Tag: antenna

40M mobile

I played around with the Opek and Workman 40M antennas this morning. The Opek tuned from about 7.150 to 7.290 and the Workman tuned from 7.040 to 7.250. I noticed a difference in the receive – the Workman was doing a better job. I have an extra stinger for the Workman, so I’m going to shorten it a bit allowing me use of the upper phone band on 40M (good for lighthouse work on 7.270). I can then lengthen the existing one just a bit to allow me to cover all the CW area of 40M.

Had a nice QSO with Frank, AC9T, located up near Chicago. He served in the Navy aboard the battleship USS Iowa and told me what it was like sailing underneath the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

More on the mobile install

I spent some more time on Sunday improving my HF mobile install. After completely removing the rear interior panel of the cab and finding no grommet or any other easy method of passing the feedline into the cab I was able to find a nice sized grommet under the passenger seat. I was able to keep the feedline to a length of 10 feet, ran it through a plastic covering for protection, and then tied it off underneath the truck at multiple points using zip ties. For the antenna mount support, I found an L bracket at Home Depot that I was able to securely bolt to the bed of the truck near the cab. I ran a short length of braided grounding wire from the other side of the bolt (inside the bed frame) down to the frame of the vehicle underneath the cab. For the antenna mount, I’m using a 3/8 inch X 24 Radio Shack base fitting – standard for use with Hamstick, Hamstick knock-offs, and the Hustler varieties. The base fitting fit neatly through a pre-drilled hole through the top of the L bracket.

In the past when I operated portable HF from the truck I used one of the 12v convenience outlets (aka cigarette lighters). I have consistently failed to locate any easy access through the engine firewall for a power cable. Now with finding the grommet under the passenger’s seat, I decided to use that for the entrance for 12v power. I used 10 gauge wire from the truck’s battery terminals (both with in-line fuses), routed the cable around the engine and down the passenger side to the grommet. I terminated the line using Anderson PowerPoles and am using a Saratoga Amateur Power Panel for distribution.

I took advantage of the IC-706MKIIG’s detachable faceplate, using the mounting kit to attach it to a Belkin iPod/PDA holder that secures into a cup holder. This allows me to easily tune around the band with my right hand without any reaching. The handmike attaches to the faceplate.

I haven’t found a great place to actually secure the radio and auto tuner. Right now they’re tucked under the rear of the front passenger’s seat. The seat immediately behind the passenger’s seat folds up towards the front of the truck and provides protection (and shade) for the rig. If I can find a way to mount the radio that still allows me to quickly and easily remove it for portable use, I’ll do it.

For antennas I’m using a two Hamstick knock-offs made by a company called Workman. One is for 20M and the other is for 40M. They easily screw into the 3/8 inch X 24 base fitting. Both work well, the 20M tunes the entire band and the 40M tunes nicely below 7260. I also purchased a cross between a Hustler and a Hamstick antenna (also for 20M and 40M) made by a company called Opek at the Virginia FrostFest last month. The 20M antenna is worthless. It won’t tune anywhere in the 20M phone band. The 40M antenna does a nice job covering the 40M band and tunes up to 7290 without issue. I also have a 75M Hamstick (can’t remember where I bought it) – with a little trimming of the stinger I was able to get the stick to tune the upper portion of the 75M phone band. The tuneable bandwidth for the 75M stick will be narrow, no way around it. But I can cut a few different length stingers to provide coverage down into 80M.

I’ve had successful QSOs using the Workman 20M and 40M antennas as well as the 40M Opek antenna. This evening I had the 20M Workman antenna mounted and first had a QSO with PS7JS in Brazil. There were several stations calling, but PS7JS came back to me after my second call and gave me a 59 report. Ten minutes later I had a QSO with Pedro, XE1REM, operating from Mexico City. Pedro also gave me a FB 59 report. Earlier today I had a QSO with a station in Slovakia, receiving a 57.

A couple of notes on operating mobile:
(1) I need to get something to take notes with. I need to be able to jot down callsigns, freqs, and times.
(2) I have to remember to include “mobile” after my callsign.

Mobile install

Tonight I hooked up my IC-706MKIIG in my truck. Very temporary setup – I just wanted to see if everything would work. I mounted the antenna using an L bracket on the inside of the bed of the truck near the cab. I’m using single band antennas and used one cut for 40M for tonights test.

