Moving shacks

 I don't really have a 'shack' of sorts as most hams do.  I operate from my yard close to where my antennas are.  During the inclement months I would go into my small barn and operate from a small table and chair.  I have a small space heater to take the edge off when it's -30C and that has served me well.  The problem with my barn is that I share it with raccoons and squirrels.  It is an unwinnable battle with the current state of the barn and access points the critters have to its interior.  I'm not terribly upset that they are there.  They don't cause me any other grief...they do not get into my garbage or anything like that.

I also had an old decrepit large shed/building which raccoons lived under and I could store some things in but the doors wouldn't shut properly and the roof was rotting.  It needed to come down.  I tackled the task which ended up being much more work than I had anticipated.  It took two 20 yard dumpsters and two 40 yard dumpsters to take care of it all.  It took me months to deal with this very well built shed.  Now that it's gone I am having a new, but significantly smaller, pre-made 10' x 14' shed delivered from Pine Grove Sheds in Alexandria, Ontario, just 20 minutes away.  This shed will be located on the opposite side of the yard from the barn and I wondered if I could use this new shed as a new operating position or shack.  It will be protected from the elements and the raccoons and I am excited at the prospect.  I was thinking of putting a vertical antenna up as I had originally thought I would also keep the old operating position in the barn until I went in the other day and saw raccoon poop on my table.  I'm done with the barn.  I will move my antennas to new trees and have a new permanent shack.  This will allow me to leave things there without fear of rodent destruction.  I am getting excited at the prospect of this new locale.  I will post pictures once it arrives in a few weeks.

When I was thinking of putting up a random wire vertical I did a lot of youtubing and reading and I learned a lot about the differences between the EFHW and the random wire antenna.  I learned more about 9:1 ununs and their proper application as compared to the 49:1 auto transformer used in EFHW antennas.  I really enjoy when these concepts that I didn't quite fully understand become more clear to me.  I had been trying to use a 9:1 unun for my 80M antenna at 1/2 wavelength.  I had purchased a EFHW 80M mini tuner that plays the role of tuner and matching transformer but a part was incorrect in the bag and had been waiting for its replacement.  I didn't understand why the unun was giving me an "ok" match but not a great one.  I made some contacts but the SWR on the FT-817 was still fairly high.  Now I understand the difference between the 2 antenna types better and the need for the 49:1 transformer and that the 9:1 just wasn't going to cut it.  Once the proper toroid arrives and I finish the 80M EFHW tuner the 9:1 can be put away until the next time I decide to put up a vertical or random wire antenna....with a proper counterpoise.

Cheers for now,

Scott ve3vvf

Colaisde na Gàidhlig

 On a non-radio related topic, I have been spending more time this summer interested in my Scottish heritage.  My family, on my mother's side, comes from Scotland with a hint of Wales and Ireland thrown in for good measure.  My family comes from Nova Scotia and is chock full of MacDonalds, Masons, MacIntoshs, Frasers and Smiths.  In the north-eastern part of Nova Scotia there is a large portion of the population with Scottish ancestry and many had Gaelic spoken in their homes until very recently.  Cape Breton Island is part of Nova Scotia slightly to the north-east.  Nowadays it is connected by the Canso Causeway but before its construction in the early 1950s the Scottish culture was thriving on this little island. Even now there are homes where Gaelic is spoken.  The music and culture that was brought from Scotland hundreds of years ago is still celebrated and, to a certain extent, lived.

In Cape Breton there is a college called The Gaelic College whose purpose is to promote and spread the culture so it is not lost.  This week I begin Beginner Level 1 of Gaelic language.  It is a 28 week course offered through Zoom classes with exercises and group work and 1 on 1 practise with class mates.  I am very excited to begin learning.  I had been using the site Duolingo for a month or 2 to learn and I did learn a lot of the basics but it isn't the same as proper instruction from a real person.

I will post my progress.

