MFJ-269 analyzer soon. That's getting funded in combination of an antenna related job I'm doing for a ham, and the sale of my motorcycle that I'm tired of looking at and loving with. Edit: No, I DON'T suck dicks. AbsentMindedWelder fucked around with this message at 04:40 on Oct 11, 2010 |
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Oct 11, 2010 04:32
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I'm pretty happy so far, I have plenty of other things to keep my time occupied. I've recently been spending time over on the Flight Sim thread flying routes with some of the guys there. That being said, that desire to operate has been getting me for a little while.
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Oct 11, 2010 04:38
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xergm posted:That being said, that desire to operate has been getting me for a little while. Look up W3UD on there... I can hit that repeater very well.
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Oct 11, 2010 04:41
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I have it on my computer, but it really doesn't interest me. It really reminds me of just talking to people on TeamSpeak or Ventrilo or something. There's no Science!  involved.I just love the idea of making my own antennas, hooking them up to a radio and talking to the world. I'll make do. I've been thinking about searching QRZ for some locals around school and giving them a phone call. I can't see an experienced ham turning down the opportunity to show a newbie extra around a shack he spent years working on.
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Oct 11, 2010 05:34
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On a different subject, has anybody made their own duplexer? I want to use a dual band radio with separate 2m and 70cm antennas without switching coax or using an antenna switch. It only has to handle a maximum of 50 watts for my application.
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Oct 11, 2010 05:48
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In the next couple weeks, I'm probably going to build a really simple** 1/4λ vertical 2m antenna that I can easily put up and take down on my back porch. My HT's rubber ducky isn't cutting it for some of the just-barely-too-far-away repeaters. My first official ham project! (** This is about the simplest I've seen with clear directions)
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Oct 11, 2010 13:16
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There ya go! If you want to try an even simpler one, you can easily make a 2m vertical dipole by using nothing but coax. Also, high gain antennas for 70cm are easy to build. I'll be working on one my self. I don't know if you have the ability/tools to solder copper pipe, but J-poles are awesome. This reminds me, I need to take mine down and modify how the feed-point attaches. I'll take pics. AbsentMindedWelder fucked around with this message at 14:56 on Oct 11, 2010 |
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Oct 11, 2010 14:54
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I've been looking at J-poles and really simple (3-element (reflector/driven/director)) Yagis as a second project. I don't really have the means to solder copper pipe at the moment, so it'll have to wait  I'm just worried about throwing something together off the cuff since I don't really have any grasp on antenna theory. That is to say, how long to make everything, what elements I need, etc. So I'd like to go from a plan for the first one.
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Oct 11, 2010 15:00
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QPZIL posted:I've been looking at J-poles and really simple (3-element (reflector/driven/director)) Yagis as a second project. I don't really have the means to solder copper pipe at the moment, so it'll have to wait Here's a pretty simple copper J-pole plan. If you want something temporary that you can take down and easily store, here's some plans for a Twinlead J-pole.
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Oct 11, 2010 15:56
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BigHustle posted:If you want something temporary that you can take down and easily store, here's some plans for a Twinlead J-pole. Wow that looks awesome! Something I can easily throw up on my apartment's porch and use for a couple hours is exactly what I need.
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Oct 11, 2010 16:07
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If you make the ground plane based on an SO-239... I would recommend soldering the radial wires instead of using bolts/nuts. You need about 140-150 watts on your soldering iron/gun to get that job done. Use some fine sandpaper to clean up the SO-239 where the solder will be before putting on your wire and soldering. Edit: You could also dump the pvc pipe, add an insulator and some rope at the top of the radiating element and hang the antenna off of a guy wire or a tree, a hook on your ceiling inside your house, etc. AbsentMindedWelder fucked around with this message at 16:32 on Oct 11, 2010 |
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Oct 11, 2010 16:27
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QPZIL posted:Wow that looks awesome! Something I can easily throw up on my apartment's porch and use for a couple hours is exactly what I need. Twinlead J-Poles rock. I've built a couple and they all work much better the a $5 antenna should.
