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Post by Joey on May 7, 2023 10:38:23 GMT 10
Woohoo, the exam is completed and sent off for AMC to marking.
I should have delivery in the next couple of days of my new radio IC-2730A and an SWR meter and towards the end of the week or early next week my antenna and cable and the sundries connections etc.
Next weekend when I'm in the big smoke I'll grab a J-pole antenna gutter mount for the roof to mount the antenna as locally I can only get one that's 1.2m tall and as I've got a tin roof I'll need a bit more height than the 1.2m and will try to get the 2.6m version.
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Post by milspec on May 10, 2023 6:30:02 GMT 10
Joey well done. Welcome to the club. Amidst the Information War in which we are the targets it is wise to have an independent comms carrier.
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Post by Joey on May 10, 2023 17:01:15 GMT 10
Yeah, going to start doing some POTA work around my area. There are a bunch of parks that I can get registered and start doing activations, at least just on 2m/70cm for now until the next radio comes in a while that will alow me to do POTA on 20/40m.
I had a look at the SOTA maps, but all the current SOTA points on the map within 2hrs of me would;d be an overnighter camp due to the distance away from the roads the points are with one or two inside restricted native title controlled national reserves which are access via written permission only
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malewithatail
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Post by malewithatail on May 13, 2023 9:10:52 GMT 10
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Post by Joey on May 17, 2023 18:14:35 GMT 10
Installing antennas.
I've got a Diamond X2000 antenna on the way for my 2m/70cm radio and looking for mounting options.
I'm thinking of a J-pole facia mount similar to your average tv antenna pole, but locally the longest I can get is 1.2m tall, but I would prefer to get the 2.6m option for the extra height and a couple of stay bars.
I'm in a 2-story house with a tin roof. Would the 1.2m pole be high enough above the tin for it not to affect the antenna function?
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tactile
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Post by tactile on May 17, 2023 18:34:45 GMT 10
Installing antennas. I've got a Diamond X2000 antenna on the way for my 2m/70cm radio and looking for mounting options. I'm thinking of a J-pole facia mount similar to your average tv antenna pole, but locally the longest I can get is 1.2m tall, but I would prefer to get the 2.6m option for the extra height and a couple of stay bars. I'm in a 2-story house with a tin roof. Would the 1.2m pole be high enough above the tin for it not to affect the antenna function? X-2000 or X-200? |
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Post by Joey on May 19, 2023 5:53:00 GMT 10
My bad, V-2000
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tactile
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Post by tactile on May 19, 2023 8:39:11 GMT 10
I personally would get it up on the top and middle of the roof. If that's not an option then a 2.4m J pole with stays should do the job and get it above the roof line IF you have a good solid skirting board. That V-2000 is getting up there in length...will catch some wind if you get some in your area. Mounting options - www.radioparts.com.au/category/tv-and-satellite/tv-hardware/mounting |
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Post by Joey on May 19, 2023 17:59:32 GMT 10
Yeah, its only 2.5m long I am in a building code C zone for cyclone ratings though lol But the last cyclone that bothered us was TC Debbie and one random super cell since then.
If I was in a single story house, I would opt for a backyard fold down pole to make it easier to take down during storms or for maintenance.
My issue is my remoteness from any repeaters on the 2m/70cm bands and the guy from my region radio club said I'll "need a good decent antenna" to reach out of my area.
So I can't wait till I upgrade to my next radio that'll allow for 20/40m bands so I can do some decent distance chats.
That'll be another antenna drama down the line lol
My only concern with mounting on the tin ridge line of my roof is it'll need around an extra 10m of feedline to reach it when my current planned feedline will be approx 15m just from the antenna to the window of my office where the lightning arrestor and ground stake will be.
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malewithatail
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Post by malewithatail on May 20, 2023 9:29:00 GMT 10
"My issue is my remoteness from any repeaters on the 2m/70cm bands"
Same here, 100 km over 2 mountains to the nearest 2 m repeater.
But, a homemade 6 element beam and 50 watts does it, not all the time, but 90 %. I'm noisy into the repeater, but quite understandable.
The crossbar is of seasoned hardwood, with holes drilled through it for the elements. The dipole is fed with standard 50 ohm coax, I found that any sort of balanced to unbalanced and impedance changing balun introduced more loss than the mismatch, so didn't worry about it.
The site wont let me post a photo.
Rules that guys wish girls knew.
12) Yes, peeing standing up is more difficult. We are bound to miss sometimes, get over it.
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malewithatail
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Post by malewithatail on May 20, 2023 14:02:31 GMT 10
When I first became licensed ham, over 50 years ago, I bought a handheld transceiver, an AR-280 fully synthesized covering from 140 to 150 megs, 5 watts/1 watt, repeaters, external CCTSS, etc. I was recently upgrading my Bug home bag, ready for a trip, and thought that 2 meters may be useful. So, I connected it up and it doesn't transmit, unsurprising as I haven't used it for upwards of 10 years.