Tapadh leibh (Thank you)

Scott 72/73

Summer's gone already

 Summertime is not a big operating time for me these days but as the weather gets cooler I start to think of antennas and what I need to do before the snow flies.  I had put up the doublet in the spring and it ran just touching the weeping willow tree because that was the path between my 2 supports.  The antenna got tangled up with the tree and I was not pleased with using the tuner each time I moved on the band or changed bands.  Some bands worked well and others not so much.  I decided to rethink my options.  I had put up an end fed wire for 40 and that was fine with the little tuner I built but I decided to drop it and put up a tuned dipole instead.  The end fed is a compromise and I wanted to do a fan dipole using the window line.  I made one with 40 on top and 17 underneath.  This antenna doesn't interfere with any trees and I reused my center support from the doublet making this antenna slightly inverted V-ish.  Now I have the 2 fan dipoles (20/30) and (17/40) and my EFHW for 80 which I am still not completely pleased with but I have it and will use it this winter.  It works and I make QSOs and that is what counts.

I plan on taking part in more NAQCC monthly sprints this winter and they use 20/40/80 which I now have covered.  I am not a contester but these are low pressure and I really enjoy having 2x QRP QSOs.  The days are getting cooler and my operating position (a lawn chair and card table in the barn next to the window) is ready for me.  The raccoons will soon be coming home to find winter homes and I hope to seal up their access to the barn but it is a challenge as they can be pretty crafty.  They stay on the second floor and don't bother my stuff but I'd rather not have them but that's what you get when you live rurally...that and the red squirrels.

I have  had a couple of QSOs this past weekend but I am still busy with other jobs and not had a lot of time to operate.  Soon enough, I hope.

Cheers es 72/73 -- Scott  

Doublet update

I finished the support post and here is a photo.  It keeps the center of the antenna at about 25' and out of the weeping willow branches.  The wire actually runs north-south.  I am looking south in this picture and the wire goes over that tree just to the left of the support that you can see in the distance.  The near end of the antenna goes over my head to my TV tower behind me.  I installed 2 guy ropes at the top of the 2nd 2x2 to give the antenna more stability because it gets extremely windy here.  It's surprising what you can throw together with what's on hand.  It was only a few hose clamps that I needed to get.

I am happy with the antenna except for 20M which I will install a dipole for.  Incidentally, last night before the support was installed I had a 40M DX QSO with Italy with 5W.  I was very pleased considering the conditions and the band.

Doublet Up and more to come

On Saturday I installed my doublet and the center hangs down to about 23' above the ground.  It's heavy over a long run so it does sag some.  I have decided to prepare my center support to take some of the load off and also to provide me with another use.  More on that later.

I tested my doublet with my tuner and found a very good match on 40, 17 and 15 and a reasonable match on 30, 12 and 10.  I could not match on 20M.  I made some contacts and was pleased with the flexibility I now have across the bands...except 20M.  I thought the issue was the length of my feedline so I trimmed 8' from it and still it behaved about the same.  Someone suggested that the length of the antenna may need some trimming.    I lowered the antenna and trimmed 2' off each end and raised it back up again.  The bands that were reasonable improved slightly in the SWR department but 20M stayed unacceptable.  Rather than fart around with this doublet to get something "reasonable" at the expense of the other bands I decided that I would prefer a tuned antenna for 20M so that I can get back to doing some QRPp work eventually.  I have decided to make a single 20M dipole and support it from the antenna support I plan to install.

In the QRP tradition I want this support to do the job with low expense and also with what I have on hand which is challenging.  I have wood.  I have a patio umbrella stand that anchors with patio stones in the NPM (non-penetrating mount) fashion since I'm not quite ready to dig and bury a 6"x6" or 4"x4" post as a base anchor point just yet.  I have a pulley and I have a 20' fiberglass Wonderpole with the tip broken off.  Originally I was going to use just the top section of this rod as I explained I was going to do in my post Still a Bit Chilly but I have changed my plan a bit to use the whole thing.  The only thing I am missing to get this support up are some hose clamps and some paracord.  I used up all the cord I had on the weekend so I will place an order at the local hardware store for a curbside pickup.

I am using two eight foot 2x2s end to end for the support and then I will strap the Wonderpole to it at the top.  This will give me close to 30' of support.  I may be able to get away with no guys at all, since the Wonderpole is light.   Just below the doublet I will attach a pulley and install a dipole for 20M.  The paracord attached to the legs will give me some added support.  Joining the 2 wood 2x2s end to end is a challenge and here is what I have come up with.