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Oct 11, 2010 18:06
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blugu64 posted:Twinlead J-Poles rock. I've built a couple and they all work much better the a $5 antenna should. I plan to make one soon to throw up in the backyard trees to get a little more distance when repeater hopping and to take camping next year. You can't beat an antenna that can be hung with a single length of twine and will roll up and fit in a repurposed Altoids Sours tin.
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Oct 12, 2010 03:10
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So I found this site that talks about making a 2m/70cm duplexer. It says that it has a loss of 50db/octave. I've never worked with this measurement, so I'm having difficulty understanding what that number means in the big context of things. I understand db's but the octave thing is where my hangup is right now.
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Oct 12, 2010 04:18
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dv6speed posted:So I found this site that talks about making a 2m/70cm duplexer. It says that it has a loss of 50db/octave. I've never worked with this measurement, so I'm having difficulty understanding what that number means in the big context of things. I understand db's but the octave thing is where my hangup is right now. From frequencydevices.com Octave: A doubling or halving, usually applied to frequency. A GAIN ROLL-OFF RATE of 6dB/octave defines a change of 6 dB for each doubling or halving of frequency. Note that 20 dB/decade is equivalent to 6 dB/octave. Decade: A 10:1 increase or decrease of a variable, usually frequency. A 20 dB/decade gain roll-off defines a gain change of 20 dB for each 10-fold increase or decrease in frequency. Note that 6dB/octave is equivalent to 20 dB/decade. I don't know if this helps or not... I looked up Chebyshev filters to see if there was some kind of conversion you could easily do, but my brain shuts down when it sees full pages of equations.
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Oct 12, 2010 04:59
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Wow, took the exam on Saturday, my call was in the ULS database this morning! KJ4YSD reporting in
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Oct 12, 2010 15:26
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QPZIL posted:Wow, took the exam on Saturday, my call was in the ULS database this morning! It's almost 11 AM here. Only 13 hours till I get my vanity call sign.
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Oct 12, 2010 15:45
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Let's make the simplest antenna in the world! (random metal objects and an automatic antenna tuner doesn't count) First we need some numbers. Pick a frequency and pop it in here. Today, I'm making one for the 70cm band, so I'm using 440mhz, the number I'm interested in is 0.53 feet, which is 6.36 inches, or about 6" and 3/8". Next, you'll need a piece of 50 ohm coax, any length you like, that has a PL-259 on one end to connect to the radio. We don't care about the other end, because we are about to start butchering it... Carefully, using a knife, strip off 6.36" of the outer jacket.  Next, bunch the shielding up a little bit so you can work with it.  Then, make a little opening in the shield near where the outer jacket stops with your fingernails. The screwdriver in the pic is pointing at what I mean.  Use the screwdriver to start working out the center conductor.  ...until it looks like this:  Twist the braid so it forms one stranded wire. This will make it a little bit longer then the center conductor, so you'll want to trim off the excess.  Use some wire strippers to remove the insulation from the center conductor. Don't try to do it in one piece... take off several sections.  Then, tape the antenna up somewhere, or find someway to hang it. I put mine on my 2nd story porch. For 2m or 70cm you'll want "vertical polarization". Try to put it up in a way so water can't get in the coax. If you want to keep it inside your house, tape it to a window.  Put your transceiver on it's lowest power setting and check your SWR. Try to find the point in the band where you have the least SWR. If that frequency is lower then your desired frequency, then you'll need to shorten the antenna elements a little bit. If that frequency is above where you need it, then your antenna is too short. I had to trim almost an inch off mine. It's best, at UHF frequencies to take it in very small increments, say 1/4", and trim off equal amounts from each side of the dipole Also, on modern radios keep in mind the repeater shift when testing your SWR and planning out what frequency to make your antenna resonant at. After getting it tuned, this 70cm vertical dipole hit the two UHF repeaters I use on 2watts beautifully. I was able to hit these repeaters before with a rubber duck and 5 watts from inside my house, but I sound a whole lot better with this antenna, and am able to use less power. Have fun! Edit: This same style antenna works great on 2m too. I made one for someone else before. Just pop the numbers in the calculator. AbsentMindedWelder fucked around with this message at 19:25 on Oct 12, 2010 |
