Topband: HF Antenna question
I know this is really out of this groups subject , but , you guys know more about antennas than any other site. So , I may head to Barbados in February just to have fun during the ARRL CW contest in my limited research i have sort of landed on this antenna ... Comet CHA250B HF/VHF... I have read it doesn't need radials if mounted high above ground , this antenna will be on the roof 3 stories up , I can still probably run radials all in random fashion is there a better option? I can't have anything really complicated to put together ,or mount , this antenna looks easy to construct... Dan N8DCJ p.s. anyone have any experience using an FT891 on CW ? with the cw filter installed _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Topband: FT8
I have been reading this thread all afternoon... I can see all sides of the issue... I am an avid CW op , but , my current situation prohibits me from putting up any antennas that are even reasonable this sucks since I have a TX-472 in storage just sitting there :-( I was actually talking to a friend today and he mentioned FT8 as a way I can get on the air and be active with the meager antennas I may be able to put up , even though it is not my preferred method/mode , at least I can still play around a little , so , for that I am thankful... Dan N8DCJ _ Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband
Topband: 20 40 meter vertical dipole - modeling
Would someone be able to help me model this antenna ? there will be serious constraints on my end , but , we can discuss that privately... basics , 50ft vert wire , my assumption is it will be OCF , also I can have no radials , and no chance of going horizontal with antenna ... Dan N8DCJ _ Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband
Topband: 20 40 meter vertical dipole
Sorry guys I know this is top band reflector , but ,. you are used to dealing with people with very compromised antenna situations... here is my problem... I want to get on the air , live/rent in a double ( i freaking hate it , situation is what it is for now) in a neighborhood , I can probably get away with maybe a 50ft vertical wire , will have to use rg8x and remove one of the catv entrances to get it outside... Radials are out of the question , I was thinking , can I do some sort of vert dipole arrangement ??? obviously will be limited to the 100w out of the 1KMP... thoughts ? other ideas ?? Dan | | Virus-free. www.avg.com | _ Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband
Topband: Best Outlet sttrip
I am in need of a couple outlet strips for the shack , what is the best option out there that is not overly expensive ? Dan N8DCJ _ Topband Reflector
Topband: My grounding scheme
I do not recall if I posted this last year or not , but , due to circumstances I was not able to implement this , however , I will be starting on it shortly keep in mind that I am living in a rental house so there is only so much I can do All ground rods are 5/8" copper clad steel , I cut them in half so they are only 4' , driving 8' into this ground gets very difficult , the tower is a UST TX-472. There will be 4 ground rods at the tower base , one off each corner all tied together,then about a 130' run of #6 solid to another pair of rods at the base of the house below the window(2nd floor) where the shack is , then run up to a 1/4" thick copper plate in the window where the feed line comes in via a bulkhead connector. Everything in the shack will be bonded to this copper plate. At the base of the house I will run a wire through the basement o the mains ground for the house. All connections to ground rods will be exothermically welded. I was going to run grounds from at least 2 of the tower legs (using stainless between the tower and copper ground wire) to the ground rods at the base of the tower. At the base of the tower is a DX Engineering radial plate that will be bonded to the ground system , the feed line will be a grounded at the tower base via another bulkhead connector in the radial plate before going to the RCS-10 remote switch. I think that covers everything... Dan N8DCJ p.s. I was thinking of running some radials (#14 or larger) off of the ground rods at the house purely to help dissipate and lighting energy that may get to that point , thoughts ? ___ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
Topband: radial wire source
I think I asked something similar last fall , but , circumstances changed and I couldn't do anything about it at the time... So , here I am again looking for a source of radial wire I was thinking of either going with K2AV's FCP or a radial field If i go with the radials I was thinking of using #14 stranded for about 15 radials that in theory would help absorb any lightning impulses (per W8JI website) , then I was going to use whatever wire I can find for the remaining 40 or 50 radials. My radial field can only cover from about SW thru North over to East. Is there a better source for wire than Lowes/Home Depot ? I will check with the local electrical distibutor , but , if I recall correctly they weren't much better Lowes currently has 500' of #14 THHN for $50 I would need about 3000 feet. Dan ___ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
Topband: PL-2569's where to buy ?
Whats a good source for Amphenol PL-259's ? I see DX Engineering has PL-259's , but , it doesn't give the manufacturer. TIA Dan N8DCJ ___ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
Topband: RCS-10 problem
Awhile back I had an issue where i was losing signal after transmitting , i found out that the antenna was basically shorted to ground and it appears that it may have done something to the switch . I currently have antennas on positions 2 and 6 , if I am listening to a signal that is S5 and i switch to an empty position , say , position 4 , I can still here the signal at almost S2 , this doesn't seem correct to me ? Dan N8DCJ ___ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
Topband: Caged Inv-L - Pros and Cons ?
