INGO HAM Radio Club

[rvb]

The attic isnt tall enough for my Diamond.

I'm going to try a Frequency Devices 20m Dipole to start. I can hide that one for the winter in my attic.

And it isnt as easy with kids (9 and 12) who like to play in the back yard. makes it a little more difficult to hang for fear of getting hit by balls and the like.

I may try an inverted V in the spring. I can possibly put the center on a pole attached to my raised deck, and one end to my tree, and the other to a neighbor's tree. (She wont care) On that note, would one side being a couple degrees off line matter? (eg one leg exactly on a 0* heading and the other leg on a 185* heading?) I'm not sure I can run it in a straight line due to the potential of one side touching the corner of the house. Its VERY close... To the point I'd probably string up some masonry twine as a mock up to try it.

Well, moving the dual band was a bargaining chip still is, lots of dual band antennas to choose from... I use the diamond x30 as the x50 would have been a little tight in my attic...

my kids are 7 and 10. 25' up is hardly in the way. Worse that’ll happen is a ball or something hits it and I have to fix it or rehang it (or if your feed line is out in the open and they try to climb it or something; regardless it can be repaired or rehung).

Mine has a 5-10 degree bend in the middle, doesn’t hurt anything.

What you were looking at would get you on the air, but when it’s -10 degrees out this winter and you want to change bands from 20m to 40m because 20m has closed for the day, you’ll like having something a little more multi-band w.o having to swap ham sticks.

Im still fairly new to HF... got my general last fall and my extra a month ago...
my mentor was pretty insistent on setting me up with a solid antenna, given HOA constraints, budget, lack of really big trees, etc, and I’m glad I followed his advice. Now he's pushing me into an 80m setup and I’m trying to figure what I could make work. LoL

-rvb

 

[Cameramonkey]

Yeah, I totally spaced the physics and bought an 80 dipole. Holy crap that thing is LOOOOOONG. Good luck with your HOA with that 80M wire. (luckily I dont have that problem)

 

[rvb]

I can possibly put the center on a pole attached to my raised deck, and one end to my tree, and the other to a neighbor's tree. (She wont care)

wanted to find this for you.... this holds up the middle of my ocf dipole. The price is nice. It's 21', and installed on my deck gets it another few feet to ~26'. If you have an even higher deck, bonus.
https://www.united-states-flag.com/telescoping-flag-pole-kit.html
I'm thinking about getting another to use camping.

-rvb

 

[LockStocksAndBarrel]

I saw something called a Slim Jim that looked pretty small. I'm uneducated on this so...

 

[Cameramonkey]

William at Frequency Devices ROCKS!!

bought his 80m dipole without first thinking how damned long it would be. I don’t have the room, at least not until spring. He agreed to swap it out for a 20m that will fit. That’s customer service right there. He easily could have told me to pound sand and just buy another.



Ill also add that telescoping flag pole to my short list for the next antenna.

 

[harleymac1]

unfortunately I dont have 66' of straight line I can use at this time. I might be able to rig something between a couple trees in the back yard, but convincing the wife could be an issue. (she wasnt thrilled with my Diamond 50 I put up.)Hoping to find something I can stash in my attic, but I only have 40 feet or so to play with.

Just dropping my two cents. you do not have to have a straight 66'. I have a friend who ran an 80m OCF for a long time that was zig zagged from his house to a couple trees in his backyard. Just a thought for you.

 

[rvb]

A very ham Christmas for me!
An FT-70DR for Fusion.
a speed-x straight key (now I have to learn Morse!).
a new monitor so I don’t have to fit everything on a little laptop screen.
and ... a vanity call sign from the FCC.

-rvb

 

[rvb]

Interesting...
Just read that Hiram Percy Maxim, inventor of the maxim silencer, whose father invented the maxim machine gun, founded the ARRL.
I "Confirmed" this on wiki.
Wiki also says he had the W1AW call which now belongs to the ARRL HQ...

-rvb

 

[Shollz]

i really need to get off my butt and become a HAm. no reason not to

 

[Cameramonkey]

i really need to get off my butt and become a HAm. no reason not to

Yep. A lot of fun. Especially if you like to tinker. I just built one of these and had a blast. works well too.

https://qrpguys.com/qrpguys-end-fed-wire-antenna

 

[Cameramonkey]

Yep. A lot of fun. Especially if you like to tinker. I just built one of these and had a blast. works well too.

https://qrpguys.com/qrpguys-end-fed-wire-antenna

I REALLY need to move the dipole Harleymac1 gave me. Thanks again, BTW! Its in my attic with the excess 5' at a right angle. Seems to RX OK. I'm sure it will perform MUCH better in the air. Going to try to get it outside this weekend since the weather seems to favor outdoor activities @50*F

I added the right amount of 24ga solid (scrap) wire to the kit above and used a plumb bob on a 50' length of paracord to get the wire into a tree. Sooooooo much cleaner signal outside and up another 20 above the roofline. I'd recommend this for any prepping concerns you might have... see below:


On an unrelated note, anyone considered EMP/direct hit Coronal Mass Ejection issues for their spare gear in regards to prepping? The gentleman (Jack Tilley, AD7FO) that wrote the study guide I used for my General test has a powerpoint that addresses EMP (whether solar or man made) and how to store your backup gear safely to avoid its destruction so you can use it in a true GLOBAL SHTF emergency. It was eye opening. I cant post a public link per his license, but if anyone wants a copy I can send it to you. But cliffs notes:

If an EMP/Carrington Event* level CME hits us head on:
-If its plugged in and/or antenna is up, its dead.
-If its just sitting on the shelf, there is a high probability it will be toast, even if it is not plugged in.


