Re: Not about cars

[Ext User(Kev)]

eeviil inc. wrote:

> atec 77 wrote:
>
>> http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/21dec_cycle24.htm?list924420
>> as an adjunct to this if the solar flares are as severe as suggested
>> then as one interested in Amateur radio it will be a boon for the HF
>> bands I have access to , but they increased activity may well mean an
>> increase in interference to television and radio services and a
>> notable increase in air temperature , now how are the time wasters
>> going to blame this on our toys ?
>
>
> Time to dig the old shortwave receiver out and string wires all over my
> backyard :) Still to find a cheap small unintrusive HF antenna setup. My
> other UHF ant's are damn obvious as is on the roof.
>
> Adam


What sort of antenna
a vertical?

why not use an inverted V dipole, if you already have a mast all you
need is some thin copper wire and a 1:1 balun(if fed with co-ax, no
balun is needed but the 1:1 will stop a lot of electrical noise getting
into the radio via the antenna) at the centre(mounted at the top of the
mast near the base of your UHF antenna) and run the wires down to a
suitable mounting point at the roof edge(using end insulators)
this will give a very good radiation pattern that would almost match a
vertical, very cheap and simple, and if the wire is thin, very hard to see


Kev

[Ext User(Kev)]

atec 77 wrote:

> eeviil inc. wrote:
>
>> Kev wrote:
>>
>>> eeviil inc. wrote:
>>>
>>>> atec 77 wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/21dec_cycle24.htm?list924420
>>>>> as an adjunct to this if the solar flares are as severe as suggested
>>>>> then as one interested in Amateur radio it will be a boon for the
>>>>> HF bands I have access to , but they increased activity may well
>>>>> mean an increase in interference to television and radio services
>>>>> and a notable increase in air temperature , now how are the time
>>>>> wasters going to blame this on our toys ?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Time to dig the old shortwave receiver out and string wires all over
>>>> my backyard :) Still to find a cheap small unintrusive HF antenna
>>>> setup. My other UHF ant's are damn obvious as is on the roof.
>>>>
>>>> Adam
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> What sort of antenna
>>> a vertical?
>>>
>> Two verticals (or 3 depending on how you look at it), one a 12db UHF
>> which stands about 2.5 or 3m tall, and two mobile one verticals on a
>> dipole mount, sitting on a standoff from the mast.
>>
>>> why not use an inverted V dipole, if you already have a mast all you
>>> need is some thin copper wire and a 1:1 balun(if fed with co-ax, no
>>> balun is needed but the 1:1 will stop a lot of electrical noise
>>> getting into the radio via the antenna) at the centre(mounted at the
>>> top of the mast near the base of your UHF antenna) and run the wires
>>> down to a suitable mounting point at the roof edge(using end insulators)
>>> this will give a very good radiation pattern that would almost match
>>> a vertical, very cheap and simple, and if the wire is thin, very hard
>>> to see
>>>
>> I think that will be the go, what sort of wire do you recommend?
>> Insulated or wire wrap wire? What about the angle of the v? Will the
>> performance change depending on the angle?

the radiation pattern will be affected by changes in the angle but if
you keep it between 30 and 60 degrees than you should be right, make it
the right length for the freq you most want to listen to and use an
antenna tuner for the rest(RX tuners are quite cheap, or if you want to
have a go, cheaper to build)
or you could even run 3 or 4 pairs of wire of varing sizes to match a
number of freqs, it's cheap and nasty but will give OK results

I used a roll of mig welding wire, it is quite strong and doesn't need
any coating, hard drawn copper wire is normally used, but any copper
wire(coated or not) will work fine


Kev


>> I knew I should have ran all my cable when i had the opportunity
>> rather than only what I needed...

aint it always the way
I have yet to route my cables properly, when I get my tower up I'll
doing it right and have a couple of extras in place for use at a later
date if needed

> Go buy a roll of electrical earth at your local dealer , cheap , plastic
> coated and strong .

and the colour will sort of blend into the trees in the back ground, if
you have any trees


Kev

[Ext User(eeviil inc.)]

Kev wrote:
> atec 77 wrote:
>
>> eeviil inc. wrote:
>>
>>> Kev wrote:
>>>
>>>> eeviil inc. wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> atec 77 wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/21dec_cycle24.htm?list924420
>>>>>> as an adjunct to this if the solar flares are as severe as suggested
>>>>>> then as one interested in Amateur radio it will be a boon for the
>>>>>> HF bands I have access to , but they increased activity may well
>>>>>> mean an increase in interference to television and radio services
>>>>>> and a notable increase in air temperature , now how are the time
>>>>>> wasters going to blame this on our toys ?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Time to dig the old shortwave receiver out and string wires all
>>>>> over my backyard :) Still to find a cheap small unintrusive HF
>>>>> antenna setup. My other UHF ant's are damn obvious as is on the roof.
>>>>>
>>>>> Adam
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> What sort of antenna
>>>> a vertical?
>>>>
>>> Two verticals (or 3 depending on how you look at it), one a 12db UHF
>>> which stands about 2.5 or 3m tall, and two mobile one verticals on a
>>> dipole mount, sitting on a standoff from the mast.
>>>
>>>> why not use an inverted V dipole, if you already have a mast all you
>>>> need is some thin copper wire and a 1:1 balun(if fed with co-ax, no
>>>> balun is needed but the 1:1 will stop a lot of electrical noise
>>>> getting into the radio via the antenna) at the centre(mounted at the
>>>> top of the mast near the base of your UHF antenna) and run the wires
>>>> down to a suitable mounting point at the roof edge(using end
>>>> insulators)
>>>> this will give a very good radiation pattern that would almost match
>>>> a vertical, very cheap and simple, and if the wire is thin, very
>>>> hard to see
>>>>
>>> I think that will be the go, what sort of wire do you recommend?
>>> Insulated or wire wrap wire? What about the angle of the v? Will the
>>> performance change depending on the angle?
>
>
> the radiation pattern will be affected by changes in the angle but if
> you keep it between 30 and 60 degrees than you should be right, make it
> the right length for the freq you most want to listen to and use an
> antenna tuner for the rest(RX tuners are quite cheap, or if you want to
> have a go, cheaper to build)
> or you could even run 3 or 4 pairs of wire of varing sizes to match a
> number of freqs, it's cheap and nasty but will give OK results
>
> I used a roll of mig welding wire, it is quite strong and doesn't need
> any coating, hard drawn copper wire is normally used, but any copper
> wire(coated or not) will work fine

