Has been a while so time to post something ! If not for Field Day and six meters there would not be much hamming going on around here this summer. 6 meters has been quite a ride up down in not in you know how it is, as always it seems everyone gets a break but us poor saps in the North West...East coast working Europe West coast working Japan and so on. We just live with the E-skip left overs and hope for the big one.
I had one great day so far this summer on 6 and netted 51 contacts in one day knocked off a couple of needed states for 6m WAS now down to two....come on East coast openings before it is all over for the summer.....
Have enjoyed meeting some now local friends on 6 this year and hope I can meet them soon for an eyeball. Starting to look at the contest calender for the fall with FD and two VHF contests this summer I am am looking foreword to contest time this fall and a little bird hunting.....73
Monday, July 30, 2012
Thursday, June 28, 2012
FD 2012
Well we pulled it off, another field day in the field. No down town in the park crap with honking horns and taunting by the town folk.....Well it may not have been that bad but we were taking no chances. K7BUY arrived in the afternoon and we had a great time getting a few last details done, about dinner time KE7RVL and KE7RVI pulled in with all the goods Tents, antennas, masts and the like.
After a great evening and some rest for the road warriors we were to meet son Fred KE7GBD at his house across town and head for the hills....All went to plan daughter in-law Susie and grandson Riley
all packed and ready. Riley decided the open air of the Jeep would be more fun than the back seat of dad's truck so he jumped in and we were off....another hour and a half for our traveling friends from Ore.
It seemed that the Beverly Hillbillies had landed on old Bennett Mountain with six adults, five dogs and each of the four rigs loaded with what appeared to be junk...oh yeah and one fancy pants with a camp trailer in tow.....it was quite a sight..the setup went rather well no broken bones and no stitches about two hours and we were dragging radios, computer, keyers and all the wire that makes it play from the Jeep. Tim and Larry packed a pile of batteries from Ore. and Tim brought solar charger how nice.
Well the evening around the camp fire and A bit of wind we were all ready to go.....Noon the kickoff hour was on us and the operation began....slow start then an afternoon switch to 40m and the flood gates opened CQ CQ FD was starting a pileup in each call what fun we took turns running them....gave us big gun complex for a while.....After 40 slowed down we took a jump to 15m where the signals were few but good.....CQ FD and we were in the pileup again and this went on for a long time....what a good time. We all got the thrill of being DX in this case Idaho...but was fun while it lasted.....
We will submit a score but that is of little importance, family and friends all around the glow of a Coleman lantern hanging in a sheepherders tent and the sound of ham radio....Many hams have CQ FD from our spot and many are no longer with us I hope it was special for them as it sure was for us.
Fred KE7GBD after his first run on 15m...as you can see he is shocked !
From left, KE7GBD Fred, K7JAN Jim, KE7RVL (working) and K7BUY Larry.
After a great evening and some rest for the road warriors we were to meet son Fred KE7GBD at his house across town and head for the hills....All went to plan daughter in-law Susie and grandson Riley
all packed and ready. Riley decided the open air of the Jeep would be more fun than the back seat of dad's truck so he jumped in and we were off....another hour and a half for our traveling friends from Ore.
It seemed that the Beverly Hillbillies had landed on old Bennett Mountain with six adults, five dogs and each of the four rigs loaded with what appeared to be junk...oh yeah and one fancy pants with a camp trailer in tow.....it was quite a sight..the setup went rather well no broken bones and no stitches about two hours and we were dragging radios, computer, keyers and all the wire that makes it play from the Jeep. Tim and Larry packed a pile of batteries from Ore. and Tim brought solar charger how nice.
Well the evening around the camp fire and A bit of wind we were all ready to go.....Noon the kickoff hour was on us and the operation began....slow start then an afternoon switch to 40m and the flood gates opened CQ CQ FD was starting a pileup in each call what fun we took turns running them....gave us big gun complex for a while.....After 40 slowed down we took a jump to 15m where the signals were few but good.....CQ FD and we were in the pileup again and this went on for a long time....what a good time. We all got the thrill of being DX in this case Idaho...but was fun while it lasted.....