I am considering modifying my Inverted L such that the vertical part (~ 70 ft) is a cage of say 4 wires , purely for bandwidth. Besides BW any Pro's and or Con's to this idea ? my current configuration allows me to use from about 1800-1860 Dan N8DCJ ___ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
Re: Topband: Inv-L Issues - Still no luck - Solved , I think
Well I think i may have solved the issue... it all started when I started running the amplifier , i got to thinking about it and decided to look at the feed point area. When I put this antenna up I just looped the wire around an eye bolt , when running barefoot it was fine , but , when i loaded up the amplifier it burned through the insulation and shorted to the eye bolt , which as it happens is connected to the radial plate and ground system. So I now have the wire looped around an insulator that is attached to the eye bolt and things seem to be back to normal , well for now anyhow... as soon as i get an enclosure I will rework the feed system again so that it isn't so susceptible to issues such as this... Dan N8DCJ From: Dan Bookwalter To: "topband@contesting.com" Sent: Tuesday, January 24, 2012 3:48 PM Subject: Topband: Inv-L Issues - Still no luck Ok , I am having a real problem here that I haven't been able to solve yet. I have an inverted L out at the tower that is about 160' long , 70ft vertical the rest sort of horiz , slopes down I have one run of RG213 to the RCS-10 remote antenna switch which is at the tower , it was very close to the L , so i moved it so that it is now about 4 ft away from the L, I also grounded it. what is happening is that when i transmit , even 1 dit at about 10 watts something happens out at the switch , the radio goes silent , then after a minute or two it usually starts to come back. it only affects the port that the L is attached to , my Windom is on port 2 and it works fine , so it isnt the radio , the L also works just fine on other bands , I replaced 2 PL-259's and changed the coax that goes from the switch to the L , I do not know what else to do at this point other than at night when i want to use 160 go out to the tower and connect the feedline directly to the L. It happens no matter what port i have the L connected to... any ideas ? Dan ___ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK ___ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
Topband: Inv-L Issues - Still no luck
Ok , I am having a real problem here that I haven't been able to solve yet. I have an inverted L out at the tower that is about 160' long , 70ft vertical the rest sort of horiz , slopes down I have one run of RG213 to the RCS-10 remote antenna switch which is at the tower , it was very close to the L , so i moved it so that it is now about 4 ft away from the L, I also grounded it. what is happening is that when i transmit , even 1 dit at about 10 watts something happens out at the switch , the radio goes silent , then after a minute or two it usually starts to come back. it only affects the port that the L is attached to , my Windom is on port 2 and it works fine , so it isnt the radio , the L also works just fine on other bands , I replaced 2 PL-259's and changed the coax that goes from the switch to the L , I do not know what else to do at this point other than at night when i want to use 160 go out to the tower and connect the feedline directly to the L. It happens no matter what port i have the L connected to... any ideas ? Dan ___ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
Topband: Metal Enclosure
I am totally reworking the feed system on my Inv-L... I have decided that I would like to use a large metal enclosure depending on cost. I need something about 20"L x 16"W x 8"D. Anyone have a good source or a better idea ? Dan N8DCJ ___ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
Topband: OT Sorry - Attn W8CAR
Dan I lost your email you sent regarding matching my Inv-L , can you resend it ? Thanks Dan N8DCJ ___ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
Re: Topband: Fwd: Re: More Inv-L matching issues.... BIGGER ISSUE
Paul I have not yet been able to try anything :-( I hope by Wednesday to start working on it , my plan is to ground the RCS-10 , and try retuning the amplifier , if I burn out another relay my plan is to totally rework the feedpoint of the antenna , move the switch to the otherside of the tower so there is about 4-5 feet from the Inv-L. I can't afford to burn up anything else. I will report the results. Dan N8DCJ Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android From: Paul Dulaff ; To: Rick Stealey ; Cc: ; Subject: Re: Topband: Fwd: Re: More Inv-L matching issues BIGGER ISSUE Sent: Mon, Jan 2, 2012 4:27:28 PM Has anyone heard from Dan ? Did he get the problem solved ? Paul - WB2NMI - Original Message - From: Rick Stealey To: topband@contesting.com Sent: Mon, 02 Jan 2012 07:39:55 -0500 (EST) Subject: Re: Topband: Fwd: Re: More Inv-L matching issues BIGGER ISSUE > it may be possible that the amp is tuned up for output on 80 meters. Excellent suggestion. Since the amp has an swr meter you can easily verify if it is tuned to 80 meters. Test it at the lowest power possible. ___ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK ___ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK ___ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