FrostFest


I went up to the Richmond, VA hamfest (aka FrostFest) on Sunday. They had an ARRL card checker and I was able to get my QSL cards verified for the Worked All States (WAS) award. I spent the early part of Sunday organizing my cards (my QSL card organization needs some work). Most states I have multiple contacts for except for Alaska, Wyoming, and Delaware. The drive up to Richmond took about an hour and the parking lot was packed. Tons of cars and trucks with amateur radio license plates, most bristling with antennae. Arriving at 9:30am (the door had opened at 8:30am) I found no line and was able to walk right in. The hall was packed. I found the ARRL card checkers right away and dropped my cards off. Wondering around, I saw mostly junk… but some good stuff. I ended up purchasing a mobile antenna for 40M and 20M as well as a bumper mount. Ending up back at the card checker I was told that my cards were good to go and I can expect to get my WAS certificate in about a month.

…. but it wasn’t there!

Had a nice 80M CW QSO last night with Tony, KN4VL. There was some QSB and QRM, but we hung in there for about an hour ragchew. Tony is a retired Marine and has children and grandchildren in the armed services. I think I’m slowly making progress on the CW front.

Yesterday after work I wanted to swap out the feedline on the Carolina Windom from RG-58 to RG-8X. My plan was to lower the matching unit which has an eyelet on top that I used to raise the matching unit up to ~50ft with some heavy duty line.


I loosened the line and attempted to lower the matching unit, but the line was getting hung up in the tree branches above. I let the end of the line go and began to gently pull on the RG-58 feedline to slowly bring the matching unit down to a point where I could reach the line isolator (hanging 22′ below the matching unit) so I could swap feedlines. I got the line isolator down to my level and successfully swapped the feedlines. I then went to grab the end of the line to pull the matching unit back into the treetops, but it wasn’t there! Then I looked up. The line had been shorter than I thought – when I had pulled the matching unit down using the feedline, I had not realized that the line was so short and now the end was dangling a good 15′ above my head! I got out my ladder to try and reach the line but it wasn’t tall enough. I then tried standing on the latter with a rake, in an attempt to snag the line and pull it down. No luck. I had an idea. I grabbed one of the 10′ PVC pipes that I use for my G5RV during a portable setup to support the ends. The top of the pipe has a hole drilled through. I then grabbed about 20′ of small gauge wire, threaded a loop through the hole at the top of the pipe and then took the pole back out to the dangling line up in the air. I was able to get the end of the line through the loop, then pulled the ends of the small gauge wire tight, grabbing the line. I pulled the pipe down and the line came with it. I felt pretty stupid, but I was able to get the Carolina Windom pulled back up (now with the new feedline) and my station is up and operational.

While I think the new feedline has helped improve my signal a bit, I’m still having problems on 17M, 15M, and 12M. 17M I’ve always had issues with and from what I read, it might be an issue with the radio itself. I’m usually able to work PSK31 and Phone on 17M without the tuner, but when I dip down in the CW portion the SWR is much too high. Both 15M and 12M will not tune. Also the SWR is too high to use without the tuner. On my inverted vee, both 15M and 12M are usable. So – I know I will need to play around a bit to get everything working.

This weekend is the 2006 CQ WW DX Contest (Phone). I want to use the contest as an opportunity to complete my initial DXCC requirements. The Carolina Windom is good to go for 80M, 40M, and 20M – so I should have plenty of opportunity to work those DX stations.

At lunch today I was tuning around 20M, 17M, and 15M – lots of activity…. lots of stations testing equipment in preparation for the contest.

I need to do two things before the contest kicks off:
(1) fix the power cable to the radio. When I did some shack clean up, I moved all the equipment onto a new Alinco DM-330MVT power supply using the RigRunner. But I was having some problems with the adapter that goes on the back of the IC-706. I need to pull the power cable off, recheck the PowerPole connectors, and the four pins that connect to the IC-706.
(2) setup the ICOM CT-17 so I can save little time by having my frequency automatically saved when I log QSOs on the computer.

…. the question is – can I get both of those done before the 2000 (local) kickoff of the contest?

Sunday night QSOs

I had two QSOs last the night. The first was am 80M CW contact with Ken, K5GAT and the second was a 40M PSK31 QSO with Ron, K0??? in Kansas City, MO. The CW QSO went well – again I noticed much less noise on 80M than I have been used to. We both exchanged an RST of 569. I was also able to use the 500Hz CW filter as well as IF shift to sharpen the reception of the signal. Ken is in Naples, TX and he gave a WX report of rain. On 80M both the SWR and power out appeared to be normal on the new Carolina Windom.

I then went up to 40M to take a look and see if there was any PSK31 DX. I saw a CQ from K0??? and answered him. We chatted for a bit. He was trying to find a friend of his from St. Louis that he had a sked with and thought that the 40M skip was bouncing him over St. Louis and asked that I try to call him. I did but did not have any success. On 40M both the SWR and power out looked good.