How to avoid damage:
-Keep your backup equipment offline and shielded; Stored in a metal box with tight lid or in a metal cage. Even a galvanized trash can with a tight fitting lid works. DO NOT GROUND THE CONTAINER as the ground lead could act like an antenna and smoke your gear anyway.
-You can wrap portable radios in aluminum foil, folding over the edges to "seal" them from RF. Enclose each device in a plastic bag to separate/insulate the devices so the foil from each device doesnt make contact with adjacent devices.
-An ammo can lined with corrugated plastic (Coroplast) works well to isolate sensitive electronics.


Hope this helps. (and we never need this)



*this direct hit in 1859 caused widespread disruptions of telegraph stations and started small fires due to how the telegraph wires acted like an antenna and absorbed the radiation like a yuuuuuuuuge antenna. That amount of energy on today's overhead lines would destroy our sensitive electronics, and likely plunge our society into chaos. (NOTHING electronic works. No GPS, no cars with electronic ignitions, no electricity, etc)

 

[laf]

A very ham Christmas for me!
An FT-70DR for Fusion.
a speed-x straight key (now I have to learn Morse!).
a new monitor so I don’t have to fit everything on a little laptop screen.
and ... a vanity call sign from the FCC.

-rvb

Are you close enough to a Fusion repeater to use it or do you have plans for a hotspot? I picked up a ZumSpot from HRO for my dad to get on D-Star and after seeing how easy it was, got one for me too. I also have the FT-70 and plan on using my ZumSpot to get on some reflectors. There's supposedly one Fusion repeater in Tippecanoe but repeaterbook.com shows it's offline.

If anyone is thinking digital modes but no repeaters that do it nearby or you don't want to tie it up with your traffic, you the ZumSpot kit is on sale and today's the last day. https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-015993 $20 off.

 

[rvb]

Are you close enough to a Fusion repeater to use it or do you have plans for a hotspot? I picked up a ZumSpot from HRO for my dad to get on D-Star and after seeing how easy it was, got one for me too. I also have the FT-70 and plan on using my ZumSpot to get on some reflectors. There's supposedly one Fusion repeater in Tippecanoe but repeaterbook.com shows it's offline.

If anyone is thinking digital modes but no repeaters that do it nearby or you don't want to tie it up with your traffic, you the ZumSpot kit is on sale and today's the last day. https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-015993 $20 off.

Theres a ysf repeater in town, but it’s not connected to wires-x. A couple buddies are running simples nodes that I can reach from my house. A zumspot is, however, in my future....

-rvb

 

[Cameramonkey]

I took advantage of the nice weather to get the dipole in the air. its not pretty, but it seems to work! One end in my tree, other end in the neighbor's More or less a slightly inverted V. New york and VA coming in clear, and that is off the ends more or less.

(pano wreaked havoc with the wire image. Its straight, honest. LOL)


http://www.kd9uri.com/pics/IMG_4931_sm.JPG
Kinda big and slow to load so I didnt embed it.

 

[Sailor]

Field operators, take my money or pass?

https://qrznow.com/introducing-the-...ar-all-mode-10w-qrp-portable-sdr-transceiver/

 

[Notalentbum]

Field operators, take my money or pass?

https://qrznow.com/introducing-the-...ar-all-mode-10w-qrp-portable-sdr-transceiver/

10 watts is pretty wimpy. Not much more than an HT. I’ve watched several of the videos posted on it and it is intriguing. I’m guessing it will be out of my price range for the power/performance it can deliver. If the FT-3D is $450, I’d guess it will be in the $1K or more range.

Matt

 

[Sailor]

Word is no internal tuner, and the screen lcd not Oled. I think I will hold off and keep my FT-817 with my Rpi/tnc/gps shock corded to the top of it.

 

[rvb]

I don't know that I'm interested in the 705 ..... thinking strongly about a 991a from Yaesu. Can turn down the power if I want to do QRP and make the batts last.

This weekend I made a portable antenna ... a linked dipole for 20m and 40m. using a 24' painter's pole for a mast. can set it up in a couple minutes for portable operation. joined the POTA group. hope to get out and do some portable ops. first QSO w/ new antenna was N Italy on 20m SSB.

-rvb

 

[PistolBob]

10 watts is pretty wimpy. Not much more than an HT. I’ve watched several of the videos posted on it and it is intriguing. I’m guessing it will be out of my price range for the power/performance it can deliver. If the FT-3D is $450, I’d guess it will be in the $1K or more range.

Matt

Internal battery can only get it up to about 5w.

10w requires a 13.8 vdc supply....

Why doesn't Icom tell us what the current drain is?

 

[foszoe]

I am at the stage where I am ready to put up an antenna tower. does anyone know of a place in within the Terre Haute, Lafayette, Indianapolis triangle that sells tower sections?