Re: Topband: FST4
Roger, I used to use my TS930S for FT8. It doesn't have computer control of course and you will have varying power outputs as you move across the audio spectrum but it will work pretty well. All FT8 and FT4 is done in Upper S B as far as I know. 73 Mark N1UK On 03-Feb-21 6:00 AM, Roger Kennedy wrote: You guys feed audio into an SSB rig for these Computer modes, right? So which sideband do you use on Top Band? IE if you are on 1840kHz with a 1kHz tone, are you on 1839 or 1841? Roger G3YRO _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Re: Topband: 160 Receiving Loops source?
On 2/4/2021 11:27 AM, Eric Rosenberg wrote: With my antenna supports gone and living on a small city lot (Washington, DC), I'd like to try an 80/160 loop. I have some physical limitations that make mechanical skills mediocre at best for building one, and am looking for an affordable source for a built one. Thanks & 73, Eric W3DQ _ Here is a loop design I published over 11 years ago: http://www.n6rk.com/loopantennas/NCJ_loop_antenna_N6RK.pdf This is a loop that is remotely tunable from below 160 meters to above 75 meters, and it has a loop with a 20 foot perimeter. This gives you plenty of signal so that no preamp (other than the one in your radio) is necessary. There was a group in India building these a few years back, but I don't know the current status of that effort. The contact person was Prasad VU2PTT (vu2...@gmail.com). For marketing reasons, commercially available loops are: 1. Untuned 2. Cover 0.5 to 30 MHz 3. Have a circumference of 10 feet and 4. Use a preamp The need for the preamp drives up the cost considerably. I purchased a Pixel loop like this to compare it to my design. It turns out that the signal out of the 10 ft untuned loop is so low on 160 meters that the sensitivity is limited by the noise figure of the preamp, unlike my tuned design. I realize I haven't given you a turnkey answer to your request, but I at least wanted to give you the lay of the land. At the 20 acre N6RK QTH, I have moved on from the loop and just completed a 9 element, 290 foot diameter, circular receiving array. BTW, thanks for the DC mult in the recent CQWW160. You obviously heard well enough to go coast to coast, but then, people tell me I have one of the louder signals from this region. 73 Rick N6RK _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Re: Topband: W0FLS: "hi rx antenna" is...
Its so good Im thinking about getting the 4 square version.:) -From: "Jorge Diez - CX6VM" To: w3...@roadrunner.com Cc: "topband@contesting.com" Sent: Thursday February 4 2021 4:17:25PM Subject: Re: Topband: W0FLS: "hi rx antenna" is... that´s a great antenna! like 8 beverages in a 200 ft circle! 73, Jorge CX6VM/CW5W El jue, 4 feb 2021 a las 17:05, escribió: a High Z array of typically 4-8 short verticals that give RDF'a of c. 13 dblifting almost anybody out of the noise. _ Searchable Archives: [1]http://www.contesting.com/_topband [2] - Topband Reflector -- 73, Jorge CX6VM/CW5W Links: -- [1] http://www.contesting.com/_topband [2] http://www.contesting.com/_topband _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Re: Topband: W0FLS: "hi rx antenna" is...
that´s a great antenna! like 8 beverages in a 200 ft circle! 73, Jorge CX6VM/CW5W El jue, 4 feb 2021 a las 17:05, escribió: > a High Z array of typically 4-8 short verticals that give RDF'a of c. > 13 dblifting almost anybody out of the noise. > > > _ > Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband > Reflector > -- 73, Jorge CX6VM/CW5W _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Topband: 160 Receiving Loops source?
How much is "affordable?" I mean, if you pay junk money, you'll probably get ... disappointment either right away or after a few months. A possible exception is some place warm all year with no broadcast stations nearby, so fixing and improving any time is easy. OTOH if you are in blizzard country, a budget priced loop may decide to quit working during snowmageddon. Consider a sturdy mount too. BTW, while I'm dispensing free advice, if you power your loop preamp via the feedline, use some sort of copper coax that can be soldered. The RG6 aluminum stuff with crimp males will fail eventually -- okay for RF but not DC. Eventually there will be just enough corrosion at the surfaces where the crimps are, that you'll get just enough v. drop and the preamp won't come on. For RF and RG6, it is important that you get quad shield (yes even on 160) and make sure the males match the coax. The crimp tool, connectors and coax should all be made to go with each other. One trick is to look for a cable TV guy who's out on a job with a truck and approach him. My experience is that they don't mind talking for a few minutes about their tools and materials after you explain why you are interested. Find out what he uses for "drop cable," crimper, prep tool, and plugs. Companies like Comcast don't use junk. Then go get what he uses. 73 Rob K5UJ _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Re: Topband: Looking for recommendation for cutting tool for RG-6 with CCS center conductor
