ARFCOM, WEEKLY SSB (PHONE) NET. --Tuesdays @ 8:00 PM EST on 40m. See first post for the latest info. (Page 206 of 208)
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Originally Posted By Ohio_Sharkman: No net for me tonight. I've had a rough few days. I had to take my wife to the ER Sunday. They transferred her to another hospital, sixty five miles from home. I brought her home today and completely forgot what day it is. My only priority is taking care of her. Talk to you next week. Hey bud, I hope things are going well for you and your wife, and she is recovering. |
World ain't what it seems, is it Gunny?
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Good net tonight. Everyone was 5/9 or 5/9+ to me in NE TN tonight. I had three antennas up tonight for 40M. 1. My normal EFHW, roughly 65' long, flat top, roughly 37' above grade, flat top. 2. 1/4 wave vertical wire, 33' long, with two above grade radials, also grounded to my wire cattle fence. 3. 25' vertical whip with a Wolf River Coils bringing it to 40M, with a 3'x10'(?) piece of magic carpet for a ground plane. This is borrowed from @Canoeguy, I'll return it eventually...lol. All three were tuned to roughly 7.2MHz, and all were under 1.4 SWR. My antennas are compromised due to my location, with a tractor and a Jeep parked within 20' of the two verticals, and a metal sided barn 30' away from all three. Regardless, the EFHW was at least 1 S-Unit louder on receive than the other two for all stations. The 1/4 wave vertical was slightly louder than the WRC 25' whip. I keep looking for a better antenna for 40M, and from all of my research, for the net, a dipole (dipole, OCFD, EFHW, G5RV, etc) flat top will work best, at least 1/4 wave length (i.e., 30'+ high) is best, as you need higher angle take off for the distance from me to Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, PA and even Texas. I have tried numerous verticals, and none have worked as well for 40M for the net. The reason for the 30' height is not to lower the takeoff angle, but to increase efficiency. Below 30', efficiency starts to fall off. |
| Storms in my area at the time of the net on the first tuesday I've been home for in what feels like months, lol |
We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission...- Ayn Rand
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Originally Posted By piccolo: SB 14313 until 1925 eastern Everyone was pretty much good tonight, except I had some crazy strong bleed over from another frequency I couldn't identify. Even the local, to me, guys from E TN, NC and VA were strong tonight. Oddly enough, my ~20 ft high random wire EF 124', my 80M NVIS, worked about as well on receive as my 35' EFHW 40M. And my 1/4 wave vertical was also almost as good tonight. |
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Originally Posted By TVille: I have tried numerous verticals, and none have worked as well for 40M for the net. You need better radials, the lynchpin of vertical antenna performance. 8 radials of 20~21 feet long each would probably make a world of difference. The area that the net covers it's kind of 6 of one half a dozen of the other as far as dipole vs vertical for the better part of the year. |
This is...a clue - Pat_Rogers
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I'm not adequately aluminumized for this thread. - gonzo_beyondo
CO, MI, OR - Please lobby your legislators to end discrimination against non-resident CCW permit holders
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Originally Posted By Gamma762: You need better radials, the lynchpin of vertical antenna performance. 8 radials of 20~21 feet long each would probably make a world of difference. The area that the net covers it's kind of 6 of one half a dozen of the other as far as dipole vs vertical for the better part of the year. My verticals are all tuned above ground radials. Except for the borrowed Wolf River Coils with a 25' whip, which uses a "magic carpet". I have used two tuned radials, some aimed NW, sometimes 180 degrees apart. The WRC works almost as well as my 1/4 vertical, just not quite as loud or as good of signal, which I kind of expect given the coil, ground plane, and slightly shorter radiator. For DX, or longer contacts, the vertical sometimes is much stronger than the 40M EFHW, which I would expect on 40M. |
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Originally Posted By Gamma762: You need better radials, the lynchpin of vertical antenna performance. 8 radials of 20~21 feet long each would probably make a world of difference. This exactly. Start with that number, measure the resistance with an antenna analyzer. Add more and measure again. Keep adding until the resistance begins to level off. There's your sweet spot. |
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Originally Posted By TVille: My verticals are all tuned above ground radials. Except for the borrowed Wolf River Coils with a 25' whip, which uses a "magic carpet". I have used two tuned radials, some aimed NW, sometimes 180 degrees apart. For this to work optimally, base of the vertical needs to be at least 8ft up. The ideal layout places the feedpoint at a height that 4 tuned 1/4w radials slope away at a 45 degree angle. I took that approach with my 5BTV and 6BTV. It worked very well. |
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Originally Posted By AnalogKid: For this to work optimally, base of the vertical needs to be at least 8ft up. The ideal layout places the feedpoint at a height that 4 tuned 1/4w radials slope away at a 45 degree angle. I took that approach with my 5BTV and 6BTV. It worked very well. I suspect local impacts, sloping hill, metal barn nearby, all impact the antennas more than raising it a few feet. |
| I check in on my vertical every Tuesday. People usually never have a problem hearing me. Mine is a Zero Five 40 meter monobander with 32 radials in a 360 degree pattern around it. It is a ground mounted vertical in open space between my house and pole barn. I have a 20 meter monoband zero five too. Both work very well. I once contacted Perth Australia with only 5 watts and got a 5/5 signal report. |
RAT PACK REJECTS #3531
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Originally Posted By weaponeer1911: I've got nearly constant S9 llightning noise here. I can't hear anyone well enough to copy. 40m propagation has been really annoying for me this summer. Hope it gets better. We tried a more powerful station to get to you, but no joy. |
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Originally Posted By weaponeer1911: I've got nearly constant S9 llightning noise here. I can't hear anyone well enough to copy. 40m propagation has been really annoying for me this summer. Hope it gets better. 40 M propagation starts to pick up at about sunset. Actually we should probably have the net at 2100 Eastern during the summer. |
http://piccoloshash.blogspot.com
Vote "YES" on 'NO'!
