Posted: 8/6/2014 8:31:15 PM EDT
|
I've not been happy trying to run my boat anchor ts-520 the past few weeks and saw a ts-430 on swap.qth.com that was near my home (and near cabelas). Gave the guy a call and went out to visit him this evening (as well as spending <$50 at Cabelas, they had plastic ammo cans for $7 and 400 22lr for $23 - not great but I was running low). Nice orderly shack, nice new home, brand new TS-440, brand new Yeasu something or other, and the ts-430 setup and running in the middle.
He has a G5RV, a manual tuner (with copious notes about settings for different frequencies) an ASTRON (I think) amp, nice and not ostentatious. We sat around and shot the shit for a while, moving around the bands, listening to 80m, 40m, 20m, 15m, 10m, some SWL, etc, etc. He gave me a rundown of the knobs and buttons that he normally uses and made a couple of QSO's. Checked the output on CW, USB, LSB - all is well. So, now I have a second radio (that I can't hook up until tomorrow since I need a power supply). Hopefully this goes better than my 520; the 520 isn't a failure but it certainly isn't a success by any measure. Hope to see you guys on the air tomorrow or Friday. |
|
Astron is a power supply, not an amplifier.
The band conditions here has been terrible, between the rain, lightning and the solar flare the other day. Your money would have been better spent, had you bought something a little more modern with a autotuner, and a port to work digital modes and rig control. G5RV is not a very good antenna.... Your radio is good for working Field Days, because you wouldn't be out much if it burned up. |
|
Quoted:
+1 Quoted:
Quoted:
Gotta love getting a new radio!  Congrats on finding it, and it's great that he sat down and gave you a run through of it.
Definitely put a post up when you are up and running with it, and we'll see if we can get some ARFCOM contacts going. +1 +2 ... 
|
|
Quoted:..., brand new TS-440, ...... ??? there's no such thing as a "brand new" TS-440.......That was an old rig 20 years ago The TS-430, 440, 450 are nice radios, but they are getting long in tooth. Getting to the age were you have to think about capacitors drying out and other troubles Like buying an old classic car in good shape, they can be a lot of fun, but be prepared to run into possible issues the good news is, they are usually easier to work on. astron and samlex make great power supplies I say run it, and have fun with it
|
|
Quoted:
??? there's no such thing as a "brand new" TS-440.......That was an old rig 20 years ago The TS-430, 440, 450 are nice radios, but they are getting long in tooth. Getting to the age were you have to think about capacitors drying out and other troubles Like buying an old classic car in good shape, they can be a lot of fun, but be prepared to run into possible issues the good news is, they are usually easier to work on. astron and samlex make great power supplies I say run it, and have fun with it
Quoted:
Quoted:..., brand new TS-440, ...... ??? there's no such thing as a "brand new" TS-440.......That was an old rig 20 years ago The TS-430, 440, 450 are nice radios, but they are getting long in tooth. Getting to the age were you have to think about capacitors drying out and other troubles Like buying an old classic car in good shape, they can be a lot of fun, but be prepared to run into possible issues the good news is, they are usually easier to work on. astron and samlex make great power supplies I say run it, and have fun with it
OK, maybe brand new to him  -
|
|
Quoted:
Astron is a power supply, not an amplifier. The band conditions here has been terrible, between the rain, lightning and the solar flare the other day. Your money would have been better spent, had you bought something a little more modern with a autotuner, and a port to work digital modes and rig control. G5RV is not a very good antenna.... Your radio is good for working Field Days, because you wouldn't be out much if it burned up. Feel free to PM me for my address (so you can send the $1000 check for that purchase) Trust me, I was ready to buy a 7200 when I bought my 520 but chose not to for monetary reasons. We each purchase at our own rate - I'm not aware of anything @ $300 that does any of what you say. |
...
|
I was a starving college student/veteran when i got licensed
My first HF rig was about $400 I ran the shit out of it and had a blast Later, when i upgraded my station, I ran it mobile and ran the shit out of it again Nothin wrong with gettin yer feet wet without spending $1000 If you end up liking HF,.....you'll eventually end up with a $1000 rig that works Better for digital, better filters, etc..