Topband: More Inv-L matching issues.... BIGGER ISSUE
Ok... I went and added 9 more radials the SWR is now at 1.2:1 after some adjusting of the air variable well , i decided to see how the amp (Alpha 374A) loaded into the antenna , I keyed down with maybe 500 watts and everything went dead again in less that 1 second. So it now appears that I have smoked another relay in the RCS-10 . One thing about this configuration is that the base of the antenna is about 16" from the RCS-10 , is this too close ? I can probably move it so that it is about 4' away if that is the issue I cant afford to keep destroying relays and such thoughts ? Dan N8DCJ -Original Message- From: topband-boun...@contesting.com [mailto:topband-boun...@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Dan Bookwalter Sent: Saturday, December 31, 2011 2:41 PM To: topband@contesting.com Subject: Topband: More Inv-L matching issues well about a month ago i put up my Inv-L , it is now ~165ft , I have an air variable in series , and 12 radials anywhere from 150-250ft long ( going out to add more as soon as i am done typing this). my SWR wasn't too bad maybe 1.7:1 at the best. Two nights ago I added an amplifier to the mix ~700w , well to make a long story short I smoked one of the relays in my RCS-10 , I am now not too sure what to do , I don't want to keep blowing out relays in the RCS-10. I had several responses back then regarding matching etc... , but , in my haste i seem to have deleted them :-( so here i am again asking for advice... any help greatly appreciated Dan N8DCJ ___ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK - No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2012.0.1901 / Virus Database: 2109/4714 - Release Date: 12/31/11 ___ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
Topband: More Inv-L matching issues....
well about a month ago i put up my Inv-L , it is now ~165ft , I have an air variable in series , and 12 radials anywhere from 150-250ft long ( going out to add more as soon as i am done typing this). my SWR wasn't too bad maybe 1.7:1 at the best. Two nights ago I added an amplifier to the mix ~700w , well to make a long story short I smoked one of the relays in my RCS-10 , I am now not too sure what to do , I don't want to keep blowing out relays in the RCS-10. I had several responses back then regarding matching etc... , but , in my haste i seem to have deleted them :-( so here i am again asking for advice... any help greatly appreciated Dan N8DCJ ___ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
Topband: Tuning an Inverted-L
Ok , on to my next dumb question . I now have 12 radials anywhere from 125-250' long , as expected my SWR went up , so I lengthened the horizontal part , the overall length is now about 175ft (72ft vertical). I added an air variable cap (not sure of the value , but , it worked great at another QTH) and set the SWR on my Autek RF1 to about 1.3:1 at 1835 , came into the shack and the swr was essentially infinite. When I went back out to the tower I checked the impedance with the RF1 and it was about 560 Ohms , so I then decided to set the impedance to as close to 50 Ohms as I could , I got it down to about 68 ohms at 1840. Now the SWR is 1.6:1 at 1840 , but , the 2:1 swr bandwidth is from 1823 to 1858 , that seems a little narrow to me ? Suggestions ? Dan N8DCJ ___ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
Topband: Inv-L swr changing when adding radials
I installed an Inv-L for 160 of about 134ft , ~72 feet vertical , when i checked the SWR initially it was about 1.2:1 , then when i connected the ground rods it rose to 1.5:1 , today I added the first 2 radials and the SWR is now 2:1. The antenna is being fed directly , my question is basically what is this telling me ? I assume I need to change the way I am feeding the antenna and possibly change its length. any help appreciated... Dan N8DCJ ___ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
Topband: K9AY loop questions
As soon as i have th radials under the Inv-L i was considering constructing a K9AY rcv loop system. The best/easiest place to put it is actually jsut out side the shack , but , I am wondering if the 2 story house (about 30 ft away from the loop) between the loop and basically EU will have much effect on the loop ? I can put it out on the open but , that will be a little more difficult. Also , I have a large supply of RG6 CATV feedline which I believe is 75 Ohm ? what modifications do I need to make to use it rather than a 50 Ohm feedline... Thanks Dan N8DCJ ___ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
Topband: Small loop in Inv L to secure wire to tower
I am putting up my Inv-L , one thing I fear is that if the wire breaks at the feed point I will lose the wire as if goes thru the pulley at the top of the tower. Is it ok to have a small loop about 3-4 ft above the feed point around an insulator , so I can secure it to the to the tower so that in the event of a break at the feed point I don't lose the antenna. thanks Dan N8DCJ ___ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