I ripped some 1x8 down to about 2" wide which is the same width as the main support pieces. the pieces are about 2' long.  I sandwich the support pieces at the joints and secured with some screws, wire and hose clamps.  The photos show wire I used but this won't be strong enough.  I don't have any fencing wire or I would use that and hose clamps are easily removed and adjusted.

I have strapped the support pole to the umbrella stand and will add the Wonderpole to it hopefully today,

More to come
Cheers de Scott ve3vvf

Antenna Launch Success

I lowered my random wire antenna this week so that I could make the length a little less random.  I added 8' to it to help avoid half wavelengths on multiple bands by using a chart I found on this website.  The chart at the bottom shows you the wire lengths to avoid depending on which bands you plan to use.  You can visit the page for an explanation of the chart but basically you want to choose a length where the fewest amount of colour bars are present.  I chose somewhere just above 135'.

I lowered the antenna and added the length of wire to it and I was hoping to get it anchored higher in the tree with the newly purchased fishing reel and slingshot from Canadian Tire (Curbside pickup, of course) so I let the support rope come all the way down.  Bad Idea.  I was quite disappointed at the lack of punch this slingshot gave me.  The wind was also working against me.  I tried a few times and from a few different angles but it just wasn't working.  What I ended up doing was using the fishing reel attached to a screwdriver stuck in the ground (thanks Michael, ve3wmb) aimed at the tree top and I created a sling with a piece of broken brick and 6' of para cord.  I tied the fishing line to the brick also and then I rapidly started spinning the rock in an overhand fashion (think David and Goliath) and let the rope go at just the right time for it to sail towards the top of the tree taking the end of the fishing line with it.  This really did the trick.  It took a few tries before I was happy with the placement and height but once it was there I let the weight of the brick bring it to ground level where I detached the brick from the fishing line and tied a new rope to the fishing line and pulled it back up the tree and over the branch and down to me.  I wrapped some tape around it to help keep it from getting snagged in a notch or branch. I could then attach the antenna to it.  I pulled it up using the antenna rope and it was perfect.  I was very happy.  I seemingly bought a slingshot for nothing but you just never know.



Once my Random wire was back up it was time to get the rope in place for the doublet I plan to put up on Saturday.  Now that I had the method down pat it only took 2 tries to get the fishing line over the top of the tree my doublet support rope will be draped over.  Now on Saturday (tomorrow) I will lower the random wire because the doublet will pass over top of the low end of the random wire.  I'll attach the other support end of the doublet to my TV tower at 40' and once up I can raise the random wire again and I will have 2 antennas up...an all band doublet that I will use from 10-40M and an 80M end fed once I get the final toroid from QRPGuys in the mail, whenever that is.

I'm excited to try this doublet fed with balanced window line and the QRPGuys MultiZ tuner.  I'm hoping for a better match than I was getting on the random wire.  I will know tomorrow and there is also the QRPTTF (To The Field) "contest" all day tomorrow.  I say "contest" with quotes because it's low pressure which is right up my alley.  The theme this year is OPERATE FROM HOME.  Do not go out to parks etc but just go out in the yard instead because of the COVID-19 isolation rules currently in place.

That's all for now,
Cheers es 72/73

NAQCC April Sprint

So I'm not a contester at all.  That requires operating skill, dedication and time to commit to the contests.  The NAQCC monthly sprints, on the other hand, are low stress, fun, short and did I say fun?

I have wanted to take part many times over the years but either didn't have the right band antenna or a good setup...or so I thought.  With the COVID-19 lock down of sorts I have had more time on the radio which has given me more confidence on the radio.  As well, I listened to the Ditdit.fm Podcast on the NAQCC and their contest sprints.  I've had a member number (1967) for years but just never used it.  It was time.  I looked on the NAQCC site this morning to see when the next sprint was and it was tonight!  I have a 130' random wire and my little tuner that will put me on 40 and 20...just not 80.  Those are the 3 bands the sprint runs on.