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Oct 12, 2010 17:37
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BigHustle posted:I'm thinking about ordering a Small Wonder Labs Retro-75 5w AM transmitter. I'd like to find a 6m transceiver kit to build, but all I can find for 6m is receivers. I looked at building one of these too. I still may one day. I'm glad I didn't for now though because there's a review in the most recent QST. These are truely retro... Apparently the transmit side is crystalled, 1 or 2 frequencies and the receive side can be tuned up to 50khz. I guess this is a method of operating from quite long ago. Incidentally, I got in on an order for the Softrock emsemble RXTX kits the other day. https://www.kb9yig.com The guy putting them together only puts a set number on his website at a time so you have to keep an eye on it. I'm going to be building the 40m/30m/20m version. He includes parts to put it on any 3 band set that he sells. It's 1 watt out. The only thing I'm concerned about is SMT parts; I've never soldered those before. I'd like to eventually stick it in one of these: https://www.sdr-cube.com
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Oct 12, 2010 20:28
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That SDR-Cube thing is neat. I'd love to have one, but their website is awful sparse on a handful of details, like, y'know, price. And power output. The invoice lists an amplifier module, but that doesn't rate a wattage either. 
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Oct 12, 2010 20:53
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dv6speed posted:Awesome antenna post That looks easy and cheap! I'll have to try that out. So, I don't know much about coaxial cable yet, is there any reason why I would want to choose RG-8 over RG-58 or vice versa? I'm guessing that's RG-58 you're using since it's thinner...
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Oct 12, 2010 21:18
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QPZIL posted:That looks easy and cheap! I'll have to try that out. So, I don't know much about coaxial cable yet, is there any reason why I would want to choose RG-8 other RG-58 or vice versa? I'm guessing that's RG-58 you're using since it's thinner... That was lovely RG-58/U from that came from Radio Shack, which I had lying around, and was looking for a good excuse to get rid of. It is a very lossy cable, as is anything from Radio Shack. However, I'm only using this to work 70cm repeaters, and for that it is fine. I have plans to build a high gain 70cm antenna and install some LMR-400 coax for that for both repeaters and simplex. LMR-400 is the best for VHF/UHF frequencies as it has the lowest loss. When you're transmitting you can always up the power, and incoming repeater signals are strong, however when you are working 2m/70cm simplex... those losses really add up on the receive side and make your life difficult. If you don't get LMR-400, your next best bet is RG-213, or if you want the thin stuff Mini-RG8/U. You can find charts on the internet that list the various losses for coax cable at different frequencies. If you just want to build a coax dipole like I did above so you can hit your local repeaters, don't worry about the coax, and just find the cheapest (free is even better) thing you can find. If you don't already have some way to measure SWR, I'd rather see you put money in a meter then expensive coax.
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Oct 12, 2010 21:30
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TC the Giant posted:That SDR-Cube thing is neat. I'd love to have one, but their website is awful sparse on a handful of details, like, y'know, price. And power output. The invoice lists an amplifier module, but that doesn't rate a wattage either. It uses a Softrock 6.3 RXTX. So it should have 1-2.5w barefoot. I don't know what the amp is. The reason why there's no price is because this was just announced very recently. They are getting PCBs, parts and enclosures ready and then they are going to announce a price in the next week or two. The softrock is separate but they are selling a few of those too. Unfortunately the 6.3 was single band unless you had external switching band pass filters but the cube will work with other softrocks. The Ensemble RXTX has up to 3 bands. I guess it's too big to fit inside the cube though. Still, this is a very neat development as it's a SDR frontend that can take the place of a computer. It has a port for a NUE-PSK (same guys) so you can do RTTY and PSK without a computer also.