|
|
Quoted:
G5RV is not a very good antenna... Gamemaster, I have to disagree. The full sized G5RV is an excellent antenna. It has it's limitations, but it can be tuned for all of the common bands (80-10). The necessary thing to remember when installing the G5RV is to get it up high in the air. And to keep the feedline as perpendicular to the elements as possible (the ladder line should hang straight down). Also, keep the ladder line away from any metal objects such as gutter cans, aluminum siding, other metal structures etc. The nice thing about using a G5RV is that the feedline has ZERO loss. That means that the power that goes into it is not eaten up by your transmission line (100 watts out of the radio = 100 watts out of your dipole) You don't get that kind of power transfer with most coax transmission lines. G5RV's necessitate the use of a manual tuner because they posses a high impedance on most of the bands (but with this particular antenna impedance doesn't matter). Besides, most automatic antenna tuners do not have balanced line inputs. Just run your balenced line directly into the back of your manual tuner. If you get your antenna up high in the air, and have a decent manual tuner you will be able to work a huge amount of stations from around the world with nothing more than 100w. This antenna design has been used by countless numbers of hams since 1946. It is one of the most popular, and forgiving antennas to use. I would most certainly not classify the G5RV as "not a very good antenna." For more information on the G5RV just CLICK HERE. -Bru |
|
Quoted:
Gamemaster, I have to disagree. The full sized G5RV is an excellent antenna. It has it's limitations, but it can be tuned for all of the common bands (80-10). The necessary thing to remember when installing the G5RV is to get it up high in the air. And to keep the feedline as perpendicular to the elements as possible (the ladder line should hang straight down). Also, keep the ladder line away from any metal objects such as gutter cans, aluminum siding, other metal structures etc. The nice thing about using a G5RV is that the feedline has ZERO loss. That means that the power that goes into it is not eaten up by your transmission line (100 watts out of the radio = 100 watts out of your dipole) You don't get that kind of power transfer with most coax transmission lines. G5RV's necessitate the use of a manual tuner because they posses a high impedance on most of the bands (but with this particular antenna impedance doesn't matter). Besides, most automatic antenna tuners do not have balanced line inputs. Just run your balenced line directly into the back of your manual tuner. If you get your antenna up high in the air, and have a decent manual tuner you will be able to work a huge amount of stations from around the world with nothing more than 100w. This antenna design has been used by countless numbers of hams since 1946. It is one of the most popular, and forgiving antennas to use. I would most certainly not classify the G5RV as "not a very good antenna." For more information on the G5RV just CLICK HERE. -Bru Quoted:
Quoted:
G5RV is not a very good antenna... Gamemaster, I have to disagree. The full sized G5RV is an excellent antenna. It has it's limitations, but it can be tuned for all of the common bands (80-10). The necessary thing to remember when installing the G5RV is to get it up high in the air. And to keep the feedline as perpendicular to the elements as possible (the ladder line should hang straight down). Also, keep the ladder line away from any metal objects such as gutter cans, aluminum siding, other metal structures etc. The nice thing about using a G5RV is that the feedline has ZERO loss. That means that the power that goes into it is not eaten up by your transmission line (100 watts out of the radio = 100 watts out of your dipole) You don't get that kind of power transfer with most coax transmission lines. G5RV's necessitate the use of a manual tuner because they posses a high impedance on most of the bands (but with this particular antenna impedance doesn't matter). Besides, most automatic antenna tuners do not have balanced line inputs. Just run your balenced line directly into the back of your manual tuner. If you get your antenna up high in the air, and have a decent manual tuner you will be able to work a huge amount of stations from around the world with nothing more than 100w. This antenna design has been used by countless numbers of hams since 1946. It is one of the most popular, and forgiving antennas to use. I would most certainly not classify the G5RV as "not a very good antenna." For more information on the G5RV just CLICK HERE. -Bru You mention about the manual tuner - which is exactly what this ham had. He had a sheet with settings for all the freq's that he used, took only a moment to reset for a new band. (and I like knobs and buttons) |
|
spclk Just get talking, unless you destroy the radio somehow, you can get most of your money out of it when you decide to upgrade. I started with a TS-130S and had a blast, then I started reading about digi and moved up to an FT-840, wow that was a lot of fun, ended up with three of those at one point, one of them I never got fixed and sold for parts (ebay lesson). I then got an 857D and started looking into filtering. I still have the 857D and now have an IC7200 for base use. That progression came with LOTS of little lessons about the hobby that I would have missed or not cared about had I gone straight to the 7200. The hobby is a LOT more than just making contacts. I haven't found an aspect of this hobby yet that I haven't enjoyed. Oh and you COULD do digi with that rig I bet, at least in a quiet room. I started doing psk with an ipad app and holding the mic up to the screen for TX. 