The toughest part, once it got going at 20:30 Eastern time, was dealing with the congestion.  It took a bit to learn to find a signal and focus on it alone and ignore all the others around you/it.  It makes me wish I had the narrow CW filter in my FT-817.  Anyway, 20M wasn't very good but 40 was full.  My plan was to stay for an hour and take what I got and be happy.  I didn't really feel the need to call CQ NA because I could just dial around and find others calling.  The sprint runs generally between 7.030 - 7.045.  All in all I made 6 QSOs and didn't stumble too much through them.  I was pleased with my effort and results.  The total points score was 144 after multipliers for using a Straight Key and the SPC multipliers.  I know many get dozens of Qs in the log but this was about me getting more airtime.  I used one of the popular loggers called the NAQCC Sprint Logger which was created by Ron Bower, AC2C.  It worked well when I went to enter my contacts after the fact and I was able to do a report that I cut and paste into the log submission page of the NAQCC.  It was painless.  This was a great experience and I hope to take part again next month.

Cheers es 72 de Scott ve3vvf,

Tuner Covers the Bands

I took some time yesterday afternoon on the Good Friday "day off" to try out the QRPGuys Multi Z tuner some more.  I started on 40M, where I didn't have any luck finding a match the other day, and had better luck today.  There's a hi/Lo Z switch and when I switched it to Hi I was able to match 40M quite well.  I even had a QSO with Ron, W3SSF, in Baltimore, MD.  It was turning into a ragchew but had to cut it short because of QRM.  30M tunes alright but I can obtain a better match without the tuner. 20M tuned up nicely and I may have had a brief exchange with 4A60O but he was quick and there were a lot of other callers in the pileup.  I didn't hear my exact call but very similar to mine.  He may have misheard my call because of the QRP.  He did not go in the log.  17, 12, 15 and 10 meters also tuned up will enough but those bands were pretty dead so there were no QSOs to be had.  It was a bit chilly but mostly it was a cool damp very strong wind so I operated from inside the barn.  Even with that my fingers were starting to get a little cold so I packed it in for the afternoon but not before proving to myself that this little tuner will work well for me on this random wire through a LDG 9:1 unun until I can get the doublet in the air.

Little Tuner Helpful

When I built the QRPGuys Multi Z tuner it was so I could use it with the Doublet I plan to put up (once I get a launching method) but then I thought I'd give it a try with my random wire since the Doublet isn't quite there yet.  The random wire is about 125' long, I believe,  and works very well on 30M but that's about it.  I hooked the little unit up via a short run of Co-ax to my LDG 9:1 Unun and I was able to tune it quite well on 20M and on 17M.  40M was not so agreeable and I didn't try 12 or 15 but if I were going to use this antenna and tuner together regularly some adjustments to the wire length would likely be required.  I tuned around 20 for a while and there was a lot of activity and I was getting a little over-zealous trying to reach a Brazilian station and also a few other DX stations but I really should have known better and stuck with something more domestic.  As it was, my battery was down to 10-11v and I knew my FT-817 wasn't even putting out close to 5 watts into a non resonant antenna...during poor conditions.   All that being said I was happy with the tuner and how easy it was to operate by tuning to dim the tuning LED.  As the LED gets dimmer your match is better.  It was super handy and I think I am going to enjoy using it.  Tonight I'll charge my battery and test it again on more bands on the next nice day.

A Beautiful Day

Saturday was one of the nicest days we have had in quite some time.  The wind was down and the temperatures were in the mid teens.  This was a perfect opportunity to spend some time outdoors.  As the yard dries up there will be a lot to do and being stuck at home will give me no excuse not to get stuff done.  After first doing some raking of twigs from the weeping willow (there are sooooooo many from this sort of tree...especially after a windy winter) I figured it was a perfect opportunity to do some outdoor operating.  I got my lawn chair and collapsible table out and brought out my portable kit.  Everything is still brown but it's better than being white.  I took this panoramic shot.  This summer my plan was to have that old storage shed taken down and removed but with COVID that has fallen down the list of what is important.