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Oct 12, 2010 22:19
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I modified the feed point on my 2m J-pole today. I previously had a 6" piece of coax and 2 hose clamps attached to the jpole, and used a barrel connector to hook up the feedline. I had issues with water in the coax and making my SWR go all over the place. I saw people attempt to solder and or bolt the SO-239 directly to the copper pipe, but I didn't like that solution. I took a piece of copper bus bar I had lying around and drilled holes in it to accept an SO-239 connector. The piece of copper is silver brazed to the pipe. Everythign else is soldered. Unfortunately it got dark out before I had a chance to finish, so I'll have to wait till tomorrow to put it back up. I did check the SWR with the antenna in side my room and I'm good to go to put it back up.  OOPS... I accidentally melted a hole in the pipe when I did the brazing operation, and had to patch it back up! I'll use a little less heat next time.  Edit: Here's a better picture that shows more of my workmanship imperfections better. Once the funds come in, I'll build a Super-J-Pole antenna. With the experience of this one, I think I'll be able to make that baby a show quality piece. Being a metalworking junkie, I'm a perfectionist with this poo poo. Good news, even tho it ain't pretty, this baby still works, better then ever. I look forward to putting it back in the air tomorrow.  Edit2: After much  my new 1x2 call sign is now official... booyah!(Obviously I'm purposely not posting my call sign out in the open, to maintain some modicum of privacy, but any ham here that talks to me on the air will figure it out, obviously, which I don't mind.) AbsentMindedWelder fucked around with this message at 06:38 on Oct 13, 2010 |
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Oct 13, 2010 00:28
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Hey dv6 do you mind posting how you zeroed in on your 1x2 call and managed to get the request through? I was always under the impression that 1x2s were impossible to get and required luck more than anything, due to all of the people putting in for them when they become available. I have a 1x3 that I am partial to but may want to get a 1x2 since I'm an extra.
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Oct 13, 2010 11:58
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Dijkstra posted:Hey dv6 do you mind posting how you zeroed in on your 1x2 call and managed to get the request through? The 1x2's are harder to come by then 2x1's. I was lucky enough that on the day I decided to apply for a vanity, there was a 1x2 in 3 land available, and nobody else put an application in for it that day besides me. If there are multiple applications for one call sign on the same day, it's basically a lottery, it does not go to who filed first.
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Oct 13, 2010 13:56
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Today was a totally awesome day to be a ham.  First I got my new 1x2 call sign. Then, I did an antenna job for someone today. I had to take off the driven element of a Cushcraft beam, and put a 40m add on kit on it. I got to use a bucket truck for the first time today, and it was loving cool as hell! I can't wait to find a good excuse to bring it back out and hop in the bucket. (The truck belongs to the neighbor of one of my CB buddies.) After that, with the money I got from doing the antenna job, and a small loan from a family member, I went out and got a new toy: 
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Oct 13, 2010 22:02
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I still need to get one of those analyzers so I can finish tuning up my magnetic loop. Maybe next year...
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Oct 14, 2010 02:44
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I put the 2m J-pole back up. I also got rid of the very lovely coax and put up some brand new RG-213 that I had originally purchased for my 11m antenna (which is still in the garage.) I also added a choke balun consisting of 3 turns of coax near the antenna with an 8" diameter. SWR measured between 1.2 and 1.5 over the entire 2m band! The performance is fantastic. I can really notice a difference when receiving distant repeaters, they are coming stronger on my S meter. Also, the people on the most distant repeater I use regular say I sound better then ever. I look forward to trying 2m simplex again! nmfree posted:I still need to get one of those analyzers so I can finish tuning up my magnetic loop.