I thought as such but have heard so many conflicting things that have
had me wondering.
>
>
> Kev
>
>
>>> I knew I should have ran all my cable when i had the opportunity
>>> rather than only what I needed...
>
>
> aint it always the way
> I have yet to route my cables properly, when I get my tower up I'll
> doing it right and have a couple of extras in place for use at a later
> date if needed

Smart thinking, I even had the cables all together but it was late and I
could see a storm in the distance, so I rushed. And finished way before
I ran out of light and the rain hit.. That'll teach me..
>
>> Go buy a roll of electrical earth at your local dealer , cheap ,
>> plastic coated and strong .
>
>
> and the colour will sort of blend into the trees in the back ground, if
> you have any trees

I think I actually have some laying around in the back shed, about half
a roll. And I'm sure if i looked hard enough i'd even find egg
insulators laying around. Could work out very cheap :)

Adam
>
>
> Kev

[Ext User(Kev)]

>
>
> I think I actually have some laying around in the back shed, about half
> a roll. And I'm sure if i looked hard enough i'd even find egg
> insulators laying around. Could work out very cheap :)
>
> Adam

And to make the balun(1:1, you would use a 4:1 if you used a twin wire
balanced feeder, like the old TV ladder type wire) you just need a
ferrite ring and a bit of copper wire(specs can be found everywhere on
the net) place it inside some poly tube with and end cap on top and
bottom, have the SO239 in the bottom cap and a couple of stainless bolts
out each side of the tube, one for each side of the antenna connected to
the balun, make sure it's all sealed from the weather, now just clamp
that to the mast, connect the antenna wires to the small bolts(some good
solder lugs work great here) and plug in the coax and your up and running

cheap as chips and very effective
like I said you can do without the balun using coax as the feeder but
you may get a lot of electrical interference from local sources, the
balun helps to eliminate most of that

Kev

[Ext User(eeviil inc.)]

Kev wrote:
>
>
>>
>>
>> I think I actually have some laying around in the back shed, about
>> half a roll. And I'm sure if i looked hard enough i'd even find egg
>> insulators laying around. Could work out very cheap :)
>>
>> Adam
>
>
> And to make the balun(1:1, you would use a 4:1 if you used a twin wire
> balanced feeder, like the old TV ladder type wire) you just need a
> ferrite ring and a bit of copper wire(specs can be found everywhere on
> the net) place it inside some poly tube with and end cap on top and
> bottom, have the SO239 in the bottom cap and a couple of stainless bolts
> out each side of the tube, one for each side of the antenna connected to
> the balun, make sure it's all sealed from the weather, now just clamp
> that to the mast, connect the antenna wires to the small bolts(some good
> solder lugs work great here) and plug in the coax and your up and running
>
> cheap as chips and very effective
> like I said you can do without the balun using coax as the feeder but
> you may get a lot of electrical interference from local sources, the
> balun helps to eliminate most of that
>
I think i will use a balun, didn't use one last time and the
interference was dreadful. I think I had a ring about 20mm external
diameter somewhere.

Now to find what to listen to. I used to search a lot but never listened
to one thing in particular

Cheers for that

Adam

[Ext User(Kev)]

eeviil inc. wrote:

> Kev wrote:
>
>>
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I think I actually have some laying around in the back shed, about
>>> half a roll. And I'm sure if i looked hard enough i'd even find egg
>>> insulators laying around. Could work out very cheap :)
>>>
>>> Adam
>>
>>
>>
>> And to make the balun(1:1, you would use a 4:1 if you used a twin wire
>> balanced feeder, like the old TV ladder type wire) you just need a
>> ferrite ring and a bit of copper wire(specs can be found everywhere on
>> the net) place it inside some poly tube with and end cap on top and
>> bottom, have the SO239 in the bottom cap and a couple of stainless
>> bolts out each side of the tube, one for each side of the antenna
>> connected to the balun, make sure it's all sealed from the weather,
>> now just clamp that to the mast, connect the antenna wires to the
>> small bolts(some good solder lugs work great here) and plug in the
>> coax and your up and running
>>
>> cheap as chips and very effective
>> like I said you can do without the balun using coax as the feeder but
>> you may get a lot of electrical interference from local sources, the
>> balun helps to eliminate most of that
>>
> I think i will use a balun, didn't use one last time and the
> interference was dreadful. I think I had a ring about 20mm external
> diameter somewhere.
>
> Now to find what to listen to. I used to search a lot but never listened
> to one thing in particular
>
> Cheers for that
>
> Adam


hmmm

8.992, 11.175 USB for USAF global HF network(not as busy as it used to
be, mostly just routine "Skyking" coded messages these days

5.643, 8.867, 13.261 USB for Pacific Air Traffic Control

Of course you missed the Syd-Hob yatch race dramas, as I did because I
was working

Kev