The sun was warm and I hooked up to the random wire.  Since 30M is the only band I can work without a tuner that's where I parked myself.  The DX stations I could hear were too weak for them to hear me so I had a couple of QSOs with domestic stations.  The band was fairly active.  I could hear at least one SOTA station and a couple of SKCC stations.  I was unsure of the SOTA exchange.  I was unsure if someone calling CQ SOTA is looking for a SOTA station or they are activating a SOTA station.  With my CW operating confidence (or lack there of) always hanging over my head I avoided the SOTA caller and instead my first call was a 2x QRP with AA9AA in Wisconsin and I always enjoy a 2xQRP...probably one of my favourite contact types.  I also called back to an SKCC station and had a brief QSO where we exchanged SKCC numbers names and Stare/Province.  I was just listening to some of the DitDit podcasts this week and one of them was all about the SKCC.  I've had a SKCC member number for over a decade now but I've never done much with it.  It's nice to be able to have a brief exchange with someone with a shared element.

I'm happy the snow is gone now and the yard is drying up.  I'm going to appreciate the increased radio operating time I'm going to have this spring.  Soon we will be planting the vegetable gardens and getting the flower patches cleaned up.  The perennials are already coming up.

With the warmer weather, as well, is the ability to start practising my bagpipes outdoors.  It's not an activity conducive to indoor practising when it comes to not annoying other people/cats in the house.  Soon, I hope.

*NOTE - I looked up the SOTA details and found that someone calling CQ SOTA is, in fact, activating a summit.  There's a whole community of chasers out there too.

Cheers for now es 72/37
de Scott

Still a bit chilly...

I went out with full intention of getting this antenna going.  After I put sheets on the clothesline my hands were already chilly.  What I decided to do was start fiddling with my support pole idea.  My plan is to make a pole by connecting 2"x2" pressure treated end to end until I reach the height I need to sufficiently support the center of the doublet.  Because it will be guyed I am not too concerned about strength.  What I will do is place four twelve inch 1"x2" around each joint to provide support.  It won't be pretty but should do the job.  I will guy the pole at the top and again at some midway point.

My biggest dilemma was what to do at the top to hold the antenna in place while still providing for some up and down movement as the antenna flexes with the wind in the trees.  In the barn I found a 3' fiberglass section from a 20' Shakespeare Wonderpole fishing pole that I used to use for portable dipole setups at parks.  The tip had broken off when I dropped it from the second story roof peak one time (on purpose...I thought it would land flat but it didn't).  Anyway, I plan to drill a 1/2" hole in the top end of the top 2x2 section and glue it in place.  I also drilled a 1/2" hole in the top of the plumbing T so it will slide over top and sit on the top of the pole.  The photos below of my plan explain this better than my words can.  I just did this in a scrap of wood to prove to myself that it should work.

The T is able to slide up and down on the fiberglass shaft by as much as 2'6" and I will put something on the tip of the fiberglass shaft to prevent the T from sliding up and off the top completely in strong winds.  Now I need to investigate what length of pressure treated 2x2 I can get (10', 14'...16') because I'd prefer not to use 8' lengths so I can have as few joints as possible in the mast.

The other thing I did was measure out the antenna wires on the ground at 73' each.  I left them on the ground for now and called it a morning.  If it warms up I will go out and solder the center connections.  I can make and put the antenna up without the support pole.  The pole is just an addition I will install to steady the antenna in the wind I will inevitably get here in farm country.  I am also still trying to figure out how I will get the para cord over the top of the 60' tree.

Cheers for now,
72/73 de Scott

Doublet length

So I had decided to install the 40m (and higher) doublet to save on weight even though I had the space for the 80M doublet.  My original thinking was that some day it might be neat to compare the EFHW 80M antenna with the 80M doublet since my QRP Guys tuner that I plan to use with the doublet does not support 80M.  Then I read that a doublet will actually provide better performance on a given band if the antenna were resonant on odd harmonics for that band so I thought that since the doublet length is not critical I could play with the length to give a boost to a favourite band.  I knew there are websites out there that will calculate this for you so I went searching.

I looked at a couple and then found this page on Spookmate.com.  I was able to put in the frequency for 80M in the calculator and see what my options were.

As you can see where the harmonics are listed that 10.5 is the 3rd harmonic.  This is very close to 10.110 where I like to operate on 30M.  I then adjusted the frequency at the top until the 3rd harmonic was where I wanted it to be.  3.37 MHz does the job and the legs of the doublet would be 72.9' long.  The key with the doublet is that the antenna is not resonant on 80M if I want to use 80M.  It is not (although it may be too close) but I am not using the antenna on 80M so I'm not concerned about that.  Really I'm taking advantage of the 3rd harmonic which I would not have if I were to put up the 40M doublet.