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Oct 14, 2010 03:19
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A buddy of mine has one of those MFJ analyzers. It's pretty sweet although he doesn't use it a whole lot I don't think.
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Oct 14, 2010 04:33
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Nullsmack posted:A buddy of mine has one of those MFJ analyzers. It's pretty sweet although he doesn't use it a whole lot I don't think. My college amateur radio club had one, it was pretty sweet and used it a few times in antenna experimentation. Okay really I hooked it to various metal things to see what could potentially be antennas. My parents gutter system worked rather well on 20 meters before I got a tuned dipole up.
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Oct 14, 2010 21:17
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I worked 40m and 10m today with the Yaesu FT-857D today and was very pleased. I worked Italy on 40m, and talked to some local hams on a 10m simplex net.
*(The VX-6 HT does 1.5 watts on 1.25 meter band, and I'd like to build an antenna for that band, even tho it's dead from what I hear. I'll have to look into borrowing or acquiring an appropriate SWR meter for that band, as the HT doesn't measure SWR, and that is the only ham band the MFJ-269 doesn't work on.) Also, speaking of the HT, I may not even worry about a 2m/70cm duplexer. The HT with an external antenna works UHF well enough at less then 5 watts, that I just assume work 70cm with the HT, and 2m with the 857. (The 857 has two antenna jacks, one for 2m/70cm and the other for 6m-160m). On the rare occasion I may want to use more then 5 watts on 70cm I can just switch coax. AbsentMindedWelder fucked around with this message at 03:36 on Oct 15, 2010 |
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Oct 15, 2010 03:24
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I did my first public service event today. The local CARES group provided communications for a non-profit marathon. It was fun using ham radio for a purpose other then just bullshitting. Edit: God drat! I've said it already, but working HF is a MILLION times more fun with a 1x2 call sign and the tuning knob on the 857 vs the 747. Edit2: That bucket truck was fun... It's only been a few days and I already am itching to get back inside of it. Seriously, it's better then any amusement park ride I've ever been on. Edit3: I really need to stop myself before I splooge on this MFJ-269. I love the Yaesu 857, but this antenna analyzer is my favorite piece of radio equipment now. Edit4: I really am a lazy rear end in a top hat. The only characters I know so far in Morse Code so far is E, T, S, O, R, K, M. Being unemployed for over a month now, I should have had the whole alphabet mastered by now at at least 10 WPM. Edit5: Speaking of Unemployment, I would have gone insane by now if it weren't for amateur radio. Edit6: I'm starting to think I'm obsessed. The RF exposure must be getting to me. Edit7: poo poo, I'm already insane. AbsentMindedWelder fucked around with this message at 09:15 on Oct 17, 2010 |
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Oct 16, 2010 17:50
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Incidentally, lots of people hit a ceiling at 13wpm if they make the mistake of starting slow and working up. It apparently throws you off trying to speed up. Try using this: http://www.g4fon.net/CW%20Trainer.htm
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Oct 19, 2010 03:10
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This is the best thing ever: http://www.ei6dx.com/cqww-contest-analysis/cqww-activity-analyzer/ If you are going to be country hunting (like me) during the CQ WW SSB contest next week (Oct 30-31 utc) this is a great roadmap for which bands to be on at what times. Pick your source zone(s), and your destination zone(s) and look to see where the bulk of the activity is... Then tune around and try to search and pounce the stations running a frequency. If you are new, learning about normal propagation paths for the different bands is daunting at first but this kind of spells it out for you. With this you should easily be able to work 25 new DXCC entities next weekend. Dijkstra fucked around with this message at 16:37 on Oct 19, 2010 |
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Oct 19, 2010 16:29
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Since we need a bump to remind people that we're still here, I made a multi-band dipole and posted pics in the shortwave megathread for anyone who doesn't check that one regularly and is interested. Rev. Quackers, any progress on that Something Awful ARC we were talking about?