We will submit a score but that is of little importance, family and friends all around the glow of a Coleman lantern hanging in a sheepherders tent and the sound of ham radio....Many hams have CQ FD from our spot and many are no longer with us I hope it was special for them as it sure was for us.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Flagploe
When you live in the HOA world there is not much antenna work to be done, but I have decided to move my 5btv vertical from the side of the house to a flagpole configuration in the front yard. I hope this will work a little better with a bit more wide open space. I have the base set and radials cut but due to rain not much else will happen outside for a day or two.
So will move inside and work on the antenna, I have removed all the hose clamps and replaced with self tapping screws, this will make the antenna more ridged a better support the PVC pipe that will turn it into a flagpole. Well I got all the spacers on the antenna that makes it fit the pipe nice and tight...and low and behold I had a break in the weather this afternoon and it is done......seems to work as well as any trap vertical so here it is....U.S. Navy flag under Old Glory....73
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Hidden Antennas
Ok , so I had my say about HOAs CC&Rs so now I will talk a bit about how I have my antennas situated in my restricted world. I run low power here never more than the standard 100w rig will produce. I know many guys that have attic and close proximity antennas run more power, and I know that some struggle with RFI problems. It is my own choice to avoid those problems with the low power option.
Another problem with the city life is the noise generated by any number of RF generating items, in my world that would be plasma TV, washer and dryer, routers, and the list goes on and on. When you install antennas in the house attic you will deal with these issues all the time. Also vertical antennas are good and can be disguised easily but it seems all noise is vertically polarized - it seems that way, so expect some noise issues there as well.
Antennas mounted low to the ground, such as my fence antenna will work well in some cases but the radiation pattern will be more up than out. I find that my 200 foot wire mounted on the fence about six feet off the ground works great for 500 to 1000 miles on 40 and 80 no dx antenna however.
A good antenna tuner or two is a must, so keep that in mind as well. There are many options here and mine may not be the best but they keep me contesting and DXing the things I like to do most...VHF and UHF are easy for local simplex and repeater operations they fit about anywhere.
I have two antennas for 20, 15, 10 and 6m in the attic, they are both multi band dipoles one running North/South and one running East/West and a 6m delta loop also in the attic.
The 200 foot wire on the fence is configured as an end fed wire using a home built balun, it is a large
"U" shape. I also have a 5BTV vertical that is installed way to close to the house but out of sight, it will soon be a flagpole in the front yard. My best antenna is a 100 foot long wire that has to be put up and down so as not to be seen in the daylight hours that runs from the peak of my roof to a tree, it is also end fed with a balun. I use this antenna in the winter for 40, 80, and yes 160.
So with all this rambling I hope you can find some place to hide your antennas and keep on hamming, as with some of us baby boomers moving to more of a retirement community setting we will need to use the old work around to stay on the air...it's not the end of the world.....73
Another problem with the city life is the noise generated by any number of RF generating items, in my world that would be plasma TV, washer and dryer, routers, and the list goes on and on. When you install antennas in the house attic you will deal with these issues all the time. Also vertical antennas are good and can be disguised easily but it seems all noise is vertically polarized - it seems that way, so expect some noise issues there as well.
Antennas mounted low to the ground, such as my fence antenna will work well in some cases but the radiation pattern will be more up than out. I find that my 200 foot wire mounted on the fence about six feet off the ground works great for 500 to 1000 miles on 40 and 80 no dx antenna however.
A good antenna tuner or two is a must, so keep that in mind as well. There are many options here and mine may not be the best but they keep me contesting and DXing the things I like to do most...VHF and UHF are easy for local simplex and repeater operations they fit about anywhere.
I have two antennas for 20, 15, 10 and 6m in the attic, they are both multi band dipoles one running North/South and one running East/West and a 6m delta loop also in the attic.
The 200 foot wire on the fence is configured as an end fed wire using a home built balun, it is a large
"U" shape. I also have a 5BTV vertical that is installed way to close to the house but out of sight, it will soon be a flagpole in the front yard. My best antenna is a 100 foot long wire that has to be put up and down so as not to be seen in the daylight hours that runs from the peak of my roof to a tree, it is also end fed with a balun. I use this antenna in the winter for 40, 80, and yes 160.
So with all this rambling I hope you can find some place to hide your antennas and keep on hamming, as with some of us baby boomers moving to more of a retirement community setting we will need to use the old work around to stay on the air...it's not the end of the world.....73
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