The harmonic frequencies gave me no joy for the 17M band which I also enjoy so I will go with the 73' length.  This is what I plan to experiment with when I put this doublet up, hopefully this weekend, weather permitting.  I'm not sure how much luck nor do I have a way to get tangible results but my random wire is currently working well on 30M only so I can compare the two.

Now you may remember I was going to avoid the 80M doublet because of weight concerns but I have come up with a plan for a guyed wooden support pole.  It'll be a little "interesting" looking but I think it should do the trick.  I'm fine tuning my idea in my head daily and am almost there.

Cheers for now,

72/73 de Scott

Doublet Dilemmas

When it comes to installing my, yet-to-be-built, Doublet antenna my biggest concern is weight and whether it will need a center support.  If it does need a center support what will I use and how strong will it be?  My original intention was to install an 80M doublet just because I have the space but that antenna will be significantly heavier than one for 40M.  The QRP Guys Multi Z Tuner that I just completed only tunes 10-40 so an 80M doublet is definitely overkill so it only makes sense to only put up what I will need in the immediate future.  As well, I have my random wire that will be modified to be my 80M antenna with the addition of the QRP Guys EFHW mini-tuner kit for 80M.  Once these projects are ready to test I will do so using my FT-817.

Here is the image from the QRP Guys website:

If I still need support for the doublet I have a couple of options I've been contemplating.  I could use a guyed wooden support made from pressure treated 2" x 2" or I could use a guyed PVC water pipe mast with about the same 2" diameter.  I live in a windy location but the center of the doublet will be somewhat shielded from the wind by my small barn but I still worry about it.  The wind on the antenna wire is not my concern as much as the window feedline is.  It is both heavy and easily caught by the wind.  Only putting it up will tell how these factors play out in real life.  The height this antenna will be remains unclear but I am hoping around 40' up.  One end support is the 40 foot TV tower attached to my house and the other end is a tree over which the para cord will be tossed so the actual height of that end support remains to be seen.

The center of the antenna, since I am unable to 3D print at the library is going to be something I have used before for dipoles, although this one is a bit larger.  It is a PVC water line "T".  It's durable and lightweight and I can easily drill or melt holes for the wires to pass through :

Cheers for now,
72/73 de Scott

QRP Guys Multi Z Tuner completed

Carrying over from yesterday the last thing I had to do with the tuner construction was to wind and install the transformer.  There are 3 windings on this transformer: a primary with a center tap and 2 secondary windings of different sizes.  I wound it all up once but it was too sloppy so I removed all the windings and made it a lot tidier and tighter.  Below are the 3 stages of installing the first, second and third windings.

 Once that was wound I had to ensure all the enamel was off the leads and tin them.  I then fed them through the appropriate holes.  When I did this the first time I saw that there was some enamel still not scraped off so I pulled it back off the board and did a better job of stripping the enamel with the Xacto knife.  I then reinstalled it in the holes and soldered them in place.

Now the final touch was to install the PCB washer to hold the transformer in place and put the rubber feet on the back.

I have also included the circuit design which is also available in the assembly instructions on the Multi Z Tuner page on the QRP Guys' website.  

My next step now is to build my doublet and get it up in the air.  That will be happening in the next week or 2 weather permitting.

Cheers for now,

72/73 de Scott 

QRP Guys Multi Z Tuner started

I got down to making the QRP Guys Multi Z Tuner 10-40 this evening.  The first thing I noticed was that my eyes really aren't what they used to be.  Even with glasses on I could have really done with a pair of these:

                                  or this    


My ageing eyes aside, I dove in and got started.  The project does not have a lot of components so the construction isn't too difficult however there are some challenging bits to keep you on the ball but the instructions are top notch.  The first step is joining some PCB pieces together with solder to create the "chassis".  Once complete I began installing parts per the checklist:

Aside from the standard components there is a small toroid to be wound with a center tap.  This went fine.  It's been a while but it all came back pretty quickly.

By the end of the evening I had everything together except for the most challenging part, the large transformer.  For that I will wait until my eyes aren't tired and there is some natural light.  Here is the finished product for this evening.