|
|
Quoted:
spclk Just get talking, unless you destroy the radio somehow, you can get most of your money out of it when you decide to upgrade. I started with a TS-130S and had a blast, then I started reading about digi and moved up to an FT-840, wow that was a lot of fun, ended up with three of those at one point, one of them I never got fixed and sold for parts (ebay lesson). I then got an 857D and started looking into filtering. I still have the 857D and now have an IC7200 for base use. That progression came with LOTS of little lessons about the hobby that I would have missed or not cared about had I gone straight to the 7200. The hobby is a LOT more than just making contacts. I haven't found an aspect of this hobby yet that I haven't enjoyed. Oh and you COULD do digi with that rig I bet, at least in a quiet room. I started doing psk with an ipad app and holding the mic up to the screen for TX. For sure about the 'getting my money back out'. Both the radios are easily turned for what I have in them. (Give or take a little bit). And, having the 520 that doesn't like me gets me into it's guts trying to troubleshoot - for which there are gobs of help. But, I do want to get some contacts too 
|
|
Quoted:
You mention about the manual tuner - which is exactly what this ham had. He had a sheet with settings for all the freq's that he used, took only a moment to reset for a new band. (and I like knobs and buttons) Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
G5RV is not a very good antenna... Gamemaster, I have to disagree. The full sized G5RV is an excellent antenna. It has it's limitations, but it can be tuned for all of the common bands (80-10). The necessary thing to remember when installing the G5RV is to get it up high in the air. And to keep the feedline as perpendicular to the elements as possible (the ladder line should hang straight down). Also, keep the ladder line away from any metal objects such as gutter cans, aluminum siding, other metal structures etc. The nice thing about using a G5RV is that the feedline has ZERO loss. That means that the power that goes into it is not eaten up by your transmission line (100 watts out of the radio = 100 watts out of your dipole) You don't get that kind of power transfer with most coax transmission lines. G5RV's necessitate the use of a manual tuner because they posses a high impedance on most of the bands (but with this particular antenna impedance doesn't matter). Besides, most automatic antenna tuners do not have balanced line inputs. Just run your balenced line directly into the back of your manual tuner. If you get your antenna up high in the air, and have a decent manual tuner you will be able to work a huge amount of stations from around the world with nothing more than 100w. This antenna design has been used by countless numbers of hams since 1946. It is one of the most popular, and forgiving antennas to use. I would most certainly not classify the G5RV as "not a very good antenna." For more information on the G5RV just CLICK HERE. -Bru You mention about the manual tuner - which is exactly what this ham had. He had a sheet with settings for all the freq's that he used, took only a moment to reset for a new band. (and I like knobs and buttons) I'm going to quote you on this one - because I would like to know where you got your degree in in Electromagnetics? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetism Every MFJ tuner - that I have ever seen for sale - USED , all suffered from the same malady, they were hooked up to a G5RV antenna, because some kind hearted soul told the owner that a G5RV antenna was the next best thing since sliced bread and the new ham was stupid enough to listen to them... Here is a quote from the owners manual - The MFJ-949E uses a "T" matching network and covers all bands between 160 and 10 meters. This network will tune dipoles, inverted-vees, verticals, mobile whips, beams, random wires, and many other antennas. The MFJ-949E has rear panel connectors for coaxial, single wire or two wire feedlines. A built-in 4:1 balun allows the use of balanced open wire, twinlead, or twin-axial feedlines. MFJ-949E Versa Tuner II 8 The following suggestions will reduce the difficulty in matching an antenna with a tuner: 1. Never center feed a half-wave multi-band antenna with a high impedance feedline that is close to an odd multiple of a quarter-wave long. 2. Never center feed a full-wave antenna with any feedline close to a multiple of a half- wave long. 3. If a tuner will not tune a multi-band antenna, add or subtract 1/8 wave of feedline (for the band that won't tune) and try again. 4. Never try to load a G5RV or center fed dipole on a band below the half-wave design frequency. If you want to operate an 80 meter antenna on 160 meters, feed either or both conductors as a longwire against the station ground. To avoid problems matching or feeding any dipole antenna with high impedance lines, keep the lines around these lengths. The worst possible line lengths are shown in brackets: 160 meter dipole; 35-60, 170-195 or 210-235 feet. (Avoid 130, 260 ft) 80 meter dipole; 34-40, 90-102 or 160-172 feet. (Avoid 66, 135, 190 ft) 40 meter dipole; 42-52, 73-83, 112-123 or 145-155 feet. (Avoid 32, 64, 96, 128 ft) WARNING: To avoid problems, a dipole antenna should be a full half-wave on the lowest band. On 160 meters, an 80 or 40 meter antenna fed the normal way will be extremely reactive with only a few ohms of feedpoint resistance. Trying to load an 80 meter (or higher frequency) antenna on 160 meters can be a disaster for both your signal and the tuner. The best way to operate 160 with an 80 or 40 meter antenna is to load either or both feedline wires (in parallel) as a longwire. The antenna will act like a "T" antenna worked against the station ground. When I was repairing this model of antenna tuner, there was two points to ponder in the owners manual. 