Anyway, I had ordered a full circuit diagram and workshop manuals many years ago, and now am looking through at some potential causes. At this stage, I suspect a leaky transistor, inhibiting the transmit function. The circuit is a bit hard to read as there are two circuit boards that are hinged together, and the devices on those boards are numbered the same, IE; there are 2 off T23 transistors, one on each board etc, a bit confusing. Why the Japanese did it that way is a mystery and interestingly enough, the company is still around today.
Many years ago, I have fitted a homemade CCTSS encoder board and Ni-cad battery pack, that still will charge and measures 80% of new.
The first fault in a piece of 50 year old gear, not a bad record.
Rules that guys wish girls knew.
13) Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument. All comments become null and void after 7 days.
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Post by Joey on Jun 1, 2023 18:29:57 GMT 10
WOOT finally got approved and granted by ACMA
And finally, some radio gear I've been waiting on for 2 weeks has slowly started trickling into the old PO box.
I've just got to figure out how I'm going to do my mast setup.
I've got the full length of the side of the house I can set up a fold-down pole or something, but it'll be at least 10m tall to clear the base height of the roof and will allow me to mount both my dual band antenna, UHF CD antenna and string up some centrefed dipole wires for the HF radio whenever I get it.
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malewithatail
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Post by malewithatail on Jun 2, 2023 8:43:04 GMT 10
Simple sky-wires are best. My main hf aerial is a 160 meter long Zepp, fed at about the 20 meter point via an ATU. Loads on all bands, and works as a receive aerial for my WW2 AR7 valve receiver really well. (Ive made a digital display readout for the radio as the 500 turn PW type dial was hard to decipher using the nomigraph on the coil boxes).
Sometimes I impress even myself.
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Post by Joey on Jun 4, 2023 6:44:06 GMT 10
Did a quick setup of my antenna in my office just to do an SWR check on the antenna, but every frequency on 2m was all noise and lit up the S-meter where I couldn't tell if it was in use or not to do a test broadcast.
Tried 2 different power supplies, and turned off all the stuff in my office like the computer, and even the lights I turned off but no change.
Today I'll dummy mount the antenna to my 2m wooden fence and power off a battery to eliminate mains power interference.
Sadly I don't have any of the gear required to go fox hunting in the neighbourhood to find the errant source of the RFI to report it to ACMA.
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malewithatail
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Location: Northern Rivers NSW
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Post by malewithatail on Jun 4, 2023 9:28:26 GMT 10
A 2 m 3 element beam is easy to make in minutes, a 12 v sealed small battery will run the radio for enough time, chuck the gear in a knapsack, add a pair of phones, and a walk around the neighborhood should reveal the noise source. Desperate alternative, move !!
I intend to live forever. So far, so good.
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Post by Joey on Jun 4, 2023 10:09:27 GMT 10
After I mounted the antenna to the fence outside all the interference has gone. This will do fine until hopefully next weekend when I will try and mount the antenna to the roof to clear the house and try to get some proper signals. This is my current plan for a simple setup. The dual band antenna will mount on a 2.8M fascia pole with braces. I'll attach a crossbar to it and may or may not add a CB UHF antenna there as well if it won't crowd up the space too much. On the end of the crossbar, I'll put an eyebolt with a pulley on it and run some paracord or similar through it so I can hoist up a 40/80m dipole when I get my next radio so the infrastructure is already in place and I won't have to borrow the EWP from work again to rig up another elevated position. Making a stand-alone mast seemed too cost prohibitive at this stage to rig up.  |
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malewithatail
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Post by malewithatail on Jun 4, 2023 11:39:48 GMT 10
Remember, any aerials, resonant or not within the electric field of the transmitting aerial, will absorb power and the rig attached could be damaged. If mounting aerials on the same mast, arrange a shorting bar on the plug end, this will dissipate the energy and also make the unused aerials look like a piece of wire to the aerial in use.
Sometimes I impress even myself.
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Post by Joey on Jun 4, 2023 14:04:43 GMT 10
Shorting Bar?
Even if the dipole wires are insulated electricity from the mounting hardware?
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malewithatail
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Post by malewithatail on Jun 4, 2023 14:18:15 GMT 10
Yup, the current will travel down the feedline from the antenna and possibly damage the rig. A shorting bar across the aerial plug on the unused coaxes stops this. Also it will can any potential for high induced voltages in the unused feed lines.
I'm actually a duct tape engineer.
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Post by Joey on Jun 4, 2023 16:34:00 GMT 10
Do you have a picutre of a shorting bar? google isn't much help
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