Back at it tomorrow.  Cheers es 72/73 de Scott

During these times...Projects

With everyone pretty much stuck at home in isolation it's a great opportunity to think of antenna projects and other things like that.  I installed a random wire antenna last fall but with my Z11 tuner is not tuning it at all (I'm not sure if it's broken or just a bad setup) I can only operate it on 30M which is fine by me as it's one of my favourite bands.  That being said, i ordered 2 little kits from QRP Guys.  The first kit was the EFHW Mini tuner.  There are 2 versions to choose from and I chose the 80M version.  This little rig will hopefully help me turn that random wire antenna into a dedicated 80M EF antenna.  I will have to lower it down and add about 10 feet of wire to get to the recommended 135' starting point.  The below photo is from their site.

The second kit I purchased was for the Multi Z Tuner 10-40.  My plan with this little gem is to use it with the doublet I plan to install over the coming weeks.  I have the wire and space to install up to an 80M doublet and I figure I might as well go that route even though this tuner will only help down to 40M.  This kit is a bit more involved but shouldn't be too bad since there are no SMT components involved.  Here is the photo from their website:

A few years back I bought a good length of 450 ohm window line for a project that never came to fruition so now I can use it for this.  I have heard a lot about these antennas and the multi-band properties make it attractive.  I've always been one for using tuned dipoles but in my windy location they are a challenge to maintain.

I did have a plan to have the center support insulator 3D printed.  I found a nice one on  Thingiverse but the local library, which has the printer, is closed until further notice so I may just have to fashion one up.

I will post my progress with the Multi Z Tuner as I tackle that kit first.

Cheers es 72/73

Scott

Spring is Here Today

With the lengthening days, warmer temperatures and the reality of being stuck at home due to work policies surrounding the COVID-19 "situation" has me thinking about radio a lot more often these days.  Last weekend I decided to do some outdoor operating using my random wire antenna.  The temperature was 4C so it was quite bearable and I also had a nicer view than I would have had I sat inside looking at the barn wall.  Basically I sat just outside the barn window and ran a short length of RG-174 out the window to a chair.  The other end was connected to my LDG 9:1 Unun.  I set up and in 30 minutes I had 3 nice contacts on 30M and two of them were 2xQRP which always makes me extra happy.

 I have my rig, battery, key, clock and ear buds in a small Pelican case which I lined with "Cubed Pick Foam" from the local Canadian Tire store.  This allows me to keep everything organized and works a lot better than the computer carrying case I used to use.  The battery is a 7mAh and is heavy and would crush the other things in my bag.  Now it's held snugly in place by the foam. 

I have a small collapsible camping table and it worked great for keeping things off my lap.   I enjoy being outside again and with the COVID crisis looking like it's not going to end any time in the near future it will give me a chance to operate more often that I otherwise would have time for.  I am also taking some of my spare time to brush up on my code rx speed.  I started out using the standard G4FON program I installed years ago but have been found two other resources that are extremely helpful at increasing character and word recognition which will help with head copying and get past the barrier that exists when you try and write everything down during a QSO.  One of these resources is Kurt Zoglmann's Morse Code Ninja site which is full of links to Youtube videos he's created with all sorts of words, prosigns, call signs, etc at various speeds for aural practice for word and character recognition.  He has learned Morse Code to the extreme where he has even had books converter to code and listens to them.  He's pretty hard core on code.

The second site is called Morse Camp and it is quite simply laid out and easy to use for word recognition.  It plays words for you at a predefined speed (default appears to be 30WPM) and keeps repeating them until you think you know what it is and hit the space bar.  This shows the word or letter/number combination and you indicate with a left or right arrow whether you were correct or not and it moves on.  You can select word length but as you progress it increments on its own.

I think this seclusion we are all experiencing can be a challenge for those who suffer from anxiety or depression, let alone the rest of us who are also feeling the stress of the unknown be it job security, financial security, or even toilet paper security, apparently.  They say the key is to make sure to get out of the house for a walk or a hike or some other stress relieving activity.  Radio is that for me and I plan to do it as much as I can fit it in.  I don't need to sit there for hours...30 minutes is plenty and even just 1 QSO makes me happy when operating QRP.