1. - Never use this antenna tuner with a G5RV on 10 or 40 meters. A. On Ten meters - that antenna will cause arcing. B. On Forty Meters that antenna will cause a overheating problem in the tuner. Usually the Germanium Diodes ( 1N34A) is burned up and the toroid's are fried.) The G5RV works - A LITTLE - on 20 meters, that was what it was designed for. I will agree 100% that it needs to be 40' or more off the ground. The problem is - most people that lives in town, on a small lot, doesn't have the room to put it up properly and they don't have anything 40' tall to put it on. Then you get on the HF band on 40 meters and you manage to tune it up and you try to make a contact and the only reply you get is that they have a hard time hearing you and to get the heck off the G5RV....... If that doesn't teach you a good $65.00 lesson, nothing will! The G5RV is a piece of crap compared to any center cut dipole or off center fed dipole. Yes with a Roller Inductive Tuner or some other type of heavy duty tuner, you can manage to match it up, but the power you are not broadcasting with is turned into heat, good for keeping the shack warm on those cold winter nights, but not very good for propagating a signal more then a couple of miles when the band conditions are not optimal. The other HF comment is - I can work everything that I can hear with my G5RV! The question is - what can you hear? Unless you do a side by side comparison, within one half of one hour between the two antenna's to the same station - you can't measure any difference by ear. More then likely a off-center fed dipole is going to be 2 - 3 S units louder, both with your transmitted signal and the signal your receive from the station you are talking to. As in the words of Tim Duffy, K3LR, louder is better... The louder the signal is into your receiver, the more signal you are receiving... This is the reason why you would never find a G5RV at a contest station..... http://www.k3cc.net/id24.html |
|
Quoted:
I'm going to quote you on this one - because I would like to know where you got your degree in in Electromagnetics? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetism [snip] You would never find a G5RV at a contest station..... Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
G5RV is not a very good antenna... Gamemaster, I have to disagree. The full sized G5RV is an excellent antenna. It has it's limitations, but it can be tuned for all of the common bands (80-10). The necessary thing to remember when installing the G5RV is to get it up high in the air. And to keep the feedline as perpendicular to the elements as possible (the ladder line should hang straight down). Also, keep the ladder line away from any metal objects such as gutter cans, aluminum siding, other metal structures etc. The nice thing about using a G5RV is that the feedline has ZERO loss. That means that the power that goes into it is not eaten up by your transmission line (100 watts out of the radio = 100 watts out of your dipole) You don't get that kind of power transfer with most coax transmission lines. G5RV's necessitate the use of a manual tuner because they posses a high impedance on most of the bands (but with this particular antenna impedance doesn't matter). Besides, most automatic antenna tuners do not have balanced line inputs. Just run your balenced line directly into the back of your manual tuner. If you get your antenna up high in the air, and have a decent manual tuner you will be able to work a huge amount of stations from around the world with nothing more than 100w. This antenna design has been used by countless numbers of hams since 1946. It is one of the most popular, and forgiving antennas to use. I would most certainly not classify the G5RV as "not a very good antenna." For more information on the G5RV just CLICK HERE. -Bru You mention about the manual tuner - which is exactly what this ham had. He had a sheet with settings for all the freq's that he used, took only a moment to reset for a new band. (and I like knobs and buttons) I'm going to quote you on this one - because I would like to know where you got your degree in in Electromagnetics? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetism [snip] You would never find a G5RV at a contest station..... Gamemaster, #1 - Please quote the correct post when you reply #2 - qrz.com is down the hall and out the door (and approximately 1000 miles philosophically away from here) I have not seen one post from you in the past week that's had anything positive to say. One of the things about the arfcom ham forum (as opposed to others) is that it's a warm and nurturing environment. If all you want to do is repudiate what others post please go somewhere that this is considered the norm (IOW, somewhere that is not here) spclk |
|
Gamemaster is correct though, albeit a bit abrasive in delivery.