For Captain Erick Foster, Wexford, PA KIA 29 Aug, 07.
Rangers lead the way.
Inspected by #26
I was checking out this midget porn website....
Vote "YES" on 'NO'!
For Captain Erick Foster, Wexford, PA KIA 29 Aug, 07.
Rangers lead the way.
Inspected by #26
I was checking out this midget porn website....
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OK, looks like we've got a NCS that can can most everyone and get out to them. Thanks for stepping in and yo the relayers. I can barely hear NCS, and he is usually booming in. I can hear TX. NC, TN, OH×2, & WI. I heard PA early on, but nothing since. Eta: VA station was the loudest I've heard from him. Eta: did hear preamble from PA well |
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Originally Posted By GreenDragon: OK, looks like we've got a NCS that can can most everyone and get out to them. Thanks for stepping in and yo the relayers. I can barely hear NCS, and he is usually booming in. I can hear TX. NC, TN, OH×2, & WI. I heard PA early on, but nothing since. Eta: VA station was the loudest I've heard from him. Eta: did hear preamble from PA well You are getting out. weird evening. Low noise but low propagation. |
If its broke. I can fix it. If it doesn't exist. I can make it. If its metal.
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Originally Posted By GreenDragon: OK, looks like we've got a NCS that can can most everyone and get out to them. Thanks for stepping in and yo the relayers. I can barely hear NCS, and he is usually booming in. I can hear TX. NC, TN, OH×2, & WI. I heard PA early on, but nothing since. Eta: VA station was the loudest I've heard from him. Eta: did hear preamble from PA well This is the strangest I've ever heard a net behave. But we're getting it done in ARFCOM fashion 💪 Total cooperation. This is a great exercise, and one that most people would be lucky to know how to cope with. |
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Originally Posted By jte3470: Haven’t run a net in a few years. You're doing just fine, Sonny!  |
http://piccoloshash.blogspot.com
Vote "YES" on 'NO'!
For Captain Erick Foster, Wexford, PA KIA 29 Aug, 07.
Rangers lead the way.
Inspected by #26
I was checking out this midget porn website....
Vote "YES" on 'NO'!
For Captain Erick Foster, Wexford, PA KIA 29 Aug, 07.
Rangers lead the way.
Inspected by #26
I was checking out this midget porn website....
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Originally Posted By jte3470: Haven’t run a net in a few years. Thanks for taking it easy on me fellas. I could hear Pic in PA but couldn’t hear my neighbor in IL. Crazy stuff. You did great! At least no one asked the deaf guy to do net tonight. 
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World ain't what it seems, is it Gunny?
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Really weird, quickly changing conditions tonight. I heard one close station, and five minutes later, he was gone, totally gone. Never heard the other close station. But, it also showed the power of relays, folks with better antennas, more power, better propagation could relay between stations who could no longer hear. That part worked great! |
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Originally Posted By TVille: Or he's just ignoring you. Did you not pay the net tax last month?  Damn, I forgot to pay my net dues! From my drunk notes in TN: Phil 5-9 Fred 5-9 Gale 5-7 then dropped to 4-5 Chris 4-5 to gone Alan, Brian and Jason - nothing heard Preamble 4-6 Bruce 5-7 |
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I wonder what conditions will be tonight. If it isn't windy I think I will try this antenna. Attached File Attached File Attached File |
World ain't what it seems, is it Gunny?
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Originally Posted By lorazepam: I wonder what conditions will be tonight. If it isn't windy I think I will try this antenna. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/242375/IMG_20260728_112006705_HDR_jpg-3802383.JPGhttps://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/242375/IMG_20260728_112020085_HDR_jpg-3802385.JPGhttps://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/242375/IMG_20260728_112038336_HDR_jpg-3802386.JPG What is it using as a counterpoise? Hard to tell from the pics. |
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Originally Posted By weaponeer1911: What is it using as a counterpoise? Hard to tell from the pics. I have 4 radials alligator clipped to the bolt next to the connector. Attached File |
World ain't what it seems, is it Gunny?