72/73 de Scott ve3vvf

Change of plan

My plan a few days ago was to build a maypole-style antenna supported in the center with inverted vee antennas coming down around it.  I was worried about the wires coming down all over the place and I also realized that there must be another cheaper and more easily implemented solution.  I have done some reading in the ARRL antenna book and also done some youtubing and now have a new plan.  Now my plan is to install a single wire, centre-fed, with balanced window line.  As long as I am at least 1/2 wavelength long from end to end, on the lowest frequency I plan to operate on,  I can feed it to a simple tuner for multi band use.  My tuner of choice will be the QRPguys Multi Z tuner for 10-40M.  I like the way this tuner has an LED that dims as a match is obtained eliminating the need for an SWR meter which is a huge benefit if I take this tuner to the field.  I have watched a great Youtube video on the building and testing of this tuner and I really like what I see.  For $40 US plus shipping I don't think it can be beat.

My existing long wire can be used for an end fed half wave (EFHW) antenna on 80 meters.  My first option is to adjust the length and try and use my 9:1 Unun to make it resonant on 80.  Failing that I can feed this into a QRPguys EFHW mini-tuner for 80M.  I may need to add some length to the existing wire since the recommended length for 80M use is 135'.

If I cannot get it working well enough on 80 with the LDG Unun I will likely order both kits at the same time so I can save on shipping costs.  

Less than favourable results...sort of

So I installed my random wire antenna from my barn out to a very tall poplar.  I used #10 wire so that the strong winds at my QTH wouldn't break it and I have about 130' of wire up in the air sloping up towards the top of the tree with the last 50' or so being para cord over a branch and down to the ground where it's tied off.  At the shack end I am using a ceramic egg insulator to a rope tied through a pulley attached just above the barn window to a bucket of bricks so that strong winds won't break the wire.  I then have another wire soldered to the antenna wire which comes into the "shack" to my LDG 9:1 random wire unun.  From there I connect straight to the radio.

I used the Agilent Field Fox to look at the resonance points on the antenna and saw that it wasn't really well resonant on any band but it wasn't too bad on a couple.  I added some radials on the ground of varying lengths and according to the Field Fox this made things worse.  What I really need is a MFJ-16010 L-network tuner to finish things up for me.  As it stands now, when I hook up the FT-817, the only band that presents no SWR issue is the 30M band.  30 has always been one of my favourite bands (along with 17 and 12) so I'm not extremely upset by it.  We are in a dismal part of the propagation cycle and I was still able to have a few QSOs on Sunday (Jan 12th) including a QSO with Ron, K5WLT, at almost 1700 miles in Texas and a 2xQRP with Alan, KR4AE, in Cleveland Georgia which is almost 900 miles away.  It's certainly not as good a distance as I can get with far less power during better propagation periods but I like the fact that I can still make QRP contacts, albeit with 5 watts.

Of course, as with many hams, I'm thinking of other antenna ideas.  The one that interests me at the moment is the Maypole style antenna.  I am a proponent of the fan dipole antenna and this is a variation on that.  The problem I have at my QTH with wind can best be defended against with stronger wires but thicker wire is heavier making supporting the center more challenging.  What the Maypole antenna does is use a non-conductive centre support with the inverted-vee antennas equally spread out in all different directions around the circle (looking from above) acting as guy wires and also not interacting with each other as much as with the standard fan dipole.  This antenna can be fed with coaxial cable but you'll want to keep the run as short as possible to reduce losses.  You could use a 1:1 balun or choke at the feed point to reduce feed line radiation but I don't think it's really that necessary, especially at QRP power levels, based on my use of dipoles in the past and from what I've read on the topic.  The leg pairs will all be of different lengths making the "V" angle different on each band but this shouldn't change the feed impedance too much.  The legs should not touch the ground but can be attached to stakes or pegs with non-conductive guy ropes.  Since I am operating QRP power levels I am not worried about RF burns but at higher power levels you should keep the antenna elements out of reach of people.  The key now is to choose which bands I want to operate on and figure out the best type of centre support to use.  There's PVC piping but the strength is suspect if it gets too tall and there's also wood or fiberglass.  I'm not quite sure yet which is the best choice.  As it stands now, this antenna will take up a fair bit of real estate and cutting grass around it will be a pain but if it works well it will be worth the extra effort.