My favorite cutting tool after many years as a SMATV contractor is the Thomas & Betts/Belden IT1000. It's a prep tool and compression tool all in one, but that's not why I like it so much. It just does a great prep job. There are two basic styles of prep tools - the cylinder style, where you stick the end of the cable into a cylinder and twist, thereby ejecting spiral shaped material out the side. These can work OK if the cable is sized just right and the blades are new, but in general they're a joke. The other type is the clothespin style with a finger hole. These have a pair of parallel blades spaced 1/4" or so apart to make the two cuts that are needed as you spin it around the cable. However this type of prep tool is available in two styles - one that has a cable stop so that you can NOT push the cable through in order leave the center conductor long. Don't buy that type. The IT1000 (and others) do not have a stop, so you can leave the center conductor as long as you want. I usually leave an inch or so sticking out. Two advantages to this. 1) You can make your initial cut of the cable with any old cutters, doesn't matter if they flatten the cable because you are prepping the cable up where the cable is still round. PLUS - after the connector is push onto the cable, you can then cut the center conductor a little long (1/8"-1/4") and then compress. This makes the connector infinitely easier to mate with some female connectors. Some of them seem to be sized for RG59 and it takes some force to insert. And in real cold weather the center conductor can pull back a little without going open. Cut the center conductor at an angle. Don't worry that the longer center conductor will bottom out in it's mate - I've never seen a female F connector that couldn't handle 3/8". I'll add the blades for the IT1000 last for hundreds, probably 1000's of cuts, and replacements are fairly cheap. -Steve K8LX On 2/4/2021 12:13 AM, Richard (Rick) Karlquist wrote: RG-6 is a special case in that virtually all of it uses a copper clad steel (CCS) center conductor. Many fine wire cutting tools are designed strictly for copper, and can get ruined if used for steel. I also want the cutter to slice the end off of the RG-6 cleanly, rather than crushing it and distorting the circular shape of the coax. Can anyone recommend a quality cutting tool for RG-6? 73 Rick N6RK _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Topband: W0FLS: "hi rx antenna" is...
a High Z array of typically 4-8 short verticals that give RDF'a of c. 13 dblifting almost anybody out of the noise. _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Topband: 160 Receiving Loops source?
With my antenna supports gone and living on a small city lot (Washington, DC), I'd like to try an 80/160 loop. I have some physical limitations that make mechanical skills mediocre at best for building one, and am looking for an affordable source for a built one. Spencer Ritchie, KC2TX, has them listed on his website (https://www.qsl.net/kc2tx/lb_loop2.htm), but in correspondence from November, he said no, he doesn't make them anymore. Does anyone else make an affordable one? Thanks & 73, Eric W3DQ _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Re: Topband: Looking for recommendation for cutting tool for RG-6 with CCS center conductor
On 2/4/2021 7:09 AM, Fred Moeves wrote:
I got a cheap set from Home Depot.
Ideal 33-522 Internet #300134420
Works on DXE RG-6 both kinds of cable.
Works good for me.
73
Fred KB4QZH
I think Fred is actually referring to Ideal 45-074.
A reviewer of 45-074 on Amazon ("Jeff") wrote:
"I made the mistake of attempting to cut the center core of RG-6 (cable
tv coax) and that copper is too hard and make a nick in the cutter. I
won't make that mistake again."
The product description says:
"Steel reinforced center conductors can be trimmed with bolt cutting holes."
Too many red flags here ...
73
Rick N6RK
_
Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Re: Topband: Looking for recommendation for cutting tool for RG-6 with CCS center conductor
I did as well (Klein Tools - Canada doesn't seem to recognize the US number) - works very well with no sign of nicking the copper coating on the inner. 73 Roger VE3ZI _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Re: Topband: Looking for recommendation for cutting tool for RG-6 with CCS center conductor
I got a cheap set from Home Depot. Ideal 33-522 Internet #300134420 Works on DXE RG-6 both kinds of cable. Works good for me. 73 Fred KB4QZH On 2/4/2021 9:52 AM, Ed Stallman wrote: Rick I use a tool from The RF Connection https://rfconnection.com/tooling-crimp-tools-cable-prep-tools-testing-equipment/ It's the first tool on the list .The owner is very helpful over the phone . Ed N5DG On 2/3/2021 11:13 PM, Richard (Rick) Karlquist wrote: RG-6 is a special case in that virtually all of it uses a copper clad steel (CCS) center conductor. Many fine wire cutting tools are designed strictly for copper, and can get ruined if used for steel. I also want the cutter to slice the end off of the RG-6 cleanly, rather than crushing it and distorting the circular shape of the coax. Can anyone recommend a quality cutting tool for RG-6? 73 Rick N6RK _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Re: Topband: Looking for recommendation for cutting tool for RG-6 with CCS center conductor
Rick I use a tool from The RF Connection https://rfconnection.com/tooling-crimp-tools-cable-prep-tools-testing-equipment/ It's the first tool on the list .The owner is very helpful over the phone . Ed N5DG On 2/3/2021 11:13 PM, Richard (Rick) Karlquist wrote: RG-6 is a special case in that virtually all of it uses a copper clad steel (CCS) center conductor. Many fine wire cutting tools are designed strictly for copper, and can get ruined if used for steel. I also want the cutter to slice the end off of the RG-6 cleanly, rather than crushing it and distorting the circular shape of the coax. Can anyone recommend a quality cutting tool for RG-6? 73 Rick N6RK _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