I don't use my G5RV below 40m at all because a) I currently have no interest in those bands and b) I didn't, at the time I put it up, know of an easy way to switch the antenna connection type. I may give that a go though, just to see what those bands are like. Oh, I am using an older 1500W rated 962C, it works fine for 40m and 10m. |
|
Master of Electromagnetism.... Priceless.
|
|
I am confused by this. From looking at the two signatures, it appears that it is only half AR-Jedi's fault. |
|
A copy of that and $5 can get you a years membership in the Fraternal Order of Talented Individuals Moving Electrons! |
|
Quoted:
I am confused by this. From looking at the two signatures, it appears that it is only half AR-Jedi's fault. Quoted:
I am confused by this. From looking at the two signatures, it appears that it is only half AR-Jedi's fault. Negative, according to Arfcom's Second Law of Ham Radio...it is ALWAYS ArJedi's fault. |
|
Quoted: I am confused by this. From looking at the two signatures, it appears that it is only half AR-Jedi's fault. Quoted: I am confused by this. From looking at the two signatures, it appears that it is only half AR-Jedi's fault. |
|
Quoted:
Gamemaster, #1 - Please quote the correct post when you reply #2 - qrz.com is down the hall and out the door (and approximately 1000 miles philosophically away from here) I have not seen one post from you in the past week that's had anything positive to say. One of the things about the arfcom ham forum (as opposed to others) is that it's a warm and nurturing environment. If all you want to do is repudiate what others post please go somewhere that this is considered the norm (IOW, somewhere that is not here) spclk Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
G5RV is not a very good antenna... Gamemaster, I have to disagree. The full sized G5RV is an excellent antenna. It has it's limitations, but it can be tuned for all of the common bands (80-10). The necessary thing to remember when installing the G5RV is to get it up high in the air. And to keep the feedline as perpendicular to the elements as possible (the ladder line should hang straight down). Also, keep the ladder line away from any metal objects such as gutter cans, aluminum siding, other metal structures etc. The nice thing about using a G5RV is that the feedline has ZERO loss. That means that the power that goes into it is not eaten up by your transmission line (100 watts out of the radio = 100 watts out of your dipole) You don't get that kind of power transfer with most coax transmission lines. G5RV's necessitate the use of a manual tuner because they posses a high impedance on most of the bands (but with this particular antenna impedance doesn't matter). Besides, most automatic antenna tuners do not have balanced line inputs. Just run your balenced line directly into the back of your manual tuner. If you get your antenna up high in the air, and have a decent manual tuner you will be able to work a huge amount of stations from around the world with nothing more than 100w. This antenna design has been used by countless numbers of hams since 1946. It is one of the most popular, and forgiving antennas to use. I would most certainly not classify the G5RV as "not a very good antenna." For more information on the G5RV just CLICK HERE. -Bru You mention about the manual tuner - which is exactly what this ham had. He had a sheet with settings for all the freq's that he used, took only a moment to reset for a new band. (and I like knobs and buttons) I'm going to quote you on this one - because I would like to know where you got your degree in in Electromagnetics? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetism [snip] You would never find a G5RV at a contest station..... Gamemaster, #1 - Please quote the correct post when you reply #2 - qrz.com is down the hall and out the door (and approximately 1000 miles philosophically away from here) I have not seen one post from you in the past week that's had anything positive to say. One of the things about the arfcom ham forum (as opposed to others) is that it's a warm and nurturing environment. If all you want to do is repudiate what others post please go somewhere that this is considered the norm (IOW, somewhere that is not here) spclk  |
|
Quoted:
Aimless is president, but AR-Jedi's in charge of the fault department. Quoted:
Quoted:
I am confused by this. From looking at the two signatures, it appears that it is only half AR-Jedi's fault. Aimless is president, but AR-Jedi's in charge of the fault department. i don't support this post. 
ar-jedi |
|
Quoted: i don't support this post. ar-jedi Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: I am confused by this. From looking at the two signatures, it appears that it is only half AR-Jedi's fault. Aimless is president, but AR-Jedi's in charge of the fault department. i don't support this post. ar-jedi |
Yes, nothing wrong with a G5RV. In the situation where I have used one it was great on 20M (of course), 17 and 75. Tough as hell to tune on 60M but once tuned it worked. Pretty deaf on 40, 15, and 10. That was at about 30' off the ground at the center in inverted V configuration, the ends about 8' off the ground and the two legs out of line at about 160 degrees. That was the best I could do in a surprise spring snowstorm, which arrived the same time as my manual tuner - a set of conditions which, together, say "make an antenna right now".
|