I’m really hoping I’ll be able to hear (and maybe contact) Australia or Asia with the new antenna – we’ll see. So far it appears to be functioning very well.

Weekend Wrap Up


I finally got the RadioWorks Carolina Windom 80 up in the trees! Again, a wonderful job done by the CSV19 Pneumatic Antenna Launcher. I used it four times, each time it performed perfectly.

The matching unit is up about 50′. I was able to put the 82′ leg over the house and tied off to a tree in the front yard. The 51′ leg went out the other direction tied off to a tree behind my backyard. Each leg is tied off at about 35′. Unfortunately, the antenna is not in a completely straight line from end to end, but I think its the best I’m going to get. So far I have noticed a lower noise level than my inverted vee. I participated in the MARS training net tonight and was able to hear all the stations very well. I also had a 20M USB QSO with Argentina and a 40M LSB with southern Florida.

I had a few CW QSOs Saturday night. I hoping to have a few tonight and test the new antenna a bit more.

Saturday QSOs

I had a 40M CW QSO with Lee, WA1YDG from Hanover, MA. According to QRZ.com, Lee holds a Novice license… which is pretty unique. I’m not sure if I’ve ever had a QSO with someone with a Novice license.

Also got W1AA on 40M LSB – they were activating a lighthouse (USA-820?).

This afternoon I got on 30M briefly (after I got no response on 40M) and had a QSO with Brian, WB9TPA. Lots of QSB and QRM. Finally was able to get his name and his QTH (WI). He was using a straight key (… maybe a bug?) – it seems like it is hard for those folks to slow down (QRS). Their dots and dashes sometimes get distorted.

Lots of wind and rain last night and today, but so far the new rope support for the center of the inverted vee is holding up. If the weather is nice tomorrow, I will try to put up the Carolina Windom.

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday

Finally put the CSV19 Pneumatic Antenna Launcher into action. The objective was to drop the four 10′ PVC pipe sections that supported the center point of my B&W inverted vee and replace it with a heavy duty rope supported by the upper sections of a pine tree in the back yard.

I pumped up the launcher to 70psi, loaded the ball, launched it almost straight up. I fired the tennis ball up over some tree branches at about 60′. The ball went up, cleared the branches and easily came down the other side. I attached some heavier line to the far end line and pulled it up and over the branch. I pulled down the PVC and attached the center point to heavy duty rope. I then pulled the center point back up. The launcher worked great and my next step will be to raise the end points from 10′ to 20’…. which will allow me to then raise the center point a few more feet.


I had two 20M SSB QSOs: a station in the British Virgin Islands that gave me a 59 and a station in Italy that gave me a 57. I’m pretty comfortable that my antenna is working at least as well as it was before I made the changes.

Saturday…..

Finally checked into the VA MARS net. The net started late and I had almost given up on it. I’m going to try and check in again tomorrow morning. I need to get around to raising the height of my inverted vee – I think it will better help my signal get out.

I was able to catch W1AA (Henry and Whitey) and their activation of the Highland Lighthouse (USA 110) out on Cape Cod. Whitey, K1VV, is usually out ever weekend doing a lighthouse activation – always has a nice signal.

Had a very nice Radio Merit Badge class for a young Scout out at Fort Monroe in the afternoon. I setup my 10′ x 10′ shelter and the ARSIB. Initially I planned on setting the G5RV (like during the W4M Memorial Day Special Event) but the wind was quite heavy, so I opted to put up the homebrew vertical dipole. To get some height on the antenna, I attached it to the top of the painter’s pole. Before I had a chance to tie down the pole, a gust of wind knocked the antenna down. The fall caused the feedline connection to break off. Not good. However, with a little bit of wire and some electrical tape, I was able to reattached the feedline connection. Now the antenna was low to the ground and I was a little concerned about it’s performance. The Scout arrived and we started reviewing the Radio Merit Badge requirements. I was able to easily tune WWV on 15 MHz and was also able to find a CW QSO in progress on 40M. Also demoed a bit of CW using my MFJ paddle that has a speaker built in. After we’d reviewed all the requirements, it was time for the HF QSO. The Scout called CQ and after a few tries, received a reply from Charlie, N1MUQ, in Stamford, CT. Charlie had a booming, solid signal and the Scout was able to successfully complete the QSO. We then moved to my mobile VHF rig and the Scout had a nice QSO with Randy, WB7URZ located up in Gloucester. Even with the antenna setup issues, the Radio Merit Badge session was a success and I think both the Scout and I had a good time.