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Oct 25, 2010 21:02
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BigHustle posted:Rev. Quackers, any progress on that Something Awful ARC we were talking about? Stay tuned to see the latest antenna I've been implementing to work 60m, 80m, and hopefully, 160m.
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Oct 26, 2010 00:13
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dv6speed posted:I'd really like to see this ball rolling. It would be awesome to have a weekly SA net or something on the air. I just sent off my to join the local ham club. They have an EchoLink enabled repeater system that sits idle the majority of the time. As long as we didn't set it up in a 'net style', I'm sure we could get by with an occasional Goonrush of the repeater.This really goes if we do it late at night.
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Oct 26, 2010 19:56
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I think the better way would be for one of us to make an echolink account as if we are going to hook the computer up to a radio or repeater, minus the radio. In theory, that would let everyone connect via the internet. If there is a concentration of goons in any one particular area within 2m/70cm distances, we could make an actual node there. That all being said, I realize not all of us have the capabilities for it, but I'd still like to see something on HF, perhaps 40m. I'll post the details later, but my new HF antenna is up. I can work 80m with it, but I'm unable to get it tuned to a low SWR on 160m. Perhaps if I make a loading coil...
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Oct 26, 2010 20:35
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So that antenna I was talking about earlier is a huge end fed random long wire. I have it strung up in the air using 4 trees. I don't know the exact length, but I estimate it to be between 160-200 ft long. I didn't measure it, I just put up the longest wire I was able to under the current circumstances. I used a weight, a rope, and some manpower to get the lines up in the trees. I expect when I have a better device for this purpose, I'll be able to take advantage of a couple more trees I have, and get a longer wire in the air, with better height. Each end of the wire has two weights made from some jugs filled with sand, in order to keep the line taught, but loose enough that the wind blowing the tree branches around doesn't snap the line.   This is where the wire enters my garage. You'll also note a ground rod and radials. Untuned end fed long wires like this must have a good earth connected ground system for a couple reasons. First, it probably won't work correctly with out it. Second, you are almost guaranteed to get an RF burn if you don't. (Been there, done that.) I'm bringing this antenna into my garage as opposed to my room on the 2nd floor of the house for a couple reasons. First, it's easier to get a good ground at the garage site. Second, I want to bring as little RF into the house as possible. The ground radials will help to further improve performance.  I dislike ground rods and sledgehammers, so I quickly welded a piece of plate to a pipe, which made my life much easier. That's a 10 ft copper clad rod I already had lying around. I have a several ideas on how to make an improved ground rod driving tool. Pro electricians generally use a special attachment for a bad rear end hammer drill. TIP: If you need to drive a ground rod into frozen ground, windshield deicing fluid is your buddy.  On the other side of the wall, we just hook the wires up to their appropriate spots on my MFJ-901B versa tuner. I used my MFJ-269 to adjust the tuner before hooking the coax up to my radio.   DANGER! This is a very dangerous antenna. High RF Voltages can exist anywhere along the radiating element, so make sure people cant' touch it! I have not experienced this myself, but I've been told that even when the transmitter isn't on, high voltages in the form of static electricity can be present on the wire due to the friction of wind. It is a good idea to short the radiating element against ground before disconnecting the coax from the radio. While the antenna is not in use, it's also a good idea to keep the radiating element connected to ground with a jumper. (The red wire in the pic)  The antenna seems to work well on the 80m and 40m bands where I made some QSO's. I tuned it up OK on the 60m band, but didn't hear anybody. I need some more time with it to get an idea of it's performance. I wasn't able to tune it on 160m. I'm thinking a loading coil and/or longer ground radials will solve that problem. Edit: Yeah, I know I should be using a low impedance conductor to connect the tuner to the ground rod. I'll get some copper braid shortly. AbsentMindedWelder fucked around with this message at 22:55 on Oct 26, 2010 |
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Oct 26, 2010 22:50
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