There has been a happening in the last 15 or so years. It seems that
every antenna is "the best we have ever had" this statement is directly
proportional to the number of people who study theory to those who just
read others comments on the internet. Or as some say, the SWR is 1:1 so
its a great antenna. BTW I love my dummy load for EXACTLY that reason.
I can clearly say that I have had enough different antenna's over the
last 35 years that I know what is a good antenna and one that is not..
plus I even understand most of the theory. Today a new ham dumps
125-150 bucks in to a 5 dollar pre-manufactured wire antenna, and says,
this is the best antenna around even if he has never used any other
antenna. See how good it works I even have an S9 noise floor, no other
antenna is this sensitive, when all the wile he is running 30db of
preamp he does not need.
Simply amazes me.. that some think they even have enough education or
experience to even have a meaning full opinion.. but away they go on
eham or qrz about how good something is. Lucky most on Elecraft don't
all into this category.
We do have many good radio related sites out there, examples are those
who show current band conditions, low power reporting sites to check
your own propagation etc.. those we should learn to use as they are
meaningful but don't assume the to be 100% all of the time,
I remember many years ago when I was elmering a new ham, he built a 15
meter beam, when he decided after one week that the 40/15 dipole I built
for him was just not working, I loaned him a HW16, he complained for
weeks that the something was wrong, I went over one Saturday to see what
actually was wrong, a spin across the band showed no signals, one CQ
with 50 watts and from Ohio I was the pileup of European stations, I
worked about 5 contacts, looked at him, and said, "So what is wrong",
he says.. "what knob did you turn when I wasn't looking" did you ever
call CQ "no says he" "I think you need to actually use the radio before
you decide something is wrong" says I.
If the band propagation sites say the band is dead, and your radio is
not hearing anything, most likely it is not your radio or your antenna.
If you are hearing S9 noise and unhook the antenna and it goes away, I
will make you a bet that your radio is not broken..
And yes all of the switching supplies didn't exist 20 years ago, so we
need to do things we didn't have to do before with toroids and other
things that we didn't do before, there is even some noise sources we
can't fix as others are legally generating it. Me thinks the days of a
usable -127db noise floor are few and far between, thanks mostly to what
our government is allowing to happen...
FWIW/WYP.. regards.. Fred
Fred Moore
email: f...@fmeco.com
wd8...@gmail.com
phone: 321-217-8699
On 8/13/17 8:43 AM, Bob McGraw K4TAX wrote:
> Forget about "what you've been told". Do your own research using various
> publications such as ARRL Antenna Book or other like publications.
> Personally in the "I've been told" area, it seems hams have more incomplete
> and inaccurate information than correct and complete information.
>
> Bob, K4TAX
>
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>> On Aug 13, 2017, at 7:31 AM, rich hurd WC3T <r...@wc3t.us> wrote:
>>
>> Hi all, particularly Walter (since he mentioned it):
>>
>> I've been bedeviled by a question with multiple possible answers.
>>
>> I'm a fan of the idea of using a field antenna as Walter describes by using
>> a BNC - to binding post connector directly to the radio.
>>
>> I'm leery of that because it flies in the face of what I've been told about
>> these antennas: I'm assuming the radio BNC connection is unbalanced and
>> the wires form a balanced antenna, more or less. I've seen deployments
>> with end-fed 9:1 baluns and without, even documented on YouTube with great
>> successes.
>>
>> I can tell you that the 9:1 balun setup doesn't seem to be working for my
>> current field deployment but I'd sure like to understand why a balun isn't
>> recommended in this setup. I'd love to just take the wire and put it on my
>> WonderPole and go for it, but I'd like the understanding first. Why does
>> this work? :)
>>
>> Thanks.
>>
>> On Fri, Aug 11, 2017 at 13:19 Walter Underwood <wun...@wunderwood.org>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> You can get a quick look at band conditions at http://bandconditions.com <
>>> http://bandconditions.com/>
>>>
>>> Using Buddistick on 40 m is a real challenge. I would not be surprised if
>>> that was an S-unit or more below a full-size dipole.
>>>
>>> Try the simplest field antenna for the KX3, two wires connected directly
>>> to the rig. Get a BNC to double binding post adaptor. Get a wire 26 to 29
>>> feet long, throw it in a tree and hook one end to the red post. Get a 16
>>> foot wire, lay it on the ground and connect it to the black post. Let the
>>> ATU tune it and see you can hear.
>>>
>>> wunder
>>> K6WRU
>>> Walter Underwood
>>> CM87wj
>>> http://observer.wunderwood.org/ (my blog)
>>>
>>>> On Aug 11, 2017, at 9:54 AM, Tommy <tomm...@hvc.rr.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> The band has been really crappy lately. Keep tuning around and listening.
>>>>
>>>> 73!
>>>>
>>>> Tom - KB2SMS
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> On 08/11/2017 12:33 PM, Mike Parkes wrote:
>>>>> Okay I am reaching our to the Elecraft enthusiasts here for some
>>> feedback
>>>>> if anyone cares to chime in.
>>>>> I am just getting back on the air after years away from the hobby, so I
>>> am
>>>>> not that familiar with band conditions in general. It looks like the
>>>>> sunspot cycle is heading for the cellar (if it isn't already there).
>>>>>
>>>>> Recently bought a KX3 and a Buddistick vertical (like, 2 weeks ago).
>>> Love
>>>>> the KX3 it is a great radio... however... so far my efforts to hear
>>> much of
>>>>> anything, much less make a contact with someone, has been frustrating to
>>>>> say the least. I live in an apartment and am surrounded by power lines
>>> for
>>>>> one thing. The background noise level on 40 is pretty bad varies but is
>>>>> s7-9 mostly. I took my setup to a nearby park and the bands were
>>>>> definitely quieter. So the local manmade noise level is an issue (and
>>> one
>>>>> reason I chose the KX3 was the hope that its rcvr and filtering could
>>> help
>>>>> with that.)
>>>>>
>>>>> Have yet to make a single contact, so I am just wondering if I just
>>>>> happened to choose a really lousy period of solar conditions for HF? Or
>>> is
>>>>> the base loaded vertical a joke?
>>>>>
>>>>> I would love to be able to find another ham even close by just to try
>>> and
>>>>> get some sort of an HF QSO even if it is with someone down the block.
>>>>> ...I can tune down to the AM broadcast band and was able to hear some
>>> local
>>>>> AM stations. :)
>>>>>
>>>>> Mike AB7RU
>>>>>
>>>>> (On a side note the tuner in the KX3 is great!. That thing was able to
>>> get
>>>>> a match for 80 meters on the Buddistick which was showing something like
>>>>> 25:1 swr. The KX3 tuner clicked and rattled for a while and found a
>>> match
>>>>> to <2:1. Not sure how much actual RF is going out, probably not much...
>>> but
>>>>> I was amazed it could tune to that high an SWR.)
>>>>> ______________________________________________________________
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>>>> ______________________________________________________________
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>>> ______________________________________________________________
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>> --
>> 73 (or 72 for the QRP folks),
>> Rich Hurd / WC3T
>> DMR ID: 3142737
>> Northampton County RACES
>> EPA-ARRL Public Information Officer for Scouting
>> Latitude: 40.761621 Longitude: -75.288988 (40°45.68' N 75°17.33' W) Grid:
>> *FN20is*
>> ______________________________________________________________
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>
> ______________________________________________________________
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